Yea. The church issue really bothers me. I am not trying to be opportunist, it is just that I keep social ties through the church.

My beliefs lie somewhere between a United Methodist and a Missionary Baptist. I feel that the values as presented by the family of origin are very important to keep. It's not that I bandy about and go "Look here, we need to force conservative people to do xy or z." No No. It is just that the fringe people need to be able to live their lives just as mainstream people do. It doesn't matter what I think of a certain group of people, as long as they don't hurt others, I cannot under any estimation tell them that marriage or lifestyle is within my jurisdiction to judge.

To be overtly honest, and I would never tell the people at home this, I am in between a Hindu and a Christian. There are certain evolutionary strains and ways of being that appear to be genetic. I cannot, as the member of a family that is scientific and humanist abandon the notion of asexual humanity or a anonmaly in the gender of people-that someone is born with a male brain and has female bodily items--I cannot simply reject or censure such a person. This is why I keep the *envelope* just a bit open so that I don't get too dogmatic or discriminatory. I feel that this is my duty--not to reject or censure or call moral foul to thse people. I cannot. It is against my family or of origin's ethics. This is a solid part of my identity that the religious folks cannot move. I guess you might say that in this way, I am a "Star Trek" Christian.