fundamentalism – Intelligent Christian Spirituality

YOUTH BASE COMMUNITIES

Christianity is moving from being a religion

of belief about God

to being an experience of God

whereas fundamentalism is a reaction against this –

trying to shore up belief about God

which is eroding – as the pounding of ocean waves

causes more and more cliffs along the shoreline

to collapse

as Christianity spreads in waves thru Asia

rooted in scripture and Xian tradition

it will include the mysticism of Ramakrishna/

Aurobindo/Ramana Marshi/Lao Tzu/Chuang Tzu/

Vedanta/Upanishads/Bhagavad Gita/I Ching

which will enrich and renew Xianity

far beyond what Plato and Greek philosophy did

however, because of rapid change in every society

Buddhist and Christian leaders lag behind

Buddhist and Xian youth

and no longer speak their language –

as at the Tower of Babylon

people are scattering in confusion

and youth have nothing good/true/beautiful

to ground their beliefs in

and abandon their parents’ Churches and Sanghas

but youth are more awake/more woke

than previous generations –

more interested in serving the poor

than in attending musty/dusty church rituals

but they need to wake up even more

to the Eucharist of Service as Mother Teresa said:

“In holy communion we have Christ

in the form of bread and wine

and in our work we find him

in the flesh and blood of the poor –

it is the same Christ”

youth also need to re-discover/re-invent “theology of liberation”

which first dawned like a Rising Son

at the 1968 Conference of Latin American Bishops

youth need to form “base communities” –

small bands like that of the Twelve Apostles –

mystic/activists who revolutionize the world.

SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY

Art/morals/religion could not stand up to the steam engine

of science

only God could –

but God and spirituality had been repressed

and so the differentiation of art/morals/religion/ (1600-1800)

was followed by their dissociation (1800-1900)

and western intellectuals knew this would be a cultural catastrophe

but could not fix it

now, secular media sees only two types of religious people:

fundamentalist nutcases

who believe in myth

and New Age nutcases

who believe in magic

but both are “pre-rational”

and any “trans-rational” people

who have seen the limits of reason

and include reason while transcending it

are lumped in with the nutcases

the challenge of institutional religion

is to lead everyone to the supreme wisdom

of being one in God

this is the task of everyone in the church/synagogue/mosque

not just the priest/rabbi/imam

in any case, spiritual authority now resides

less in religious organizations/ordained clergy/traditional creeds

than in direct experience and friendship with God –

the source of all religious organizations in the first place

answers and authority come now from the Voice of God/

from voices of others (if we form a spiritual community)/

from our own voice

the current appeal of Meister Eckhart –

the truly mystical element in his writing –

is that he helps people cut thru

the distractions of life

so they can find

their essential grounding in God.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE NEW ATHEISM

Justin Brierley, host of the “Unbelievable?” podcast, which hosts Christians and atheists in dialogue, likes to thank atheists for reviving Christian thinking.

Brierley’s new book The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why the New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again is part of a new wave of tomes such as two by Alister McGrath: The Dawkins Delusion: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine and Coming to Faith Through Dawkins: Twelve Essays on the Pathway from New Atheism to Christianity in which a dozen secular thinkers found their way to belief in God through reading criticism of Richard Dawkins. Even Deepak Chopra weighs in with a chapter on “Dawkins and his Delusions” in his book The Future of God.

The “four horsemen of the atheist apocalypse,” Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett were very popular from about 2000 to 2010 but have fallen out of vogue since then.

The new atheism arose because of a perfect storm of events: American fundamentalist criticism of evolution, resulting in a ban on teaching the scientific theory in some schools; ongoing aggression by religious evangelists who considered atheists either foolish or evil; the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center by fundamentalist Muslims; and sex scandals perpetrated by priests and covered up by bishops.

The storm resulted in a counter storm of books by atheist scientists such as Harris and Dawkins, notably Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and writers such as Dennett and Hitchens, notably Hitchens’ God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

However, the atheist counter storm resulted in a counter storm from Protestant philosophers such as William Lane Craig, Alvin Plantinga, Tim Keller, and John Lennox.

The new atheism came to be seen as deeply flawed for two main reasons. First, they cherry-picked their approach to religion, straw-manning their opponents by just focusing on the worst aspects of religion. Their simplistic approach to religious faith failed to take into account all the good religions have done for centuries: providing billions of people with deep meaning in their lives, pastoral care during hard times, and building charities, hospitals, schools, and universities around the world.

