Only fundamentalists deserve respect when it comes to religion

Internet War Criminal

Internet War Criminal

Ladder Enthusiast
True & Honest Fan
kiwifarms.net
Joined
Dec 9, 2015
Orthodox Jews
Southern Baptists
Seventh-Day Adventists
Amish
Fundie Mormons
Wahhabists
etc etc

Doesn't matter the religion is, if you believe in something greater than yourself, you have to be all in otherwise it doesn't make any sense and you're either a poser or don't actually genuinely believe in what you claim to believe. Either go all in, or go bust. No inbetween.

Discuss.
 
  • Agree
  • Like
  • Feels
Reactions: Noir drag freak, El Goblina, Begemot and 4 others
Agreed but I don't think it's fundamentalism that deserves respect. It's zeal, piety, and consistency. For instance, a Catholic like Joe Biden who proclaims to be Catholic yet fundamentally disagrees with the teachings of the Church is not worthy of respect. Or at least his faith should not be respected. It's one thing to be like "well my religion says it's wrong but I'm gonna do it anyway" because that just makes you a hypocrite and if you actually try to live up to that standard and fail regardless, you're just a sinner neither a heretic nor a hypocrite. If you believe in something, believe in it fully or not at all.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Syaoran Li, El Goblina, Internet War Criminal and 2 others
Éamon de Valera said:
Agreed but I don't think it's fundamentalism that deserves respect. It's zeal, piety, and consistency.
Click to expand...
That's what I described as fundamentalism as a shorthand, I didn't necessarily mean the way it's used as a pejorative. I meant 'people who take it really seriously and literally' basically.
 
  • Like
Reactions: El Goblina, Mayor Adam West and Lowlife Adventures
Black Israelite here, been put in jail too many times for forcing white people to accept my penis as a 'sacrament'. I'll keep on fighting as they are a slave race fit only for pleasuring their melanated masters,
 
Last edited:
The big issue is consistency. Paul gets it.
Romans 14:5 said:
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Click to expand...

There are more than a few Catholics and Orthodox that I--someone they call Protestant--respect, as they clearly know and love the same Jesus I do.

The big issue is the people who say one thing and do another. Jesus called these "hypocrites", which also means "actors".

I can respect anyone who has invested a decent amount of time in refining their worldview and keeping things consistent. Doesn't have to be Christian! (Though I'd argue that you need Christianity for maximum worldview consistency.) The nice bonus of people with worldviews like these is that they tend to behave in predictable ways, which means that collaborating with them becomes much less of a headache.
 
I contemplate this a lot on a personal level, so apologies if any powerleveling comes through.

I have spent a lot of time considering religion and bringing it into my life. But, I consider the type of pious people I would commune with if I did that. I consider my lifestyles and the sacrifices I would have to make to honor the teachings and practises of the faith, and I ask myself two things. 1. Am I ready to sacrifice these things? And 2. Would I still be accepted if I did not sacrifice those vices and sins in my life? The answer to the first question is evidently for me to determine on my own, but the second question's answer seems obvious at first.

Surely if I were a raging and inflammatory sodomite, I'd not be welcomed - but what of the teachings of charity and certain ideals like turning the other cheek, which are obviously not practised en masse? What of simple moralities like divorce, which in many cases would have you excommunicated from true evangelical or fundamentalist spaces? Christianity (and other religions) have repeatedly splintered and continue to do so to fit the lifestyles of those who do not wish for the traditional teachings.

So where is the line drawn? What is fundamentalism? At what point do we say that someone has made the incorrect interpretation? How do we decide who is the most fundamental or traditional?

I also think respect is owed to anyone who makes an attempt to follow a path of faith and piety. I'm not really sure what you regard as  respect in this case. I do agree that following the teachings of fundamentalists is the only way to go about it, but I don't think that undervaluing or debasing people who have yet to understand or fully actualize their faith is useful. On the contrary, I think it will only serve to discourage people from trying at all to be religious. As with anything, we must take what we can get. It's important to call out hypocrites and lay their sins in front of them, but that shouldn't be done in a way that is disrespectful when we're talking about brothers and sisters searching for God.
 
Osmosis Jones said:
Surely if I were a raging and inflammatory sodomite, I'd not be welcomed - but what of the teachings of charity and certain ideals like turning the other cheek, which are obviously not practised en masse?
Click to expand...

My simple question is, so what? Just because a majority does not live up to its ideals doesn't mean you should not try, and if you can, live up to them. Or at the very least, fail but keep trying.

I don't get the argument that 'Well people around me aren't living up to it', it's not like your own salvation is dependent on the community, it is only dependent on your own works.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Osmosis Jones
Internet War Criminal said:
My simple question is, so what? Just because a majority does not live up to its ideals doesn't mean you should not try, and if you can, live up to them. Or at the very least, fail but keep trying.

I don't get the argument that 'Well people around me aren't living up to it', it's not like your own salvation is dependent on the community, it is only dependent on your own works.
Click to expand...
I understood that fundamentalists have a literal understanding of the Bible and a strict adherence to the word of God and the teachings of Christ. If fundamentalists are the only ones that deserve respect, then why is "so what?" your response? Surely a fundamentalist who is committing sins willfully or ignorantly and not being considerate of the teachings of Christ is in breach of the concept fundamentalism itself.

I absolutely have wont for my own journey and the dealings of others do not concern me in terms of my own outcomes and conclusions, but I guess I'm trying to understand and learn these concepts as a whole.

Re-reading your OP makes me realise you like  traditional religions and not Christian fundamentalism as I had assumed. Sorry, this isn't for the pedantry of correcting you, it's just the way I read it.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Internet War Criminal
There are two aspects we're discussing here:

People who take their religion very seriously and go all in - These people deserve respect
Your own way of approaching things regardless of people around you - that's what 'So what' is about

The last thing a man should care about is whether he's the lone saint in a world of sinners, the only question should be 'Am I doing enough based on what I can do' (hint: answer is always no, you can always do more or better). What others do should not be of any concern to you when it comes to your own personal religious life.

When you meet others who are talking the talk and walking the walk, you should respect them, of course. It just shouldn't be your motivator to do what's right.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: Osmosis Jones
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back