Real Life Fundie Encountersâ„¢ Part 2

[Walking Cat Bed]

Those are gaucho pants, not "Groucho" pants (sez the woman who saw them come into fashion in her youth).

I actually own a few pair of gauchos -- jersey knit, perfect for hanging out at home on cool days. They're basically drapey sweatpants and perfect for couch naps.

[Snarkaluffagus]

My toddler is at the age where she wants to carry a book with her wherever she goes. It's a different book every day, depending on her mood. She has a children's Bible - one day she decided that she was going to carry it with her.

I was mortified. What if someone were to see us and think we are fundies?

[heagleca]

I hope this is the right place for this quick story. I haven't posted any encounters before but this one has me shaking with rage. I'm at the gym and there is a loud mouth asshole who is apparently a pastor of a church (his shirt says The Ark Fellowship- I live in a suburb of Houston- which I intend to look into later.) He's talking about his baby son loudly to a group of people. His son is in the hospital with a tumor near his lung and he is preaching that he's "excited" (yes) to see what God is going to do with his son because his son will have a great testimony. He said his son can't have HIS great testimony (which was apparently being an "addict") so this will be his son's testimony and he's excited to see what God is going to do.

Who the actual fuck says they are "excited" to see what will happen when their child is in the hospital with a fucking tumor. I gasped out loud and stared at him with my mouth open as he said these things.

[PennySycamore]

I hope this is the right place for this quick story. I haven't posted any encounters before but this one has me shaking with rage. I'm at the gym and there is a loud mouth asshole who is apparently a pastor of a church (his shirt says The Ark Fellowship- I live in a suburb of Houston- which I intend to look into later.) He's talking about his baby son loudly to a group of people. His son is in the hospital with a tumor near his lung and he is preaching that he's "excited" (yes) to see what God is going to do with his son because his son will have a great testimony. He said his son can't have HIS great testimony (which was apparently being an "addict") so this will be his son's testimony and he's excited to see what God is going to do.

Who the actual fuck says they are "excited" to see what will happen when their child is in the hospital with a fucking tumor. I gasped out loud and stared at him with my mouth open as he said these things.

I'd be afraid that I say "Pretty shitty of your God to give your baby a tumor, wasn't it?" I'm sorry, but I've just had it with assholes. In the words of Howard Beale "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore".

[ILoveJellybeans]

How could anyone be excited about their child having a tumour? Unless they don't care about the kid, they just want attention and donations.

[mallallory]

How could anyone be excited about their child having a tumour? Unless they don't care about the kid, they just want attention and donations.

This exactly.

[LovelyLuna]

My headships brothers' family is becoming more fundie by the minuet. They have always been conservative Christian and they send their kids to private Christian school. today for our family Fathers day lunch SIL was wearing a V neck blouse with a modesty t-shirt underneath and an ankle length maxi skirt. It was even black and white striped. :? :lol:

[FullmoonOverDuggardWaters]

At 17, I was in the hospital for four months following a severe, severe, trauma.

I received letters and greeting cards, one after the other from a group of Fundies who wrote to me through the local newspaper. Many of them reminded me that God had a 'special plan' for me. :roll:

I still scoff in resentment over the experience of being talked down to in that way when at my most helpless, lowest juncture; as if I were braindead, as if I were 'special', instead of the said 'plan' at hand. I can only hope they were lead down their own extremely special, 'special plan '. :cray-cray:

[GeoBQn]

My BIL is Jewish, and his girlfriend is agnostic after being raised fundie Christian. She was in Brooklyn on a business trip and went to Crown Heights. This happened to be during the holiday of Sukkot. She was buying a sandwich from a street vendor when a group of teen boys from a nearby yeshiva were walking down the street with the lulav (an arrangement of plants tied together) and etrog (a citrus fruit), two symbols of the holiday that Jews are supposed to say a blessing on at least once during the holiday. The group saw her and walked over to her. "Excuse me, have you said the blessing on the lulav and etrog yet this Sukkot?" they asked. She replied, "I'm not Jewish" and they walked away.

She was about to move on when a 2nd group of teen yeshiva boys came walking by. They also stopped and asked her, "Excuse me, have you said the blessing on the lulav and etrog yet this Sukkot?" Again, she replied, "I'm not Jewish" and they walked away.

