Real Life Fundie Encountersâ„¢ Part 2

[Triplet3]

Sorry for not getting back to you all sooner - we have awful internet access over here in rural Ireland without broadband. The guest book entry (which is in handwriting I associate with teenage girls) is dated 6-8th September 2011 and is as follows. My comments are in square brackets:

Name/Address:

Jim Bob <3 Michelle Duggar family, Springdale, Arkansas - USA [the heart is written as a little heart]

Comments:

Wonderful accomodations, very comfortable! We all love scoot [the owner's cat] & felt right at home as we have a black & white kitty named "milky way"! We had a number of cottages & were able to catch up on laundry! Amazing for us! :-) ['Accomodations' is spelled as written].

[Triplet3]

Interesting. 2011 sounds about right, though I could see some super-fan faking it as well. Though I'm pretty sure at one point during the filming it shows Josh waving out of their accomodations. So maybe you could watch the episode and see if you recognize anything?

Yes, I'll definitely have to watch the episode when I get the chance. I'll look out for shots of the cottages and let you all know whether it matches up with where I am at the moment.

[klynn]

The rural midwest must be a fundie hotbed. Also, Hobby Lobby parking lots are good to sight them in :)

Had to stop at my local FedEx drop off spot today. It's located in a shopping center that includes a Hobby Lobby (which I generally don't have an opinion on, I just know they sell cheap crap) and as I was unbuckling my 2 year old daughter from her car seat noticed a family leaving the HL. Mom had long hair and a denim frumper on. The boys all looked like normal 5-10 year old boys, shorts and t shirts. The girls...home made skirts that looked...frumpy. Two of them had kerchiefs covering their heads, the oldest one didn't, and neither did mom. There were probably 6-8 kids. I happen to have on a long maxi skirt today, so they must have thought I was one of them because I got smiles from them. Although my 2 year old had short jean shorts and cowgirl boots on!

I have no idea why I'm so fascinated with this sort of people. I'm actually creeping myself out a little :lol:

[kariberi]

:shifty: :shifty: :shifty: :shifty: :shifty: :shifty: :shifty:

I took my kids to Chick-filet today to have lunch and I had my first sighting of a FDLS mormon. She was with her, what i presume her husband, wearing a pink dress and boots. Her hair was braided and poofed up on top like you see them portrayed on T.V..

What bothered me is that how wilted and defeated she looked. She rarely looked up unless her husband spoke to her. Otherwise she would always look at the floor and sometimes steal glances upwards. She had this "Dead look" in her eyes and her mouth was constantly agape with her bottom lip hanging out. My impression was that she looked inbred ten times over. :|

Her husband on the other hand. Was standing there like a proud peacock with his chest all puffed out wearing jeans, a fancy western style shirt and a blue tooth device in his ear.

I had a stronge urge to punch him in the nuts.. When their order was ready, the lady who brought their bags walked up to his wife to hand them to her.. The husband shoved her aside and said, "I have that!". Then he marched out like he was "Gods Gift", and then the girl was two steps behind him with her head held low.

Errie enough. When this happend.. everyone stopped and it was quiet as we all in the restaraunt watched them leave. Then for a second we all looked at each other as if saying "O... M.....G...."

Was a very odd experience.

[MissBeaufort]

Sighted at my local dollar store, DVD and books with various such titles as:

"Dynamic life: changes in living things"

"Hubble bubble: Big Bang in trouble"

"Creation not confusion"

"Evolution and the holocaust"

"15 reasons to take genesis as history"

"The greatest hoax on earth? Refuting Dawkins on evolution"

"Dragons or Dinosaurs? Creation or Evolution"

There was more, but I had to stop because I was starting to get depressed. I live in a place where this is not a minority view and this store is not a store dedicated to religious items. It's the only dollar store in town!

