FUNDAMENTALISM

 

Fundamentalism

A Christian fundamentalist is a person who believes in the strict literal interpretation of scripture in religion. Jews and Muslims have their share of fundamentalists. I  will write about the Christians. They are found in Southern Baptists, Disciples of Christ, Mormons,  small sects and Roman Catholics. They cite scripture to oppose abortion. They oppose abortion because they take literally the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” An embryo or unhatched offspring is killing. Yet they believe in killing human beings in wars and killing human beings who are convicted murderers.

The vivid contradictions of Biblical fundamentalists are glanced over.

Eating shell fish (Lev. 11:10) and Wearing gold 1Tmothy 2:9 are prohibited.

Bastards  Deuteronomy 23:2 and the  Castrated Deuteronomy 23:1 are forbidden to enter the synagogue.

Divorce Mark 10:8 and Tattoos Leviticus 19:28 are sins. Fundamentalists ignore those prohibitions.

Levitical laws condemning same-sex relationships (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13). Fundamentalists claim these laws and others condemn same sex relations.

Other Christians view the Bible differently. The Bible is a book gathered together from the writings of ancient Semitic men and women writing from lands called Palestine, Israel, Rome, Corinth and the Mediterranean Basin. It was gathered together by the Christian Church. It was probably put together by 415 AD

The Bible is a library of different kinds of books by may different authors. There is history, prophecy, poetry, propaganda and sacred writings. It was not dictated from the mouth of God. It was gathered together by people who felt they knew and tried to understand who God is and how people should live.

I am not a fundamentalist. I believe the Bible is to be looked at critically with our minds, scientific evidence and the points of view of the artist. Their author, date and purpose in writing are to be examined. The books of the Bible are to be viewed in the historical, economic and political circumstance of the time. This is not a new way of looking and understanding scripture. Scholars and devout church people have always looked at the Bible critically. Matin Luther saw the Bible in ways very different from the Roman Catholic authorities of the 15th century. The enlightenment writers, philosophers and theologians of the 17th and 18th centuries criticised and examined the Bible with new eyes.  18th century scholars and theologians brought Biblical scientific and historical perspectives to interpreting scriptures. The Bible was viewed more as literature than as the exact words of God.

The commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is the human beings experience that simply killing other people did not solve problems or bring human happiness. On a deeper level it indicated taking life is not the business of humans but it is of God. 

Governments and many fundamentalists approve of war and capital punishment but oppose abortion.

Eating shell fish (Lev. 11:10) is prohibited in the Bible yet many Christians and Jews eat shrimp and crab. In the ancient culture without refrigeration, eating shell fish an kill you. We now can eat shellfish safely. Orthodox Jews still abhor shell fish.

Fundamentalists are entitled to their views of scripture. They are not permitted to tell the rest of us how to live and behave by passing laws based on their narrow views of the Bible. They are welcome to try but will face fierce resistance.

This book is far too rich and deep to be taken literally. The magic poetry of the psalms and Ecclesiastes enrich our personal and emotional life. The prophetic voices of Amos, Isaiah and Jesus call for justice, care for the poor, welcoming the stranger and feeding the hunger.

I note that most fundamentalists, I hear about, are against abortion and homosexuality. They quote the Bible to justify their views. They ignore the parts of the Bible calling for peace and justice.

RWC