
Given some online conversations of late, I feel compelled to jot down a few words about the raison d’être for the Stuff Fundies Like blog that consumes so much of my time and energy anymore. My inner narcissist loves this kind of navel gazing so here we go…
Since November of 2008, SFL has had over a third of a million visits and 5000 visitor comments logged. I never imagined when I first started writing down some random memories from my childhood that I would find so many other people who had shared experiences and strong emotional ties to the fundamentalist world. There are, of course, many blogs even in fundamentalist circles that make mine seem tiny by comparison but it’s a still intimidating to have that kind of reach.
Along with those who send thank-you notes and kudos for my posts, there are also a chorus of people who ask me why I bother to do this. Why bother to satirize and poke fun at something that I’ve moved on from? Usually this is accompanied by accusations of bitterness on my part and suggestions that I am a hypocrite for judging the judgmental and hating the haters. It is to those latter that I address this post.
SFL is primarily a humor blog. The entire meme is borrowed (read that “stolen”) from sites like Stuff White People Like, Stuff Christians Like, and a dozen other such sites. SFL is also a niche blog that appeals a very limited audience on a narrow range of topics. The posts tend to fall into one of two categories: 1) a satirical look at fundamentalist belief and practice 2) videos, audio, and websites that demonstrate fundy craziness “in the wild.”
SFL is also blog with serious implications. We may laugh at a comic look at way “The Weaker Brother” or the “Appearance of Evil” are used to manipulate people but it makes the manipulation no less harmful to those who are still in fundamentalism. Humor is a positive way of dealing with pain — and there’s far too much pain in the lives of former fundamentalists.
So why do I write? Primarily I write because I’m a writer. I’ve spilled gallons of virtual ink on this blog, internet forums, and elsewhere. SFL is merely one more outlet. Second, I write because people seem to want to read it. When five-hundred people show up to read your latest offering (even when the grammar is less than stellar and the idea development could use some major work), it’s incentive to keep going.
But more to the point, I also write because like me, many other people have a crying need for a way to make sense of their experiences in fundamentalism and humor is a great coping mechanism. So I satirize. I poke fun. I mock.
That last bit may make some people uncomfortable. Isn’t mockery always wrong? Doesn’t that make SFL just as bad as the fundamentalists that it derides?
I would suggest that mockery is the proper tool to use when addressing people with whom an intellectually honest dialog is no longer possible. When a person is so emotionally and psychologically invested in an ideal that they can no longer see that they have long since abandoned logic or rationale, then sometimes all that is left to do is use sarcasm and point out their absurdities as a warning to others. The Old Testament prophets used this strategy constantly. It works.
The problems in fundamentalism are legion and millions of words have been hurled into the Internet void by people arguing on every side of every fundamentalist issue. I prefer not to waste words that will never be understood by men who’s eyes are blinded to anything but their own lust for power and certainty of being right.
I would hasten to add that I’ve had many reasonable conversations with reasonable fundamentalists. I respect some of them greatly and know them to be honest and well-intentioned if somewhat (from where I’m standing) mislead. You will not see those individuals or churches being featured on SFL — there’s simply nothing there to satirize.
If you’re a fundamentalist and you have the gift of chuckling at yourself, God bless you. If you’re a former fundy and you’ve been helped in anyway by some silly thing that I’ve said, then I’m glad for it. Otherwise, laugh if it’s funny, complain if it isn’t, and go read something else if you simply can’t stand it.
DD