Gary, I was raised in the church, but early on I doubted the doctrine. I absorbed the moral and ethical teaching of Jesus, but I doubted as myth the stories of Samson, of Noah, of David, of Moses. Later I doubted the miracles of Jesus, and I saw no purpose to them except as parables to teach a larger lesson. Finally I could no longer swallow the belief in the Trinity as one God with three aspects. I ask myself, why not just take the lessons on how to live life in peace with my neighbors? Why think I'll go to hell for believing in the scientific explanations of how the world came about? If a god created everything, why not acknowledge that the scientific story is how that god created everything?

Sadly, I have beloved family who think I am damned because I don't believe that mankind was created in one day when Adam and Eve were set into Eden, then cast out for eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, from a tree put in Eden by God, because Satan seduced Eve, who seduced Adam.