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"'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"


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sciencerules
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
Again, I'm going to defer here to someone who's said it way better than me a long time ago: "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." Thomas Jefferson.
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asylum
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
I can't think of any passage in the bible that is negative about knowledge. But I can think of several religions that discourage knowledge.

Throughout history, the bible itself may be the most banned book. People have died for posessing or translating it.
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Diziet_Sma
06/05/09

@asylum: "I can't think of any passage in the bible that is negative about knowledge"

You're kidding, right? What about that whole 'fall of Man' thing? Adam & Eve being punished for eating from the Tree of Knowledge? Therefore consigning humanity to suffering for the rest of eternity. That story is pretty fundamental to Christianity, I'd say.

I am an Atheist/Buddhist, and even I know that.
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meritxell: an erotic life
06/05/09

@asylum: Yeah, I wasn't brought up with any religious upbringing whatsoever and when I tried reading the bible I couldn't get past the message "God wants you to remain ignorant". WTF kind of moral is that?
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Gumbina80
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
My mother decided to attribute my atheism to my grad school education. She totally buys into that "Two Trees" crap, and thinks that too much knowledge and too much critical thinking makes a person unhappy.
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Laulau
06/05/09

@Gumbina80: I've had any number of people say this to me. And maybe this is too simplistic, but "better Socrates dissatisfied, than a pig satisfied". Happiness ain't the be all/end all.
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Diziet_Sma
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
"'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"

Amen to that.
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inabook
06/05/09

@Diziet_Sma: You must have a different Bible than the one I read, if you really agree with that as a blanket statement.
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Diziet_Sma
06/05/09

@inabook: Well, the one I read included the bit where Adam & Eve are punished for eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Eve especially. I think that's a pretty clear message.
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inabook
06/05/09

@Diziet_Sma: I would disagree. I don't think the message is that clear. Disobedience and letting in temptation got them cast out-- it can also be read to say that pain in life is a natural result of knowledge and that knowledge opens the door to sinning-- which, it can be argued, it does through moral relativism. Plus, that's only one small section of the Bible, and its Old Testament. The Bible as a whole does not say knowledge is bad. You did read the entire thing, right?
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Diziet_Sma
06/05/09

@inabook: "it can also be read to say that pain in life is a natural result of knowledge and that knowledge opens the door to sinning"

Yeah, I'm not big on that interpretation, either. You are free to believe what you want, and I am free to believe Christianity does more harm than good. We're never going to agree about it, so best just leave it at that.
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inabook
06/05/09

@Diziet_Sma: And I'll continue to believe that people who are as willfully ignorant as to state that Christianity does more harm than good are the ones who are actually doing more harm than good.

If you have a problem with that interpretation, then you clearly aren't thinking, at all. without knowledge, the only pain you have is physical. Without knoweledge it is impossible to sin since sin requires a certain mindset.
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Diziet_Sma
06/05/09

@inabook: Oh, get over yourself.
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Diziet_Sma
06/05/09

@inabook: And stop lecturing me.
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stuff.mcgee
06/05/09

@Diziet_Sma: Which Bible, which translation? The Bible had many different authors who disagreed on different points. Proverbs and Jesus' parables promote wisdom, where Genesis may seem like it doesn't (I don't agree with that interpretation, though). The author of Genesis was trying to explain the human condition. It wasn't written by God, but by humans. I say this as a liberal Baptist female minister who was raised conservative, became agnostic, and then became a very liberal Baptist. My seminary taught me to question everything, including the existence of God. That being said, your opinion is your own, and you are certainly entitled to it. I just wanted to offer another perspective.
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Diziet_Sma
06/05/09

@stuff.mcgee: Lecture!
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stacyinbean
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
Oy, it was banned in the town next to the one I grew up in, in Michigan.
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EkaterinaBallerina
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
Honestly, the whole idea of banning books is just ridiculous. It's like the people that want certain content on tv, even cable tv, banned. Just because you don't agree with the content, doesn't mean the rest of us have to follow suit. What's worse though, is that most of these people have never even read/seen what they're asking to be banned. They just don't like the subject matter, they have no idea how it's dealt with. I'm so glad I went to a school that required us to read The Catcher in the Rye to start high school and made its Bible class optional (and I took them upon said option and instead took Sacred Traditions, a class on the religions of the world)

What I find offensive is that these same schools that ban books are also likely teaching intelligent design. THAT is what should be banned, it's a crock of shit and bunch half-truths.
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tscheese
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
I never understood the idea behind banning books.

