I was born into a "non-denominational" church, a blanket term that covers a wide variety of beliefs within the Christian faith. Our church fell under the Pentecostal spectrum of Christianity and incorporated such practices; speaking in tongues, the laying on of hands, words of wisdom, etc. Despite what most people think, most Pentecostal churches don't dance with snakes. At least, I never saw it during my tenure as a member of the faith.
I thought this was the basic behavior for Christians until my 8th grade year. Yeah, I was sheltered. I guess you could say ignorant, too. But you know what they say, ignorance is bliss.
So I pretty much went along with whatever I was told. This is right, this wrong, blah, blah, blah. If I sin I'm going to hell, the usual. My strongest conviction was that I was a proud Republican. Its what I registered when I first got my driver's license, and I adopted every Repug issue as my own stance in the world of politics.
Of course I was a know-nothing kid, and try as I might I couldn't get myself to fit in with Republican ideology, not to mention my church's. So gruadually, and without much of my knowledge, I began leaning further and further to the left. So much so that I can't go home anymore without getting into political discussion/argument with my father (who I'm working on. He used to be a democrat and I think I can turn him back to the left).
After that grand realization that many Christians (and people in general, for that matter) were different from those I was accustomed to, my speculations beging to grow, though they didn't quite snowball until my junior or senior year of high school. Looking back on my experiences, I've come to notice a lot of things about the Evangelical movement, and why it can be so dangerous. As I write down these observations, I'd like to remind anyone who reads this, that most of what I write are generalizations, and that there are a ton of good, independently minded people within this group.
Fundamentalists are unabashedly proud of their beliefs and quick to judge those who don't see eye-to-eye. They tend to believe that they are somehow more spiritually evolved (although that perhaps isn't the word they'd use) than other Christians, especially Catholics. They've come to this conclusion by asserting their personal connection with God as stronger and truer than that of Catholicism. If someone out there disagrees with this, ask yourself how many times you've heard a quick putdown about the Catholic faith in a sermon. Maybe this rings a bell:
"Come on people! Press in! Who am I preaching to, Catholics?"
Furthermore, Fundamentalists are relentlessly political. I attended school and church from 14 to 18 at a particularly influential Assembly of God church in Louisville, KY. This can barely be considered a place of worship with the amount of politicking inside its walls. The infamous Dr. Frank Simon makes regular appearences at the church to push votes, and Republican House candidate Anne Northup has led prayer there. While away at college I learned of a rally held at the church supporting Zionism in the continuing Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Even my family, who has since stopped attending the church, raised their eyebrows at this event.
At this church I witnessed disturbing behavior from the church-goers, and I'm not talking about what the average person would consider disturbing (the speaking in tongues, etc). The atmosphere surrounding the church was not quite as friendly as the front put on by most of the members and staff. Many of the people closest to the pastor got into that position by showing devout loyalty to the man and his teachings/policies. Those who didn't (or really disagreed with him at all) were usually reprimanded at the least, and many times God "told them" it was time to move on from the church.
I went through five youth pastors in three years, one of which left after the head pastor instructed him to preach a sermon about how tattoos were sinful (he refused). I had three principals in three years. My high school football coach was forced to resign. The school wanted him to teach trigonometry or something and he wouldn't, citing his lack of qualifications. They asked him to pray about it and see what God wanted him to do. He came back a day or two later and said God would not want him to teach a subject he wasn't qualified to teach. They asked him to resign.
Of course, no one really hears the true reason why someone left. Everything gets swept under the rug to preserve the image. The flock of sheep that follow the pastor are blind to reality, and would refuse to believe the truth even if they witnessed it for themselves, and this is true for most Fundamentalists. Remember when allegations came out against Richard Roberts' (Oral Roberts' son and Pres. of ORU) misuse of funds? No one involved in the movement batted an eye, many proclaimed it was obviously some ploy from satan to spoil Richard's good name.
This is what I'm getting at here: the Fundamentalist movement is dangerous. Whenever people don't care about the truth things tend to get hairy, and that's exactly what's going on. Question the pastor and you're questioning God. Same goes for the associate pastors and on down the line. Every plan, every purpose, every opinion is "directly from God" and people eat it up, no matter what it is. These people do not think for themselves, and the thing is, they don't have to. Many of the friends I have that attended the church with me liken the condition to brainwashing. Do what they tell you from the pulpit and you're a "good Christian." Don't and you're a sinner in need of repentance and they pound that point away at the end of every service.
"I know some of you have been backsliding, and the devil is trying to drag you back into that old mindset. Don't let him. Come down to the front and recommit your life to God. You know who you are. Don't leave this place today and take a chance on eternity." Sound familiar? Its the same fear-mongering style that the Bush administration has used for the past eight years. This is every Sunday. Scary, huh?
To be "good Christians" they basically just have to act on what they are told from the pulpit, as I said. And what they have been told, no doubt, is "Vote for McCain! More importantly, vote for Sarah Palin! She's like us and will take God straight to Washington! It is God's will."
Update: Comments point out that my diary really describes fundamentalism as opposed to evangelicalism. You're completely right, to those who have corrected me. In fact, I might as well change the title to Pentacostalism, because that is what I'm really writing about. My apologies to everyone who doesn't fall under this category. After the taste my experiences with the church left in my mouth its easy to categorize everyone the same. Sorry.