I am 70 years old now, and I still remember the day when I was 14, puzzled and disturbed by the contradictions of a Catholic god who had infinite depths of love and forgiveness, but would sentence you to an eternity in hell if you missed Mass on Sunday and didn't confess. I dropped the church at that moment and decided that I would try to live the way that Jesus modeled. Fuck the churches and fuck religion. Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself is my rule. That, and try to leave the world a better place than you found it.