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Fundamentalist Christians Play by a Different Set of Rules that Defy the Tenets of Their Religion
Today tens-of-millions of Americans will tune in and watch the Super Bowl, and it is certain that most observers are football fans who know the rules and the players, but they will be devoutly polarized depending on the team they support, or bet on to win the grand prize. Football fans understand that although the goal is to win the game by adhering to parameters set in stone and enforced by the officials, each team takes a different approach to winning the big game. There is another Sunday activity across America with a similar goal, winning a contest, but like fan polarization and different team tactics to win the big game inherent in the NFL, there are two completely different approaches to Christianity. However, unlike football, one group of Christians is playing by a different set of rules that defy the tenets of the religion and its adherents’ claim to be followers of Christ.
The issue bifurcating Christians is whether or not they follow the teachings of Jesus Christ clearly laid out in the New Testament, or strictly adhere to the set-in-stone edicts in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) based on ancient Jewish law as uttered by god to Moses. The fundamentalist sect of Christians claim the entire Christian bible dictates their lives as followers of Christ, and yet they follow commandments that contradict everything the Messiah taught in sermons, parables, and his examples to his disciples. What boggles the mind is how it is possible to claim one follows Christ’s teachings while practicing everything he condemned and preached against by picking and choosing aspects of the Old Testament that fit a non-inclusive, judgmental, and non-loving agenda that defines anything other than a follower of Christ.
First, this is not an indictment of Christianity, or those who faithfully follow the teachings of Christ, but it is a condemnation of fundamentalist Christians who actively practice a brand of the faith defined by hate, violence, and deliberate unkindness toward their fellow Americans including other Christians. One thing is certain; Jesus Christ never taught his followers to embrace greed, discrimination, hatred, or judgment, and yet that is precisely what fundamentalist Christians hold near and dear to their hearts as the claim to be followers of Christ. It is true that a major share of the blame is on fundamentalist clergy who lead their flocks down the road to perdition, but with the advent of the modern press and the proliferation of Christian bibles in the population, there is no excuse for a so-called follower of Christ to practice, and promote, hatred of non-compliance to Old Testament edicts.
It is common knowledge that Christ centered his teachings on one simple commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself,” or “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and it covered every conceivable aspect of his message of peace, charity, and love of fellow man. However, fundamentalists reject that simply elegant commandment for the Old Testament’s slaughter, hatred of non-Jews, and Bronze Age edicts not unlike harsh Islamic Sharia Law. There is a reason myriad violent extremist groups claim Christianity as their divine basis for hate and love of guns, greed, and patriotism that defines the conservative movement in America, and it is because their hate drives them to ignore Jesus Christ’s message of love, compassion, and charity that has no place in fundamentalist Christianity. In fact, the fundamentalist sect has more in common with Inquisition era Christianity with a basis in forced compliance, judgment, and punitive actions dealt out at the hands of religious leaders driven to cement their hold on power, wealth, and dominance over people.
Without a definitive number of “real” followers of Christ’s teachings of love, acceptance, and charity, it is impossible to know exactly how many Christians adhere to Christ’s teachings, but doubtful there are tens-of-millions in the population, but one would never know it because they are virtually silent, and that too, is a testament to their “Christianity.” What is problematic, and a mystery, to observers is why moderate, or real, Christians sit quietly on the sidelines while fundamentalists bastardize the faith and portray all Christians as judgmental, hateful, and contradictions of what a true follower of Christ should be. One would think that real followers of Christ would raise up their voices and decry fundamentalism’s anti-Christ agenda if for no other reason than the faith is losing adherents to the dehumanizing characterization of Christianity as portrayed by fundamentalists. In the past twenty years, the proportion of Americans that consider themselves Christians has declined from 86% to 78%, and it is likely down to potential converts learning the faith is a contradiction of Christ’s message of love of neighbor, charity, and non-judgmental acceptance. It is no wonder fewer and fewer Americans do not want to be associated with a religion founded in forced-birth, greed, guns, and hate for “the other,” and as fundamentalists voices grow louder, more Americans will flee the Christian religion.
