I went to an old, stately looking church in Concord, MA a year or two ago. It was a craft show or something, and I went with my wife.
What I saw there really startled me, and, well...horrified isn’t really the right word, but...I had never been in a church like that before.
It LOOKED like a church...had all the trappings of a church, had posters all over the place indicating a lot of interaction and engagement of youth, but...it wasn’t what it appeared.
My wife was looking at jewelry and crafts, so I was perusing the posters on the wall, and there was one, a list of guiding principles, bigger than the rest, aimed at kids and one of the numbered principles said: “Don’t let anyone tell you what is right and what is wrong. You are free to decide, it is your own personal decision.”
I stood there for a long time looking at that and wondering about it. Don’t let anyone tell you what is right and what is wrong? A “principle” aimed at kids?
As I started really reading stuff, these people didn’t believe in God. They believed in sunshine, flowers. trees and feeling good as God.
I still cannot believe it. Now, I know God is in all of those things, but these people excised God cleanly out of it. It was a real shock to see that.
It was a Unitarian church.