Christian Fundamentalists and the Rise of the Radical Right
POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 22:02
VIEWED: 9272
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There's a bit of a qualifier there, the term effectively. I think the point could be more effectively presented in a different manner. As to the old testament references, there's this whole new testament thing with this guy call 'Jesus.' I hear he changed a couple of those things and his life is the basis of the 'Christian' religion.
We don't have to agree, I was just voicing my opinion, and my opinion is that is article selects a few events and people to negatively brand an entire group of people, much in he manner you all were accusing Hardware of doing with the 'flash mob' fiasco.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Really, I'd get more sense having a discussion with my dog.
Smart dog.
What's so bewildering, is that after 9/11, USS Cole, Madrid, London, E. Africa Embassies, Bali, Mumbai, Beslan, Ft Hood, ... after those vicious, senseless attacks and many, many more, you STILL want to paint this theoretical picture where Islam is on equal footing with any other religion in the world today.
There's no reasoning with you. The denseness in your skull is thicker than lead.
" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "
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Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Fundamentalist Christian churches are growing in membership and influence despite holding views that are incompatible with any reasonable understanding of our world and how it works.
Well, that was all I needed to read of this to see where it's going.
As a Militant Agnostic, I'm no fan of Fundies, but this statement shows prejudice at least equal to the most bigoted racist homophobic redneck snake handling speaker in tongues I've ever met...and I've met a few. It just uses longer words.
"Keep the Shiny side up"
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Well actually my dog is pretty smart.
There is nothing inherently more violent about Islam than Christianity. Fundamentalists - extremists who believe that they are doing gods work are dangerous people, who can resort to violence. I'm not going to deny there has been a growth in fundamentalism in the Islamic world, because it is true. But that is nothing to do with Islam itself, thats just engine that drives the fanaticism. And it has happened in Christendom, and may happen again. Whole point of the article.
I do believe that the wars in the Middle East were partially religiously driven. George W himself was on a mission from god, as he so proudly states, and I believe that the religious right strongly supported him and his stance in the middle east, even in Israel, because of religious convictions.
Funnily enough, Iraq was a secular state under Hussein, on the surface anyway. The Baathist Party did their best to oppress Islamic practices. Iraq after the invasion is a much more Islamic country than prior, which is ironic. The Taliban grew up out of the chaos following the war and destruction of the 80's in Afghanistan.
Fundamentalism isn't restricted to one type of belief or religion and doesn't happen because of religion - it thrives and prospers in certain environments, including the ones above but I agree with the author. It's dangerous and needs checking.
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Quote:
There is nothing inherently more violent about Islam than Christianity.
And there you have it, folks. MD's inability, unwillingness to step out of the realm of never never land, and into the literal, actual world.
We're not debating on what's inherently / potentially / theoretically here...we're dealing in that ACTUAL. What really IS happening, and what has happened, in our world, in our time, NOW.
You're so programmed, so conditioned to refuse to accept that any ONE thing is any better than/ worse than another, your kool-aid drinking adherence to the PC mindset has completely blinded you.
You're dealing in the text book, debate class construct, and the rest of life is occurring, outside.
" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "
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Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:Quote:
Yes, and quite an important axe to grind give Christian fundamentalist agendas of anti evolution and other scientific thinking, preferring instead to believe (and promoting the beliefs) of mythology and fairytale as fact.
See, maybe this is inadvertant, but even as an atheist who used to absolutely hate Christianity and to get in fist fights with the jocks at my school mouthing off, this seems too much to me.
People want to believe in stuff like that, it's their prerogative, I think. And yes, I object to fundamentalists forcing their beliefs on others, but I don't object to them believing those beliefs.
I don't have objection if people want to believe in the toothfairy as the all powerful creator of the universe. I might not invite them to dinner....
But the issue with fundamentalism and the Christian right is that they push their agenda. They aren't just holding prayer meetings, they're lobbying hard, and they've got deep pockets which they don't mind digging into to support candidates who will support their hardline on the above issues.
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Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:Quote:
There is nothing inherently more violent about Islam than Christianity.
And there you have it, folks. MD's inability, unwillingness to step out of the realm of never never land, and into the literal, actual world.
We're not debating on what's inherently / potentially / theoretically here...we're dealing in that ACTUAL. What really IS happening, and what has happened, in our world, in our time, NOW.
You're so programmed, so conditioned to refuse to accept that any ONE thing is any better than/ worse than another, your kool-aid drinking adherence to the PC mindset has completely blinded you.
Was that more barking I heard, with a bit of a whine in there????
Let us see what you said, "Muslims tend to act more on their beliefs, in violent fashion, than do Christians."
Remember? That's because you speak in moronic soundbites, that its hard for you to argue at all. Did you actually mean "Currently, I'm more worried about the growth in Islamic fundamentalism than Christian fundamentalism" ? and then discuss why that concerned you. Lord no, that would have meant stringing two or more coherent, rational thoughts together.
well I'm off to have a chat with Fido to discuss the impact in the growth in the number of Americans who believe in creationism. Woof.
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Quote:
Originally posted by TheHappyTrader:
There's a bit of a qualifier there, the term effectively. I think the point could be more effectively presented in a different manner. As to the old testament references, there's this whole new testament thing with this guy call 'Jesus.' I hear he changed a couple of those things and his life is the basis of the 'Christian' religion.
We don't have to agree, I was just voicing my opinion, and my opinion is that is article selects a few events and people to negatively brand an entire group of people, much in he manner you all were accusing Hardware of doing with the 'flash mob' fiasco.
I don't think I accused Hardware of anything at all, if you care to re-read that thread.
You have kind of summed up how I see the difference between Fundamental Christians and mainstream Christians. More mainstream Christians follow the New testament and the teachings of Christ. They might refer or enjoy sections of the Old Testament, but the main teachings for them are in the NT. Fundamentalists see the Bible in its entirety as the word of God, although the lord knows they pick and choose which bits to reference. They use parts of the old Testament to back up a whole host of their beliefs, including how the world was created and how it will end. They don't believe that Genesis is a metaphor or a way of explaining humanity's origins in a time prior to the existence scientific reasoning, but that it is actual fact, word for word. And they are often ambitious for political power. Difficult combination.
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None? It's not like they or anyone from their families would have gone into science anyway. The only reason there's "growth" among them is because they have more children than some other demographics.
If US research has gone down, it's because of 1) complacency 2) distracting entertainment technology, and 3) outsourcing research and development. Not really because some people who were probably always really religious, or born agains who lived in a community that pressured them, suddenly decided that OMG hate teh science. We've always had those, there's no reason to conclude there was any impact in the past or presently.
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MD ,
You're just pissed off , ashamed and embarrassed that you can't hold your own in this 'debate', and it shows. The childish insults, the dismissive tone...
Why don't you go toe to toe w/ me on this, and we can count how many mass killings have been done in the name of Allah, vs those done in the name of Jesus.
Ready ? Let's go. I'll start...
Beslan school massacre - Russia.
Your turn.
" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "
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