Extreme evangelicals pose threat

Before anyone reads too much into it, the icon at the top of the page (where the "a" in "Statepress" resembles a devil's horns) is there because the article is from the 'Arizona State University' newspaper.

The mascot of ASU is the "Sun Devils".

kong ,
What's your definition of extreme evangelical christinity?

nysdan wrote:

kong ,
What's your definition of extreme evangelical christinity?

My PERSONAL definition of fundimentalism (ANY RELIGION) might differ from yours or the authors, but lets just say there is no real cut-off between persons of faith (again ANY RELIGION), and the real "out there" types.

I generally respect persons of faith, so as they also can deal with the rest of the world.

The relatively harmless ones might be the types you see on the street corner standing on a soap box telling screaming to the wind that "The END IS NEAR", or (in the case of this university) claim that this educational facility is demon-possessed because their mascot is a "Sun Devil". Fairly harmless cranks, not much more.

It gets more serious when persons such as Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrate at funerals of American servicemen killed in battle, screaming "God hates Fags!", and other nonsense such as that (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps ).

Then we have racial bigots who use God as justification for their hate, abortion office bombers, etc who "kill for God".

Like I said at the beginning, it's not black and white.....a progressive level of insanity.

If you've been to some of the "Christian" threads on Topix, you might have seen some of the "Love" expressed there. If you want to see additional instances, go to: http://www.fstdt.net/QuoteArchives.aspx... ("Fundies Say the Darndest Things") for outrageous quotes gleaned from Topix and similar forums. Sometimes funny, sometimes scarey as hell.

For the purposes of the "Evolution" forums (of which this thread is part), the Extreme Evangelicals take to denying reality in favor of the parables of Creation found in Genesis.

MOST Christians do not believe in the LITERAL Genesis Creation story, but consider the reality that is chemical abiogenesis being the tool that God utilized when creating life on earth, and evolution for the diversity of life (including Man) on earth.

Here's the definition of fundamentalist that I like.

"Fundamentalist, n. One in whom something is fundamentally wrong - most commonly lack of reasoning ability and vicious intolerance toward those not sharing the fundamentalist's delusions. Thus, fundamentalists are especially intolerant of those able to draw obvious conclusions from observed facts, those who refuse to seek shelter in comforting falsehoods, and those who wish to lead their own lives. Members of the fundamentalist
subspecies known as "Slack-Jawed Drooling Idiots" have been known to give so much of their income to "electronic churches" that they subsist on Alpo at the end of the month. In herds, fundamentalists are about as useful to society as wandering bands of baboons brandishing machetes."
[Charles Bufe "The American Heretic's Dictionary"]

BTW, I am guilty of conflating "Evangelism" with "Fundimentalism".

But it seems to me they often run hand-in-hand. And more often than not also with ignorance, intolerance and extreme right-wing politics.....but then that's redundant!

Kong_ wrote:

It gets more serious when persons such as Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church...

ARGH! Those people are insane!

Here's one of the very few times I can agree with Fox News:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217975,00...

MikeF wrote:

<quoted text>
ARGH! Those people are insane!
Here's one of the very few times I can agree with Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217975,00...

You really know that somebody is a sick bastard (or bitch in this case) when even Fox News is taken aback by their psychoticness.

MikeF wrote:

<quoted text>
ARGH! Those people are insane!
Here's one of the very few times I can agree with Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217975,00...

The WBC is not a "church" as the word is commonly used and understood here in the U.S. They are a group of about 15 family members that are certifiably wacko

The BEST thing everyone can do about these nuts is IGNORE THEM COMPLETELY, because they LIVE off of the publicity they recieve. Without that, they die.

Resolve NEVER to speak about them, write aboute them, nor acknowledge their very exixtence in any way, shape or form.

Frank Stanton wrote:

<quoted text>
The WBC is not a "church" as the word is commonly used and understood here in the U.S. They are a group of about 15 family members that are certifiably wacko
The BEST thing everyone can do about these nuts is IGNORE THEM COMPLETELY, because they LIVE off of the publicity they recieve. Without that, they die.
Resolve NEVER to speak about them, write aboute them, nor acknowledge their very exixtence in any way, shape or form.

