Ask a Fundamentalist Christian

I can’t think of any questions right off but I would like you to pass on the message that I’m very impressed with her volunteering to do this. Good job, and I hope everyone is KIND in their questions since she was brave enough to offer herself up for questioning.

Please…be nice to the fundamentalist and let’s put our best faces forward. 🙂

Maria, how do you reconcile contradictions and misinformation in the Bible? In other words how do you make peace with God telling people that a bat is a bird and pi is 3?

Does in make you uncomfortable worshiping such a violent God? Does it bother you that your God ordered the killing of babies?

Why do you think it is that there is no physical evidence that Jesus existed and mention of him until 75 years after his death?

I’m impressed too. Good luck answering our questions =D

This question I could ask any believer:

There are so many religions and beliefs, and a believer of any other religion may be just as sure about her religion as you are in yours. But from your perpective she must be mistaken. Don’t you ever think that you could be this mistaken person, or that’s it’s impossible to know which religion, if any, is true?

I’ll sit back and watch this one and just try to keep my mouth shut, unless I know I can ask something without causing an intersteller incident. Mike is liberal, but I’m sure he struggled with not taking offense to some of my questions to him. I seriously doubt a Fundamentalist can tolerate me for more than one minute.

Does your faith affect how to feel about issues, like science, or planning for the future? For example, do you distrust scientists who say the Universe is billions of years old, and therefor distrust any finding they may later claim? Do you believe the rapture will happen in your life time? If so, how does that affect your day to day decision making? Do you have a retirement account? Do you believe it’s ok to not worry about environmental impacts we may cause today which won’t manifest until many years down the road, because the Second Coming is soon? How do you view society, generally, outside of your church?

Wow. Good questions. Hemant asked me not to answer in the comment section and we’ll see which ones he picks for me to answer.

I appreciate Kate and Becksi’s encouragement. As to anyone who is afraid of offending me, I’m a fundamentalist Christian living in the most liberal state in the union. 🙂 I’ve learned not to offend easily.

So bring on the questions. I’m looking forward to it.

“From goo to you by way of the zoo,” which I’m sure we’ve all heard before.

Nope, sorry, never heard that one. Funny tho’.

Science has landed a man on the moon, cured a myriad of diseases, created means of transportation that make the world ever smaller, and peer into matter at a scale so small it is virtually beyond imagination. When scientists have so overwhelmingly proven that the theory of evolution is every bit as real as the theory of gravity, what makes you so sure that in this case they have got it completely wrong?

Is there any scientific/religious disagreement in human history that you can point to where religion has been proven right, and science has been proven wrong?

If your child suddenly became seriously ill, would you take him/her directly to the priest with his prayers or the doctor with his science?

Why do fundamentalists (most of them, anyway) think it’s necessary to attempt to turn their beliefs into legislation, especially when it’s a belief or choice that most people think should be left to the individual conscience? I’m not specifically asking about any particular issue, but the general attitude that it would be a good thing to have the state enforce certain conservative christian beliefs in a diverse society that does not agree with them.

And another – why is it so important to fundamentalists that elected figures should be religious, especially the right kind of religious? Isn’t it more important for an elected official to represent (as far as possible) all the people and to enact good laws? To me it seems that this is a classic case of “no man can serve two masters” (yes, I know where that’s from, and I know it was about god and money, not government, but the principle is the same), and that someone who has truly dedicated his or her life to any faith should refrain from trying to be public servant as well – do you see this as not a conflict, and how so?

I know how I, as an emerging Christian, would answer most of these questions, but I am very intrigued to see what Maria does with them. And Richard Wade is right, you are very brave for putting yourself out there like this Maria. Trust me, I know!

Maria,

Do you home school your children, because you feel your children will start to question their own beliefs if they are exposed to children at public school that hold different beliefs or no believes at all? Do you not think your faith is strong enough to hold up to scrutiny for people of nonbelieve?
Do you think people become scientists because they want to disprove biblical things or because they are truly just looking for the answers to how the universe works or how to cure what ails the human race?

Thanks for taking the challenge.

Hi again, everyone.

These are some really great questions. I did agree with Hemant to not answer questions in the comment section. Of course, that was a lot easier to agree to before I saw all of these great questions. I also appreciate how kind everyone is being to me, in general, being as I am coming from a completely different viewpoint than many of you.

As far as me being called brave, though, I am more inclined to agree with Claire. I feel I, like mostly anyone who takes the time to express themselves in a forum like this, am operating on the desire to increase understanding of my beliefs and that of those who belive like me, not any special courage.

If you say that you believe in something, but then don’t have the nerve to say why, do you really believe it in the first place? If I can’t answer questions of people who see the world differently than I do about what I believe, then I need to do some soul searching and see if I really believe it.

All we’re waiting on now, is Hemant to pick what he wants me to answer.

In the meantime, I have a question for anyone who wants to answer it. How does an atheist define the term fundamentalist? I know what it means to me, but what is connected to the that term for an atheist?

Two more questions based on hypothetical situations: They are very unlikely scenarios but please don’t avoid the question by objecting to that.

