The title of the blog comes from 2 Thessalonians 2 in the King James Version of the bible. Thomas Helwys, an English Baptist in the 1600s wrote a tract attempting to expose iniquity in society, particularly the squelching of religious freedom by the government.
If this blog is anything, it is committed to exposing iniquity (the lack of soul freedom and freedom of conscience) in politics, religion, academia, and/or secular society. I do not believe in dogmatic stances or coercing belief in anything. The mystery for me is why we stand for such attempts to squelch freedom and how that plays out in our every day lives.
If there is any credo it would be these that I believe in:
Spirituality not religion.
Egalitarianism not hierarchy.
Relationship through love not false kinship through rules.
Faith in humanity and the dignity of human beings not personal piety out of fear.
Compassion not proscription.
Inclusion not exclusion.
Common Definitions:
1. Fundamentalist/Fundamentalism
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.
2. a. often an organized, militant Evangelical movement originating in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century in opposition to Protestant Liberalism and secularism, insisting on the inerrancy of Scripture. b. Adherence to the theology of this movement. (Taken from the Online Dictionary)
or how about this from Wikipedia:
Religious fundamentalism refers a “deep and totalistic commitment” to a belief in the infallibility and inerrancy of a holy book, absolute religious authority, and strict adherence to a set of basic principles (fundamentals), away from doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life.[1][2][3][4]
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It’s not much different from what I originally said (see footnote 1), but Holy Shit From Deacon Blue took me to task for inserting “my opinion” and pigeonholing me as one of those who pigeonholes others.
2. Inerrancy:
The doctrinal position [1] that in its original form, the Bible is totally without error, and free from all contradiction; “referring to the complete accuracy of Scripture, including the historical and scientific parts.” [2] Inerrancy is distinguished from Biblical infallibility (or limited inerrancy), which holds that the Bible is inerrant on issues of faith and practice but not history or science. (Taken from Wikipedia)
Footnotes:
1. What I originally said:
1. Fundamentalist: A religious fundamentalist is someone who believes that whatever scripture they adhere to is inerrant (see below) and not just inspired by God but transmitted to the writers without error. A religious fundamentalist is one who follows his/her (or her “head” or her pastor’s) interpretations of said scripture as if it were fact and not open to dispute. A Fundamentalist also believes that there are certain doctrines that must be believed in order to be saved although Jesus never required belief in dogmas.
Blessings to You,
