sojourner7

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)

My Pastor had explained that in Paul's time, the women and men sat separated so women would ask their husbands questions from where they sat and it got loud. I don't know about all of what you said. Not saying you're wrong but sometimes you have to take context into account.

I think that attending church is a good habit and is helpful and a blessing. We are to gather with other believers, that is true. But it is ok to stay home when you don't feel good. It is ok to go on vacation according to work/school schedules. We live on grace. But I always do better when I attend church regularly and it is good to go there and help others. It can't always be about me.

....my brother, kind and good.

"Forty or 50 years ago, it was almost a form of deviance not to be religious," he said. "When you take away that external form of motivation, people either drop away or they find their own kind of motivation." I think that is probably the key thing-peer pressure! The more permissible something is, the more it catches on. I think that the general culture in the US considers it admirable to "do your own thing" in regard to spirituality and blending different philosophies seems popular too. Kind of a spiritual buffet approach. Steph