Fundamentalism: Making Peace with the Prophets of Doom

Copyright 1990 by John R. Mabry

There are few American subcultures as fanatical or dangerous as Protestant fundamentalism. In a society where pluralism must be fostered and understanding pursued, the fundamentalists are public enemy number one. Great care must be spent in our dealings; real compassion, too, if we are to make any change.

Protestant fundamentalism is a highly legalistic religion that is convinced that it isn't (Denial #1). All things, especially the potentially ecstatic, are suspect: alcohol, dancing, swimming (mixed) and touching the opposite sex before marriage; plus any number of the pettiest of "sins": women wearing trousers, hair on men touching their ears, etc. Fundamentalists have as their authority "sola scriptura", elevating the King James (the Authorized 1611) Version as the very breath of God. No authority is higher, not even the early Greek manuscripts. The Bible has become, for them, a truly tyrannical "Paper Pope". Fundamentalists preach a variant of Luther's doctrine of the priesthood of the believer, while snatching the rug out from beneath anyone who dares to interpret scripture differently than they (Denial #2). Most fundamentalist positions have at their root prejudice, fear and ignorance, yet they claim a religious superiority for having all the answers (Denial #3).

"Having all the answers" is their primary draw. In a world as complex as ours has become, fundamentalists have retreated into "The Old-Time Gospel Hour" of the early twentieth century revivalism. Thinking is hard work, and avoided in our culture at all cost. This is the fundamentalist ace in the hole. Their world is one of artificially determined stark blacks and whites, all the troublesome gray areas have been dealt with and there is no reason--indeed it would be sin--to question "Biblical authority".

The self-discipline required by living in a close community is also a draw. In most such churches, your business is everybody's business. "The walls have ears" and if you trip up you can be sure someone will be there to notice and begin the rumor mill. Being accountable to everyone is seen as an incentive, then.

For the sensitive person, fundamentalism is little more than slow suicide. It's foundation is in Calvinic dualism: one is ultimately not in control of one's eternal destiny (Predestination), so, one lives in fear, adhering strictly to the letter of the Law, suppressing all personality aspects that run counter to this law and at the same time hiding ones doubts and shortcomings from those one should trust most (fellow believers). This chronic suppression of the shadow is partly responsible for the massive projections fundamentalists cast on anyone not subscribing to their peculiar doctrines.

The affects on society are no better. In order to survive a pluralistic society needs to be comfortable being just that. That means that the society appreciates and celebrates it's diversity (i.e. maybe the Chinese couple across the hall crack you up with their cultural eccentricities, but you find them endearing and wouldn't have it any other way). As contemporary songwriter and prophet Bruce Cockburn says, "The whole of history is a growing together, if you want pure you're gonna have caves again." There is a cultural tension, but that tension is what is cherished.

This is the fundamentalists worst nightmare. The only right way is their way; to them difference = sin. The social tension mentioned above is perceived by them as a looming evil, threatening to the "people of God". Fundamentalists even in casual conversation, will erect an "us vs. them" stance and relate to all thing and everyone from this position. This offensive posturing makes dialog difficult. If one tries to reason with them, one has become the silver-tongued serpent whispering lies to Eve. If the fundamentalist dream were to come true, America would become a fascist theocracy comparable to Orwell's 1984. Witch hunts would become media events and racial hatred would set humanity back hundreds of years.

Ushering in the New Age is going to require cooperation from everyone; how can America's fundamentalists be reached, befriended? It is not going to be easy, and strategy is not an innappropriate topic of discussion.

First of all, there are several theological roadblocks. Cooperation with other Christian churches, let alone non-Christian people of faith, is simply not something they pursue. They are "the elect" and everyone else is simply going to Hell. Major barriers are these:

-The authority of scripture/inerrancey

-Method of salvation (pray this prayer--zap! you're saved)

-Depraved nature of humankind

-Strict adherence to moral law as evidence of salvation

-Fulfilment of End-times prophesy

The gifts that Creation Spirituality have to give to the fundamentalist are, truly, the whole of the Gospel: liberation. Liberation from "sin-centricity"; liberation from the tyranny of the Law; a recognition that salvation is an on-going process that no one ever completes nor is ever without; that the Blessing is more important than the Curse; and the fulfillment of life, conscious of the Kingdom of God right here and now in us.

The barriers to Creation Spirituality are formidable, however. The fundamentalist lives with a built-in apocalypse detector, tuned in to anything that might be possible to interpret as a fulfillment of end-times prophesy, and unfortunately Creation Spirituality sets it off like nothing we've ever seen before. First of all, Creation Spirituality comes from a Catholic source, and the Catholic church is (in fundamentalist eyes) the great Whore of Babylon who fornicates with the Beast. Second, the idea of people of various religions worshipping together is the initial stages of the One World Religion that the Beast will officiate over. Couple these with the other alleged Apocalyptic fulfillments in the culture at large--paristroika, the world bank, the European common market, etc.--and the fundamentalist is sure to work him or herself up into a full scale panic and will definitely not want to talk to us.

So what are we to do? How shall we proceed in our role as peacemakers? Biblical exegesis is out--the fundamentalist is in his or her home court there and will squarely sqash us. Logic will not work as the fundamentalist will always revert to Biblical authority and we end up once more with exegesis.

The only way to proceed is to retreat. If the fundamentalists won't talk, we won't talk. We won't fight either. We won't hate (that's a tough one). What will we do?

Just this: minister the Gospel; tell the Jesus story with our own lives, healing the sick, comforting the sorrowful, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked and practising the difficult art of loving. Then we have nothing to argue against. Oh, the fundamentalists will make Galations 1:8 noises ("But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.") but this will not hold up if it is clear that what we do, the Gospel we preach is identical to the ministry of Jesus. Few Protestants, moderates or fundamentalists dare say condemning words about Mother Theresa's work. How can they? She confounds them. ("How can she be a Catholic?") There are no barriers that can withstand dignity and love, not the paranoia of the deep South in the sixties, not the hardhearted British aristocracy in colonial India, not the blind faith of American fundamentalists. As Paul says in Romans 12:20 "...if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head."

Finally, assuming some kind of fellowship can be established, what gifts does the fundamentalist tradition offer to us? For one thing, determination and resolution in ministry, and devotion to the Word of God. Their exegitical skills are unrivaled and their tradition of worship--sermon as sacrament--is dynamic, rich and well-developed. There is great good in reconciliation, even with the most dangerous.

Our duty now, as Creation-centered theologians, is to be sensitive to our own prejudices, to eliminate them and learn to love the people as valiant persons of faith who bear enormous suffering. We can pray for them and visualize a change of heart. And most especially we can minister the Gospel, to them and to everyone. A study of the Gospels is all we need to see how we are to proceed. "Christ has no hands on earth but ours", let us offer them, wounded and open.