Christians are a crazy, mixed-up bunch.

They talk about all belonging to one Church (mind you, they say it's invisible!), yet they belong to hundreds of separate organizations, most of which call themselves Churches. Some of these claim to be the "One True Church." some reckon that they are in agreement with others on essentials, but even so they don't join together except at conferences. Some use dead languages, some the vernacular. Some have priests to run their shows (some weekly, some daily), others rely on keen part-timers. Some chant, some sing, some remain silent. Some run their services according to formulae in a book, others rely on one man to think something up, yet others expect all to be inspired. Some keep you out unless you go through the mystic initiation, others ask nothing of you. Some just have their pageantry, some have instructors rather than dancers, some employ no one. Some are respectable, some aren't. Some are interested in public issues like the All White Tour, and others keep themselves to themselves.

Other religions have their splinter groups, too, of course. There is the big split of Buddhism into Hinayana and Mahayana and even a seemingly monolithic faith like Mahomedanism is split into Sunnis and Shi'is with the Sufis and Druses and Be Shara Dervishes and many other sects on the fringes of these two warring orthodoxies.