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Fundamentalism or (Fundi-ism) Just A Fad ?


Turning-A-New-Leaf

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After following many fundy families for a while now, reading their posts and looking at their pictures, I can't help but get the impression that this fundi-ism, or fundiness, is like a fad for these families.

Without trying to sound too complicated, I will try to list some points to show where this is going.

- When looking at old pictures of the families, there is usually no indication of this such extreme lifestyle, i.e. dress, hair, etc.

- Usually the grandparents discussed and shown in pictures are nothing like their own families, i.e. dress, looks, or even actions. They just had kids and their kids became fundies.

- The Family-Integrated Church becoming a newer option for families possibly within the last 2 decades or so. We know a lot of fundies go to these type of churches and are usually homeschoolers.

- Homeschooling now becoming what it seems to be the most important thing you can do for your child or the only option, according to fundies.

- Probably the start of ATI and Vision Forum and any other supposed "Godly Men" that write and print materials, make statements, etc. to keep the lifestyle going.

- I feel there is a disconnect between what the grandparents of the fundy families did and grew up as, compared to what the parents are doing now, and probably didn't decide to do until after they were married and 'happened upon' this lifestyle, and now, their children are following it, because that is all they have known and they really believe that it is the best thing for their life/family.

- Usually the relatives or even siblings of the older fundy families are not fundy, sometimes the complete opposite.

* I guess a couple examples would be:

- Seven Sisters (old pictures), lifestyle and dress different.

- The Duggars (old pictures), lifestyle and dress different.

What do you think ? Is it just a fad ?

What made them wake up one day and 'snap' into fundi-ism ?

:think:

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Well this brand or look might be new, but fundamentalist Christianity in America begun at the turn of century and really began to rile around things like Temperance and the Scopes trial. No it is not a fad, unfortunately.

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Extremists go for people who are extremely vulnerable. I have no idea what led most of them to fundamentalism, but I think what happened with the Duggars was, Jim Bob and Michelle were raised conservative/fundie-lite, were never particularly bright to begin with, both had a "come to Jesus" moment in their teens. Then they got married, used birth control, were probably fundie-lite. Michelle had Josh, everything was fairly normal. Then Michelle lost J'Caleb, went crazy, fell for the "BIRTH CONTROL KILLS BEHBEHS" line, went full-on fundie looking for a community of like-minded people. Jim Bob followed after because hey, patriarchy!

I don't think one simply "snaps" into fundamentalism, either. It's like a process. It's like, come to Jesus->take Bible literally -> hate teh gheys -> hate abortion -> no pre-marital sex -> wives submit to husbands -> modest but otherwise normal dress -> homeschooling ->courtship ->frumpers ->CRAYZEE. I doubt Michelle was dressing Jana in frumpers as to not defraud JD from birth. This came on slowly, and the process could have ended as early as Jinger or as late as Justin.

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Like Kitty said, I think it's a process (usually one that doesn't last) and it's almost like an addiction.

As much as I'm not a personal fan of her's, Vyckie from No Longer Quivering is a good example of this process. As far as I can see, it usually goes something like this-

1) Someone, usually a woman, starts out in the category of being normal-to-a-little-wild

2) This person feels something is lacking in their life and turns to Christianity, having a very exciting and personally fulfilling conversion that temporarily quiets this perceived lacking (in the addiction analogy, this would be the first taste)

3) Gradually, that first high (conversion and being a novice Christian) wears off and the feeling of something lacking returns to that person’s life, so they delve into more exclusive groups of Christianity (patriarchal ones, then to patriarchal ones that don’t believe in birth control, then to patriarchal ones who don’t believe in birth control and practice extreme modesty, then to patriarchal ones who don’t believe in birth control and practice extreme modesty and only homeschool their children, etc) chasing something as good as that first high which will also fill their personal void.

4) However, this system is one of diminishing returns. At a certain point you are as fundie as you can get and, when even that doesn’t make you happy like you thought it would, you have nowhere to go but back out of the lifestyle. Not everyone gets to this point, of course. People like the Duggars and Campbells and other fundy royalty still get more perks from the lifestyle than things they have to sacrifice. There are also some people who are so enmeshed that it’d be too difficult to extract themselves (either people who can’t stand to admit they wasted so much of their lives or people (usually women) who’ve painted themselves in a corner by having 12 kids, no education or employable skills, and no working history)

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Wow, valsa, that was the shortest yet most succinct explanation I have ever read about fundies! That kind of observation is incredible, and many learned people spend years researching and compiling notes in this same manner. Kudos to you!

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Yeah, I think fundamentalism has a long history and will be with us for a long time, but for individual people/families, it has a high turnover rate. It's a thing that people convert to and most of their kids convert to something else.

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I don't think Fundamentalism is a fad but I think its influence on politics is because it has bascially destroyed the Republican party.

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I think it's a fad of sorts, yes. And someday hopefully the pendulum will swing the other way.

Valsa's explanation is excellent FOR first-generation fundies. Because of people like Vyckie it's pretty easy to see why many of these women make the choices they do. The big mystery is what will happen to all these children raised in this life - completely different reasons for staying, leaving, etc.

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