Bree

If Paul is so full of it, as you say, then why did his writings make it into the Bible when so many other worthy bits did not? The fact that Paul's writings are part of the canon must mean something.

Milton

What do you mean no experience? You mean that just because I have not faked it, or have not been hypnotized, then I can't know how it works or anything about it?

I know my sister and a cousin were at one of those places, and she faked falling backwards because she saw everyone doing it. Sure, she was very young, I think around 11 years old. I know I have felt very left out whenever I visited, and at times I felt like I wanted to just scream whatever words, without having them mean anything.

It isn't like I have never bee to their meetings. I once thought they were real, but never really saw anything, nor felt the real thing, as they would claim. I grew impatient with time, and then I stumbled upon the Scriptures that showed me that this was all a lie.

And how can you say that my credibility is affected because of my fundamentalism? So you judge me because of my personal beliefs, regardless of the fact that I am right in my assertion? What about you, you are no longer a theist, how can your assertions be better than mine? You are no longer a reliable source, since you are always trying to come up with ways to reject all beliefs. I on the other hand, am looking to see if these teachings are true.

Opera Nut

Ex-tian, you missed the raving shitfight I described. I had one with my boyfriend's son and his wife, who are raving fundies. I think they are Ass of God types.

We were up there in Rectum, Oklahoma in April of 2001 and the BF's younger son who is a Goth, said that glossolalia could mean speaking in a foreign tongue, not just the religious babbling.
Well, that set off older son's wife. She was taking the laundry outta the dryer in their new yuppie palace. She started screaming about "That's what HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET HEATHENS in your HOUSE!!! AAAGHGHHHHH!!".

I should have made like a shepherd and gotten the flock outta there. Immediately. I didn't say anything agreeing with him or disagreeing with him. I just thought, "Gee, Andrew finally said something intelligent". I was too stupid to realize that there was that much tension in the air.

Later that day I tried to discuss this with Michael, the older fundy son, because I thought he had more sense than she did, and the nosy bitch followed us around. We tried to explain to them that we were not Christians, and why we were Unitarians. I told her she was awfully self righteous if she thought that there were six billion people in the world and she KNOWS what's the best religion for ALL of them and they're ALL DIFFERENT.


She told me that Jesus had made her really happy. I said "Yeah I can tell you're really happy by the way you yell at your kids all the time. I never hear a kind word towards your kids."

They didn't get it. Michael even made fun of my for crying when I said I agreed with Lin Yutang when he said "All I know is that if God loves me half as much as my mother does, He will not send me to Hell". Charming boy, making fun of people for expressing deeply felt opinions.

Anyway, the argument escalated, they told us we were idiots, we told them they were idiots, I told the bitch to go fuck herself, she hit me hard in the shoulder from behind the couch (she is blind and was flailing wildly) and I dashed out the door towards the car.

Her two idiot kids were running after me trying to beat me up.

The younger son who is tall and skinny grabbed both of them so the BF and I could safely get in the car with our luggage and get the fuck outta the fundie house. We spent the night at the other kid's apartment which was horrible (no food, no towels, no clean dishes, no dishwashing soap).

Michael informed his father that he should have dragged ME back into the house to see the seizure that his wife had and said "LOOK what SHE did to MY WIFE". Ray just said "Let's keep 'em apart". I have hypertension and I don't need the stress. He conveniently forgot that she started it, by blowing a fuse over the other son's original comment, and she was the one that worked herself into a frenzy.

I asked Michael which of the versions of salvation he subscribed to (as taken from the article here at SecWeb) and he got mad and told me I didn't know what I believed in. I also said by e-mail that Jesus was fulfilling his prophecy to come with a sword and split up families, and that was the legacy of Christianity, since I certainly wasn't setting foot in Rectum, Oklahoma again, nor was I wasting time with complete idiots such as themselves, who have not a single book in the house except The Babble.

The BF is terribly ashamed of both of his boys for not going to college and the younger one spent 2 years in 9th grade and 2 years in tenth grade and dropped out. BF has three college degrees and they just can't understand why he is so ashamed of them for not being scholars.

I avoid fundies at all costs, for this reason and many others which are quite hazardous to my physical and mental health. They're absolutely crazy and make me suicidal. I don't need people telling me I'm a worthless piece of shit because I don't believe like them. Then if I DO believe like them, then they tell me I'm a worthless piece of shit just because I was born human. No-win situation.

I was born OK the first time.
And I tell them that.
This infuriates them.

HelenM

It depends which church you are in. Some Bible-believing churches encourage speaking in tongues and believe it's a genuine gift from the Holy Spirit [of God].

Other Bible-believing churches believe otherwise and so you would not hear/see people speaking in tongues at them.

Helen

ex-xian

Oh! You have the word of an 11 year old. Pardon me, you are an expert. And there is enough ambiguity in you fairy tale book to believe either way.

What do you mean I'm no longer a theist? I said a few posts back that I was a fideist--reading comprehension? And I don't reject all beliefs...just those that lack evidence and are ridiculous. Those like christianity.

ex-xian

That a characteristic of fundy-ism. They hate education; mainly b/c that's the antidote to their poison. Case in point--Kent Hovind.
Good for you!

Biff the unclean

Sure. The most enjoyable place to start is with Euripides. His plays are sometimes still produced. I once saw Diana Rig in a production of Medea on Broadway. It can still raise the hairs on the back of your neck.
The play you are interested in is called The Bacchae
You can even find the Harvard translation on line at http://www.bartleby.com/8/8/ That will save you a trip to the library.
It's the same story as Paul's conversion. It's a theatrical version of a story from the Dionysian religion about a guy called Pentheus who persecutes the followers of Dionysos, the Bacchae. We know that the story in Acts is lifted from this specific play about the myth and not just the myth in general because the famous "kicking at pricks" speech Jesus makes in Acts comes from this play and was spoken by the Son of God and second person of the trinity, Dionysos.
It will greatly add to your enjoyment of the play if you read up and have a general knowledge of Dionysos first. There are lots of references to things that were common knowledge when the play was written that aren't now.

Milton

Yea, I was talking about theists who have a religion shared by more than themselves. Not those who make up something and say that they have theism.

And the point is that it happened at least with two, which means that if it happened once, and twice, it is most likely to happen again and again and again.

Also, you never told me why you are more credible than I am, being that you are a declared enemy of the religion, while I am not. Could you tell me, please?

Milton

Thanks for the link, I will look at it.

ex-xian

Just because you're ignorant doesn't mean I made it up. But you can rest assured that you're isn't made up. It was cribbed from a dozen other ones.

I never said people don't fake it. I'm sure some do.
An enemy of your religion? Hardly. I don't take it seriously enough to be an enemy. And concerning penteconstal/charismatic types of religion, I am a better source than you. I was a part of it, I studied to justify my beliefs, and I've read sociological works about about this type of worship. So what qualifies you, oh self described fundamentalist?