Secondly, they failed to apply their critical standards to themselves. They only got as far as Kierkegaard’s ethical stage, and have not examined the shadow side of atheism, for example atheist political regimes in Soviet Russia and Communist China that slaughtered millions of people. They did not own their own sin, which Kierkegaard noted, prompts the next stage after ethics, the religious stage.

Part of their problem was that, as Catholic Bishop Robert Barron pointed out, they were rhetoricians, great at arguing their point but naïve about the depths of theological thinking. Also, they were in love with “scientism,” the belief that science has all the answers, an unprovable hypothesis which is therefore rejected by true scientists.

True scientists recognize the limits of science. Science can only answer “how questions,” for example, how we got here through evolution. It is incapable of answering “why questions,” for example, “what is the purpose of my life?” That is a meaning and value question which is in the realm of religion not science.

As Bishop Barron also noted, when atheists try to formulate their values, they usually latch on to “the brotherhood of man” or other values that come from Christianity. So, they unconsciously criticize Christianity with Christian values. This is fair, since any religion is only as perfect or imperfect as the people who compose it. If they do not live up to their professed values, they deserve to be criticized.

In short, the two big mistakes of the new atheists were to unfairly overdo their criticism of religion, and to not look at the dark side of atheism.

Bruce Tallman is a religious educator of adults, spiritual director, and marriage coach . http://www.brucetallman.com

BUTTERFLIES AND DEATH

Convergent evolution comes from and heads towards

maximum consciousness/Alpha and Omega/the Cosmic Christ.

The human soul that was always there becomes conscious

when human consciousness emerges

from the general groping of Nature towards self-reflection.

We are unique in that we reflect on things.

We are the universe becoming conscious of itself/

reflecting on itself/learning to direct itself

and its unconscious groping processes.

The original Greek word for “soul,” “psyche”

literally means “butterfly” because the soul/true self

is elusive/hard to pin down in an exotic butterfly case.

Fundamentalists need humility to understand

the Absolute Truth they think they have

only exists in the Mind of God –

humans are always groping/searching for their soul.

And arguments for the immortality of the soul

do not alleviate the universal/inescapable/

existential anxiety about death

which cannot be argued away –

fear of death drives humans toward evil

and so “Reasonable people, devoted to rationalism

fail to perceive either the depths of evil

or the depths of the holy.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Not overthinking about death

and living in the Now with the Divine Present

alleviates the death-grip of evil:

Breathing in I relax my body

(reduces stress)

Breathing out I smile

(relaxes hundreds of facial muscles)

Dwelling in the Present Moment

(brings happiness here and now)

I know it is a Wonderful Moment

(brings pleasure/peace of mind/spirit/soul).

WORLD NEEDS ADULT FAITH

Fundamentalism, in terms of people having a simplistic faith, has become a problem for all of us. As a person’s world view progressively narrows, they become more and more judgmental, intolerant, and even dangerous. In some cases, people are willing to kill themselves and others for their religious cause.

As our world becomes increasingly complex, people seek simple answers in order to cope, and so fundamentalism is spreading everywhere. The solution is for people to develop an adult faith.

By integrating the thinking of James Hayes, a former Catholic archbishop, Friedrich Von Hugel, a nineteenth century theologian, and Gordon Allport, a Harvard psychologist, we can outline ten characteristics of an adult faith which could apply to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Bahais, or any other faith-based tradition.

First of all, a mature faith is open. It honors the basic freedom and autonomy of other adults, knows that our world is complex and ambiguous, and therefore respectfully listens to others and tries to understand their viewpoint. Then it speaks its own truth freely. This “dialogical” rather than argumentative approach represents a middle path between saying nothing and being authoritarian, that is, trying to impose our faith on others.

Secondly, an adult faith is searching. The adult believer distinguishes between constructive questioning (the search for truth) and destructive questioning (the desire to disprove the truth). Constructive questioning is essential to progress in faith and normally produces greater clarity, broader horizons, and deeper ownership of one’s beliefs. The adult believer is wary of anyone who tries to shut down the quest for understanding.

A mature faith is also informed and comprehensive in its world view. Ideally, adult believers know the scriptures of their tradition well, and supplement this with ancient and modern spiritual classics. Adult believers should also become familiar with at least one science, and scientific methods of investigation, to keep their faith from becoming superstitious and ungrounded.

An adult faith is humble. It is a pilgrim faith that never believes it has fully arrived. It is open to ongoing learning and conversion, rather than the faith of someone who has all the answers.

