Not that I mind if others do. I don't even mind them exhorting me to believe as they do . That is the nature of the religious- if they feel they have got it right then they must tell every one.
It is a more subtle thing that I protest-it is the assumption that because I am sitting next to them that I must think exactly as they do about every facet of life. This presumption (in every meaning of the word ) is present at both ends of the spectrum. If you attend a liberal congregation then it is taken as read that you approve of (and demand the approval of others for) practicing homosexuals as priests ; if you attend an evangelical service then your belief in seven days of creation 30,000 or so years ago is taken as read.
The church I want to found is not just a church which allows variance of opinion- I'm sure that is catered for somewhere.I want a church that actively allows you to be hazy about contentious issues that you don't really want to think about. The sign outside would read "Welcome to Saint ...... - a church proudly within the wishy-washy tradition."
You could attend in the happy knowledge that nobody would be signing any schismatic declarations or agitating for any reforms on your behalf.
I know that there are others like me out there. I only have to think of the playwright Allen Bennet, who was asked when in Hollywood to attend a meeting of the American AA . As the introductions went round the circle people stood up and began "Hello I'm X and I'm an alcoholic/drug abuser etc ",giving a precis of their depths of despair and often ending in tears. When they got to Bennett he stood up and said simply "Hello, I'm Allen, I'm British and we don't do this sort of thing" and sat down again.
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