The history of mankind is rampant with a virulent fundamentalism which has had major impact on the direction of the world. When I used the term “fundamentalism,” one might readily think of Christianity, especially here in America where the term was first coined in the early twentieth century. Christian fundamentalism, was movement in American Protestantism that arose in the late 19th century in reaction to theological modernism, which aimed to revise traditional Christian beliefs to accommodate new developments in the natural and social sciences, especially the theory of biological evolution. It would, however, be unfair to limit fundamentalism to Christian Protestantism

Fundamentalism usually has a religious connotation that indicates unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs. However, fundamentalism has come to be applied to a tendency among certain groups – mainly, although not exclusively, in religion – that is characterized by a markedly strict literalism as it is applied to certain specific scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, and a strong sense of the importance of maintaining ingroup and outgroup distinctions, leading to an emphasis on purity and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed. Rejection of diversity of opinion as applied to these established “fundamentals” and their accepted interpretation within the group often results from this tendency.

This definition fits a wide category of belief systems within various religions, from the practitioners of extra eclessia nulla salus Catholicism,who gleefully condemn to an eternal hell of torment all who are not subservient to the Roman Catholic Church, to the wild-eyed Muslim fanatics who will kill even other Muslims who stray from the fold of theological exactitude regarding Allah. The common theme of this intolerance is an underlying idea by those who practice such crazed religions that they are truly serving God.  At all costs, He must be pleased, and the death and torture of those who will not accept the dogmas of fanaticism is the price that must be paid. From the Iron Maiden of the Inquisition to the True Sword of Islam lopping off heads – DEATH TO INFIDELS!

What is the cause of this?

This is only my opinion, but I submit that it is shame. The shame of which I speak goes all the way back to the garden of Eden, when it shame is first mentioned.  Genesis 2: 25  “ Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”  Stop and think.  Isn’t this an odd mention -shame-at the very beginning of the history of mankind? The mention of shame here acknowledges that there has since come into the world something called shame. What is this shame that so drives mankind to do often horrific deeds in the name of  God.

“Our inner lives are often quite noisy. Highly selective memories ladened with emotions and colored with varieties of shame combined with a cultural bombardment of noise, engineered to excite the passions, serve as a layered cocoon beneath which is the self, often unattended and little recognized. Instead, we “identify” with the stuff. We work with the noise in an effort to make it more bearable, both for ourselves and for those around us.”[1]

One of the ways in which we work with inner noise of self-condemnation is by adopting the defense of perfectionism. Perfectionism is a safe niche in life where the conscience can be muted. It is a small step from there to find a group of like-minded people in which we can together drown out the voice of our shame by intensely living the path we have chosen and looking down on the rest of Christianity as not being worthy of God’s love because they have not accepted our beliefs. Those of us who struggle with this shame have come to believe that God loves us for what we are doing to be perfect Christians. We are perfect in belief, in our worship, in how we act in the world, and how we treat our fellow man. All who do not agree with us are deserving of eternal punishment because they are not doing exactly what God wants.  This sense applies not only to Christianity, but to all fundamentalist religions of all time.

This is again my opinion, but I sense that in every human action, save a few done by completely altruistic human beings, there is this desire to cover the shame. I see it in the need to be first in sports events, richest in the world, the most powerful, the most eloquent, the best at anything we do. Deep down inside, unrecognized by our conscious mind, we cannot comfortably be in the presence of others unless something we have said or done  presents us as a worthy being, someone who does not need to be ashamed of what he/she is. Such shame produces a deep inner anger.

