Yesterday on GenX Thinker said,
"I describe fundamentalists as people who use anything they can in their school of thought to limit rather than expand. If I have grown, moved past and assimilated something into my beliefs, it is because I have "backslidden". If I don't accept an argument, it is my "pride" or I trust in my "own wisdom". I don't have anything against normal accomodating fellow Christians/humans, they aren't "fundamentalists" to me."
I don't have trouble with that & I pretty much agree with thinker on the above points. its scary to meet truly close-minded people. What got me thinking was Thinker's definitions below:
fundamental: Pertaining to the foundation or basis; serving for the foundation. Hence: Essential, as an element, principle, or law; important; original; elementary; as, a fundamental truth; a fundamental axiom.
fundamental (noun): A leading or primary principle, rule, law, or article, which serves as the groundwork of a system; essential part, as, the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
fundamentally (adverb): Primarily; originally; essentially; radically; at the foundation; in origin or constituents.
According to these dictionary definitions I am a fundamentalist. When I left the Family I have tried to redefine my CHristianity & read the Bible formyself. I find myself getting back to the basics & theFundamentals. I truly believe the Jesus is the Son of God & one with God; i believe in the virgin birth; i believe that Jesus died for my sins & the he raised from the dead. I believe he's the only way to heaven. I guess for many people this is more than enoughto call me a Fundamentalist & I'd agree.
My problem is that there's a new dictionary defintion out tha tThinker didn't quote &it goes something like this:
Fundamentalist: a narrow-minded, pushy, hypocritical right-wing religious minority who opposes change & ignorantly & superstitiously believes the Bible is real.
When you say 'Fundamentalist' do you really think of the dictionary defintion or the above? becuse I believe in the fundamentals of the Christian faith i am a fundamtalist. Butdoes that make me a right-wing, narrow-minded hypocrite standing n the way of progress? I'm not. That's why I hate labels. Berg had labels likeSystemite, churchy, weak sister.