You laugh!! I'm interested in understanding the Bible without "upgrades" or contemporary interpretations & I think that's as fundamentalist as one can get. Part of my study has included delving into the multitude of things that led to the many schisms, throughout the ages.
You're remembering the good old days! Fundamentalism has evolved into the same old paternalistic tyranny our great founders, like Robert Paine, rejected.
R.T. Paine was following an old family tradition. The base for the word protestant is protest. There was a time when having a Bible in a language other than Latin was grounds for being guilty of heresy, as it challenged the power of the Church. I have some mighty controversial Pastors in my ancestry, besides the ones in my Paine & Treat family lines. I would love to get my hands on any of their sermons or writings.
Very true, but the balance of power has tilted toward the zealots.
I dunno if the power has tilted toward them as much as you fear. Sometimes it's a button pushing kind of thing, to see if we can get secularists to go into a meltdown. We're Christians, not angels. :o)
Conservatives have traditionally been divided into two camps. Many called them faith conservatives and doubting conservatives. We used to work together to try to limit government intrusion into our lives. We both opposed socialism and shunned the zealots, both religious and social.
We lost in the fight for our schools & changes in the laws made the indoctrination camps nearly mandatory.
This new wave of fundamentalism we see today, has not only divided us into warring factions, it supports government intrusion into our lives. They desire to force their dogma on us all, using government as their tool.
Sadly true, though the doubters did their share, by going along with making sure that any "good" idea had to be made good everywhere. IOW, if a prayer was a bad thing in your child's school, it was a bad thing for every single school, everywhere.
I really wish the good old time Christians like you would make a come back.
Well, thank you. Me too. LOL
I love the Christmas season and hate to see it being law suited away because of a backlash from those who fear modern fundamentalism.
The nonsense started before modern fundamentalism & it infected many of the "traditional" religions ages ago. You have that backlash business backwards.