For many Americans, when they see a Christian, fundamentalist or otherwise, and they are clutching that bible to their bosom, all they see are gun advocates, racists, women haters, gay haters, and so-called patriots who reject the tenets of Christianity for policies more in line with the Taliban than a follower of Christ. It is time for moderate, or real, Christians to speak out against fundamentalist hate, bigotry, and judgment that their avatar of love and charity condemned, because the only Christian voices Americans hear are fundamentalist hatemongers and their advocates in the hardline conservative movement. Although to secular humanists religion is little more than a curiosity based in superstition, mythos, and moral crutch, there is beauty in Christ’s teaching, but as fundamentalists’ voices dominate the conversation, it is getting difficult to see anything other than pure hate, exclusion, and domination that real Christians most certainly abhor. However, one hardly knows it because real followers of Christ’s silence that is either based in fear, or tacit approval, is clearly evident and the longer they stay silent, the more it appears they endorse anti-Christ agenda in fundamentalist Christianity.
Good luck to the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens today, because although they bring different approaches to the Super Bowl, one knows with confidence, that unlike the Christian movement, they are playing by the same rules and it may be why the game is so popular.
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35 Responses to Fundamentalist Christians Play by a Different Set of Rules that Defy the Tenets of Their Religion
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Anne
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 5:53 pm
Their mantra is “Do as I say, not as I do.” They have infiltrated politics in order to force their regressive views and policies on the rest of us, while many of them secretly do what they don’t want anyone else to do. So, when they get caught in compromising positions, they are justifiably skewered much more harshly than folks who can readily admit they’re not perfect and who don’t try forcing their views on others.
left Christian
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 5:55 pm
Check out The Christian Left blog and hear our voices
RMuse
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:31 pm
Thank You
Jody
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:33 pm
Thank You so very much for saying it out loud! These Sinful Sh*ts perverting Religion to spread Wickedness. This was Excellent, Well Done!
AntieQ
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:43 pm
“It is no wonder fewer and fewer Americans do not want to be associated with a religion founded in forced-birth, greed, guns, and hate for “the other,” and as fundamentalists voices grow louder, more Americans will flee the Christian religion.” There must be a typo in that, as it sounds contradictory.
Shiva(Moderator)
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:47 pm
I think the fundies feel they will be in power when their jesus returns, and he will do as they want. Convince people jesus will return here and not at the battle of armagedden, and they will follow you just to be close to their god
Reason # 12 billion 200 million why I will not follow any religion but my own
Elizabeth 44
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 6:47 pm
I, too, have puzzled why the voices of the “liberal” Christians have not been heard. One reason may be the fact that we aren’t absolutist. We are doing our best to discern and follow our Master. We are willing to admit that it is only our best, we could be wrong. We are willing to admit that there may be other paths. We are aware that Jesus of Nazareth made it clear that God loves all peoples, not just the Jews of His day, or the “Christians” of today. So we tend to go quietly about being who we are and loving/ serving those around us without fanfare or demanding they be like “us”. A second reason may be we are not confrontational. We aren’t out there making the kind of news the press loves so. Gentleness, kindness, loving, serving the poor, the sick, the people shut in, the bewildered… is not spectacular and newsworthy, but that is who we are. Third maybe because when we do speak up, we do in concert with other progressives. We speak for justice, we speak for the dispossessed, we speak against the hate and fear that is so pervasive today. But those who speak with us may not be Christian. They may be of other faith traditions, or no faith at all. It doesn’t matter to us, because we all speak out of our humanity. Yet another reason maybe the commandment “Judge not lest ye be judged”. I find it very difficult to say with authority that the RW “Christians” are not Christians. I find myself equivocating: “they don’t act like Christians”, “that isn’t my understanding of Christianity” etc.
These are just some ideas of why the liberal Christian voice is not being heard today.
labrat
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 8:40 pm
I could have not said it better, Elizabeth 44!
fedded-up
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 11:37 pm
Well said. While I wholeheartedly applaud your views, which seem to be much more in line with the biblical lessons of the New Testament, you’ve also just clearly articulated why the loudmouth absolutists have perverted your professed religion into such a maelstrom of ugliness, it is astounding to realize what it is supposed to be. It also clearly explains why the entire religion is being tarred with this filth – no one with an ounce of compassion or sense is standing up and loudly proclaiming NO, NO, and NO some more to this crap. They need to be firmly stomped back down into place.
I have family members who profess to be christians who say that they do not think this way and abhor much of the ‘guns, god and greed’ attitude, but yet they have the same pronounced bigotry against gays mainly, but also, to a lesser extent but just as prevalent, women and anyone who is not white. They will go to elaborate lengths to explain the biblical reasoning for hating on other people without ever once recognizing that this is what they are doing.
Churchlady
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:14 am
WE aren’t heard because we aren’t “sexy” – we don’t holler, scream, beat people over the head or, God forbid, shoot them down in cold blood. All the faith supporters of marriage equality in CA were utterly ignored during Prop. 8 while the extremists in opposition were given front page attention daily. We need a good PR agent among MANY other things!
There have always been 2 threads in Christianity.The one that focuses on personal redemption posits that your entire life rests in your commitment to being ‘saved’ or ‘born again’ and that all good or evil in your own life is up to you, to that act. It dovetails neatly with possessive individualism and thus extremist forms of Social Darwinist attitudes about capitalism – survival of the blessed.It is much of Evangelism and all of Pentecostalism. These do not believe in social justice – society’s supports undermine that essential idea of utter personal responsibility.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries that had become a justification for no government intervention, no unions, no social supports, and even minimal charity. It is Ebeneezer Scrooge write large.
The other thread, coming from Catholicism and surviving in Protestantism is social justice based on following the teachings. The point of this thread which infuses much of contemporary mainline Protestant belief is to bring about the best possible world we can – to be as inclusive as possible, to make, if you will, Eden here on earth.It worries very little about the afterlife but makes manifest pure love and grace here and now.
So the former links to the conservative political movements, the latter to liberal ones. Because being rich and accepting Jesus ride as manifestations of being in the Elect, of course they support corporations and the wealthy. These are supposed to be evidence of salvation.
Secular humanists and a-theists have nothing to worry about from the social justice folks. We ALL have a lot to worry about from the…
BetsyLou
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 8:29 pm
I am a practicing Christian, and I couldn’t agree more with the basic premise of this article, but I would take issue with two items:
1) you let bigoted Christians off the hook too easily when you suggest that their clergy are leading them astray. Trust me: people will go to the church that feeds their core values, whether those are compassion and generosity or hatred and fear; and
2) Christians trying to follow Christ are “virtually silent” about their attempts to follow Christ? It’s a pretty good sign that you’re *not* following Christ’s teaching if you’re loudly proclaiming how Christian you are.
I wish *everyone* let go of their hatred, Christians included.
Dan Slaby
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Christian fundamentalism is the same as Islamic fundamentalism: an effort to turn back to male domination, placing women as subordinate property of men, and imposing cruel and unusual punishment on those who would stray out of the boundaries of strict repressive behavioral rules mistakenly called moral, and based on the myth of redemptive violence requiring the shedding of blood in wars and retribution for personal affronts.
Churchlady
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:22 am
Christian fundamentalism has devolved into a weird “Old Testamentarianism” in which the tribal rules have been revived and Jesus is just your trump card to get into Heaven. Following his teachings is not a part of it at all.
The New Testament was bastardized, many of us believe, by Paul who, never having known Jesus, reinterpreted the meanings of Christ’s work to fit his own situation and time not to mention his own wrestling with his sexuality. His writings are inherently contradictory because of his own uncertainties. But when he started to write “rules” he fit neatly into the strains of Christianity that were already becoming institutional, hierarchical, rigid. But his word and work were not always dominant. From his time forward there were many strains of Christian faith, some vastly more humane and inclusive than others.
The power of the teachings, of social justice, of the transcedent ideas Jesus taught have been the underpinning for every modern movement from anti-slavery to anti-war. But we have recently been overshadowed by the angry, rigid voices to the point that secular people think everyone is just ‘Pat Robertson Lite’. It is not true. The progressive faith movement is alive and well, it is wholly inclusive, and it represents those who read the teachings and work to make a better world, NOT to convert others or denigrate anyone else’s views.
Someday perhaps we will re-integrate as we did during the Civil Rights movement and anti-war movement. Then we will be unstoppable. And those such as Glenn Beck who think “social justice” is the dirtiest idea on earth will just have to live with it. It certainly is the most powerful.
