Where did atheists get the idea that fundies are the righful spokespersons for all Christians?

Question

I'm a Catholic; they don't speak for me. They don't speak for mainstream Protestants. They really are just a very political and very vocal minority. Why do atheists persist in recognizing their professed claim to be the only "true" Christians? You would think atheists would be the last peole on earth to endorse their claim to Christian leadership,yet that is the obvious implication when every atheist addresses "Christians" in general as though they all held fundie beliefs. How did this trend get started?

Answer 1

I think everyone is missing the point grendel is raising. By addressing questions on Christianity to fundamentalists; by addressing "Christians" as synonymous with Christianity as a whole,you are tacitly acknowledging their claim to leadership; you are strengthening them. Why would you want to do that? I'm also surprised by the provincialism I see here. In the first place,I seriously doubt that fundies are a majority in the U.S.; they frequently claim far more numbers than they have. Secondly,Christianity is a global phenomena; it's absurd to see it in nationalist terms. And - globally - most Christians are Catholic. By far. Like 85-90%. As for their opposition to this or that and political activism if you could call it that,if you atheists are all agin' that,then why is that with every comment you make on Christianity you strengthen their position by acknowledging their alleged leadership? I agree,it doesn't make any sense. What i would do if I were an atheist on r&s - any time I saw a posting from a self-described Christian I'd ask them to identify their denomination so i know who's asking kind of. I'd go: "What type of Christian are you presuming to speak for? I have many nice Christian friends and they don't have wacky ideas like this." Try that. It's not a complicated thing to recognize the diversity of a religion. Look at that one atheist woman up there,bitching that you "lump" atheists together. Huh? They do nothing BUT "lump" all Christians together. Atheists,try and get your act together,ok?

Answer 2

The term "fundie" is not solely used by atheists, nor does it pertain only to Christians. A fundie is someone who crams their religion down people's throats and insists on being right and that their ideas are validated by whatever path they choose to follow. They also feel that crimes that they commit against humanity are justified because of some warped version of written words they may follow. There are fundie Christians, Jews, Pagans, Muslims, atheists, etc. The term "fundie" is more commonly used for fundamentalist Christians, and it is used by anyone (or everyone) who is not a fundamentalist Christian. People like myself, an ex-fundy, who still believes in Christ in spite of fundies and the joke they have made of Christianity. BTW, how Christian do you think it is to want a derogatory name for an atheist? Why not just call them atheists and not stoop to any levels?

Answer 3

Good question. Along that same line of questioning, why are Christians divided into either fundamentalists or moderates/liberal Christians?

I don't fit into either category as an LCMS Lutheran. I *don't* take every word of the Bible literally (neither do so-called literalists BTW, it's a misnomer--if they really did they'd have a lot more outright contradictions to contend with, not to mention they'd have to face up to the truth about some very important things), but I *do* take every word of God seriously. These are not mutually exclusive thoughts! It's called honest hermeneutics & exegesis--which are summarized in the idea that I allow God to tell me what He's saying in the Bible rather than telling Him what He meant.

Why are so many people ignorant of the fact that many people like me exist? Maybe because there aren't many of us willing to share the beautiful & *objective* faith that has been so graciously handed down to us by honest Reformers like Martin Luther & Martin Chemnitz. That is a shame! We have some marvelous gifts such as the Doctrine of Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, Scripture Alone; the Doctrine of Vocation; the Theology of Two Kingdoms & the Theology of the Cross to share not only with other Christians, but with the world.

Answer 4

But the Fundies say that they are the righteous spokespeople for All Christians.
They also claim that Catholics are not really Christians.
Check a "Jack Chick Tract" if you don't believe me.

Maybe after reading some of what the Fundies believe you will see why the atheists are so pissed off at them.

Consider the idea that the fundies hate your religion of Catholicism as much if not more than they hate gays or atheists. They group you in with Islamics.

Answer 5

In my opinion, it's because the fundies are the most vocal and aggressive "Christians" (and I use that term loosely). They are the ones constantly pushing their interpretation, beliefs and agendas on others...as well as preaching how everyone different from them is going to hell. So, I think they are the ones who get noticed the most in the "Christian" community. By the way, I am also a Catholic.

Cheers.

Answer 6

Some of us make our business to distinguish between what you represent and fundamentalism. For example, in our polemics against the anti-science trends, we ALWAYS make it clear that MOST of mainstream Christianity has no problems at all with science.

On the other hand, for many of us an important purpose of confronting religion is to blunt the theocratic tendency that's blossomed lately. To the degree mainstream religions pursue active government policy agendas to the detriment of individual freedom, we will also confront them in that arena.

Your point is well taken. It behooves us to understand the huge difference between the forces of blind dogmatism and people with intellect AND a spiritual orientation.

Answer 7

I don't believe that at all. They do appear on TV far more than those Christian who don't spit and scream bible quotes out loud, but that does not make them spokespeople.

However, the leaders of the most powerful religious groups in the USA are fundamentalist, that is a simple fact of life here.

If Christians would not do so many publicly fundamentalist based things, like the creation 'museum' and all the ridiculous evolution criticism, and attempting to add ID to the curriculum, perhaps people would not pay so much attention to them.

Answer 8

The problem is that more catholics and mainstream protestants don't step up and say what you're saying right now. When the fundamentalists get vocal, rational moderate christian leaders should stand up and say, "You know, these people don't speak for all of us." They don't. Christians are the ones who are happy to sit back and allow themselves to be presented in the ways that fundamentalists present them.

The reason this doesn't happen is that to disagree with them would be to disagree DIRECTLY with scripture -- as fundamentalists take the bible word for word. No predominant christian figure in this country is going to openly disagree with scripture.

Answer 9

Anybody who succeeds in a corrupt media will more likely be attuned to that media. So, any successful tv-evangelist is going to have adapt to the 'Paris Hilton' school of attraction.

As a Christian I believe the Adversary is real, and uses them to keep people away from Christ. It's a satanic imitation.

Answer 10

We don't believe that the fundies are the spokespeople for all Christians. The fundies believe they are the spokespeople for all things Christian. BTW, many fundies think Catholics aren't *true* Christians.

Frankly, since I don't believe in god, and I think it is a waste of time to have any kind of religious faith, I don't make a distinction between "true" Christians and "not true" Christians. You are all misguided.

Since Catholics more or less keep their beliefs to themselves, I don't have a problem with Catholics.