Good article on fundamentalism

[drfuzzy]

It's from 2014, so some of you may have seen it already.  
But it describes my upbringing SO well.  The list (which I will hide because it is long) describes this group, as it exists today, precisely.
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The Lies Christian Fundamentalism Taught Me
May 12, 2014 by Christy Caine, head admin and primary commenter/responder on the Unfundamentalist Christians Facebook page.

I was raised a fundamentalist Christian. Here is some of what we were taught, both explicitly and in a million different little ways, every single day of our lives:

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• You are worthless.
  
• God hates you, unless you love him.
  
• Obedience is love.
  
• Punishment is love.
  
• The Bible is infallible and not to be questioned.
  
• The pastor is infallible and not to be questioned.
  
• Our interpretation of all Scripture is without error and not to be questioned.
  
• Outside the church bubble waits evil.
  
• Everyone who is different should be feared.
  
• Bad things happen to you because God is trying to teach you a lesson.
  
• Bad things happen to you because God let Satan tempt you.
  
• Bad things happen to you as a punishment for disobedience.
  
• Depression is a sign of sin in your life.
  
• To resist what you are taught is to rebel against God.
  
• Women have to cover themselves so as not to tempt men.
  
• If a man lusts after a woman it’s her fault.
  
• Women need to submit to male authority over them.
  
• There are many things girls can’t do.
  
• Men are more important than women.
  
• A woman who is raped must forgive her rapist and not report it to the authorities, in order that the rapist, his family, and the church remain protected from outsiders.
  
• Children are to be seen and not heard.
  
• Children need to have their will broken through painful “child-training” and punishment.
  
• A child who is not hit until he or she screams will not learn.
  
• Our church is the only true church; all others churches are filled with Christians who are untrue and destined for hell.
  
• Catholics aren’t Christians. They are idol worshippers.
  
• You are so full of sin God can’t even look at you.
  
• When the Communists take over America and force us to burn all of our Bibles, you’ll need to have memorized it so they can’t take away what is written on your heart.
  

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Those are lies. And they are deeply damaging.
And if you are unfortunate enough to be raised a Christian fundamentalist, you have no choice but to believe those lies until, because you are very lucky and/or very strong, you break free from the controlling, brainwashing environment in which you and your family exist. Yours is a world in which not only all outsiders, but all television, music, movies and books are shunned. So what you are taught is literally the only truth you know.
And that is why, as toxic and harmful as they can certainly be, whenever I deal with Christian fundamentalists I bear in mind Jesus’ “Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.” Because I know how true that is.
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-- And this woman is still a Christian.  I can kind of understand it.  After I realized that the fundies were completely wack, I still wanted "church" for a while.  I still wanted there to be a benevolent god somewhere.  But I suppose I was one of the "lucky" ones that finally had to admit that the idea of god was just as absurd as the rest of the bullshit.  Partly because it doesn't make sense, and partly because . . . if there WAS a god, why does he allow his preachers and priests to be some of the most evil people on the planet?  And why do they all fight among themselves over who is worshiping the imaginary friend the right way?
    Fundamentalism is scary - can I get an AMEN, brothers and sistahs?    

[Minimalist]

Sick motherfuckers.

[brewer]

I don't understand how this/these institutions still exist. Like the Amish, do they shut out the entire world? Or is it like it sounds, beaten into submission (mental & physical) so you trust nobody but the people beating you, because at some point they stop and you've earned your reward?

Twisted Stockholm syndrome?

Side note: Tell us how the new job is please.

[Nihilist Virus]

Those are the lucky kids. Other kids get raped systematically for years.

[drfuzzy]

I don't understand how this/these institutions still exist. Like the Amish, do they shut out the entire world? Or is it like it sounds, beaten into submission (mental & physical) so you trust nobody but the people beating you, because at some point they stop and you've earned your reward?

Twisted Stockholm syndrome?

Side note: Tell us how the new job is please.

Yes, mh.  Beaten into submission AND shut away from the entire world (we were literally taught that everyone who didn't believe the way we did was evil - and TV was evil, radio was evil (except the xtian station), rock music was very evil, most of the books in the public library were evil . . . ) yes, the fundies often stay very separate.

You got out of being beaten by marrying someone who wouldn't beat you.  However, if you stayed in the church, a husband was expected to "discipline" his wife.  

I was lucky, I got to go to college.  Regular college. The church people who said that college was dangerous were right - college tends to expect people to THINK.  That's why these folks discourage their kids from going to college - and if they REALLY want a degree, there are a few xtian colleges that are approved.  Not only that, but most Fundamentalists aren't wealthy . . . 

I think that the fear of learning, the fear of the internet, the lack of technological knowledge is going to eventually be the undoing for these groups.

Oh! The new job is . . . a job. It's for a hardware store that is trying to launch a web-store. I put all the information for an item into a form that uploads it to the web. I'm grateful - I have a mortgage to pay! Thanks for asking.

[Gemini]

I'm a child of fundamentalism and yeah, it's damaging. Insane, even. The fact that they continue to peddle this paranoid bullshit in the 21st century is beyond belief.

[Nihilist Virus]

There's fundamentalism, there's the belief in the flood and the tower of Babel and giants and 900 year olds fucking their daughters or whatever... and then there's our loveable huggy.

Wait... Eve had sex with the... ahem... serpent?

Again, I've been saying this since day one...

It appears someone wasn't paying attention.

I think huggy has grown up in a family as bad as the OP's.  Maybe this was his pastor:

[drfuzzy]

There's fundamentalism, there's the belief in the flood and the tower of Babel and giants and 900 year olds fucking their daughters or whatever... and then there's our loveable huggy.

Again, I've been saying this since day one...

It appears someone wasn't paying attention.

I think huggy has grown up in a family as bad as the OP's.  Maybe this was his pastor:

Oh, no, no, no, sorry.  Huggy asserted that Eve had sex with the serpent.  That's not what the bible says.  The bible MUST be taken literally.  The bible says it was an apple.  I have heard Fundies actually get into an argument over whether the apple was green (Granny Smith) or red (Red Delicious).  God wrote "apple", but neglected to tell us which kind.  Perhaps we should avoid all apples?   

[brewer]

I heard it was a pomegranate. Noted abortifacient. Now that's one way to get the god out.

Wish Mary was on that diet.