Fundamentalist Christianity is a CULT!!!!!

[absyntheNsugar]

Had to say it. After dealing with a bunch of fundies who couldn't stop talking about it, I had to belt this out.

I would go on to argue that they're not really Christians either, but that would be too much like them.

ARRRRGHHH!!!

Ok...go back to your regularly scheduled programming...

[Melodybe]

1. I agree, they are all brainwashed.

[absyntheNsugar]

2. Yes they can't even say a complete sentence

without mentioning their stupid religio-babble!

"Praise the Lord, I got on that bus today"

"Well PRAISE JESUS! I am so happy for you"

[Exultant Democracy]

3. Rain is WET!!!

J/K, they are a scary group of people.

I have always been of the opinion that many groups (not necessarily individuals) that claim to be Christian simultaneously hold many views that are fundamentally un-Christian.

[burrowowl]

4. Yes

and ....

No, they are not really Christians.

Christ must be crying.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

5. Good book to read

Read "The Fundamentals of Extremism" edited by Kimberly Blaker, a very insightful look at everything the religious right stands for in this country.

[PurityOfEssence]

15. Sorry, buckaroo, the belief system created them too

Ya can't just pick and choose. Built into the precepts of the religion is a bushel of seeds to grow such flora; it's all very tidy to dismiss them, but the faith itself is responsible for them AND FOR THEIR ACTIONS. The disconnect simply doesn't jibe with reality. Belief is fear of thinking. Certitude is fear of nuance. Salvation is selfishness and an immature hunger for daddy's approval.

Regardless of various "nice" elements to the guess--and it IS that, it's nothing more than an assumption--there are more elements that are dangerous. Once you can get people to accept something without proof, you're on the fast track to insanity, fanaticism and all sorts of general hysteria.

People who don't believe in an afterlife or a guiding hand don't do as much killing, suicide bombing and other naughtiness.

There's a religious element in all of the the offspring killings I've heard of in the past few years, and there have been a lot of them. Squaring causal reality with a world of supernatural beings and magic wrenches the mind in such ways that sanity is at risk whenever anyone has any real immersion in that religion. Christianity just has a handy mixture that helps promote willy-nilly aberrations: an afterlife, intrusive proselytizing to please the Sky Chief with more scalps, continual absolution for all actions regardless of their impact on other mortals and a huge general acceptance of the folly. It's not as heady a mixture as Islam, but if that ain't damned by faint praise, then one's too anesthetized to see the irony.

It's certainly the dark side of the the faith, but it's the faith nonetheless. A fundamentalist zombie is every bit as much a Christian as Barry Lynn, just not as decent or worthy a human.

Religion is a drug, an escape, an arrogant justification and an incredible self-delusion of personal superiority. The very idea of people proclaiming their absolute understanding of the universe is pomposity itself. (Sure, it also provides warmth and belonging, but even with some of the precepts of getting along and being a decent person, it's a losing proposition.) Just like alcohol, many can use it casually and have a fine time, but quite a few destroy their lives and those of others with it. The problem is that it's the only such danger that isn't labeled as such; in this society, the premise is that religion is good.

No, Christianity's entire history--regardless of the good it's brought--has been continually steeped in violence, destruction, subjugation, abuse and psychosis, and it's not just some accident by some bunch of poseurs, it's endemic to the faith. Defining it as good and distancing oneself from the bad is self-congratulatory and just flat-out incorrect.

Sorry for the lambasting, but it's true.

Christians who do have a moral compass--as I'm sure you and most on this board do--owe it to the rest of us to rein in the increasingly dangerous from within the fold. This isn't funny anymore, and it's not very avoidable. Just as everything bad that happens in Iraq is absolutely Junior's fault, all bad actions done in the name of Christian belief are the responsibility of its adherents. You get the praise for the Schweitzers and Mother Teresas, but you have to cop to the guilt of the Hitlers, Mussolinis, Francos, McVeighs and DeLays.

Package deal.

Same source.

Not an accident.

Getting worse.

(Hugs and kisses, dammit)

[Nomad559]

6. Barna surveys on evangelical Christians

http://www.datalounge.com/datalounge/news/record.html?record=20398

The American Family Association, a far right lobbying group in Washington, released results from a recent survey that shows mainstream Americans see evangelical Christians as one of the least likeable groups in the country.

Researchers from the Barna survey asked respondents how they felt about evangelicals, born-again Christians, ministers, and other groups of people in society. According to the survey, evangelicals came in tenth out of eleven, narrowly beating out prostitutes.



http://www.worthynews.com/news-features/christian-divorce-rate.html

The Barna Research Firm is defending a recent survey which found some disturbing statistics regarding born-again Christians and divorce. The survey found that born-again Christians were just as likely as non-believers to divorce.

In fact, the survey found that the divorce rate is higher for Christians when compared with non-believers.



http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/12/afa/62002a.asp

A new survey shows that adults with no connection to the Christian faith have low opinions of evangelicals. The researcher who conducted the study believes that may be one reason why churches are not growing.

The Barna survey asked respondents how they felt about evangelicals, born-again Christians, ministers, and other types of people. According to the survey, evangelicals came in tenth out of eleven, trailing lesbians and lawyers but beating out prostitutes.



http://www.ptm.org/01PT/JanFeb/GAcommentary.htm

A friend of mine just returned from a conference reporting disturbing results from a new survey. North Americans were asked to name the type of individual they would least like to have as a next door neighbor. The most feared and least liked next door neighbor -- a serial killer, a drug dealer or a terrorist? Not according to this survey!

