How to win a war with a fundamentalist.

I'm setting up this forum so that we have a continuous place to talk about strategies for winning the argument. How do you get a Bible-thumping fire-and-brimstone fundamentalist to even listen to you? Well, some of us *have*. Some of us have even won Bible-based arguments. No need to get hysterical. It isn't anything to be afraid of, it's just something to figure out and then do -- because it is indeed quite serious.

1. First suggestion: Listen to this podcast. The Rational Radical proves:
   • Matthew 25 tells us that our primary concern is to care for the needy
   • Right Wing policies kill people. Consider their healthcare and welfare policies. Consider New Orleans. Consider Iraq. A government with this record simply *cannot* claim to be Christian.

   Keep it simple. Argue from facts. Brothers and sisters, the Bible and the facts are on *our* side...
   Right-wing Christians are probably the largest and most disciplined opposition to a progressive, social justice agenda. Here's how to successfully challenge them by proving how unfaithful they are to the teachings of Jesus.

2. Next suggestion: Read this article from the Bruderhof ministries on why Bible-thumping literalism is, in the very first place, a perversion of how Jesus himself told us to interpret scripture and deal with one another.

   Jesus was for person-to-person engagement: a real person, real needs, earnest concerns, this moment right now in history.

   Pharisees and fundamentalists: ancient law, rules without context, screaming at someone to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. See the contradiction?

   We often comfort ourselves as Progressives by talking about how *hard* it is for a liberal to win an argument. We have PhD's, we say. There's so much to learn. We've all read so many books. How are we to win an argument with a rhetoric-flaming, story-telling, sharp-jiving literalist who just has to point to an argument here and there in the Bible and play on people's fears?

   Let's answer that with Jesus' words, John 17:17:

   "The truth will set you free."

   There's a splendor about the truth, something compelling that no one can resist. Have some confidence in the fact that we're talking about *truth* when we talk about a God who values human life and compassion, even when we acknowledge diverse communities and diverse needs. The truth will set you free.

   As a community, what we may need, most of all, is to intentionally and powerfully and earnestly practice speaking truth, every single day.