Close Encounters of the Fundie Kind

[mockingbird]

Last week I went to (Catholic) church with my family and there were two big families there (at least 6 kids each) that were either related or friends with each other. Everyone was VERY dressed up and the lone preteen girl (most of the kids were young, plus a few boys around her age) was wearing a short lace veil/headcovering, the pre-Vatican II veil. (For background, our church is pretty moderate/casual; the more legalistic families have always really stood out.) Of course, one of the families carried the gifts up to the altar during the mass. Once we got out of church my mom asked me "Where are the Free Jingers when we need them?" LOL

I'm missing Doug Phillips is a Tool at a Christian homeschooling convention this weekend! It's not far from my parents' house but I'm not paying to hear him speak, lol.

[FJismyheadship]

I live right by Champion Baptist College. I know a lot of "fundies" although most of the ones I know moved out of state. Most of them are engaged or married at this point... but there are a couple who aren't.

I actually got kinda sad when one of them found a boyfriend in the town she lives in, because one of the guys she went to college with REALLY liked her. I tried putting a bug in her ear, but alas it did not work.

I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to convince the pastor of that church to invite the Duggars out for something.

I am friends with the cross guy here. I think his is paper mache. Its HUGE but not really heavy, and has the wheel. He also has a shoulder legnth brown wig and a crown of thorns he made. He isn't fundie.... or even fundie lite... I think he is juat a conservative Christian.

[MarthaMarcyMayMarlen]

I live right by Champion Baptist College. I know a lot of "fundies" although most of the ones I know moved out of state. Most of them are engaged or married at this point... but there are a couple who aren't.

I actually got kinda sad when one of them found a boyfriend in the town she lives in, because one of the guys she went to college with REALLY liked her. I tried putting a bug in her ear, but alas it did not work.

I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to convince the pastor of that church to invite the Duggars out for something.

I am friends with the cross guy here. I think his is paper mache. Its HUGE but not really heavy, and has the wheel. He also has a shoulder legnth brown wig and a crown of thorns he made. He isn't fundie.... or even fundie lite... I think he is juat a conservative Christian.

Whats the differece between a fundie-lite and a conservative Christian?

[Nomorearrows]

Does talking about Bill Gothard and also watching that video of purity balls in my Religion and Sexuality class count as a fundie encounter? Once we started the discussion about Bill Gothard its like my mouth wouldn't shut up lol. I am pretty sure that my classmates were looking at me like "who is this weirdo?".

[Effie]

Three weeks ago I went to a friend's 35:th party. When I was no longer desired in the kitchen where I could help (and thus avoid social awkward situations) I went out to the living room and chit-chatted with the people there. There were several teachers (just like my friend) but there were also people from other occupations. After chatting my way around, I came across another... omg social worker.

I was really excited to meet a professional social worker at the party. I opened up more than I normally do (although I am quite open these days). I even told her something about my health. I could never have expected the response that I got. She told me that there's a really talented hospital chaplain in town that I should totally meet. "Perhaps it's strange that they have a chaplain at the hospital, but it makes lots of sense." she said. I was like; what just happened? How dared she assume that my health problem had anything to do with faith or lack thereof? How absolutely patronizing and inexcusable. Had she absolutely no clue how offensive that was? I told myself to handle it nicely although I really wanted to ask her to get lost already. I lost my excitement over meeting another social worker. I felt very offended. She talked about priests having counseling skills, which made them very suitable for working in the mental health care. I told her that they can't study further to psycho-therapists these days (small triumph). She insisted that they still could. I just tried to smile and went to another room.

Not sure if this counts as a fundie encounter, but come on, this is Sweden... that's so not normal behaviour here. We don't talk about our faith or lack thereof. It's a very private matter. If you would ask a Swede if he/she goes to church for example, you should expect a very angry stare right back at you. That's just how things are here. Yes, I would be offended if someone asked me if I go to church - I'll admit that. But not as offended as if someone told me that I should totally go to church or totally visit the priest at the hospital (as in this case).

[singsingsing]

Oh, wow... well... I guess if she was implying that you needed to talk to a chaplain because of your illness, that is definitely presumptuous... but I have to admit, I don't really understand why it's offensive to mention the chaplain. Actually, where I live, it would be strange to not have chaplains in a hospital. Of course their services are entirely optional. It's also possible that for some reason she had been given the mistaken impression that you were a religious person and thought she was helping you. Either way, it doesn't sound like she was trying to patronize you, it sounds like she was just trying to be nice. :\ Could be a cultural thing.

