Real Life Fundie Encountersâ„¢ Part 2

[GeoBQn]

I work a couple blocks away from the Governor's Mansion and sometimes walk by when I am taking a stroll during a break.  Today, as I was taking my walk I passed by a group of students from what I assume is a Christian school.  They were holding hands in a circle, with their heads down in prayer.  The teacher prayed out loud, "Please let the governor come to know you, Lord.  Please guide the governor to do the right thing, even when others disagree with him."

Said governor is right-wing Pat McCrory of North Carolina, so I think it is safe to say he is already on their side.

[PennySycamore]

GeoBQn, I didn't know you were in North Carolina!  There are quite a few of us FJers in the Carolinas

I was driving down Wade Hampton Boulevard in Greenville SC yesterday when I noticed a billboard for Patch the Pirate.  I think that we used to live in the same neighborhood as Patch aka Ron Hamilton. (We did live in a very fundie heavy neighborhood in the mid-80s.) Ron lost an eye to, IIRC, cancer as a young man and so became a fundie pirate with a ministry focussing on kids.  Some of the neighborhood kids were really into Patch the Pirate.

[47of74]

On 11/6/2015 at 1:04 PM, GeoBQn said:

I work a couple blocks away from the Governor's Mansion and sometimes walk by when I am taking a stroll during a break.  Today, as I was taking my walk I passed by a group of students from what I assume is a Christian school.  They were holding hands in a circle, with their heads down in prayer.  The teacher prayed out loud, "Please let the governor come to know you, Lord.  Please guide the governor to do the right thing, even when others disagree with him."

Said governor is right-wing Pat McCrory of North Carolina, so I think it is safe to say he is already on their side.

Probably not sufficiently enough for their tastes. That's the thing with the righties (and lefties too). No matter how hard right (or left) a politician is that's never good enough for some people.

[nastyhobbitses]

On 11/7/2015 at 6:46 PM, 47of74 said:

 

Probably not sufficiently enough for their tastes. That's the thing with the righties (and lefties too). No matter how hard right (or left) a politician is that's never good enough for some people.

I remember going from "oh, this group might be nice and I'll find a lot of like-minded people" to "I'm going to go insane and hate everyone if I join" when I was talking with the head of a campus socialist group who was saying how he didn't want left-wing leaders who would compromise or "kowtow" to the right. Now, I can understand not wanting opportunistic politicians who change positions with the wind and not liking when policies you supported get watered down, but if you don't make some compromises or consider that you're not the only politician around and your constituents aren't the only constituents, nothing gets achieved. Or, in my good ol' home country's case, more nothing than the normal amount of nothing gets achieved.

[hollywood]

I live near Pensacola Christian College and sometimes when I drive in the area of it, I die laughing because there is a carwash right near it where a girl stands out in a bikini to encourage business in the summers.

[Walking Cat Bed]

I work a couple blocks away from the Governor's Mansion and sometimes walk by when I am taking a stroll during a break.  Today, as I was taking my walk I passed by a group of students from what I assume is a Christian school.  They were holding hands in a circle, with their heads down in prayer.  The teacher prayed out loud, "Please let the governor come to know you, Lord.  Please guide the governor to do the right thing, even when others disagree with him."

Said governor is right-wing Pat McCrory of North Carolina, so I think it is safe to say he is already on their side.

My roommate heckles the Gov every time he drives past the mansion.

[47of74]

My mom lived in central Louisiana for a couple years before she married my dad, she was telling us how one time she got talked into going to a fundie church down there.  She did not care much for the experience going there.  Now that I think of it I wonder if it was that experience that eventually convinced her to move back to Iowa. 

[19 cats and counting]

Living in Texas I've had numerous fundie encounters, so I'll limit this to the most interesting.

I worked with a JW woman for 10 years. She screamed at us every election day; handed out Watchtower magazines on Easter, Halloween and Christmas; and was totally convinced that birthday parties had some sort of occult component that was kept hidden from outsiders (What do y'all do at parties? Just cake and ice cream? I don't believe it! Aren't the candles used for some sort of magic spell?)

