Am I the only fundie in the village (of MN?)

[porridgeisbae]

Anyone else?

'The Creator'.

Lol.

Truwe, now that they've sold out.

She converts to something new once a week or so and comes on here to tell us all about it. She was enthusiastically Catholic for about five minutes

Not really I was into Catholicism for about 2 years and I got baptised and confirmed. So, not 5 minutes or a week. Then the Pope etc highlighted for me the parts of Catholicism that are unbiblical.

It feels like people who see 'the book' (and I include all books here), as a template for life are not the brightest.

I think it's a pretty good way to find a template.

Do you never question religion and ask, why?

Occasionally, but I don't make the rules.

Why if there was an omnipotent being of some description, would he/she be so interested in the behaviour of people?

It's just how He is.

Surely if a godhead does exist, they're just some kind of deranged alien? What justification can you arrive at that makes sense of a variety of beings that have such an interest in us?

There is only one, the rest are devils. They're interested in having us worship Satan, because that's what devils do.

^Hi OP

How do you interpret the bible's teachings for the modern age? I'm guessing you don't take it all literally. If you could give us an example e.g. "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Obviously the above is an example of the patrirachy and misogyny of the time so how do 'fundies' navigate that? I am guessing / hoping you ignore these kind of passages that are sexist / racist / homophobic etc^

@Pipsquiggle I didn't decide these things and as a former leftie etc and having previously been bisexual, I don't naturally like them, but I can't ignore them.

i always love the idea that god gets all the credit for the good stuff (saving people from disaster, curing cancer, etc) but NEVER any of the blame for the bad. Man to have a job like that.

@CreateHope I don't think fundies necessarily think God is behind none of those things. But they are a mystery to humans. They're maybe to help us develop certain qualities. For instance St.Paul was given by God whatever the thorn in the flesh was, to keep his personality in check. A lot of saints had disabilities.

Posting now in case I accidentally delete :)

I follow the Bible canon as it currently stands.

Which version of the canon? IIRC Anglicans and Catholics have different Bible canon, not sure about other denominations.

I don't hate religion @porridgeisbae, but I do wonder why you take cant, that seems to hate you (as a woman and a bisexual) as a manual to live your life by.

It feels like an act of self-harm.

I have to ask what happened to you to bring you to where you are?

Been there, done that.

OP, what's you take on abortion and the rights of women when it comes to bodily autonomy?

I believe God doesn't like abortion because he knows us from the womb or before the womb. And I don't decide these things, he does. The only grounds for an abortion-like procedure is if the baby is already dead/or maybe has no head etc. Even children who will only live briefly are supposed to be born. Bu I can only imagine what it'd be like to carry a child to term knowing they would only live a few hours or something.

Leviticus 19:27 - Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.

@Eightfour That's the ceremonial law which no longer applies to Christians. I think they might even have changed that by Jesus' day in his area- definitely by Paul's day as shown in 1 corinthians 11:14

I also love you suggest there is an agreed upon canon with regards to the bible. Someone needs to tell all those different Christian denominations

I think most mainstream Protestants agree on which books are included.

And whilst I'm here, why is 'God' so interested about what people do with their genitals?

@Tetsuo He considers all sorts of human activities. And it's more pervy to say people can get upto all sorts of random stuff.

Nah, their 'ministry' was and is awful. They're waking up the damage done to them by purity culture but can't admit their own role in selling it. The cognitive dissonance is astonishing.

@porridgeisbae

Even children who will only live briefly are supposed to be born. Bu I can only imagine what it'd be like to carry a child to term knowing they would only live a few hours or something.

Yet in your ideal world, you believe it is right for that woman to have to carry such a child to term and give birth to it so it can be alive, in pain and desperately trying to breathe, before dying.

That is what you believe is right.

I genuinely believe that is a cruel belief. I don't understand how anyone with a fundamentally kind and loving heart can believe that to subject a foetus to a brief, painful few minutes of misery and it's mother to a lifetime of grief, can be preferable to the foetus being aborted.

It baffles me that anyone can claim to be kind and loving while believing that.

@porridgeisbae - ah so there are irrelevant and contradictory bits of the bible then? It’s never the bits about homosexuality or oppressing women though is it? It’s always the Old Testament is irrelevant except for these specific bits to suit my backwards agenda. Funny that.

Well I hope you’ve had fun overhauling your wardrobe anyway OP, those mixed fabrics just won’t fly. Or is that bit irrelevant too?

