WHAT IS FUNDAMENTALISM AND WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS?
Fundamentalism is an "ism" and like so many of the other "isms" (gnosticism, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism, etc.) that have plagued Christianity over the centuries, it is a dangerous heresy. Each of these "isms' is characterized by making something other than Christ central.
The greatest danger associated with fundamentalism (whether Christian, Mormon, or Islamic) is that the statements of fundamentalists sound so true. Christians frequently listen to a fundamentalist preacher and agree with every word. Many fundamentalist preachers are charismatic leaders and persuasive orators. They have a passion and commitment, a devotion, that we would all like to achieve in our own lives. It is easy to be moved and blessed by their messages. The problem is that they are committed to the wrong thing. They are committed to simplistic interpretations of the faith, to simplistic notions of morality and right and wrong. They are committed to cultural preservation and resistance to change. As a result they are frequently telling the people what they want to hear. They appear to have the answers to social and cultural crises and to life's problems. It all seems so simple, so clear, so easy.
Dr. Neilson, in his excellent article "Religion's Role in the Terroristic Attack of September 11, 2001," addresses the questions "What makes something fundamentalist?" and "How did this worldview influence the terrorist actions?" He says, in part,
The overarching theme to the fundamentalist, whether Muslim or Christian, is that God is to be worshipped, respected, feared & obeyed above all else. All other considerations take a back seat to God. This intense and abiding devotion means that there are some things that are completely, utterly non-negotiable. In this way, it is like viewing the world as being black and white, with little if any gray between that which is good and that which is evil. Accompanying this is a tendency toward literalism. If scripture says that Noah built an ark, put two of each type of animal throughout the world on it, and that they sailed on that boat while the entire earth was flooded, then it happened. No questions need be asked; it happened, regardless of whether it is logically consistent with what we know about animals, floods, ancient ships or the geological record.
An important element of the fundamentalist mindset is the rejection of modernism. Contemporary western values are inconsistent with God's values and with His will for humanity. People's duty is to worship God, not to ignore or ridicule Him. God's rules are clear and they are to be enforced and respected, not flaunted. As a result, fundamentalists have very conservative views on social issues. The fundamentalist finds media portrayals of sex, inappropriate gender roles, and many other elements of Western culture to be abominations completely out of harmony with God's will. God does not like it, doesn't tolerate it, and neither do God's devoted followers.
But how can anyone who claims to be a Christian disagree with a statement such as "God is to be worshipped, respected, feared & obeyed above all else. All other considerations take a back seat to God?" If God is God, the supreme, omnipotent, omniscient, creator and Lord of everything, and everyone, how can we do anything except put God first?
The problem with fundamentalism is not that fundamentalists put God first. The problem is that they do not put God first. They put a particular simplistic, limited, human understanding of God above all else. In most cases the fundamentalist understanding of God's will for mankind is that God wants things to be the way they used to be. God's laws are the ones we were taught since we were young. Fundamentalists then become neither Christian or Islam but rather defenders of the culture, dedicated to the preservation of "all we hold dear." In this regard, Christian fundamentalists are a lot more like the Pharisees than they are like Christ. Christ was a cultural and social revolutionary who disregarded the conventions of polite society, broke the religious laws regularly, associated with the "wrong crowd," and generally challenged the emptiness and superficiality of societies traditions and beliefs. Christ was crucified, at least partly, for being a modernist and an ethical relativist. If Christ came to live among us in the 21'st century, the fundamentalists would have him crucified again, not because they hate Christ, but because they would not recognize him.
A major problem with fundamentalism is that fundamentalists believe they know Gods will for mankind. Fundamentalists believe that they know the truth, that their understanding is 100% accurate and there can be no questioning it and no compromise. Their position is "utterly non-negotiable." They believe they know what is right, wrong, moral, and immoral. As Dr. Neilson notes, this arises from a tendency toward literalism. Literalism, however, is used by fundamentalists as an excuse for the rigidity of their beliefs. (For more on this see the article Biblical Literalism) They have been told that their beliefs are the truth because they are literal and directly from the Bible and therefore cannot be questioned. There is only one interpretation of the Bible allowed and that is the one they have been taught.
