I'm bored so I'm gonna talk about this.

[quote]Well yeah, that's one of the things that makes it unreliable. If you had a mathematical formula to solve a simple algebra equations and it gave you tens of thousands of possible answers, you'd probably call it unreliable. Same goes with the various denominations, the very fact that there are so many variations means that the religion is essentially useless if you're trying to find the right answer. Their differences range from major issues like papal authority or which books and translation of the Bible to use to minor ones like interpretations of certain passages or matters of ceremony. Some denominations are so similar that it seems pointless for them to even be separate. It's all ostensibly the same God and religion, but then again, if you have two identical make and model cars but they each have a different stereo system, are they really the same car? If you believe in the religious stuff you'd probably say they're all worshipping the same God in different ways, but as an atheist I'd say they've modified the character to suit their own purposes so it's kind of like pondering whether a character from a certain TV show is the same exact character when they're written into a fanfic where they do things they never would on the show.[/quote]

The general perception of debatheists is such that 'Look at all these different denominations, all claiming to be the only way, how silly that is!' Naturally I came armed with a response, and once again it's bibbibbibblish. 

[quote=First Corinthians]Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.[/quote]

In other words (man, you people and your INSTANT demand of summary, weak! Read it! It's right there!) In other words, the different denominations make us stronger, not weaker. If the Catholic Church represents the eye and says to me (a mostly-baptist) "SEE! You have no pope! You're a fool!" then he's missing the point; the Church is men who follow the pope, and men who don't, and men who believe women can preach, and women who believe they shouldn't, and gay men, and homophobes, and more. The church is everyone who believes, no matter the nuance of that belief. It is not the rigid black-and-white mold so often imposed by those who don't really understand, but try to define. We're a body. We have hands and feet and eyes and toes and gall bladders and vomit reflexes.