[MegaTrain]

Originally posted by rextorres:

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Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
[BUSH] has some faith in God, so he is a pure Christian Fundamentalist? I don't think so.

Yes, W is a Christian Fundamentalist - it's common knowledge. Are you denying it!!?

One of the scary aspects of this is that W's brand of Fundamentalism believes in "the end of days" scenario. Which includes - you guessed it - war in the middle east and a strong Israel.

The funny thing about these "Christians" btw is that they act as far from the way Jesus would as you can imagine. I actually heard one of them try to rationalize the war in Iraq as something Jesus would have done.

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Bible-believing Christians (that's all "Fundamentalist" means, anyway), don't all agree on every issue, including the use and role of military force or the various "end times" theories.

Sure, there are some out there that can't put forward a rational argument or defend a position with anything more than out-of-context Bible verses or "What would Jesus do" arguments, but just because there are some who defend a position poorly does not mean that the position itself is poor.

And just because there are others who set a horrible example by their behavior, that doesn't mean that all Christians are hypocrites or that Christianity is hogwash. All it means is that the church is made up of (GASP) people too.

Regarding eschatology (end times)--there are very very few who hold that it is our ROLE as Christians to actually BRING ABOUT the Last days by our actions or behaviour. Just because someone has a religious belief that someday the world will end doesn't mean that they are supposed to bring it about.

Regarding war/fighting--I was raised in a church that held to the doctrine of pacifism--that all fighting is immoral, even to defend your own life or family. I had just graduated from high school when the first gulf war broke out, and I actually prepared documents to declare myself a conscientious objector (CO) if a draft was instated.

More recently, however, I have become convinced that war/fighting is not always the greatest evil. The most persuasive argument that led me to this position was: "If good men do not fight evil, then evil will prevail." So there is something actually WORSE than war--and that is to allow an evil dictator like Saddam Hussein to torture his own people.

Now this is a MORAL argument, and doesn't speak to all relevant political issues, but I do believe that this is a major part of the reasoning behind this war. This is surprising to many people from around the world, because there are lots (even in the US) that would say "Good and Evil are such archaic concepts--who are you to say that you are better than another--who are you to decide what is good and what is evil?"

This is a huge issue, and ultimately comes back to fundamental philosophical and religous beliefs (on BOTH sides--"there is no absolute standard of good and evil" is a "faith-based" position as much as "there IS a standard").

There is a lot of good writing and thinking out there on these kinds of issues, and they are not trivial in the least. A man I admire uses a phrase that I'll end with: "Clarity is more important than agreement."