Having strong beliefs is one thing. We all have strong beliefs that we are unwilling to change or reevaluate. Everyone has to have something to believe in and we can't be constantly questioning everything. But where fundamentalism crosses the line and becomes dangerous and destructive is when fundamentalists refuse to allow anyone to have beliefs different from them. It is clearly the case that persons of strong character will refuse to compromise their beliefs. But fundamentalists consider it compromise to let you believe what you want to believe if it is different from their beliefs. So for example, some fundamentalists who believe that abortion is murder are unwilling to allow others to disagree with them. They are not satisfied to refuse to have abortions themselves and to teach their children and fellow believers to do the same, they feel compelled to work to get laws passed which will prevent anyone from getting an abortion. In point of fact, many thoughtful Christians have decided that abortion should be legal, at least in some circumstances. The fundamentalists think those who disagree with them are wrong and some are willing to take extreme measures (terroristic threatening, murdering abortion doctors, bombing abortion clinics, and other terrorist tactics) to prevent those who disagree with them from acting on their beliefs.
Fundamentalism is incompatible with freedom of religion. The basis of freedom of religion is respect for other peoples right to disagree with you. To have freedom of religion, you must respect the right of others to believe something that you think is wrong. For example, Christians who believe you can "fall from grace" (i.e.: loose your salvation) must allow other Christians who believe in "eternal security" (i.e.: once saved always saved) to be wrong and visa versa. Unfortunately, our founding fathers, did not understand this. They were persecuted in Europe for disagreeing with the "state church." So they came to this country to set up colonies in which they could believe their way (which they were convinced was the only right way). Then when people moved into the colony who disagreed with them, they persecuted them for their beliefs in the same ways that they had been persecuted in the old country. A good example of this is the persecution of the Baptists in the Virginia colony. Even Patrick Henry who defended some of the Baptists and got them out of jail was reluctant (at first) to endorse measures which would have guaranteed freedom of worship in Virginia. An understanding of what it means to have freedom of religion has been developing only very slowly in the United States and the need to respect others beliefs is still not accepted and understood by a sizable segment of our population. There are still a lot of so-called "Christians" who cannot understand the embarrassment and discomfort of a Jewish or Islamic child who must stand quietly in the classroom while a teacher prays "in Jesus name."
Fundamentalism is incompatible with democracy. Witness what has happened in muslim countries when a fundamentalist regime (such as the Ayatollah or the Talliban) has taken over the government. Democracy is based on the belief that people with radically different beliefs and cultures can live together in peace if they respect each others rights to disagree. It is an essential characteristic of a democracy that the majority rules. However, what we frequently forget is that in a democracy, the majority cannot do whatever they want. For a democracy to survive, the majority must protect the rights of the minorities. The majority must limit themselves and their actions to those that are in the best interest of the society as a whole. If for example, the demographic composition of a state changes and the muslims become the majority, they cannot pass laws in the legislature which require everyone to bow to mecca 5 times a day even though, as the majority, they may have enough votes to do so. To do so would destroy the democracy. For democracy to survive, the majority must treat the minorities they way they would like to be treated if they were the minority. Fundamentalists cannot allow that to happen. For them, people who believe and behave differently from them are wrong and "God does not like it, doesn't tolerate it, and neither do God's devoted followers."
Fundamentalism is incompatible with Christianity. Christianity is the religion of freedom. It is the religion of tolerance and diversity. Christianity is a religion for all peoples in all cultures in all times. Fundamentalism is dedicated to cultural homogeneity and fixed behavior patterns, to unchanging traditions and conventions for governing social interactions. Christianity is not about going to other lands and cultures and teaching the natives to wear western style clothing and to fill out the front of their offering envelopes. Fundamentalism is about condemning sin when you see it and taking a stand for what is "right." Christianity is about caring for the sinner as much as the saint, it is about understanding the factors that contribute to destructive behavior and leading those who have destroyed themselves, their families, and their friends to healing and forgiveness. Fundamentalists would have us believe that they are the guardians of Christian fundamentals but they are not. The are the guardians of their own position, culture, and power. There are Christian fundamentals (see article "What Christians Believe" for a summary) and many fundamentalists hold to some or all of the Christian fundamentals. However, it is this similarity to Christianity that makes fundamentalism so dangerous.
There are three major forms of fundamentalism active in our world today; Christian Fundamentalism, Islamic Fundamentalism, and Mormon Fundamentalism. All three are patriarchal and all three espouse similar social agendas which include:
racism and/or the separation of the races
Islamic Fundamentalists hate the Jews
Mormon Fundamentalists consider Blacks to be a sub-human species. Interracial marriage is punishable by death.
Christian Fundamentalists oppose interracial marriage and some have ties to white supremacist and reconstructionist groups.
subjugation of women
Islamic Fundamentalists treat women as property who only go to heaven through sex and child bearing
Mormon Fundamentalists order young girls into polygamous marriages. The woman has no rights or say in the matter.
Christian Fundamentalists refuse to ordain women to ministry (at least at home although a woman can serve as a foreign missionary), refuse to allow women to teach or supervise men, refuse to allow women to address or in some cases even pray before a congregation which includes men, requires women to "submit" to their husbands.
a highly restrictive sexual environment
Islamic Fundamentalists insist on the woman's obligation to service her husband. Fundamentalist societies severely punish premarital sex and other violations of the sexual code.
Mormon Fundamentalists insist that the leader of the community controls all sex. He can take your wives and children away from you and give them to another man if you cross him. Extramarital sex and premarital sex are severely punished.
Christian Fundamentalists favor imprisonment and fines for persons who violate sexual standards. They advocate laws prohibiting homosexuals from having sex even in the privacy of their own homes.
Fundamentalism is a Christian heresy. Fundamentalism is incompatible with freedom of religion. It is incompatible with democracy. Growing fundamentalism is a threat to the work of Christ, to society, to our country, and to our freedom. We must all work to expose the dangers of fundamentalism.
The greatest danger associated with fundamentalism (whether Christian, Mormon, or Islamic) is that the statements of fundamentalists sound so true. Christians frequently listen to a fundamentalist preacher and agree with every word. Many fundamentalist preachers are charismatic leaders and persuasive orators. They have a passion and commitment, a devotion, that we would all like to achieve in our own lives. It is easy to be moved and blessed by their messages. The problem is that they are committed to the wrong thing. They are committed to simplistic interpretations of the faith, to simplistic notions of morality and right and wrong. They are committed to cultural preservation and resistance to change. As a result they are frequently telling the people what they want to hear. They appear to have the answers to social and cultural crises and to life's problems. It all seems so simple, so clear, so easy.
Dr. Neilson, in his excellent article "Religion's Role in the Terroristic Attack of September 11, 2001," addresses the questions "What makes something fundamentalist?" and "How did this worldview influence the terrorist actions?" He says, in part,
The overarching theme to the fundamentalist, whether Muslim or Christian, is that God is to be worshipped, respected, feared & obeyed above all else. All other considerations take a back seat to God. This intense and abiding devotion means that there are some things that are completely, utterly non-negotiable. In this way, it is like viewing the world as being black and white, with little if any gray between that which is good and that which is evil. Accompanying this is a tendency toward literalism. If scripture says that Noah built an ark, put two of each type of animal throughout the world on it, and that they sailed on that boat while the entire earth was flooded, then it happened. No questions need be asked; it happened, regardless of whether it is logically consistent with what we know about animals, floods, ancient ships or the geological record.
An important element of the fundamentalist mindset is the rejection of modernism. Contemporary western values are inconsistent with God's values and with His will for humanity. People's duty is to worship God, not to ignore or ridicule Him. God's rules are clear and they are to be enforced and respected, not flaunted. As a result, fundamentalists have very conservative views on social issues. The fundamentalist finds media portrayals of sex, inappropriate gender roles, and many other elements of Western culture to be abominations completely out of harmony with God's will. God does not like it, doesn't tolerate it, and neither do God's devoted followers.
