Independent Baptist

{{Sources needed}}{{significantly problematic}}{{christianity}}
'''Independent Baptists''' (a.k.a. Independent Fundamental Baptist or Bible-Believing Baptist) are a particularly [[crank]]y [[fundamentalist]] branch of unaffiliated [[Baptist]]s.<ref>http://bible-truth.org/BaptistHistory.html</ref> The origins of the Independent Baptist movement are sketchy. but the origin is believed to be local congregations who left the conservative [[Southern Baptist Convention]] and the slightly more moderate American Baptist Association over perceived liberalism and modernism in the two largest Baptist denominations.{{cn}} If those two are too "liberal", one can imagine where Independent Baptists lie on the theological spectrum.

==Beliefs==

Independent Baptist churches exhibit some similar beliefs and practices. Since they are, by definition, ''independent,'' it is foolhardy to make sweeping generalizations about their belief systems. However, certain characteristics have been known to be promoted by many of these organizations. 

Like Baptists in general, they believe in [[baptism]] by immersion, and sermons are sometimes followed by an "altar call" offering salvation to the wicked [[sin]]ner. Most IFBs are part of the [[King James Only]] movement.<ref>http://www.independent-baptists.org/page21.html?</ref> They often exhibit extreme criticism of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Mormons]], the [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Southern Baptist Convention]], non-IFB [[megachurch]]es, [[Pentecostal]]s, [[Promise Keepers]], and just about anyone else other than <strike>fundamentalist Independent Baptists</strike>themselves. They maintain a distance from and suspicion of the broader evangelical movement. There are even times when they separate from fellow Independent Baptists. Independent Baptist churches are generally fond of sermons on the threat of [[hell]]. Oftentimes, they scream at their congregation and bang their fist on the pulpit when talking about certain topics such as same-sex marriage, socialism, and women preaching. They criticize the broader evangelical movement for emphasizing a "love gospel" and downplaying [[God]]'s wrath and judgment. Like pretty much all churches, they heavily promote [[tithing]]. As with most things indie, IFB touts itself as better and more intellectual than the mainstream, which has "sold out" in their opinion.

They tend to be opposed to so-called "worldliness". They generally oppose any form of modern music in the church, such as [[Christian Rock]] and charismatic "praise" choruses. Even Southern Gospel is regarded with suspicion. They tend to promote "modest" dress, which ranges from merely opposing anything that wouldn't pass a typical public school dress code to expecting women to cover themselves like conservative Muslims do. They promote sexism in the name of "gender roles". They believe in complete independence of the local church. Though the Baptists began in 17<small>th</small>-century England, many Independent Baptists hold to a myth of "Baptist successionism", whereby modern Baptist congregations are said to derive from the very earliest Christian churches by a succession of shadow churches outside of Roman Catholicism. While there were groups of Western Christians independent of the Catholic Church, they were fiercely persecuted in the West and were generally doctrinal, rather unlike any modern Western church. (They don't realize that Catholic-bashing overlaps Italian-bashing).<ref group=note>March 14, 1891, 11 Italian-Americans saw the rope, as they were treated worse than African-Americans. In Chicago, these two groups overlap The Great Migration of the early 20th Century within 1900-1920s. The pastor who said "piss" and "shit" traced her ties to the MS migration to Chicago.</ref> 

