Recently on another forum I posted in reply to a question about my definition of fundamentalism. Here it is for everyone here.
Fundamentalism is the new disease for religion. Funny thing is that it has been a round a long time. The oldest mention of it would surely be the Pharisees. They were Jewish fundamentalists.
Fundamentalists, in today's age, are a strong reason for concern for anyone who is not so inclined. They are intolorant of other religions/belief systems/political stances/personal opinion/basic human rights/individuality, I say intolorant because they are not even able to let alone something that they dont think falls in line with their decided beliefs. Acceptance is the key to the future, but that will never be acheived through fundamentalism due to its very nature. Much like the Muslim fundamentalists, Christian fundamentalists believe it is their duty to ensure that others follow their beliefs. They will take every chance they get to force others to succumb to their will. Perhaps, before you misunderstand me, not in a personal sense, but their political support is where they push for the decided spread of their doctrines.
Fundy's (as I call them) are always in contention with people of free thought. In todays world it is extremely important that people are willing to allow others to express themselves, but in ways that are not forcing others to be uncomfortable/attacked/persecuted/oppressed. The political world is being infiltrated by fundy supporters who are trying to instill prayer in school (not any prayer, but specifically Christian prayer). This is only one example. They are trying to push for the melding of government and religion. This would ultimately lead to thocracy, which is not a democratic form of government. If you want to know what a thocracy leads to, just look at amny of the fundy Muslim countries, or think Taliban. These thocracies are exactly what fundy politics are trying to acheive. This is an oppressive form of government, and they deny basic human rights in order to achive their percieved "perfection" through forced religion. Christian theocracy would not be any different from Muslim theocracy, jsut following a different religion.
They have a strict definition of their beliefs, and they take the bible literally. The funny thing is that they only take the parts of the bible literally that help their cause. The fear that science will entice people away from religion makes them fight any sort of science that does not follow the strict literal interpretation of the bible. Creation for instance. There is not proof that either creationism or evolution are truly the cause for our appearance, but rather than look for ways to understand each and meld them together (which time and again it has been identified that there are no true disagreements between them, unless you believe that man was truly formed from dirt and dirt alone). There has been a long history of fundys fighting against science, and it has not stopped. As man has progressed and the fallacies of the fundy beliefs are brought to light, instead of opening their eyes to new possibilities in God's inconceiveable ability to create with use of time, structure and evolving form; they just move on to the next battle in hopes of proving science wrong and religion right. If we were to follow fundy beliefs and abandon science, we would have never advanced much farther than the dark ages. Disease and suffereing would be rampant, as fundy religious based "science" was historically detrimental to those unfortunates who were exposed to it.
Fundamentalists have not changed much since the days of the pharisees. THis can be seen through out the ages with witch burnings and other meaningless crimes against humanity. The only thing preventing these atrocities from continuing is the legal system that recognised the rights of the individual. Fundys, in their cause, do not recognise these individual rights. They would prefer to ignore them, in order to prove themselves right at whatever cost. The pharisees did not like that Christ was changing their tight knit, closed door, bound society, so they tried to eradicate Him. This is no different from today. Thanks to the appreciation of modern society for individual rights, we are not subject to eradication from extremists, so now they try to find new ways to acheive their goals.
The worst part of fundy beliefs is the fact that they cannot appreciate diversity. Acceptance is limited to those who follow the same beliefs and doctrines. Anyone outside of this tight knit, closed door, bound group is considered to be evil in one form or another. Fundys claim to spread the light of Christ, but when confronted with the contradicitons of their "open door policy", they become extremely defensive and manipulate scripture to fit their needs. Christ taught acceptance and love, fundamentalism is jsut the opposite, it teaches people to object to outsiders, deny external beliefs/opinion, and to oppress and attack those who are not fundy Christians. The hypocracy is clear to anyone who takes the time to listen to fundys and then to watch their actions. When confronted, again, they claim that they are not perfect. Does this mean that they can spout off whatever they want to others and their imperfection will save them from being hypocrites? The wrongs that they claim of external fundamentalists, are the same things that Christian fundys are guilty of.
The blind nature of fundamentalism is quite frustrating to more accepting Christians. Christians who believe that others are entitle to their opinion and their beliefs are tossed into the same category of the more often heard fundamentalist movement. This puts a bad taste in the mouths of people who are exposed to fundamentalists, and in the end only hurts Christianity. The days of brimstone and hell fire are over. Fundys will get no where by attempting to scare people into faith in Christ. What sort of faith is fear anyway?
Fundamentalism is fundamentalism. No matter the form or who is standing on either side of the line, it is the same creature. Christian fundy, Muslim fundy, it is the opposite side of the same coin.
SOme will say that I am judging them. It is not them that I judge, it is their actions/beliefs/words.
I encourage the understanding of Christs teachings of love. I encourage open understanding between people. I encourage fundamentalists to expose themselves to the real world. If you are strong in your faith, then you have nothing to fear. If you think deep inside that the world will steal your faith from you, then you had no faith to start with.
Christ did not teach only those who believed as he said, he taught many and challenged the fundamentalists of his time. He taught openly and accepted those who were "outsiders". Christ's message was not about avoidance of hell, but life through faith, love, acceptance, and understanding. This is not found in fundamentalism.
Stop hiding behind the bible. Even if you believe that it was inspired by God, it was subjected to the hand of man, who edited, interpreted, and cut and paste it into what it is today. That doesnt have to mean that it is not an important part of your religion, but it is not where you shoudl base your faith. Faith should come from within.