**PeterJ.** No, I don't believe that I belong to the one true church, because I don't believe any church should or can claim that. We are all pilgrims in this world, a world well beyond our human comprehension. Catholicism claims to unravel its primary mysteries, as do many conservative Protestants. I am content to live with wonder and in awe, journeying by faith and not by knowledge.. Harry Emerson Fosdick once said: "I can only believe in a God I cannot understand." I am interested in what others believe and, in general, respect differences. The trouble I have is with groups that claim that they alone have the truth (like many Catholics, Protestants and Muslims) and insinuate that people like me are misguided, prideful. rebellious, heretical, have an inferior faith, etc.
**Ryeis**. True, millions of people find comfort in a faith that is essentially monarchial, not unlike the monarchies of medieval times. The Papacy resembles that and seems to be modeled after the Roman emperor tradition. People like me, however, like the freedom to check things out, even 'dabble' in heresies if you will. I have changed my mind on a few theological matters over the years and need that freedom to do so. Once I was heavily oriented toward Quakerism, and I still love the Society of Friends. Now I have moved more toward mainsteam liberal Protestantism, the variety that believes in a 'big tent' and welcomes all those who seeks to follow Christ. This includes everybody from conservative Baptists to those who hold on to Christianity by a thread, such as, say, many Unitarians. I appreciate the freedom to have vigorous discussions of belief without feeling compelled to believe what I may find simply unbelieveable. What some may see as confusion, I see as diversity, and I like it.
**wisdomseeker**. Interesting that you quote one of the verses that many cite against veneration of Mary. As I recall, when Mary appeared and Jesus was told his mother was outside, he asked "Who is my mother?" etc. Some suggest that this indicated that Jesus did not elevate his mother to the status she gradually received within Catholicism. We all honor Mary, of course, but so often she seems to rival Jesus for top spot in Catholic churches. As for seeking the truth, I do that continuously, but as indicated above I live by faith and not by all those finer points of theology that Catholicism requires its communicants to accept. Theology so often gets in the way of honest inquiry and Christian unity.
And, by the way, a couple other points. I have read the church fathers and found much wisdom as well as some foolishness in them (because of their time frame). I love the scriptures but I am not scriptura sola as there are things in the Bible, beginning with the first eleven chapters of Genesis, that I view as a mixture of myth, legend and history. I admire much about Catholicism, such as its health facilities, and such people as St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa, John XXIII, and Fr. Richard McBrien of Notre Dame (whose column I read weekly). I think Pius IX was abominable with his "Syllabus of Errors" which, among other things, flatly condemned democracy and the separation of church and state, and I find it absolutely weird that someone like Padre Pio would become a saint! He claimed that he could levitate and bilocate among other strange assertions. Give me a break!
God bless Catholics and Protestants and all people of sincere faith in God. May religion become a bridge and not a barrier, as it too often is today.
) is that Protestants believe or tend to believe all (most… some of) the stuff other protestants (writers) say about the RCC; they don’t always want to read stuff written by real Catholics…
… never officially left the Church, but… that unofficial leaving can be pretty bad too…) 
:byzsoc: