funda-MENTAL-ism

This is the first of a series on different types of Christianity. I hope this opens some dialogue and hopefully some hearts.

I grew up with a fairly fundamentalist view of religion. I have since chosen a more compassionate path. I want to start this diatribe by explaining that I do not think that my fundamentalist friends or loved ones are crazy, fanatical, or non-Christian. I just think they are misguided.

For much of my life I was under the impression that spiritual growth had no place for questions or doubts. In fact, they were very discouraged. If you questioned something, you just didn't have enough faith. If you doubted, you just needed more faith. The problem I had with that is that I need answers in order to have faith.

For me, fundamentalism is a head game. (hence funda-MENTAL-ism)
The basic concept is something like McCarthyism of the 1940's and 50's here in the U.S. We are right. Anyone who disagrees, or protests our beliefs is wrong, is evil, or worse. The contributing factor in both McCarthyism and fundamentalism is FEAR.

It is true that we tend to fear what we do not understand. So, in order to maintain our standard of living we instill a "healthy" fear in our followers. We explain how important it is to our movement that we do not associate with those types. We warn of the downfall of our system, which would come at the hands of these wrong people and (gasp) our followers who have been compromised by them. We explain that the only way for us to maintain this system is to establish ourselves as correct; to assume that we have all the answers; and to squlech any creative, skeptical, or critical thinking within our ranks.

This fear leads to a type of hatred that only the religious types could possibly call "holy." Is there any reason why so many fundamentalist groups seems to walk a fine line of being cultish?

When we look at the life of Jesus, his 1st Century followers, and of the Apostle Paul, we do not see fear. What we most often see is hope and compassion.
Why then is it necessary for so many "American Christians" to live in fear of everything around them? To be honest, I blame McCarthyism. It set the stage for our modern fundamentalist thought, but it goes back much earlier.

When the Church became a political machine for the Roman Empire, fear was instilled in those people who were "outside the circle of power." Fear enabled the Church to take land from people, to take money from people, and in a far more greusome betrayal of Christ: to take the lives of people.
It has been reported that during the European Witch Hunts, the Crusades, and the Inquisition, the Church put to death nearly 6 million men, women, and children. This is roughly the same amount of Jews put to death under Hitler. How is it that Hitler is seen as a monster, but we are not disgusted by our own ecclesiatic history?

Denial.

You move forward a few hundred years, and the colonies have become populated. Some colonials search for freedom from political tyranny. Some search for freedom from oppression. Others search for freedom to practice their version of Christianity without the fear of persecution.

The problem with a fear based system is that there ALWAYS has to be someone to fear. Since the modus operandi of fear based systems is to eleminate those we fear, we end up needing to find a near group to fear. The downfall is that if, hypothetically, we eliminate everyone we fear, then what happens to our system? It falls in on top of itself. Because fear is instilled and mistrust is a virture in this system, eventually followers fear each other and turn on one another. This is the last straw.

Don't get me wrong. I have pointed out a lot of flaws about fundamentalism. But there is one overarching "upside." The followers of this version of Christianity are very devoted. They may take things to a place I would choose not to go, but they are fully behind whatever teaching they have learned. I can't say the same for many other versions. Most of us barely know what we believe.

If we really are going to give a message of hope and compassion to people, we need to do so in a hopeful and compassionate way. fundaMENTALism is not an answer. It never has been, it never will be.