Friday, February 11, 2005

Getting through to Fundies

When someone is encountered of the fundy persuasion, an attempt is made to do as little "damage" as possible. These people usually have not a clue, and so, are, in consequence, very fragile. Deep down, unconsciously, they doubt their grasp on "truth," which is amazingly shaky.

In a situation where "Christ" is said to be the "only way," I would have said, "I agree that Christ is the only way." For "Christ" is very different from the historical man Jesus. In fact, from a cosmic perspective, "Christ" means "Buddha," or "brahman," and has many other synonyms in different cultures. "Christ" is, in fact, another name for the One, cosmic Mind, Lovemind, Coremind, or God. Then, that statement would probably have been followed by something such as, "Do you believe that people are saved because of what they believe, or because of God's grace?"

Many of these fundies, despite lack of both education and understanding, are familiar with the idea of grace-- a core-teaching of the Christian Scriptures. If, as is probable, the fundy replied that people are saved by grace, that would have been followed by something such as, "I do not feel qualified to judge whether God chooses to save people who are born,and live, in ignorance of Jesus. But I do know one thing: No sin that has ever been committed, no person ever born, is beyond God's Love. And I think that that Love is so great that people cannot even understand it. Do you believe that there could ever exist a sin greater than God's Love?" That would surely have given the fundy something to think about, a "seed of Light."

If the conversation did not end there, probably another question brought up would be, "If a person lives in love, tenderness, forgiveness, and compassion all his life, and never hears of Jesus, do you really think that God will send him to hell forever?" Most, except the hardshell dogmatists, might be opened at least a crack by this question. If the fundy set up in concrete at this point, the conversation would be over. You do not gift a pig with a pearl necklace!:)

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