Oh, and she was weirdly obsessed with sex and the sex lives of other people. Monday mornings she would quiz us all about whether we had fornicated or otherwise shamed ourselves over the weekend. Anybody who admitted to having a girlfriend/boyfriend was subjected to a stern lecture on the dangers of dating. She was fired after "accidentally" stumbling onto a porn site at work and staying on for several hours. She claimed it was because she was so appalled at the smut she found that she just couldn't tear herself away.

My fundie encounters today are much more banal. I'm the Democratic precinct chair in a heavily Republican area, so I'm routinely contacted by families from the nearby LDS temple who want to register and vote as Democrats. My suburb has seen a recent influx of South Asian families, so now I'm working with a lot of Islamic families, as well as people from the local Baptist megachurch (this group thinks the GOP has veered too far from the teachings of Christ). I was worried about how our first precinct meeting would go, but we had a great time discussing politics over Hawaiian Punch and cheese pizza.

As a Democratic staffer who thinks that local party building is the key to future electoral successes, I want to thank you for your work as precinct chair.  

[Jessa's Feet]

I went to a Church of Christ college for two years. I was very much a non Church of Christ. I was raised......well nothing for over half my childhood. They my mom started dabbling in different types but never serious goers. 

The college I went to was of the "no instruments, all a capelle services, and women are not allowed to hold positions in the church." Oh, and it's in a West Texas small town. 

So we had mandatory chapel services we had to attend everyday. The services included a capelle singing that sounded creepy and then sitting with a bunch of overbearing pretentious asshats for the sermon.  I found out that they had a small group that met during services to pray for the students in the chapel and that the day goes swell! So I did what any smart person would do. I joined that prayer group just to get out of chapel. I fake prayed for at least two semesters. 

That college crawled with young pregnant newlyweds and it seemed like you had someone celebrating an engagement in one of your classrooms a couple of times a month. Really really young as well. 

They had a really strict no males in the women dorms and no women in the males rule. As in they had to wait in the lobby. 

I also went briefly to a very VERY small community college that happened to have a very small number of dorms. It wasn't even a Christian college. But they had a crazy insane policy. You had to sign the opposite sex in at the front lobby desk and when they were in you room you had to leave your door OPEN at all times. Oh, it gets better. The RA's? They were women in late 50's-early 60's. When you had a guy signed in, they would get notified. They would walk the hallways. And? weekly room checks for cleanliness. Yes. The RA's had old people furnished rooms. It looked like a retirement home. I lasted barely a semester. If it wasn't for becoming best friends with a girl, I would have said, "fuck you, I'm out!" It was like the dorms operated as strict West Texas Southern Baptist but the college wasn't. Strangest shit I've ever been through when it comes to that kind of stuff. 

 

 

 

[notfundy]

I was in the Portland (PDX) airport yesterday, coming back to the Midwest from a week with my little granddaughter, and I saw a group composed of teenaged girls (13-18-ish), younger girls (8-12)and a few adult women all getting ready to leave Portland.  Trying to figure out who/what religion/group... the older girls all had their long hair up in a bun with an identical little white cap over the bun (not exactly a snood, and not a bonnet with strings like the Amish/Mennonites I am more familiar with.)   The girls younger than, say, 12 all had their hair in one long braid.  All had long shirts or dresses to at least mid-calf. 

It was actually nice to see young women without makeup; it made the other teenagers I ran into while going thru security, etc. look "excessive" - - not that I'm the judge lol!  

I could tell their clothes were partially, but not entirely, homemade (like a zipper put into the back of a sweater and then the sweater worn over a dress).  The older girls watched over a large group of younger girls, and then the two adult women I saw watched over them all.  No men or boys in sight so maybe they were coming or going from a "Journey to the Heart" type of thing.

