Real Life Fundie Encounters - Part 3

[Granwych]

Sweet Jesus---the other day two fundie Baptist fellows attempted to win my soul at my own front door.   I was kind of enjoying the repartee until dh joined us in the conversation.  The older fundie told dh that, as the spiritual head of the house, dh was responsible to set me to the ways of the Lord.  Dh started laughing and told the man "Good luck to that!" and citing his concern for his own blood pressure, sent them on their way.

 

[tumblr]

Pretty sure I saw a fundie family at the Commissary (Military only grocery store) yesterday. Odd sense most fundies seem to not be a fan of working away from home/family/god but they were definitely fundie looking. Mother and two long haired daughter with a very clean cut husband and two sons that seemed to be goofing around while the females grocery shopped and tried to sort through coupons. I saw them a couple times through the store and I got the sense that their family might be bigger than just the six I saw either that or they were buying a whole months worth of groceries...?

[ArmchairTurnip]

 

Quote

Yesterday, I saw a middle aged man carrying a cross over his shoulder in our shopping district. It was big but had a small wheel at the bottom.

This reminds me of Good Friday in a church I used to attend; the minister would enter in complete silence from the back, carrying an enormous rustic wooden cross on his shoulder (seriously, he could barely manage it by himself) and thump it down in the front once he made it down the center aisle.  It had been carefully constructed so that the crossbeam would be just wide enough to connect the two halves of the altar.  I saw him do it three or four years in a row, and always half-expected him to succumb to a hernia in mid-thump.  He was not a young or particularly robust man.

In retrospect, the little wheel would have been a good idea probably, though it would have lessened the drama of the moment.

[feministxtian]

On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2015 at 9:28 AM, tumblr said:

Pretty sure I saw a fundie family at the Commissary (Military only grocery store) yesterday. Odd sense most fundies seem to not be a fan of working away from home/family/god but they were definitely fundie looking. Mother and two long haired daughter with a very clean cut husband and two sons that seemed to be goofing around while the females grocery shopped and tried to sort through coupons. I saw them a couple times through the store and I got the sense that their family might be bigger than just the six I saw either that or they were buying a whole months worth of groceries...?

I used to see TONS of fundie types at the Air Force commissary. Not so much at the Army one and pretty much none at the Navy one. (I used to live in a heavily military area and could choose commissaries). The USAF seems to attract fundies. Maybe because they tend to PCS instead of TDY. Navy fundies are few and far between...probably something about deployments.

FTR...I'm a retired Navy wife...

 

[sawasdee]

17 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

I used to see TONS of fundie types at the Air Force commissary. Not so much at the Army one and pretty much none at the Navy one. (I used to live in a heavily military area and could choose commissaries). The USAF seems to attract fundies. Maybe because they tend to PCS instead of TDY. Navy fundies are few and far between...probably something about deployments.

FTR...I'm a retired Navy wife...

 

Not American here - I just couldn't understand your post! Looked up in wikipedia, and found PCS seems to mean Permanent Change of Station, and TDY Temporary Duty Assignment. But why does that affect the number of fundies attracted? Feeling very stupid - can you explain?

[feministxtian]

28 minutes ago, sawasdee said:

Not American here - I just couldn't understand your post! Looked up in wikipedia, and found PCS seems to mean Permanent Change of Station, and TDY Temporary Duty Assignment. But why does that affect the number of fundies attracted? Feeling very stupid - can you explain?

Fundies are all up into the patriarchal thing, right? Navy families...overwhelmingly, the man goes out to sea for anywhere from a week to 9 months so the wife becomes the de-facto head of household while he's gone.

Air Force...the guys MAY be deployed but can be in constant touch with home if they are. They're usually stationed at a base where there's telephone and email available all the time so the wife can always ask hubby about stuff without having to make a decision on her own.

Sorry about the jargon. I speak fluent Navy and pretty good US military. I forget that most folks don't have a clue what I'm saying. My husband did 24 years in the Navy...and I used to work for a large shipyard on the east coast that ran on nothing but Navy contracts. Hope my explanation helps. If it didn't, feel free to PM me and I'll try to clarify.

 

[sawasdee]

Thanks - I understand what you were saying now! I hadn't thought about the different experience of the wives in different service branches in that way before, but that makes a great deal of sense.

[tumblr]

7 hours ago, feministxtian said:

I used to see TONS of fundie types at the Air Force commissary. Not so much at the Army one and pretty much none at the Navy one. (I used to live in a heavily military area and could choose commissaries). The USAF seems to attract fundies. Maybe because they tend to PCS instead of TDY. Navy fundies are few and far between...probably something about deployments.

FTR...I'm a retired Navy wife...

 

I think we may live in the same area...

It was a Navy commissary but honestly they could have been from any branch in this area. 

[GenerationCedarchip]

9 hours ago, feministxtian said:

I used to see TONS of fundie types at the Air Force commissary. Not so much at the Army one and pretty much none at the Navy one. (I used to live in a heavily military area and could choose commissaries). The USAF seems to attract fundies. Maybe because they tend to PCS instead of TDY. Navy fundies are few and far between...probably something about deployments.

