# Oh, Blissful Ignorance - Fundi Christians and their View of Obama
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [February 19, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307 "2008-02-19T21:46:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/41 "2008-02-20T18:02:04Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
Well, speaking as someone who was raised in an east Tennessee fundamentalist family and attended an east Tennessee fundamentalist church for 18 years, they’re not going to vote for Obama no matter what because he’s black. It’s as simple as that.
[/QUOTE]
Pretty broad brush you’re using there. Maybe your east Tennessee fundamentalist family was uncharacteristically racist. Did you consider that?
First, as **John Mace** already mentioned, there are black fundamentalists.
Second, I’ve met quite a few fundamentalists that aren’t racists. They actually practice what they preach and consider people’s actions more important than their skin color.
Both of these categories are potential Obama voters.
---
### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/42 "2008-02-20T18:23:45Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace]
There are quite a few Blacks, especially in the South, who would easily qualify as “fundamentalists” under commonly used definitions of that term on this MB.
[/QUOTE]
Sure there are. Lots of them [right here in Memphis](http://www.thestatueofliberationthroughchrist.org/home.htm). And you know what? [Some of them are racists, too.](http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/02/jewish_rep_cohen_battles_antis.html)!
> [@InvisibleWombat](#):
>
> Pretty broad brush you’re using there. Maybe your east Tennessee fundamentalist family was uncharacteristically racist. Did you consider that?
Maybe. Maybe everybody at the church I grew up in was uncharacteristically racist. Maybe the other churches I visited were uncharacteristically racist, too. Maybe the pious woman I gave a ride home to last year who, upon hearing I lived in Memphis, immediately said “There are a lot of niggers there!” was an outlier. Maybe the unreconstructed Confederate sympathizers I have had to interview for my job are mere figments of my imagination. Maybe i don’t know know what I’m talking about, even though I grew up there, lived there and went to school there for the first 18 years of my life. Maybe the experience of Harold Ford, Jr.'s 2006 Senate campaign was a fluke. Maybe Obama’s big loss in Tennessee on Super Tuesday is not indicative of the prospects of a black candidate in Tennessee.
Or maybe there are a lot of fundamentalists and racists in Tennessee, with a considerable overlap between the two groups.
---
### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/43 "2008-02-20T19:06:36Z")
I should have been clearer, **vibrotronica**. I wasn’t saying that the people you’re speaking of were uncharacteristic of Tennessee. I’ve only spent 2 or 3 days there in my life, so I wouldn’t know. I was saying that they’re uncharacteristic of the country as a whole.
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/44 "2008-02-20T19:12:47Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock]
In an expression of breathtaking prejudice, Frylock says: I find that hard to believe.
But not impossible.
It would help me if you maybe had something online you could point to–a fundamentalist or even better a fundamentalist group which has an online presence wherein pro-Obama sentiments are expressed or something.
-FrL-
[/QUOTE]
At the risk of people moving the “fundamentalist” goalpost all over the place, Obama is second only to Mike Huckabee in GodTube polls. He has the support of 26.3% of their members.. Like [this lady](http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=03a9ddf60898ebb20ebf&page=1&viewtype=&category=), for instance.
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/45 "2008-02-20T19:21:15Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
I don’t know why you had to be so snarky toward **Guinistasia**.
[/QUOTE]
I’m sure you don’t. The use of “fundie” as a pejorative paints people I know, love, and respect who are intelligent, thoughtful, and kind as an inferior class, unworthy of a respectful label. And please don’t pretend the term is not intended to belittle and insult people. Otherwise, I’ll ask you for a cite in which “fundie” is used in a positive and edifying context. If Guin doesn’t want snark, she shouldn’t sling it.
---
### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/46 "2008-02-20T19:26:25Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
Maybe the experience of Harold Ford, Jr.'s 2006 Senate campaign was a fluke.
[/QUOTE]
You mean his loss by less than 3 percentage points? That hardly bespeaks an overwhelmingly racist state.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/47 "2008-02-20T19:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
Sure there are. Lots of them [right here in Memphis](http://www.thestatueofliberationthroughchrist.org/home.htm). And you know what? [Some of them are racists, too.](http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/02/jewish_rep_cohen_battles_antis.html)!
[/QUOTE]
So, you found some evidence that some fundamentalist Blacks don’t like Jews. What does that have to do with whether or not they’ll vote for Obama? Or did you think people wouldn’t click on your link, and just assume that racist = anti-Black?
---
### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/48 "2008-02-20T19:59:06Z")
What are you talking about, **John Mace**? I very clearly state that there are black fundamentalists, and that some of them are racists, and I gave a cite of very public racist behavior by black fundamentalists in Tennessee. Are you accusing me of trying to be misleading? Are you saying that only anti-black prejudice is racism? I don’t know if the black fundamentalists will vote for Obama or not. That filer would imply that they would. But there are a hell of a lot more white racist fundies in East Tennessee, which is the subject of this thread.
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/49 "2008-02-20T20:02:39Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-]
You mean his loss by less than 3 percentage points? That hardly bespeaks an overwhelmingly racist state.
[/QUOTE]
IIRC, Ford was winning until they ran that ad of him with a Playboy bunny, and then his numbers went down. I’m thinking **vibrotronica** is probably referring to that.
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### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/50 "2008-02-20T20:43:55Z")
The infamous [“Call Me”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWkrwENN5CQ) ad.
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/51 "2008-02-20T20:50:46Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
But there are a hell of a lot more white racist fundies in East Tennessee, which is the subject of this thread.
[/QUOTE]
More than what? You sound like a detergent ad. More cleaning power! More stain removal! More colors on our NEW box!
---
### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/52 "2008-02-20T21:04:35Z")
More white racists fundies than black racist fundies. I was not unclear.
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/53 "2008-02-20T21:10:10Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
The infamous [“Call Me”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWkrwENN5CQ) ad.
[/QUOTE]
Right, they ran that ad and he still lost by less than 3 percentage points. (A little more than 48% to a little less than 51%.) In a state with a black population of 16.9%.
That still doesn’t bespeak the overwhelming racism you claim exists there.
---
### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/54 "2008-02-20T21:38:48Z")
Those are the results from the entire state, which factors in his overwhelming support in West Tennessee. Ford didn’t conceed defeat until he was sure all of the Memphis votes had been counted, because he was hoping those votes would counterbalance the East Tennessee vote. Also keep in mind that the 2006 election results overwhelmingly favored the Democratic party. The only two Democrats that lost Senate bids were Ford in Tennessee and Ned Lamont, who lost to Lieberman. Even in the midst of a tidal wave of support for the Democrats, a black democrat still couldn’t win a statewide vote in Tennessee.
But what do I know? I just live here.
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### Author:  [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/55 "2008-02-20T21:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal]
I’m sure you don’t. The use of “fundie” as a pejorative paints people I know, love, and respect who are intelligent, thoughtful, and kind as an inferior class, unworthy of a respectful label. And please don’t pretend the term is not intended to belittle and insult people. Otherwise, I’ll ask you for a cite in which “fundie” is used in a positive and edifying context. If Guin doesn’t want snark, she shouldn’t sling it.
[/QUOTE]
Where did you get the idea that “fundie” should be anything other than perjorative? Believeing in the inerrancy of the Bible is bad bad bad because it’s wrong wrong wrong!
---
### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/56 "2008-02-20T21:54:11Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
What are you talking about, **John Mace**? I very clearly state that there are black fundamentalists, and that some of them are racists, and I gave a cite of very public racist behavior by black fundamentalists in Tennessee. Are you accusing me of trying to be misleading? Are you saying that only anti-black prejudice is racism?
[/quote]
First of all, let’s dispense with the notion that anti-semitism is racism. It’s a form of bigotry, but not all bigotry is racism. “Jews” are not a race.
Secondly, you made the claim that fundamentalists wouldn’t vote for Obama because he was Black. When I pointed out that many fundamentalists are Black, you come back with a cite that some Blacks are anit-semitic. That’s irrelevant to the discussion.
> [@](#):
>
> I don’t know if the black fundamentalists will vote for Obama or not. That filer would imply that they would. But there are a hell of a lot more white racist fundies in East Tennessee, which is the subject of this thread.
The “subject” of this thread is fundamentalists who won’t vote for Obama. The OP offered one example, who happened to be from Tennessee, but he clearly is not asking us to restrict our review to that particular region since Obama can clearly win without taking that state, much less the one town of Lynchburg. So no, the subject of this thread is not “white racist fundies in East Tennessee”.
---
### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/57 "2008-02-20T22:06:52Z")
**John Mace** , I was originally responding to this statement by **Liberal** :
> [@](#):
>
> The OP’s sweeping generalization about a whole class of people from a video of a couple of people in rural Tenessee is extremely weak in its conception.
But I reiterate that I believe this “Obama is a muslim” and “Obama hates America” stuff is part of a whisper campaign being spread through the churches. Whisper campaigns are a specialty of the Rove school of political character assassination, and churches, especially white evangelical churches, have been very effective organizing tools for the Republicans in the last two presidential elections.
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/58 "2008-02-20T22:08:09Z")
[QUOTE=sqweels]
Where did you get the idea that “fundie” should be anything other than perjorative?
[/quote]
From the fact that people have said it isn’t in order to excuse themselves from having to confine it to the Pit. Feel free to search.
> [@](#):
>
> Believeing in the inerrancy of the Bible is bad bad bad because it’s wrong wrong wrong!
Why should bigotry be given a free pass just because a bigot is right?
---
### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/59 "2008-02-20T22:10:59Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica]
But I reiterate that I believe this “Obama is a muslim” and “Obama hates America” stuff is part of a whisper campaign being spread through the churches.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, and it all started at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, right?
---
### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-blissful-ignorance-fundi-christians-and-their-view-of-obama/438307/60 "2008-02-20T22:39:54Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace]
“Jews” are not a race.
[/QUOTE]
Say what?
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