What are the Degrees of Fundamentalism?

My experience is similar. I know a lot of people who would call themselves "fundamentalists", but they'd be embarassed to be seen at a protest (never mind carrying a sign with "fag" on it).I get the impression that most of them agree "in principle" with the Phelpses and Falwells, but draw the line at getting in people's faces about it.Maybe there really is a "personality difference" between Americans and Canadians. Or maybe our very large Catholic minority makes fundie political activity irrelevant.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

I think the beliefs are all part of the same spectrum.There have been a lot of discussions around here on the difference between what a person believes and how a person acts on those beliefs. A lot of people (fundie and non-fundie) will talk about starving children in Africa, but many of them won't actually do anything about it.Similarly, in their church groups, family groups, etc. I think a lot of self-proclaimed "fundamentalists" will espouse the same ideas as the Phelpses. But they don't feel comfortable acting out those ideas in public. (Bearing in mind that outside the U.S., people are less likely to wear their religious beliefs on their sleeves.)

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Right. But ultimately it is our own spirit.Fundamentalists confuse themselves with external spirits. If there can be one external spirit, there can be more than one, and some of them can be "evil".An internalized spirit is a unified spirit. Right. But fundamentalists, in general, are dishonest with themselves about that. They claim they "know" what they only believe.Yet different fundamentalists "know" different absolutes. Wrong.An atheist says, "My spirit is my psyche."
An agnostic says, "My spirit might have an external source. I don't know."
A theist says, "My spirit comes from God."
A fundamentalist says, "My spirit comes from God, but yours doesn't."Edited by Ringo, : Shpelling.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

That interpretation doesn't make any sense.The woman in question clearly did commit adultery:

quote:

---

Num 5:12 ... If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
Num 5:13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;

---

and yet:

quote:

---

Num 5:14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:
Num 5:15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest....

---

Whether she is "defiled" or not, her husband is to bring her to the priest. "Defiled" clearly refers to pregnancy.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Did you read the OP? Or even the title? This conversation is specifically about fundamentalism. How do you expect me to discuss fundamentalism without mentioning fundamentalists?(I'm leaving off answering some of your off-topic comments that are not about fundamentalism. ) As I said in Message 50, "A theist says, "My spirit comes from God." You can feel free to lump the other Christians in with the theists. Notice that it is "my spirit" that comes from God. It is not an external spirit whispering in my ear. Fundamentalists often misunderstand that and think the voices in their heads come from God.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

There's a difference between sovereignty and micromanagement.The fundier the fundie, the pettier the god.Edited by Ringo, : Subtitle.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

God sees the sparrow fall - He doesn't necessarily rescue every one.
If He did, we'd soon be knee-deep in sparrows.And the hairs of my head are numbered, not counted. Number 64278 fell out today - God didn't replant it.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Save one over here, kill one over there, all to keep everything in perfect balance. I can see where that would keep a guy busy.Doesn't seem like a very intelligent design though.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Then what did you mean by your god "bothering" with the sparrows? Yes, there is a huge difference between a simple count and an exact inventory.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Just out of curiosity, what scripture are you referencing?

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Thank you.I'm still not sure what you think the significance is. Not forgetting a sparrow is hardly in the same category as sending a tsunami.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Allow me to review:You claimed that God controls the weather, sending storms to chase down the wicked wherever they may be. I suggested that God can have sovereignty over the whole creation without personally nudging every air molecule in His chosen direction.Then you brought up how God watches the sparrows, but you backed away from the idea that He actually does anything sparrow-related. Well, I watch the sparrows too, so I fail to see what your scripture reference has to do with the price of tea in China.We have already established in this thread that fundamentalism can vary from fairly normal to fairly looney. Where do you fit in the spectrum?

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

Cares about sparrows and yet sends storms to kill children?

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

I will note again your conspicuous absence from the Bible Study forum. If you want to discuss scripture rather than pontificate, I'll see you over there. Nonsense. There is no "must" to God. He can do what He wants.Vindictive-god is a fundamentalist fabrication. So all those children who die in "natural" disasters have nothing to fear? Or do they hate God?

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC

You have no interest in defending the Bible? Understood.

---

Help scientific research in your spare time. No cost. No obligation.
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC