I've been an active member of a church for 20 years and, after listtning to Harry Browne's "Rule Your World", I am now learning how to think for myself. In my view, the scriptures (and religion) are full of contradictions. I think they have been useful to me as a "crutch" for guidance on good social behavior, but I am beginning to think that they are no longer necessary. It is quite liberating, actually. Now I can rely on reason instead of "faith". Faith is what you also need in order to believe in Santa Claus. Is there a Santa Claus? I don't know. Is there a God? I don't know. The real question is "what is the relevance?" What I do know is that I can rely on the laws of nature which have their own way of rewarding "good" behavior and punishing "bad" behavior. As a bonus I get to shed all of the fear and guilt. I've slowly come to realize that, for me, relying on prayer and faith can be downright dangerous. Especially when one ignores the laws of nature and only looks to faith and prayer to deal with their problems. Of course, this is just my experience - which is all I have to work with.