There are sober, thoughtful people who happen to believe in a god. We call them Theists, and we can disagree with them in a civilized manner without any need for name-calling.

But fundamentalists are neither civilized nor thoughtful. They come in all denominations--christians, jews, muslims, hindus, and so forth. The underlying dogmas may vary, but they're all characterized by a single belief set: They are right, everyone else is wrong, and no one else has a right to their own personal beliefs. Their religion is Intolerance, and they distinguish themselves with their lack of respect.

I've noticed that, in A|N, we tend to call them "fundies." I think this is a misnomer. First and foremost, it implies there's something "fun" about them. In point of fact, fundamentalists are the exact opposite of fun. If they have any sense of humor at all, it's the stunted kind that delight in placing a banana peel on the sidewalk so people can trip on it. "Fundies" might also mislead some people into thinking they have some connection to a very spectacular bay in Canada.

I think a better term is "god-groupies." Like rock band groupies, they follow their chosen idols around wherever they lead--no matter how drunk, drugged out or crazy they [the idols] might be. They do whatever their idols say and take their word as gospel. They memorize any slight pronouncements coming from their idols' lips. And often they can turn on a dime and switch over to some new idol without warning. Although they might be rational people in other circumstances, they lose all sense of reason when it comes to the objects of their fixations.

Yeah, I think "god-groupie" is a much better term....