Mr. NotFundy (who wasn't with me) thinks they were Mormons, and it's true that a fair amount of flights from PDX going back east fly thru Salt Lake City.  

The older girls all had smart phones with their boarding pass info, etc.  Sort of funny to see all the "plain" clothing, etc. but then a smart phone in a cool case!  One of the girls was wearing a sort of distinct black/grey patterned hoodie over her long dress/skirt ...  it was the exact same hoodie my daughter just bought at Target! 

So any guesses who they were?  I know it isn't polite to stare, and they were very friendly, smiling, etc.... it's just so fascinating to me to see teenagers (especially) happily (it seemed) complying with the dress and behavior codes set forth by their parents/church/whoever.  

[HeadshipRegent]

My grandmother and her sisters went to an all-girls super Christian boarding school (they were all born between 1922-1935, so this was in the 1940s and 50s) and the nuns there would not allow them to shower naked, they had to wear a camisole type thing. My grandma absolutely hate this rule and would lock the door and, you know, shower without clothes, like a normal person. 

My mom also went to Christian school, although not a boarding one, and one of the nuns was super abusive and would threaten her (who was 4 or 5 at the time) saying stuff like she'd lock my mom up in a small dark room for hours. Mom was so scared of that nun she was pulled out of school and homeschooled for the following year. 

[jerkit]

I'm dying at not showering naked LOL

[ladymissdiva]

You're very welcome, and I thank you for your work as a Democratic staffer.

[louisa05]

So I spent the day at a fundie funeral. 

My mother's best friend from high school lost her husband (none of them were fundies in high school). My mom can't drive so I was too nice and took her. 

It was awful. They hit all the fundie marks. There was a lecture on the need to repent. A bit thrown in about the "problems with so many so-called Christian churches today" (chief among them, not having mandatory Sunday night and Wednesday night services because we all "need more Bible and more teaching". We were hit over the head with how Christian the deceased was (more Christian than anyone ever). There was a nice bit about how he supported missions to places "where no one knew anything about Jesus" (among them London, Ireland, the Philippines and several Latin American countries). There was a guy with guitar and a slightly off key voice who sang seven songs which had some lyrics straight out of traditional hymns with different tunes and random added lines. We were told multiple times that we were not allowed to be sad at death but should be celebrating that he has gone to eternal life and Christians must never mourn because death and heaven is better. 

And just when I thought I was not going to be able to completely fill my fundie bingo card, the pastor threw in a bit of patriarchy with a detailed explanation about how important the deceased's faith was because it is only through a man's faith that a wife and children may be saved. He elaborated about how he has a wife and three children himself and it is his responsibility to be a good enough Christian to lead them to heaven or they will never get there. So I nearly yelled out, "Bingo!! Patriarchy was my last empty space". 

This whole nightmare took a bit over an hour and a half which the congregation had to spend sitting on metal folding chairs without ever moving. Afterwards, the widow told us they decided to "keep it short" because my mother's cousin's three hour funeral last month (we missed that one for a funeral on the other side of our family) was "just too long". 

We have no idea what they did at the cemetery. It was damp and windy so we went straight to the place where lunch was. But the cemetery was about three  minutes from the funeral site and five minutes from the lunch site (very small town) and no one got back from it for well over an hour. 

[Sundaymorning]

I've seen some Mormon missionaries around town in the recent weeks. I don't know if they count as fundie in the US, but around here, they sure do. I'm wondering what they are doing here, and honestly, I would love to see them trying to convert Swiss people. Especially if those young men don't speak German.

[nausicaa]

 

And just when I thought I was not going to be able to completely fill my fundie bingo card, the pastor threw in a bit of patriarchy with a detailed explanation about how important the deceased's faith was because it is only through a man's faith that a wife and children may be saved. He elaborated about how he has a wife and three children himself and it is his responsibility to be a good enough Christian to lead them to heaven or they will never get there. 