[pennsatuckey]

I've got one two three more! (gonna put a NSFW on this for a drug reference)

1. My boyfriend, his friends, and I were having our weekly Super Blunt Sunday and the whole damn apartment absolutely reeked of it. Nobody ever knocks around there and the rule is that only people who've got no reason to be coming over will knock on the door. Sure enough, there's a knock on the door. We all calmly hide everything and the boyfriend's roommate answered the door. Turns out, it's some fundie light mom with her kid and they're passing out tracts. Here's the trip, though: the mom made the kid talk. That's how mired in this crap the two of them were.

2. My boyfriend's two other roommates went to DQ :lol: and instead of napkins they received tracts. My guess is that whoever was working the drive-thru heard the metal music coming out of their car and decided that they needed Jesus.

3. A friend of mine waits tables and, as a Pagan, he's regularly subjected to all kinds of crap from Christian customers when he wears his Mjolnir. Everything from stiffing to being generally shitty. His coworker, who has a bunch of tattoos, was stiffed in the worst way ever. These people not only refused to tip, but left a tract specifically for her, which read something to the effect of: "Do you use tattoos and piercings to make yourself feel better? You probably need Jesus".

[Hane]

They're building a Chick-fil-A near where I live. I will have to pass the damn thing as I go to and from work every damn day.

[anniebgood]

There are 2 Chic-Fil-Ets near us. I won't go to either of them. The one closest to us made the national news when all the Prop 8 defeat stuff made the news. It had one wall facing the main drag stenciled with their cow symbol and some comments with it. Right around the time of the kiss everyone day.

My son says their stuff is good, but I won't do it. No Hobby Lobby's near me. One in Huntington Beach and one in Upland in the Inland Empire.

Haven't seen any fundies myself but 2 JW came and spoke to my husband the other day. He told them he is an atheist and why do they believe a collection of bronze age stories when science is so much easier to prove? They left.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

There are 2 Chic-Fil-Ets near us. I won't go to either of them. The one closest to us made the national news when all the Prop 8 defeat stuff made the news. It had one wall facing the main drag stenciled with their cow symbol and some comments with it. Right around the time of the kiss everyone day.

My son says their stuff is good, but I won't do it. No Hobby Lobby's near me. One in Huntington Beach and one in Upland in the Inland Empire.

Haven't seen any fundies myself but 2 JW came and spoke to my husband the other day. He told them he is an atheist and why do they believe a collection of bronze age stories when science is so much easier to prove? They left.

Oh, you and I are practically neighbors ;)

[jerkit]

They're building a Chick-fil-A near where I live. I will have to pass the damn thing as I go to and from work every damn day.

I live right behind one. It's busy ALL. THE. TIME. Except Sundays, of course :P

[PennySycamore]

I wish some JWs would come by just so that I could tell them that I'd have died 59 years ago if not for 3 exchange transfusions I had when I was a baby.

[breadprincess]

I go to BYU-Idaho and they're building a Chick-Fil-A in the MC (basically the giant student center in the middle of campus with the school bookstore, academic advising offices, cafeteria, testing center, etc). And I know that EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I walk by it I'm going to get "Chow Down At Chick-Fil-A" stuck in my head.

[neuroticcat]

I just got a random e-mail soliciting a donation from me so that a family can bring their child home. An adoption fundraiser - so I clicked over, only moderately disgruntled, until I saw the website. Six biological children, two already adopted, and they are working to bring the third home. Definitely fundie.

[Jana814]

I wish some JWs would come by just so that I could tell them that I'd have died 59 years ago if not for 3 exchange transfusions I had when I was a baby.

Hate to be off topic. But that's one of my biggest pet peeves about JW's that they don't accept blood products.

[EmiGirl]

Hate to be off topic. But that's one of my biggest pet peeves about JW's that they don't accept blood products.

I don't care what the adults decide to do. That's the religion THEY chose to follow. I have issues when they make the decision for minor children and let them die when they've never really been offered a choice.

[Jana814]

I don't care what the adults decide to do. That's the religion THEY chose to follow. I have issues when they make the decision for minor children and let them die when they've never really been offered a choice.