Then a few minutes later, a 3rd group of teen yeshivah boys walked up to her. The conversation went differently.

Boy: Excuse me, have you said the blessing on the lulav and etrog yet this Sukkot?

Girlfriend: I'm not Jewish, but my boyfriend is.

Boy: (looks extremely confused) But . . . but . . . how?

Girlfriend: Because he was born Jewish, and I was born not Jewish.

Boy: Well . . . tell your boyfriend that those relationships rarely work out.

He walked away, and she and my BIL had a good laugh about it.

[jendall]

I live in Denver, that sees nothing like the Focus-On-The-Family/Colorado Springs' fundamentalists. Yet in our local Habitat For Humanity (building materials recycling store) in marches a stout dad and meek mom with 8 young kids in tow. The mom had that Anna Duggar look - as, if took a different fork in the road, she'd be shopping in Nordstroms & playing tennis right now. But instead, had deadened eyes, pushing an infant #8. All the females wore long khaki skirts.

I was awestruck from just the body language. The short, fat husband's demeanor was completely in-charge, king of the hill, leading the pack. The wife was acted like a nonverbal inmate at the asylum. The kids were all obedient and trailed behind him.

They left after 10 minutes, buying nothing.

[drivingmishcrazy]

Took my clients to the park last Sunday and there were a huge group on the playground with their parents nearby. The adult women were wearing coverings over the buns in their hair, but they weren't the Mennonite people who live around here, it's hard to explain but they were different. Anyway, there were several of the young ones at the playground, full frumper dresses that look like fare from Sears in 1995, the youngest girls with shorts underneath. They were rambunctious but still polite, they didn't even question my clients being there or give them funny looks like some people do. A few even talked a little bit with them and helped them on the slide. One of their young men did behave as a teenager/young adult with special needs, so I'm not sure if that was part of them accepting my clients or if they just happened to be kids who don't worry about it. Either way they were very happy to share the playground with my clients and waved goodbye to us when we left.

I'm not sure what branch of fundie these kiddos were, but they were nice enough. It was nice to not get dirty looks taking clients out and about for once, though, fundie or not.

[GenerationCedarchip]

Took my clients to the park last Sunday and there were a huge group on the playground with their parents nearby. The adult women were wearing coverings over the buns in their hair, but they weren't the Mennonite people who live around here, it's hard to explain but they were different. Anyway, there were several of the young ones at the playground, full frumper dresses that look like fare from Sears in 1995, the youngest girls with shorts underneath. They were rambunctious but still polite, they didn't even question my clients being there or give them funny looks like some people do. A few even talked a little bit with them and helped them on the slide. One of their young men did behave as a teenager/young adult with special needs, so I'm not sure if that was part of them accepting my clients or if they just happened to be kids who don't worry about it. Either way they were very happy to share the playground with my clients and waved goodbye to us when we left.

I'm not sure what branch of fundie these kiddos were, but they were nice enough. It was nice to not get dirty looks taking clients out and about for once, though, fundie or not.

That sounds a lot like the folks on the Seven Sisters blog to me. Obviously fundie with headcoverings, etc.. but friendly/welcoming to non-fundies. Honestly, a lot of fundie communities I've had interaction with would fit that description. It seems like the most legalistic and sometimes downright mean folks are the ones who blog, and I do wonder about the degree to which that skews perceptions.

[justoneoftwo]

That sounds a lot like the folks on the Seven Sisters blog to me. Obviously fundie with headcoverings, etc.. but friendly/welcoming to non-fundies. Honestly, a lot of fundie communities I've had interaction with would fit that description. It seems like the most legalistic and sometimes downright mean folks are the ones who blog, and I do wonder about the degree to which that skews perceptions.

I also wonder if the mean bloggers would be polite in person, or love bomb.

[16strong]

I also wonder if the mean bloggers would be polite in person, or love bomb.

You mean Jill Rodrigues?

[usedtobenice]

I work in a restaurant, saw a woman standing, talking to a couple seated at a table.

She had long hair and wore a long khaki skirt and flip flops.

I didn't think anything about this, figuring they knew each other. I walked closer and overheard her asking for donations for a children's mission trip!

I told her, "Ma'am, we do not not allow solicitation in this restaurant."

She just stared at me, so I repeated my self.

