Coming to Grips with Fundamentalism July 7, 2011
Posted by Matt in religion.Tags: evolution, freedom, fundamentalism, love, spiritual journey
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In the world of science, the evolutionary process can take place in minute increments across vast expanses of time or in a giant genetic leap, and I think sometimes, on a more personal level, these same ideas can be seen to govern the very thoughts flitting back and forth and taking root in our minds. At least, I know this much is true for me.
I’ve written quite extensively in the past about my own spiritual journey, from the seeming straightjacket of fundamentalism, to the role of an embattled and lonely dissenter, to the freedom and joy of life today. It’s been a beautiful and much needed voyage, one that was slow in developing, but which ultimately proved to be unstoppable and life-changing. For some fifteen years, my personal philosophy underwent a series of modifications which ultimately changed its very structure, foreshadowing the creation of a wholly different organism than it was in the beginning. Over the past year, this evolutionary process has received jolt after jolt, leaping forward in a veritable Cambrian Explosion of the mind. Today I am a new and different and, I believe, better person, but the means to this end were not easy.
One of the most difficult things I have had to deal with in my new life is in the treatment of and thoughts directed to my fundamentalist past and those who choose that path in life. At first there was a great deal of anger and resentment, of bitterness and head shaking condescension, but as I became more ingrained in a loving, inclusive community, those destructive thoughts were quickly banished. Soon they were replaced by new ones of love and acceptance, of seeing the beauty in people despite their differences. It’s amazing what a change in environment can do for a person.
I learned that, thankfully, we do not all think alike and, though we may take different paths, whether it be the concrete highway of fundamentalism or my own meandering path through the religious wilderness, we have the same desire for an ultimate and universal divine love. In my little mind, that is what really matters.
What a great journey you have been on. The fundamentalist approach is very comforting since the rules are simple and it does provide a concrete base of faith to hold onto. However a little deeper thought about our world, our universe, our humanity makes that simple belief unbelievable. A God who created all has to be too complex for us to understand completely. I believe Jesus is part of the answer, but the rest of the explanation will have to wait.
“I believe Jesus is part of the answer, but the rest of the explanation will have to wait.”
I like that a lot, Charlie. I may have to borrow that line from you sometime.