FUNDAMENTALISTS –
SCARY AS HELL
“The problem is the extremists,” a Jewish friend said
during a discussion about religiously motivated violence.
 |
| BBC news story on violence |
Religious fundamentalists are frequently in the news
nowadays—largely because of some threat or horrific act. Recently, a Muslim
group made news in
France with the murder of Charlie Hebdo magazine staff in Paris (BBC).
Hindu fundamentalists are on the rise in India and
persecuting Christians according to a story in Christianity
Today 23 January 2015. Some 300 clergy and church leaders are targeted. A
report from 2014 claims some 7,000 Christians faced aggression and persecution
from non-Christians.
Muslims have also been under attack by Hindu
fundamentalists who seek to convert Muslims and Christians. Muslims are about
14% of the population according to Free
Speech Radio News.
Popular Pope Francis has seen the need to speak out
against all fundamentalists with a challenge to their respect for God: “Religious
fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating
horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere
ideological pretext.” WSJ
12 Jan 2015.
How do you Recognize
a Fundamentalist?
Fundamentalists have been categorized in different ways
by different scholars. A general consensus focuses on the key role of sacred
texts and how they are read. Christians who read the Bible and take each word
or phrase in a literal sense can be dangerous when they read about God ordained
killing or ancient rules depicting a low view of women, children, and
foreigners.
Sometimes it is hard to see the difference between fundamentalists
and evangelicals. Marcus J Borg quotes a common phrase that a fundamentalist is
“an evangelical who is angry about something.”
Evangelicals are often concerned to distance themselves
from fundamentalists. Some have doctoral degrees from major universities and
seminaries and teach at respectable schools. Evangelicals appear to be about
beliefs and doctrines—check out their Statement of Faith, which pops up in a
search for the NAE (National
Association of Evangelicals).
You’ll find tabs indicating other
concerns of evangelicals, e.g., World Relief. They also define the concept evangelical and
refer to four distinctives. Fundamentalists could surely agree to this list as
well. Take a look at the Bible as the ultimate authority statement. And
consider all the different Christian groups who believe that too but are divided into separate denominations because they disagree on how to interpret select verses from
the Bible. So who really is the ultimate authority?
Psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists have
studied fundamentalism using different definitions. At this point I favor the
approach used by a short scale with decent psychometric properties. I wrote
about it before so here’s that link Fundamentalist
Religion.
Progressive Options
to Fundamentalism
Atheism or agnosticism can seem like an attractive option
when fundamentalists appear to represent the true faith of any religious group.
Who needs a religion focused on destruction and highly improbable ideas about
life?
|
The found of Newsboys, a popular Christian band, declared
that he is an atheist in a patheos
blog post 21 January 2015.
|
But there are other options. I’ll have to leave it to
those in other religions to explain more moderate and life-affirming paths in their traditions. In Christianity,
there are moderates within the major traditions (e.g., Catholic, Mainline
Protestant groups). People more concerned with compassion and restoration than
killing. People who will offer a meal or shelter in the name of Christ rather
than a bullet or hellfire. Progressive Christianity is a movement. It’s
popularity continues to make news as an Atlantic
story indicates.
 |
| Marcus J. Borg |
One progressive leader died the other day (RNS).
Marcus J. Borg offered Christians a progressive option. He was labeled a
liberal theologian for several reasons notably the view he took of the Bible
and Jesus. He wrote a number of books that would help many find alternative
ways to interpret troubling biblical texts. Essentially, he encouraged people
to take the Bible seriously but appreciate www.marcusjborg.com
the stories as containing
theological truths represented by the experiences of ancient people when they
expressed what they learned in their encounters with God. You can probably
guess Borg is not popular amongst evangelicals or fundamentalists. But he has influenced many
progressive Christians and those in mainline protestant churches. You can read
much more on his website
Perhaps a more popular progressive leader is brian d. mclaren (self-styled lower
case). He often focuses on what brings Christians together rather than on what
divides them. There is an appreciation of what each Christian group can offer
people. His book, A Generous Orthodoxy,
was dubbed a “manifesto
of the emerging church conversation.” I confess, I am a fan of his
attitude.
Some thoughts
1. Educated young people will continue to leave
fundamentalism—especially when hatred and violence are the links to such faith.
2. Evangelicals are often close to fundamentalists in
their beliefs and statements that appear in the media. It’s hard to tell how they are
different sometimes. Evangelical groups may not look like a good option for
some. I think Evangelicals have a lot of work to do if they wish to retain educated leaders.
3. I wonder if some deconversions from Christianity occur
because people have been so burned by fundamentalism that they want nothing to do with
anything Christian?
4. If you are doing research on fundamentalism, check out the scale I mentioned above along with the references. Even if you disagree, you might find the idea of intratextuality helpful in understanding the fundamentalist mindset.
A quote from Borg
“The Christian life is not about pleasing God the
finger-shaker and judge. It is not about believing now or being good now for
the sake of heaven later. It is about entering a relationship in the present
that begins to change everything now. Spirituality is about this process: the
opening of the heart to the God who is already here.”
― Marcus J. Borg, The
God We Never Knew: Beyond Dogmatic Religion To A More Authenthic Contemporary
Faith
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