She then snippily replied, "Well, can I just finish up here?"

I again repeated, Ma'am, we do not allow solicitation in this restaurant. "

She left in a huff!

She knew that it wasn't allowed, I know this because she started at a table in a corner, where she wouldn't be noticed quickly.

Fundies sure think rules don't apply to them!

I've had to kick out people harassing our guests before, asking for donations, but this one was extra fun, being that she was a fundies and a total bitch at that!

[sockinshoe]

At 17, I was in the hospital for four months following a severe, severe, trauma.

I received letters and greeting cards, one after the other from a group of Fundies who wrote to me through the local newspaper. Many of them reminded me that God had a 'special plan' for me. :roll:

I still scoff in resentment over the experience of being talked down to in that way when at my most helpless, lowest juncture; as if I were braindead, as if I were 'special', instead of the said 'plan' at hand. I can only hope they were lead down their own extremely special, 'special plan '. :cray-cray:

I'm sorry that happened to you.

I have a somewhat similar story from when my father (whom I love dearly) was in the hospital with acute, aggressive cancer (he survived, thankfully). I was in high school at the time, and I found myself inundated with unwanted "special plan" language. Not just from students (who can be forgiven for tactless behaviour), but from teachers, administrators, and parents too. I remember feeling so sickened and angry that these people thought my father was suffering in hospital so that God could teach me a lesson (as though my father's sickness was secretly a good thing that I should be thankful for). I felt like they were sitting around, waiting for him to die so that I could finally understand some greater truth. Since he made it, I no longer find it in myself to hold that particular grudge. However, I will never forget the kind words from the school librarian, who told me to "let (my) father know he is in my thoughts and prayers. As are you". I'm not religious, but it did bring me comfort to know that there were people appealing to a higher power on my father's behalf, who didn't think that his illness was a "blessing in disguise".

Just to say that there are right and wrong ways to discuss tragedy and misfortune from a religious perspective.

[JoyfulSel]

I was in a clothing store this morning and I saw a woman there with four teenage to early 20s aged daughters, and they were all wearing long skirts, shirts with modesty under shirts, and the mom had a covering on her head. The mother ran into one of her friends and they chatted very loudly about the woman's other daughter who was studying in Israel; when one of the daughters was trying on a dress, the mother got on the phone and was talking so loudly the entire store could hear her. Then the daughter came out in the dress and was complaining about it and the mother was yelling at her that it was fine and she could sew together a modesty panel for the top part (even though the dress was super modest as it was). I was so surprised at how loud all of them were in the store, they eventually left without the dress.

[WhiteRun]

A girl I went to primary school with was at minimum fundy lite. For some reason she couldn't be seen eating with us and had to go home everyday at lunch time. Her parents had a mini-van and she had at least 4-5 brothers and sisters, one of which also came to my school. Her mum wore denim skirts and head coverings and never said a word to any of us other kids. Once the elder girl graduated primary school, her sister mysteriously left too.

And not long ago I served a fundy woman and her kids at my work. She was in the regular garb- modest shirt, long skirt ect and the kids all looked like they were all very close together in age. The kids didn't say a word and moved when their mum told them to- kinda creepy. Plus it was the middle of a school day which only solidified my suspicion.

[3DMommy]

So I just moved to a new town and still can't escape the JWs! They came to the door today and gave me some watchtower I might actually read the one on anxiety.

Also while lost in the neighborhood trying to find my way home from the grocery store I passed a Muslim woman at the park with what I assumed were her kids. Two Mormon elders were talking to her. I laughed so hard I missed my turn and spent an extra 10 minutes lost.

[MamaJunebug]

My sightings(?) continue to be confusing: at a happily noisy music bar, no ribaldry but OTOH neither anything more spiritual than occasional Gordon Lightfoot...woman with one of those head coverings that looks like it shouldn't stay on, but not in white, in red. Hair only just past shoulders. Companions were not clean cut but not hipstery scruffy, and nor scary-scruffy, either.

I guess sometimes a headscarf is just a headscarf.

[Unique_Handle]

My aunt (dads sister) and her family are Fundies. She married into it. My uncle (her husband) is a pompous a-hole.

