Ex Fundamentalists, Their Feelings

[Panoply]

Have any of you ex-fundamentalists, assuming there are some on this forums, ever felt and expressed fundamentalism is/was a cult in your eyes. Please note, I am not asking if fundamentalism is a cult, I’m simply asking if you felt and voiced that it was, in your opinion, like a cult.

Thanks.

 

[JustaServant]

Read my blog below in my siggy. I was a Baptist preacher for 14 years, and spent many years in fundamentalism.

 

[Lost_Seeker]

I was raised Church of Christ in a small town in the deep South. I experimented with Evangelical churches after I left the Church of Christ. I don’t think either meet the total definition of a cult in that their core beliefs in Jesus, the death and resurrection are fairly widely held. Some of the practices though particularly in the Church of Christ and Holiness churches, have some cult like overtones. In particular, we were discouraged from questioning church leaders and were told not to study other faith traditions or befriend anyone not Church of Christ. Also, we were taught that our church was the only way to salvation.

I am converting to Catholicism now and get the “cult” remark occasionally about the Catholic Church which I find interesting.

 

[shelby2014]

Perhaps I did not experience the “fundamentalism” spoken of here. I saw fundamentalism as a step to Catholicism, although none of my former fundamentalist friends would ever agree with that statement.

I think fundamentalism is (sometimes misguided) passion about Jesus. And I think Catholicism is correct passion about Jesus. So if one is a cult, the other may be, too.

The greatest error in fundamentalism is their belief that they can correctly interpret the Bible. In addition, fundamentalists don’t tend to be related to any specific schismatic protestant group. It’s like they “discovered” Christianity, got really excited about it, and started telling the world. In a way, this is like how the apostles began spreading the word of Christ.

However, they don’t realize that there is a body of authority on interpreting the Bible and that a group of apostles has already been telling the world about Jesus for 2000 years. With the right education, fundamentalists could be Catholics (I became one) or at least more Catholic-friendly. They put a lot of faith in their individual minister but also are pretty individualistic and stubborn in self-interpreting scripture, so I doubt this will ever happen.

 

[Roblox84]

A lot of fundamentalists that I have talked to are some of the most passionate people about Christ, but like some mentioned, they are very narrow-minded. Putting myself in their shoes, it would be very hard to leave that culture. They form a bond or trust with their preacher from childhood and will most likely alway’s believe that their preacher has to be right. And most of the time if you leave that faith you will have problems with friends or family and anti-catholic taunts that will possibly break a relationship. If I was a fundamentalist, I don’t know if I can do that change to Catholicism, therefore I have a great deal of respect for those fundamentalists that actually open their heart and mind to other faiths.

 

[FabiusMaximus]

I don’t like using the term “cult” to describe any valid Christian groups.

 

[TobyLue]

Have any of you ex-fundamentalists, assuming there are some on this forums, ever felt and expressed fundamentalism is/was a cult in your eyes. Please note, I am not asking if fundamentalism is a cult, I’m simply asking if you felt and voiced that it was, in your opinion, like a cult.

Thanks.

I guess first you need to explain what you mean by “cult”. Nowadays a “cult” seems to be interpreted as something sinister which may or may not be true.

I don’t like using the term “cult” to describe any valid Christian groups.

After all in the Catholic Church we have what many call the Cult of Mary. There are some that are approved by the Church and others condemned.

The following regarding the word “cult”:

1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
   It seems though as that today most look at just one definition of “cult” as:
   a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.