I grew up in an extremely religious environment. There were some older, set-in-their-ways folks who thought it was a sin to even LOOK at anything that contained strong language, or anything that disagreed with a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible (for example, evolutionary science). To which I say, why? Why hide from knowledge? Why shelter yourself from it, as if it'll corrupt you? I think the refusal to self-examine is another form of dishonesty in itself.

If you believe in something, it should be for a reason. It should be a strong enough and compelling enough reason for you to continue to hold that stance. If a differing opinion comes along and makes you challenge your own beliefs, and your response is to outright ban that differing opinion, then your beliefs are WEAK. Isn't it better to educate yourself, to surround yourself wtih all sorts of different arguments and standpoints--yes, even the ones you think are offensive or wrong!--so you can see all sides of an issue?

No, I'm not saying we should all sit around navel-gazing every single day asking ourselves "Do I still believe in X, Y, and Z?" because that's a recipe to drive yourself nuts. But damnit, if something comes along to give you a compelling reason to question what you believe, the only intellectually honest thing to do is examine it, right?
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NefariousNewt
06/05/09

@tscheese: Banning books goes back to the Middle Ages, before the widespread printing of books, when all knowledge came from the church. It was churches (and to a lesser extent governments) that taught people to read and write. The churches controlled the flow of knowledge. With the development of typography and the ability to disseminate knowledge outside the strictures of the churches, they took it upon themselves to then proclaim themselves arbiters of what was to be read and what was considered "forbidden knowledge."
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PreposterousHypothesis
06/05/09

@tscheese: I think people just lack strength in their own beliefs. Hell, I used to think my own faith was absolutely unshakeable. I had to redefine my constructs of faith to get it back to a place where I could really believe in God, but I had to truly examine -- and not just through literature and such, but by running everything though my (I believe) God-given filter. I think that knowledge gives us more than just facts in our arsenal, it gives us the capability to develop our critical thinking skills, to compare and contrast pieces of evidence, and to come up with a logical framework to process what makes sense and what doesn't.
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legallynonblonde
06/05/09

@tscheese: I live in Alberta, Canada and there has been a heated debate in the legislature lately about a proposed Bill which would allow parents the power to withrdaw their children from classes when the parent found the subject-matter objectionable on moral or religious grounds.

Aaaah! Seriously? Even if you don't "believe" in evolution, what is the f-ing harm in allowing your child to hear about it? You don't agree with it - teach that to your child instead of trying to keep them ignorant.

That kind of thinking just leads me to believe that these parents don't really have much confidence in their religions otherwise how could their children be taken astray by the mere act of listening to another viewpoint? Is that seriously enough, in their minds, to undermine a whole religious belief system?

Sorry...just ranting because I can't even BELIEVE this was proposed. Sick.

(The Bill didn't pass, by the way. Whew!)
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stacyinbean
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
This is a slap in the face to Obama, it's one of his favorite books!
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TheFormerJuneBronson
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
There's an argument to be made, but not where evangelicals are making it. They'd keep people in ignorance to control them, and to protect their "doctrine," which is certainly not a Christian use of the Bible.

This is not the kind of knowledge in Genesis, or the kind that killed any number of villains in Indiana Jones movies, or the kind that people buried in the Pet Sematary had when they came back from the beyond.
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greengrey
06/05/09

@TheFormerJuneBronson: Exactly. Smart people question their religion and eventually stop following it or don't follow it to a tee. For stupid people, religion is all the have, so they follow it to a tee. It also probably makes them feel special.
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PreposterousHypothesis
06/05/09

@greengrey: Part of me thinks your statement is overly harsh. But part of me agrees. Some people definitely need to be defined by external forces, and religion is a fantastic way to do so, since it's so comprehensive in terms of how it affects your life. Plus, in many ways, it provides lots of answers so you don't have to critically think about issues (and possibly jeopardize your whole belief structure). Conflicted about what to believe about abortion? Talk to your pastor! Don't know how you really stand on gay marriage? Look up Leviticus!

