Atheists: Can you list the differences between Fundamentalists/Evangelicals and Catholics...?
Fundamentalist Christian is a complete contradiction in terms!! CHRISTIAN – A follower or believer in Jesus. FUNDAMENTALIST One who believes the Bible is literally true and must be followed exactly. Therefore they are followers of the bible and not Jesus making them non Christians!!! But worse is to follow it also makes them ideologists. IDEOLOGY An idea that is false or held for the wrong reasons but is believed with such conviction as to be irrefutable. So Christians have a loving and forgiving god and fundamentalist - well - Just are not Christians!!!! Evangelicals tend to have their own version of, or interpretation of, the bible. They seem to think that they are better than catholics who most seem to think are not really Christian!! The catholic church on the other hand was the founding Christian church. But do you know the correct definition of atheist because most on here seem not to?!! ATHEIST - someone who does not believe in a God – any God – not just the Christian one. But that does not mean they do not hold strong moral or religious beliefs! They can follow any religion that does not have a god and there are a lot of those!!
What is the difference between fundamentalist Christians, moderate Christians, and liberal Christians?
A fundamentalist (in any religion) is someone who believes in strict adherence to a literal translation of holy text, and a call to live a holy life and that the world is completely corrupt. A moderate Christian is someone who is more mainstream, doesn't take everything literally, but who still believes in the basic tenets of the faith and tries to live by them. A liberal Christian is someone who seems to believe that everything is metaphor and nothing is literal, and often fails to try to live up to the ideals because they have allowed the world view to dictate their religious beliefs.
What are the differences between fundamentalism and atheism?
Q: What are the differences between fundamentalism and atheism?(Definition of FUNDAMENTALISM):a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching b : the beliefs of this movement c : adherence to such beliefs a minister noted for his strict fundamentalisma movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principlesSo, the main definition is related to religion, but the secondary definition can be applied more generally.Fundamentalist Christians believe that the Bible is the literal word of the deity known as “God” or “Yahweh” and tend to reject scientific findings that appear to contradict passages in the Bible.Similarly, fundamentalist Muslims believe the the Quran is the word of Allah and that all people (even non-Muslims) should be compelled to conform to Muslim doctrine and obey Sharia law.Atheism is simply a lack of faith or belief in the existence of any deity. Atheism is not tied to any specific doctrine or dogma. There are no “rules” for atheists. On the contrary, atheism is the abandonment of the ideological and doctrinal “rules” that religions espouse and seek to impose on believers.
Why do fundamentalist Christians and fervent atheists seem so similar? Would they be horrified at how similar they are?
Why do Fundamentalist Christians and Fervent Atheists seem so similar?An "extremist" of any stripe tends to be similar to all other extremists. The trait of being rigid, close-minded, and rude is not limited to any particular ideology or viewpoint.There are: extreme sports fans, extreme celebrity devotees, extreme political ideologies, ethno-national extremists, extreme racists, extreme environmentalists, extreme animal welfare groups, extreme anarchists, and many more.Most extremists tend to have similar traits such as those you mention: rigid, close-minded, rude, and unwilling to consider alternative views. And some of these groups are as often or even more often guilty of terrorist acts or other atrocities than religions. The fact that we hear news of "religious extremism" more often than any other type, leads people to believe that this type of extremism is worst or most common, when in fact, religion accounts for a very small percentage of terrorist incidents in the US from 1980-2014, according to the FBI:Statistics in Europe are even less weighted toward the religious, despite some recent atrocities. And you're right, anyone who doesn't believe it's possible to be an extreme, rigid, close-minded, and rude atheist has not been on Quora very long, or is ignoring the obvious. And anyone who denies that extreme atheists can be just as bad as extreme theists is forgetting Mao, Stalin, Pol Pott, and the Kims in North Korea.As I said, any viewpoint can have its extremists, and the ones we hear about most are not necessarily the worst.
Should an atheist avoid dating a fundamentalist Christian?
I want to hear the end of the comment. She's "pretty cute, but..." what? But you're afraid she'll try to convert you? But you want to go on dates on Sundays? But you're afraid her attitudes on sex will clash with yours? But you think she's deluded, dumb or crazy? All of the above? The first three suggestions are the pragmatic reasons why you shouldn't date her. The lifestyle of a "fundie" and that of an atheist are often incompatible, even in the dating stage. I don't know what her attitudes are about proselyting, about premarital sex, about alcohol, music, movies or how you spend your weekend, but what do you want to bet that, sooner or later, one of her convictions is going to cramp your lifestyle? And these things are likely to be non-negotiable for her. You can't win an argument (or even acheive a compromise) when God is in the other corner. Are you ready to let her have her way on everything relating to religion and morality? The last point deals with attitude. I don't know what your feelings are towards the devoutly religious, but I get the impression that you don't really respect people who can believe in fundamentalist religion, am I right? In that case, you'd be going into a relationship with someone who you don't respect, who you think, right of the bat, is irrational, illogical, and probably not quite as bright as you. If you genuinely respect her beliefs, despite not sharing them, then fine. If, on the other hand, you think her beliefs are ridiculous and she's ridiculous for espousing them, how are you going to have a relationship with her? Are you going to tell her flat out that her most deeply held beliefs are dumb? Or are you going to lie and claim that you respect her for it? Aside from the very good question of whether she'd consent to date you, there are some very good reasons why you shouldn't date her.
Can you be a Christian non-fundamentalist?
As to fundamentalists, they are the spritual heirs of a group of Christians who wrote a pamphlet called "The Fundamentals" in response to the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species." This pamphlet emphasized the importance of a literal interpretation of Scripture over the "cold, Godless" claims of science. The truth is that most Christians are fully-licensed, card-carrying citizens of the 21st Century, and not hovering on the extreme fringes, just as most atheists are people, just like everyone else, trying to make their way in a complex, unpredictable world. The tendency of humans is to follow the sort of "either-or" sort of mentality. It's convenient, and allows us to point at people who don't believe what we believe and shake an accusing finger at the people on the other side of the imaginary barricade. We'd like to be right, and certain of what we believe. It seems that for most of us, in order to be right, someone else must be wrong. Given that we cannot conclusively prove the existence or non-existence of God, we must abandon certainty and live in the question, frightening as that may seem.
What is the difference between conservatism and fundamentalism?
Conservatism praises the wisdom of old traditions that worked for our forefathers and distrusts the new fads springing up these days.Fundamentalism takes the conclusions of a philosophy and uses them as givens for any future analysis. This makes them resistant to novel arguments, makes their ideas easily accessable to newcomers, and is sometimes prone to oversimplification.Christian fundamentalism overlaps with political conservatism a lot in American culture, leading to common confusion between the terms.
Can an atheist be a fundamentalist?
I think it's important to establish the exact meaning of "fundamentalist" here, to show why it's not a label applicable to atheists. Fundamentalism, at least in Christianity, was a reaction in the early 1900s to increasingly lofty theological debate, and the slow wearing away of what said debators saw as improbable or indefensible aspects of Christianity (i.e. infallibility of scripture, miracles, the virgin birth). A few prominent Protestants, viewing this progression as a descent into non-Christian beliefs (agnosticism/atheism), and (to some degree) considering such theological debates to be too lofty or "splitting hairs" for the average person to understand/care about, called for a return to the "fundamentals" of the faith— namely, Biblical literalism and the inerrancy of scripture; the virgin birth, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus; Jesus' death as atonement for mankind's sins.The defining characteristic of Fundamentalism is its reactionary nature— a return from lofty intellectual debates to "fundamentals" of the belief. It's important to note that no such lofty debate exists within atheism; nor do such "fundamentals" of the belief system. Thus, atheist fundamentalists cannot exist. There is also no "in between" for "God doesn't exist" and "God exists" (e.g. "maybe He exists a little bit"), so atheist moderates cannot exist either.But perhaps you mean fundamentalist in the modern, informal, pejorative sense. That is, someone who espouses a belief system without any evidence for it, or ability to back it up (they believe solely "on faith"). As said in other answers, this is also an impossibility in atheism because there is no evidence for atheism/naturalism in the first place. The natural world, "as it is", is the de facto assumption for the nature of reality, because it is what we can see and observe ourselves. To state that things are not as they seem, and that there is a god figure(s) behind the scenes pulling the strings, requires proof, because it is not immediately apparent. The burden of proof lies with theists. Thus, atheist "fundamentalists" cannot exist in this sense, either.
Do moderate Christians think they're more similar to fundamentalist Christians or to atheists?
These terms are all very inexact.You might say I am a "moderate" Christian because I recognize the reality of biological evolution, worship God instead of the Bible, recognize that written records cannot predate the creation of the world, and don't get all obnoxious whenever I think someone is doing something they shouldn't. You might say I am a "fundamentalist" Christian because I actually do try to follow pretty strict moral codes, go to great lengths to live my religion on a daily basis, and believe in the *fundamentals* of Christianity. You might even say I am a "radical" Christian because I believe in living prophets akin to Moses and Jeremiah, reject Trinitarianism, and never drink alcohol.When it comes to holding conversations with people who are generally identified as "fundamentalist" Christians, though, I tend to facepalm a lot more than I do when I'm talking to atheists. Atheists tend to exhibit a few key logical fallacies, while "fundamentalists" tend to be guilty of such fallacies pretty much every time they open their mouths. So there's that. Then again, maybe irrational ideas coming from Christians just bother me more because I know I am grouped with them. Also, a lot of "fundamentalists" will tell me that I am a heretic, whereas atheists will usually just tell me I'm delusional and "old-fashioned", whatever that means.