Confessions of a former Christian fundamentalist.

[Jehanne]

Delicate

Well, I was raised as a Christian fundamentalist evangelical; attended a Biblical literalist church from before age 5 until I quit attending around my junior year in high school.  By then, the doubts were almost insurmountable.  Was drawn back into it during my college years, only to abandon it later on.  While in college, it was like an old drug habit; I had been "clean" for a few years, but loneliness and depression drew me back into it.  Christian fundamentalism is comforting and there are many social supports (including, meeting members of the opposite sex), which, from my experience, is magnetic for a lot of people.  It certainly was for me, but in the end, bullshit is still bullshit.

You're still blurring the distinction between loneliness-driven participation in social fundamentalism and actual fundamentalist beliefs.

The former is not real fundamentalism. So far as the latter, or makes no sense in rejecting fundamentalism to reject all of religion.

That's like one bad theory leading you to reject ask of science

Science, unlike religion, has self-correction mechanisms built into it; theories are always being tested and retested, all of the time.  Religion, unlike science, is not falsifiable.  Fundamentalists can always appeal to something like the Omphalos "hypothesis" (e.g., "Last Thursdayism") to keep their religious tenets intact.  My experience attests to the fact that religious fundamentalism is a meme; my parents infected me, and as a consequence, it was very hard for me later on in life to get away from it.  Of course, the social aspect of it is undeniable; after all, where else can you go to find "instant acceptance"?  If you don't believe me, try it!  Walk into a fundamentalist Baptism church sometime, be dressed in such a way as to look like others around you (and, so, if the men there are in dress shirts and ties, wear a dress shirt and tie, and if the women there are all wearing skirts, then wear a skirt and modest blouse), and Voilà!, complete strangers will come up to you, ask you how you are doing, like they are one of your good friends!  (And, from their perspective, you already are!)  Say that you profess their religion (i.e., "the Bible is inerrant, that is, without error of any kind"), and wow, they'll be inviting you over to their house, introducing their kids to your kids, and hey, is that adult son of yours looking for a girlfriend?!  Before long, you'll be going through their membership initiation, and in a few short weeks or months, be a member of their church, which is likely part of an even larger organization (which means, that if you move, you can continue to attend a church which is very similar)!  Your wedding and funeral needs will be taken care of for life, as long as you attend regularly, which means contributing regularly, also!