Question for all R&S Regulars?

Question

Fundamentalism/Evangelicalism of any kind is bad and does more harm then good. Do you agree or disagree? State your reasons why you do agree or why you disagree.

I see that there are alot of good answers and that most answerers understand the question. However i see that there are people who are not understanding the question and are tisting it to their point of view.

GLSigma3- You can bring Christianity to the forefront as a Liberal as well.

Answer 1

I agree that fundamentalism is a dangerous trend in any given religion because it promotes intolerance, division, and an us-versus-them mentality. Add to this paranoia and a false persecution complex ("the world is against us"). And generally, you'll find other skeltons in the fundamentalist closet, such as domestic abuse. Any religion, regardless of how good it may be initially, will only deteriorate in the hands of intolerant radicals.

Answer 2

Disagree, but it would totally depend on your point of view.

If your focus is this current world, and maximizing your enjoyment, then yes, fundamentalism and evangelicalism gets in your way, and bothers you (which should be a warning flag, but that's a different discussion), and does more harm by hamstringing your capability of maximum possible enjoyment.

If your focus is the eternal after life, then all of a sudden Fundamentalism/Evangelicalism is a life boat.

Obviously if you don't believe in an eternal afterlife then it does more harm than good, you should just be certain you're right about the afterlife.

Answer 3

this Q depends on ones definition of fundamentalism and evangelicalism.
Fundamentalism, taken in the form of Webster's definition, simply means that one holds to the "fundamentals" of something.

My football coach was a fundamentalist, footwork, athleticism, stance, blocking, etc.

My basketball coach, on the otherhand, was not fundamentalist: the guys that could shoot the hoop got the playing time; he never taught us passing, teamwork, full court/ half court press, layups, nothing but "shoot the ball!!"

In religion, fundamentalism means that one holds to the truth, that other truth claims are false to the extent that they contradict observable and revealed truth.
Fundamentalism that says "Die if you disagree with me," would be bad; fundamentalism that says that there is such a thing as truth and "this" is it, but does not violate the principles of that truth to enforce it, may be good.

For example, the idea of God is fundamental to Islam. Is it fundamentalism to insist on the existance of God? Yes.
Is that bad? No.

Sura 112 reads: “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Say: He is God, The One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, Nor is He begotten; And there is none Like unto Him.” This sura “is held to be worth a third of the whole Qur’an and the seven heavens and the seven earths are founded upon it. To confess this verse, a tradition affirms, is to shed one’s sins as a man might strip a tree in autumn of its leaves.”

While it is not quite the way that I would put it as a Christian, it is not a bad definition of God!

Evangelicalism is a term that typically applies to Christians who seek to win others to Christ through evangelism of various sorts. Forced conversion is NEVER a genuine conversion.

You are an evalgelist, too! You seem to seek to win people away from the fundamental ideas of Truth, and you seem to want them to agree with you. if your proposition is correct, then your posting fundamentalist and evangelical and as such is bad, and does more harm than good!

Answer 4

Agree. Fundamentalism turns the search for truth into an emotional issue instead of a factual issue.

When the emotive centers of the brain are activated, the logical sections are actively inhibited, as demonstrated by numerous MRI studies.

Since truth is by definition a logical consideration, fundamentalism does not lead to truth.

Answer 5

Agree.... there is some security in old ways for such believers. Sadly, often ignored is Christ's basic message - to love God and to love fellow man. Too many fundamentalists mix Old Testament verses to suit their values, rather than 'forgive'. The whole gay question is a good example. Nowhere in the New Testament does Christ ever address the subject. To attack any group is against his basic teaching of love. Of course, if a fundamentalist goes 'on the attack', send him a sheep to sacrifice... OT says we should do that! :-)

Answer 6

I played (American) football from the time I was 11 to 20.In all that time I was a fundamentalist football player.Why? Because I followed the rule book and if I didn't ,I was penalized.I didn't say "Aw, come on Ref. you say it was Clipping ,I think you're interpreting that wrong.You can't take that literally,the rules were made to be broken and interpreted however I want!"
No,that didn't happen.The rules were the rules and the Bible is the Bible.No one ever got AIDS from being faithful to ones partner.No one ever got syphillus from marrying and staying with his young bride.No one ever died of alcoholisim having a coke or a cup of coffee.etc.

Answer 7

Everything that exists in this "sphere" is neither inherently good or bad. It just is. As egos, we feel a need to label everything without a deeper understanding of the way the Universe operates.

Who are we to label or judge "evangelists"? Yes they are radical. Yes they propagate fear. But what is their purpose? How might they actually be benefitting you? Might they show you that extremists live in our own backyard? That fear of God is unnecessary? Then they are a blessing, no?

You can apply this questioning to all faiths/beliefs or labels of a "group". We are all One Eternal. Even the wackos.

Answer 8

No, it's not all bad. Yes, people that are like that are pushy, annoying, truly irritating, and probably misreading the Bible, but they're bringing Christianity into the forefront and raising awareness which can't be bad.

Answer 9

When I first started in Y!A - something like this was one of my first questions. It was also my first violation.

But I fully agree. The problem is not religious people who are simply trying to live a good life. It is people who think that they have to change the world so that it believes exactly as they do. That's were the problem is!!!

Answer 10

Agree.

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant.

H. L. Mencken, Minority Report (1956)