While I left Catholicism as a literal child because it was unpersuasive and gormless even to a ten-year-old, I stayed away because of the deviant criminality and the sick hold it had on people, thanks to a tradition of institutionalized threats, guilt and fear mongering. Later, of course, I noticed the way Natives and women and out gay people were abused and oppressed by this curiously all-male hierarchy of Catholicism. Nonetheless, I certainly understand the desire for acceptance and fellowship a church/temple/mosque can provide. I just can't bear the other costs of being involved in a monotheism for the sake of what a social club could provide. About the only benefit I retain is a Jesuitical approach to debate and a deep understanding of the jokes on "Father Ted".