Dictionary.com defines fundamentalism as many things, but here’s the one I’m referring to in today’s post: “a strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles.”  This is not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion, if you don’t foist any of those responsibilities or expectations on anyone else.

I think I’ve discussed this before, but I grew up around people–at school, at church–who were afraid of what others were doing to our country, fearful of any belief that seemed to contradict the Bible (especially the elements in the Bible that are open to interpretation).  I have friends who vote on the abortion issue alone.  I have friends who, literally, bought The Da Vinci Code, then felt guilty and tossed it in the trash.  I have friends who want the “gay” issue solved once and for all (and that’s an entirely separate issue I’ll have to bring up someday…I don’t get the hatred directed at homosexuals…I think Jesus would be helping them bring down Prop 8…seriously).  I keep getting these letters and pamphlets from Dobson’s Focus on the Family, and they’re so filled with righteous indignation (and misdirected hate) about how these people are a THREAT TO US, that I can’t even get through them.  Where’s the love?  Where’s the focus on getting aid to the orphaned, widowed, poor, and elderly?  Am I missing something?  If I’m not mistaken, the two main commandments Jesus gave us were: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and Love your neighbor as yourself.  If I were gay, I wouldn’t dare set foot in church.

Moving on.  I’ve just finished The  Bookseller of Kabul, a book written by Seierstad, a journalist who moved in with an Afghan bookseller and his family right after 9/11.  What struck me were the similarities between Taliban rules and “organized religion” rules.  [I must preface this by saying that I’m aware of some amazing churches that are living as closely to the gospels as possible.  They are doing some radically loving things.]  What I am referring to as “organized religion” are those religious organizations that have made up a list of understood rules about behavior, attitude, and posture that are so ingrained in their constituents that no one ever contemplates them anymore.  They are not Bible-based, simply history based, because someone way back when decided this was the interpretation they were going to choose, and that’s the way they’re living their lives.

A few quotes from the book.

If you’ve grown up in a conservative religious household, do you get a sense of déjà vu in the following?

“Sultan [the bookseller] was convinced that under the Taliban the country grew increasingly poor, dismal, and insular.  The authorities resisted all modernization; they had no wish to either understand or adopt ideas of progress or economic development.  They shunned scientific debate, whether conducted in the West or in the Muslim world.  Their manifesto was above all a few pathetic arguments about how people should dress or cover themselves, how men should respect the hour of prayer, and how women should be separated from the rest of society.  They were not conversant with the history of Islam or of Afghanistan, and had no interest in either.”

But it gets better (or should I say worse?).  Get this.  Sultan was taken to the prison to be interrogated for owning and selling banned books, but the people behind his arrest were from the–and I’m not making this up–the “Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Extermination of Sin, better known as the Ministry of Morality.”

What I don’t understand is the feverish need for others to believe exactly what you do, and here I’m speaking to those who say they believe in God.  If you believe that God gave you free will, then you know that the issue is between you and God, not between you and all the people around you.  What beliefs another person holds is their “hoop,” their responsibility.  Why make it yours?  If you’re a parent, if you’ve read the Adam and Eve story, you’ll know that you cannot force another person to believe anything.  Even God can’t make us, if He’s truly given us a free will.  He’s “handicapped” Himself, you might say, in order to give us that choice.  [For more of this, see this post.]

A story to illustrate.  I won’t use names.  I used to be a member of a small group that would gather on a periodic basis to discuss books.  Upon this particular occasion, I was expounding–with excitement, I’m afraid, which is why it backfired–on the fact that the theology of the Trinity did not appear until the 4th century.  [For those of you who might not know what this is, the Trinity refers to God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Ghost (or Spirit), as Three in One.]  I had had no idea this was the case.  Imagine: we might believe something that had not been part of the original “plan.”  The next morning, I received an urgent e-mail from someone in the group, begging me to meet her for lunch or coffee, Bibles in hand, to reconsider the value of the Trinity and what it means for the Christian faith.

This is what I’m talking about.  The ability to question, to doubt is not an option, at least where I come from.  The only effect this has had is to make me cautious (except in these posts)…and weep for those people who have abandoned the church because they’ve been the brunt of this kind of silencing.  No wonder the Christian world doesn’t look so fantastic to outsiders.

So, I’m going to say it again.  In this blog, I want to honor your journey (wherever you are, and this includes everyone–my atheist friends, my Buddhist friends, my gay friends, everyone!!), for these issues are for you to settle in your heart, not something I’m trying to convince you of.  For now, I will provide the questions, to stir your heart and mind.  Treat others with kindness and love, no matter what they believe, or how they live.  It’s what Jesus would have done.