How do you deal with a Fundamentalist?

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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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You are so right on! I used to watch TBN, and don’t get me wrong, I got what I needed sometimes, just to keep me moving along, you know, but now that I’ve been watching Fr. Corapi and Fr. Groeschel…I just can’t even leave TBN on for more than 5 seconds anymore. My nerves can’t handle it. Give me teaching not PREACHING any day.

Of course, Fr. Corapi calls himself a preacher, and I know that is his charism, but what a difference!

Jeanette
 
[BioCatholic]
  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”.
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I used to be one of those radical fundamentalists but not as agressive as this guy seems. The best way to handle him is to show him FROM THE BIBLE how he is wrong and do so with grace and patience. I’d brush up on my Catholicism, learn, memorize and be able to cite Scripture against his foolish attacks. Then I’d dedicate myself to spending at least one week, perhaps two or more to politely dialoging with him during lunch or after work and showing him that his position is not only unscriptural but illogical. Be so persistant and patient every day and show him that he is wrong. And of course pray for him, say the rosary for him. But remember you can’t just pray without action, God requires both (James 2:17-24).

Show him that his position is against reason and show him how he is wrong. Every blue moon I get to talk to a few guys at my work place who like to accuse the Catholic Church of something; I respond to them and show them how they are wrong and how Scripture proves them wrong and I even bought one of them books and asked him to read it and juxtapose his position with Catholicism; he rarely speaks to me about my Catholicism unfortunately.
It almost always works, but I must confess that I absolutely love dialogues with fundamentalists/evangelicals, however, no one likes talking to those who simply refuse to listen to another position and think it through via Scripture and reason. Those types are very frustrating for sure.

You need to understand that many fundamentalists/evangelicals love to tell Catholics what they do and why they think they are wrong and they love to dominate the conversation as the “experts” of Scripture, yet when they are challenged and refuted they back off, when they are shown they CAN’T be correct according to Scripture, history nor reason, they retreat, sometimes they even won’t hold a conversation with you for some time. I’ve had that happen a plethora of times. **Again buy him a few books after you’ve read them of course:) **
 
I used to be a fundamentalist. A fundamentalist tries to convert others for two reasons. 1. Because they actually do care about others and are desperate to keep you from the jaws of hell. 2.They have been told that it is a mark of a Christian to want to convert others. If they don’t have a desire to witness then they aren’t a true Christian.

While I was attending my former church, I was put under a lot of pressure to convert others. There wasn’t much credit given to witnessing by example, or waiting until the time was right. The only way to prove your Christianity was to rush in and quote endless amounts of memorized scripture. My pastor went so far as to say that a person could not be converted through any means but by quoting scripture.

You have to remember that this person is coming from a place of fear, either for you or himself. So, try to be patient and do the most loving thing of all, pray for him.
 
Post I Cor 13:4-8 in your vechile, when his behavior is not agape like, point that out to him.

Treat him with agape.

Pray for him.

Document, Document, Document. If he is so, bent on arguing religion, then he is no earthly good either. Odds are he is making mistakes with patients, maybe even harassing them about religion. If he is constantly late or delaying your vechile from getting back on duty because he is visiting too much with others. Basically, your bosses need grounds other than religion among employees to relieve him of duty. Look for reasons other than religion for them to relieve him, document that for your bosses.

Remember Titus 3:9
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

http://www.cronthenet.com/Cursillo/Funny Things/Catholic Driving Too Fast.jpg

cronthenet.com/Cursillo/Funny%20Things/Catholic%20Driving%20Too%20Fast.jpg
 
Aside: It sounds like he is creating a hostile work enviroment. Maybe legal action from a catholic legal team is in order.

Basically, lets be professional, please. Use your down time to study materials related to your profession. Maybe he will take the hint and do the same.
 
Daniel Marsh:
Aside: It sounds like he is creating a hostile work enviroment. Maybe legal action from a catholic legal team is in order.

Basically, lets be professional, please. Use your down time to study materials related to your profession. Maybe he will take the hint and do the same.
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This is my reaction as well. Review your employee handbook and follow the proper procedure for documenting and reporting such.

First, a charitable “hey, I’ve been going over the handbook and we cannot make comments about a co-workers religious practice, so, let’s talk sports from now on…” type of comment to him.

Let your love and joy shine and that will be the best witness to the Truth of your Faith. Let HR handle the rest 🙂
 
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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Wonderful idea! There’s a way to make it doubly effective, though:

THE PRAYERS OF THE ROSARY IN LATIN If you don’t already know them, they don’t take too long to memorize.

Justin
 
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1962Missal:
Wonderful idea! There’s a way to make it doubly effective, though:

THE PRAYERS OF THE ROSARY IN LATIN If you don’t already know them, they don’t take too long to memorize.