FTR...I'm a retired Navy wife...

 

Funny..I had a very similar conversation with a good friend who's a military doctor. It seems there have been studies done on this kind of thing and Air Force and Marines are apparently where the most fundies are. I used to live close to Quantico, and that was one of the first times in my life where I ever saw many IFB/ATI or Pentacostal fundies.  Silly me - I had previously thought life in the Reformed bubble was the only realm of fundie.

Edited December 15, 2015 by GenerationCedarchip

[Granwych]

9 hours ago, feministxtian said:

Fundies are all up into the patriarchal thing, right? Navy families...overwhelmingly, the man goes out to sea for anywhere from a week to 9 months so the wife becomes the de-facto head of household while he's gone.

Air Force...the guys MAY be deployed but can be in constant touch with home if they are. They're usually stationed at a base where there's telephone and email available all the time so the wife can always ask hubby about stuff without having to make a decision on her own.

Sorry about the jargon. I speak fluent Navy and pretty good US military. I forget that most folks don't have a clue what I'm saying. My husband did 24 years in the Navy...and I used to work for a large shipyard on the east coast that ran on nothing but Navy contracts. Hope my explanation helps. If it didn't, feel free to PM me and I'll try to clarify.

 

By the Groton sub base, perchance?  When I worked retail many years ago, we'd get lots of newly-transferred young navy families.  Quite a few were unfamiliar with New England winters, and way too many young families had the husband/father out to sea for extended periods of time.

[feministxtian]

3 minutes ago, Granwych said:

By the Groton sub base, perchance?  When I worked retail many years ago, we'd get lots of newly-transferred young navy families.  Quite a few were unfamiliar with New England winters, and way too many young families had the husband/father out to sea for extended periods of time.

I was further south...Norfolk VA area

[Jigsaw3]

Colorado Air Force Academy has had some persistent, public problems with religious discrimination: evangelical/fundamental Christians enforcing their version of faith on everyone else. I haven't heard of that specific issue at any of the other academies. I'm not sure if that's cause or effect, though.

[feministxtian]

USAFA is NUTS!!! A friend's husband is an instructor there. They're Catholic and he gets all sorts of crap about it there.

[justoneoftwo]

On 12/15/2015 at 2:38 PM, Jigsaw3 said:

Colorado Air Force Academy has had some persistent, public problems with religious discrimination: evangelical/fundamental Christians enforcing their version of faith on everyone else. I haven't heard of that specific issue at any of the other academies. I'm not sure if that's cause or effect, though.

What were the problems?

[PregnantPornStar]

Eh, there are plenty of fundie army families...but yeah, my husband was a USAFA guy (he switched to army...long story, but long story short, he is color blind, decided to leave because he couldn't fly and after a few years of working a a software engineer in the civilian world, he joined the Army). USAFA seems to barf out lots of Jesus. The whole Colorado Springs area is strange....but there are plenty of fundie families in the army. I knew a family in Germany with nine kids. Imagine PCSing with 9 kids. Anywhere would be nuts, but OCONUS...and I am assuming that was done without alcohol. They also shipped their giant van. When I saw that thing driving around in Europe I was horrified.

[PregnantPornStar]

Colorado Air Force Academy has had some persistent, public problems with religious discrimination: evangelical/fundamental Christians enforcing their version of faith on everyone else. I haven't heard of that specific issue at any of the other academies. I'm not sure if that's cause or effect, though.

I honestly think it is location. I could be wrong, but that likely has something to do with it. Colorado Springs is a strange place, with lots of fundies and FotF. Other academies are located in places that are much less religious....so, outside community likely helps.

[Newriverchick]

On 12/11/2015 at 6:50 PM, Lillybee said:

Yesterday, I saw a middle aged man carrying a cross over his shoulder in our shopping district. It was big but had a small wheel at the bottom.

That happens every Easter in my town. 

[Snarkylark]

My dad is a pastor and has a church "page" on social media sites. One man commented that the church is a cult and heretics because they use other translations of the Bible besides the KJV. My radar went off right away. Guess who he follows?? I asked him why the PP's sermon was soooooo important that he had to rant on and on about a guy peeing sitting down and got a few other comments in as well, thanks to you guys:) 

[CelticGoddess]

Fundies at the gun show.  I just sold some targets to a fundie family.  They were wearing veils (nothing like what the German Brethren or Mennonites in my area wear) but sadly, only two children.   

On December 11, 2015 at 6:50 PM, Lillybee said:

Yesterday, I saw a middle aged man carrying a cross over his shoulder in our shopping district. It was big but had a small wheel at the bottom.

There was a guy who used to walk around with a plywood cross (about 4ft in length, because we all know that the cross beam that Christ carried was that short and plywood, snort) across from BJU.  I kind of miss him.  I always wondered if he was from BJU or trying to tell BJU students he was holier than they.

[Stickboi]

First post here.

I have never really had any "fundie" encounters; I live in a diverse area; it's not that common around here.