Fifthly, a mature faith is critically evaluative. While it immerses itself in its culture, it critically evaluates the social order in light of the demands of human rights, responsibilities, and justice.

An adult faith is also decisive. Despite cultural complexity, the mature faith is not paralyzed. Rather, it can make sophisticated judgments and take appropriate action for the common good.

Seventh, a mature faith is integrated, that is, it integrates the sacred and the secular, faith, and life. It acts the same whether inside or outside the synagogue, church, mosque, or temple. It is consistently moral and just.

Adult believers also have a differentiated faith. That is, they don’t believe that all religious traditions are the same, so that it doesn’t matter which one you belong to. They make critical discernments about the different truth claims between major world religions and also the diverse claims by the various branches within each tradition. At the same time, the adult believer focuses on similarities more than differences and builds bridges between and within traditions.

Adult faith is also personal. Adult believers struggle to come to their own conclusions rather than just simplistically accepting what is handed to them by religious authorities. They wrestle with whether or not assertions by those in authority make any sense to them based on their own personal life experience.

Finally, knowing their own limits and the limits of others means that the adult believer’s faith is simultaneously compassionate and communal. They know that they and others cannot do it all alone, they need human support. They know that being a part of, and being accountable to, a supportive religious or spiritual community is essential to maintaining an adult faith.

What the world needs now, if we are going to combat fundamentalism and religious terrorism, is not just love, sweet love, but also adults with an adult faith.

Bruce Tallman is a spiritual director and religious educator of adults. http://www.brucetallman.com

EVER-ADAPTING CHRISTIANITY

In the triad of world/flesh/devil

it is almost always the sins of the “flesh”

that are attacked by churches –

birth control/adultery/abortion/pornography

and seldom do sermons preach about the sins of the “world” –

the lust for wealth and prestige that the ego loves.

But the difference between the True Self

and the False Self is the difference between

“True Centering” (on God) and “Ego Centering” (on Self).

In fact, the True Self can include the False Self

because the way we become whole as humans

is by embracing every aspect of our existence –

our weakness/failures/mistakes

by humility/not taking ourselves too seriously –

we grow by wholeness not by absolute moral purity

which we never reach anyway.

Still, we consign to the unconscious

all fantasy, all psychic associations connected with

words/numbers/stones/plants/animals –

but for primitives all these things had numinous power.

Friedrich Nietzsche dismissed all primitives

and fancied himself to be a Rational Existentialist –

one who has the courage to stare into the abyss of non-being

and discover complete loneliness, complete aloneness

if God is dead.

There have been many Rational Christian responses

that have deconstructed the “death of God” movement

and people like Marcus Borg and Bishop John Shelby Spong

have also helped us deconstruct Bibical Fundamentalism

and there are many Postmodern Christian thinkers

like Brian McLaren with his book A Generous Orthodoxy

and others have developed The Postmodern Bible

and The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology.

As usual, Christianity has adapted to/learned from/gone beyond

whatever the world/the devil/the ego throws at us –

we always include and then transcend

all attempts to deconstruct the Truth.

LIBERATION THROUGH MINDFULNESS

All ‘holons’ (living systems)

have four fundamental capacities:

self-preservation/self-adaptation/

self-transcendence/and self-dissolution.

The 100 billion people who have come and gone

have always been caught up in ‘I’/‘We’/and ’It’ –

and they have always created ‘Its’ –

institutions/governments/religions

to control them and tell them what to do.

Persons with an insecure

or particularly avoidant ‘attachment style’

are much more prone to dramatic religious conversion –

out of a deep need for security

they follow religious authorities without question

and become fundamentalists in every religion.

However, when people go to retreat centers

often the monks teach them mindfulness

and that everything can be done mindfully

whether praying/walking/eating/working.

This new level of consciousness

liberates those with a fundamentalist bent.

Still, shadow projections can prevail

in every human conflict. The need to be

right/get your way/dominate/control others

can cause the breakup of relationships –

friendships/marriages/families.

But children and parents at least

help each other by standing together

through hardships at every stage:

infancy to old age –

through every manner of challenge

until death parts them

but even then, wise spouses

bravely accept and esteem widowhood

as a continuation of their marital vocation –

even death can be overcome with mindfulness.

ONE RELIGION FOR ALL?

A basic principle of Quantum Theology:

we must begin with the whole, the Unmanifest Source

of All that is within each part.

