The religious fundamentalism rampant on this globe is doing so much to turn people off to religion. People do not want to be identified with intolerance, judgment, or hypocrisy. Unfortunately, those few in any religion are the ones the media focuses on and that is what sticks in people's minds.

There are some fantastic people around Blogstream who are Christians so there have been quite a few postings and conversations about this topic. I don't want to be too redundant.

Do parents ever consider that it's more or less a child's 'job' to separate from the parent? To rebel? If a parent tries too hard to force a child to do something, it's almost like taking out insurance to guarantee that the child NOT do it.

What comes to mind is the people who really need some spiritual help, such as alcoholics attempting to recover, involuntarily put up a wall against God because of all this fundamentalist baggage.

Sadly, this goes back for centuries. The lessons from God through certain very special human beings are deep and glorious. It's the little people who get in the way.