Duder
Over 750 post club
From PureX:
I think there are a couple of things that need clarified, here. One is that the word "fundimentalism" implies something other than what it has come to mean, when applied to religion. "Fundimentalism" should just mean a point of view that's based on the fundimental ideals of the area of philosophy or theology that it's being applied to. And sometimes this is exactly what people mean when they use the term. But mostly, these days, the term "fundimentalism" is actually being used to describe religious absolutism. This is a mis-application of the term, but like many things involving language, mis-applied words "stick", and become impossible to correct.
When I claim, and I have often claimed, that fundimentalism is unhealthy, irrational, and socially toxic (dangerous), I am referring to what would more properly be called absolutism rather than fundimentalism. Also, though the examples and arguments that I most often use are related to religious Christianity (after all, this is a Christian discussion group), I believe that the poison of fundimentalism (absolutism) can infect other religions, too, and often will infect political ideology as well. Islamic fundimentalism is certainly a clear example of how this absolutist insanity can infect other religions besides Christianity, and nazi fascism is a well known example from the recent past of what happens when this absolutist insanity infects political ideology.
The reason that absolutism causes people to become so dangerously insane is because it's essentially dishonest, in that it's founded on the idea that those who buy into it can't possibly be wrong. And I believe it's also highly addictive. Once human beings use this irrational fantasy to elevate themselves to the what is essentially a state of "divine righteousness", they render themselves incapable of doubting their own ideas and intents. And what's worse, in order to defend this dishonesty, they have to perceive any and all other concepts of reality and truth as a threat which must be eliminated, dismissed, or discredited at all costs. And this is when they become socially toxic and actually dangerous.
The more addicted they become to this fantasy of their own divine righteousness, the more desperately they will fight to eliminate and discredit any opposing view of themselves (and ALL other views are considered to be in opposion to their own). Every time a nazi killed a Jew, he was proving to himself that he was indeed superior, and he was also eliminating the evidence to the contrary at the same time. In order for him to maintain this illusion of superiority that he's become so addicted to, he has to keep exercizing this power and keep eliminating the evidence that would contradict the illusion. Had the nazis not been stopped, they would have killed all the Jews they could get their hands on, and then moved on to other groups. Their addiction to their own superiority (divine righteousness) could only being satiated by the act of murder, and the addiction had to be fed. They would have kept killing even when they ran out of Jews.
Christian fundimentalists (absolutists) are not currently physically killing anyone, but they certainly are murdering anyone and everyone that "opposes" them in their minds and in their hearts. They "erase" them from the book of life. They imagine that God is going to torture them in eternal fire. They think of them as "demons" in human bodies. These are all ways of eliminating them from the brotherhood of (superior) men, so that the evidence they pose that the fundimentalist is not so divinely righteous (absolutely right) as he imagines himself to be can be eliminated, and dismissed. And these divinely righteous Christians certainly have committed murder in the past. I have no doubt whatever that they will do so again if they are ever given the power.
And what is very disconcerting right now in America, is that the republican party has realized that they can't get elected unless they court these fundimentalist lunatics for their votes. And this is giving the fundis power that they will immediately use to oppress their "enemies" (remember, everyone who does not agree with their fantasy of divine righteousness is their enemy). And as this has been going on for some time, the republican party has now become infected by the Christian fundimentalism they had to incorperate into their political platform, which gives this sickness even more power. Bush himself is an absolutist, and is desperately trying to stack the courts with fundimentalist Christians. Since these religious absolutists cannot conceive of themselves as ever being wrong, and since they perceive anyone who would disagree with them to be disagreeing with God, the federal courts are the LAST place they should ever be allowed to serve. They are ideologically incapable of "serving" anything but their own absolutist agenda. But of course Bush and his cronies can't see this because they can't see themselves as being wrong, either.
George Bush is an abomination as president because he can't comprehend the most basic concept of being a public servant, and that is that his job is not to represent and promote his own ideas and agenda, and the ideas and agenda of his cronies, but to represent all the american people (even those who he desagrees with). But Bush can't do that because he is an absolutist. He believes that he is absolutely right about everything, and that anyone who disagree is absolutely wrong, and therefor they can and should be completely dismissed and ignored. Thus, he is not capable or representing anyone with any point of view but his own. And as he appoints more and more of these absolutists to important political positions, especially to judgeships, this dangerous situation will become more and more difficult to undo.
These lunatics aren't killing american citizens, yet, but wait until they get enough power. They're already starting wars for no reason other than that they couldn't conceive of themselves as possibly being wrong about anything. They're already trying to lock people away in prisons for mere suspicions (since absolutists are never wrong, just the suspicion of guilt is considered the same thing as actually being guilty). They're already using the power of their offices to punish other governments and members of the news media who have dared to contradict them. These are all steps that have a discernable progression, and we have seen this all before, many times throughout history. But we don't teach history in our schools anymore, so americans don't see that they are walking down a well trodden road to their own destruction.
It's very worrisome.