SinghX
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 7:31 am
A lot of America’s deconstruction of the social justice movement lies in the period after the Civil War. There are a multitude of complexities that pitted christian against christian, not only over the issue of slavery itself, but, that of “Yankee” Christians actually “helping” former slaves in establishing a new lifestyle as freemen.
Keep in mind, those who were “freed” also had the opportunity to worship they way they chose…you can imagine how this did not set well with those who opposed freeing slaves! Their lose of control over slaves who would no longer “obeyed” them drove these people “mad”, as well as, watching the northern “Yankee’s” move on, prosper, set up charities and help the reparation of the country.
More and more, the superstitious, the jealous control freaks and, poor southern/country whites resented the social justice christian of the big cities. The “control freaks” separated/isolated themselves into a devolved world view of that believed apocalypses was near. They looked for “signs” of Satan everywhere, not much differently than they do today. I posit that this form of religion is a multi-generational, self-induced sickness that poison, leaves scars on not only the individual, but the country– basically, they are a destructive cult.
Read Karen Armstrong’s “A Battle for God” for a detailed history of America’s last 150 years of religious turmoil.
Dave
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Thank you. Being a Catholic Christian we have realized this for centuries in this new world.
Christianity is all about love, loving your neighbor as yourself and helping one another out. As Jesus stated in his Divine Mercy message, his Divine Love trumps his Divine Judgement if you have love and pardon your brothers and sisters.
Shiva(Moderator)
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 10:08 pm
Maybe for a few. for the resat its a business
Churchlady
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:26 am
Shiva – that is not remotely accurate. It’s what the MSM lets you see, but it is NOT the mainstream, the majority, the dominant numbers. Just look at the Catholic vote for Obama, the fact that the majority of mainline Protestants support marriage equality. Those are FACTS. They need to be attended to. If you, wise person, capitulate to the religious right hype, you keep the breech between those of us who toil daily for justice and those who are doing exactly the same in the secular realms. What is highly visible is NOT necessarily the majority. The majority is NOT what is highly visible.
SinghX
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Best line: “Yes, authoritarianism is like spiritual pesticide.” (Hrafnkell Haraldsson; from at his site “A Heathen’s Day” within an article about “Satan Rape”).
Today’s fundamentalist christian is the end result of multiple generations who teach a world view set in the rigid mind-set of paranoid. Fear, anxiety, repression, guilt are all set to superstitious rules that make people sick, not “better” humans. It makes no sense.
The only thing fundies do all day is hop over hurdles in order to “obey” their authoritarian master(s) or, they believe Satan wins the game. They are taught to live in constant fear of any misstep/back-sliding as everything is a trap set by Satan; utter superstition! That’s why it’s so easy for them to deny science. That is also why they lack boundaries when it comes to everyone outside of they’re world view–it’s OK to curse, spit, hurt, rape or even kill “non-believers”. Christian authoritarian leadership tells them it’s OK to behave in this manner because, everyone else follows Satan, therefore, do whatever, just being “obedient”.
Hraf is right…they “spray” themselves with a toxic spiritual pesticide believing they are “covered” from committing sins. All they have to do is “obey” knowing, with certainty, that they are playing by god’s rules…and this makes sense?? Remember…
It’s all about the behavior, not the belief.
robyn ryan
Feb. 3rd, 2013 at 10:40 pm
I tell my Christian friends that their Jesus died to save them from the capricious and sadistic YAHWEH of the old Testament. And all his schizo bloodiness.
Churchlady
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:35 am
Thereby showing as little wisdom about the very diverse nature of faith as the RW shows every single day.
Simplistic prejudice is simply not helping, robyn. There is vastly more going on – including progressive people of faith being MAJOR change agents for justice – than people just looking to get into heaven. Would you have said this to Rev. Martin Luther King? Do you think that’s what motivated HIM? Or to Rev. William Sloane Coffin who was so powerful in the anti-Vietnam movement?
There is a lot more to this than you know. And it has NOTHING to do with conversion, with salvation, with fantasy. It is for most of us grounded utterly in creating powerful social justice here on earth, not in fearing we won’t go to heaven or being rescused from an angry god none of which we believe. Don’t commit the same angry simplistic thinking the religious right does. It doesn’t help.
diane
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 8:29 am
We aren’t heard because we don’t have radio or tv programs. We don’t advertise green prayer clothes and tell others that gays are the cause foe natural disasters. And our faith is not designed to make us feel superior to others, to denigrate others to make ourselves feel better.
