Great and Abominable Church

The great and abominable church... I believe it is referring to the institution itself, not that just one of them is wrong.

Churches seem to tell people what is right and wrong, explain what scriptures mean, and tell them which ones are true. Enlightenment is found by opening up your mind through going on the journey yourself, not by closing your mind by just accepting the answers someone else has found.

Giving back (such as tithing) has become just another bill... we have picked out our afterlife and we now have it on lay-away. Seems silly to me. I don't see God in a church. I see God in people, in plants, in the sky, and even in the workings of my body. God created all of those... man created churches. So, when I give back, I give by showing love to those creations... those representations of God. I'm kind to people I come in contact with, I put my trash in a can rather then out the window of the car, I give my dog a treat and a belly rub. My experience in any one of these things gives me a feeling far superior to any I've ever felt sending a check in the mail to so-and-so church.

Still unconvinced?? Tally up the pro's and con's of religions over the past thousand years. I've looked... and most of what i've seen looks more like men trying to play God rather then men doing God's will.