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

[porridgeisbae]

Anyone else?

I do find it weird that people try and live by rules and conventions that seem to be stuck about 2000 years in the past.

I suspect the Bible would look very different if written today.

I do think unless you were indoctrinated as a child, this particular brand of Christianity just targets the vulnerable and hard of critical thinking.

You say you’re ‘a former leftie’, so I assume especially with the fundamentalist beliefs that you’re right wing now. What’s Christian about right wing politics? Anyone with half a brain surely can see that they harm the majority of people and only benefit the rich, who Jesus famously wasn’t a great fan of?

Sounds like all healthcare should be banned then. Must be God's will to have life-threatening illnesses, mobility limiting conditions, septic wounds, broken bones (splinting allowed as long as it's with natural wood and bandage made from a single type of fibre)... Reductio ad absurdum you say? Absurd is indeed the word.

I believe if God gave us brains and free will it would be so we can use them to help each other, not so we can shrug and let them die horribly whilst mouthing some platitude that pretends we care but really gives us an excuse for NOT caring.

I look forward to your next religious conversion and hope it's a bit more enlightened than the present one, is all I can say. I'm sure there's a decent person in there struggling to get out - it's why you keep looking. Meanwhile, be excellent to each other and party on, dudes, is a pretty good general rule to live by.

I used to be, but no longer practice. I have plenty of friends who do though who are all lovely and I still live a lifestyle that is relatively similar to before. Like dressing modestly, not drinking, making decisions with the environment in mind, giving to charity etc. I have different views on homosexuality now, but still am against abortion in most circumstances.

I do know personally people who decided to carry a baby to term knowing it wouldn't live more than a day. It was awful but they'd say it was the right decision for them.

I wouldn't describe anyone as a fundie though. They're just people who believe in Jesus trying to live life according to their religion.

Genuine question (and apologies haven't RTFT)

From what I understand in the fundie lifestyle the sole purpose of marriage/sex is for the procreation of children. You say that you've never been blessed with children - presuming due to health reasons here - and I'm guessing that you would see that as being God's plan for you but how do you reconcile that inside yourself since you've been prevented from fulfilling one of the sole purposes that women exist?

Apologies if that sounds horrifically ignorant but I'm an atheist who can't have children (although I don't actually want them regardless) and feel like there is strong judgement there for non-religious reasons.

@Previousreligion

I do know personally people who decided to carry a baby to term knowing it wouldn't live more than a day. It was awful but they'd say it was the right decision for them.

For them would be the important part of that sentence. Not for everyone. Therefore choice is important. I do hope that you do not try to push your anti-choice views on other people.

You disagree with abortion as you say it goes against gods will for a life to exist.

Do you disagree with chemotherapy? If it's gods will someone has cancer (which it must be, if it's gods will a foetus is incompatible with more than a few minutes of life after birth) then surely it's wrong to intervene?

Do you disagree with CPR? Do you disagree with defibrillators? Do you disagree with insulin for diabetics?

@CreateHope@Eightfour thank you for enriching my life. I’m about three hours into a voyage of discovery. I have an earbud in while I’m doing housework and my DCs keep asking what I’m laughing at. When they’re older I’ll fill them in!

Edited for typos.

Obviously because that's how the Bible refers to Him and she believes in the Bible.

The fundamental difference is that a baby isn't an "illness" or just an extra organ or limb that can be removed. They're a living human being who has as much right to exist as anyone. Their vulnerability demands special protection and dignity.

@Eightfour @CreateHope Storm has actually made me teary. It’s hit a nerve on my life.

well, a grammatical neuter simply isn’t / wasn’t available for Hebrew. So it’s either he or she.

the Hebrew terms for spirit / Holy Spirit (or however you want to call it) are however feminine (Grammatically). and there are a considerable amount of distinctly female metaphors and analogies in the old and the New Testament…

You, my dear, have way way too much time to play with. Lucky you😁

My favourite thing about this thread is the Carrie pictures.

What completely put me off the (according to fundamentalists) Biblical God (and I attended a Reformed Baptist Church, because Baptists, were not strict enough) was predestination.

God predestined certain people to be saved through Christ, before the foundation of the world. So only those who are predestined are saved - yet God damns those he himself did not predestine.

He's supposed to be a loving father, yet by all accounts the vast majority of his children will end up in hell/Hades as a stopping place before being flung into the eternal lake of fire after the final judgment.

There is nothing my child could do that would cause me to act that way - especially if I'd set him up to fail in the first place. I expect God to be a better parent than me.

In fact, the Bible is a hodge podge of writings by men (because the women's writings were not included), somewhat arbitrarily approved of at particular times.

For instance, OP, are you in favour of the Apocryphal books? They were part of the Bible (Septuagint) and were used by the early Christians. Catholics still consider them canonical - but protestants don't, and fundamentalists do tend to be Protestant.

M Scott Peck describes fundamentalists as less spiritually developed than atheists, and with good reason - a brief explanation here:

https://eriksholisticcornucopia.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/stages-of-faith-intro-to-m-scott-peck/

@porridgeisbae serious question. Do you think that there is something about having rejected the beliefs that you say you followed in the past that makes you drawn towards the doctrinaire, authoritarian and infallible now?

The Bible and how it came together is extremely complex and everything in it was written at very different times from ours, what looks "simple" is often informed by vast amounts of cultural and historical context that even the greatest scholars can only partly grasp (and they would admit that) Add to that it being often used by people with much fervour but less than great motives to promote conformity and control and it is all a perfect storm, potentially.

However, @Eightfour s "be excellent to each other" quote is as good a summation of Christ's teaching as any I know (thanks, Bill and Ted!)

@Sprigofpurple

They're a living human being who has as much right to exist as anyone. Their vulnerability demands special protection and dignity.

How are they being protected and treated with dignity if it's known they will only live for a matter of terribly painful minutes, and are forced to go through those terrible few minutes rather than a peaceful alternative, if that's what the mother wishes?

Conscious I'm derailing, sorry. Will leave it there.

They don't particularly experience pain following birth. They usually have low oxygen and can be supplemented with oxygen if the staff feel they're distressed. There is no reason to believe that they're in pain merely because they have a condition that's incompatible with life.

Christians believe that a person's suffering on earth - for whatever reason - is temporary, whereas they will spend an eternity with Christ in heaven following their death and their experience during life will be forgotten.

@Brawcolli
Do you not like Ben Shapiro's arguments that trans can't actually change sex?

Just because you agree with one thing someone says doesn't mean you can't think that they are, by and large, a dickhead.

@Oneofthesurvivors
What other things is he a dickhead about?

I have no idea, I know nothing about him. I didn't say he was a dickhead, that wasn't my point.

Wait are you actually being serious? I didn’t think anyone actually thought BS had any good points! Wild!