So What's A Fundamentalist?

Until a few years ago no one spoke about fundamentalists outside the esoteric world of theology. It is only recently that the term has become commonplace in relation to religious people whose approach to their faith is what we might call hard line or traditional.

The former Bishop of Derby wrote a booklet called ‘The Many Fundamentalisms.’ At that time he was particularly concerned about Christian fundamentalists. The thrust of his theme is implied in the title that if there are different ‘flavours’ of fundamentalists, it might call into question the validity of their stance.

As the term has been used recently we think of fundamentalists as being extremely orthodox to the point of bigotry. But really it refers to someone who values the fundamental principles of their faith and in particular one who values traditional interpretations of doctrine and approaches to scripture.

What we have seen recently though is a fundamentalism where narrow beliefs can lead to distortion of the truth and unacceptable behaviour in both Christian as well as Islamic contexts.

It has now become a major preoccupation of the British government to try to legislate in order to control this phenomenon, however, it is proving extremely difficult. In America, the pendulum swings in the opposite direction, whereby the move towards political correctness has gone awry. A courthouse in the state of Alabama featured a stone, upon which the Ten Commandments had been inscribed; hardly an act of fundamentalism, yet the government forced its removal from the courthouse.

In Britain many believe our government has to make laws to regulate behaviour and to provide moral guidelines to protect everyone. But defining theological orthodoxy is another matter.

The problem is that not everything that is legal is moral and not everything that is immoral is illegal. Truth and the law are by no means the same thing.



Holy God, You have given us the traditions of our faith to guide our lives, bless us too with the wisdom to use Your gift of reason to ensure that we build communities in which all are safe and free. Amen

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