Discussion: AHG...

...=?

American Heritage Girls. They are like the Girl Scouts except they make their own cookies and they are decidedly Christian.

A good group of kids, but I would feel much more comfortable working with them if I could wear a t-shirt that said, "Impure. Atheist. Lesbian." on it, so that they knew that there are nice people out there who think differently than they are told to think.

Cristina +1

:)

Cristina +2

I remember years ago, on a canoeing trip in the Boundary Waters, with a bunch of friends from my church youth singing group (yes, I know...), about halfway through the week telling my canoe mates that I'm an atheist. One of the girls reacted badly and didn't want to talk to me. I told her, I'm the same person you liked yesterday. You just know one more bit of information about me, that you don't like. She warmed up a bit but I think it was too much for her to process. Maybe ultimately it helped her see people differently though.

FWIW, I'm a reasonably devout Catholic.

...Who doesn't see anything Christ-like in the behavior of many "Christians" (which includes Catholics, since Catholicism IS a Christian religion; and so is Mormonism).

I was raised Catholic, with an extended family that considers daily mass attendance totally normal. I don't recall ever being taught any of the hateful or anti-scientific things that the small but very vocal members of the influential Christian Right seem to believe. It's one of those areas that I think is hard to approach. I think you just have to do your thing and chisel away at the misperceptions. I didn't get the t-shirt, I think that would have been more like jackhammering.

Raised Protestant; it was all about the Love.

Back when I was a practicing Catholic, I usually went to the Easter Vigil, hence freeing up my Easter Sunday morning for things like orienteering. Just sayin'.

That's why we're all still practicing :-).

There's a big difference between following the principles associated with the teachings attributed to Jesus, and subscribing to the rules of any of the various organized religions that have attached themselves to that brand.

Amen.