[Effie]

Oh, wow... well... I guess if she was implying that you needed to talk to a chaplain because of your illness, that is definitely presumptuous... but I have to admit, I don't really understand why it's offensive to mention the chaplain. Actually, where I live, it would be strange to not have chaplains in a hospital. Of course their services are entirely optional. It's also possible that for some reason she had been given the mistaken impression that you were a religious person and thought she was helping you. Either way, it doesn't sound like she was trying to patronize you, it sounds like she was just trying to be nice. :\ Could be a cultural thing.

It's very rare to meet someone who is a Christian here. I can count all the Christian Swedes I know on my left hand. Therefore I find it very strange if she had somehow got the impression that I must be a Christian too (considering most people are not). I was more under the impression that she saw me as a lost soul who needed to find the right guidance to get better.

She could might as well have suggested that I should see an imam or rabbi. To me that's very disrespectful cause that's like trying to push your religion on me. At least that's how I see it. Religion or faith, in Sweden, is something utterly private, something nobody will ever ask you about, and chances are you will not talk about it either. You just don't.

20 ways to annoy a Swede: blogs.sweden.se/expat/2012/01/29/20-ways-to-annoy-a-swede-part-ii-11-20/

See point 14. While it says "try to convince a Swede to come to church with you", it could might as well say "try to convince a Swede to visit a chaplain".

My mother's catholic childhood friend from Poland asked her if we go to church. My immediate reaction when I heard that was: "What the fuck does she have to do with that?"

[2AnimalCrackers]

I am spotting some kind of fundie type girls at Cedar Point, I tried to get a good photo, I can't get close enough to find out what they are!

[Discobiscuits]

I haven't posted much here, and this thread is addictive. My piece:

There's a nice woman we know who homeschools her kids with her husband. Her and her husband were college instructors before, but decided to settle down, run a new age business (which has been well for years) and have a bunch of kids. The kids are well educated; I know the 13 year olds are already at a high school senior level. They also help out with the shop. Huge fans of Niel deGrasse Tyson. I told my dad about them since once during a random convo.

He mentions these weird neighbors he has up the road from him. I remember them because I drove by once, and the naked son (he had to be about 3) was being chased through the horse field by his two sisters. They homeschool their kids, too, but it's a much more trainwrecky situation.

I don't think the neighbors fall under the quiverfull movement, but they're hardcore fundamentalist and paranoid about the government; they don't send their kids to school because of government indoctrination and they wanted to put the most emphasis on God in their lesson plans. The oldest daughter is 12 and can barely do basic math. I'm actually pretty freaked out by them. They kinda have that weapon stockpiler thing going on.

[TheLurkingFrumper]

It's very rare to meet someone who is a Christian here. I can count all the Christian Swedes I know on my left hand. Therefore I find it very strange if she had somehow got the impression that I must be a Christian too (considering most people are not). I was more under the impression that she saw me as a lost soul who needed to find the right guidance to get better.

She could might as well have suggested that I should see an imam or rabbi. To me that's very disrespectful cause that's like trying to push your religion on me. At least that's how I see it. Religion or faith, in Sweden, is something utterly private, something nobody will ever ask you about, and chances are you will not talk about it either. You just don't.

20 ways to annoy a Swede: blogs.sweden.se/expat/2012/01/29/20-ways-to-annoy-a-swede-part-ii-11-20/

See point 14. While it says "try to convince a Swede to come to church with you", it could might as well say "try to convince a Swede to visit a chaplain".

My mother's catholic childhood friend from Poland asked her if we go to church. My immediate reaction when I heard that was: "What the fuck does she have to do with that?"

I just saw this video on Upworthy, and it reminded me of this conversation. The Swedish baptism is pretty funny.

v8_7yPocGPg

[Effie]

Haha :D oh that was fun.

[Jenny]

Whats the differece between a fundie-lite and a conservative Christian?

Belief in patriarchy? I don't know.

Is there a consensus on where the line is?

[FeministShrew]

Meh, they're all the same to me. (I say that as someone who has been Southern Baptist, both before & after the conservative resurgence), IFB, Free Will Baptist & non-denom. The trappings are different, but scratch the surface & the ugly is there.

Edited because I know the difference between there & they're.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I would consider Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin fundie light and/or conservative christian. I think they promote women as homemakers but its perfectly fine to hold meaningful jobs. Meaning that both men and women are active soldiers for Christ. Working in politics, our schools, etc.

I think conservative christians are one step below fundie lite on the fundie scale. There are a TON of conservative christians out there, and they send their daughters to college and drink the occasional pina colada.

[Chicken bones]

It's very rare to meet someone who is a Christian here. I can count all the Christian Swedes I know on my left hand. Therefore I find it very strange if she had somehow got the impression that I must be a Christian too (considering most people are not). I was more under the impression that she saw me as a lost soul who needed to find the right guidance to get better.