I do however think there are some incredibly intelligent people who make a very logical and conscious decision to live out the tenets of their religion. I think that's the difference though between following blindly and making deliberate choices as to how to frame your beliefs.

The most intelligent religious people I've known have been the kind to investigate and question their faith. Of course, if you have a belief structure, you can generally come back to the solidity of your faith due to the way your logic works. When I REALLY began questioning my religion/faith was when I refused to use Christian reasoning to explain it.
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BiteMeMitchell!
06/05/09

@PreposterousHypothesis: I'm an atheist, but my mum found God a few years ago, in her late 50s. She's far from being stupid, however, she has been through shit in her lifetime that would probably have caused other people to jump off a high building. We don't discuss it often because she knows that I hold no religious belief, and she respects that. But when I was at home at Christmas last year, we'd both had a couple of glasses of wine and it came up. I asked her what she got from it, and her answer was "comfort". And I will also say that she has been more relaxed and open-minded as a person since she started believing. If anything, finding God has made her open her eyes more to the world around her, and question things more than she would have done previously. It's interesting, and I only wish that having faith could always be this positive a thing. Maybe it's the difference between being raised within a religious structure versus finding it for oneself?
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TheFormerJuneBronson
06/05/09

@BiteMeMitchell!: My grandmother said that to me once when I said I didn't believe in God. I probably said it just to nettle her, because I do believe and always have had some idea that I did, but she just said, very disbelievingly, "Don't you ever find yourself in need of comfort?" I had no idea what she was talking about. I had never been comforted by religious faith. It just wasn't the way I was wired, and in fact, in pure faith, it still isn't.

But I do, as I grow older, find myself comforted by ritual, by the practices of my childhood, and by some of the writings in the Bible, even though I'm not a literalist. I'm certainly comforted by the knowledge that I choose it, that I'm not bullied by it, and that I have many other tools for managing adversity.
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
whaaaaaaaaa? i have song of solomon on my shelf alongside the work of updike, yates, and steinbeck - AMERICAN CLASSIC - that AND beloved.

where is this book banned?
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AJ
06/05/09

@♥Anti-Social Socialite♥: I know! I couldn't anyone would ban it. When I did a search, I found that a high school English teacher was forced to remove after people in the community complained.

[januarymagazine.com]
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greengrey
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
Isn't banning a book guaranteeing people will read it? Oh, and can religious busy bodies (and well, busy bodies in general) fuck off already? We don't need them, we don't want them, plz leave.
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lilbobbytables
06/05/09

@greengrey: Yeah. The banned book lists usually function as my To-Read list.
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birminghamdrunk
06/05/09

@greengrey: word. this has been the week of EPIC fucking religious-busy body meddling. enough already.

sometimes it just makes me want to yell from the tallest rooftop "THANKS, BUT NO THANKS!!!!WE DON'T NEED YOUR GOD!!!!"
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greengrey
06/05/09

@birminghamdrunk: Sometimes (OK, most of the time) it makes me want to tell them dog shit is worth more (and more useful) than their religion.

Can we tell I've had it with these neanderthals?
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birminghamdrunk
06/05/09

@greengrey: HOLY SHIT! (ha. sort of pun)

[newanimalcontrol.org]
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greengrey
06/05/09

@birminghamdrunk: WOOHOO! Proof that dog shit is worth more and more useful than religion!

Thanks for the link, haha
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inabook
06/05/09

@greengrey: I am trying to think of a good way to respond to this, but it really just comes down to me wondering how you can be so close-minded, intolerant, and insulting of something that matters deeply to a number of wonderful, intelligent, kind people, including people who post here.

Religion is, itself, not a bad thing. It is useful to many people, and it is a force of good for many people.