God, America has a lot to answer for with this right wing, evangelical bullshit. Hate speech nestled under the protection of religious freedom.

Interesting that you keep referring to God as 'he', why do you suppose that is @porridgeisbae?

My ex is a ‘fundie’. Can’t divorce him fast enough. Complete basket case.

Also interesting that you're happy to cast aside Leviticus 19:27, is that not one of the tenets of Orthodox Judaism?

Hmm.

@Brawcolli
Satire? About Ben Shapiro being intelligent? Do you not think he is? He argues and debates well in all the clips I've ever seen of him at uni's when students pose questions to him. No?

I'm intrigued by the flip flopping between different religions. How does it feel to swap from believing one set of prescribed tenets to a fairly different set, when none of that is based in reason and evidence? Why didn't you decide that Zoroastrianism was for you, or Mandaeism or Scientology, for example?

😂

Nah, their 'ministry' was and is awful. They're waking up the damage done to them by purity culture but can't admit their own role in selling it. The cognitive dissonance is astonishing.

@betterangels They do claim they think they were over the top before. I think they were at least genuine before, whereas now they've realised sex sells so go on about it. Paul and Morgan have done the same.

Yet in your ideal world, you believe it is right for that woman to have to carry such a child to term and give birth to it so it can be a's live, in pain and desperately trying to breathe, before dying. That is what you believe is right.

No. I personally think it's a shame, but it's what God says/the Bible implies. I wish it said something different, but it doesn't. I sometimes try and imagine having to choose to carry a baby who will die within a few hours to term, because it's what the Bible says. It would be awful, but I would have to try and do it. I wouldn't want to.

I genuinely believe that is a cruel belief. I don't understand how anyone with a fundamentally kind and loving heart can believe that to subject a foetus to a brief, painful few minutes of misery and it's mother to a lifetime of grief, can be preferable to the foetus being aborted.

God wanted that baby to live for a long as it will live. Otherwise he wouldn't have let it be conceived.

ah so there are irrelevant and contradictory bits of the bible then? It’s never the bits about homosexuality or oppressing women though is it? It’s always the Old Testament is irrelevant except for these specific bits to suit my backwards agenda. Funny that.

Well I hope you’ve had fun overhauling your wardrobe anyway OP, those mixed fabrics just won’t fly. Or is that bit irrelevant too?

The Bible itself says that the ceremonial law (rather than the moral law) no longer applies to Christians. It's not a contradiction, it's that we are Christians and the death of Christ removed the necessity for some of the rituals and rules etc. Bits about homosexuality etc are in the New Testament too.

@porridgeisbae so you think all men are superior to women because some bloke wrote it hundreds of years ago?

Really?

Obviously!

Why would that be problematic?

I'm Christian and I don't believe in a God who would give a rat's behind about the length of some ones hair.

@Eightfour "ah so there are irrelevant and contradictory bits of the bible then? It’s never the bits about homosexuality or oppressing women though is it? It’s always the Old Testament is irrelevant except for these specific bits to suit my backwards agenda. Funny that."

In spades.

Old lecturer of mine (ordained and fully conversant with all Biblical languages, he wrote books about some them) was fond of saying that you can find anything you want in the Bible, justify any viewpoint (however abhorrent) by ignoring context, selective quotation and having an agenda. He wasn't wrong.

This thread reminds me of a book by Will Self - The Book of Dave. In a post apocalyptic future a book is found by surviving humans. This book is the diary of a mentally ill, cross- dressing maniac, and they all follow the "holy book" to the letter

There's always one that likes to think they are different, who cares!

@porridgeisbae

God wanted that baby to live for a long as it will live. Otherwise he wouldn't have let it be conceived.

God would be a cruel entity then who creates some children purely for them to only exist for a few agonising minutes desperately trying to breathe before they die.

To worship an entity who not only sanctions this but actively creates that life, is unthinkable to me.

I don't understand one of your answers, either. I said "Yet in your ideal world, you believe it is right for that woman to have to carry such a child to term and give birth to it so it can be a's live, in pain and desperately trying to breathe, before dying. That is what you believe is right."

You replied"No. I personally think it's a shame, but it's what God says/the Bible implies. I wish it said something different, but it doesn't."

But you do think it's right, by your own logic, so what is the 'no' in reference to? Even if you don't think it's easy or simple, or you think it's a shame, you do absolutely believe it's right. You believe that your god's word says that child should be born no matter what. You believe that your god's word is right. So you do believe that it is right for a woman to have to carry to term even in those circumstances.

😂