1. If you had the power to make your particular version of your particular religion the official, legal, constitutional religion of the United States, would you use that power?

2. If all by yourself you came upon an injured, dying person in an isolated place and that person, knowing that he or she would presently die, asked you to administer a simple last rite for their religion that was completely different from your religion, would you grant him or her that last wish? Assume that side issues such as first aid, physical discomfort or any chance of rescue or assistance is not a pertinent part of the scenario.

I said she is brave because she’s opening herself up to the potential for ridicule and attack. As I discovered (though this certainly isn’t true of most people here) some atheists can be rather antagonistic and mean-spirited in support of their viewpoints. Of course that is very true of some Christians too.

As I discovered (though this certainly isn’t true of most people here) some atheists can be rather antagonistic and mean-spirited in support of their viewpoints. Of course that is very true of some Christians too.

Have you ever wondered if these people were the opposite would they still be mean-spirited? That is, if the atheist were a Christian and the Christian were an atheist would they have a mood adjustment concerning their POVs?

I know, it sounds like a silly question, but I thought I’d ask.

Maria,

A basic question I have for so-called “fundamentalist” Christians is this: why is it that, in a religion whose basic doctrines are love, devotion to doing good works, and preaching these teachings to others, are there so many people advocating the sometimes revolt against opposing beliefs?

The God of the Old Testament set forth different sets of commands for different kinds of civilization (ref. Genesis 9, Acts 15), in effect acknowledging the legitimacy of those civilizations which meet certain minimum standards but are not themselves Jewish or Christian. I don’t recall Jesus repudiating this idea; indeed, I recall that Jesus preached tolerance of the Jews, and suggested that they had their own separate relationship with God. So why are “fundamentalist” Christians so frequently intolerant of the religious viewpoints of other cultures?

Lastly: My understanding is that a primary “fundamentalist” belief is that the Old and New Testaments represent the literal word of God. How is this belief reconciled with evidence in the post-Jesus historical record of changes made (by men) to the text? How can one be certain that these words are the ones Jesus actually spoke? And what about all of the things He said that didn’t make it into the Bible — were those things unimportant? In other words, how is it that Christianity can claim the ultimate authority on God’s intent, to the exclusion of anything else?

Not trying to be antagonistic: these are points on which I would really welcome some clarification. Thanks for being so willing to share your viewpoint.

It’s interesting to me that the atheist definitions of “fundamentalism” would actually include most evangelicals as well. Within the Christian world those two are rather distinct and fundamentalism has a more specific definition (though personally I use the term to refer to people of any belief system that hold their beliefs in a way that is unkind and intolerant towards those with whom they disagree)… but of course, all that is probably irrelevant since Maria wanted to know what it meant to you guys.

Oh, that would be a good question, Mike. What does “fundamentalist” mean? I mean, all I’m really told is that they hate science and freedom. I’m joking of course, but you get the idea.

Since you asked, atheists usually define “fundamentalist” as someone who believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible. There are a bunch of negative connotations too. For example, you regularly ignore evidence going against your faith, and you believe an invisible anthropomorphic sky god will condemn everyone who thinks for themselves to eternal hellfire. You know, the usual stuff. Also, “fundamentalist atheist” is considered baseless insult. You can google “Blake’s law” for that.

How does an atheist define the term fundamentalist?

Hi Maria, from another Maria: as a non-theist, I define a fundamentalist as someone who takes literally all the fundamentals of their religion, and who tends to have a hard time questioning it and has a tendency to be more dogmatic. Someone who takes it all seriously and literally, whether it be the bible or the koran, etc.

I’m glad you are here 🙂

My question to you is this: do you honestly think, really honestly deep down truly feel, that anyone who isn’t a Christian is going to hell? What do you think of other Christians (liberal ones in particular who support political issues you don’t agree with?)? Are they in the same category as non-Christians for you? What about people who believe in a God/Gods and/or a higher power, but not the Abrahamic God? Are all of these people in the same category? Do you feel a tendency to think of them differently b/c of what they do or don’t believe, or do you try to focus on who they are and what they do? How do most people in your church feel about this type of stuff?

Sorry if that’s too many at once…..good luck 🙂

So, what happened with this?

My comment hasn’t posted. It didn’t appear when I posted it last night but when I tried to post it again it gave me an error message saying it was a duplicate comment.

I assumed it didn’t appear right away because there was a link in it which I assume had to be approved.

Is it still pending?

Gracias!

These labels confuse me. I consider myself fundamental in that I try to order my life after the teachings of Jesus. I don’t consider the Bible to be a history book, especially the early chapter of the Old Testament. It is more like the preaching of the fable passed down for many generations. However, I believe that there was an creator who created the “big bang” or whatever started the universe, and that He eventually gave a light to a being we call “mankind”, which distinguishes them from all other beings. Gave them the ability to choose God, or not so choose.
The resurrection of Jesus is the fact that convinces me that He lives today, and we can be like Him.
I can understand why others can’t accept the idea that there is life beyond death. I am happy with believing.
“Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief”