Amen - preach it, Brother Jesse.

One small thing, though.  “I, personally, wonder about the character of a religious movement that requires false claims on the allegiances of others in order to make itself a more viable force in society….”  It’s not the religious movement that’s dishonest, it’s those who would use a religious movement to further their political/secular agenda.

The wingnut fundies don’t speak for this particular liberal Christian, but it occurs to me that when we (I mean enlightened, progressive/liberal Christians) sit on the sidelines and don’t speak up, we shouldn’t be surprised when the fundies take over the discussion and we all get tarred with the same brush.

Okay, hopping off my soapbox to go in search of the nearest wingnut to fight with…..

One thing that has always confused me about evangelical vs. fundamentalist is that in addition to the “fundamentalism” that spans specific religions (i.e. ultra-orthodoxy), Christian Fundamentalism is also a particular branch or movement within Evangelical Christianity—both of which are theological terms that don’t necessarily imply a small-f fundamentalist or right-wing outlook.

I think the bigger reason for confusion is that their real term for themselves is “Christians”—as in, anyone who isn’t an evangelical/fundamentalist/political conservative/would-be theocrat is something other than a Christian. And far too many in our media have swallowed this without comment; you can almost hear the furrowed brows: “Hmm, I know lots of people who go to church, but if you say so…”

The wingnut fundies don’t speak for this particular liberal Christian, but it occurs to me that when we (I mean enlightened, progressive/liberal Christians) sit on the sidelines and don’t speak up, we shouldn’t be surprised when the fundies take over the discussion and we all get tarred with the same brush.

Thank you.

If there’s one thing that pisses me off almost as much as religious folks who want to tread on the rest of us, it’s religious folks who get all self-righteous because of the bad reputation the first religious folks gave them.

I think the bigger reason for confusion is that their real term for themselves is “Christians”

Second this. I never even HEARD the terms “evangelical” and “fundamentalist” until I left the church at approx age 20. We were Christians, pure and simple. And our interpretation was the most correct one (probably other denominations got into heaven, but that was because God was really nice and let them slide in). Except the Catholics - MikeEss hit that on the head, too. Catholics were nice people, but totally wrong.

I still don’t know how to class my old church. It makes my head hurt.