And most of us don’t have to exclude others so that we are the ‘best’. We don’t have to be told how to live, but are given guidelines.
We have faith because we believe, not because we fear.
Rebecca
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 9:18 am
I once was one but now I’m not,
twas blind but now I see,
Twas grace that taught my heart to feel
and grace my eyes to see!
I’m as loud as my very best friends will let me be! Those who love me for who I am tolerate my constant rants about Christians who don’t follow Christ.
I spent most of the last 4 years fact checking and patiently sharing with each sender or poster, what the bible says about maligning no one and bearing false witness.
And I loved quoting the words of President Obama to all those Christians who insist he’s Muslim and spread the e-mails, about his conversion experience kneeling at the cross and asking the blood of Christ to cleanse him of his sins,
The fear of the anti-Christ, the teachings of dominionists and the end-time prophetic voice has warped and distorted the church as the focus has been taken off of Christ and His teachings.
Abortion has become THE wedge issue. As a pro-life democrat, I find it difficult to even discuss taking care of the child after it comes into the world with those Christians who vote right.
And my liberal friends, don’t appreciate me speaking of pro-life work. So….
Those who follow the way of love, must shine like beacons by virtue of their deeds and their acts.
And they must speak out for justice.
Paul
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 11:37 am
I’m a retired Baptist pastor and unfortunately I can confirm that every word in this article is true. My wife and I have stopped going to church because we cannot deal with all the Tea Party hate speech we hear from the pulpit and see on bumper stickers in church parking lots. We’re tired of being told you can’t possibly be a “real” Christian if you voted for Obama.
I officiated at a wedding last December. The father of the groom told me why they did not have the wedding in their church. He is a union man who chose to support Obama because he believed Obama would do a better job of creating jobs and protecting unions from right wing assault. So he put an Obama/Biden bumper sticker on his truck. He drove his pickup truck all around his small southern town without any problem until he drove it to church one Sunday morning. When he came out of church he found that someone had keyed his truck with the words, “Fag nigger lover”. When he asked his pastor to condemn the vandalism of his truck from the pulpit, his pastor told him he had provoked the vandalism by putting the “inflammatory” bumper sticker on his truck. Like my wife and I, that gentleman has stopped going to church as well. Which is why they had me do the wedding at a wedding chapel instead of having the wedding performed in the church were he and his children grew up but where they no longer felt welcome.
So dear readers of these comments, please pray for those of us who still believe in the Jesus of Matthew 25:31-46 but who unfortunately are living in red state hell where the words of Limbaugh and Beck are held in higher esteem than the words of Scripture.
gsb
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:34 pm
Paul;
You don’t need to live in a red state to encounter this type of thought.
I have been told I was going to hell because I voted for a democrate. Been acused of being unpatriotic because I said we did not need to be involved in the wars we have been in. Told the person who said this to me, I was more patriotic then they, because I did not want to see our men and women die for oil. was refused communion one sunday for I don’t know what, reason.
I no longer attend church. Have tried every church in town, found the same thought in all.
Have come to this conclusion, church people can yell all they want, that I will be excluded from the family of god, be excommunicated, but, no human has that power to condem. I am a member of the family of god, no matter what is said or threatened.
When the next person who tells me they, are a christian in our first meeting, my answer will be. If you are a Christian, you shouldn’t need to tell me. I should see that in action.
Ex-Dominionist
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Christianity suffered a hostile takeover in the early 1980s.
It effectively became a SuperPAC for the GOP, then … at which time GOP-friendly “doctrines” replaced sound Biblical teaching. In my church, after about 1981, I never EVER again heard anything about Jesus’ compassion, or his exhortations to us to love one another and “feed my sheep.”
But I swear we heard about Ananias & Sapphira about once a month. (Look it up. If I told you, you wouldn’t believe it.)
The eschatology (end-times) teaching of the church also changed, around that time, so that the Antichrist and the Beast were now always *Democrats*, and always just about to start Armageddon!
Fox News and American Evangelical Christianity, between them, are the GOP’s way of turning 1/3 of America into mindless fearful angry proud smug self-worshipping money-worshipping power-worshipping judgemental zombies who will spend money on gold, seeds, and batshit crazy Fundie GOP candidates.