Now take that understanding and place it before God. Add to that the vision of most religions, including Western Christianity, of an angry deity who must be placated before His wrath will subside. If we are anything less than what we should be, if we insult Him by our failure to perform, our weakness for sin, or the myriad of other failures which compose this broken life on earth, He will consign us to an eternal torture chamber, and justly so. Such a vision of God easily leads to fundamentalism in which the rules are plainly set out and any deviance from them means that God is going to git you – and git you good! If you are not a good Muslim – hell for you.  Likewise a good fundamentalist  Bob Jones Baptist. And if you dare object to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Magisterium – hoo boy! You are in deep kimchee, pal! God will roast you forever and take complete delight in doing so, along with the saints in heaven, who will share in the delight of your torment. [2]  All of this so that those fundamentalists can assure themselves that God is happy with them, accepts them for what they believe and follow, and most of all, will not cast them into hell and torture them forever. When I was a busy little Bob Jones variety Baptist, I moved within this very fear.  Anyone who did not believe as I did was surely subject to God’s wrath.  I kept the rules, and strove to make converts so they would not go to hell.  In doing so, I made an atrocious nuisance of myself at  Thanksgiving dinners and other social events. I lacked tact and love. It was all about keeping the rules, lest God not be pleased with me and see me for the failure I knew I was deep in my heart. The shame haunted me – and I would bet good money that for a vast number of people – especially those who are fundamentalists – if you could get them to be honest with their feelings and fears, they would admit to the same thing. Any deviance from the rules of their organization – be it Catholic, Protestant, or Muslim – would mean that they would be in danger of hellfire. For the religious fundamentalist, shame means that you cannot come to God just as you are – faults, sins, and all the ugly stuff.  No, you must perform – and woe unto that person who questions your performance! You see, they stand for God and His holiness, therefore, if you dare question what they believe, you are questioning God, which in turn, brings the wrath of God straight down upon you.

Do you know what would heal this?  Love. The most sane, rational, and happy people in the world are those who have lived their lives knowing they are loved and cherished. They are not angry, easy to get along with, tolerant and forgiving. Blessed with be raised in emotionally healthy families, having the support and encouragement of teachers and peers, they view the world through the lens of love. I have seen numerous stories of angry and often violent people being radically changed by experiencing real love that accepted them for who they are. It often took time, and sometimes great pain on the part of the loving party who was dealing with a desperately fearful and angry person, but eventually love won out.

Fundamentalism cannot do this. The idea – the truth actually – of a heavenly Father who is all-forgiving love, even of the worst sins and most heinous deed, is something fundamentalists cannot wrap their minds around. Universal salvation threatens them because of God saves everyone, then they are no longer special because of the things they do. They cannot hide their shame behind the wall of their performance. Facing God as they really are without the protection of their religious choices and performance is terrifying. They will desperately search for verses to support their vision of God as only accepting those who meet the criteria of deeds they have chosen. I know this because I suffered from it, and it is not an easy cross to carry. I keep trying to shed this image of the angry God, and my outlook is slowly changing, but the little voice is always there, mostly muted, but sometimes quite loud. It points to my failures and sins and gleefully pronounces doom on me. “You’re a phony! Hypocrite!  Does God really love you? Look at what you did to Robin Davis! What a bad father you were!” I think we all have this burden to carry, and some, unable to resolve it, become locked in religious activity which demands strict obedience and punishment for those who do not agree so that we can feel that we are not shameful before God, but good persons whom He will accept.

Yes, we are not what we should be, but Christ was the perfect man, and because of that, all mankind has been saved and will one day experience being “all in all” in God. [3] In Christ, humanity is restored, Adam is redeemed, death is destroyed, and all — with no exception — are to become sons and daughters of God, even the most rebellious and steeped in sin in this life. Our heavenly Father never gives up on anyone, never ceases to forgive, and is complete unlike the picture which is painted by so many fundamentalist religions. Until the last of His children is home, He will never stop calling out in love, seeking to bring every one of us to turn to Him in repentance so that we can share in His marvelous love.

This is the hope I must cling to when the inner voices start to shame me.  [4]

[1] Father Stephen Freeman “God and the Mystery of Self”  https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2021/07/22/god-and-the-mystery-of-the-self/

[2]  Don’t believe me?  Here is what Aquinas had to say about this:  “In order that the happiness of the saints may be more delightful to them and that they may render more copious thanks to God for it, they are allowed to see perfectly the sufferings of the damned. So that they may be urged the more to praise God. The saints in heaven know distinctly all that happens to the damned.” So I am expected, if I wind up on the right side of  God, to be joyful as I watch the unending torment of others?  I am urged to praise God that others will never have an end to their suffering? Sorry, but real human beings don’t do such. Sadists do!

[3]1 Corinthians 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

[4] The  genesis of this blog post is the coming to realize that everything I have done for God, all my religious activities and deeds, have been done not out of love, but out of the sick need to feel accepted by Him.  My shame has driven me, and sadly, I must look back and realize now that I was doing what I did not to love our Lord, but to feel good about myself.  My new goal in life is to see God as the love He truly is and then to respond with a heart filled with love. My spiritual director reminded me today that this will be a life long growth process. Hopefully, by realizing this, I have taken another small step towards wholeness.