The obsession of science with objectivity/analysis/data

tells us nothing about reality and life

in its wholeness/depth/relationality –

these are mysterious forces of attraction in Nature

that cannot be explained by science alone.

Life transcends not only science/rationality/thought

but also our other big obsession, the pursuit of money:

play transcends money by reminding us

we are not just workers

and art transcends money by helping us see

hidden and deeper aspects of reality

than just producing and consuming.

Christianity became overly-rational

to oppose the over-rationalism of the Enlightenment –

in Europe this became highly academic theology

and in America fundamentalism – an over-reaction

to religious rationalism – but it left out reality

which includes everything – including inclusivity/

environmentalism/and other religions.

Some rationalism in religion is beneficial:

the Parliament of the World’s Religions

developed a “Global Ethic” – ethical guidelines

for all humans, religious or not

but this does not mean “a global ideology/

a single unified religion beyond all religions/

or a religion that dominates all others.”

The Parliament recognizes God’s love of diversity

and the Dalai Lama with his impish sense of humor

said that to have good interreligious dialogue

we need to honor the diversity of religions:

“To try to be Christian and Buddhist at the same time

is like putting a yak’s head on a sheep’s body.”

In short: it is impossible to reduce everything

to science/money/one religion.

FRESH AND GREAT REVELATIONS

St. Gregory of Nyassa wrote that the contemplative life

cannot be lived in secular society

but St. Basil claimed it is possible while you work

to pray with your mouth/heart/mind.

At the monastery, Thomas Merton learned:

– how to pray while working as a laborer

– how to be a member of the human race

– that every other human being is no more crazy

and ridiculous than he claimed to be – than we all are.

Merton also learned and contemplated:

– fear is the awareness of one’s own finitude

– the possibility of one’s own nonbeing

– that anxiety is natural for mere mortals.

All these were great revelations to him.

Today extreme theological traditionalists

try to overcome anxiety by ignoring the past two centuries

while extreme theological progressives

subordinate Christianity to worldly philosophies.

The former flounder like fish-out-of-water in contemporary culture.

The latter flounder like fish-out-of-water in the church

and, despite their protests, are not Christian –

you have to draw the orthodox line somewhere.

The years when the religious right ordains

fundamentalist presidents always result in religious disaster –

alienating all young Americans

who hold completely different values

about women/homosexuality/poverty/climate change.

According to the great Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel

the problem for both extreme right and left is: no awe.

After all, radical amazement lies in all reality:

not only in amazing things I can see – like the Milky Way –

that filmy white night banner overhead – but also in the fact that:

– I can see

– I can reflect on my ability to see

– I have a self that can reflect on things

– that this self is part and parcel of all that was/is/will be.

All these were great revelations to Heschel

and revelations always light up our footsteps on the path to God.

IDEAS, RELIGIOUS ATHEISTS AND SUFFERING

For Paul Tillich every aspect of culture –

a new law/painting/political movement

is charged with religious meaning

because it is part of the dynamic energy of God.

Every culture subsists in ideas –

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris began as an idea

and Meister Eckhart knew what every true intellectual knows:

the importance of ideas for peoples’

freedom/courage/integrity

so, when he was shown Notre Dame he said

“I would trade it all for John Chrysostom’s manuscripts.”

However, there are narrow and broad ideas –

ideas can be limiting or fulfilling.

As Kierkegaard wrote: “the cultured despisers of religion”

“The New Atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, rightfully attack

immature fundamentalist claims of biblical literalism

but mature believers promote the idea

that knowledge born of faith, like poetry, music, theatre or any art

enables us to see reality more deeply than science can.

The Church may reject atheism, but does not reject atheists –

it takes them and their profound questions very seriously

and just like religion, atheism can be narrow or broad

limiting or fulfilling – Buddhism is essentially atheistic

or at least indifferent to the “God question.”

According to Theravada Buddhists, Buddha was an atheist

but manifested the highest humanity and helped multitudes –

his only concern was not God but eliminating suffering.

Anyone who eliminates suffering is a Buddhist.

Therefore, Jesus was a Buddhist. But Buddha was just human,

and when Jesus opened his heart at baptism in the Jordan River

the Holy Spirit descended on him like an eagle

and he manifested as not just human

but the Son of God called to redeem all suffering

through carrying his cross out of love for all humans.

Humans are God’s constant Cross.

Those who are truly guided see this

and when tried/visited with affliction

they say “Surely to God we belong and to God we return”

and in temptation/trials/suffering they take comfort

in being “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).