The "Fun" Before The Fundamentalism
I did not grow up in a fundamentalist family. My religious background was a hodgepodge of experiences: Catholic, Episcopal, Charismatic, Assemblies of God, Church of God, and last but certainly not least, Baptist. My religious training consisted of regular church attendance, intermittent bible studies with my mother and two younger sisters, attending classes for First Communion and eventually attending a Catholic school in the third grade. There wasn't any pressure to memorize scripture, the Catholic church seemed to focus more on its traditions and rituals than actually knowing what the bible says. To this day I can still recite most of the prayers and responses I learned at such a young age, it just goes to show the power of indoctrination. My mother didn't become "born again" until I was eight, which was about the same time I got "saved" during vacation bible school at the local Baptist church. After our conversion, we began a...