Roundtable discussion show on Christian Fundamentalism

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Roundtable discussion show on Christian Fundamentalism

THIS SHOW NOW A FREE DOWNLOAD

Recorded on October 21st 2006 was a very thorough look at Christian Fundamentalism(still just as relevant) and Extremism in America. Our guests were authors of "The Fundamentals of Extremism." Rook was unable to make this recording session, but Razorcade, Kelly, Yellow5, and myself were present. This show ran for 4 hours! ecording session.  

Happy New Years 2013 present: 

Part 1 of RRS roundtable discussion on fundamentalism

Part 2 of RRS roundtable discussion on fundamentalism

 

GUESTS INCLUDED:

Kimberly Blaker is the editor and co-author of The Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in America Living in Michigan, Kimberly is a syndicated writer and columnist, social advocate, and staunch supporter of the separation of church and state. Her commentaries have also appeared in the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, San Francisco Examiner, and Los Angeles Daily Journal. She is also a syndicated writer of parenting and women's interest articles, which have appeared in more than 120 regional magazines. In addition, Kimberly has been published several times in the national Complete Woman Magazine, Playgirl, The Humanist, Toward Freedom, and Liberty Magazine. Excerpts of her work are also published by Bowdoin College,  Maine, for use in a Women's Studies course and CNED,  France. The Fundamentals of Extremism is based on her award-winning research paper, "Christian Fundamentalism: A Growing Danger." Kimberly Blaker on Myspace and Facebook

Edward M. Buckner, Ph. D. of Amherst, New York, was the Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism and editor of the Secular Humanist Bulletin. He received his Ph. D. in Educational Leadership in 1983 from Georgia State University and is former Director of planning, research, and development for Atlanta Technical Institute. Professional honors include election as Senator for Urban Studies Department in 1985 with the Georgia State University Senate. He formerly served as Vice President of Communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Georgia Chapter, and as chair of the 7th U.S. Congressional District Democratic Party. He is co-editor of Quotations that Support the Separation of State and Church. He spoke at the Godless Americans March on Washington a few years ago, and you can hear his presentation here.

Edwin Frederick Kagin, J.D., of Union Kentucky, is an attorney and the son of a Presbyterian minister. He received his degree from the School of Law of the University of Louisville in 1971. He is an Eagle Scout, former college English Instructor, and a U.S. Air Force veteran. He was editor of the AAMD and NIMH project that created the Adaptive Behavior Scale, used for assessing mental retardation and is a founding board member of Recover Resources Center, an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous. He is the originator and Director of Camp Quest, the first residential summer camp in the U.S. for children of atheists and other freethinkers. He is a speaker, debater, and outspoken critic of violations of church and state.

Bobbie Kirkhart, of Los Angeles, California, is an independent study teacher of 38 subjects in the adult division of the Los Angeles Unified School District. She earned her BA in journalism from University of Oklahoma in 1965, and has taken advanced studies. Her first national article appeared in Christianity Today, while teaching Sunday school during her academic career. Following graduation she spent five years as a social worker in South Central Los Angeles working with abused children, ultimately leading to an alteration in her beliefs. She is co-president of Atheists United, the largest democratic atheist organization in the nation and of Atheist Alliance International. She has been published in Secular Nation, and has made several radio and television appearances including To The Point, syndicated on National Public Radio. Bobbie Kirkhart is the Vice President of The Secular Coalition for America.

Herb Silverman, Ph. D. of Charleston, South Carolina, is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at the College of Charleston, which he joined in 1976, and is a National Board Member of the American Humanist Association. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Syracuse University in 1968. He is the author of over 100 research articles and recipient of the Outstanding Research Award at the College of Charleston, where he also served as head of the Faculty Senate. He attained the office of notary public in 1997 when the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the state law that prohibited nonbelievers from holding public office. For his successful constitutional challenge, he was recognized by the Wall Street Journal and placed in their winners’ column. Dr Silverman is President of the Secular Coalition For America

John M. Suarez, M.D., of Newbury Park, California, is formerly Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles and is on the Board of Trustees for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He received his M.D. from Columbia University School of Medicine in 1960 and his M.S. from UCLA in 1964. During his career, he specialized in legal psychiatry. He has had forty-one articles published in professional journals, including the Journal of Forensic sciences and Bull. American Academy of Psychiatry and The Law. He also serves as Chairman of the Committee on Education for Americans United and Vice Chairman of Development at the Center for Inquiry West. He has been a long time social activist.

