I'm with Mimi and Grog and Tattiefritter, though I was raised in a church other than the Catholic. I was put off by the hypocrisy of a group of people who preached and espoused a philosophy of love but often didn't exercise it, and who sanctioned the inequality of women. Though I wasn't always able to articulate these dissatisfactions with the church, I think I had an inkling of them from an early age. Still, I loved my grandmother, and she loved the church, so I went, and for a while I really got into the spirit of it--I was baptized at the age of 12, being dunked by the pastor into cold, murky water and coming up feeling like everything after that would be all right. I was so trusting and took everything about church teachings so literally.

But when I got older, at some point I realized that my "close personal relationship" with the church, that I grew up learning to cultivate, was pretty much one-sided. I won't go into details--but now I ride my bike on Sunday mornings and find better things to do with my Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings. I find joy in the world and the people around me.

Sorry if I've shared too much, but this topic hits a nerve.