Fundagelical
Archive: Richard Evans Lee
Just made the acquaintance of a nifty if inelegant neologism: Fundagelical. Condensing the worst the imagination suggests by evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity: inflated moralizing, hatred of science, crude celebration of greed, will to confine the lives of others to their pinched notions of ethics. People who pound their supposedly inerrant Bible. Self-satisfaction hiding behind a timid humility of a God who is even more mean-spirited than are they themselves.
Thanks, again, to the Daily Trudge.
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2 · Posted by: William Scott Scherk on January 14, 2004 02:17 AM
Richard, I read this entry (thanks for the plub) and then did an Alexa search to see if the word has been current for a while. It's out there, and it's used, and I kind of like it.
The birth of a neologism!
See the search here
3 · Posted by: telion on January 16, 2004 09:45 PM
How can you form a opinion of something you don't understand? The thing is…you haven't studied the bible to get an understanding of what it teaches…nor do you have the intent to do so. You have no disire to know the truth! If you did, you would know the scientific nature of the bible…this is the credibility of the bible:
1. Only in recent years has science discovered that everything we see is composed of invisible atoms. Here, Scripture tells us that the “things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
2. Medical science has only recently discovered that blood-clotting in a newborn reaches its peak on the eighth day, then drops. The Bible consistently says that a baby must be circumcised on the eighth day.
3. At a time when it was believed that the earth sat on a large animal or a giant (1500 B.C.), the Bible spoke of the earth’s free float in space: “He…hangs the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7).
4. The prophet Isaiah also tells us that the earth is round: “It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). This is not a reference to a flat disk, as some skeptic maintain, but to a sphere. Secular man discovered this 2,400 years later. At a time when science believed that the earth was flat, is was the Scriptures that inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world (see Proverbs 3:6 footnote).
5. God told Job in 1500 B.C.: “Can you send lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?” (Job 38:35). The Bible here is making what appears to be a scientifically ludicrous statement—that light can be sent, and then manifest itself in speech. But did you know that radio waves travel at the speed of light? This is why you can have instantaneous wireless communication with someone on the other side of the earth. Science didn’t discover this until 1864 when “British scientist James Clerk Maxwell suggested that electricity and light waves were two forms of the same thing” (Modern Century Illustrated Encyclopedia).
6. Job 38:19 asks, “Where is the way where light dwells?” Modern man has only recently discovered that light (electromagnetic radiation) has a “way,” traveling at 186,000 miles per second.
7. Science has discovered that stars emit radio waves, which are received on earth as a high pitch. God mentioned this in Job 38:7: “When the morning stars sang together…”
8. “Most cosmologists (scientists who study the structures and evolution of the universe) agree that the Genesis account of creation, in imagining an initial void, may be uncannily close to the truth” (Time, Dec. 1976).
9. Solomon described a “cycle” of air currents two thousand years before scientists “discovered” them. “The wind goes toward the south, and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to his circuits” (Ecclesiastes 1:6).
10. Science expresses the universe in five terms: time, space, matter, power, and motion. Genesis 1:1,2 revealed such truths to the Hebrews in 1450 B.C.: “In the beginning [time] God created [power] the heaven [space] and the earth [matter] … And the Spirit of God moved [motion] upon the face of the waters.” The first thing God tells man is that He controls of all aspects of the universe.
11. The great biological truth concerning the importance of blood in our body’s mechanism has been fully comprehended only in recent years. Up until 120 years ago, sick people were “bled,” and many died because of the practice. If you lose your blood, you lose your life. Yet Leviticus 17:11, written 3,000 years ago, declared that blood is the source of life: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.”
12. All things were made by Him (see John 1:3), including dinosaurs. Why then did the dinosaur disappear? The answer may be in Job 40:15–24. In this passage, God speaks about a great creature called “behemoth.” Some commentators think this was a hippopotamus. However, the hippo’s tail isn’t like a large tree, but a small twig. Following are the characteristics of this huge animal: It was the largest of all the creatures God made; was plant-eating (herbivorous); had its strength in its hips and a tail like a large tree. It had very strong bones, lived among the trees, drank massive amounts of water, and was not disturbed by a raging river. He appears impervious to attack because his nose could pierce through snares, but Scripture says, “He that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.” In other words, God caused this, the largest of all the creatures He had made, to become extinct.
13. Encyclopedia Britannica documents that in 1845, a young doctor in Vienna named Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was horrified at the terrible death rate of women who gave birth in hospitals. As many as 30 percent died after giving birth. Semmelweis noted that doctors would examine the bodies of patients who died, then, without washing their hands, go straight to the next ward and examine expectant mothers. This was their normal practice, because the presence of microscopic diseases was unknown. Semmelweis insisted that doctors wash their hands before examinations, and the death rate immediately dropped to 2 percent. Look at the specific instructions God gave His people for when they encounter disease: “And when he that has an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself even days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean” (Leviticus 15:13). Until recent years, doctors washed their hands in a bowl of water, leaving invisible germs on their hands. However, the Bible says specifically to wash hands under “running water.”
14. Luke 17:34–36 says the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will occur while some are asleep at night and others are working at daytime activities in the field. This is a clear indication of a revolving earth, with day and night at the same time.
15. “During the devastating Black Death of the fourteenth century, patients who were sick or dead were kept in the same rooms as the rest of the family. People often wondered why the disease was affecting so many people at one time. They attributed these epidemics to ‘bad air’ or ‘evil spirits.’ However, careful attention to the medical commands of God as revealed in Leviticus would have saved untold millions of lives. Arturo Castiglione wrote about the overwhelming importance of this biblical medical law: ‘The laws against leprosyin Leviticus 13 may be regarded as the first model of sanitary legislation’ (A History of Medicine).” Grant R. Jeffery, The Signature of God With all these truths revealed in Scripture,how could a thinking person deny that the Bible is supernatural in origin? There is no other book in any of the world’s religions (Vedas, Bhagavad-Gita, Koran, Book of Mormon, etc.) that contains scientific truth. In fact, they contain statements that are clearly unscientific. Hank Hanegraaff said, “Faith in Christ is not some blind leap into a dark chasm, but a faith based on established evidence.” (11:3 continued)
4 · Posted by: David Demoro on January 17, 2004 06:27 AM
Your whole splurge strikes me as odd…not only are you straying away from the fact that the Bible has nearly nothing to do with how to modern day follows of God have made it….many things have become wrong to the scriptures with man'sown free will. I think we all can agree that it's not what it used to be. Second, the fact that alot of your examples are A) coincidences in the words that resemble truths, and B)Common sense, people! I don't want to be crude and I don't want a reply….just know that your not always right, you don't know everything, and your religion isn't the only one…and not to be mean, and I'm going to get yelled at for this, your religion does take alot from the olden religions of pagans(not saying which paganistic religions specifically). Thank you for your time, have a nice day.
5 · Posted by: telion on January 17, 2004 10:01 AM
It sounds like you never even read the bible and you have all the answers…you ignored the evidence for the supernatural nature of the bible and started to state an opinion before you have clearly understood the points made…nor do you intend to do so. This is because you do not seek truth! I respond to you in the words of Jesus…
“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
The light of truth has been shown, but you still doubt…even though you cant disprove one thing stated…I will give the same info without elaboration or extensive commentary.Christianity is unique, because it is backed by science…if any seeks truth let him see for themselves…
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
The earth is a sphere (Isaiah 40:22).
SCIENCE THEN
The earth was a flat disk.
SCIENCE NOW
The earth is a sphere.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Innumerable stars (Jeremiah 33:22).
SCIENCE THEN
Only 1,100 stars.
SCIENCE NOW
Innumerable stars.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Creation made of invisible elements (Hebrews11:3).
SCIENCE THEN
Science was ignorant on the subject.
SCIENCE NOW
Creation made of invisible elements (atoms).
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Light moves (Job 38:19,20).
SCIENCE THEN
Light was fixed in place.
SCIENCE NOW
Light moves.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Air has weight (Job 28:25).
SCIENCE THEN.
Air was weightless
SCIENCE NOW
Air has weight.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Winds blow in cyclones (Ecclesiastes 1:6).
SCIENCE THEN
Winds blew straight.
SCIENCE NOW
Winds blow in cyclones.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Blood is the source of life and health (Leviticus 17:11).
SCIENCE THEN
Sick people must be bled.
SCIENCE NOW
Blood is the source of life and health.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains (2 Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6).
SCIENCE THEN
The ocean floor was flat.
SCIENCE NOW
Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
Ocean contains springs (Job 38:16).
SCIENCE THEN
Ocean fed only by rivers and rain.
SCIENCE NOW
Ocean contains springs.
THE BIBLE
(2,000–3,000 years ago)
When dealing with disease, hands should be washed under running water (Leviticus 15:13).
SCIENCE THEN
Hands washed in still water.
SCIENCE NOW
When dealing with disease, hands should be washed under running water.
So many fail to realize that Christian aren't born that way…I looked at other religions and noticed that they went against common science…the bible was the only one that has scientific evidence to witness to it's claim of being the word of GOD.
6 · Posted by: David DeMoro on January 17, 2004 12:23 PM
You…broken record…blahblahblahbickerbickerbicker! Stop pushing your religion on us! We won't listen! Oh…and I have read the bible quite a few times…being a former devote christian. Thank you! And I said I didn't want a response…
7 · Posted by: eeen on January 20, 2004 06:48 AM
telion, you can PRETEND all you like the bible is an amazing book, but you have to do a lot of picking and choosing to do so.
None of your points are very impressive when looked at carefully, although I doubt you've done this anyway - if you're at all typical, you've copied them from a fundamentalist propaganda page and you have little to zero understanding of the history/science/philosophy involved to discuss any of these points carefully.
Personally, I haven't met a fundy yet who has a basic grasp of science, but try to contemplate, for example, the fact that fundies almost never go on and on about how amazing the bible was when it told us how pustulently disease-ridden menstruating women were, or how unruly children should be stoned to death at the city gates, or how a rapist was entitled to marry his victim just as long as she wasn't already betrothed…
Christians just love the scatter-gun approach of pages of vague waffle which reassures them that they have vast reserves of incredible ammunition, but after MUCH effort I have given up trying to pin them down for a clear demonstration of some detail of the bible which forces me to take it seriously as anything other than a quaint document created by the sorts of fanatics I can see in any of hundreds of religions
8 · Posted by: aaron on January 20, 2004 07:22 PM
your doing the same thing eeen. most of the examples you just listed are taken out of context. the bible has many strange and nasty things written in it. reread those passages and see if God told the Jews to those actions or they were laws men thought up.
Feel free to share your feelings about Fundagelical. Please stick to the theme of the entry. Disagreement is fine. Homophobia, racism, and kindred expressions of hatred will be deleted.
This site is one of my hobbies. I genuinely enjoy hearing from people and hate moderating or killing comments. Forthright disagreement is fine as long as it is civil.
My thanks,
Richard

1 · Posted by: PZ Myers on January 12, 2004 04:59 PM
That is a very lovely and useful word!