She came to me in tears. Her sister and brother‑in‑law visited her, saw her New International Version of the Bible on the table, and attacked her, insisting she was in danger of going to hell unless she read only the King James Version, the only true Word of God. (This happened in the year 2007!) She didn’t know how to handle the situation so that harmony might result.
You may find this story comical or far out on the fringe. But such events are not uncommon, and are happening right under our noses (and not only when the Taliban shoot women through the head in a soccer stadium).
Fundamentalism turns sinister when it, like an only child, insists, “My way is the only way.” Moreover, the fundamentalist ‑ whether Osama Ben Laden or Pat Robertson ‑ always insists, “. . . and I’m doing this for your own good!”
Here’s the point: in many shadowy corners of my heart, I too am a fundamentalist, very serious about my way of doing things, grumpy (at best) if you won’t agree with me, quite uninterested in your view of the subject, closed. Opening those dark corners may be the most important action I can take in becoming spiritually healthier, a better dad, a better husband, a better worker or boss, more useful in God’s hands. (Can you hear my heavy sigh?)
I’m sure some fundamentalists were once motivated to help people who are adrift or confused. But they became angry toward “too many choices,” and the anger turns them into oppressors.
Mankind has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother’s path to happiness and heaven.
Mark Twain
The Wit and Wisdom
The key question is: How do we interpret the book? In the Christian faith, we have the interpretation of Martin Luther King, Jr. and also that of the KKK.
Jim Wallis
Sojourners Magazine
Enrico, the Grand Inquisitor in the Marvel Universe
The foundations, the basics; I’ve read that Vince Lombardi began each season by teaching his players how to block, how to run, and how to fall. That’s the good side of “fundamentalism.”
However . . . .