# Fundamentalist Christians: will you say this prayer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 6, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944 "2003-09-06T16:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SunTzu2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@SunTzu2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunTzu2U)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/21 "2003-09-06T19:56:07Z")
Why do you have to add the modifier Fundamentalist? I’m just christian with all my faults and sins, here to serve and not to judge. I pray for courage to face the day and its challenges and pray for humanity to find the courage to do good instead of evil. I pray for him to watch over me and bless me and allow me to be a blessing to others, expand my borders and knowledge, keep his spirit with me, protect me from harm and evil so that I will be free of pain. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/22 "2003-09-06T19:57:18Z")
I was using irony. Ok, let’s be honest- I was using sarcasm. Siege, I find your position to be commendable. I was just pointing out that the Christianity practiced by most of the Christians in this thread is a religion so antithetical to our ideas about humility before God that we’re basically laughed out of court. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/23 "2003-09-06T19:57:34Z")
What you have “heard” is nothing but lies about Christianity, in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/24 "2003-09-06T19:59:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SunTzu2U \* > \*\* I’m just christian with all my faults and sins, here to serve and not to judge. \*\* Funny, I thought you just said: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SunTzu2U \* > \*\* Ben it blaringly obvious you don’t even have an inkling on what it means to be christian so why bother with such drivel as your OP? \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/25 "2003-09-06T20:00:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*What you have “heard” is nothing but lies about Christianity, in that case. \*\* So let’s make a list: SunTzu2U Shodan NaSultainne Fear Itself Are you calling these FC’s liars? ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/26 "2003-09-06T20:02:08Z")
Oh, and I forgot: what about Fuel and GOM? Are they liars? ---
**Author:** ![SunTzu2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@SunTzu2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunTzu2U)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/27 "2003-09-06T20:14:18Z")
I’m not judging you Ben. I was merely pointing out the obvious. Sorry to offend. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/28 "2003-09-06T20:21:34Z")
No, you were judging me. Surely you’re honest enough to admit that? ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/29 "2003-09-06T20:24:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SunTzu2U \* > **I’m not judging you Ben.** Unless you’re using some wacky biblical definition of “judge” then yes, you were judging Ben. Of course, this is just the “do as I say, not as as I do” hypocrisy that I have seen from “Christians” time and time again. Not that I expect _anyone_ to ever be capable of going very long without judging another person. Christians do it as much as everyone else; It’s just that they do it while proclaiming how no one should do it. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/30 "2003-09-06T20:58:29Z")
**Ben** , Well, I guess I missed the part where your prayer was all that humble before God. I pray to be God’s faithful servant. I pray that He will make me an instrument of His will. But I don’t pray for a set of Cliff Notes on “The Truth” about this that or the other minor human disagreement. Somehow that seems less than humble, to me. Actually it seems more like trying to recruit God to be on my side in a fight I want to start. Theology is a human thing. It’s just another sort of politics, at its most benign. It’s a smoke screen under which petty evil can grow into hellish horror under less benign circumstances. So, I don’t pray for it. I witness to the glory of the Lord, and His love for man. Sometimes I have to resort to words. Mostly that is ineffective, but in some places words are all I have. But mostly, I pray that I will not harm another, and that I might be able to bring love to some child of God who has a need. Tris ---
**Author:** ![SunTzu2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@SunTzu2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunTzu2U)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/31 "2003-09-06T20:58:49Z")
If I saw you hit someone in the face would I have to judge it to be true? It would be obvious to all who witnessed the event. Likewise, Ben, your swipe at “FC’s” (to use your term) does not require me to judge it to be so. It is your statement, you said it as intended. It does not require any judgement on my part for anyone else to see it as anything but ignorance of christianity. I merely commented on the fact. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/32 "2003-09-06T21:10:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SunTzu2U \* > \*\*It does not require any judgement on my part for anyone else to see it as anything but ignorance of christianity. I merely commented on the fact. \*\* You did not merely comment on **Ben** ’s post. You also called it “drivel”. That goes beyond stating fact and crosses over into the realm of judgment. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/33 "2003-09-06T21:20:28Z")
How on earth is it a swipe at fundamentalist Christians? ---
**Author:** ![SunTzu2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@SunTzu2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunTzu2U)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/34 "2003-09-06T22:02:59Z")
I just call it like I see it, no judgement necessary. Ben I was trying to give you credit for some intelligence. “How on earth is it a swipe at fundamentalist Christians?” If you have to ask the question I feel my credit has been misplaced. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/35 "2003-09-06T23:18:24Z")
Raised as a fundamentalist Christian - no TVs, radios, (dammit!) Eh, **Ben** - I’ll pass on the prayer. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/36 "2003-09-06T23:38:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*But notice the key word: \*\*If[/ib] it’s wrong, show me the truth. If it’s right, help me convince others. > > Of course, it might be contrary because of that. Fundamentalism is unwilling to even consider the possibility that it is wrong. \*\* If you search for truth, you will criticize no one. You will be too busy researching to do that. You will be comparing notes and sharing ideas. Religion and science and skepticism and atheists are closed-ended belief systems. Truth seekers are all over the place, while the others crouch in their boxes and hurl insults at each other. Love Leroy ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/37 "2003-09-06T23:47:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lekatt \* > **Religion and science and skepticism and atheists are closed-ended belief systems.** \Skep"tic, n. [Gr. skeptiko`s thoughtful, reflective, fr. ske`ptesqai to look carefully or about, to view, consider: cf. L. scepticus, F. sceptique. See Scope.] [Written also sceptic.] 1. One who is yet undecided as to what is true; one who is looking or inquiring for what is true; an inquirer after facts or reasons. Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary By definition, a skeptic is open minded. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/38 "2003-09-07T02:07:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*\Skep"tic, n. [Gr. skeptiko`s thoughtful, reflective, fr. ske`ptesqai to look carefully or about, to view, consider: cf. L. scepticus, F. sceptique. See Scope.] [Written also sceptic.] 1. One who is yet undecided as to what is true; one who is looking or inquiring for what is true; an inquirer after facts or reasons. > Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary > By definition, a skeptic is open minded. \*\* and by practice on this board the exact reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/39 "2003-09-07T02:07:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > \*\*So let’s make a list: > > SunTzu2U > > Shodan > > NaSultainne > > Fear Itself\*\* Ben…You missed one…😃 Nice prayer btw. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lekatt \* > \*\*If you search for truth, you will criticize no one. You will be too busy researching to do that. > > You will be comparing notes and sharing ideas. Religion and science and skepticism and atheists are closed-ended belief systems. Truth seekers are all over the place, while the others crouch in their boxes and hurl insults at each other. > > Love > Leroy \*\* Are you searching for truth Leroy? ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944/40 "2003-09-07T02:17:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Meatros \* > \*\*Ben…You missed one…😃 \*\* Who? > [@](#): > > \*\* > Nice prayer btw. \*\* Thank you, May-aaaaah-tros. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalist-christians-will-you-say-this-prayer/199944.md?page=3)