Fundamentalism is detrimental to society

None of these things you just mentioned have anything to do with my fundamentalism. I do not "yell at the poor, lock up the youth, argue about prisons, healthcare, education or bombs. We haven't even gone one round, and you have already made it personal. "your fundamentalism" is not the topic. Fundamentalism is the topic, and I have already posted the definition. The issues which currently divide us a a society have everything to do with fundamentalism, because it is only fundamentalists who argue with everyone else about these things. Fundamentalists support slavery and hitting children based on scriptural interpretations. Non-fundamentalists can sit-down and talk and drink together and debate things, and remain friends --sometimes they even change their minds about things! Fundamentalists are incapable of maintaining relationships with people who don't share their beliefs and never change their mind about what they believe. This is comparable to saying you are inerrant, like God. This is what the word fundamentalist means BY DEFINITION: "strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles", and the term was coined by the very same people who push these same agendas. "As for abortion, evolution and free market, these are all political arguments that DO demand a debate, but just because you are on one side of the debate and your opponent is on the other, does not make them "dangerous". " --It is dangerous when fundamentalists constantly justify oppression based on their personal beliefs and nothing else --racism, slavery, segregation, women's rights, gay rights, income inequality, the war on drugs, the war on terrorism --all a bunch of b.s. that is primarily and most vocally defended (and perpetuated) by FUNDAMENTALISTS, who in the U.S. often call themselves "Christian" (see how that works?). Fundamentalists try to force their beliefs on others via legislation, which is unconstitutional and also dangerous when you are brainwashing innocent children in such a manner. Then let's not forget that fundamentalists in the U.S. recently attacked the new Pope for being too progressive AND collectively defended a celebrity bigot, all in the same week. And yet, you here you are lecturing me on how to take it when people disagree with me? Challenge: Name 3 significant sociopolitical issues that you have changed your mind on in the past 5 years. Here, I will meet my own challenge first: Abortion, Welfare, Homosexuality. Can you name 3, or 1 even? "a fundamentalist could say that your point of view is "dangerous" to the unborn child" --Which brings me to my next point: fundamentalists will defend the rights of a fetus, but ignore the rights of people alive who are simply different from themselves. They think it is OK to deny marital benefits to working homosexuals, or mass incarcerate minorities for making personal decisions regarding substance intake. This is an example of what I said earlier about fundamentalists contradicting themselves and their own teachings. They defend the principles they are taught, not principles that are necessarily logical or desirable. "You used this website as an appeal to authority: http://infidels.org...... however, this is not a source of authority, it is a website based on opinion and fact." --The website quotes the Bible, and these are common arguments which can be found on many others. I just picked the top of Google. Your argument is ad homonim to begin with. "I would like to point out that nothing can be proved by opinion, or personal feelings." --You're telling me? "My mother is a Mormon. There is no talking her into leaving that religion and following the Bible. I assure you that when I visit with my mother, my "only conversation" is not that of conversation. The same can be said for the rest of my non-Fundamental family and friends. I WILL tell them the Gospel, and I will pray that they come to Christ. After that, I leave it to God. The end." Paraphrased: "I am delusional enough to believe that my delusions are better than my mother's and everyone else's". So you have already admitted you take the Bible literally. So do you believe all of your family members who are "lost" are going to burn forever in hell or not? That is fundamentalism, and it is dangerous. "My very presence on this site, as well as my account on Plenty of Fish and OkCupid ( both are secular dating sites ) refute your third claim" You're very presence here proves my claim, as your last proposed debate was to compare jock sizes with a Mormon. "I was unable to find an authority on the site that you listed "http://www.simplypsychology.org......; that was backing up your claim." --Which brings me to another point; fundamentalists dismiss all evidence, no matter how empirical or logical, if it contradicts their own belief system. This is where cognitive dissonance plays a major role. For example: "Saul McLeod Bio by Saul McLeod, published 2011 "This site is written, designed and coded by me, Saul McLeod, and I am a psychology lecturer at Wigan and Leigh College. I have a degree in psychology and have recently completed a masters degree in research from The University of Manchester." -- Not only was my link valid, Con deliberately tried to deceive by reposting the link in a broken manner that takes you nowhere. Not to mention that McLeod is citing common knowledge and 100 level psychology at this point, unless you are a fundamentalist. -- http://www.simplypsychology.org... http://www.simplypsychology.org... "I am not under any control, as an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church has no "leader"." --If you dictate your lifestyle (and the way you vote) based on the way you were taught to interpret a religious text, then yes, you are by definition under "control". http://archives.politicususa.com... "We have no Pope, Prophet, Leader, etc. We are a Priest before God with only Jesus Christ as the High Priest. We are under the control of God. That's it." --You are telling me you're only leader is one you can't see? I suppose it is a coincidence that fundamentalists tend to vote Republican, even when against their own best interests? http://www.alternet.org... "Isaiah 10:1-2: Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!" "I have not met any Christians that do either of these things (advocate war or protest helping the poor). " Me neither, just lots of people claiming to be Christians. http://www.antiwar.com... http://politix.topix.com... http://www.splcenter.org... http://www.dailykos.com...# http://www.huffingtonpost.com... "This is a feeling you have, that they are wasting years of their life." --You only get one life. Who knows-- that kid in the tux you see riding a bike might have invented time travel if he had been given different goals. "Ask Presidential candidate of 2012 Mitt Romney if he wasted "years" of his life, when he was on his mission." --Can't, he's busy dealing with a lawsuit. http://www.dailykos.com... "Who are you to say what my full potential is? " --I didn't claim to know your personal potential. I said fundamentalists sit idly expecting a magic helping hand or "justice in the next life". Imagine if Harriet Tubman had done the same. "When I was a hopeless Atheistic drunkard, I was siting around waiting for death. As a Born Again Christian, I am active in the community, I feed the hungry, help the elderly, heck I even take stray shopping carts into the store with me when I go shopping." --Very good. Lots of people who aren't Christians do these things also. Are they going to hell, or not, according to you? "Christianity stresses that this life is all about the choices that you make. Free will." "We believe that the outcome of a situation belongs to Him" --Back to back contradicting statements? "Have you ever heard the term "God helps those that help themselves"?" --Yes, it is a counter to the cliche "be silent and wait" held by fundamentalists. "I do not agree with fundamentalist Islam, Mormonism, or any other religion. " --My fault on grammar. I meant they agree with other's who claim the same fundamental beliefs. "Thank you for your time." --There are 2 rounds left.