As I’ve said before, I got on quite well with the posters of the Fighting Fundamental Forums. The forum had a system of allocating likes and dislikes (“greens” and “reds”) and I only ever had about five reds in all the time I was there. Generally I got on with them, albeit that I was ignored by the majority. There are quite a few people who posted there that I would consider to be friends.
However, while they were friendly enough with me, sometimes I had to wonder exactly what their views were on certain issues, and while they seemed normal enough in common discourse, I sometimes had to pinch myself to ensure that I was aware of what kind of people I was dealing with.
For example, courtesy of Eric McDonald, comes a report from a North Carolina pastor who has a “final solution” to the “problem of homosexuality”. Unfortunately I can’t link directly to the video from Eric, but Pastor Worley’s message can be found here, alongside the usual comments.
Response to Pastor Worley can be found here:
If anything, worse, Rock Beyond Belief reports of a service, apparently from Indiana, in which a child of around four or five sings an anti-gay song to wild applause from the congregation.
What is the matter with these people? This is 2012, not 1812 or 1912. We should all know better by now. Of course, we’ll get the usual “not real Christian” stuff which is said by Christians about all other Christians behaving badly. Certainly the FFF was more-or-less united in condemnation of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church, but, then again, they were more-or-less united in their condemnation of “sodomites” as if it really mattered to them. I admit that in thinking that this sort of stuff is widespread that I could be under the wrong impression here – a lot of the FFF members were under the strong impression that the UK is overrun by Muslims, which is complete nonsense. But they must have got that impression from somewhere.
But it has to be said, looking at those videos, that if most Christians are honest upstanding people, which I believe they are, then it is despite their Christianity, not because of it. Normally I’m an optimistic person and the thought that most Christians would condemn this behaviour is the only thing that I can be optimistic about. Let’s hope that’s right.
Headbutter of the Gods 
June 1st, 2012 at 18:42
I can see why you put this in the Mental Health section. Good grief, there seem to be a lot of people in North Carolina (and most other southern states) who are seriously deranged and need help! It’s sad really. I wonder who pay this pastor to keep his church running.
I also watched the video clip with the boy from Indiana. To brainwash a young child like that, is appalling! As you say, let’s hope most Christians would condemn this behaviour!
June 6th, 2012 at 01:45
I’m sure they would condemn it, but it’s easier for you and I to do so because, although we hail from cultures in which Christianity has historically been strong, we’re not in the middle of that particular variant. While the fundamentalists of the Southern US don’t realise (I think) that a lot of what they think has evolved alongside the rest of secular morality, what we would call theocratic baggage is entirely normal.
There is hope, though. Fifty years ago this wouldn’t have even been commented on.