Let's discuss the difference then? To me what it boils down to that IF I was gay, I would feel absolutely unwelcome in a church. Why would I want to subject myself to somewhere that considers me a lesser person for being gay but other people get a free pass. Consider that perspective.
First of all don't think this is any new idea to me. Second of all, this is not the difference that was under discussion, so you're way out of context here. But I'll go with it.
Next up, there may be
some Churches that would consider a particular type of sinner to be somehow "a lesser person," but I would NEVER be a part of such a thing. In fact yesterday's sermon, while not about homosexuality per se, addressed that behavior and attitude with the point being if anyone sees leadership doing that LEAVE. Correct them please, but go find a good Church because by that time this one had gotten SO far out in left field, if it ever did get back it would be a long time.
Kind of a strong position to preach from the pulpit, huh? And the point was that this is SO fundamental to Christianity that there is no compromise. Rather than saying "do as we say and your leadership is infallible," they're saying these few principles must be adhered to by all, and please hold your leadership up to scrutiny and the real power of the Church is in the congregation. In fact if you'd like I can link you to a thread where this very issue is being discussed in a Christian only section, and you can see for yourself that what you're depicting is an underwhelming minority, what I'm saying is well received and already embraced by most, and there's a wide variety of input from people like minded with me.
So consider that perspective.
One day it may come to that, religion can be a powerful motivator of violence.
Is this obfuscation intentional? I have demonstrated for you that fear is not a motivator here. You should acknowledge that. All you will accomplish by continuing to use the fear / phobia lingo is to incite violence. I think that's a bad idea, myself. If you can see that people who would resort to violence are silly with nothing really to prove, you should make the same conclusion about yourself pretending others are afraid of gays; its silly and what do you have to prove? Quit contributing to the problem. Maybe even listen to what people say they actually object to, instead of pretending you can make such decisions for them. I think that might help.
I agree with that understanding. But that doesn't change my understanding of Christian fundamentalism as pretty extreme.
What fundamental aspects of Christianity, that all Christians adhere to, violate current law? And if there are none, then you should be willing to adjust your choice of words there. You accept that extremism is best described by those breaking the law, so you also need to accept that using other words that already have other meanings shouldn't be used to describe the same thing.
Don't get me wrong: yes there
are extremist Christians. Militias, abortion clinic bombers, dominionists, and other sorts of whack jobs. Maybe you even grew up right in the middle of their home turf, I don't know. But they are a tiny portion of the Church in America, and those labeling themselves "fundamentalists" do not do so because they identify with this nonsense.
But now I think we are arguing semantics. Sure fundamentalism means the "fundamentals" of Christianity which are harmless but we both also know there is cultural baggage to that word that implies very specific varieties of Christianity, usually of the independent Bible church, that are very far-right.
I began preaching in exactly what you describe in 1984. Never have I met anyone who fits your description. Neither have I met anyone who told me I need to quit sticking up for homos, nor have I met anyone in such a place that was seriously entertaining the idea of bashing anyone. Consider
that perspective.
.
That's not an argument I make, division on issues can be healthy especially since everyone is entitled to their opinion. That said, I do recognize that CF is a bit ....intense (since you don't want me to use the word extreme) in its portrayal of Christianity compared to the experience in real life, true enough.
People can find others who are very learned, and others who are simply passionate about their Faith. Usually a Church of 4 or 500 will have about 5 of us, and it can be difficult to get together to share ideas. This website collects those people from all over the globe and enables us to get input we otherwise couldn't. I mean
who else is going to be reading these forums, right? Not your typical pew warmer.