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And wherever you find 4 Episcopalians, you'll find a 5th.
We always referred to them as “Whiskey-palians”
I agree.
I'm an atheist now, but was raised Episcopal. I still respect the Episcopal church for its good social work, if not for its metaphysical theology.
Just in case, I wanted to point out that in the United States (and elsewhere) there is a difference between the Episcopal Church (which is part of the global Anglican communion) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA, which is not). The ACNA split about a decade ago because they don’t like the queers...which is something I learned the hard way when I visited. The Episcopal church has been good to me, where I feel like I can be out as a queer person, but also out as an agnostic and purely cultural Christian. I told my pastor, and she just sort of shrugged and said there were other agnostics and atheists in our congregation and she just asked me to do what she asks if everyone, which is respect everybody. It’s a very progressive congregation that talks openly about queer issues (it helps that the pastor is queer), racial justice, rethinking sexual ethics, and everything else. Basically what I’m trying to at is their great. And I guess I’m in love because growing up in a conservative denomination really messed me up and spending time in a progressive space has really helped me recognize and work through all the harm and hangups that come from being forced to conform at a young age to weird dogma on sex and identity and everything else.
“Im an episcopalian, which is catholic lite. Same religion, half the guilt.” — Robin Williams
The Unitarian Universalists, while not explicitly Christians, are the least bad in my opinion. If they don’t count , then I’d say the Quakers
I think one of the benefits of Catholicism (in my experience) is how ritualistic it is. A lot of the Catholics I know are mostly Easter/Christmas mass-goers, and go through the rituals of being Catholic while not shoving their faith on others because it's not...I'm having a hard time thinking of how to describe it. I feel like non-denominational/evangelical, etc, are so much more about your personal relationship with Jesus, and sharing that/converting others, that it just seems way more consuming of your life and personhood, I guess?
Not that there aren't uber-devout Catholics out there, etc. Just in my experience, a lot of it more seemed kind of like a club you were in and took part of sometimes, rather than a faith that took over your life like I saw with friends who belonged to other religions.
And I am totally not ignoring the corruption, views, etc, of the church by any means. Just my personal experience with growing up Catholic vs what I saw/see of my friends and their denominations.
Honestly, I grew up Christian and don't know much about denominations and offshoots, aside from the rumors/gossip I heard.
But what turns me off from Christianity is the thought of a loving God sending people to hell for their sins. It seems really counterintuitive to the message that the Bible sends about loving your neighbor as yourself etc.
Along with that, the belief that LBGTQIA+ people are going to hell for loving someone is insanity and I couldn't ever devote myself to something that spreads that belief. I went through a Christian phase a couple years ago and swiftly ended when I read the Bible through adult eyes and saw what it was saying. If the God from the Bible is real, in the ways I interpreted it, I would rather go to hell than be on the "opposing" side of a theological battle who I don't align with.
Reminds me of this quote
I honestly am not familiar enough with all the denominations to be able to say for sure, but definitely NOT Baptist, any that are against things like dancing, or any of the strange offshoots. Maybe Quakerism (I think it started as a basis in Christianity, anyway).
Quakers are mostly chill.
Quakers. They're pacifist, have no priest , minister , official leader of the pack. They read scripture but dont proselytize. Instead of a sermon they sit quietly unless someone feels the spirit to speak. I like what they do and think they're decent shits. Way better than most
Non-denominational.
That's sometimes code for fundamental evangelical.
I disagree. Many NDs are splinter churches formed from disgruntled pastors of Baptist, Assembly of God, Pentecostal, etc. Oftentimes, the doctrine is mish-mashed and a whole big mess. It is another word for evangelical.
Source: grew up ND and when I asked my parents what religion we were (because the church sign didn’t explain like the other ones in town did) I was told “We are Charasmatic.”
Like, what the fuck does that even mean? Figured out as a kid it was a farce and not for me.
Not sure about your region, but where I am 9 of every 10 non-denominational churches are just Baptist churches that’re too afraid to call themselves Baptist
Unitarians are weirdly unchristian.
I tend to get along best with UCC and Unitarian Universalists, though calling the latter "Christian" is a little disingenuous.
I find “fundamentalists” and those that follow a “literal” teaching of the Bible to be the most unsavory. How can you take a “literal” interpretation of a series of parables? They are scary.
I grew up Lutheran and didn’t realize it was basically liberal compared to baptist/fundamentalist. Traditional hymns and communion, with an upbeat sermon that was basically a weekly pep talk. No doom and gloom, no right wing politics, no fire and brimstone scare tactics, no raising your arms in the air and crying... We had a gay couple in the congregation and it didn’t bother anybody. Plus, every year we’d come up with a list of grievances and nail it to the Catholic Church door down the road. (That’s my favorite Lutheran joke, Haha.)
The Lutheran church in our hometown always had the vibe of being the "cool" church to me as a kid, haha. Went on some summer camp trips with friends in the church and it was always a great time. As you said, pretty upbeat and not overly preachy or doom & gloom.
Can only speak from my experience dealing with them, but Mennonites seem to be the least offensive sect, and as a bonus they do good things around the world, and as afaik don't try to convert anyone.
United and Quakers I would say are the best. Anglican depending on where you are and which church it is.
Anglican.
Managed to grow up Presbyterian without too much trauma. Plus I got to watch my youth minister do verbal gymnastics trying to explain Calvinistic predestination.
Lutheran, Presbyterianism, Methodism
Lutheran here. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, ELCA, is the most tolerant and liberal. Two other main sub-groups are the Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Synod. The Missouri Synod denies even other Lutherans communion unless they are also Missouri Synod, and the Wisconsin Synod is worse.
I would agree Episcopalianism is the most rational of the "traditional" denominations. it's basically diet Catholicism that doesn't hit you over the head with the Hell thing and is not outwardly hostile towards gay people. But there are definitely nontraditional alternatives that blow it out of the water on the rationality front.
Hinduism is closest to truth
What truth?
During my last few years of being a Christian, I was part of the anabaptist tradition. It’s the same branch of Christianity as the Mennonites, except embracing technology and being pretty chill. Love Jesus, love your neighbour, don’t get too religious. Bruxy Cavey is the most famous teaching pastor in this movement.
They’re pacifists who believe in the separation of church and state. They’re basically the opposite of American Evangelicals.
Methodists tend to be rather pragmatic which I regard well compared to evangelical strains of chrisianity. Certainly there is less finger pointing than with many Baptist groups.
Unfortunately Methodists are also boring as can be.