Agree!! I have an ex-friend from HS who is now a JW. Part of me is not surprised cause she was very gulable & would believe anything.

[Full enough quiver]

I got to mess with some fundies on Thursday. A friend and I went to lunch at Olive Garden. We were being seated at the same time as these two men, them in the booth directly behind us. We are the only two tables occupied in our section. As we walked past, friend and I smile and say excuse me. The men kind of look away and don't smile back. (We may have defrauded them. She was wearing capris and a tank top, I was wearing a skirt and tank top. Both of us had cleavage and multiple tattoos visible.)

We sit down, and they start praying loudly. Lots of fundie speak. "Such a blessing, walk with the lord, path of righteousness" blah blah blah. My friend and I look at each other, and instantly decide to screw with them. We begin to say a long and elaborate prayer to our dark lord and master, Lucifer. We can tell the guys are listening, because they go quiet. Prayer over, we begin to enjoy our meal. The men continue to talk (loudly) about the blessings of the lord, so and so is backsliding, and needs to invite Jesus into their heart, yadda yadda yadda. So her and I start talking about where to purchase black candles for tonight's ceremony, and that we need to go purchase ram's blood, and are Rainbow and Eucalyptus still virgins, because the spell will only work if you use a virgin. This goes on all through lunch. As we go to leave, the men shove tracts into our hands and literally run out of the restaurant.

Her and I are practically rolling on the floor laughing. My friend says she peed a little. I can't imagine what those poor bastards were thinking as they ran away from us. I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell.

[HarryPotterFan]

I don't care what the adults decide to do. That's the religion THEY chose to follow. I have issues when they make the decision for minor children and let them die when they've never really been offered a choice.

I went to a talk on religion, ethics, and medicine, and the panelists said in cases with JWs denying their child care due to their religious beliefs, hospitals can get involved and make the court appoint a guardian to make medical decisions if it will save the child's life. It's good that the decisions can be taken away from parents who would otherwise see their child die, but it's sad that parents would sit around and watch their child die.

[HarryPotterFan]

I got to mess with some fundies on Thursday. A friend and I went to lunch at Olive Garden. We were being seated at the same time as these two men, them in the booth directly behind us. We are the only two tables occupied in our section. As we walked past, friend and I smile and say excuse me. The men kind of look away and don't smile back. (We may have defrauded them. She was wearing capris and a tank top, I was wearing a skirt and tank top. Both of us had cleavage and multiple tattoos visible.)

We sit down, and they start praying loudly. Lots of fundie speak. "Such a blessing, walk with the lord, path of righteousness" blah blah blah. My friend and I look at each other, and instantly decide to screw with them. We begin to say a long and elaborate prayer to our dark lord and master, Lucifer. We can tell the guys are listening, because they go quiet. Prayer over, we begin to enjoy our meal. The men continue to talk (loudly) about the blessings of the lord, so and so is backsliding, and needs to invite Jesus into their heart, yadda yadda yadda. So her and I start talking about where to purchase black candles for tonight's ceremony, and that we need to go purchase ram's blood, and are Rainbow and Eucalyptus still virgins, because the spell will only work if you use a virgin. This goes on all through lunch. As we go to leave, the men shove tracts into our hands and literally run out of the restaurant.

Her and I are practically rolling on the floor laughing. My friend says she peed a little. I can't imagine what those poor bastards were thinking as they ran away from us. I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell.

Hell is just a sauna. What you should have done is when you were discussing virgins is look at them and check if they were wearing wedding rings. If no ring, then you should have lowered your voices and whispered while glancing at them.

When we both go to hell, we can hang out and snark.

[utter solitude]

Hate to be off topic. But that's one of my biggest pet peeves about JW's that they don't accept blood products.

I actually had a couple JWs in my house a few years ago, when exhusband and I were still married.

