the problem with fundies - brain-check syndrome

I have a dear friend who attends a local independent church. She's one of the cleverest, wisest and most highly-educated people I know. I'm not quite sure why she goes to church and I'm not sure she's clear on that score either. While I think she does believe at some level, she and I share similar concerns about institutional Churchianity and the Bible. But her husband is a keen church attender and she says her kids get a lot out of Sunday School so she sticks with it. That said, she has to keep her head pretty low in order to survive.

A couple of days ago this friend rang me after walking out in the middle of a women's meeting held at her local. She was *mad*. Apparently some woman had indulged in a little rant saying she 'doesn't believe in IVF' without, of course, considering that there is likely to be at least one woman in the room who has reason to disagree. The conversation moved on to abortion and then to a long list of other things those women don't believe in including but by no means limited to wearing crystals as jewellery. This is because demons live in crystals so wearing them puts even dinky-di, born-again sorts at risk of accidental possession by evil spirits. One ex-pat Amercian gal added that she'd seen some *terrible* cases in Africa at which a wide-eyed quivering sister whispered she'd loooove to hear more about *that*.

My friend, aghast at the stupidity she was witnessing and angry that not even the usually-sensible group leader seemed willing to call it what it was, headed for the door.

It put me in mind of a story I heard when a pastor at a mainstream Baptist church I was visiting unwisely opened up the pulpit so people could share 'praise points'. These, he explained, are evidence of God's blessing and answers to prayer that have occurred during the week. One giggly 30-something homeschool mum raced to the front to share this gem: She'd been almost at the end of her sewing project when she noticed she was just about out of thread. It would have been inconvenient to have to stop what she was doing and head out to buy some more so she prayed that God would extend her thread until she was done. And wouldn't you know it: the thread lasted just until she had completed her last stitch.

I am not saying miracles can't happen but I am simply unable to accept that the Creator of the universe deigned to override the laws of physics and perform a material miracle to save this ninny a 20 minute round trip to the shops. I glanced around to locate the pastor and see if he were forumulating a kindly, face-saving rebuttal for the poor dear but, no, he was smiling, clapping and praising God for his goodness along with all the rest.

The ripples of this kind of nonsense go way beyond humouring an otherwise harmless nut on a Sunday morning. Christian ministers want their flock to extend belief to accept that miracles happen. I get that. It's part and parcel of participating in a religion that is intrinsically spiritual in nature. But it's one thing to accept that miracles can and even do happen, and another to allow that an insignificant co-incidence is directly attitibutable to the Almighty's intimate interest in one's hobbies.

Church-goers are encouraged to make these kinds of leaps all the time. Own to even a smidge of sceptisism out loud and you'll be losing your A+++ status for sure. There exists a general concensus that if it's said about God, in church, by a Christian of more than 3 weeks standing, it must be OK. The Toronto Blessing debacle is a case in point.

In my view, pentecostal/charismatic Christianity simply could not survive if it suggested followers genuinely scrutinise such claims. Leaders get away with manipulating Scripture to suit themselves precisely because they lull trusting flocks into accepting their spoonfeeding week after week. Cleverly insisting, "Don't just believe what I say, check out the Bible for yourselves," only reassures parishioners that the minister is entirely trustworthy and doesn't need us to keep tabs on them. And retelling the 'thou shalt not touch the Lord's annointed' story oft and loud helps keep any irritating free thinkers safely in their boxes.

The church that allowed the Cotton Miracle story was not QF, charismatic or fundamentalist. It was your regular run-of-the-mill Baptist job. So I guess I'm criticising mainstream institutional Christianity now and not just QF fundies.

Yeah. I am.