would rather see Christianity practiced in community churches with no hierarchical system?
It sounds like you are assuming there are no churches like this. Well, there are. I attend one. I didn’t even know that was an option before i found the one I am currently a member of. Of course, many of the protestant denominations do have some sort of central organization, but most of them are just for pooling money for missions and other projects. For instance, the Southern Baptist Convention does not control SB churches. The SB churches control the SB Convention. I can understand how you might think all churches are the same after hearing about the abuses in the Catholic church. They are actually responsible for most of the things that atheists hate about all religion. Ever read any books by Rodney Stark? I agree with you completely.