That statement is childish, insulting, and ignorant.
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greengrey
06/05/09

@inabook: After this week I find it difficult to care about religion. It does much more harm than good. I don't really care anymore. Ignorant? Oh well.
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inabook
06/05/09

@greengrey: It does more publicized harm than publicized good, but it does more good than harm overall. If you don't care about religion, can you at least stop being so wildly offensive about it?
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birminghamdrunk
06/05/09

@inabook: this whole argument is he said/she said, babe. it's just opinions, really.

and really, she's not directly specifying any one religion over another- we're just talking about the concept in and of itself, and how it manifests itself in our culture- and the dogma and semantics that are further associated with organized religion.

all in all, no one's trying to insult you personally. really! i promise.
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shorty63136
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
I cannot tell you the number of times I've been told that I got "too smart for my own good" or "let my college education get in the way of my faith" because I don't follow the Bible to the letter, without question and accept it 100% in its presented fashion (because I openly recognize and question why some books exist but didn't "make the cut") - and thus, must be on the verge of being a nonbeliever. My father - an ordained minister - doesn't have a problem with it though.
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TheFormerJuneBronson
06/05/09

@shorty63136: I suppose that explains the existence of Bible colleges. To learn just enough (about homemaking and your place in the world) and not too much (about critical thinking).
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PreposterousHypothesis
06/05/09

@TheFormerJuneBronson: I used to be heavily involved in the evangelical world and knew several friends who went to Bible college. Basically it wasn't so much that all their coursework was easy or entirely Bible-based; I do believe some of them got good educations. However, I think it keeps them in a strict way of living that won't challenge their faith. Usually there are strict dorm rules, curfews, dress codes, prohibitions on co-ed situations, dancing, drinking (even if legal), even music and movies. It's all designed to keep you in a bubble, and I don't know too many of these people who were forced to go -- they just didn't want to deal with the challenge of actually making conscious choices about their behavior.

So in essence, there is a limiting of knowledge...part of the fear of believers re: college is due to curriculum, but mostly it's the exposure to different kinds of people and the ability to choose how to live life.
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stacyinbean
06/05/09

@shorty63136: I know how you feel. I grew up in a very conservative, very religious family and I always hear that stuff, along with 'Your education gave you a liberal bias'. No morons, my brain and my heart gave me my liberal bias!
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PreposterousHypothesis
06/05/09

@stacyinbean: My dad was always accusing my school (kindergarten through college) of being liberally biased. I had to deliver many embarrassing letters to my teachers about the bias in my textbooks. :-/

My dad is always accusing me of being liberal because of these things. He has no idea just how liberal I am (and I'm even more moderate politically, but when you're really conservative, moderate = pinko commie).
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TheFormerJuneBronson
06/05/09

@PreposterousHypothesis: Yes, of course, I was being unnecessarily flip (especially for someone who frequently has to explain that my Jesuit undergraduate education is not the same as having been indoctrinated by the Catholic Church).

I do feel really fortunate to have been raised in an environment where limiting a person's knowledge in order to keep them on the path of righteousness is a preposterous thing to behold. My parents are practicing Catholics, and I think my pro-life stance made my dad liverish, but it was nothing at all like what people are describing here. Not drink? Please. We're French.
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SomeAuthorGirl
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
Truth, simply and beautifully stated.
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HistoricUpstart
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
"Knowledge is bad."

Yes, I think this is what bothers me most about the big three world religions. The tendency to believe that everything is just a part of God's plan and they shouldn't question it. Critical thinking and intellectualism are seen as something elite that will only get you further from God's message. That kind of lazy group-think is what got us Dubya for eight years and nearly destroyed our country!!! But I'm not bitter.
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spunkay
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: My conservative Christian college recognized this problem, and warned us as freshman. "Your education, if you're not careful, may cause you to lose your faith." Um... isn't that kind of a red flag?

Cuz it sure as hell happened to me. Mostly.

Use that brain, people!
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AtomiClash: humanitarian misanthrope
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: Sometimes I really hate that Karl Marx had some very good points.

