This Fundamentalist Age

Somewhere back in my youth, I made choices which created distance between my church/family and myself. I was reared as a fundamentalist Baptist and my choices, which arose out of a sincere piety, ended up being a pathway to liberal thought. At the base of it all was a story from the life of Jesus where a Talmudic scholar asked him what was the greatest commandment and Jesus responded that it was to love God with all your soul and that the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself. Then Jesus stated that all of the Law and the Prophets are based on those two. (cf. Matthew 22:34-40) The Apostle Paul went a step further when he declared that all the commandments are summed up in the following words, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13:9) Thus, Paul's statement omitted the first commandment and thus defined religion in one sentence.

To me that sounded both simple and right. Furthermore it offered a benchmark against which we can judge theological debate and behavior. Love of God and neighbor, whenever the pious lose sight of these two commandments and become hateful or fearful, they have clearly lost their way. So I made those my operating principles and took my first giant step away from fundamentalism. It never occurred to me at the time that my decision would create any problems with either my family or church. However, my spiritual journey began that day and it has broadened me beyond my imagination.

However, from the 60's to the present, America and the world has gone in the opposite direction. The people, the traditions and mindsets I left behind have triumphed politically and materially not just among Christians, but also among Jews and Muslims. Fear, hatred, greed and cynicism have triumphed as a means of trying to protect certain traditions against change. We need to think about this and the kind of people we as a society are becoming. We need to challenge the pious with their own teaching and reverse their direction. To put it into religious language, they need to repent.