I've been growing into my own faith over the past year or so, and have come to a place where I feel like my faith is mine, fully... but I seem to have this persisting fear "What if the fundie-evangelicals are right?" Because if they are we're all screwed.How would you address that? -Sarah
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You're not wrong, Sarah. If the hyper-conservative Evangelicals are right about how the universe is, then a huge number of us will be on the outside looking in. Quite nice for them, strutting around about how right they are, but kinda sucky for the rest of us.
The good news is, however, that I don't think they are right. And this goes beyond "I don't think they're right because I disagree with them," this has more to do with the fact that I don't think they are right because I don't think THEY believe that they are, either. The entire culture of extreme Fundamentalism is built around a profound disconnect between what they claim they believe and how they behave. For instance:
1- The Culture of Fear: Fundamentalists often build up the concept of a spiritual war between the forces of heaven and hell. They also claim to be on the side of a God who is All Knowing, All Present, and All Powerful. Should be an open and shut case, right? If you are in a tilt and have omnipotence on your side, then no matter WHAT the other side brings, it's no contest. You will win. And yet...
And yet the Fundamentalists live in an atmosphere of carefully cultivated fear... fear of outsiders, fear of science, fear of people who do not fit the Patriarchal ideals, fear of new ideas, fear of old ideas. For a group that claims to be the clear winners-to-be of the Universal Spiritual Throwdown, they're sure squeaking around like mice scared the other contestants will notice them.
2- The Culture of Judgement: Despite what the Bible has to say on the subject, Fundamentalists focus a lot on the concept of sin. Being "hard on sin" is almost the cardinal rule for their clergy. Proper maintenance of good moral character is held to be of paramount concern. They certainly never hesitate to point out the sins of others. And yet...
And yet that same pointing out is built as an elaborate smokescreen to hide their own sins. Despite being most strongly represented in the wealthiest country in the world, Fundamentalists are often strangely silent on sins of greed or power. Most of the energy is directed towards the sins of outsiders, where sin becomes more a matter of fitting in socially than building up ones own morality. For a group that claims to be so worried about spiritual report cards, they spend remarkably little time examining their own morality, choosing instead to focus on the sins of the world around them.It's like their version of the Biblical command is "Judge others, lest you be judged."
3- The Culture of Scientific Ignorance: Fundamentalists heavily stress the importance of "true faith" which to them often means blind adherence to a set of beliefs. They are proud to hold their worldview, even in a world that denies it (part of the fear mentioned before), and insist that such a thing is a virtue. And yet...
If it is a virtue, they sure don't want it tested. Fundamentalist culture is notorious in it's desire to silence outside voices, building schools that will only teach approved teachings, attempting to censor books that present non-conforming ideas. They WILL occasionally latch on to some scientific concept in order to show that the whole thing is an inconsistent mess, and in so doing only manage to show their own ignorance. For a group that claims to be resolute in their faith, their INABILITY to hear conflicting ideas certainly is strange. But hey, who needs Science, right? They have the Bible, the source of their knowledge! Funny you should say that...
4- The Culture of Biblical Minimalism: Fundamentalists LOVE to talk about believing what the Bible says. No interpretation, no waffling, the Bible says it, they believe it, period. It is the foundation upon which all of their worldview is created. And yet...
And yet any drive to actually STUDY that document is resisted at best, where it isn't directly opposed. Fundamentalist culture derides Seminaries and Divinity Schools, calling them places where Good Christians go to lose their faith. What they actually are, however, are places where the carefully cultivated Biblical Blinders come crashing down. The Bible is not simple, it is in fact a hugely complicated Document representing many worldviews, some of which are antithetical to each other. So instead the Fundamentalists build Bible Colleges, where carefully cultivated interpretations of certain texts (wholly ignoring large hunks of the Biblical message) are put forward, reducing the scriptures to easily memorized sound bites. Because if you memorize, you don't need to read,and if you read, you might keep reading, and see where the Bible leaves the reservation.
So why do they do all of this? Because they WANT to believe a certain way. It seems comforting to believe that the world is a simple place, with easily defined moral lines and simple value assessment. It allows people to live in a bubble where their discomfort with concepts like homosexuality or transgender are not signs of bigotry, but faith, where you can sit comfortably in a comfortable world and never have to worry about anything. And yet...
It doesn't work. Has never worked. No one is comforted by Extreme Fundamentalism as it exists today. Instead, they live in near constant fear, judgement, and willful ignorance, hoping that if they close their eyes, stick their fingers in their ears, and yell "hallelujahs" loudly enough they won't notice the gaping holes in the world they have so carefully constructed for themselves. It was an attempt to make sense of a rapidly changing world. And that attempt failed.
So while I do see that if the Extreme Fundamentalists are right, I will be royally screwed, I do not believe that they are. Because when you take what they claim to believe and put it up next to how they act, it is clear that they do not believe it, either.
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