How do you deal with a Fundamentalist?

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OK, so we have this Paramedic student who moved from North Carolina, and he is in his clinicals for his paramedic. He is a RABID fundamentalist, and is driving me and my partner absolutely crazy.

Other crews have gotten so sick of him that they refuse to allow him to do any skills, and one crew even left him at Burger King during lunch.

i dont have the option to make any more outright trouble, as i had a run-in with the medical director and informed him what i really think of the way he runs things. so in short, the officers stuck me with this ultra right-wing student.

so far, i have been informed numerous times that i am going to hell, that i worship idols (namey Mary), and a host of other things. I tried getting him to quit on “moral grounds” by telling him that the drugs we give were all developed on fetal tissue, that we transport women to abortion clinics, and just about anything to get this man off my ambulance. he didnt buy it.

its pretty obvious that the brass doesnt want any legal trouble by firing him over his rants and diatribes on paramedic preceptors. so i have two questions:
  1. how do i deal with him and his radical views? he is hell bent on “saving” my soul.
  2. assuming #1 is impossible, can i just convince him that i am the antichrist incarnate so he chooses another clinical preceptor?
to put things in perspective, he thinks Fred Phelps and the Westboro baptist Church are “one of the few true Christians left”.
 
Be a witness to what true Christianity is - love him in spite of himself - treat him with respect - and pray for him. Then take out your rosary beads when he is preaching and start praying the rosary out loud. Every time! Like a dog, he’ll learn what behavior rewards him and what doesn’t! 👍
 
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BioCatholic:
to put things in perspective, he thinks Fred Phelps and the Westboro baptist Church are “one of the few true Christians left”.
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OUCH!

Perhaps you could explain to him that one time when you were five you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, so it doesn’t really matter if you commit idolatry or not. 😃
 
You can explain to him that what you believe is private and that he is pushing people away rather than bringing them closer by his behavior. It may fall on deaf ears, but then again, it might make him stop and think. I have a very legalistic evangelical friend of 30 years standing who is now rather cool to me since I came back to the church of my youth. She desperately wanted to engage in a debate and I flatly refused. I will not do it. She considers the RCC a cult and I’m sure she is very frustrated that she lives too far away to beat me over the head with her Bible. Like someone else said, put on your headphones and ignore the guy. And no, you cannot just kill him and tell God he died. 😉
 
Jeanette L:
Be a witness to what true Christianity is - love him in spite of himself - treat him with respect - and pray for him. Then take out your rosary beads when he is preaching and start praying the rosary out loud. Every time! Like a dog, he’ll learn what behavior rewards him and what doesn’t! 👍
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I second this idea. Bwaha.

Adam
 
Then take out your rosary beads when he is preaching and start praying the rosary out loud. Every time! Like a dog, he’ll learn what behavior rewards him and what doesn’t!
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I like this idea. A lot. In my limited experience with this type of person, I’ve learned that they really can’t be reasoned with. So, if you can’t avoid him, just demonstrate to him that he will not be effective with you and hope he moves on to a more worthy soul. But of course, treat him with courtesy – our Lord demands no less.
 
Aaron I.:
OUCH!

Perhaps you could explain to him that one time when you were five you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, so it doesn’t really matter if you commit idolatry or not. 😃
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Aaron…that answer was just way too good 👍
 
If reasoning with this person will not work, just pray for him especially at Mass, and then I must admit, the idea of taking out your rosary beads and praying the Rosary holds strong appeal to me. I may try it myself if I ever find myself in that situation. Just stay professional at all times if this is at work espcially when dealing with those you are trying to (physically) save. God be with you, and Mary too!
 
Jeanette L:
Be a witness to what true Christianity is - love him in spite of himself - treat him with respect - and pray for him. Then take out your rosary beads when he is preaching and start praying the rosary out loud. Every time! Like a dog, he’ll learn what behavior rewards him and what doesn’t! 👍
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If “ignoring him” is out of question at the expense of your sanity, I agree that the above suggestion is the best. He may be so averted the prospect of your Pavlovian techniques that he ceases to assail you with his agenda OR the power of prayer in the name of Jesus Christ and the holy intercession of his Blessed Mother may actually soften his heart. Either way you win.
 
If he is harrassing you on the job, warn him to stop or else you’ll file a complaint against him for creating a hostile work environment.

And then tell him you’ll pray a decade of the Rosary for him each night.

And then each night, pray a decade of the Rosary for him.

And if he doesn’t stop harrassing you, file that complaint.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
I think you should tell him the following:
  • I greatly appreciate your concern for me - honest
  • I accept and confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior
  • I believe that we are both following our Lords call in the manner that He has currently chosen for each of us - we are simply on slightly different paths right now. I don’t know why God does such things. But I trust Him and I must continue to follow Him - so please don’t feel like I have rejected you - my commitment is to Him.
  • Understanding all of this - I hope you are not offended if I respectfully request that you not continue to question my faith in Jesus Christ. I will continue to pray for His guidance, and I would prefer that you also direct your energies in prayer for me, rather than in dialogue. Thanks brother.
 