Bill Evans
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:25 pm
Most of your points are excellent, and certainly the main theme is a needed message. Jesus said, “This is my commandment–that you love one another”,and I believe he knew the implications of using the word commandment. Without love, as 1 Corinthians 13 tells us, we are only a sounding gong or clashing cymbal. Or to put it in somewhat more contemporary terms, without love we belong on the Gong Show.
My only quibble is the assumption that no one among ‘real’ Christians is speaking out against this. I see a lot of speaking out. Facebook has a lot of these conversations, and that is a place where people talk with each other. I’ve been a pastor in New York, in Nebraska, California, Arizona, and a stint in Japan as a Navy Chaplain. Everywhere I met Christians who understood the need to love. You are right that the media seems to lean heavily toward fundamentalist messages, and distorts the Christian message further. But just don’t get discouraged and assume you are Elijah, because the Lord would tell you that God can raise up 7,000 others in your town or in ever town who believe as you do.
We love Jesus and we are not silent. But your main message is one that needs to be repeated often…that grace has superceded Law. If we want to follow the Law, Paul made it clear we must obey the entire Law. No one ever accomplished that, we all need grace, and we are all in the same boat. May the grace of God that reaches into our lives be the same grace, mercy, and forgiveness we show to our fellow humans. In that, we will shine a light on love.
Barry Roope
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 1:46 pm
This article is exactly right, there are two types of Christians out there, I can’t stand the preachers who condemn those that choose to follow Christ, as opposed to those that say and follow every word their Pastor says. Any Preacher who tells you who you should vote for is not serving Christ but serving his own agenda. The right wing has tried to convince the world that Jesus would support them if he were here on Earth, he would despise most of the right-wing and their message of hate and bigotry, he would love those that are in the most need of him, the poor, the sick, the least of us. He would cast most of the Right-wing Christian zealots out of the Temple, just like he did the Money changers-Bankers. It made me sick to watch Sarah Palin be hailed as a Christian leader, when in truth, she is not working in the grace of God, I say that not in judgement but in truth, she is a liar, and has been caught many times telling lies, that is not serving God in any way. The Christian right has strayed so far from the Grace of God, each person needs to realize this on their own, are you going to serve Christ, and help the least among us, or are you going to let the Right wing tell you to hate gay people, hate people who have abortions, and hate anybody that does not believe exactly as you have told them to believe. Paul Ryan claims to have faith in Jesus Christ, except he is known to follow the doctrine of Ayn Rand, who believes that helping someone is wrong for the social construct of the world, Ayn Rand believed in only the strong survive, so if you need help, you should not receive it, you will die, and there is more for the rest of us, Paul Ryan would give each new intern in his office a copy of “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, he made it required reading to be part of his staff, most of the so called Christians in Republican politics are pretty pathetic examples of how to honor Christ. The Republican party needs a come to Jesus moment, not for votes, but to serve…
Sharin Khosa
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 3:13 pm
“Jesus Christ never taught his followers to embrace greed, discrimination, hatred, or judgment” – 2014 for Obama.
Nellwyn Beamon
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
There are plenty of liberal Christian voices out there speaking truth. Richard Rohr, Diana Butler Bass, Phyllis Tickle, Brian McLaren to name a few. Start looking around and you will be surprised.
K. Zolnoski
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
I escaped a fundamentalist church and they are cultish. In fact a lot of abusers find their way to the fundamentalist churches because the clergy approve of male dominance within the family unit so it’s a natural breeding ground for control freaks. If you want to read about how terrible it is and how I got out, and I did it by reading the Bible. You can check out my book The Shadow of The Hand of God.
www.amazon.com/The-Shadow...
Gregg L. DesElms
Feb. 4th, 2013 at 10:43 pm
I’m a left-wing Christian — a Progressive Christian, as we are increasingly fond of calling ourselves — who hates how the religious Right was co-opted and misappropriated — nay, absconded with — the good name of Christianity. However, I have some not-insignificant issues with how this article lumps many types of intolerant so-called “Christian” right-wingedness into one “fundamentalist” label.
