Eavesdropping

My oldest son has a girlfriend. She's an interesting person from many different angles. One, she's a senior (and he's a junior). She's African-American (and we're not). She's albino--and loves to color her hair flaming (and I do mean flaming) red. She's spunky, gregarious, outspoken--all things my oldest son is not. She chased him, not the other way around.

She's also a Jehovah's Witness.

My parents and some of my other family members don't like that very much. They keep warning me not to let things go too far. Her own parents are strict with her, and believe dating is meant for marriage. They're concerned about the future possibilities, and conflicts in faith should the two marry. My husband and I have a different take on dating: it's a time to meet and get to know someone and see if they are compatible as a marriage partner. But it doesn't necessarily lead to marriage in every case. We also know that, if their marriage is going to happen, nothing we can do will stop it. (Never mind the fact that, at their ages, it's far, far, far too early to be talking about them marrying anyway!)

Her folks are personable, and I like them. We've had dinner together, and they want us to do other things with them, too. I like her and speak with her on the phone while trying to pry him out of a book or drag him in from gardening.

Today, she asked if my son could go with her to "the Memorial". It's on the evening of Palm Sunday, and - as she put it - it's a memorial or celebration of Jesus Christ's death. I deferred to my husband on this one; his thought is that our son is old enough to decide matters of faith for himself. So, he's going.

Now, the two of them talk on the phone every night, sometimes longer and later than I like. But tonight, I've been eavesdropping as my son tries to explain to his girlfriend the meaning of things like the resurrection, and communion, and a lot of our own beliefs and practices. He has his KJV out, and is reading passages of scripture to her, sharing with her what we believe and why we believe it.

We haven't been to church in several years, and our absence has been during a very impressionable time for all my kids. All of them have professed Christ. All of them have been baptized. They've gone to Sunday school, children's church, AWANA, and Christian school. And now, my son is... defending isn't quite the right word... but explaining in a non-threatening way (I hope) the beauties of the Gospel.

I don't know where any of this will go; not his relationship, not his faith, not his future. I can only pray that God will lead him, and keep him pointed towards Christ.

What are the "Fundamentals"?

Some of you reading this (if anyone is) might wonder exactly what a Fundamentalist is, or what they - and by extention, I - believe. This list is from Wikipedia's article on the subject:

• The inerrancy of the Bible
• The literal nature of the Biblical accounts, especially regarding Christ's miracles, and the Creation account in Genesis
• The Virgin Birth of Christ
• The bodily resurrection of Christ
• The substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross

Now, these are the basics of what I believe, though I'm waffling a little on point #1, and definitely have different opinions on the Creation account. I believe that God Created the universe, our solar system, the earth and all that's in it. I just don't know the method. I wasn't there. No one was, not even Adam. So nobody can say for absolute, positive sure that God spoke everything into existance. Not that He couldn't have done it, but I'm not sure He did.

As far as Christ's miracles and points 3 through 5, yeah, I believe them quite solidly.

The trouble is that American Fundamentalism has added a lot more to these five items over the years, and some of these have been raised to the level of the five listed above. And the one thing they've added to which makes them so insidious is the "doctrine" of separation. If you don't believe exactly the way they do, with all the right emphases on all the right beliefs, then they will separate from you, basically condemning you to hell as an apostate. They'll always have their reasons, which they'll frame as "biblical" using a few cherry-picked Bible verses to back them up.

What are some of these things that Fundamentalists divide over? Let's see:

• The version of the Bible you read from
• Your clothing - especially pants on women
• Your hair length - as in short hair on women and long hair on men
• Alcohol consumption
• Movies, music styles, and other types of entertainment
• Childrearing practices
• Education - many favor Christian schools or homeschooling
• Patriotism
• Patriocentrism - the father is the center of the home and is to be submitted to and obeyed

These are just a few of the preferences that end up being raised to doctrinal levels. There are many more; this is just the tip of the iceberg. I've been surrounded by this separation business to varying degrees for years, and it's been hard to walk away from that mindset. Very, very hard. What has helped me is reading the struggles of others who have walked where I'm walking now. My most favorite site is Stuff Fundies Like, which takes a satirical approach to all this rigarmarole.

So, there you have it. I believe in:

• The inerrancy of the Bible in its original texts
• The literal nature of most Biblical accounts, especially those regarding Christ's miracles
• The Virgin Birth of Christ
• The bodily resurrection of Christ
• The substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross

The things that I believe beyond that are secondary. Here are some of them:

• God created the heavens and the earth. How, I don't know.
• Bible stories and accounts should not only take into consideration the genre of the text (poetry, history, allegory) but also the historical era and circumstances under which they were written.
• The ability of each believer to come before God without a mediator beyond Christ Himself, by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit. (Also known as "Priesthood of the believer")

There's a lot more, most of it pertaining to my day-to-day life. Some of it might be controversial. Some of it, I'm still forming opinions about. If you have any questions about what else I believe in, go ahead and ask. I might be able to answer; I might not. I am, however, not interested in getting into debates on any subject, especially the controversial ones.