Posted by Mal on September 17, 2002, at 11:04:00
In reply to Question please, posted by kiddo on July 22, 2002, at 19:38:47
OK, if anyone is still reading this thread... I was raised Independent Missionary Baptist. This church is not part of the Southern Baptist Convention. I don't think the ministers attended seminary school. They usually had day jobs and preached on the side and lived in a very modest parsonage. The attendance was probably 50-70 people for Sunday morning service.
My Dad never went with us, but Mom took my brother and me every time the doors were open. This was EVERY Sunday morning, EVERY Sunday night and EVERY Wednesday night. Then there were revivals about twice a year, which were "prayer meetings" (like Wed. night) every night for a week. I got quite a LARGE dose of religion. I saw a few hypocrites. But mostly, I am an independent thinker, and I never believe something just because the preacher said so, so this type of church never appealed to me much. And the "force feeding" I got didn't make that any better. I suppose I should have studied the Bible and made my own conclusions, but I guess I was never interested enough for that.
When I went to college, I quit church, and I don't go even now. HOWEVER, if I had kids, I would feel obligated to take them to church (on Sunday mornings), to give them an upbringing at least similar to my own, because I think I have turned out OK. I think church USUALLY gives kids a pool of social possibilities (i.e. friends) with similar values. And it gives them a basis on which to build solid morals and ethics.
I am glad that I was exposed to the Bible as a child. I am a bit jaded about religion, however. I don't consider myself religious, but REVERENT. I believe there is a higher power who is interested in us, but who is pretty HANDS-OFF. This may annoy some of you, but I believe that evolution happened and happens (I am a biologist) but that evolution is just the tool that God used to "CREATE". I am sort of ambivalent about Heaven and Hell. I can't imagine a just God would send people around the world who are Buddhist, Muslim, etc. to Hell just because they were not born in a Christian nation.
So- there are my 2 cents. MAL
poster:Mal
thread:640
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20020715/msgs/912.html