General Discussion

can't imagine the future. But honestly, what they have done to the Christian religion is sacrilegious, and it will come back to haunt them. People (especially young people) are looking for authenticity of experience. They aren't willing (for the most part) to accept dogma just because it's what's always been taught. That's why you have more Seekers today... more people who count themselves as spiritual but not religious... more people exploring alternative religions beyond Christianity. Or even in Christianity, exploring the mystical side of the religion, rather than the dogmatic "thou shalt not's"... But keep up with their bastardization of the religion, and especially if the NAR and Dominionists and other fundamentalists push their versions down everyone's throat, and when the pendulum swings back again, they may find out what persecution actually feels like. Tina (Smith?) may one day long for the days when she could get on her high horse and decide who deserves a marriage license and who doesn't.

I hope it doesn't come to that, but I can definitely see a backlash to Xtianity coming. Not just Xtianity, but any of the religions that push the fundamentalist viewpoint. And I can't think of one that doesn't have a fundamentalist sect. I long for the day when each religion is considered just as valid as any other for the general population, and specifics are kept to within the sect and individual. I don't know if we'll ever get there, but it's a nice thought that perhaps tolerance, exploration, and understanding could take hold. I used to be that way, and I'll have to work to get there again. The Xtianists have pretty much turned me around 180 degrees; wanting to give them a taste of what they've subjected everyone else to over these past decades. Like I said, I have to work on that, myself. This past decade has brought out the worst in many of us who never thought we'd cross those lines, and never had a desire to cross them.