I’m reminded of the relations between the faiths in the small town where I grew up.
It was over 50 years ago. I was raised United Methodist, we didn’t call ourselves “evangelicals”, we were simply “Methodist”. Jewelry, makeup and dancing were all works of the devil - until the preacher’s kids hit their teenage years, then it was acceptable. There was little agreement between Protestant religions, and none between Protestant and Catholic. Our church looked down on the Presbyterians, we believed in free will, the Presbyterians believed in 100% complete predestination - to the point that we were nothing but puppets and God was pulling our strings. Baptists believed only full immersion was true baptism. We took our religion seriously and it was the cause of a number of after school fights. Protestants were taught that Catholics were idol worshippers, after all - they had statues (idols) in their church and actually prayed to (or through) them.
The bickering was why I left the Church as soon as I was old enough to assert independence.
When we moved back a dozen years ago some things had not changed. It wasn’t as wide spread as before, but the small church beside our house was very “old line”. They didn’t claim affiliation with any denomination, considering themselves independent Christians. The big thing that shocked me was their attitude toward education. Less was better. My wife was welcome and given the job of childcare during services. I have a bachelor’s degree and it was made clear I wasn’t welcome.
“The big thing that shocked me was their attitude toward education. Less was better. My wife was welcome and given the job of childcare during services. I have a bachelor’s degree and it was made clear I wasn’t welcome.” —> Interesting. Did you ever find out why exactly? Apologies if you have already answered this later on in the thread.