"Religion is the opiate of the masses" and all that.
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Cafezinha
06/05/09

@spunkay: That is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. Is that a real quote?
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vamusical
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: I am fairly certain this may not be true for Judaism. Anyone who is jewish please correct me, but I think in the Jewish faith a great amount of emphasis is placed on asking questions and valuing questions over answers. But yes, I think all 3 major religions would be much better off for valuing this more.
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kithkin
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: Big three? Which exactly are you talking about?
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dreamweave
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: And one of the basic points of "having faith" is that life is full of things to make one question God, but you believe anyway. Because you have faith. And questioning your belief is crucial element of spiritual growth.
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Primrose
06/05/09

href="#c13374617">HistoricUpstart: It's amazing how differently people choose to look at and interpret the same basic text. In my own experience, we've always been encouraged to think critically about the Torah. And it certainly would have been considered a shame/scandal if my peers and I had failed to get a good education.
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babyruthless
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: I was raised Southern Baptist, and once in high school I was at a (non-religious) club retreat. All the girls from my church were having a Bible study and praying together and whatnot, and I, having a crisis of faith, was talking to a non-church girl about how they looked so happy to have this pure faith that I didn't have.

And the other girl looked at me and said, "but you're too smart for that."

It was really the beginning of the end of my church going days. The end of the end? When my Sunday school teacher wished that one of the Supreme Court Justices would die so that Dubya could replace him/her. "I know that that isn't politically correct (said with a sneer and air quotes), but I don't care." All I could think was, "yeah, it's also not very Christian." I never went back.

When Rehnquist was diagnosed with cancer a few months later, and subsequently died, all I could think was, "well, looks like my teacher got his wish."
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stacyinbean
06/05/09

@kithkin: I'm guessing she's referencing the three Abrahamic faiths.
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inabook
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: As far as Christianity goes, there are a lot of branches that encourage people to question their faith and the Bible, and who don't hold that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, but rather writings by men who were doing the best they could, but who still reflect their times and own internal predjudices.

Faith without doubt is so strange to me.
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vamusical
06/05/09

@babyruthless: That's so sad. A faith that goes without questioning or growth just depresses me. It's kind of like assuming you have to marry a guy because people tell you to, never question him or argue with him on anything, yet if you ever falter in your feelings for him it's YOUR fault, no matter what he does to you.

Hmmm... this idea of marriage sounds vaguely familiar to me...
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BrutallyHonestBabes (aka Mrs. Sarah.of.a.Lesser.Hobbit)
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: Yes, just one more way I believe that organized religion misses the point. Why would God give us the brain to critically think if He didn't want us to use it?
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HistoricUpstart
06/05/09

@stacyinbean: Yup, I was.

And to those of you sharing personal anecdotes that contradict the norm of anti-intellectualism in religion, I say good for you! I'm glad that you're some of the good ones.
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kithkin
06/05/09

@stacyinbean: I figured so, too, which I found objectionable. There are a billion people in India, most of whom are at least nominally Hindu. And I'd argue that Buddhism is more "opposed to knowledge" than, say, Judaism. Someone else on the thread pointed out that thinking critically about the Torah is central to the faith of many Jews.

To suggest that the three Abrahamic faiths are the "main religions" overlooks the many many many Hindus and Buddhists worldwide, of whom there are certainly more than Jews. What makes a religion "main?" That categorization really rubbed me the wrong way.
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stacyinbean
06/05/09

@kithkin: While I doubt the intention of the commenter was to offend, it is easy to think of those as the three 'main' religions because they are the ones we hear the most about.
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kithkin
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: This could be said of any religion, not just the Abrahamic faiths (which I assume are the ones you talk about, although I am curious to why you think Judaism is "big" and Hinduism is not).

It also overlooks that there are different kinds of knowledge and it is sort of shortsighted to assume that "knowledge" only means scientific rationality.

