Comment by Blue Sage on June 20, 2010 at 11:09am

Apparently, there are about 38,000 Christian denominations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations

I was never a Christian, but I guess the reason for so many denominations is that people don't believe the whole bible (fortunately) and there are many contradictions within the bible (so they can't believe the whole thing anyway), therefore they cherry-pick things to believe (if that makes any sense). So, considering the many contradictions, the many possible combinations to choose from, the expected disagreements between religious people on what to pick, and the freedom to start your own church, it's not that surprising that we ended up with so many "denominations".

Comment by Aric on June 20, 2010 at 12:54pm

Reminds me of this joke:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge,
about to jump off. So I ran over and said, "Stop! don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

He said, "Like what?"

I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"

He said, "Religious."

I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

He said, "Christian."

I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

He said, "Protestant."

I said, "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

He said, "Baptist!"

I said, "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He said, "Baptist Church of God!"

I said, "Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed
Baptist Church of God?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God!"

I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879,
or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"

I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

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