I think the center point of my experience with religion is having grown up in a Catholic parish where it turned out the pastor was routinely raping a bunch of my schoolmates, and was doing that for about 20 years, supported by a bishop who paid off victims and moved this guy around when things started getting too hot.. One victim a couple years older than me was so traumatized that a few years ago he just sat down in front of an oncoming train.. And people really trusted this guy.. I was left alone with him, he was in my house, etc..

The whole thing was finally exposed by a subsequent pastor, who has been so outspoken in the whole priest abuse thing that he’s become a total outcast in the Catholic church, not even allowed to say mass… Even he said the church is totally corrupt from the very top at the Vatican and all the way down..

Though I could never really buy into the mystical aspects of the religion (you know, the faith stuff).. I remember as a kid being shocked to realize that other people really did believe it ^_^;

Heh, and beware people who invoke Jesus constantly…