my dog earl

Frankly, I like him. He is probably more dangerous than the Jerry Falwell types in that he doesn't piss people off with his preaching style. By dangerous I only mean he may sway the fence sitters. Anyone agree?

Beetle

Welcome!!

That's the difference between fundamentalists and evangelicals. Evangelicals sound nicer and more reasonable, but when you strip the message to its core, it's the same one as the fundamentalists.

my dog earl

I dare say it is possible to be both evangelical and fundy. What scares me, and I am new here, is that these people really, I mean REALLY believe in this stuff. That is scarey, I mean REALLY scarey!!

Beetle

The fundy/evangelical relationship depends on how you define the terms. Most of the christian conservatives I know consider fundamentalists to be a subset of evangelicals. The doctrine of both groups tends to be very similar but how they relate to the outside world is different.

In my experience, most fundamentalists seem to always be really angry about something. Evangelicals will buy you coffee and then (in a friendly manner) describe how and why you're going to hell.

And yes, they can both be extremely scary!

dunadan

I think the best way to analyze anyone of this mold is to boil it down to issues. How do they feel about prayer in school (or other chuch and state separation issues), abortion, sexual orientation, women's rights, etc?

I find that generally my respect for anyone, of any religion or political fold is based proportionally on their willingness to accept diversity in others. There are too many in the US that seem to feel that freedom for others means the freedom to legislate your personal bias or prejudice into law. I would absolutely respect a preacher who would use his public forum to spread a message of tolerance on a contentious issue: 'I believe that we should have prayer in schools, however, in this country there are people of faiths other than Christianity, as well as people of no religion at all, and we need to respect the diversity of opinion on this matter, as well as the constitutional strictures on separation of church and state. The public school is not an appropriate forum for religious teachings.'

But it seems much more often that they are interested in preaching intolerance of other views and beliefs, and encouraging their followers to write their lawmakers to remove the rights of others to believe what they wish or to live the lifestyle of their choosing.

And best of all, the rest of us get to pay higher taxes because these organizations are tax exempt.

Amos

Hi Earl, I think you found the right spot to vent your frustrations. These guys are scary and I think that they are driven by the fires of hell because a rational being could never muster the determination against all odds that they show and are willing to die for.

southernhybrid

In the mid 1950s, my parents dragged me to the Billy Graham Crusades in New York City. The man is deplorable although like others have said, he can come across as quite charming before he tells you that you are hellbound. If you like Billy, try reading his newspaper column for awhile and see if that doesn't change your mind. He is an ignorant and self-righteous man who has fooled many people.

And yes I do have some emtotional baggage from those damned crusades. They called them crusades for gawd's sake.

my dog earl

I'm sorry to hear about your emotional scars southernhybrid. I took a little visit to Mr. Grahams website and just about gave them a donation . It's the sheep in me I suppose.

christ-on-a-stick

IMO, Graham is a scary and dangerous man made even more scary and dangerous by his ability to cloak himself in an image of gentleness and affability. He remains, however, a bigot through and through, a bigot in sheep's clothing if you will.

Amos

A "wolf" you mean, a wolf in sheeps clothing.