examining fundamentalism
“The only truly prominent community that fundamentalists have so far established in any world, real or imaginary, is hell.” ~ Mark Twain
I want to begin my thoughts by pointing out that every fundamentalist in every country believes there is just one Holy Book, whether it be the Christian Bible, The Torah, the Koran or the Vedas. The fundamentalists of each faith represented by these sacred writings consider themselves chosen and are a warming oven for violent literalists. These zealots are armed with nuclear weapons and itching to kill in defense of their chosenness. In my thoughts, this is why moderates within those traditions must cry out against the presumption of the few who purport to speak for all. Why can we not see that it is the same “breath behind the breath” in the prayer of Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Jew?
Modern fundamentalists come up short on both knowledge and love. Especially love. Consider Mother Teresa’s prayer, “May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.” The whole world. Not just those she knew, those of her tradition. Consider Gandhi, not only on the day he said, “I am a Christian, I am a Hindu, I am a Muslim, I am a Jew,” but also on the day he proved this love, blessing his killer with a namaste before dying. For the fundamentalists of each of the traditions he named, Gandhi’s profession was 3/4 heresy. Funny. I can so imagine Jesus making a statement like his.
The gulf between fundamentalists and those more open-hearted within their traditions is vast. To refer to Celtic monks and fundamental extremists, the Desert Fathers and Tim LaHaye, Jerry Falwell and Brother Lawrence, St. Francis and prosperity hucksters, John of the Cross and George W. Bush ALL as Christians boggles the mind and cheapens the word.
What frightens me most about fundamentalism in America is the turn toward a nationalist religion. The right-wingers have hijacked Christianity and their arrogant ignorance needs to be shown for what it is: a reductionist rip-off. These self-claimed prophets from pulpit and television screen claim exclusive knowledge of every story and metaphor in the Bible. Yet they fail to live with the compassion of the gospels they are said to espouse and certainly look nothing like Jesus, who was an extravagant lover of prostitutes, thieves, foreigners, nature, children,the poor, and sinners of every type and stripe.
The leaders of this new “Bible-based” political monster have a frightening conviction that their causes are inspired by God himself. Who would dare argue such Divine Agendas? We are asked to climb into their box and agree with their shrunken understanding of who God is and what the Bible says, and that this Bible is God’s only word spoken to humankind – forever and ever, amen.This position is remarkably self-insulating. With no regard for the world’s wealth of religious, spiritual, literary and cultural traditions, they allow no version of love but their own.
Political fundamentalists ask people of faith to treat the earth as disposable and the Bible as “God”; claiming an exclusive monopoly on truth, and preaching a gospel of violence and assault on those they determine to be “evil”. Were the Inquisitions not enough, the hanging of “witches” by the Puritans, the Conquistadores theft and murder of the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans…it goes on and on. Each of these groups saw themselves as fighting to make others more “Christian”, claiming divine guidance, profaning the name of the One they claimed to serve.
Bottom line? My problem with fundamentalists is that they claim to own the only truth, insisting we conform with a Borg-like intensity: resistance is futile, you must comply. To which I reply, no. No, I must NOT comply. You will NOT keep me in your box. My thoughts on God and my understanding of his all-embracing love will not fit in there. And I’m tired of playing nice. It’s not okay for you to try to force your beliefs on me. Believe what you will, but I stand on my right to forge my own path.
Make injustice visible ~ Gandhi
