February 24, 2006> 10:03 AM
fundamentalist? fundamentalism |ˌfəndəˈmentlˌizəm| noun
a form of Protestant Christianity that upholds belief in the strict and literal interpretation of the Bible, including its narratives, doctrines, prophecies, and moral laws.
strict maintenance of ancient or fundamental doctrines of any religion or ideology.
There are a couple of short Oxford English Dictionary definitions of fundamentalism. I think, commonly, it is considered primarily a Protestant phenomenon. When people say "fundamentalist" that's what they generally mean. There are some Catholics (not bashing here) who refer to all protestants as fundamentalists. This is simple ignorance. Perhaps it's what they've heard in their circles. I was in those circles, I know what's heard and said. It's also what "liberal" protestants call anyone who is more "conservative" than they are. God forbid you believe the Bible is, in fact, the Word of God - fundamentalist! Again, ignorance.
It's OK to be ignorant you know. We all are. We all lack knowledge. But please, let's not put our ignorance up on a pedestal and pour it over others as if they need it too. Keep that one section of your mind and heart open - the one that realizes when you are getting something wrong, when you're "off." Keep that part open so you can see when you're treading in swamp land. It will tell you and you can listen and look around. There is generally someone there to help pull you out, IF you grab the rope. Otherwise you can walk around in there till you sink. Don't sink up in your ignorance. That's just stupid. And we don't want to go to stupid-land.
So, can there be fundamentalist Catholics? Sure there can. There are. There can be fundamentalist anything. That word strict and the other one, literal - they would be key. They dredge up pictures of other words: harsh, cold, unbending, legalistic, etc. I have known both Protestants and Catholics who are like this. And both were in a bad place if you ask me. It feels very right to hold a tight line. It feels secure you know. It makes you feel very safe and right. This is a dangerous feeling.
I was closer to being a fundamentalist Catholic than I ever have been anything that anyone would refer to as Protestant. I still don't consider myself a protestant. You can consider me whatever you like I suppose. Have fun. I am not mounting an organized protest against Catholicism. I have more good to say about that Church than many inside it as far as I know. If I play favorites in any way, it's probably in favor of the Roman Catholic Church. I probably shouldn't. I have a soft spot, sue me. I figure "she" gets enough grief from people - doesn't need any from me. At this point, though, I am no fundamentalist - not in the estimation of anyone who knows what it means and who knows me at all. I'm conservative to some and liberal to others. Some would condemn me as too Catholic, others as a schismatic Protestant. I sort of like this ground, at least for now.
Are there things to hold a hard line about? There certainly are. To not be a fundamentalist does not mean you are noncommittal. It doesn't for me anyway. I'm quite committal about several things. There is Truth. There is a common Christian orthodoxy. Sure, we don't become wishy-washy, anything goes kind of theologians or Christians as a reaction against fundamentalism. I don't think that's the answer. I see it happening, but that, to me, is just as unhealthy as the harsh alternative.
Maybe I just wanted to say I am not a fundamentalist. I am also not theologically amorphous such that you would think I didn't believe anything in particular. I think neither is healthy. There's lots of good healthy earth between those two extremes. And analogies only go so far, remember that. Did I have a point? I don't know - I think I made whatever it was. Or maybe just being called that didn't sit well and I had to vent. Whatever. Pax vobiscum!
February 24, 2006
> 10:03 AM
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