But how can anyone who claims to be a Christian disagree with a statement such as "God is to be worshipped, respected, feared & obeyed above all else. All other considerations take a back seat to God?" If God is God, the supreme, omnipotent, omniscient, creator and Lord of everything, and everyone, how can we do anything except put God first?
The problem with fundamentalism is not that fundamentalists put God first. The problem is that they do not put God first. They put a particular simplistic, limited, human understanding of God above all else. In most cases the fundamentalist understanding of God's will for mankind is that God wants things to be the way they used to be. God's laws are the ones we were taught since we were young. Fundamentalists then become neither Christian or Islam but rather defenders of the culture, dedicated to the preservation of "all we hold dear." In this regard, Christian fundamentalists are a lot more like the Pharisees than they are like Christ. Christ was a cultural and social revolutionary who disregarded the conventions of polite society, broke the religious laws regularly, associated with the "wrong crowd," and generally challenged the emptiness and superficiality of societies traditions and beliefs. Christ was crucified, at least partly, for being a modernist and an ethical relativist. If Christ came to live among us in the 21'st century, the fundamentalists would have him crucified again, not because they hate Christ, but because they would not recognize him.
A major problem with fundamentalism is that fundamentalists believe they know Gods will for mankind. Fundamentalists believe that they know the truth, that their understanding is 100% accurate and there can be no questioning it and no compromise. Their position is "utterly non-negotiable." They believe they know what is right, wrong, moral, and immoral. As Dr. Neilson notes, this arises from a tendency toward literalism. Literalism, however, is used by fundamentalists as an excuse for the rigidity of their beliefs. (For more on this see the article Biblical Literalism) They have been told that their beliefs are the truth because they are literal and directly from the Bible and therefore cannot be questioned. There is only one interpretation of the Bible allowed and that is the one they have been taught.
Having strong beliefs is one thing. We all have strong beliefs that we are unwilling to change or reevaluate. Everyone has to have something to believe in and we can't be constantly questioning everything. But where fundamentalism crosses the line and becomes dangerous and destructive is when fundamentalists refuse to allow anyone to have beliefs different from them. It is clearly the case that persons of strong character will refuse to compromise their beliefs. But fundamentalists consider it compromise to let you believe what you want to believe if it is different from their beliefs. So for example, some fundamentalists who believe that abortion is murder are unwilling to allow others to disagree with them. They are not satisfied to refuse to have abortions themselves and to teach their children and fellow believers to do the same, they feel compelled to work to get laws passed which will prevent anyone from getting an abortion. In point of fact, many thoughtful Christians have decided that abortion should be legal, at least in some circumstances. The fundamentalists think those who disagree with them are wrong and some are willing to take extreme measures (terroristic threatening, murdering abortion doctors, bombing abortion clinics, and other terrorist tactics) to prevent those who disagree with them from acting on their beliefs.
Fundamentalism is incompatible with freedom of religion. The basis of freedom of religion is respect for other peoples right to disagree with you. To have freedom of religion, you must respect the right of others to believe something that you think is wrong. For example, Christians who believe you can "fall from grace" (i.e.: loose your salvation) must allow other Christians who believe in "eternal security" (i.e.: once saved always saved) to be wrong and visa versa. Unfortunately, our founding fathers, did not understand this. They were persecuted in Europe for disagreeing with the "state church." So they came to this country to set up colonies in which they could believe their way (which they were convinced was the only right way). Then when people moved into the colony who disagreed with them, they persecuted them for their beliefs in the same ways that they had been persecuted in the old country. A good example of this is the persecution of the Baptists in the Virginia colony. Even Patrick Henry who defended some of the Baptists and got them out of jail was reluctant (at first) to endorse measures which would have guaranteed freedom of worship in Virginia. An understanding of what it means to have freedom of religion has been developing only very slowly in the United States and the need to respect others beliefs is still not accepted and understood by a sizable segment of our population. There are still a lot of so-called "Christians" who cannot understand the embarrassment and discomfort of a Jewish or Islamic child who must stand quietly in the classroom while a teacher prays "in Jesus name."
