Define "Fundie"

[sj3339sta]

As I was reading through a bunch of posts and some of the information posted on specific people and families, I started thinking....what IS a fundamental Christian?  And how is a Fundie different than a "normal" Christian?  What exactly is a normal Christian?  

[formergothardite]

I think we have had several threads about this and in general it seems like not everyone has the same opinion on what a fundamental Christian is. My view of who is fundie is totally different than someone else's view.

[Jana814]

My defination of a Fundie is someone who thinks their way of life is the only way of life, who gets mad when anyone questions what they are saying. 

[CyborgKin]

Do you actually mean fundamental, or fundamentalist?  Looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_fundamentalism#Terminology it seems that fundamental is a term used by people who don't like the negative/extremist connotations that fundamentalist has these days.  I figure they're trying to find a word to use for what fundamentalist used to mean before the meaning crept into what it means today.

 

While "holding beliefs extremely tightly and reactive very negatively to any challenging ideas" is an okay starting point for a definition of "fundie", there may be more to it than that. Some beliefs seem more likely to be associated with fundie-ness than other beliefs.  I'm not sure which is the cause and which is the result though.  Is it the fundie beliefs that lead to fundy behaviour?  Or is it that people with fundy behaviour tendancies find commonly-fundie beliefs attractive?  Or a mixture of both?

[Jezebel]

I think if I had to come up with a more precise descriptor for the people we discuss here, it might be "Christian Authoritarians," with the "Christian" serving as the descriptive modifier for what they really are, which is Authoritarians. 

Authority, control, and hierarchy are what matters most to these people. That's what everything they do is about. Sure, they have sincerely-held religious beliefs, but they all ultimately serve earthly structures of domination and control. 

The traditional definition of "fundamentalist" Christians was belief that the entire Bible was the inerrant word of God, and meant to be taken literally. Most of the folks discussed here do fit under that description (even as they cherry-pick the literal, inerrant Word of God like mad), but since we also get the occasional stray Catholic or Mormon, who don't, "fundie" by its original definition isn't always an accurate term.

[GenerationCedarchip]

15 hours ago, Jezebel said:

I think if I had to come up with a more precise descriptor for the people we discuss here, it might be "Christian Authoritarians," with the "Christian" serving as the descriptive modifier for what they really are, which is Authoritarians. 

Authority, control, and hierarchy are what matters most to these people. That's what everything they do is about. Sure, they have sincerely-held religious beliefs, but they all ultimately serve earthly structures of domination and control. 

The traditional definition of "fundamentalist" Christians was belief that the entire Bible was the inerrant word of God, and meant to be taken literally. Most of the folks discussed here do fit under that description (even as they cherry-pick the literal, inerrant Word of God like mad), but since we also get the occasional stray Catholic or Mormon, who don't, "fundie" by its original definition isn't always an accurate term.

I tend to have something like this definition in mind when I'm thinking of the word "fundie." It's more about legalism and control for me, perhaps because I came from that world.

I don't necessarily equate conservative Christian belief with the term "fundie" because there are plenty of conservative Christians (including some on this board) who don't go overboard with legalism or make earthly power structures first and foremost.

[Elementally Amy]

My parents are older (in their 70's) so when i would talk about f undies they thought i meant people who follow the core (fundamental) parts of the bible and would think i was attacking their beliefs.

Now when i talk to my mother about them i call them "people who have rules for the sake of having rules," "Christians who don't really do the grace thing" or "the ones that don't cut their hair or wear pants."  Sometimes i mention patriarchy or the quiverfull movement, but not always. Fundie is such a vague term these days.

It isn't very descriptive but it works for now.