I was raised Fundamentalist Christian. I know you all know stories, but here's mine:

[wnylib]

86. I agree. Any one who comes up with something like that

deserves to be laughed at and mocked.

My own experience with religion has, for me, been more positive. I've encountered individuals who were cold, bigoted, and cruel in their beliefs. Sometimes it was due to things taught in their church. Sometimes it was their own personal interpretation that their church did not teach. So I'd hold it against the person but not their church.

I grew up in a mainstream Protestant denomination. My neighborhood as a child was very predominantly Roman Catholic. I was often told by playmates that my religion was false and I'd go to hell if I didn't convert. By the time we were in junior and senior high, most of them no longer parroted what some of the old nuns and priests had told them.

I remember that, in my teens, I told the pastor of my church that I could not literally agree with or believe everything that I read in the Bible. He said that I didn't need to and should consider the context of the times for some things and consider others as symbolic or "lesson stories" whose message was more important than the literal story. Several of the kids in the church's youth group also went to my school, so the youth group was a fun social experience for us as well as a lesson on caring about people and being active in community service. We sang Christmas carols for people in nursing homes or confined to their own houses. We visited a children's home for kids who had been removed from their homes for various reasons. The purpose was to make friends and be a positive, caring influence in their lives, but NOT with religious talk or pamphlets. The goal was to find common interests and just be friends to kids who had few of them. We also had fund raisers for various causes and met sometimes strictly for our own social events, like beach parties and picnics

No hellfire and damnation. Just a lot of "do unto others," "love is the greatest commandment," and "What you do to the least of these, you do to me." Also, take stands for social justice and act on them. We were specifically taught to never assume or say that other people were condemned for their religion or lack of it. We were told that it was God's business, not ours.

My first husband was Catholic. His family was fanatical about it, especially his mother. I was constantly told that I "had to" convert, that I was destroying my husband's soul. They alternated between patronizing attempts to teach me the "true faith" and sharply critical attacks on me as pagan, heathen, and generally inferior.

And yet, I've also known Catholics whose values and spirituality are admirable. Two that I don't know personally but respect are Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.