That which so vexes liberal/progressive America — be it secular or non-secular — is far more than just fundamentalists; it includes, at the very least, evangelicals and dominionists (within the latter of which are the “reconstructionists” and “theonomists”). Some would argue that Pentecostalism almost deserves its own category, but it technically falls into one of the others. Arguments for their own categories also include apocalypticism, dispensationalism, end-timers, Rapturists, Tribulationists… and more. All of them are on the far religious Right, but each of them have their own not-insignificant differences.
It is inaccurate to lump them all into the same “fundamentalist” label; and if the article-in-chief’s author’s defense is that only fundamentalists were the subject, then why, I would ask, single them out what evangelicals are probably the bigger socio-political problem for the Left. That said, the (Insani)Tea Partiers do, indeed, tend to be of the fundamentalist-and-worse ilk.
I guess my point is that an article like this one, given that it’s intended for a secular audience, probably should have tackled the full pathological range of the allegedly-Christian Right, and not just fundamentalists.
Gregg L. DesElms
Napa, California USA
gregg at greggdeselms dot com
SinghX
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 7:04 am
But Greg, aren’t you saying the same exact thing the article is saying, but, in a different way? I’m pretty sure the author, as well as the “peanut gallery” around here (myself included) are well aware of the various cults (or aberrant authoritarian religious groups) that fall under the heading of “Evangelical Fundamentalist Christian”.
Evangelicals, dominionists (“reconstructionists” and “theonomists”),Pentecostalism, apocalypticism (which are pre-miliniantist) dispensationalism, end-timers, Rapturists, Tribulationists are all sub-headings under the title “Evangelical Christian Fundamentalist”.
The actual heading, or title, of “Evangelical Christian” was given to all of the above by Billy Graham in the late 50′s; he said “sounded better” in terms of PR (an old trick to freshen up the business so to speak).
…And then again, there are those groups officially labeled as destructive religious cults: The Unifications Church, COG, Westboro etc…you can’t just leave them off of the CEF list just because they are the fore-runners, the actual trail blazers, for the other sub-categories; the above mentioned groups used to be more “sneaky”, covert about their core beliefs, but aren’t any more! If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…
Once again, it’s not about their “right” to believe anything they want, it’s about their aberrant behavior that originates with that “belief”. Therefore it IS fair to lump them together. If you turn the “kitchen light” all these “roaches” it doesn’t really matter which exact specie of “roach” they are once the light hits them; they are all the same infestation.
Joey Tranchina
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 12:02 am
Religious fanatics see their “neighbor” as another religious fanatic. They have other names for anyone not of their cult “refer: “idolator” “heathen” “pagan” “Idol-worshiper” “l’etranger.” for whom the in-crowd rules do not apply.
That is the essential sickness of cults. As I wrote almost 30 years ago: “Any religion that I must join to be in ‘God’s family’ is a cult.”
SinghX
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 7:21 am
OK, since this thread is now using the “C” word, we need to make sure “we” are accurate/correct/educated in what “we” say:
www.meadowhaven.org/lifto...
The link provides the original blueprint for recognizing and defining a group as a cult. Let us make sure “we” are not cherry-picking or stereotyping (not that anyone is/has), or throwing around the term, or the other “terms” attached to the concept (such as “brainwashing” which is as specific of a technique as waterboarding, and not something zombie-like that the movies portray.)
Rich
Feb. 5th, 2013 at 2:20 pm
Great topic…I attend a church here in Pennsylvania…L.C.B.C. Which stands for Lives Changed By Christ. We just finished a month long series titled Branded…Basically talking how Christians are branded in many ways and often in a bad way. Many are thought as being Homophobic, Hypocritical, Divisive Judgemental and sometimes pure hateful. The word Christian appears three times in the bible and was used by outsiders at the time to describe those on the inside. Jesus asked us all to be his disciples and in his last commandment to love one another as I’ve loved you. Sadly I too find very few people who call themselves Christians living by this standard or even trying to. Also those of the far and extreme so called religious right are some of the most guilty of spewing bigotry and hate in the name of their religious beliefs. I feel blessed having a church to attend and learn from the Real Values that Jesus left us to use in our lives and live and grow from. In the long run….those values would make this world a much better place if everyone strived to live by them. That’s no matter what religion you believe in…or if you believe in none! We’re all called and should Love One Another…No Exceptions!