Growing up, we only saw them on Holidays.... usually Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and sometimes Easter. The girls all have very long hair, wear long skirts, no make-up, etc. The boys are supposed to always wear a t-shirt (undershirt) under their clothes and a belt. The girls are expected to learn to cook and clean before they learn how to read. The boys are taught at a young age that they are in charge.

My aunt married really young (17, I believe). They had their first kid right away and followed that up with 6 more, one after another. Then they stopped.

All their kids are adults now, the youngest just turned 40. Out of all the kids, two are still following the Fundie lifestyle. The other escaped it or are Fundie-light.

I remember one time, on Easter, my aunt and uncle disappeared for quite a while during the middle of our family gathering (it was their year to have it at their house). When they returned to the living room, my uncle announced "I needed my daily prayer time with my wife" and then fixed his belt. I was a teenager at the time and had no idea what that meant except he wanted to "pray". When I was in my 20's I asked my mom about it and she told me that in their religion, when my uncle wanted to "break a piece off", he didn't have to ask twice and my aunt, had to stop whatever she was doing and go off to "pray".

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Fundies on TV. I was just watching last nights episode of "What Would You Do?" where actors do something and cameras capture how the people around them act. They had two gay men in a restaurant kiss. There was a table of four or five young Pentecostal women. One had a baby. They were clearly holiness Pentecostal fundies because of their super high and intricate hair and tjeir clothes/no makeup. How did they act? They laughed and pointed and took pics. Real Christian and kind of them! I understand having your beliefs but to act like that :/ they of course were ok with the actor waiter asking them to leave and the actress patron calling them disgusting.

[DowntownAbbey]

Fundies on TV. I was just watching last nights episode of "What Would You Do?" where actors do something and cameras capture how the people around them act. They had two gay men in a restaurant kiss. There was a table of four or five young Pentecostal women. One had a baby. They were clearly holiness Pentecostal fundies because of their super high and intricate hair and tjeir clothes/no makeup. How did they act? They laughed and pointed and took pics. Real Christian and kind of them! I understand having your beliefs but to act like that :/ they of course were ok with the actor waiter asking them to leave and the actress patron calling them disgusting.

I'm just finishing up that episode on Hulu right now. I believe that scenario is one they're reshowing from a previous episode. I was disgusted by that family's reaction then and now. Regardless of one's religious beliefs, the gay couple are still people, not a damn side show/freak show. Honestly, given what they said on the show, they likely believe that the couple are headed straight to hell. Is that really such a laughing matter for them? I thought Jesus came to "seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10) not laugh as their sin leads them down the wide road to hell (their perspective, not mine)?! :angry-banghead:

[DowntownAbbey]

I suppose this counts as a fundie encounter of sorts. On the way home from work I saw a man reading a book on "Enforced Sunday Law". I'm 99% sure it was this particular book: amazon.com/Enforced-Sunday-Coming-Soon-America/dp/B001W7FQNG. A quick Google search led me down the path of this particular conspiracy theory:

National Sunday law is a conspiracy theory which alleges that the United States government is on the verge of enacting a national blue law that would make Sunday a day of rest and worship. The theory is based on the idea that the Pope is the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast is worshipped on Sunday. Sinister forces (read: the Vatican) are conspiring to enact a national Sunday law in the United States, which would be the trigger that unleashes the fulfilment of the prophecies found in the Biblical books of Daniel and Revelation.

This idea originated within Seventh-Day Adventism (which considers the Sabbath to be Saturday), and some on the fringes of the SDA church have taken a handful of failed Congressional bills and Papal writings and inflated them into the trigger of the apocalypse. This is quite ironic considering that you would think blue law opposition would come from more secular groups.

I'm pretty sure American society/governance has become far too secular for this to ever work now or in the foreseeable future...

[anniebgood]

I suppose this counts as a fundie encounter of sorts. On the way home from work I saw a man reading a book on "Enforced Sunday Law". I'm 99% sure it was this particular book: amazon.com/Enforced-Sunday-Coming-Soon-America/dp/B001W7FQNG. A quick Google search led me down the path of this particular conspiracy theory:

I'm pretty sure American society/governance has become far too secular for this to ever work now or in the foreseeable future...

That would certainly screw up football watching for those of us college and pro fans. As it is, I put my phone on mute and check scores during the sermon. I know, I know.

I grew up with Blue Laws and it was frustrating to run out of something you needed from the market as the market was closed.

:pink-shock: