Going through hell

[bmasters1981]

Can it be said that another way that fundamentalists think and preach is that you have to go through an earthly hell (asceticism from all pleasure) to avoid a Devil's Hell? Based on what I've read on the site and on this forum, I'm very sure that such is part and parcel of fundamentalist preaching.

[Tooktheredpill]

Only some pleasures. For example, alcohol is bad but gluttony is usually accepted or even encouraged.

Movies and TV are generally condemned, but football is A-Ok.

[Darren]

Interesting question. I don't think most fundys (at least not the ones I have been around) view asceticism as necessary to gain heaven, but lots of them do view it as a test of spirituality and holy living. Actually, in fundyism the bar is set pretty low to be saved-- just pray the prayer and you are good for eternity, as long as it is a fundy leading you in the prayer (better not be by some NIV-loving neo-evangelical)-- but the bar for spirituality is high, and is based on whatever the MOG happens to demand. Every day at Fundy U there are staff and students who pour cold water (usually figurative ) on any one or group of students having a good time, no matter what it is. They figure if anyone is enjoying themself, they must be sinning.

Actually, Red Pill, football was frowned upon by the fundys where I grew up, because they play mostly on Sunday and they promote beer. Of course it was OK to go to Cardinals baseball games (just not on Sunday) even though they were (at the time) owned by the Anheuser Busch company.

[littleblueheathen]

I had an old aunt who lived that way. She was suspicious of anything that could be considered fun, although near the end of her life she loosened up a bit and would play Dominoes or Uno sometimes. There is a quote by an unknown (to me) person that says, "Some people are so afraid of going to hell when they die that they create a hell on earth while they live." That was the story of her life.

[pastor's wife]

(06-10-2012 04:13 PM)Darren Wrote:  Interesting question. I don't think most fundys (at least not the ones I have been around) view asceticism as necessary to gain heaven, but lots of them do view it as a test of spirituality and holy living.

Well said.

Quote:Actually, in fundyism the bar is set pretty low to be saved-- just pray the prayer and you are good for eternity, as long as it is a fundy leading you in the prayer (better not be by some NIV-loving neo-evangelical)-- but the bar for spirituality is high, and is based on whatever the MOG happens to demand. Every day at Fundy U there are staff and students who pour cold water (usually figurative ) on any one or group of students having a good time, no matter what it is. They figure if anyone is enjoying themself, they must be sinning.

So true. They don't seem to know how to balance the joy of the Lord and the idea of enjoying your life as described in Ecclesiastes and elsewhere with verses about denying yourself.

Quote:Actually, Red Pill, football was frowned upon by the fundys where I grew up, because they play mostly on Sunday and they promote beer. Of course it was OK to go to Cardinals baseball games (just not on Sunday) even though they were (at the time) owned by the Anheuser Busch company.

So ironic. It would be funny if one hadn't had to live under those kind of rules personally.

littleblueheathen said,

Quote: I had an old aunt who lived that way. She was suspicious of anything that could be considered fun, although near the end of her life she loosened up a bit and would play Dominoes or Uno sometimes. There is a quote by an unknown (to me) person that says, "Some people are so afraid of going to hell when they die that they create a hell on earth while they live." That was the story of her life.

It seems that some people are almost superstitious: if they prove how dedicated they were to avoiding pleasure on earth, then they're reassured of getting bliss afterward. It's really a sad way to live.

[Malchus' Ear]

(06-10-2012 04:13 PM)Darren Wrote:  Actually, in fundyism the bar is set pretty low to be saved-- just pray the prayer and you are good for eternity, as long as it is a fundy leading you in the prayer (better not be by some NIV-loving neo-evangelical)-- but the bar for spirituality is high, and is based on whatever the MOG happens to demand.

Theologically speaking, this hits the nail on the head for the three biggest stumbling blocks for Fundies as I've seen them:

1. They believe that the Gospel is only pertinent to salvation (instead of it being applicable to all of a Christian's life)...
2. And that sanctification is not a necssary sign of one's salvation (just say The Prayer one time and you're good to go)...
3. But should sanctification occur, it is due to man's responsiveness to standards by making decisions and choices, not by the leading of the Holy Spirit in Christian liberty.

It is one jacked up doctrine, I tell you what.

--
Mal

[LMcC]

(06-12-2012 02:15 PM)pastors wife Wrote:  It seems that some people are almost superstitious: if they prove how dedicated they were to avoiding pleasure on earth, then they're reassured of getting bliss afterward. It's really a sad way to live.

YES! My husband does this, but not always necessarily for Fundy reasons. (On the one hand, he is a Fundy mentally whether he admits it or not. OTOH, he has a relative who has made poor choices and now lives in a bad situation, and we absolutely cannot help her without enabling her behavior. He feels like he can't live happily if she isn't.) It is impossible to buy him a gift because he will not say anything he wants. ("I don't need anything". is the answer. That's not what I asked.) I've asked him more than once how denying himself happiness is making his relative's life any better. He never has an answer, but he still gets the idea it's right to do. He seems to take a perverse "righteous" pleasure in how much he can deny himself, and no amount of talking him out of it helps.

I, OTOH, go to the other extreme: I figure I've been through enough crap in my life as a Fundamentalist, and I don't deny myself anything that won't hurt me or screw me up financially. I only wish he would let me do things for him that he could learn to enjoy... but it'll never happen.