[Illbay]

I don't mean they aren't heart-felt: Many are.

I have observed that many of them have a sort of "cognitive dissonance" about their religion that allows them to live one way during the week, and another on Sunday.

One example would be the Baptist girl a few years ago, who was the rental agent at some apartments I was looking at.

She told me all about her boyfriend, how they'd met at Church, did Church stuff, blahblahblah, they were living together and might get married, but now that she had gotten to know him he didn't seem enough of a "go-getter" to her, but she was going to give it a chance, etc.

Or the youth minister in Alabama, who would sleep with his girlfriend from time to time (though they wouldn't live together, that would be "wrong") but kept it quiet so the kids wouldn't know about it. They were going to get married as soon as she finished accounting school and they could afford it.

Like I said: I have lived among those people all my life, and find their attitudes quite humorous.

[Gurn]

Since you find our attitudes so amusing, why don't you tell us which "sect" you call your own?

[Quix]

Like I said,

THERE ARE PLENTY OF EXTRENSIC BELIEVERS IN ANY PHILOSOPHICAL GROUP.

And I have met very few good churches, balanced, kind, loving, Scriptural, well led in humility and servant-heartedness etc. OF ANY DENOMINATION OR BELIEF STRUCTURE.

Most churches of every persuasion I've been in are mixtures of basket cases in this or that area--and usuallys everal areas. I have every reason to believe your sect to be the same even without knowing what it specifically is.

The phenomenon of putting one's belief system on like a coat for Sunday for business purposes or whatever is common for a variety of reasons in all philosophical orientations.

I also noted, you may have had a very skewed sample in your life experiences.

Though my conviction is that your biases have skewed your observations.

I had an A of G pastor once who noted that if a hypocrite was between God and you, he was closer to God than you were.

[Sloth]

Actually the apparent hypocrisy is quite consistent with their belief in the Calvinist 'once saved, always saved' doctrine... they can have their cake and eat it, too.