 

Introduction and explanation of the book:

Quote:
On September 11, 2001, Americans witnessed horrific carnage inspired by religious extremism. We saw that religious fundamentalists will stop at nothing to reign terror on those they regard as their enemies. In our response, we began to focus on the oppressive treatment of women and children in other parts of the world where religious fundamentalism rules. Yet, even now, most Americans fail to realize the magnitude of problems posed by our own country’s Christian fundamentalism and Religious Right. We regard such dogmatism as odd but non-threatening. We reason, “Why should we be concerned, so long as it doesn’t affect us?” But the problem does affect all of us. It affects those women and children in fundamentalist Christian homes who suffer severe emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. It affects minorities, particularly African-Americans, and gays and lesbians. Equally disconcerting, the problem affects adherents of non-fundamentalist faiths and those with no religious beliefs who are prime targets of fundamentalists’ prejudicial attitudes. To the Christian Right in America, even mainstream Christians whose tenets differ from those of conservative Christianity are violators of the will of God and must reform. American Christian fundamentalists are working to change laws of our land and thus force all Americans to conform to strict religious ideologies. Kimberly Blaker’s The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America is not just another book on the Religious Right. John Shelby Spong, best-selling author of Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism calls Blaker’s book, “a thorough analysis of a present crisis.” In this stark and troubling account of the Religious Right’s vision for America, readers will come face-to-face with fundamentalist goals and tactics that have long been under way. Blaker’s carefully documented and compelling narrative exposes the full spectrum of issues on the Christian fundamentalist agenda. Rarely have these issues been examined so thoroughly; at least one has never been examined and exposed nationally. This absorbing exposé urges mainstream Americans to recognize and oppose the encroachment of Christian fundamentalism on our secular society. It is a stirring appeal for religious freedom and the protection of civil liberties for all—including for the extremists who would deny such rights to others.


Book Press and Publicity:

Quote:
The Fundamentals of Extremism, is an in-depth examination of the causes and characteristics of Christian fundamentalism and its deleterious effects on women, children, African-Americans, gays and lesbians, politics, education, and American society. Endorsed by world renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Dawkins writes: "I have just read this brilliant book from start to finish, almost without a break, and I am stunned and horrified by what I have learned. The fundamentalist Christian Right is America’s Taliban." John Shelby Spong, retired Bishop, Diocese of Newark, New Jersey and the national best-selling author of Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism has dubbed The Fundamentals of Extremism: “a blockbuster exposé of the activities of the Religious Right...This is no shallow treatment of an emotional subject, but a thorough analysis of a present crisis.”

 


LeftofLarry
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I have a question off the

I have a question off the top of my head without having read the book.
Right wing extremism is usually coupled with the republican party. My question is this..does the right wing party hold all the cards? Are the extremists really in charge? Is the majority of this country indeed fundamentalist?

My follow up is what do you think about then, the liberal party (the dems) trying to cater to the evangelicals and the xtian right? When I hear Barrack Obama (the pillar and upcoming star of liberalism) starts talking about how we need to cater to the evangelicals, what exactly do you think he means by this? Should the progressive party embrace the doctrine of intolerance that the xtian right embraces? Does Barrack Obama want to lie to the xtian right in order to win votes? What is your opinion on this matter.

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I'd like to know how much a

I'd like to know how much a role cynicism plays in the rise of the Religious Right. I watched a documentary on World War II in Germany once and one of the victims of the Nazis said the problem was cynicism: Nobody thought there was anything they could do about the budding ideology of National Socialism and it's effects.

Are we at a similar point? Granted, boards like these and people like Dawkins and Harris are indicators that the taboo surrounding questioning people's odd beliefs so long as those beliefs are hidden behind the guise of "faith" is, perhaps, breaking down but has the US, as much as it can be defined as a culture, become too cynical to think that anyonne can change these folks and lead them to the real light?

Is it too late to shake off the cynicism about changing thoughtless minds into realized human beings?


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Sam Harris said in "The End

Sam Harris said in "The End of Faith" That Moslem Extremism is much more dangerous than Christian Extremism (or that of other religions.) Do you agree - why or why not?

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I just read Edward M.

I just read Edward M. Buckner's thing on the Treaty of Tripoli. I wonder who started to lead us away from this idea, if someone could be blamed. I kind of have an idea why people would try to say the nation is christian, but it might be good to explain it.

Some have said camps like Camp Quest are just as bad as the Jesus Camps. Now I don't think they could be, but sounds like an interesting topic to bring up.


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Ok, I've started reading the

Ok, I've started reading the book and as I'm reading the first couple of chapters this question came to mind:

Do the authors have an opinion regarding Leo Strauss' neoconservatism and the use of religion (ie fundamentalists) to control the masses in order to complete alterior objectives, such as say corporate elitism, globlal hegemony, etc? In other words is it the government that is controlling the people with religion, by throwing bones at them such as anti-abortion laws, anti-gay laws. Or is it the fundamentalists that have hijacked the government? In other words how do you reconcile Straussian neoconservatism with fundamentalist christianity or judaism in this country?

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 Happy New Years 2013

 Happy New Years 2013 present: This show is now a free download.  

Part 1 of RRS roundtable discussion on fundamentalism

Part 2 of RRS roundtable discussion on fundamentalism