Backstory: exhusband was born with three kidneys, one of which was severely malformed and nearly killed him when his body waste started seeping into his bloodstream. They discovered this when he was two and started having seizures as a result. The bad kidney was removed in an emergency surgery that included several blood transfusions. He's totally fine now.

So, of course, when the JWs came knocking, I actually let them in to listen to their spiel. (And I felt bad for them, it was a really hot day) When I asked about their beliefs on blood transfusions and donor blood, the two young men explained that surgeries can be done without using blood products, and that is the kind of medicine they advocate. I responded by giving my husband's experience as a what-if scenario, "So if a child, say, had a kidney that was literally poisoning his blood, and the kidney was removed, you would oppose replacing the child's poisoned blood, even if it meant certain death?" One of them got very pale and the other stammered about only God can decide who will die. I don't think they often get these kind of real-world scenarios. The one eventually replied that, yes, he would allow his child to "join God in Heaven" in this scenario.

That's what dear husband walked in. First words out of my mouth were, "Hi honey! Did you know that your mom should have let you die when you were two rather than replace your poisoned blood via transfusions?"

The two JWs quickly excused themselves after that. XD It's a shame, they were actually very nice! But I don't think they have many opportunities to think critically about their beliefs.

[HarryPotterFan]

Suddenly remembering an encounter I had in high school. This guy wasn't fundie, but was fairly religious. He came into school one day after seeing "The Passion of the Christ" and went on a rant about how I killed Jesus and was going to hell. I tried to argue logic (there is no way every Jew ever could have possibly time traveled and been there, it was actually the Romans, etc). No dice. If it weren't for me, Jesus would still be alive.

Seeing I couldn't convince him I didn't personally kill Jesus, I told him if Jesus wasn't crucified there would be no Christianity/Catholicism. He told me Jesus would of found a way. I'm going to hell. I told him then it's a good thing Jews don't believe in Hell. He said, "That doesn't mean it's not real. If you stand in the middle of a road and don't believe a truck is coming at you, it will still hit you."

Fed up and frustrated, I sarcastically apologized for killing Jesus and promised never to do it again.

The kicker? He accepted my apology and dropped the subject.

[RandomTrivia]

Sighted at my local dollar store, DVD and books with various such titles as:

"Dynamic life: changes in living things"

"Hubble bubble: Big Bang in trouble"

"Creation not confusion"

"Evolution and the holocaust"

"15 reasons to take genesis as history"

"The greatest hoax on earth? Refuting Dawkins on evolution"

"Dragons or Dinosaurs? Creation or Evolution"

There was more, but I had to stop because I was starting to get depressed. I live in a place where this is not a minority view and this store is not a store dedicated to religious items. It's the only dollar store in town!

Maybe, looking on the brightish side, these are at the dollar store because no one wanted them at full price? That's the best I can do.

Someone recently donated a stack of A Beka homeschool supplies to the Friends of the Library, so if anyone wants to see it, I can probably make that happen. The workbooks are all partially used, so they'll just get recycled. (Who donates partially-used workbooks, anyway? Sheesh)

Personal encounters: Not uber-fundy, but we went to Kansas City last week to see the Discovery of King Tut, Legoland Discovery Center, and Science City. There were a handful of Amish/Mennonite types (husband, wife, pre-toddler) at King Tut and Science City, they may have also been at Legoland. Legoland is where I spotted a family that was probably more fundy - not obviously Amish/Mennonite/etc, but 4 kids, I think. Mom and daughter in headcoverings, ankle-length frumpers (not denim) and flip-flops, so visually obvious. Dad and sons in "normal" pants and shirts that blended in with everyone else.

[snarkopolis]

I got to mess with some fundies on Thursday. A friend and I went to lunch at Olive Garden. We were being seated at the same time as these two men, them in the booth directly behind us. We are the only two tables occupied in our section. As we walked past, friend and I smile and say excuse me. The men kind of look away and don't smile back. (We may have defrauded them. She was wearing capris and a tank top, I was wearing a skirt and tank top. Both of us had cleavage and multiple tattoos visible.)

