Moderates are you concerned that fundamentalists have co-opted the word Christian?

Question

Somehow the world believes that the word Christian is this narrow definition of what the fundamentalists who call themselves Christians have made the world believe it is.

politicially, many believe that to be Christian you have to be a Bush-loving, red-state republican

Socially, you have to be anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun, and intolerant of others beliefs

Biblically, you have to be a literalist

How can we take back our faith, our God and our country before the fundamentalists destroy this world and turns everyone away from God with their rhetoric? Will they start a holy war right here in America with their extremist beliefs?

Answer 1

Yeah, and moderate Muslims probably feel the same way.

Answer 2

I am a fundamental Baptist. Honestly, I can't stand Bush. I personally wouldn't get an abortion but this is a free country and I don't think that my religious beliefs should influence our laws. I'm not intolerant either (look at my other posts) and my best friend is Muslim. I don't like guns because even though people kill people, guns make it a whole lot easier. As for anti-gay I always say let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Why would I start a war when God says to love your enemies. No one seems to realize that the fundamentalist you hear about are the exception and not the norm. Take back your faith, God, and country. I never took it from you. We do share the same God. I don't turn people away from God. I might have the occasional discussion about my beliefs but that is as far as it goes. To insinuate that I am destroying the world is kind of insulting. E-mail me so I can tell you what it means to be a fundamentalist (not to convert you but to clear up some common stereotypes)

Answer 3

whats amazingly funny about your ranting is that you arent aware of how dumb it sounds.
first of all what faith do you wish to take back? surely you know that the original christian faith of our country was puritanism?you think fundies are bad? the puritans were not only literalists but did not have right division of the word, meaning they enforced all the old testament laws including the wonderful habit of burning witches and heritics at the stake.stoning the wicked and immoral (meaning abortionists,gays,most liberals)
the sad truth about moderates that call themselves christian is they are trying to live in both the carnal and spiritual world.
God actually had a lot to say about that kind of person."were that you were hot or cold but because you are niether hot nor cold i shall spew you from my mouth!"and"be ye not conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of the mind." Friend ,you can not live in both worlds.you have to choose. God says "to be friends with the world is to be at enmity with God.Im trying to appeal to your inteligance here .what do you base your religion on if not the Bible? literal means truthful.if we can not take the bible as truth then what is our belief based on? If even one point in the bible is incorrect then how do I know that the rest is correct? how can i believe in assured salvation if I cant believe that every other word in the book is true.As christians we are called to conform our selves to the will of God.moderates and liberals ,while claiming to be christian seek to please the world.they are spiritualy in the same place as the pharisees and saducees.><>

Answer 4

There Will always be people like this. If it wasn't about fundamentalism/Christianity, it would be about something else.

See, were talking about something called "factions" here. That's a group that comes up with good-sounding, convincing reasons to be against the rest of the world. After all is said and done, that's all they're about. Being to themselves and hating everyone else. They psychologically NEED to believe that there's and "enemy to vanquish."

The problem is that a faction, ANY FACTION, not just fundamentalist, satisfies a need of paranoid, morally week people. You find those everywhere. That will always be.

Thus, there will always be factions. Look at the Middle East, Northern Ireland, ect, ect, ect, ect, ect, ect.

Answer 5

Your life should say more about you and your God than a title. Whoever is concerned about "taking back their faith" is looking at a minute detail when your everyday testimony is the big picture. The Bible tells us that there will be sheep in wolves clothing coming into the church, there's nothing you can do about that. extremists have to answer for their lives . So do the people who assume wrong things about you or other Christians. You are only responsible for your life and what you did to further the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm a christian because I have personal relationship with Jesus Christ not because of my Political views.

Answer 6

These people scare me to death. They have been brainwashed by evil televangelists and the like who have them believing they are the chosen ones. I'm sure God will forgive them their ignorance and give them points for trying, but I fear what they will do to this country. I don't want us to become a nation of religious fanatics!

It's hard to change these peoples' minds! They turn a deaf ear to any argument. They really don't seek to understand more fully. They scoff at philosophical discussions and scientific explanations. You don't dare get into a debate with them, because they will always consider themselves the winner. You can't argue with stupid.

The only thing we can do is vote against these kinds of politicians, raise our children in our beliefs and remain active in our moderate churches. We also need to show them by the way we live that we are true Christians, too.

Answer 7

Yes, I'm a moderate. I detest those Christian conservatives and fundamentalists that think Christianity is synonymous with conservatism. I don't hate atheists, I'm Pro-choice and Pro-gay rights. Being a Christian doesn't make you a bigot or a Republican.

Answer 8

If they can bring it to that point, I believe they would. There is little doubt in my mind the fundamentalists are nothing short of destructive if put in the right position.

I also agree that it is extremely unfair to lump all Christians into this group. Most of my Christian friends are no different than me- they just believe in a god, and I don't.

Answer 9

Wow. There are some great solutions. indexed right here are my concepts: Fundamentalists and a few conservative Christians are so caught up in being a "reliable Christian," they finally end up lacking the bigger actuality of Jesus' message, that's approximately love. the excellent thank you to "conflict" this dominant (yet minority) view of Christianity is to verify we modern to the international yet another, greater compassionate (greater Christ-like!) view. Thomas Merton pronounced: "the place there's a deep, easy, all-embracing love of guy, of the created international of living and inanimate issues, then there will be understand for existence, for freedom, for actuality, for justice and there will be humble love of God."

Answer 10

If the fundamentalists ever had enough political power in the USA they would be at least as bad as the Taliban. It does somewhat concern me that many nice people that are not Christians are confused by the fundamentalist rhetoric and propaganda and become disgusted with all Christians. The fundamentalists are a small but very vocal and disruptive minority that portray themselves as the representatives of Christ. Spreading hatred in the name of Jesus is actually very anti-Christian. It is the opposite of what Christ is about. Doing hateful things in the name of Christ is very bad. God is love and Christ taught us to love our neighbors, all of them. Peace be with you

Answer 11

To be a Christian means to follow the Jesus Christ of the New Testament. If that is being a fundamentalist, then that is what you need to be. Forget the politics and the social garbage. You can agree with the blood or disagree with it. Agree with the blood of Jesus and you are a Christian; disagree with the blood and you are something else. If you are going to call yourself a Christian you cannot get away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is his birth,;his life and ministry; his death, burial and resurrection; his current role as our Advocate before the Father; and his future reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. There is no liberal, no moderate or conservative----there is only Jesus. It is all about Jesus---not about you and not about me. It is not about what we want, but about what God wants.