Point taken.

Unless, of course, if they show up at one of our military funerals.

Frank Stanton wrote:

<quoted text>
The BEST thing everyone can do about these nuts is IGNORE THEM COMPLETELY, because they LIVE off of the publicity they recieve. Without that, they die.
Resolve NEVER to speak about them, write aboute them, nor acknowledge their very exixtence in any way, shape or form.

I KIND OF agree.

I would encourage parents to bring kids (of an appropriate age) to witness a demonstration that these wackos (or KKK, or any other hate group) have for no other reason to graphically impress upon their children that "yes, these type of people DO exist".

Afterwards, responsible parents should have a frank discussion as to tolerance among all people.

Ignoring radical elements forever will only allow them to continue to propagate and extend their ignorance unheeded by society.

Kong_ wrote:

<quoted text>
I KIND OF agree.
I would encourage parents to bring kids (of an appropriate age) to witness a demonstration that these wackos (or KKK, or any other hate group) have for no other reason to graphically impress upon their children that "yes, these type of people DO exist".
Afterwards, responsible parents should have a frank discussion as to tolerance among all people.
Ignoring radical elements forever will only allow them to continue to propagate and extend their ignorance unheeded by society.

When I was about 5 years old, my mother (who suffers an extreme God infection) took me to a Pentecostal tent revival. There was lots of speaking in tongues and falling down and writhing on the floor. It was the most insane thing I had ever seen in my young life (and it still ranks right near the top). I was convinced these people were batsh*t crazy. Even my extremely religious mother was somewhat taken aback.

Darwins Stepchild wrote:

<quoted text>
When I was about 5 years old, my mother (who suffers an extreme God infection) took me to a Pentecostal tent revival. There was lots of speaking in tongues and falling down and writhing on the floor. It was the most insane thing I had ever seen in my young life (and it still ranks right near the top). I was convinced these people were batsh*t crazy. Even my extremely religious mother was somewhat taken aback.

I can understand that. 5yrs old? I'd be freaking out too!

Darwins Stepchild wrote:

<quoted text>
When I was about 5 years old, my mother (who suffers an extreme God infection) took me to a Pentecostal tent revival. There was lots of speaking in tongues and falling down and writhing on the floor. It was the most insane thing I had ever seen in my young life (and it still ranks right near the top). I was convinced these people were batsh*t crazy. Even my extremely religious mother was somewhat taken aback.

That was one of the most incoherent writing, i have ever read. My head is spinning.

Danji wrote:

<quoted text>
That was one of the most incoherent writing, i have ever read. My head is spinning.

Shrug. I didn't find it hard to read whatsoever.

Danji wrote:

<quoted text>
That was one of the most incoherent writing, i have ever read. My head is spinning.

I understood it perfectly, as well.

Folks, go to msnbc.com/Huge/Quake/hits/Chille

If what this nysdan guy proclaims is true; then this could be the entire world in less than 16 months.

Danji wrote:

<quoted text>
That was one of the most incoherent writing, i have ever read. My head is spinning.

Maybe you need to learn the big words then.

Imprtnrd wrote:

<quoted text>Maybe you need to learn the big words then.

Well, he/she DID spell "incoherent" correctly.

Here's the actual link to the story:

http://www.statepress.com/2010/02/25/extreme-...

Here's my favorite article on fundamentalists, which includes the best definition I've seen:

http://www.uuworld.org/2004/01/feature2.html

I think evangelical christians clearly fall into this category. And I totally agree with the author of the article that this is a group that we should fear.

Anyone who is just waiting for some armageddon event to occur so they can get to heaven faster is not someone who should be trusted with the care of this planet (why would they care about it?) and especially should not hold any elected office.

Think of Sarah Palin as president (* shudder *)- she would think of the armies under her command as the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. Geo W came pretty close to doing the same thing.