Never compromise! / Christian persecution!

[RobbyPants]

I was on Facebook today. I have a friend who is a Baptist. He made a post that was as simple as "Why can't we all get along?". I then started going through the comments of his wacky Baptist friends. Every single one of them came off like:

• We must never compromise! To do so would be to deny the Lord.
  
• Everyone wants to believe everything is happy and everyone will go to heaven, but down that path lies hell!
  
• The Bible is very clear on this. We need to be biblical Christians.
  

Basically, it all comes down to a refusal to compromise because they believe they're really right and that's all there is to it. I imagine this type of mentality will cause them to continue hemorrhaging followers.

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On a related note, I've noticed all of his Baptist friends really feel that Christians are persecuted. No they aren't. Certainly not in America. Then I thought of something:

Fundamentalists are "persecuted".

Now, I'll use that in quotes, because they're really not being persecuted; it's just their world view is decreasingly popular, and they're getting their feelings hurt. I think this notion of Christian persecution is very comforting to a fundamentalist. Not only was it predicted by Jesus (sort of), it allows them to believe things that are objectively and verifiably wrong and still maintain that they're right! It also lets them beat the war drums to rally the troops, so to speak.

Invoking persecution protects their view points, not only from non-Christians, but even from all the non-fundies (you know: the not-True Christians).



These are just two thoughts I had now that I started talking to my Baptist friend, again. When I'm painting for hours back to back, I have lots of time to think about stuff like this.

[Elskidor]

Many are dead set in their ways. After reading one of our Noah's ark threads I hunted christian forums to find their thoughts on it. A newly christian was asking if he was really suppose to believe the story of Noah or just take in the moral of the story, because he didn't believe that the Noah thing was posible...seemed to me he was flamed for questiioning the word of god, with only a couple that didn't follow the majority herd.

Most seem pretty set in their ways and leave no room for compromise, because they'll be compromising their soul...maybe?

[Minimalist]

Never discount the possibility that they are just fucking stupid.

[LastPoet]

Never discount the possibility that they are just fucking stupid.

I can give odds to that. 99% stupid. The rest is in it for the money.

[Bob Kelso]

I imagine this type of mentality will cause them to continue hemorrhaging followers.

Don't know why I focused in on this line but it made me imagine an anthropomorphized version of the "Body of Christ" clasping a hand to it's jugular while deconverted xtians spew from between it's fingers.

[vorlon13]

I find it tough to find fault with the Baptists for excessive Christianity, the are just as picky as any other denom in sorting through which edicts, strictures, commandments, rules, laws, and requirements they will consent to follow themselves. I think many of them are far more literalist and fundamentalist with their home owners associations convents and deed restrictions than they ever will be in following bible dogma they personally find inconvenient.

[Ryantology]

The persecutors cry persecution. The racists cry racism. The people trying to deny rights to other people for arbitrary reasons cry that their rights are in danger. The indoctrinators warn against indoctrination. It's a common behavior of the overly-privileged, especially since the right wing and fundamentalists share virtually 100% overlap.

[John V]

This thread title screams for a Galaxy Quest/Tim Allen "Never retreat! Never surrender!" meme, but I'm just too damn lazy to make it.

[Esquilax]

Don't know why I focused in on this line but it made me imagine an anthropomorphized version of the "Body of Christ" clasping a hand to it's jugular while deconverted xtians spew from between it's fingers.

That is some End of Evangelion level imagery, my friend.

[ThePinsir]

When you believe you're on god's side, everything else is therefore on the devil's side.

You really can't blame them for not wanting to compromise, then.

Or, you know, what Min said lol