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...my priest. Father Paul was a great man. He knew I didn't fit in and told me that there was a great big world out there. I had been an acolyte for 2 years, but would always ask really tough questions about the Bible. After I left the (Episcopal) Church, I still stopped in to talk to him. He wasn't just influential in my religious views, he helped me get through some tough times.
He was a former life insurance salesman, chain smoker and drank like a fish. He had a thick souther drawl, but I don't recall where he came from originally. Drove a 67 black Impala with a bad muffler and a blue cloud of smoke that followed him everywhere. 
He died of throat cancer when I was in high school. I cried for days.
One of my favorite memories: I asked him why God would punish someone that believed in 'another' God if they were still good people. He laughed and said, "Oh, they're still the same God. In fact, he enjoys all the different ways people worship. I think he likes the ones that sing and dance the most."
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There are still a lot of good priests out there of all stripes and sects. 
I'd have to say it's split equally between the church itself,(Lutheran),and the Country Club we belonged to,whose membership included much of the churches congregation.By age 12 I was thoroughly convinced that raising moneys to be sent millions of miles away to vague,unnamed locales,to feed and clothe "savages",while letting people 4 blocks away live in un-addressed squalor,amounted to a prepaid ticket to Heaven.
Both institutions seemed to reinforce the notion that anyone who didn't look and dress like us,weren't worthy of being in our holy presence,evidenced mainly by the fact that "those people" weren't allowed memberships in either place.Except to care for the lawns,work in the kitchen,bus the tables or clean the pool... again.
For an hour a week,2 hours if we went to Sunday school,everyone was equally deserving of Divine intervention and spiritual wellbeing,though apparently only if they were in attendance in the same building we were in.After services,all bets were off. Catholics were evil,Jewish people were spoken of in whispers that we were too young to hear,or understand. "Colored people" Mexicans,pretty much anybody not lily-white,were all somehow contemptible.Everyone,without fail and unquestioningly,deserved forgiveness,redemption and a second chance...Except those who'd committed ANY crime or were one of those "others".Those people were all going straight to Hell.
My parents,I have to say,never once said or did the things I noticed others doing.Being that my Mom was half Shawnee probably had much to do with that.(I was told in later years that we belonged to the CC and that church for the connections it would give us kids later.Connections I ran from as far and fast as I could.) The others though,after their weekly hour of righteous piety,were on the golf course swearing,blaspheming,condemning those less fortunate,swilling booze and eye fucking each others wives,with me watching all this while caddying for my Dad after church.
After it all,I'm comfortable with the overall message religion offers.The love thy neighbor,don't kill,don't steal,don't lie,don't covet stuff,but the organized religion aspect is a sham...For suckers and the slow witted.It's just another dirty business looking to horde wealth,discriminate and oppress.
