An interesting point of view, to say the least.
Perhaps the Fundamentalists you mention refuse to abandon Christianity because they feel much the same way I do. That is, they have a commitment to Jesus Christ that does not depend on what others may say about them.
I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. the "Mormon" Church). We have had our differences with traditional and orthodox Christians; even here on Free Republic, many insist that we are not really Christians. Nevertheless, we consider ourselves Christians because we have a commitment to Jesus Christ. That is not going to change merely because other Christians may disapprove of us.
I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. the "Mormon" Church). We have had our differences with traditional and orthodox Christians; even here on Free Republic, many insist that we are not really Christians. Nevertheless, we consider ourselves Christians because we have a commitment to Jesus Christ. That is not going to change merely because other Christians may disapprove of us.
I'm sure you're right, Logophile. All I can say is chr*stianity doesn't deserve such devotion. Believe me, as one who comes from a Fundamentalist background who investigated the ancient churches with respect I was absolutely astounded by the degree of contempt they had for my tradition, despite the fact that in the United States it is the Fundamentalists who do all the work. Do you see Copts or Maronites or Armenians or even Eastern Orthodox standing up for chr*stianity in this country? The only thing they feel safe condemning is Biblical Fundamentalism.
I hadn't really thought about the similarity in the predicaments of Fundamentalists and mormons because of the vast differences in theology. Not to go into a big argument, but the LDS Church is so very theologically unique in so many ways, whereas Fundamentalist Protestants are literally hated by the ancient and mainstream churches for merely accepting the facticity of the bible which it inherited from those churches in the first place! Absolutely incredible!
The gutless ancient and mainstream churches, who can't bring themselves to condemn anything except Biblical Fundamentalism, should be ashamed of themselves, but this requires a certain level of decency, so it will never happen.