Quote:
Originally posted by Timber Loftis:
Consulting your dictionary would have saved us all some arguing here, Yorick:
See Here.
|
Did you even read what you posted? Here I'll do it for you:
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to
fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.
2. a. often Fundamentalism An organized, militant Evangelical movement originating in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century in opposition to Protestant Liberalism and secularism, insisting on the inerrancy of Scripture.
b. Adherence to the theology of this movement
Again, fundamentalism is RELATIVE. If you are a fundamentalist nonviolent pacifist, then you are INTOLERANT of war and aggression of any sort, and rigidly adhere to those principles.
See: GHANDI
Note the keywords "USUALLY a religious movement OR POINT OF VIEW"
One example of fundamentalism, ONE EXAMPLE, cites opposition to secularism:
1. Religious skepticism or indifference.
2. The view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education.
Considering most if not all the moral codes on the planet have religious laws underpinning them, it's not exactly a radical concept to oppose the exclusion of matters of faith from social affairs.
Regardless, this is an "often" dependant on the "usual". It's all RELATIVE Timber.
My father is a fundamentalist preacher. Self proclaimed. His church, the Anglican Church, Sydney diocese, is regarded by all the other Australian churches as being fundamentalist.
Are they violent?
Are they akin to your radical Jerry Falwell Americans?
Are they akin to Islamist violent extremists?
No. No. No.
They merely hold a strict adhereance to the fundamental principles of the Gospel: Jesus grace and deity, eternal life, redemption of sins, and love of the monotheistic Creator.
To haul in a body of people that provide the Australian government with social networks (such as government funded marital counselling, social counselling, shelters for the poor etc. ) into Islamic violent extremism is offensive to the extreme and perpetuates ignorance. Their characterisation of opposition to secularism is to get their hands and feet dirty by improving peoples lives with the government funding they are given. (Australia, secular Australia outsources all of it's counselling services to 4 churches. Anglican, Roman, Baptist and Uniting, each taking a quadrant of Sydney for example. It's been proven, statistically proven that church groups provide the most effective and wholistic social counselling around)
So yeah, I find it offensive becaue you insulted my father and a huge number of friends - all good people, pacifists, going about their lives, adhereing to fundamentalist Christianity, with nothing to do with American radicalists or Islamic violent extremists.
So please. Keep your erroneous generalised slurrs to yourself. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Thanks
[ 08-25-2004, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: Yorick ]