Fundamentalism is incompatible with democracy. Witness what has happened in muslim countries when a fundamentalist regime (such as the Ayatollah or the Talliban) has taken over the government. Democracy is based on the belief that people with radically different beliefs and cultures can live together in peace if they respect each others rights to disagree. It is an essential characteristic of a democracy that the majority rules. However, what we frequently forget is that in a democracy, the majority cannot do whatever they want. For a democracy to survive, the majority must protect the rights of the minorities. The majority must limit themselves and their actions to those that are in the best interest of the society as a whole. If for example, the demographic composition of a state changes and the muslims become the majority, they cannot pass laws in the legislature which require everyone to bow to mecca 5 times a day even though, as the majority, they may have enough votes to do so. To do so would destroy the democracy. For democracy to survive, the majority must treat the minorities they way they would like to be treated if they were the minority. Fundamentalists cannot allow that to happen. For them, people who believe and behave differently from them are wrong and "God does not like it, doesn't tolerate it, and neither do God's devoted followers."
Fundamentalism is incompatible with Christianity. Christianity is the religion of freedom. It is the religion of tolerance and diversity. Christianity is a religion for all peoples in all cultures in all times. Fundamentalism is dedicated to cultural homogeneity and fixed behavior patterns, to unchanging traditions and conventions for governing social interactions. Christianity is not about going to other lands and cultures and teaching the natives to wear western style clothing and to fill out the front of their offering envelopes. Fundamentalism is about condemning sin when you see it and taking a stand for what is "right." Christianity is about caring for the sinner as much as the saint, it is about understanding the factors that contribute to destructive behavior and leading those who have destroyed themselves, their families, and their friends to healing and forgiveness. Fundamentalists would have us believe that they are the guardians of Christian fundamentals but they are not. The are the guardians of their own position, culture, and power. There are Christian fundamentals (see article "What Christians Believe" for a summary) and many fundamentalists hold to some or all of the Christian fundamentals. However, it is this similarity to Christianity that makes fundamentalism so dangerous.
There are three major forms of fundamentalism active in our world today; Christian Fundamentalism, Islamic Fundamentalism, and Mormon Fundamentalism. All three are patriarchal and all three espouse similar social agendas which include:
racism and/or the separation of the races
Islamic Fundamentalists hate the Jews
Mormon Fundamentalists consider Blacks to be a sub-human species. Interracial marriage is punishable by death.
Christian Fundamentalists oppose interracial marriage and some have ties to white supremacist and reconstructionist groups.
subjugation of women
Islamic Fundamentalists treat women as property who only go to heaven through sex and child bearing
Mormon Fundamentalists order young girls into polygamous marriages. The woman has no rights or say in the matter.
Christian Fundamentalists refuse to ordain women to ministry (at least at home although a woman can serve as a foreign missionary), refuse to allow women to teach or supervise men, refuse to allow women to address or in some cases even pray before a congregation which includes men, requires women to "submit" to their husbands.
a highly restrictive sexual environment
Islamic Fundamentalists insist on the woman's obligation to service her husband. Fundamentalist societies severely punish premarital sex and other violations of the sexual code.
Mormon Fundamentalists insist that the leader of the community controls all sex. He can take your wives and children away from you and give them to another man if you cross him. Extramarital sex and premarital sex are severely punished.
Christian Fundamentalists favor imprisonment and fines for persons who violate sexual standards. They advocate laws prohibiting homosexuals from having sex even in the privacy of their own homes.
Fundamentalism is a Christian heresy. Fundamentalism is incompatible with freedom of religion. It is incompatible with democracy. Growing fundamentalism is a threat to the work of Christ, to society, to our country, and to our freedom. We must all work to expose the dangers of fundamentalism.
posted by mwesigye herbert at 8:26 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home