First you should decide if you want to witness to him or ignore him.

To be rude is not Catholic but you can ignore him, if you choose to. But be nice and forgiving always.

Here is what I would do since I love to talk to fundies;
  1. Hang a rosary from the rear view mirror. (I have one in every vehicle)
  2. Wear a large crucifix where he will see it every day.
  3. Make shure you have a miraculous medal on your ID etc…
  4. Say a prayer for him to lift the scales off his eyes out loud every shift.
  5. Pray the rosary out loud at least once a day.
  6. Point out the errors of Fundie logic - constantly. (I know it, so if you don’t, learn it)
  7. NEVER let him finish a sentence about his fundie opinions - NEVER. Interupth him and make him answer your questions and make him research for facts at home. Just start telling him his errors or praying the rosary too.
  8. Make shure you tell him he is in a cult like the Mormons and JW’s. They do not listen to evidence, only what their church tells them to believe. They are closed minded like him. Ask him if he knows what the statue of Lady Justice looks like. Blind folded and a scale with two pans for facts. Tell him he has one eye open and one pan cut off. His cult told him to throw out ALL the evidence except what he has been brainwashed to believe.
  9. Hit hard the errors in his Bible and how the Catholic Church wrote, preserved and keeps the Bible true.
  10. Put on a rosary ring. (I have one on now)
  11. Ask him who died and made him God? To judge you?
  12. Bring your Catholic Bible to work and the Catechism too! Read them every day in front of him!
KNOW you apologetics if you plan to engage him in theology. Excuse me, you have theology and he believes in “ME”-ology. You follow Jesus and he follows what ever is easy that day.

I’d LOVE to be in you shoes you lucky dog. If you can be an Air Traffic Controller at one of the busiest airports in the world I’ll trade spots with you? I know how to use a radio and can open a bandaid, whana switch? (In the feds we can’t talk much theology or we get fired! Too many people complain if you are not one on one in private)

OH YEA! Put up some statues of Blessed Mary and St. Christopher in the ambulance! Maybe ones with a bobbing head?:bounce: :bounce:

Most important, remember the reformation was due to bad Catholic clergy. He is a product of OUR Church, when it had lots of dirt in it. The dirt (reformers) left but they took some lost sheep with them. Try to help your fundie find Christ and his Catholic Church again. God loves him and so should you.
 
I was raised in a fundementalist environment, your co-worker sounds like he is caught up in the emotion of the fundemental type religion and has been very well instructed that you, as a catholic, are the next best thing to a satan worshiper. There is nothing at this point that you are going to be able to say to reason with him. Reason is not part of his psyche right now. The good news is that this will probably not last. Eventually he will loose the emotonal “high” and will probably experience some life lessons (especially as a paramedic) that will cause him some difficulty in his kind of faith (take it from an inner city policeman). If he has the memory of your example in his “database” to draw from at this time, you may make all the difference in the world. Unfortunatly, you will probably never know about it. This is your chance to live a real example.
 
How do i deal with a fundamentalist? From the bottom of the deck!! LOL!–nicolo
 
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nico1089:
How do i deal with a fundamentalist? From the bottom of the deck!! LOL!–nicolo
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Good one! Only problem is, most Fundamentalists don’t believe in playing cards! Talk about legalistic, what a group they are. I grew up like that, but luckily, my parents got fed up with that kind of nonsense before long, we just had to hide the deck when the grandparents came to visit!

Those were the days! :rolleyes:

Jeanette
 
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BioCatholic:
  1. how do i deal with him and his radical views? he is hell bent on “saving” my soul.
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Memorize these two passages:

*1 Cor 4:3: But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself.
4: I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. *

1 Cor 2:13: And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.
14: The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The second one is kinda tough to argue against. It’s not necessarily a fair tactic but…
  1. assuming #1 is impossible, can i just convince him that i am the antichrist incarnate so he chooses another clinical preceptor?
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Never deny Christ even to stop a kook.
to put things in perspective, he thinks Fred Phelps and the Westboro baptist Church are “one of the few true Christians left”.
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Sounds Landmark Baptist.

Peace and God Bless
Nicene
 
Oh I forgot. If you really want to turn him off just tell him to speak to you in tongues or NOT at all. Tell him if he won’t speak in tongue then you’d just as soon have him shut up if the Holy Spirit can’t speak through him.

If he speaks in tongues that is!😉

I am listening to Rhema Praise on TV with Kenneth Hagen from Rhema Bible Training Center right down the road from me. He is screaming and shouting and just spoke about tongues so I thought you could use it. I just finished watching Fr. Corapi so it was a big change. from a priest who teaches with love to a preacher who yealls and screams.:whacky: I’ll take Father Corapi anyday!
 
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