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Teenage bullies turned old religious fanatics

Cainkane1

Philosopher
Cainkane1
Joined
Jul 16, 2005
Messages
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The great American southeast
Way back in the late 50's and middle sixties I was in school. Like all schools the schools I went to had bullies.

There is a luncheon held once a month by former students of my school and the bullies that are still living are without exception fundamentalist Christians. This is not a coincidence.

Looking up one of the scariest punks and bully I have ever known is now a total Jesus freak. I mean this guy was a murderer wannabe.

Thoughts?
 
My thoughts are that people change over time. You should talk to one of them about their faith. Tell them what you remember of their bullying and see what they think of that period of their lives now.
 
Maybe they continued to be jerks after they graduated and went on to do a bunch of terrible things. Now that they are getting old, they might just be "cramming for the final."
 
Cainkane1 said:
Way back in the late 50's and middle sixties I was in school. Like all schools the schools I went to had bullies.

There is a luncheon held once a month by former students of my school and the bullies that are still living are without exception fundamentalist Christians. This is not a coincidence.

Looking up one of the scariest punks and bully I have ever known is now a total Jesus freak. I mean this guy was a murderer wannabe.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
******** using their convenient belief system to ignore, excuse or whitewash their previous behaviour, and/or allow them to continue on with it in both tried and tested and/or new ways.

Tell them to go **** themselves with a splintery stick.

Alternatively they can buy your forgiveness by giving you the 10% of their weekly salary they give to the church.
Their god should understand, because if it is as powerful as they say it can magic up its own damn money for the church.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
Cainkane1 said:
Way back in the late 50's and middle sixties I was in school. Like all schools the schools I went to had bullies.

There is a luncheon held once a month by former students of my school and the bullies that are still living are without exception fundamentalist Christians. This is not a coincidence.

Looking up one of the scariest punks and bully I have ever known is now a total Jesus freak. I mean this guy was a murderer wannabe.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Interesting hypothesis. It would be interesting to test.
 
It makes sense, and fits with my experience.

Bullies are very authoritarian in outlook, but they want to be the authority. As they get older, they can't be the big man on the high school campus, so they look for another outlet. The church, especially in the fundamentalist form, gives them an opportunity to threaten, coerce and demand, just like they used to.

I'll bet not many of them are in the United Church of Christ or United Methodist (i.e. more liberal) churches.

If they had grown up Muslim instead of Christian, they would be in the Taliban.
 
Cainkane1 said:
Way back in the late 50's and middle sixties I was in school. Like all schools the schools I went to had bullies.

There is a luncheon held once a month by former students of my school and the bullies that are still living are without exception fundamentalist Christians. This is not a coincidence.

Looking up one of the scariest punks and bully I have ever known is now a total Jesus freak. I mean this guy was a murderer wannabe.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


Bullies pick on the weak, vulnerable, and minorities like homosexuals.

Perhaps as fundie Christians they get to pursue this fetish.
 
Thor 2 said:
Bullies pick on the weak, vulnerable, and minorities like homosexuals.

Perhaps as fundie Christians they get to pursue this fetish.
Click to expand...
Very good point. As a bully, they often get near-universal condemnation, but as a Christian, they get reinforced and positive feedback for the exact same behaviors.
 
theprestige said:
My thoughts are that people change over time. You should talk to one of them about their faith. Tell them what you remember of their bullying and see what they think of that period of their lives now.
Click to expand...

"I don't remember that!" (said in a tone of outraged innocence) was the response of a past bully in my experience.

Special case though. He was my father.
 
I love the fact that in this thread, "Christian" is considered synonymous with "Abusive". It's like no-one's even questioning that connection.
 
arthwollipot said:
I love the fact that in this thread, "Christian" is considered synonymous with "Abusive". It's like no-one's even questioning that connection.
Click to expand...

I think the question is whether Fundamentalist "Christian" is synonymous with "Abusive".

My father was a non-practicing Mormon, by the way. I was brought up Roman Catholic.
 
Thor 2 said:
Bullies pick on the weak, vulnerable, and minorities like homosexuals.

Perhaps as fundie Christians they get to pursue this fetish.
Click to expand...

Or this is their way of atoning for their past misbehavior. That would account for a number of people in my family, including a Southern Baptist Preacher.

One relative killed some of our pets. As he grew older, he began using the phrase "your family that loves you" as an excuse for every abusive thing he did.

Beat a smaller sibling bloody a few times a month?: "Hey, I'm your family that loves you!"

Rape child relatives? "Hey, I'm your family that loves you!"

Drown a cat? "Hey, I'm your family that loves you!"

Beat a puppy to death with his fists? "Hey, I'm your family that loves you!"

By all I understand, he would have gone on to become a serial killer.

He became a devout Pentecostal instead. At least for a while.
 
Interesting how Christ may have changed these lives like he has so many times. Of course here it's missed completely
 
Humots said:
"I don't remember that!" (said in a tone of outraged innocence) was the response of a past bully in my experience.

Special case though. He was my father.
Click to expand...

My father does the same, but without the outrage. I think he and my mother remember things much differently than they happened. He hasn't become a religious fanatic either.
 
Modified said:
My father does the same, but without the outrage. I think he and my mother remember things much differently than they happened. He hasn't become a religious fanatic either.
Click to expand...

Most people misremember things. And they often impose narratives which make a certain amount of consistent sense even if it misses out inconvenient facts.
 
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