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I thought of posting my story in the "Have you ever been tempted to join the fundamentalist" thread, but I wasn't sure it quite fit. So this is my first thread on my own here.
I became a Christian in 1972 after fussing around with several other religions (notably Buddhism) plus a lot of sex, booze, drugs and rock and roll. I voted for McGovern that year so I was liberal and a Christian, maybe that counts as "liberal Christian".
A few months later I started studying the Bible with a friend who was a Jehovah's Witness. I was baptized as a JW in 1973, a few months after I graduated from College. JW's are not doctrinally fundamentalists, and in fact many of their practices are dangerous and/or controlling. They believe in the immenent end of the world and practice an extreme form of shunning for anyboy that deviates from their standards. In 1988 my wife and began recognizing it as a cult, and formally left in the spring of 1989.
I still consider myself a Christian, but as a result of my experience I tend to take a very moderate view of those that find God (or whatever floats their boat) in some other path. This history tends to color all my comments on religion. For one thing, when you're disparaging fundamentalists, most of you have no idea how bad it can get.
Comments welcome
Sneaky
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