no longer a "fundamentalist christian"

[notachance]

the author of the blog "of a single heart" who (IIRC)

1) made derogatory comments about a heavy person at a pro-life rally;

2) wanted to go to africa as a tourist/missionary, and;

3) publicly called out FJ's reactions to 1 & 2 and flounced/stopped updating her blog as a result

has scrubbed her blog and declared that she is no longer a fundamentalist christian. it sounds like she's done some soul-searching, and good for her.

link is: ofasingleheart.blogspot.com (hopefully i broke it - i lurk but rarely post)

[GeoBQn]

Forgive me for doubting her sincerity.

[browngrl]

If this change of heart is for real then I say "good for her" and welcome to the real world.

[formergothardite]

Wasn't she supposed to be a missionary in Africa for a year? Is she back home early?

If she is sincere, good for her. But only time will tell.

[GeoBQn]

As I recall, the last time she started posting here she claimed that she was changing her ways, while her blog posts revealed otherwise.

[littlemommy]

Just this morning I was idly wondering how Miss "A fat person wandered into my pro-life picture" was. I wonder what inspired her break with fundiedom.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Lets hope she means it.

[kpmom]

I wish she had included what brought about this change. This big a change in, what? Less than a year?

I'd be more inclined to believe her if she talked about her change of heart.

ETA: Does anyone know/recall whether her family was fundie too?

[mockingbird]

From the comments:

Yes, I am against fundamentalism. For those who knew how much I was for the following things... I'm now against Doug Phillips, Gothard, homeschooling in the Christian form, the "far right", and a lot of the stereotypical "fundie" stuff. I don't "renounce" Summit but I disagree with a lot of what I was taught there now. I'm a backfired rebel, I suppose- I don't vote for their choice Republican candidates, i'm not a dominionist, I don't believe in a huge universal absolute anymore, etc. I don't believe Obama is evil, and further along political lines I don't believe America was or ever was a Christian nation. I lean left more than I do right on some things. I've been called out personally by Kevin Swanson for being an "apostate" for saying something he didn't like, if that tells you anything. I don't believe in judging others for what they know, don't know, what they look like or believe, and I believe in helping others for the sake of making the world a better place. If they want to become Christians, fine, but that's between them and God; and they can be different than me with no problem and I'm not going to seek to change them.

I think of Catholics, atheists, and universalists as sincere, kind people and have explored their ideas, considered them, and come to understand them better than evil, lost weirdos whom God hates. If that's what they choose, cool. I support their life journeys.

I'm against Quiverfull, courtship, and all that garbage too. Basically, I've gone rotten and I like it that way. I'm seeking to pursue a master's in elementary ed.

...I'm not going to stick around in blogging as mostly fundies do it and I have no agenda to push, but I did feel the need to communicate the changes in my beliefs to old followers and that I'm not coming back.

She also said she's listening to Michael Jackson and wearing pants to church! LOL

I remember having a lot of hope for her and finding her blog interesting... I think because it seemed like she did care about her "causes", and that made me think that maybe that genuine caring/compassion would eventually win out and she'd figure out she was misdirecting it and that judging others was the opposite of caring.

So, yes, hopefully this change sticks, and she truly believes it and is not just looking for validation on the internet or something. Good luck on the journey and don't be afraid to keep growing.

[formergothardite]

She doesn't mock Catholics anymore? That is a big change. Maybe whatever happened in Africa helped her grow up.

[kpmom]

Her reply to the question about her family was interesting. So the whole family just up and went unfundie?

She mentioned Doug Phillips right off the bat. I wonder if his downfall brought this about?

[mockingbird]

Her reply to the question about her family was interesting. So the whole family just up and went unfundie?

She mentioned Doug Phillips right off the bat. I wonder if his downfall brought this about?

Yeah, I wondered if her change of heart had to do with DP too. I don't remember her being particularly associated with him so it seemed odd to name him right off the bat (Gothard too?).