The number one, least liked and most feared potential next-door neighbor (imagine a drumroll here) -- a conservative Christian!



http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/pr.nsf/stable/new_barna

A new survey shows that evangelicals less likely than other Americans to help children orphaned by AIDS.

The survey of more than 1,000 adults, sponsored by World Vision and conducted by the California-based Barna Research Group, found that 3 percent of evangelicals said they "definitely" would help children orphaned because of AIDS, compared with 5 percent of all respondents.



http://www.connectionmagazine.org/archives_old/archives/2000/oct2000/disturbing.htm

Americans have been called the most religious population on earth. But a new study shows that only a minority of adults strongly hold opinions that line up with scripture.

A recent Barna Research survey showed that 60% of all adults agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches. However, people's knowledge of the content actually taught in the Bible often falls short. For example, 53% of people believe the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves. Forty-one percent agreed that the Holy Spirit is not real, but a symbol of God's presence.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Jesus, calm down

What an inappropriate tirade you went off on.

Calm down, breath deep, count to, like, four hundred, and then edit your post, perhaps.

Nomad said nothing in his post, nor in the research quoted, that should imply that Islam is A+ 100% ipso facto better than perfect and that Christiniaty is the shits. All it is is some accurate and damning evidence that the Christian RightWing in this country is not trusted, nor even appreciated, by America.

That can be said without it meaning there's tacit approval of islam.

Jeez, go take a class in logic or something.

[scucci]

12. Have you been watching the news?

Hello! Logic classes are vital for some of you. Put down the pipe and see the destruction of what some Islamic people have wrought. Are you blind? Every single terror attack in the past 25 years is by...you guessed it...MUSLIMS! Stop excusing their behaviour and maybe the PLANET EARTH would be better off. Stop giving a bunch of cowardly religious fanatics (no matter what flavor) your support!
Of course some Christians are wacky in this country, you hate them because they are you're Mommy and Daddy and they were mean to you! boo fucking hoo!

The whole point is, I assume you are an American. You have rights as an American. You have benefits because you've worked in your job as an American. Whether you like it or not, YOU ARE AN AMERICAN! If you are that ashamed I suggest you leave. Who the fuck is going to take you and give you the same benefits? Canada, the U.K.? Hell no! Who's going to take you back? Where is your home?

It's right here. It always was.

[Exultant Democracy]

14. Last 25 years? Are you tripping.

IRA, Oklahoma City, Japan Subway, ect... That list goes on and on, and you go back a whole 25 years then Islamic terrorism would account for only a fraction of world wide terror attacks.

[scucci]

10. You can't tell the truth so

it was nice knowing most of you. I guess I might meet up with you where a fair fight is a fair fight. I'm going out by saying I am a conservative demo. I voted for Clinton both times. I voted for Gore. I despise our majesty in chief.

I'm the voter you want. I'm pissed and I might NOT show up on election day for the first time. What the poo is the point?

See ya~
scucci

[Exultant Democracy]

11. You ever watch the news buddy?

Christian crazies have blown up a lot more innocent Muslim civilians then vice versa. Over 10,000 Iraqi civilians alone last year got blown up and Bush told the world clearly that "god called upon him" to do it.

[TheMightyFavog]

18. Don't forget the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.

End of Line.

[FDRrocks]

9. All religions are cults

cult ( P ) Pronunciation Key (klt)
n.

1.
1. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
2. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.
1. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
2. The object of such devotion.
6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.


--------------------

But anyways....

[scucci]

13. I don't know what you're trying to tell me but

yes, that sure sounds like a billion Muslims and the minority of a couple million Christians in the US. Thanks!

[PurityOfEssence]

17. Yes, Christianity sucks somewhat less than Islam; big damn deal

The vast majority of Muslims aren't suicide bombers, and there are a lot more murderous Christian crazies than you'd probably accept.

Belief is the problem, and an afterlife is the real genie out of the bottle. Criticize "them" while making amends for your "us" as much as you please, but it's all out there, and it stems from the same mindset.

The Democratic Party welcomes religion; the Republican Party REQUIRES IT. If you don't see the importance of the difference, then please don't vote.

We all get our asses kicked for our beliefs, and that's a part of living an engaged life. If you expect some form of special dispensation for your belief, then you are anti-democratic by nature; and no, I don't mean "against the party", I mean expecting some privilege akin to aristocracy.

That's why we have a separation of church and state: each person's opinion is to be equal; those with a belief all too often expect theirs to mean more since it somehow came from some superior being. That's anti-democratic.

Chill out and don't take it so hard. Dicks are dicks regardless of their belief or non-belief; living a decent, cosmopolitan, rational and feeling life is the way to go.

I'm sure it's hard for believers to encounter religion bashing in a forum from which they've finally felt at home, but try to keep it in perspective: non-believers are actively marginalized and demonized in this society, and we seek refuge here too. I've seen it happen to many here, and it goes with the territory.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

16. All religions are cults

Freedom from ritualistic worship of regression requires a collective level of maturity unfortunately not yet obtained, thus the persistent appeal of religion/cults.