Bible thumper
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Bible thumper (also Bible basher) is a derisive term used to describe Christian fundamentalists, or anyone perceived as aggressively pushing their religious beliefs upon those who do not share them. As an insult, its target domain is broad and can often extend to anyone engaged in a public show of religiosity, fundamentalist or not.
The term alludes to a preacher thumping his hand hard down on the lectern and the Bible on it to emphasize a point during a sermon.
Sid Meier used the term in his PC game "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri" to refer to the religious fundamentalist faction, with remarks made by the other factions in the game along the lines of "they're too busy bible-thumping and it's cutting into their bible-reading" to suggest that they had lost sight of the bible's true teachings.
It is also the name of a Bible-study program for Palm OS which contains the full text of the King James Bible. This is a good, albeit possibly somewhat tongue in cheek, example of an insult being reclaimed as a positive description.
[edit] See also
- Fundie
- Holy Roller
- Revival meeting
- The Bible Thumpers
