June 11, 2006

Fundamentalism

by Julianne Stokstad

Back in early September I prepared this sermon, but it was pre-empted by the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Today I return to the topic of religious fundamentalism with renewed concern. The rise of the Christian fundamentalism into prominence and power in the last decades has made it hard for those who think and believe differently to even identify as being Christian. It is important for us to try to understand, not to demonize others, but our clear call is to identify what it is we believe so that we can speak out about what it is we believe and stand for here in this church. When I hear talk of "Christian values" being fundamentalist values, I get angry and frustrated. "Wait, what about the Christian values we hold?"

Fundamentalism is defined as "a movement in American Protestantism that arose in the early part of the twentieth century in reaction to modernism [that] stresses the inerrancy of the Bible not only in matters of faith and morals, but also as a literal historical record - - holding as essential to Christian faith, belief in doctrines of virgin birth, physical resurrection and the Second Coming."

Karen Armstrong in her book The History of God says, "the United States has always been prone to extremist and apocalyptic enthusiasm." But she points out a rise in religious fundamentalism is also found in most of the world's religions in the latter half of the twentieth century. Islamic fundamentalists have toppled governments, attacked our country and fight violently in God's name. Jewish fundamentalists built settlements in Palestinian lands, and have influenced Israel to take a hard line position against the creation of a Palestinian state in God's name. Christian fundamentalists bomb abortion clinics and are blurring the separation of church and state. Armstrong sees this fundamentalism, no matter in what religion, as an actual retreat from God, saying "This type of belligerent righteousness has been a constant temptation to monotheists throughout the long history of God. It must be rejected as inauthentic." I'd add this kind of rigid extremism has been and is dangerous to the common good of humanity.

All forms of fundamentalism take their holy scriptures literally and are intolerant of any other way of thinking about God except their own. In rigidly strict and unchanging adherence to dogma, negotiation and even discussion is not possible. For fundamentalists, there is no ambiguity: they are right, they have the Truth and anyone who disagrees with them is more than wrong. If you have had an experience of trying to discuss religion with such a person, you know all you can do is agree to disagree and look for common ground in other areas.

There is no simple answer for why fundamentalism is on the rise, but here are a few reasons I've come up with about why it might be attractive to so many currently. First there is a sense of home in fundamentalist communities. By home, I mean home in the sense of a childhood home, where you are told what to do. Many people find great security in knowing the rules and having clear limits on beliefs and behavior. When one behaves according to the norms then acceptance is certain. Certainty is very comforting especially when the world seems to be more and more uncertain and complex. Moral certainty is comforting in a world gone crazy with diversity. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to set up "an us and them" polarity. Belonging is important to everyone.

Another reason is humans are notoriously short-sighted in our outlook, because it is so very hard for any of us to look beyond the norms and prejudices we gain from our own experiences and from what we learn from our parents growing up. Anyone who is not "like me" is viewed as other and a threat. In this country we have struggled with racial prejudice, from the Civil War, to Japanese internments to current racial profiling of Arabs. Malcolm Gladwell is his recent book Blink states we all have unconscious prejudices we don't even know we have. He says that even though we think we are tolerant, our immediate response of fear or of welcome to another are unconscious. The World Cup matches in Germany are bringing out ugly racial prejudices into the public. These deep-seated and wide-spread prejudices are very difficult if not impossible to change by argument. As my old father used to say, my mind is made up, don't confuse me with facts!

Another reason is habit of thought. People don't always think about topics of religion, letting the experts make up the rules. We are all complex mosaics of clear thinking and fuzzy stubborn beliefs. To confront and struggle with what it is we think is challenging and frustrating, especially in the area of theology and the Bible and other sacred writings.

Increasingly with such wide access to information, the Internet, the press, it is very hard to know what is true, what is a lie and what are the partial truths. Think about the outrageous attack on evolution teaching in many parts of our country. I believe our education system has not and is not preparing us well in this area of critical thinking. We have to take time to really think about what we believe. What we need is skill is asking the right question. It is much easier to complain, to pick at other's views than it is to study issues, to look at what it is that we believe in this increasingly complex world.

With the incredible amount of information accumulating, simple answers rarely work. For many people living with such uncertainty is just not tolerable. Our brains are hard-wired, working like computers, making distinctions between two possibilities. The baby first learns a distinction between what is self and what is mother. Only very much later in late adolescence is the ability for abstraction developed.

And so we must seek spiritual maturity. How do we balance our God-given reasoning with faith? One challenge for our congregation is to be willing to seriously engage with the Bible and to seek to understand it in light of our experience and modern Biblical scholarship. Ignoring the Bible is as wrong as taking it literally

So what about our scripture today? In the two short parables, Jesus tells us the kingdom of God is like a small insignificant seed which grows by who knows how into a large, useful and nurturing bush. Jesus told the story and it is our job to figure out the meaning in relation to our lives.

Do we know about anything like that . . . seed money? one small idea? faith? forgiveness? When I think of seed money and one small idea, EDFK comes to mind. One small idea, with a little money, to feed hungry children in Mexico. Children can't learn when they are hungry. It is as simple as that. Can we possibly measure the large effect this is having on all those children who now have a little bit of a better chance.

What about a seed of faith. Most people here would say they don't have bushels of faith. Most people get embarrassed when I ask them about their faith. Oh, I don't have much, they'll say. But I want to say, hardly anyone feels they have enough faith. Most people don't even know how to talk about faith. Here folks would rather act. I'd say, all anyone needs is a tiny seed of faith and like the little child in the story, it is enough to hold on to. Doubts, criticisms can seem bigger, but a little seed of faith can grow into a strong tree of support.

What if the seed is forgiveness? What would a small bit of forgiveness do to a relationship that is hurting and broken. Might it nurture new and healthy growth?

Seeking with an open heart and mind can lead us on a sacred path. If we close ourselves off from other ways of thinking and being, we close ourselves off to new ways God can speak to us. Ultimately Jesus calls us to love God, to love our neighbors, whoever they may be and to love ourselves.

Let us listen, listen with the truth of our lives to new ways God is speaking truth to us. Amen