It all seems so clear: The church and its veritable army of devoted adherents. Yet newspapers are still full of stories about abusing priests and sectarianism. A god would take a dim view of any of that stuff, but the whole church is riddled with it and has been for centuries. I reject the church.

The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. ~ William Shakespeare

Should I elect to spend my life remote from sinners I would feel very lonely, for I am as likely to be shunned for being as flawed as the next human person. The good that man does is much more compelling a reason to get to know people, as it is to spend ones time on Internet blogs reminding ones readers that the institutional church is as flawed as any other human populated institution.

I have these words written over my bathroom mirror:

Have no fear of perfection you'll never reach it. ~ Salvador Dali

end

Having rejected “The church”, Dominic, it is surprising that you feel authorized to speak on behalf of “A god”. Where did you get your concept of “A god”? Is it a convenient mental construction that comes in handy when you want apparent authorization for blaming someone for something?

As for “The church” being riddled with abuse and sectarianism, (whatever that means), are you writing from statistics, or bias? The statistics actually show that only a very small proportion of priests are involved – smaller than fathers and uncles, I believe – and it mostly occurred in the 60s, 70s and 80s, when “The church” was caught unprepared for the sexual revolution.