Is there such a thing as a 'moderate' Christian or Moslem or Jew (whichever)?

Question

Do you feel that you can either believe the fundamental principles of your religion OR not believe them?
With so much debate amongst the different religions about whether or not this or that is a sin (premarital sex, abortion, homosexuality, gambling, divorce etc.) I wonder if it is the case that you are either all in OR all out?

Answer 1

I was raised a Catholic and attended Catholic school for 10 years. Religion was a regular subject. What was taught to me by American Catholics during the 1950s and 1960s was that sin was measured by self and not God.
Quite a gap existed at that time between the teachings of the pope in Rome and the Catholic church in America. So many rigid rules came from Rome. Priest here in the states were telling their congregations that it was up to the individual to decide for themselves what was sinful and what was not.
As a result of those changing times, the Catholic religion in America became quite moderate. So much so that other Christian sects think American Catholics are just a bunch of pagan sinners.

Answer 2

Yes, there is such thing as moderates, typically (at least in Christianity) because they do not believe that everything in the Bible should be taken literally. Moderates may not hold all of the beliefs of fundamentalists of the religion, and typically, at very least, do not believe that they should impose the beliefs of their religion on other people's lives.

Answer 3

I think Reform Judaism meets your definition of "moderate," as does Universalist Unitarianism (and a few other denominations) for Christianity.

Answer 4

Some say they are moderates. Not all have studied their faith to the point of knowing. Some just go by what is told to them, and they never study for themselves.