Fundamentalists would gladly return to a time when genocide was not only acceptable - it was God's command. When torturing and murdering your enemies was normal - as long as you're sure to claim God is on you side. When a woman was just chattel who did not even have the right to control her own reproduction - just like livestock. When your worth as a person was founded upon your caste. When your race, your religion, your national origin, your sex, your disability, or your sexual orientation, could make you less of a person. When your status as a 'sinner' is only limited by the prejudices of those with power.
In the Fundamentalist worldview, your worth is never any greater than it is at your birth (both in a eugenic sense, from the twisted values resulting from their struggle to control the reproduction of others, and in that your birth may be the sum of your social identity), unless, of course, you become one of the elect - one of them. This is a profoundly anti-American view of the world. It treats with contempt the public virtues we hold sacred, the rule of civil law, the freedom of conscience and belief, the equality of all people, and the inherent dignity and rights of every human being.
There is a moral component to the political struggle between Conservative and Liberal views of the world, and it is the same as that between Fundamentalism and Jesus.
Article comments
1 - spocko
Michael D. Bryan. Excellent post! I really enjoyed reading it. I'm probably going to link to it for my readers who are interested in going deep on the topic (I have 13 readers, so prepare for the flood!)
I'm finding this whole topic very interesting. I've written on this issue a few times, most recently replying on my blog to a letter writer in the Omaha World Herald who uses the bible to say that Jesus would support capital punishment!
I wish I could see a intellectual debate about this issue with some fundamental christians with people who could point out the flaws in their logic and, more importantly, their failure to understand Christ's message.
I liked that you pointed out how everything that Jesus did and said was an indictment of the prevailing ethos.
I think that in addition to pointing out that when they are anti-gay they become "Leviticus trumps New Testament" Christians, I also know that they go to Paul to find phrases that they can use to discrimate against gays.
Here is a link to my post about "the facts" of the bible. From my blog Spocko's Brain.
http://s88172659.onlinehome.us/2005/03/in-fact-nowhere-in-bible-does-jesus.html
2 - olkimj
it is cooool
3 - Tom French
I agree, a great read. Unfortunately, the deeper issue is that logic and reasoned rebuttals to fundamentalist viewpoints have absolutely no sway with them.
4 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Tom French wrote: Unfortunately, the deeper issue is that logic and reasoned rebuttals to fundamentalist viewpoints have absolutely no sway with them."
That is because the fundamentalists have lost their way. They are tormented and confused by how the temptations of modern society disrupt their quest for perfection in themselves, others and the social order. May God have mercy upon their poor tortured souls.
Logic and reason may not work, but pity and prayer sure do stop them cold. And they are certainly deserving of our pity and our prayers (save the contempt and scorn for the politicians who pander to these poor people, taking advantage of their fears and frustrations in order to to get their votes) because they have inadvertently turned away from God by looking to receive deliverance and grace from the graven image known as the United States government.
5 - Steve S
they have inadvertently turned away from God by looking to receive deliverance and grace from the graven image known as the United States government.
Do you give speeches at seminars, rallies, meetings, etc.? You should.
6 - Margaret Romao Toigo
While I am a fairly competent speaker, I would rather provide the fodder for speeches at seminars, rallies, meetings, etc. My goal here in cyberspace is to plant ideas in a few minds and hope that they get spread around and improved upon.
In case you hadn't noticed already, the coming backlash against the Religious Right (may God have mercy upon their poor lost and tormented souls) is beginning to arrive because a lot of Christians -- those who actually want to try and live by the teachings of Christ -- are getting fed up with the politicization of that faith by the opportunistic politicians who have been taking advantage of our fundamentalist brothers and sisters.
There is much fear and consternation about America's supposed conversion into a Christian theocracy, but these concerns are unfounded because the politicians make their promises and then fail to keep them because the Constitution keeps getting in the way and the theocrats keep getting diappointed. And theophobia sufferers just can't see that this is the pattern.
The religious conservatives' movement is not really as big and powerful as we are often led to believe, they are just loud, good at PR and get lots of media attention because of the quaintness and campiness of their rhetoric and ideas (some people say the same thing about the gay rights movement, except that the news coverage comes because of its sometimes outrageous attire rather than its ideas).
But just to be sure, we need to separate the religious conservatives from the politicians who pander to them and pray for the former while chastising the latter.
7 - Nancy
Fundamentalists, like all of us, tend to pick & choose to buttress their arguments; it's just that they are more transparent about it. I find it interesting that they are pretty quiet about (or totally ignore, or try to employ spin that would make Karl Rove dizzy) the most prominent 'gay' hero in the bible, King David and his dear buddy, Jonathan, who loved each other with a "love passing the love of women". Pretty unequivocal, that. Yet he seemingly had God's favor, and when he fell, it wasn't for buggery w/Jonathan, it was for murdering Bathsheba's inconvenient hubby. Comments on this, M. Bryan? Excellent and very interesting post, btw, lest I forget to say that.
8 - kittygogo
poor jesus. he would cringe if he knew (I guess he probably already knows), the hatred that is displayed under his name.
The people who speak about hating others in the name of Jesus, these are the people who are going to have to answer the hard questions at the pearly gates. I don't really know if I believe in all of this, but if there is a god, he can't be happy with these people.