I have contended for years that although I am a "spiritual" person, I don't believe in "religion" for the same reasons Carrie points out in her post. I find I can't stand the hypocrisy and political aspects associated with religion.

Beyond the divorce issue (which I also had to deal with), my brother, who had never been married before was refused his request to get married in the catholic church we grew up in because his future wife had been married before (not in a catholic faith). The priest insisted she had to file for an annulment for a marriage that lasted less than a year to a man she hadn't seen in years since her divorce.

Years later, in an attempt to "bring Ian up with religion" I joined the Lutheran church only to find myself totally disgusted a couple of years later when the pastor presented a sermon vilifying gay men and women. Not only do I have many friends who are gay, how can anyone call themselves "christian" if they single someone out for their sexual preferences. I never went back.

My father is now a member of the LDS (no, not the ones who still believe in polygamy), I've got cousins who are Jehovah's Witnesses, and friends of various other faiths, and every single one of them have their own hypocrisies.

I've decided I do not need to attend services to feed my spiritual self. I do believe in a higher power (at 15, I suggested to our priest that God created evolution). But I've yet to find a "religion" that satisfies me.

Yeah, not to call out the catholic church or anything, but I have a similar experience to the one you described above, Linda. My Dad wanted to get remarried in a catholic church and they required that he have his previous marriage annulled. I guess it didn't matter that it was a 32 year marriage that bore four children.

That's why the captain of the boat is marrying us.