I've been reading her blog for a while now, it's funny how the name of the blog reminds me of the band Imagine Dragons. I will have a guest post of my own on her blog post this upcoming week, I will let you know when it's published
I asked her about her time in the IFB, (you can read more about it here), and about why she thinks that some people who leave fundamentalism leave Christianity altogether, and why some people stay in Christianity. (This is a question that I have been pondering for some time).
1. For my readers who may not be familiar with your blog, Defeating the Dragons, or with the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) organization, can you explain what the IFB is, and what your experiences with them were like?
2. What convinced you to stay in Christianity despite what you went through in the IFB? Was there ever a time where you considered giving up on Christianity altogether?
On the surface, IFB churches all have extremely conservative "standards," (known as "legalism" in mainline evangelicalism. IFB churches re-define "legalism" to mean something entirely different). These standards usually show up in no contemporary music of any kind, Christian or otherwise, no dancing, no alcohol consumption, never go to a movie theater, do not have cable TV, and insane "modesty" rules for men and women.
Ideologically, you are Tea Party Republican, and a Young Earth Creationist. Many IFBs homeschool their children and are extremely anti-public education. I grew up in the South, so most of the IFBs I knew were explicitly racist-- they believed that segregation is "biblical" and that inter-racial marriage is a sin.
The biggest part about being IFB, though, is being absolutely certain that you have "the right doctrine," and you essentially despise anyone who disagrees with you-- so, pretty much everyone, including Christians who aren't IFB. IFBs have a persecution complex like none other-- they glory in being the laughingstock of everyone, and frequently rail against "being politically correct" (which, they also re-define). This results in the IFB doctrine known as "Separation," which means exactly what it looks like. They do their best to never encounter anyone or anything that disagrees with them.
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| Dinosaur with saddle at Ken Ham's Creation Museum |
The biggest part about being IFB, though, is being absolutely certain that you have "the right doctrine," and you essentially despise anyone who disagrees with you-- so, pretty much everyone, including Christians who aren't IFB. IFBs have a persecution complex like none other-- they glory in being the laughingstock of everyone, and frequently rail against "being politically correct" (which, they also re-define). This results in the IFB doctrine known as "Separation," which means exactly what it looks like. They do their best to never encounter anyone or anything that disagrees with them.
2. What convinced you to stay in Christianity despite what you went through in the IFB? Was there ever a time where you considered giving up on Christianity altogether?
