OK, Amos, let's take that analogy and fill in the blanks:

Let's say you believe that my religious belief, Christianity, is fundamentalist. Certainly there are fundamentalists within Christianity - but I am a Christian and I am NOT a fundamentalist I had many difficulties with fundamentalist elements of Christianity over the years, because fundamentalists are often unreasonable and angry and intolerant. But still, I'm a Christian, and choose to accept those parts of Christianity that I see as good and reject those I see as evil. I acknowledge the faults of institutional churches and suffered quite a bit because of those faults.

But still you think Christianity is fundamentalist and evil, and you feel obliged to remind me of that as often as you can. Not only that - because I'm a Christian, you insist that I must be responsible for the actions of fundamentalist Christians and those who use Christianity as a method of coercion. Christian churches have had many faults, and I sympathize with anyone who suffered because of those faults - but I suffered those faults, too.

Christianity is not intrinsically fundamentalist or evil, but it does have faults that I cannot defend. But you insist that I must either defend or deny Christianity, or else I am responsible for all of Christianity's shortcomings.


I guess that basically I believe that everyone and everything has faults. I think what we're supposed to do is deal with the faults, not exclude or condemn everyone and everything because they are flawed.


-Joe Offer-