IFBs tend to have peculiar views on the raising of children. Some IFBs believe at least one of the two following statements: 1. That there is no such thing as "Child Abuse" because the Bible "justifies" it. 2. That child abuse should be "legal" in the United States. (Residential schools like New Beginnings Girls Academy have parents sign up their children for up to 15 "swats" with a wooden paddle for each 24 hour period.)<ref> http://abcnews.go.com/Health/independent-fundamental-baptist-discipline-call-tough-love-abuse/story?id=13310172 </ref> For more information, see Jack Hyles (below) and [[To Train Up a Child]]. They are usually deeply opposed to video games and violent or sexual television programming, often blaming them for things like the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting. They tend to hate LGBT people, atheists, and Muslims. They tend to believe some people are "reprobates", meaning they have "rejected the word of God" too many times, and would never be able to get "saved" even if they were to try and convert. Some, like [[Steven Anderson]], try to say to determine who is reprobate or label certain groups of people (like homosexuals) as reprobate, while others would say that only God knows who is reprobate. Steven Anderson is famous for pushing this to an extreme. Like conservatives in general, they are often critical of education, in some cases limiting such criticism to the usual suspects like evolution in public schools and liberal bias in secular universities, in others going so far as to believe that public schools and even Christian private schools are evil places run by [[Satan]] (or just "evil liberals").<ref>[https://archive.fo/y1bHU Thriving Forward], post by ''Healing the Trauma of the IFB'', archived from Facebook, 30 April 2021.</ref> Therefore, it's popular for them to homeschool their 8+ children (such as through Bill Gothard's Advanced Training Institute or ATI system which is commonly associated with IFB), while 
keeping daily child abuse a secret
 training them up. Some believe in the [[Quiverfull]] Movement and believe that birth control is murdering potential babies. The Quiverfull Movement gives women and daughters no freedoms, sometimes with forced marriages.

==Examples==

===People===
* [[Steven Anderson]]
* [[Jack Chick]]
* The Duggar family, stars of the [[TLC]] reality show ''[[19 Kids and Counting]]''
* [[Jerry Falwell]] in his early years; he later became a Southern Baptist
* [[Eric Hovind]]
* [[Kent Hovind]]
* [[Jack Hyles]]
* Billy Ray Parrish<ref group=note>This one we have the quotes to show his thought patterns ares such. Being he shelled out for his title on Xulon Press, he was revealed to be a young earth [[crank]]. Calls Old Earth and [[evolution]] bad journalism, caught badmouthing College of DuPage. Pacione's blog entry King James Only Examined shows up as top result on [https://www.bing.com/search?q=King+James+Only+Examined Bing].  Plagiarism is often on the table with these congregations. Pacione originally set up to give him a lead for publishing for free, but the connections Pacione has are Science minded Christians who run [http://www.snowfallpress.com Snowfall Press].  Called Pacione a coward when he stared in the eyes of a sex offender before his arrest a year later. Pacione went and pulled the term [[Plagiarist|Fucking Plagiarist]] on him.</ref>
* [[John R. Rice]]
* [[John Todd]], originally Pentecostal, later Independent Baptist.  Most of the rabble-rousing he was infamous for was in Independent Baptist churches

===Institutions===
* [[Bob Jones University]]<ref group=note>Founder {{wpl|Bob Jones Sr.}} was from a {{wpl|Primitive Baptist}} and Methodist background.</ref>
* [[Bryan College]]
* [[Cedarville University]]
* [[Hyles-Anderson College]]
* Maranatha Baptist University, a school with rules similar to Bob Jones University and Pensacola Christian College
* [[Pensacola Christian College]], affiliated with fundamentalist textbook publisher A Beka Books

==See also==
* [[Fred Phelps]] {{---}} was an "independent" Baptist but not closely associated with the movement, nor with anyone else for that matter.  He thought God hated everyone, presumably including all other independent Baptists, but excluding himself and his 70 or so followers. Phelps was a [[Calvinist]], a doctrine which is rejected by most Baptists. <ref>see Pensacola Christian College's Articles of Faith for an example: http://www.pcci.edu/spirituallife/articlesoffaith.aspx</ref>
<!--* [[Draft:Baptists for Israel Institute|Baptists for Israel Institute]] {{---}} A, Independent Baptist diploma mill which offers substandard education with a dose of Christian Zionism.-->
* [[New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Movement]] - A smaller, more extreme subsection of Independent Baptists.

==External links==
*[http://www.stufffundieslike.com/ Stuff Fundies Like] — Silly blog dedicated to displaying/satirizing Independent Fundamental Baptists' standards, weirdness, and craziness
*[https://www.thenewifb.com/what-is-the-new-ifb New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Movement] — A small group of churches that "take the word of God seriously"
*[https://newifb.info NewIFB.info] - Blog debunking Steven Anderson's bullshit and similar ilk, written by someone from his own denomination

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2|80%}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Christian denominations]]
[[Category:Christian fundamentalism]]
[[Category:Baptists]]
[[Category:Purity culture]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]

Categories: Christian denominations, Christian fundamentalism, Baptists, Purity culture, Homophobia