I absolutely commiserated with Jack at this place. Because I was in the Army and am a biblical fundamentalist (a real one, not the press version of one), many people are surprised that I identify with and understand people who insist on deciding for themselves and believing what they choose. Because that's what I've always done. I made my own decisions based on what I believed was true and right and good. It's also Biblical. No one can believe for someone else. It's a free universe and each person must decide for themselves. And no force is Biblically authorized to make that happen. Only communication. I do not force my children to believe, or even acknowledge belief of, anything. I do teach them and control their activities (all parents do that), but I can't decide or believe for them. I can only love and teach them. They must decide. God has no grandchildren, only children.
Another thing about fundamentalists is that we hate hypocrisy. That does not mean someone who fails to live up to their standard for right; because that's true of everyone and would make the word hypocrisy useless. It means someone who claims to be one thing while using that claim to mask something else entirely. An actor. Most people who do that do it for money: "Making merchandise of..." God's people is the main reason. To get money out of gullible people. Or to get power from them. It's a vile, wicked thing and the world is full of it. If you want to be a snake-oil salesman, there's no better way than to fake religion in the US. There's a lot of that. And it's infuriating. And to use it to mask outright evil is also common, and terribly angering.
Kelly
Another thing about fundamentalists is that we hate hypocrisy. That does not mean someone who fails to live up to their standard for right; because that's true of everyone and would make the word hypocrisy useless. It means someone who claims to be one thing while using that claim to mask something else entirely. An actor. Most people who do that do it for money: "Making merchandise of..." God's people is the main reason. To get money out of gullible people. Or to get power from them. It's a vile, wicked thing and the world is full of it. If you want to be a snake-oil salesman, there's no better way than to fake religion in the US. There's a lot of that. And it's infuriating. And to use it to mask outright evil is also common, and terribly angering.
Kelly