I live near a very large Mennonite (Anabaptists) area in Southern Ontario. Most of the sects are represented here, along with a high school that focuses on social activism; it's completely common to interact with them on a daily basis.

I went to a Pride parade a few years ago; not far from where I live. There was a small group of protesters there, there signs mentioned something about hamsters. I immediately thought of South Park when I saw them.

There is a church in the area that has a brochure display often at the bus terminals; I haven't gotten close enough to read any of the pamphlets.

Finally,we have bicycle missionaries here. Why do they only talk to the females? Is it a vulnerable thing? 

[GinaM]

I can't decide if I had a sighting today or not. 

A little background, I'm a member of a Jane Austen Society of North America. My area chapter was having our annual celebration of Jane Austen's birthday. 

We had a new family join us today. When we have parties, attendees are welcome to wear regency costume. As we were setting up, a woman and her two daughter dressed like extras from Pride and Prejudice (bonnets, reticules and all). 

For the actual meal, they were seated across from me. I found them painfully shy, to the point where we had to ask interrogation style questions just to get them to make conversation. This group of Jane Austen enthusiasts tends to be loud and we can make terribly, tasteless jokes. These poor girls could not even make eye contact. (that might've just been bad manners based on the mother) It came out that the mother home schools the daughters. It seemed like their knowledge of Austen was a little lacking when we were playing a game. The older daughter has an etsy store where she makes period costumes. I looked them up online and the older daughter "graduated" from homeschool  this May. SAHD perhaps? 

They brought up several novels and television programs/movies. When i looked them up, it seemed like they were all Christian fiction. 

So what's the verdict. Fundy or just conservative Christian?

[mygirlfriday]

I had two fundie male twins in an English 101 course I teach at a local community college. They were both studying computers and planned on only the two years to get a certificate. 

The course is a hybrid course that meets on campus one day a week with the rest of the work completed online. They were okay students, so they must have gotten a decent homeschooled education.  These students would rarely interact with other students unless forced (which I did force, my class does a lot of small group work) and constantly tried to pair up with each other (which I would separate them whenever I got the chance). There father emailed me once asking me about the nature of group work in the class. I ignored the email (FERPA violation, why I like being a College Prof.) and never heard anything else of it. I'm guessing it was too late in the semester for a refund so the boys stuck with the class.

Perhaps the most bizarre thing they did was wear fanny packs to class each day. (very manly black leather fanny packs, of course)

I did include some readings  that I hope might have subconsciously given them some sort of idea or notion that they should have their own lives and opinions. But, I seriously doubt it. 

In my course evaluations, which students submit online anonymously,  but I have a good guess who gave me the comment: "The instructor speaks of many worldly ideas that could turn off some students. She should also refrain from profane language , which she uses constantly." 

Now, I can curse in class if I want to. But as a professional, I really avoid doing that and can count on my hand the times I've uttered a four letter word in 10 years of teaching. I'm still scratching my head over what I could have possibly said that was profane. 

 

Edited: Grammar

Edited December 22, 2015 by mygirlfriday

[sockinshoe]

I had two fundie male twins in an English 101 course I teach at a local community college. They were both studying computers and planned on only the two years to get a certificate. 

The course is a hybrid course that meets on campus one day a week with the rest of the work completed online. They were okay students, so they must have gotten a decent homeschooled education.  These students would rarely interact with other students unless forced (which I did force, my class does a lot of small group work) and constantly tried to pair up with each other (which I would separate them whenever I got the chance). There father emailed me once asking me about the nature of group work in the class. I ignored the email (FERPA violation, why I like being a College Prof.) and never heard anything else of it. I'm guessing it was too late in the semester for a refund so the boys stuck with the class.

Perhaps the most bizarre thing they did was wear fanny packs to class each day. (very manly black leather fanny packs, of course)

I did include some readings  that I hope might have subconsciously given them some sort of idea or notion that they should have their own lives and opinions. But, I seriously doubt it. 

In my course evaluations, which students submit online anonymously,  but I have a good guess who gave me the comment: "The instructor speaks of many worldly ideas that could turn off some students. She should also refrain from profane language , which she uses constantly." 

Now, I can curse in class if I want to. But as a professional, I really avoid doing that and can count on my hand the times I've uttered a four letter word in 10 years of teaching. I'm still scratching my head over what I could have possibly said that was profane. [emoji14]b_eek:

 

Edited: Grammar

"Gosh", "goodness", "holy moly/mackerel/cow", " well, bless my socks", "I'll be damned", "damn" in general, "darn". Never mind "Oh my God", "crap", "Jesus Christ", and any other mild to moderate cuss words. Forget about the stronger ones.

[Geechee Girl]

On 12/11/2015 at 3:50 PM, Lillybee said:

Yesterday, I saw a middle aged man carrying a cross over his shoulder in our shopping district. It was big but had a small wheel at the bottom.

We have one of those guys, too! He's come to the college campus and farmers' market. The little wheel is totally cheating. I mean if Jesus could do it...

[FundiesInParis]

More of a connection rather than an encounter, but, I used to go to school with this charming fellow's eleventy children. I've basically lost contact with all of them. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bray#