Reply #31: You said: [View All]

[Lydia Leftcoast]

"...It should make living on this earth a joyous experience of working together and enjoying each others talents, the gifts God gave each of us."

At its best, it does. That's why so many people are still involved with it, even though they aren't required to and in this day and age, would find little community disapproval for being secular.

Someone up the thread referred to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I volunteered there at a joint Lutheran-Episcopal relief center early this year, and it was an almost magical experience, despite the discomforts (150 of us from all over the country sleeping on cots in a school gym and eating mediocre food and getting by with 4 toilets and 4 showers for each gender), We followed a routine of prayer and announcements in the morning, a full day of work, either clearing lots or distributing supplies, and a service in the evening, almost monastic, but there was something compelling about it. Some people had come intending to stay for a week (as my group did) and had ended up staying for months. At the end of the week, I realized that I hadn't even thought about any of my normal problems. A couple of members of our group have gone back once or twice.

This is just one example. There have been many others. My very large parish has a lot of wonderful communities, from the crew that feeds homeless youth every week to the choir to the study groups to the various groups that act on issues such as the environment. By the way, uncloseted GLBT people play a huge role in the parish, including the vestry (governing board).

I'm sorry that some of you have had bad experiences, but saying "We ought to get rid of religion" because you've had bad experiences is like saying, "We ought to get rid of nature" because you've been bitten by mosquitoes.