So...

[EC]

Last night on Larry King I was watching this new evangelical preacher and something he said struck me...(actually it was his wife) said that they have to close their minds to influences... and it got me thinking. Most of us are very open minded and strong enough to repel the bad, more than that, we can recognize what is bad and what is good. So I began to wonder, are these sort of right wingers unable to tell good from bad or evil and therefore block everything so they don't have to be strong to combat the evil since they just don't let it in? I do realize most of these people are the weak, since they have transgressed to the degree that they have to seek redemption, and that is where most of their flock comes from...Almost every fundie I know personally, is this sort, has really goofed up in life and are not strong enough to move past it - so they join the church, read their (re-written)Bible daily and pray for help in redemption. Yeah, I've goofed up in life too, who hasn't? But I was able to shoulder it, learn from it and move on, why do these people need a crutch? Their type of "religion" just seems more self-centered and has very little to do with helping the world live as one in peace. And the ministers and churches themselves seem to be commercialized (privatized) money-making entities, just there to bring in the bucks and pretend to help it's flock.

So it occurs to me, they must think that the rest of us must be sheltered and given a crutch too, since they are trying to control us, make our decisions moot and regulated by laws....

We are the strong, they are the weak...we must keep this in mind and use it...don't let them block out the truth anymore, get right up in their faces and scream it...

Just an observation and a rant, I may be reaching or far off, but just a thought.............

[EST]

1. My (fundie) father used to teach me

that the dinosaur bones and other evidence of earth's history were purposely put in the ground, by God, to weed out those looking for a reason to disbelieve.
Try to think of it, not as a weakness or a mere foible, but as a need, kind of like vitamin C. Also, try to be aware that, should you go so far as to kick out this fundamental requirement, you must be prepared to replace it with something equally powerful and comforting. It's your responsibility, and quite a wearying one at that. I expect, on further analysis, you probably don't want to have to carry that particular responsibility.

[Wildewolfe]

2. The fundamentalist movement

is really ALL about abdication of personal responsibility.

Having grown up with it shoved down my throat it boils down to:

1 - If anything bad happens, it's the devil's work or influence.

2 - The way to defeat the devil is by prayer, not by trying to do anything about it yourself.

3 - when your prayers are not answered you were not "in God's Perfect will". In fact most I saw growing up do not pray for specifics, they pray that God's perfect will be done. Sadly that abdicates not only personal responsibility, but even thinking for yourself.

4 - Rather than do anything morally responsible (like take charge of your children's behavior) they put it "in front of the lord" for him to deal with.

I could go on for hours on this one.