Growing up in the south, the majority of the people I met were either Catholic or Baptist, and reconnecting with some of them years later has been... an experience. Occasionally I'll have an enlightening and thought provoking conversation with one of these people, but more often than not I am met with hostility, anger, and a wave of accusations or derrogatory terms.
One such example was when I mentioned to an old friend that I joined and been ordained by the ULC in a conversation. I explained to him that while I now held all religions in the same esteem, I still found myself most closely identifying with the Coptic Christian Church. Instantly the conversation took a turn from lighthearted catching up to a frantic attempt to "save" my soul. The turning point of the conversation is when I reminded my friend of the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) at which the pope of the Coptic Church of Alexandria was exiled at the wishes of the Emperor. I encouraged him to see that of all the existing forms of Catholicism bent to the will of the Roman Emperor during this council with the exception of the See of Alexandria, and if that was the case, the Coptic Christian church was the closest to the original will of Christ. Naturally at this point he fired back with the Monotheism argument to which I replied... " So what is a bigger affront to God? An Emperor forcing changes to Christianity , or a disagreement over how to more narrowly define Christ's Divinity."
Hours of debate got us nowhere and left both of us feeling like the other completely missed the mark. My friend's point was that Emperor Marcian called for the council because of his piety, and that the churches of the east were simply heresy (including the Orthodox Church of the East.) My whole point was how can a Christian say their sect is right and all others are a heresy when there have been several formal redifinitions of core tenets of the faith... personally I believe if Jesus had thought defining himself was so important, he would have spelled it out for his followers.... clearly it wasn't the message he wanted everyone focusing on.
Many Christians take the teachings of their church and community as the "correct" way of viewing the church, and are eager to damn those they see as different. This doesn't make those who research religion on their own evil, or wrong... just an informed minority, sincerely interested in their faith. Keep an open mind Brothers and Sisters, it is only after we pass from this world that we are truly judged... everything before that is simply speculation and emotion.