# Fundamentalists and their Words of Wisdom **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 3, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242 "2001-10-03T20:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/21 "2001-10-03T22:59:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CyberHippy \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > > \*\* “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6 \*\* > > Not quite sure about the point being made here; perhaps, **Scylla** , you are practicing irony? \*\* Yeah, smells like irony to me. And I catch a whiff of a pun in there too. Good one, **Scylla**. [sub]blatantly patting myself on the back for catching it.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/22 "2001-10-03T23:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, but how do you convert someone to UUism? Offer them coffee? Invite them to a night of drumming? Well, I was thinking of you expounding, with your usual eloquence, on the Principles, and perhaps stuff like the Flaming Chalice as well. If you happen to be up to it, showing how the passages in the Koran, the Lotus Sutra, later Isaiah and Micah, and John’s Gospel are all teaching the same humanistic ethic, could prove interesting. This will have one of two effects, both beneficial: 1 – They will leave; or 2 – They will learn something. ---
**Author:** ![Gomez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@Gomez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gomez)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/23 "2001-10-03T23:44:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Please please please tell me the tired, worn-out “bomb in the building” line was supposed to have a 😉 or a 😃 after it. Please. Otherwise, I’m going to have to throw up all over you, and it won’t be pretty. Vomit away dude 😉 Seriously, I’m not trying to be facetious, and I’m sorry if I have upset you. I confess don’t have too clear an understanding of your position, not being gay and not living in America. As such I can only relate to my own experiences. Here’s one that happened to me a while back involving a ‘fundie’. I remember a few months ago I was walking through Leicester Square with a few friends and we were stopped by an evangelical preacher. He and a few of his buddies had set up a sort of makeshift pulpit in the square and he came up to us and begun talking to us about God, his way of life and religion. He told us that we were all sinners (himself included) and that to be saved we should accept Jesus. He quoted the Bible a few times as those people are wont to do and after about 20 minutes of preaching to us he handed out some pamphlets and asked us if we wanted to come to one of his Church services. I didn’t reply one way or another but I thanked him for his time and the effort he had put in. The way I saw it, this man had just spent a considerable amount of time and effort approaching people he never knew and putting himself on the line in an effort to help us. We neither wanted nor heeded his help but he didn’t know that before he came up to us. He took one hell of a risk and, frankly, I respected him for it. That’s my view of evangelisers, witnesses, fundies, jeezers, whatever you want to call them. People who are, essentially, trying to do something good for you. Yeah they may be misguided but if they don’t at least try then they themselves (from their point of view) would be far, _far_ worse than the people they are trying to save from everlasting perdition. Now, I don’t know you. I know absolutely nothing about you. I am guessing you’ve had very different experiences. How about sharing them, if you’re comfortable? I didn’t mean to come off as abraisive as I realise, in retrospect, I did in my last post and it would probably help me clarify your position (and place my own in context) if I had some of your experiences to relate to. This is only a suggestion BTW. Also, truth be told I’d never heard the bomb in a building line before. I felt all clever and enlightened when I wrote that, too ☹ 😉 Regards Gomez ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/24 "2001-10-03T23:47:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by heresiarch \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by CyberHippy \* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > > > \*\* “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6 \*\* > > > > Not quite sure about the point being made here; perhaps, **Scylla** , you are practicing irony? \*\* > > Yeah, smells like irony to me. And I catch a whiff of a pun in there too. Good one, **Scylla**. > > [sub]blatantly patting myself on the back for catching it.[/sub] \*\* I wonder if anybody else got it. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/25 "2001-10-03T23:52:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Scylla** _ > > “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6 You… are a very bad man. (But you amuse me, so we shall allow you to live.) Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/26 "2001-10-03T23:54:16Z")
Gomez, that’s a super attitude. Many of the non-Christians on this board (using that as a generic term for all the things one can think as regards religion, not as a pejorative) feel that in America it is **waaaaaaaay** overdone. And many of the preachers are very in-your-face about it. I’ve never made any secret of the fact that I would like to lead **Esprix** to the joy that my faith has brought me. And I don’t expect him to give up his love life in the bargain. But aside from that, the key point is, **I respect him as a fellow human being, another person as important to God as I am** , and not as “another chalkmark on my tally” – and if I cannot convince him by word or example of what a good thing it is to be a Christian, despite what lackwits assault his ego with, then it’s somebody else’s job to do so, not mine. In the interim, I keep loving him (as a brother! ;)). Because I do, and even if I didn’t by personal feeling, that’s what I’m told to do. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/27 "2001-10-04T00:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Why do fundamentalists feel the need to quote their holy books at me? Come on now, it _is_ possible to have fun with bible quotes:[ul]_Genesis 19:32_ Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. **Many bad ideas begin with wine** _33_ And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. **She must not have been the only one who arose, but we’ll take his word for it** _34_ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. **First the wine, now the peer pressure** _35_ And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. **Methinks dad is only pretending to sleep by this time. Who could sleep through the _boom chicka-chicka ba boom boom_ of the obligatory 70’s porn soundtrack?** [/ul]Right about now Sister Mary Castigation is truly regretting teaching me to read the bible for myself. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/28 "2001-10-04T01:00:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > \*\*“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6 \*\* Oh. Oh! That’s clever. Scary clever. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/29 "2001-10-04T01:23:52Z")
**\** I know of a fine woman who is training to be a preacher, who wants to love me “like a brother”. The problem is that we were boyfriend/girlfriend at the time. It was a sad breakup. I still love her too **\** ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/30 "2001-10-04T01:32:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Why do fundamentalists feel the need to quote their holy books at me? As a very wise fellow–by the name of Homer–once said: “It’s because people are stupid. That’s why everyone does everything.” ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/31 "2001-10-04T01:39:52Z")
**Esprix** , the next time someone says, “Jesus loves you!” just tell them you’re not into necrophilia. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/32 "2001-10-04T01:47:31Z")
Or- “That’s not what he told me.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/33 "2001-10-04T10:59:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*Or- “That’s not what he told me.” \*\* Or: “Sure, they all say that at first – but then they never call, they never write…” And **Scylla** , I got it too. _Just_ right, methinks. Now if you could just find a Biblical passage involving bassoons… ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/34 "2001-10-04T14:12:23Z")
Or, “If that were really true, he wouldn’t object so much to oral sex!” ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/35 "2001-10-04T14:25:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by heresiarch \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by CyberHippy \* > > > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > > > > \*\* “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6 \*\* > > > > > > Not quite sure about the point being made here; perhaps, **Scylla** , you are practicing irony? \*\* > > > > Yeah, smells like irony to me. And I catch a whiff of a pun in there too. Good one, **Scylla**. > > > > [sub]blatantly patting myself on the back for catching it.[/sub] \*\* > > I wonder if anybody else got it. \*\* It’s a synonym for stick right? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/36 "2001-10-04T14:30:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marlitharn \* > \*\*Or, “If that were really true, he wouldn’t object so much to oral sex!” \*\* 😃 [sub]Excuse me while I write that down…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/37 "2001-10-04T14:44:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Yeah, but how do you convert someone to UUism? Offer them coffee? Invite them to a night of drumming? > > Well, I was thinking of you expounding, with your usual eloquence, on the Principles, and perhaps stuff like the Flaming Chalice as well.\*\* I think **Esprix** is the perfect candidate to expound upon the “flaming” chalice. 😃 (ok, first attempt at slightly off-color joke here, hope it comes off all right). ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/38 "2001-10-04T16:05:16Z")
blackclaw: It’s more involved than just that, and quite offensive too if it wasn’t obvioously a joke. Mom, says never to explain these things. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/39 "2001-10-05T16:39:19Z")
I’m not attributing this quote, because I don’t intend this as a personal snipe. I’m using the passage to illustrate a general problem that I experience. Thanks for your cooperation! > [@](#): > > I’m not sure whether you’ve read the Bible or not, but I’m sure that you’ve been exposed enough to it to have some knowledge. > What most people do not understand, witnessing should be directed towards those that HAVE NOT heard the word, not to those that have heard it and refuse to accept it.\*\* OK, this is still a problem for me. Assuming that the witnesser is in the US, please tell me exactly _whom_ do you think ‘has not heard the word’? Trust me, believe me, listen to me, I tell you three times: we’ve ALL HEARD IT. If someone expresses interest in learning more about your religion or discussing religion or whatever, go for it, of course. But please do NOT assume that non-Christians just ‘haven’t heard’ until proven otherwise. In this country, at any rate, the only reasonable initial assumption is that the non-Christian HAS heard of Christianity and, for whatever reason, has chosen not to partake. On the positive side, I do truly appreciate your understanding that proselytization is inappropriate for those who have made different choices. That’s better than most, IME. Note for general reference: I live in Oklahoma. The **majority** of Christians I meet and deal with would find WildestBill exemplary in his statements (albeit not his IRL behavior), although fortunately they’re not usually as obnoxious as he is. But it’s not really a difference in beliefs or tactics, just in sound levels. And I know more about Christianity (in the philosophical, cultural and historical senses) then almost any Christians I meet here - the ignorance is astounding. For those of you who’ve dealt with WB, this may begin to explain my reactions (and frequent overreactions :() to Christians and Christianity. Truthfully, I have become much less touchy about these things thanks to several laudable Christian souls on SDMB. * * * **Esprix** - preach it, brother! **kaylasdad99** , I like! I’ve had problems with proselytizers since I lost my first partner, who saw them as a challenge: whoever leaves first, loses! Just like Mrs. **Polycarp** , by the sound of it. (Remind me sometime to tell you the story of the bucket 'o cats. ;)) I don’t have the background (incredible knowledge of the Bible and various religious traditions, plus inside knowledge from growing up in an evangelical tradition) to out-proselytize them like that. And yes, Scylla, I got it. Bad, naughty, wicked Scylla. ---
**Author:** ![Pandora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eada6e/32.png) [@Pandora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pandora)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242/40 "2001-10-05T18:30:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gomez \* > \*\* > > I remember a few months ago I was walking through Leicester Square with a few friends and we were stopped by an evangelical preacher. He and a few of his buddies had set up a sort of makeshift pulpit in the square and he came up to us and begun talking to us about God, his way of life and religion. He told us that we were all sinners (himself included) and that to be saved we should accept Jesus. He quoted the Bible a few times as those people are wont to do and after about 20 minutes of preaching to us he handed out some pamphlets and asked us if we wanted to come to one of his Church services. I didn’t reply one way or another but I thanked him for his time and the effort he had put in. The way I saw it, this man had just spent a considerable amount of time and effort approaching people he never knew and putting himself on the line in an effort to help us. We neither wanted nor heeded his help but he didn’t know that before he came up to us. He took one hell of a risk and, frankly, I respected him for it. That’s my view of evangelisers, witnesses, fundies, jeezers, whatever you want to call them. People who are, essentially, trying to do something good for you. Yeah they may be misguided but if they don’t at least try then they themselves (from their point of view) would be far, _far_ worse than the people they are trying to save from everlasting perdition. > > Now, I don’t know you. I know absolutely nothing about you. I am guessing you’ve had very different experiences. How about sharing them, if you’re comfortable? I didn’t mean to come off as abraisive as I realise, in retrospect, I did in my last post and it would probably help me clarify your position (and place my own in context) if I had some of your experiences to relate to. This is only a suggestion BTW. > > \*\* IMHO, Esprix’s rant isn’t about people who want to share their beliefs (he stated that he doesn’t mind having intelligent discussions about religion or theology…(where he is allowed to speak as well of course). Trust me, all of the UU’s I know love to discuss beliefs. What’s he’s ranting about is the technique. To use your “bomb in a building” analogy… It seems like Esprix has no problem with being told “there is a bomb in the building”… what he minds is being told there **has** to be a bomb in the building because that phrase appears on page 415 of THE company manual (never mind that it’s a manual for a company whose building Esprix isn’t even in.) There is a difference. -Pandora (who enjoys discussing religion, but hates being “preached” at) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fundamentalists-and-their-words-of-wisdom/85242.md?page=3)