Justin
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If you start saying the rosary in latin the poor guy might think that you are possessed.😛 That would be one way to get him off your shift.
 
Hi Justin, you do realize that the fundamentalist may think you are speaking in tongues when you say a prayer in latin?

agape
 
Daniel Marsh:
Hi Justin, you do realize that the fundamentalist may think you are speaking in tongues when you say a prayer in latin?

agape
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That was my thought. The poor man might think that you are possessed.😛
 
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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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FYI, this group is a cult (or as close to a cult as you can get), that wraps itself around “Rev.” Phelp’s weird teachings (they actually sing “God Hates America” as a hymn. Really). They condemn everyone else—Catholics, Protestants (ncluding other Baptists!) and Orthodox —to hell. Looks like you have a good variety of choices on this thread on how to deal with him. I’ll pray God give you wisdom on which one to use. God bless!
 
I would evangalize him to death. I love getting the opportunity to reveal the truth of the Catholic church to anyone. Since he is a fundamentalist, brush up on your “proof texts” as this is what they typically put the most stock in. You can get a hook in his lip doing that- I have done it many times. I would view this as a fun challenge, but that is just me. I work with a couple of them as well and I love seeing the dumbfounded looks I get at times when I witness to them.
 
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BioCatholic:
.

so far, i have been informed numerous times that i am going to hell,
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I’m not surprised…I’ve had evangelicals and all them tell me I’m going to Hell because I interpret things wrong…oh boy, what else is new?:rolleyes:😛

But seriously, I understand what it feels like. Just be thankful we belong to the TRUE Church!😃
 
I am a convert from evangelical Christianity with a leaning in the Fundamentalist direction. What really got me was learning church histroy and realizing that when Protestants say they are just getting back to the way the original church was (we heard that all the time) they really have NO IDEA what the original church looked like. If you have a chance to look into any of that you might find it useful. The book, Crossing the Tiber, by Ray was really good. Also, what really hit me was that if all agree that the Holy Spirit is Truth, then how can there be so many different denominations. Before I converted, this started hitting me–how could each church have a different version of the truth? How can different groups of men be deciding the truth for themselves?

On another note, as a nurse, I’m thinking that you need to amp up your preceptor job. Get out the books and quiz his tail off. Come up with every possible scenario, every rhythm strip, every drug, etc. If he starts bugging you and you’re tired of it, you can’t go wrong with changing the subject and doing your preceptor thing. If he won’t cooperate, then you can document that. After all, that is what you are truly there for. If he is going to take care of patients, we all want him to be able to do a good job–not be able to tell them why they should all go to his particular church.
 
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sk32900:
FYI, this group is a cult (or as close to a cult as you can get), that wraps itself around “Rev.” Phelp’s weird teachings. They condemn everyone else—Catholics, Protestants (ncluding other Baptists!) and Orthodox —to hell. God bless!
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I saw the Phelps quote earlier and thought,“This guy is way out there”. I just finished a comment in ‘letters to the editor’ regarding the laws being enacted to prevent their demonstations at funerals. Every time I’ve been aware of demonstrations it has had no sense in terms of where or why. Usually churches or gatherings for a church program, even Washburn University where Fred’s family members received their ‘Law Degrees’. :rolleyes:

Kotton
 
To the OP, since many posts are recommending you say a Rosary in front of him, allow me to make the following statement:

DO NOT PULL OUT A ROSARY AND START PRAYING IN FRONT OF THIS GUY!

Here’s why…
  1. He thinks you worship Mary.
  2. He thinks you pray meaningless repetitive prayers.
  3. It will make you look like a jerk. (In a “you’re a kid losing an argument with your parents so you put on loud headphones and sing kind of way.”)
  4. It might even make you look like you’re losing the “battle” with him. (“I can’t win so I’ll just pout about it and mutter Hail Mary’s to myself.”)
As for numbers 1 & 2, remember when we pray the Rosary, the important part is the meditation. This guy cannot read your mind! He has no idea what is going on in your head while you pray. All he sees is a member of the “roman cult” saying a repitious prayer to a pagan goddess. If he doesn’t understand what you’re actually doing when you pray it, you’ll confirm his paranoid ideas of what the Rosary actually is.

I repeat DO NOT PULL OUT A ROSARY AND START PRAYING IN FRONT OF THIS GUY!

Pray a daily Rosary for him if you desire, just NOT IN FRONT OF HIM!!!

Sorry for the shouting. 😉
 
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BioCatholic:
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”.
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You need to make ready to defend yourself. ic.net/~erasmus/BOOKS.HTM

Go to the link above and buy every book you can get on defending the faith. Then discuss (not argue) with him. There are some, and I have run into them, who will not hear the truth at any price. For those we have to pray that they see the light. Keep in mind that you need to focus on common ground in your discussions and work from that.
 
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