Okay well you are portraying your dad as an overall bad person... Is he bad or just radical? I would refuse to go to church if I didn't know anyone there and that's really the only reason I go is to hang out... But I still have to stand in church for 2 hours. I go to a camp for two weeks every summer aswell and pretty much thesame situation...
AnyWay what I'm asking is he a bad father or person in general or just radical?

its really quite simple... the bible claims that adam and eve were the first beings on earth however science proves that there were organisms on earth far before humans. therefore god is not real

Wow vamos,

I looked at that website and it took about ten seconds for me to be accused of being a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterous, murderer. The message was clear. Your only way out of going to Hell is by joining us and submitting to "Jesus". I'm sure they are the authoritied on what Jesus wants from your Dad.

My gut feeling is that this is more of a cult than merely a church. That is when someone begings to use guilt and fear to get you to cooperate, it isn't merely religion anymore. The problem comes when the church, group, or leader is served instead of God. When in a church you should be seeking out what God's will is for you, not having people tell you what you should be doing. I'm truly sorry that this is going on in your family. What I saw on that website is not representative of Baptists in general from what I can tell.

Read your shit henry! I have heard the stories of the bible more than 100 times each and Creation states
First came the sea creatures and then birds and then land and then humans which coinscindentaly isn't to far from what evolution states but the whole man in the sky makes creation false!

Shitty father in my opinion, and I'm the child he likes better. Complete failure of a husband, considering how I can't remember an extended period of peace and love in my house, and I can remember back distinctly as far as kindergarten. I've never seen him help out a person in need, but I always hear about how he spends hours talking to people about his own opinion of god. To me, he's a pretty shitty person, because I can't see how anything he does is really beneficial to others, which is what I was taught is a HUGE part of Christianity, helping others. He has a lot of talk, but no good actions that I've seen, but feel free to form your own opinions, to be fair I've been pretty one sided here.

Off topic though, I could trash talk my dad until I ran out of air to hurl insults, but I can do that in real life, I'm wondering if anybody agrees with anything that he believes, or if I'm actually living with a certified nutcase.

@Henry
And the bible was written by Men in the first century AD when it was widely believed by everyone including non religious people that Mankind was the first beings on earth.

denis, you are Russian Orthodox and in California...right?

Yes I am...

Have you run into a monk by the name of Father Theodore? My brother was one of the monks in Redding for a while. He's in Missouri now.

In the Book of Genesis the following living things were created before humans: plants and trees, air-breathing sea creatures,fishes and birds,the beasts of the earth according to their kinds. So even in the bible humans weren't the first.

According to your father, all religious sects other than Baptist are wrong; this must include Judaism; why then does he believe we should go to war to protect Israel if he believes it is full of heathens and heretics?

Hell if I know, something about them being gods chosen people, despite not actually believing that Jesus was who my dad believes he was. I was quick to point out that Muslims acknowledge the existence of Jesus as well, just not as the son of god, making them remarkably similar to Jews in that respect, at least from my limited understanding of those religions. That point was met with absolute bullshit, taking the form of an angry rant.

No I haven't sorry I might have bumped into him once because I know the bishop of western US personally... I continue to attend church because of the Russian community we have in california and it's really great!
But to give you an idea of the church take Hard roman catholisism times 10 at least.

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/english/

Yes, I'm pretty familiar at least from my brother's experiences from there. He's since joined the Georgian Orthodox Church and live in Tblisi for a few years. He's just finished a masters degree at Holy Cross in Boston right now.

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As for your Dad, vamos (sorry for getting off topic) I'd take it from the idea that he's under the influence of a group that doesn't have your family's best interest at heart. Is he being malicious or merely argumentative? I'm actually worried about your challenging his beliefs. There are professionals who help people deal with this kind of stuff. Have you or your Mom done some research into cult recovery? It may be of help for you. I'm not sure if your Dad would benefit until he can see the damage he's doing. THe more I hear the more I'm convinced that what you're going thorugh is not mainstream Christianity at all.

In regards to salvation, which sounds like a big issue with him, there are to aspects: the Law and the Gospel. The Law is our moral imperitive to do our duty and live according Gods standards, as outlined in assorted parts of the Bible. Everyone has failed to fulfill it and thus does not deserve heaven and life. The Gospel is God's way of fulfilling the Law for us so that we do not have to go to hell. He gave us the Gospel because he loves us [yes, the religion is rooted in love] so that we would not have to meet such an end.
Your father sounds like what is known as a legalist. "Death to all who do not follow the Law. Forget God's mercy!"

Like Draugnar pointed out, the idea that the Bible says alchohol is inherently sinful is utter disregard for the Scriptures (again).

Jesus said "Go and make disciples of all nations [so that they don't go to hell], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." A basic knowledge of English grammar will tell you that "all nations" includes the Muslims, among others. He should remember that God loves them too and that he is NO BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM, JUST BETTER OFF (because he is not being damned, dispite deserving it as we all do).

Also, he has no business telling gays or anyone else that they are going to hell, because he does not know if they will later be converted.

In regards to other denominations, anyone who believes that Jesus (God) took the full fury of the punishment for him/her so that he/she would not have to is saved.

If one takes the Bible for what it claims to be (the ultimate authoritative word of God himself), then one should want to have the most accurate translation from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek possible. The KJV used to be pretty good, but the English language has changed the the past ~400 years, resulting in many obscure words and grammatical usages. "Fear" then meant respect and reverance as well as the modern meaning. The phrase "He is risen" means "He HAS risen". "Do not think [about what to say when you are going to witness]" meant "Do not worry/have anxiety."
Newer translations, such as the NIV, do much better in getting the concepts in the original languages intelligibly and understandably into modern English.

In regards to his duty to the family:

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing may hinder your prayers" Peter 3:7
"Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them." Col. 3:19
" Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" Eph. 6:4

Unless I missed something, you did not specify whether your father is a pastor or just a parishoner, so here's something about the duties of both:

"The overseer [pastor] must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self controlled, respectable, hospitable able to teach, not given to drunkenness [your dad's doing good on that one], not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome [not doing so well on that, given your reports], and not alover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect." 1 Tim. 3:2-4
"We ask you, brothers, to respect those [pastors] who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another" 1 Thess. 5:12-13

As you can see, duty to family and duty to church are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are related. See the end of 1 Tim. 3:2-4 again.

In regards to the family falling apart, I do not know any of the specifics as to what is happening to it, so here is some general advice. Always be patient:
" Young men, always be submisive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:5-6

Be gentle with your father and always be willing to forgive. That would be the submisiveness spoken about and the humility. You might start by cutting off that ponytail.

One last point: you, not being able to hold up the Law as it is given in these verses, will not always get it right with your father when trying to reconcile with him (losing your temper as he loses his and so on). Just remember the Gospel. God took the punishment for your that and will forgive you and help you to do better next time.

That took longer to type than I thought.

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He can get malicious, I've never seen him be violent or abusive, although in a way I wish he would, cuz it'd give me an excuse. He typically comes home from work stressed and usually picks a fight with somebody about something, rarely me fortunately. My mom goes to see a counselor from time to time, but that only pisses him off more. Not much to do regarding solving the problem other than divorce, which my dad doesn't believe in, and which my mom won't do because she doesn't want to abandon her children, or subject us to any further conflict. I have an 18 year old sister who's a senior in high school, and I appear to be the most stable person in the family at the moment, so I'm not sure why she's worried about splintering the household, but I guess as a mom it's something that she does that I won't understand.

How good are your terms with the uncle that doesn't like him?

Eh, he's not much for words, I get along with him, but we've never been close. I get along much better with my moms family, particularly her brother, who is himself a newly "born again Christian", but even he views my dads opinions as fanatical.

That's probably because they are. It's entirely possible (and in most cases it's the way it happens) to be a Christian and to be expected to think for yourself. I'd suggest letting people know what is going on. SHow them that website and voice your concerns. If you're in contact with family who know what is going on, or at least what your concerns are. Then they can help.

baumhaeuer, could you explain to me how my submission to his wishes about my hair will solve the issue of his marriage and family falling to hell while he spends his time at a fanatical church that preaches blind obedience without help for others? I'm not trying to be an arrogant asshole here, but I don't think that the familial problems stem from my ponytail, rather the problem with my ponytail stems from the home problems, because I had a buzz cut a few years back, and things sucked then too. Perhaps I didn't provide you with enough information regarding that particular topic, but in my opinion, my hair is not a major issue here.

CA - My mom's parents have offered to pay for her divorce, buy her a house, all she has to do is say the word and she can have all the financial and emotional support she can think of. Her brother has said that he can take care of my sister and I for a while if my mom needs him to, her parents have said the same, and I'm sure any other family I contacted from her side would say the same exact thing. College, my grandparents volunteered to pay for that, and my sister is aspiring to go to some expensive colleges. Family is aware and willing to help, they're all waiting for my mom to just say the word, who is waiting for god knows what. Like I said, I guess as a mom she just does certain things. My sister wants her to get a divorce almost as much as she wants to get out of the house, and me, well I don't say much regarding the subject to her, but I've told her parents that I just want her to do what will make her happy, and I know they told her that, so I have no clue what she's waiting for.

Vammos I'm sorry your family is a but weird and to answer your questions...
Yes your father view are radical!
If you confront him he could react maliciously and this could give your mother an excuse to break away and divorce him,that is if that is why you want.
But if you intend to keep your family together you would have to keep quiet. At any rate it sounds like you might have the security of your mom's family and to me it seems you could be happier if you did keep mire distance from your father.

@vamos - You lead by example. In the case of your father, you are more in control and mature in many ways. So by submitting to his harmless request, he has one less thing to look down upon you about and you can come closer to bringing him aroudn to your ways.

But in reality, you need to get some outside help as several others here have said. He is in a cult and needs to be brought out of it.

First, the ponytail was a suggestion.
Second, it was only a suggestion because, like I said, I do not know much about the issues in your family.
I was more going over the issues that you asked religious people to comment on.
The family problems stem from your dad, not the ponytail. I was commenting on what everyone should be doing, specifically your dad. I am sorry if I did not make that clear.
Since he is not supposed to be exasperating you and being harsh, I was thinking more of respectfully declining the wild things he is trying to hammer into everyone else.

No, the hair is not a major issue, I meant it more just an example. Do what the other people have been saying. Seek counciling and outside help.

Outside help is ready and waiting in the wings, its the order that they're waiting for. Unfortunately my mom's stubbornness and unbelievable level of tolerance makes it a very drawn out issue.