Are you a former fundamentalist? Why?

[Philosoraptor]

There are many, many people who were once steeped in fundamentalism, usually because they'd been born into it, who left that life behind.

I wonder what the process is, how it went down for you, and what you might advise as a way of reaching out to those still trapped in this bizarre mind-set of total fundamentalism.

[raccoon]

1. Not a former fundamentalist myself, but I'd like to hear too. kick. nt

[BlueinOhio]

2. Lies

At vacation bible school I memorized the most bible verses so that I could win the bible. I had been told repeatedly about the bible was the inerrant word of God so there were no mistakes. So of course it was a King James version. I was so happy I had got it. I took it home and that is when I found out it was miss printed and missing several books of the Old Testament. So either God wanted the last books of old testament stricken or the bible has been subject to error. I choose that it was a publishing error and with that how many other errors were there?
But it did get me to examine the early years of Christianity and how it does not match the churches and beliefs of today.
Around the same time I started reading my Grand Fathers book HG Wells Outline of History.

[CanonRay]

9. This is what happens when you have critical thinking skills

which the Republicans would like to eliminate.

[Skidmore]

3. I was raised in the AofG denomination and

Walked out when I was 18 never to return. After witnessing the dysfunctional behavior of the ministers and elders who hammered the congregation weekly for sins more minor than their own. the hypocrisy was more than I could stomach. I also learned that you would not spontaneously combust if you had an alcoholic drink or sex loccasionally. Later I dealt with theological issues when I matured a bit. Now I practice no religion and tend to look at all religions as power structures.

[intaglio]

4. Ex-Christian has some stories

Some of them horrifying

Ex-Christian.Net

There are occasional stories regarding Mormons on The Mormon Curtain

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Former and current fundamentalist here ...

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

To me, that's a pretty good view of the fundamentals. To go into the details, "common defense" means defeating invaders, not invading every country that we have a disagreement with. "general welfare" would provide roads, schools, health care, all paid for by the government. "people of the United States" does not include corporations. "blessings of liberty" include the right to choose.

Fundamentals does not include warrantless search, forced intra-vaginal scans, union-busting. Or prescribed religion.

[northoftheborder]

6. Yes - but have to take time to respond later - if thread still findable.....

[avebury]

7. I would like to hear as well. nt

[morningglory]

8. I must have been a political animal from a young age.

I was raised Southern Baptist, not exactly pew-hopping holy roller religion, but pretty much fundamentalist. When I was in the 6th grade, Pope John 23rd was an admired public figure. I thought he was pretty cool in my Weekly Reader knowledge realm. My favorite Sunday School teacher said all Catholics were going straight to hell. I asked her if the pope was going to hell in her opionion. She said "yes". That was the beginning of the end. Then, maybe in the 8th grade JFK was running against Nixon. In my mature view, I thought JFK was cute and Nixon was a creep. Not a very intelligent view, but as a born and bred Democrat I felt I was entitled to my views. Our minister who was young and fun, gave a sermon saying that if JFK was elected he would let the pope run our country. I felt that was an idiotic opinion. I could see the goodness in JFK, and felt he would not be such a traitor to our country. That was the end of my faith. This is childish, I know. But similarly, I can see the goodness in BO.

[undeterred]

10. The first step out was

being embarrassed by the evangelism part of it. The campus groups wanted you to work on converting other people when they were in a vulnerable state, like finals week or going through a breakup. Like a predator looking for prey that are wounded.

Next step was realizing that although women were entering all the professions - and a woman could be an astronaut or a senator - she still wasn't fit to be a minister at my church. Some kind of metaphysical issue.

Next step was going to a liberal church on a day when a black woman was preaching the sermon. Black woman preaching and White men listening. Now that was an epiphany. Also realized that the people at this church cared more about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and helping the poor than about who was sleeping with who. And this was before the issues of abortion and homosexual marriage were even on the agenda.

Final step was trying to think through issues of religion vs science on a critical level. I realized that you can be a believer in God and believe in evolution and modern science. But you cannot do it in the Fundamentalist world where no critical thinking is allowed. You must leave your brain at the door.

Lots of other little steps in between.. but I left fundamentalism within a couple of years after college and the further I get away from it, the more ridiculous it looks.


Edit: I left because it was unethical and unreasonable, and the mental furniture just didn't fit in the room with the rest of my thinking.

[susanr516]

11. I'm a recovering Southern Baptist

I guess it was the hypocrisy that drove me away. I could write a book about my journey out of fundamentalism, but I'll try to keep it short.

I was born in 1954, church said God saw everyone the same way, but the Christians around me said some of the most racist things I ever heard. The civil rights era was when the first seed of doubt was planted in my mind.

They insisted on belief over rational thought. We studied the Bible a lot, and there are a lot of contradictions in the Bible. When I asked why the Baptists believed "A" when several Bible passages said "B", other Christians would tell me it was Satan putting doubts in my mind, so I should just ignore the discrepancies and "trust God." I always thought, "WTF? It says 2 different things. Why shouldn't I ask questions?"

However, it wasn't until the followers of Christian Reconstruction took over the Southern Baptist Convention that I left for good. Those are the guys that believe in Dominion Theology, that want to make the US into a Christian theocracy. Although my family was all Republican, I became a Democrat because I thought the Democratic Party's platform most resembled what Jesus would do--help the poor, protect the widows and orphans, treat everyone equally. But, Sunday after Sunday, I kept hearing from the pulpit how we should fight against the "secular humanists" and how we should all vote for "pro-life Christian values." Of course, they never mentioned a party, but the Pastor and the Minister of Education were delegates to the county Republican convention, so it was pretty clear what they considered the "Godly" party. Then people started saying, "I don't know how you can be a Christian and a Democrat." That was another WTF? moment. I was active in my church. I taught a children's Sunday School class, directed the Children's Choir which met on Sunday night, on Wednesday night I taught learning disabled/special ed kids in the AWANA program, plus I sang in the adult choir and was a soloist at least once per month. I worked every summer in Vacation Bible School. Yet, these people, who had seen how much time I volunteered, questioned my commitment because of how I voted? My own mother told me--on the day we buried Daddy--that I was going to Hell because I voted Democratic. So, sometime in 2000, I walked away.

It's hard to walk away from something that consumed so much of your life, especially when everyone is telling you how you will burn in Hell forever. I don't know if I really believe in God or not, because everything I learned in church seems to be in direct contradiction to what I read in the Bible. This is already too long, but I feel like--if there is a God--I hope he/she/it knows that I was sincerely seeking to do what's right.