I really want to know where in the New Testament Jesus states that one's salvation is dependent on the beliefs of one's relatives. 

Honestly, a statement like that is borderline heretical. 

[EmiGirl]

I really want to know where in the New Testament Jesus states that one's salvation is dependent on the beliefs of one's relatives. 

Honestly, a statement like that is borderline heretical. 

that sounds Mormon. 

 

And its its not borderline heretical, it's extremely heretical. 

[felinefundie]

I've seen some Mormon missionaries around town in the recent weeks. I don't know if they count as fundie in the US, but around here, they sure do. I'm wondering what they are doing here, and honestly, I would love to see them trying to convert Swiss people. Especially if those young men don't speak German.

To be fair, the missionaries are taught the common language of the area they are sent to. How well they can actually communicate in that language is definitely a different story. 

[nausicaa]

 

And its its not borderline heretical, it's extremely heretical. 

I was trying to be generous. 

And I say this as an agnostic, so it doesn't come from a place of being offended, just completely confused. It is made pretty damn clear in the Gospels that each person has a direct relationship with God, and that one is not judged by one's origins or the beliefs of one's family. Honestly, if you take that attitude, why proselytize?

I wonder what he makes of "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

I also find it very amusing that that pastor went out of his way to get digs in at Catholics (presumably because he has an issue with the idea of a priest acting as an intermediary) and yet goes on to state that a women and children can only be saved through another. 

[EmiGirl]

I was trying to be generous. 

And I say this as an agnostic, so it doesn't come from a place of being offended, just completely confused. It is made pretty damn clear in the Gospels that each person has a direct relationship with God, and that one is not judged by one's origins or the beliefs of one's family. Honestly, if you take that attitude, why proselytize?

I wonder what he makes of "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

I also find it very amusing that that pastor went out of his way to get digs in at Catholics (presumably because he has an issue with the idea of a priest acting as an intermediary) and yet goes on to state that a women and children can only be saved through another. 

well if that's true then I'm golden and can go out and do whatever the heck I want because my husband is like the world's best Christian. 

[louisa05]

I was trying to be generous. 

And I say this as an agnostic, so it doesn't come from a place of being offended, just completely confused. It is made pretty damn clear in the Gospels that each person has a direct relationship with God, and that one is not judged by one's origins or the beliefs of one's family. Honestly, if you take that attitude, why proselytize?

I wonder what he makes of "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

I also find it very amusing that that pastor went out of his way to get digs in at Catholics (presumably because he has an issue with the idea of a priest acting as an intermediary) and yet goes on to state that a women and children can only be saved through another. 

 I have, more than once in my life, had a fundie say to me about this or that Bible passage, "well, that's not meant to be taken literally". Then my eyes roll out of my head. 

Today, the widow posted on Facebook about what a "blessing" it was that there was a good crowd at the funeral that the pastor was "able to preach God's word to". In the comments, someone noted that during the service he was looking around and thinking about how many of the people there were obviously "unsaved" or "going to churches that aren't Bible-believing". 

I think that if you sit at a funeral and decide how many other people there are going to hell...something is not quite right with your own faith. 

 

[Cerealgirl]

@louisa05 Bless you woman. I would not have been able to hold my snarky tongue in the face of such utter bs for 90 minutes.

[Geechee Girl]

Fundies with big yellow & black signs on 12ft poles were on campus today handing out tracts. It seems print ministries aren't obsolete after all. 

[louisa05]

@louisa05 Bless you woman. I would not have been able to hold my snarky tongue in the face of such utter bs for 90 minutes.

My mother is as disgusted with most fundie crap as I am, so we exchanged a lot of eye rolls. But it was pretty awful. 

[HereticHick]

San Antonio folks--National Bible Bee finals start tomorrow ( at the JW Marriott). Keep you eyes peeled for a boatload of fundie kids!  http://www.biblebee.org/

I believe that Pecan Thief Davy Waller was a Bible Bee judge  a few years back