I'm curious, since the southern part of Ireland is mostly Catholic, do they also have herds of rabid lunatics going on about how evolution shouldn't be taught in schools? Catholicism has its own slew of problems but at least the official position is that evolution is accepted fact.
I think it might be the Protestants, as in the DUP and the like, who are the backward ones over there. The Anglican Church (of which the Churchbof Ireland is a member) also officially recognises evolution IIRC.
Glos we have a confusingly mixed bag over here. There are countless denominations and splinter groups, each of them with their own take about the rules of righteousness. We have large numbers of adherents for the various major brands. Baptists, with perhaps the largest number of churches, are generally considered as the more uptight of the major league players. They are followed in terms of narrow mindedness by the Presbyterians. Our Methodists are generally a little bit more laid back but they too can get a bit obnoxious. Episcopals, I believe, are using doctrine similar to the COE. Catholics you know about. Mormans are plentiful, wealthy and powerful. Jehovah Witnesses are way out on the edge of reality but they are to be admired, even respected, for their sense of co-operation and single minded effort to build churches and spread the word. They are also a pain in the ass when they continue to knock on ones door.
There a countless
outfits church groups that have invented their own kind of religion, mostly in the general direction of Christianity. Our Pentecostals are seriously fucked up because they believe in the rapture, speaking in tongues, and other stuff that might cause one to suspect them to be on a permanent opiod high. Their churches sometimes have a layer of sawdust on the floor because some of the congregation become so hyped during the services that they roll around on the floor. They are impolitely called "holy Rollers". It is not at all unusual for one of the holy rollers to achieve an orgasm during their flights of passion. Whats not to like about that? And why would you not want to go to church again really soon? Getting your rocks off without offending God or Jesus has to be the summum bonum.
It is easy for a would be preacher to find that god has "called" him...or her. They can then start their own church of whatever persuasion they might like. It can be called some clever, or not so clever name, like The Church of Everlasting Faith or some such. Invent your own title. These are not affiliated with the major brands. Some of our most wealthy pastors have taken this path to riches. The aspiring pastor needs to be an exceptional marketer and pitch man (or woman) to pull off the big dollar scam that he wishes to perpetrate. We have some megachurches, not at all affiliated with the major brand names. They have thousands of regular attendants who lay some serious bread (money) on the church and thus the pastor. He/she does not need a theological education or degree of any kind. All the while the churches that they have invented, and let us give the hucksters credit for cleverness and business acumen, are given a tax exempt status. The property as well as the preacher person gets a special consideration for tax relief. ......................Oh Shit I have gone off the deep end here about a subject that can influence me to get all in a dither. ..........I will try to control myself as soon as I can get to the liquor cabinet. What the hell it must be five o'clock somewhere.
The shorter answer to the question is that we have a lot of different church deals going on, hundreds of them. Every one of them claiming to be the only one that has discovered the greatest, most god inspired spiritual truths..
Megachurch: an edifice that may have a seating capacity of ten thousand or more, and which are so busy on Sundays that extra assignment traffic police are required to see that traffic is moving with some degree of efficiency and order. See Joel O'steen and others of the type. There are more than a few.