She could might as well have suggested that I should see an imam or rabbi. To me that's very disrespectful cause that's like trying to push your religion on me. At least that's how I see it. Religion or faith, in Sweden, is something utterly private, something nobody will ever ask you about, and chances are you will not talk about it either. You just don't.

20 ways to annoy a Swede: blogs.sweden.se/expat/2012/01/29/20-ways-to-annoy-a-swede-part-ii-11-20/

See point 14. While it says "try to convince a Swede to come to church with you", it could might as well say "try to convince a Swede to visit a chaplain".

My mother's catholic childhood friend from Poland asked her if we go to church. My immediate reaction when I heard that was: "What the fuck does she have to do with that?"

Thinking back on the short time that the Bones and I spent living in Sweden, I realize how refreshing that lack of religiosity was. I didn't read the news there everyday and get pissed off at some political maneuver by uber conservatives.

[RachelB]

I would consider Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin fundie light and/or conservative christian. I think they promote women as homemakers but its perfectly fine to hold meaningful jobs. Meaning that both men and women are active soldiers for Christ. Working in politics, our schools, etc.

I think conservative christians are one step below fundie lite on the fundie scale. There are a TON of conservative christians out there, and they send their daughters to college and drink the occasional pina colada.

Bachmann said at one point that she was submitted to her husband, which I would say puts her closer to the patriarchal side of the spectrum.

OTOH, I remember Voddie Baucham decrying the fact that Palin was running for office instead of being a keeper at home. That makes me think that the very people for whom Palin and Bachmann are the best policy fits of any major party candidate running-- i.e., dominionists-- wouldn't vote for them, if push came to shove.

[GeoBQn]

On a street corner downtown, there was a large sidewalk chalk advertisement for LDS. It had buzzwords like "celestial kingdom" surrounded by stars and hearts. It included web addresses for lds.org and mormon.org, along with a local phone number to call to get a free copy of the Book of Mormon. I know we have missionaries here, but the only time I ever see them is when they are in the library using the free internet and I've never seen them approach people. The university in our town has strict rules against sidewalk chalking and I've never seen it on a city sidewalk, so I bet someone is going to get fined for this.

[bionicmlle]

I was in WalMart yesterday and followed in a couple and their teen. They appeared to be Mennonite or similar in long skirts and very long hair. The teen said she wanted to go off in the store to look around and the parents ensured she had her cell phone on and out if they needed to reach her. She headed off into the store and the father said "Don't go looking at the Sinner clothes." He repeated it several times about the "sinner's clothes" at WalMart.

[GenerationCedarchip]

I am spotting some kind of fundie type girls at Cedar Point, I tried to get a good photo, I can't get close enough to find out what they are!

There's a camp not too far from there that caters to fundie-light and even some fundie churches. My church used to send the young men's group out there. I know they go on little side trips as a reward at the end so they might be from there!

[GenerationCedarchip]

I guess this is kind of a fundie encounter. I just found out that my favorite locavore grocery stocks products from the Alexanders' farm! They were featured as the "farmer of the week" up on the counter today.

[yetanothermeg]

Saw a German Baptist Brethren lady at the airport. I told my husband it made the four hour delay worth it.

[Coconut Flan]

Way up thread (I got far behind on this one) someone asked if the fundies and Gothardites had books and/or classes on keeping sweet.

They absolutely do. There is a very fundie IFB church a few miles from me and they have an academy/unaccredited religious college associated with them. They have a four year curriculum for the women of the church including a course on keeping sweet and how to respond to one's husband along with courses in proper home management, homeschooling, women in the church (how to sit down and be quiet when men are around I believe), etc. So far I've never visited the church but I keep planning on going.

[AmyDoll]

Soooo, I came here bc I had a close encounter. My son was selling his crafts at the end of our driveway and 2 very odd people stopped. They looked like teenagers but they were dressed too neatly - for lack of a better term. They bought something from my boy and I talked to the wife for a minute - she was wearing a ring. Well, they paid by check. And its a new little quiverful family right in my backyard! The husband is the son of the founder of Patrick Henry College and the HSLDA. So fun. She's preggers with their first bb and she just turned 19.

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Soooo, I came here bc I had a close encounter. My son was selling his crafts at the end of our driveway and 2 very odd people stopped. They looked like teenagers but they were dressed too neatly - for lack of a better term. They bought something from my boy and I talked to the wife for a minute - she was wearing a ring. Well, they paid by check. And its a new little quiverful family right in my backyard! The husband is the son of the founder of Patrick Henry College and the HSLDA. So fun. She's preggers with their first bb and she just turned 19.

Ooh great sightings! I wonder if they have a blog? How old did he look?

[quinoa mama]

That would be Michael Farris's son. How exciting! I just googled him, and he has 10 children, but I couldn't quickly find a list of his children with names or pictures.