By Kevin J. Cheek
Fundamentalists. Religious Right. Fundies. Everyone seems to have a label for Fundamentalist Christians. The mainstream media and secularists use it as a slur. Either by ignorance or design they tend to regard Fundamentalist Christians as a homogenous subculture. Some speak of Fundamentalist Christian leaders. Some politicians use the term as a goad to spur on party loyalists, in the exact same way some invoked the term Roman Catholic to oppose John F. Kennedy. But most Americans are left with the question: What is Fundamentalist Christianity? And some might be surprised to learn that they themselves are Fundamentalist Christians, even though they may have never thought of themselves in that way.
Christian Fundamentalism has a very simple definition: The belief that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. While all Christians look to the Bible, some put equal or greater emphasis on tradition or on non-scriptural rationalizations. Not so with Fundamentalist Christians, who look strictly to the Bible.
To understand Christian Fundamentalism we must first understand some terminology. You'll frequently come across the term Conservative, Moderate, and Liberal. These refer to broad theological positions and are not to be confused with their political counterparts. On one end we have theologically conservative Christians, which are the same as Fundamentalist Christians. On the other we have theological liberals who reject the core beliefs about Christ and salvation that have defined Christianity for nearly two thousand years, and regard Christianity more as a philosophy. In between are the theological moderates which can have theologically conservative or theologically liberal leanings.
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Cheek's Mill
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Wednesday Out
J took a vacation day Wednesday, and we went out to Worlds of Fun. Every once in a while it's nice to get out without the kids. He got me to ride the Patriot, this year's new rollercoaster. I usually try to avoid roller-coasters, since they tend to shake too much, and give me headaches. This one, though, ran smoothly. J said it was even smoother at the beginning of the year, when it was brand new. It threw a few gees, but didn't give me a headache, so I enjoyed it the whole way through.
Then we rode the water rides, a spinning ride or two, and of course the train. It was great to go without having folks griping about riding something someone else chose to ride.
It only took us about half a day to see every thing we wanted to. Of course, we did save time by not going into Camp Snoopy, and things like that. We've already have scores of pictures us with Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and others in the Peanuts gang.
I wonder if we get more interactions with the characters than we would at, say, Disney, since Worlds of Fun is so much smaller a park? Something I've noticed is that the characters always are out with "keepers", available for taking pictures, making sure the characters are back inside for there show, things like that. One keeper sometimes looks after four characters. Now it's been at least ten years since I've been to Disney World, but I don't remember their characters having keepers like that. I would think, though, that they would almost have to, to protect the characters from the public, and vice-versa. I probably was not paying attention at the right time.
After all that walking and riding we came home tired, but we had had a fun time. We'll have to do it again next year.
Then we rode the water rides, a spinning ride or two, and of course the train. It was great to go without having folks griping about riding something someone else chose to ride.
It only took us about half a day to see every thing we wanted to. Of course, we did save time by not going into Camp Snoopy, and things like that. We've already have scores of pictures us with Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and others in the Peanuts gang.
I wonder if we get more interactions with the characters than we would at, say, Disney, since Worlds of Fun is so much smaller a park? Something I've noticed is that the characters always are out with "keepers", available for taking pictures, making sure the characters are back inside for there show, things like that. One keeper sometimes looks after four characters. Now it's been at least ten years since I've been to Disney World, but I don't remember their characters having keepers like that. I would think, though, that they would almost have to, to protect the characters from the public, and vice-versa. I probably was not paying attention at the right time.
After all that walking and riding we came home tired, but we had had a fun time. We'll have to do it again next year.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Starlight Theater
We had season tickets to Starlight Theater again this year. In fact, we bought four of them instead of the usual two. We were hoping that we'd be able to convince some friends of ours to go with us in exchange for babysitting. Somehow, though, everyone was too busy this summer. I don't know what it was, since some of those who were too busy to go see the shows with us have time to in see first run movies multiple times.
But anyway, that meant we took our children to see several more shows than we were originally anticipating.
The first show was Riverdance, which none of us had ever seen before. J and I really enjoyed watching the dancing, and C seemed quite enthralled by it, but N was determined to spend his time being miserable. He insisted on spending the whole time on my lap (fortunately, it wasn't too hot that evening).
The next show, a couple of weeks later, was Dr. Doolittle. This was the "kids" show for the season, so we had planned to bring the kids to it all along. We all enjoyed this musical about the best of any of them this year. Of course, they had to introduce a love interest into the story. We could tell she was a love interest since every time they met the music took a dramatic romantic turn, and of course, they hated each other on sight.
The weather was quite warm and humid at the start of the evening. But while Bob Rohlf was talking (he went on longer than usual since he was telling us about a couple who were giving a large sum of money to the theater because their son-in-law didn't die of cancer) a sudden breeze blew through, lowering the temperature about ten degrees. No one was paying any attention to Bob Rohlf, everyone was paying attention to the breeze, watching the cotton candy blow around, relaxing in the sudden cooling.