We sit down, and they start praying loudly. Lots of fundie speak. "Such a blessing, walk with the lord, path of righteousness" blah blah blah. My friend and I look at each other, and instantly decide to screw with them. We begin to say a long and elaborate prayer to our dark lord and master, Lucifer. We can tell the guys are listening, because they go quiet. Prayer over, we begin to enjoy our meal. The men continue to talk (loudly) about the blessings of the lord, so and so is backsliding, and needs to invite Jesus into their heart, yadda yadda yadda. So her and I start talking about where to purchase black candles for tonight's ceremony, and that we need to go purchase ram's blood, and are Rainbow and Eucalyptus still virgins, because the spell will only work if you use a virgin. This goes on all through lunch. As we go to leave, the men shove tracts into our hands and literally run out of the restaurant.

Her and I are practically rolling on the floor laughing. My friend says she peed a little. I can't imagine what those poor bastards were thinking as they ran away from us. I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell.

I think God has a sense of humor and probably got as good a laugh as you did. And if you're in hell I'll look you up because if that's what gets you there I'm screwed. :whistle: :clap:

[nastyhobbitses]

Suddenly remembering an encounter I had in high school. This guy wasn't fundie, but was fairly religious. He came into school one day after seeing "The Passion of the Christ" and went on a rant about how I killed Jesus and was going to hell. I tried to argue logic (there is no way every Jew ever could have possibly time traveled and been there, it was actually the Romans, etc). No dice. If it weren't for me, Jesus would still be alive.

Seeing I couldn't convince him I didn't personally kill Jesus, I told him if Jesus wasn't crucified there would be no Christianity/Catholicism. He told me Jesus would of found a way. I'm going to hell. I told him then it's a good thing Jews don't believe in Hell. He said, "That doesn't mean it's not real. If you stand in the middle of a road and don't believe a truck is coming at you, it will still hit you."

Fed up and frustrated, I sarcastically apologized for killing Jesus and promised never to do it again.

The kicker? He accepted my apology and dropped the subject.

Considering that most human beings cannot live two thousand years and the life expectancy in the ancient Mediterranean wasn't exactly long, I highly doubt Jesus would be alive today if it weren't for us pesky Jewish people.

I didn't quite have a fundie experience like that (though I nearly had a falling-out with my best friend at age 10 or so after she told me that I was going to hell and would burn forever because I was Jewish), but there was one kid in my high school AP US History class who bought into the whole "Jews control everything" conspiracy BS. In one class, he made a comment that implied that Jews secretly control the world media, and I whirled around and said "Well, we gave you Seinfeld, the Daily Show, SNL, and everything Mel Brooks has ever done. Trust me, it's better this way."

My dad also likes to write "blood of Christian babies" on our Passover shopping lists and claim that he's late for the International Jewish Conspiracy meetings.

[klynn]

And yet another encounter from good old central IL.

My in laws own a home on a lake. It's a good sized lake, and plenty of folks either live there or come out for the weekend to boat and such. Anyway, my husband and I, a good friend of ours, his parents and his 2 girls were tooling around on our boat this afternoon. We needed to go get gas in the boat, and on our way were passed by 2 jet skis. I noticed one of the girls had a shirt on. So I thought anyway. We get up to the dock area and start with our gas purchase. The 2 jet skis pull into the slot next to us. One held a man and a girl, the other one had 2 young girls. All 3 girls had on that wholesome wear stuff...swim suit material, but it's like a short sleeve shirt, knee length shorts with a skirt over them. Does not look fun to swim in. So our friend, shirtless, tattooed, drinking a beer, offers his hand to help the girls pull up close to the dock. I burst out laughing. Their faces were so priceless. I can only imagine what they were thinking about my strapless cheetah print bikini. Ha. Made my day. Afterwards, our friend says "well, they were strange". Yes. Yes they were. Poor kids.