On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:47:35 -0800 joanna <123hop at comcast.net> writes:
> Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> >Who said churches are emancipatory? They tell you to believe
> >improbable things, and are full of commandments, rituals, and
> >prohibitions!
> >
> Have you been to a Quaker meeting lately?
>
> Or sat in meditation?
>
> Or even for that matter, stepped into a Unitarian church?
>
> Just curious.
Alas, the Quakers, Unitarians and Zen Buddhists comprise only a tiny fraction of the religious believers in the US. For most American religionists, religious faith is the demand that one believe all sorts of improbable things and obey non-rational or irrational commandments and prohibitions.