By the program, the show originally didn't have an intermission, then they put one in. We passed the point where the intermission should have been, and they kept on going. We figured that as soon as Bob Rohlf left the stage, he probably went back to his office, called the meteorologist, and decided they needed to hurry. We had a few sprinkles before the end of the show, but nothing to worry about, though a lot of folks left anyway (if only to stand beneath the awning). Then during the curtain call, the star, Tommy Tune, cut the applause short, said they'd been told to cut out the intermission, and they'd been racing the weather ever since, and sent us home. A couple of years ago, the star of Will Rogers Follies tried to do a similar thing, but then was so impressed with us sitting in the rain that he forgot himself and talked for another five minutes. But Tommy Tune kept his head and sent us right out.
It kept sprinkling all the way to the car, and out of the parking lot, but as soon as we hit the highway, the downpour started, thunder, lightening, the whole works. It was difficult to see. We could just imagine Bob Rohlf in his office, wiping the sweat from his brow in relief that they timed it so well.
More on the next two shows later.
But anyway, that meant we took our children to see several more shows than we were originally anticipating.
The first show was Riverdance, which none of us had ever seen before. J and I really enjoyed watching the dancing, and C seemed quite enthralled by it, but N was determined to spend his time being miserable. He insisted on spending the whole time on my lap (fortunately, it wasn't too hot that evening).
The next show, a couple of weeks later, was Dr. Doolittle. This was the "kids" show for the season, so we had planned to bring the kids to it all along. We all enjoyed this musical about the best of any of them this year. Of course, they had to introduce a love interest into the story. We could tell she was a love interest since every time they met the music took a dramatic romantic turn, and of course, they hated each other on sight.
The weather was quite warm and humid at the start of the evening. But while Bob Rohlf was talking (he went on longer than usual since he was telling us about a couple who were giving a large sum of money to the theater because their son-in-law didn't die of cancer) a sudden breeze blew through, lowering the temperature about ten degrees. No one was paying any attention to Bob Rohlf, everyone was paying attention to the breeze, watching the cotton candy blow around, relaxing in the sudden cooling.
By the program, the show originally didn't have an intermission, then they put one in. We passed the point where the intermission should have been, and they kept on going. We figured that as soon as Bob Rohlf left the stage, he probably went back to his office, called the meteorologist, and decided they needed to hurry. We had a few sprinkles before the end of the show, but nothing to worry about, though a lot of folks left anyway (if only to stand beneath the awning). Then during the curtain call, the star, Tommy Tune, cut the applause short, said they'd been told to cut out the intermission, and they'd been racing the weather ever since, and sent us home. A couple of years ago, the star of Will Rogers Follies tried to do a similar thing, but then was so impressed with us sitting in the rain that he forgot himself and talked for another five minutes. But Tommy Tune kept his head and sent us right out.
It kept sprinkling all the way to the car, and out of the parking lot, but as soon as we hit the highway, the downpour started, thunder, lightening, the whole works. It was difficult to see. We could just imagine Bob Rohlf in his office, wiping the sweat from his brow in relief that they timed it so well.
More on the next two shows later.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
School is starting again
School starts again on Monday. I'm looking forward to having some time to myself. I've got all kind of things I want to get done, such as getting some writing done, including doing some blogging, catching up on the housework, going to Curves regularly, and trying to do some crochet once the weather gets cooler. Somehow having weather in the 90s and 100s doesn't make me feel like sitting with a lap full of yarn.
The kids will be in 1st and 4th grade this year. Hard to imagine how fast they're growing. On the back-to-school night, we have to meet their new teachers this year. I think that they'll do well. Of course, one of C's teachers's the same as last year, since she's in a multi-aged class. Her fourth grade teacher had these neat-looking notebook style calendars, with a three-dimensional effect on the cover. C saw them at other kids' desks, and excitedly looked for her own desk. She was disappointed when she found it, since there was no calendar at her desk. Her teacher explained that she hadn't put one out for her since she didn't know what her multi-aged teacher was planning. But when she saw how disappointed C was, she got one out for her. They've got computers at each of the tables, one for every two kids. Back in my day, we didn't have any computers. Of course, back then it took a room-sized computer to do what my PDA can do.
N's teacher of course had the wrong name down for him at his desk. We've given him a nickname that's a bit unusual for his name (though common otherwise), that we consider logical, but other folks have trouble seeing.
The kids will be in 1st and 4th grade this year. Hard to imagine how fast they're growing. On the back-to-school night, we have to meet their new teachers this year. I think that they'll do well. Of course, one of C's teachers's the same as last year, since she's in a multi-aged class. Her fourth grade teacher had these neat-looking notebook style calendars, with a three-dimensional effect on the cover. C saw them at other kids' desks, and excitedly looked for her own desk. She was disappointed when she found it, since there was no calendar at her desk. Her teacher explained that she hadn't put one out for her since she didn't know what her multi-aged teacher was planning. But when she saw how disappointed C was, she got one out for her. They've got computers at each of the tables, one for every two kids. Back in my day, we didn't have any computers. Of course, back then it took a room-sized computer to do what my PDA can do.
N's teacher of course had the wrong name down for him at his desk. We've given him a nickname that's a bit unusual for his name (though common otherwise), that we consider logical, but other folks have trouble seeing.
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