ETA: Just checked and she answered a question about that. She said her family was mostly out by the time he was exposed and they weren't surprised/expected it to happen because "Sex abuse and scandals are a by-product of patriarchy". Interesting...? I don't want to pry into her life but I wonder if there was something of this nature she and her family witnessed first or second hand in order to have those expectations.

Also, answer to why she changed her beliefs:

Things I saw, books I read, places I went, how I was treated by other people and observing the faults of fellow fundies made me realize I had them and was no different after all, and common sense upon realizing how illogical and rude fundamentalism is. Lots of other things... over the past year.

[lilith]

She was claiming not to be fundie the first time round too, and seemed very hurt and surprised that we didn't leap on her with hugs and approval and love her as a kindred spirit.

It seems to me that she's swapped one set of "off the shelf" beliefs (fundamentalism) for another (hip liberal Christian).

[formergothardite]

She was claiming not to be fundie the first time round too, and seemed very hurt and surprised that we didn't leap on her with hugs and approval and love her as a kindred spirit.

It seems to me that she's swapped one set of "off the shelf" beliefs (fundamentalism) for another (hip liberal Christian).

Yeah, she had lots of "I'm not like the rest of them" blog posts before. I'm not sure if this is a real change or just another version of "I'm a better Christian than them" sort of change like she did before.

[Katydid]

I hope she is really out of fundamentalism and has escaped a legalistic outlook on life.

I also think that we should give her the benefit of the doubt. Even the most ardent supporters of things can change their mind. I personally know people who were adamantly against vaccination who now vaccinate their children. People can change. I hope she does.

[lemonhead]

Also, answer to why she changed her beliefs:

This is, in a nutshell, why fundies try so desperately to shelter their kids from the real world. They know that if the kids are able to experience and/or observe non-fundies, their eyes may be opened to the hypocrisy and hate. It worked for me, and I hope it really has worked for her.

[mockingbird]

I also think that we should give her the benefit of the doubt. Even the most ardent supporters of things can change their mind. I personally know people who were adamantly against vaccination who now vaccinate their children. People can change. I hope she does.

I agree. I am a little skeptical and I think it's natural to be so, especially when you've interacted with someone before, but you never know. Also, I've heard a lot on here from people who used to be fundies that sometimes it's the person who speaks the loudest for their beliefs who has the most doubt... they are trying to be more involved to convince themselves this is the right lifestyle/set of beliefs.

I think it seems like a bit of a natural first step to move towards a less-fundamentalist version of Christianity. And I can only hope that's the first step for her. Maybe it will continue to lead to sincere beliefs in a non-fundamentalist/non-legalistic Christian god, or maybe it will lead her out of the church altogether. Whatever is best for her personally. However, I do think "hip" Christianity can be problematic too, in that a lot of those types of churches seem to preach similar stuff to fundy churches (cough Mark Driscoll* cough), so hopefully she and her family avoid the kind-of "cult hopping" and have a sincere change in beliefs.

Also, I remember reading Megan Phelps's blog when she first got out and I believe she said it took her about 9 months to decide to leave... so I don't think this girl's timeframe is unrealistic.

I think she still has some room to grow as with her nonpology to the question about condemning Catholics - "I wouldn't say embarrassed, but I do wish I had kept my mouth shut. I would say my attitude at the time was still fundie. Walks like a duck..." I'M NOT A FUNDY ANYMORE SO DON'T HATE ON ME!!1! But... I'm sure this type of change doesn't happen all at once and I know it's hard to admit when you are wrong. She's still probably at the very beginning of moving out of fundy-dom.

*Apparently Driscoll is now in my spellcheck dictionary. Not sure how to feel about this.

[notachance]

To me this felt a lot more genuine then traditional apologetics. She was also quiet for quite a long time. Hopefully this is a path towards tolerance

[maybeizfundie]

Has she repended of mocking fat people?