I am an atheist who believes that scientific rationality (rather than spiritual communion or something) is the best kind of knowledge, by the way. I just don't think that chauvinism about this topic is the best way to go about reducing division or reconciling the religious with the nonreligious.
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Cafezinha
06/05/09

@BrutallyHonestBabes (aka Mrs. Sarah.of.a.Lesser.Hobbit): It's like fossils--planted there to test your faith. Can you resist the burning impulse to think critically?
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HistoricUpstart
06/05/09

@kithkin: I am sorry, I really didn't mean to offend you and come of as simplistic. As other commenter have said, that term was sort of short hand for the religions we have most contact with in the U.S., with Christianity being in our faces the most. I am an atheist as well, and I certainly didn't mean to not acknowledge Buddhism and Hinduism as major world religions, they just weren't the ones I was characterizing.
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taranwanderer
06/05/09

@Primrose: @vamusical: From what I understand, Judaism greatly values education. One of my best friends is about to start rabbinical school, and even after the 6 years of school she'll continue to question and interpret the Torah.

Catholics are also all about education and many of their orders are extremely academic (see: Jesuits).
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HistoricUpstart
06/05/09

@taranwanderer: "Catholics are also all about education"

Except comprehensive sex education, amirite?!
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inabook
06/05/09

@HistoricUpstart: Strangely, most of my friends who went to Catholic highschools had better sex ed than at my public school.
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agameofchess
06/05/09

@AtomiClash: I definitely agree with the concept of what you're saying about religion taking away agency.

But, interesting thing that I learned in college: when that quote is taken out of context, it means something totally different from what people usually think. The whole quote (taken from wiki, but if it's incorrect it's the same general idea) is "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."

He was actually saying that people have created religion to help themselves deal with the "soulless conditions" of reality.

Sorry if this seems obnoxious, I don't mean it to be, I just remember that the first time I learned the distinction, it sorta blew my mind.
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fuzzyorangabear
06/05/09

@AtomiClash: "Religion is not the opiate of the masses, it is the cyanide." to quote on of my favorite authors, Tom Robbins.
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Laulau
06/05/09

@agameofchess: Maybe I'm not seeing what you guys are pointing to, but that strikes me as fairly in line with the standard interpretation of Marx. Life sucks. Religion makes it easier. Hence, the proles buy into religion. Turns out, those in power can use this to their advantage. Practical upshot: maybe we should make life suck less, instead. (Though obviously Marx has a whole weird historical materialism about how this was going to happen.)
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inabook
06/05/09

@fuzzyorangabear: What a horrifying quote. I'm sure it makes sense in context, but without context, it seems ignorant and intolerant.
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dreamweave
06/05/09

In reply to "'Knowledge Is Bad,' Is The Bible's Message"
I'm neither a biblical scholar nor a religious person, but isn't there an Old Testament/New Testament distinction to be made her about the danger of knowledge? I'd say it's more about how religious assholes have welded certain parts of the Bible, than the Bible itself....but her point is well-taken. Love that woman.
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Laulau
06/05/09

@dreamweave: Well, as far as my reading goes, Genesis (OT, obviously) talks about the danger of knowledge, but the NT preaches the virtues of ignorance - you should be like a child, just do as Jesus tells you, not question him, etc. All around it's a pretty authoritarian book. As an atheist who was raised Protestant and deeply religious into part of my adult years, I have to say that is what I've actually come to admire about Judaism and Catholicism (I'm not familiar with other traditions) - there's an emphasis on reasoning your way through religious commands. I still think a lot of the commands are kind of crazy, but I respect the commitment to using one's intelligence.
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dreamweave
06/05/09

@Laulau: Interesting stuff...just emphasizes how important the interpretation is. Though I no longer ascribe to a particular religion, I was raised in a liberal Baptist church, where reasoning your way through religious command and intellectual curiosity were strongly emphasized. There was room for science and faith (in God), and as i mentioned in a thread below, what has always resonated with me is how questioning is an essential part of faith....Anyhoo, I'm grateful for the experience I had in church, even if it's not my thing now. There are so many bad ones out there!
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inabook
06/05/09

@Laulau: I was raised Presbyterian, which values education, and encourages questioning. We were regularly confronted with hard questions and inconsistencies, and encouraged to actually read the Bible for ourselves.
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