{"id":857,"date":"2009-05-15T07:28:38","date_gmt":"2009-05-15T07:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/05\/ex-fundagelicals-tell-their-st.html"},"modified":"2009-05-15T07:28:38","modified_gmt":"2009-05-15T07:28:38","slug":"ex-fundagelicals-tell-their-st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/05\/ex-fundagelicals-tell-their-st.html","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Fundagelicals Tell Their Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

In response to my “In Defense of ‘Fundagelicals'” post<\/a>, two former “fundagelicals” have told their stories:
\nExcerpts from New Age Cowboy:<\/p>\n

I grew up “Fundagelical”. My father and two older siblings are the remaining Fundagelicals in my immediate family. My father still gets mailings from folks like Dobson; my older sister attends a conservative Missouri Synod Lutheran Church; and my brother got caught up with fringe Fundagelical racists in Missouri.
\nMy mother became skeptical of Evangelical interpretations when she became a psychiatric registered nurse; I gave up the Fundagelical program my second year of University, as I couldn’t take a literal Biblical interpretation; and my youngest sister is a lesbian. My mother and I are the only ones who get along with most of the family.
\nMy brother refuses to accept me, because of my marriage to a black woman; and he refuses to accept our younger lesbian sister.
\nLuckily, my father accepts my little sister and I. My older sister is a bit awkward with my little sister; but she tries.
\nAs far as friends go, a Young Life Bible study leader I had in high school doesn’t really talk to me any longer. Before he stopped everything was a lecture. A Campus Crusade director and I still hang out, when he’s in town… we just don’t talk religion. (Young Life & Campus Crusade are both Evangelical organizations)….
\nOn the macro level Fundagelicals are making Christianity look horrible. I don’t know how they went from having a loving icon like Billy Graham to becoming so mean-spirited. It’s turning potential Christian converts off. As far as I can tell Fundagelical philosophy is akin to what Rush Limbaugh spouts or what’s on Fox News.
\nI guess we can love the sinners, but the Fundagelical philosophy is destructive. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rob the Rev. writes:<\/p>\n

In my dark, ecclesiastical closet past I was a fundagelical “Misery” Synod Lutheran since 1971. After my separation from active duty in the U.S. Army in 1971 where I had a “foxhole” conversion I became a card-carrying member. I believe that I affiliated as a way to stay in the closet and out of a self-loathing of my homosexual orientation that I was denial about along with the stupid idea that God would “heal me” if I dedicated myself to serving as a pastor.
\nDuring my thirty or so years pasturing three fundagelical Lutheran congregations I came to understand what they are all about regarding their hypocritical nationalism, jingoism, self-righteousness, and pietism and functioned as one of them as part of my ecclesiastical cover. They are trying to “save themselves” by believing “pure” dogma and doctrine and saying it in the “orthodox” way.
\nI see no sincerity in it at all! And if they are sincere in their beliefs, they are sincerely WRONG! After coming to terms with my sexual orientation and accepting myself for who I am I rejected it all and want to expose it for what it is. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to my “In Defense of ‘Fundagelicals’” post, two former “fundagelicals” have told their stories: Excerpts from New Age Cowboy: I grew up “Fundagelical”. My father and two older siblings are the remaining Fundagelicals in my immediate family. My father still gets mailings from folks like Dobson; my older sister attends a conservative Missouri…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Fundagelicals Tell Their Story - Steven Waldman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2009\/05\/ex-fundagelicals-tell-their-st.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Fundagelicals Tell Their Story - Steven Waldman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In response to my “In Defense of ‘Fundagelicals'” post, two former “fundagelicals” have told their stories: Excerpts from New Age Cowboy: I grew up “Fundagelical”. 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