Faith Education (was -RE: [HPFGU-OTChatter] the Eight Days of Chanukah)

[Potterfanme]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Laura Ingalls Huntley 
<lhuntley at f...> wrote:
> P.P.P.S. Uh...so, okay.  You caught me.  I'm from Maine -- I've 
never 
> ever *met* a Southern Baptist, so I'm sure someone out there is 
going 
> to try to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about or what 
> they're like.  And...um...I guess I don't.  *shrugs* But let's not 
try 
> to fight intolerance with intolerance, okay?


I couldn't help but giggle....alot!  I am a Heinz 57 when it comes to 
religion.  My mothers family is Catholic. My fathers family is 
Methodist.  Because of the conflict, us kids were not strictly taught 
about religion.  If we decided we wanted to go to church, Dad would 
take us drop us off and pick us back up after the service....at the 
Methodist church.  When I got older, I would go to whichever church 
my friends would go to.  Hence, I went to Catholic, Lutheran, 
Presbyterian, Baptist and other Methodist churches.  What I noticed 
was that although the structure of the services was quite different, 
the sermons all were amazingly similar.

Then I moved from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale.  In Chicago, there was a 
Catholic church on every corner, a Synagogue scattered few and far 
between and the other religions in between.  In Ft. Lauderdale there 
was a Synagogue on every corner and Catholic Churches were few and 
far between as well as the other faiths.  My children also did not 
have school for the Jewish holy days.  Being a room mother in Florida 
took on a whole new meaning since I had to quickly learn about the 
Jewish faith.

Then we moved to North Carolina.  The bible belt.  Here there is a 
Baptist Church on every corner.  One Catholic church shared by 3 
counties and the other faiths scattered about.

I choose the church I attend by the minister or pastor who can hold 
the congregations attention.  Who's words touch me.  Granted they are 
only human and once in a while it is just droning sound but there is 
nothing like a good minister/pastor that can relay a message.

The religion that I admire the most is the Catholic religion for 
their formality.  I (for reasons unknown to me) quake if a priest or 
nun comes near me.  Please don't let them speak to me as I turn into 
a babbling idiot.  For these reasons and since there just aren't any, 
I don't go to Catholic church.

We also have several Mormons here.  I have had the pleasure of 
becoming friends with several people who go to these churches and am 
learning a little about their religion. 

Basically, the point of all this rabble is that I have found that 
there are some who feel their religion is the *only* true religion.  
Then there are most who simply beleive in their savior, no matter 
what his name, and strive to live their lives accordingly.  The only 
thing that I have a hard time tollerating is someone who tries to 
force their beliefs on me. 

Also, from what I have seen here in the South, a true Southern 
Baptist church is nothing like the northern version of a Southern 
Baptist church.

Susan--who really does wish she could get through a Christmas Eve 
midnight service without drowning everyone around her.