Fundamentalism, particularly in Christianity, is a fairly recent phenomena. Despite what fundamentalist preachers say -- there was no such form of Christianity, nor any close relative of it -- until the last few centuries. Early Christianity was NOT composed of people who read the "autographs" of the present day Bible and acted much like modern-day evangelical Christians. In fact, there never were autographs of the Bible for them to read (see the Theology page to find out more about the actual history of the Bible) and their communities looked much more like a form of Catholicism or one of the other old-line liturgical forms of worship, than ever like modern Protestanism of any form. Furthermore,evidence suggests that the early Christian communities were, by our modern standards -- much like Communist villages, not like small north American towns.

What can we say about the early Christians? Early Christians apparently held their property in common and did much to alleviate the social distress of those around them. They were liturgical and celebrated the Mass. They were divided doctrinally and were embroiled in a number of bitter theological battles over pieces of doctrine no one would think of questioning in the Church today. At most any given group might have had a single copy of a single epistle (letter) or gospel (good news) -- as often as not one that we do not now have -- and wouldn't consider canonical (divine) if it still existed. Many groups (churches) had no written material whatsoever, and were functioning entirely on emerging oral traditions.

The theologians of mainstream churches today recognize all of those things, and account for them in their discussions of theology. Fundamentalist theologians do not recognize nor account for these plain historical facts at all. Rather, they engage in denial and in a process called "apologetics" in an attempt to defend the "authority" of the Bible through mental gymnastics and things that less polite men might simply call "lies."

Still, one man's junk is another man's treasure -- and the Fundamentalists have as much right to their religious choices as anyone else -- except....

Fundamentalism has its own designs, far beyong the world of religion and the disputations of theologians. Fundamentalism desires power. We are used to thinking of the fundamentalist Moslems in stark terms of power, because our media refers to them in those stark terms. We are NOT used to thinking of the Christian Right in the same terms that we think of the fundamentalist Moslems -- but we should. Islamic fundamentalism, always the most aggressive of the fundamentalist forces, has gained temporal power in a number of countries (as is mentioned in the definition section). Christian fundamentalism seeks the same in a number of western nations -- with its greatest liklihood of success being in the United States, where it has gained substantive power within the structure of one of the two great political parties -- and from that position seeks to limit or control the debate itself.

As recently as six (6) years ago, mainstream people of both parties assured two of us, smirking, that a takeover by the Religious Right could NEVER happen in America. Today the fundamentalist Christians stand closer to actual control over the United States than ever before, and even those friends who were so certain that this could not happen are admitting that it is a real danger. This is occuring, not particularly because fundamentalism is gaining additional numbers, by all apparent accounts it is shrinking marginally in fact. Rather, the gains are being made because of strategic alliances, because of political acumen, because of control in the primaries of one of our great parties; and the provision of foot soldiers to that same political party, because of clever investments in failing AM radio and small channel cable stations -- and because many people continue to refuse to take the threat of the Fundamentalists seriously, and thus vote according to their hopes for the future of freedom -- rather than because of other, wholly transient reasons.

Nothing could be more serious at all levels than the threat posed by fundamentalist Christianity to the future of freedom and democracy. By nature Fundamentalists do NOT believe in freedom of thought, or the right to privacy. In fact, authors and leaders of the Christian Right such as RJ Rushdoony and Pat Robertson, have openly discussed such things as the use of the government to assure that only "appropriate" Christian males hold political office, that those judged to be immoral by the standards of "correct" churches be punished through government intervention, and that people be funneled into evangelical and fundamentalist churches through government "help."

I would maintain that there are two separate questions involved when dealing with this dangerous situation. The first is, are the Fundamentalists correct? Do they have the Truth? If they are correct and they do have the absolute Truth, then political questions are moot. If there are problems with their interpretations of the Bible -- or with the Bible itself being perfect and divine -- then the other question comes into play. That second question is, how do we stop them from taking over the country completely and forcing everyone to be like them? If they are indeed (as I would maintain they are) troubled by irrefutable proof that the Bible is not divinely inspired, or perfect -- proof that has no counter except lies -- then question 2 becomes paramount, and helping as many of the Fundamentalists to leave the movement that has them trapped as is possible becomes important not only for the society, but as a work of mercy.

I would invite all of you to spend time reading the various links on the left and thinking about what they say. Feel free to check the references, feel free to read a copy of the Bible -- nothing is more destructive of any thought that the Bible might be divine than reading it without "guidance," guidance which will add pressure to interpret things from the book in the way that best suits a given religious group). Feel free to look up other sources and read a few books. Then, think about what you can do to help some of the poor benighted souls free of Fundamentalism, and what you can do to help protect the greatest nation in the world from Fundamentalist tyranny.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate in contacting us, using the contact button, or via snail mail. We are glad to respond to anyone. Hate mail will be ignored however, so be aware of that if you are inclined to waste your time.

Thanks for being here. Peace.