I am a fundamentalist!

We see the news. There are fundamentalists everywhere. They are out to kill us, to take away our tried and true American ways. They behead innocent victims and blow up buildings, mercilessly killing thousands. These fundamentalists impose their ideas on those around them and reject anything that is not their own. They refuse to be compassionate on those in need and they destroy anyone who stands in their way. Fundamentalists are what is killing our freedom and fundamentalists are who want to disrupt every day of our lives. These fundamentalists must be stopped at all costs. We must get rid of all fundamentalisms. But what is fundamentalism? And who are these fundamentalists?

A fundamentalist is one who “stress[es] strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) So a fundamentalist is someone who follows strict guidelines or principles. He is someone who learns the basic rules and begins to practice them in his everyday life. In sports we always see a need to practice fundamentals. A basketball player who practices dribbling the ball, passing to other players and shooting three pointers is a fundamentalist. He has stressed a strict and literal adherence to a set of basic basketball principles. When we hear a coach yell at his team, “we need to work of some fundamentals!” he is encouraging his team to be fundamentalists.

A fundamentalist is not a bad person; he is just adhering to a set of fundamental rules. There are many kinds of fundamentalists. They can be policemen, office workers, nannies, hikers, sport players, newscasters; anyone can be a fundamentalist, if there is a set of principles for him to follow. I am a fundamentalist. I adhere to a strict set of fundamental rules. I am a Christian fundamentalist. I follow the basic and most fundamental doctrines of Christianity. I strictly adhere to these rules and do not depart from them.

Many people say they are Christian, but do not adhere to any doctrines or rule set down by Christianity. I do not want to be associated with these people. It was in Antioch that the believers in Christ were first call Christians. These men, who were being blessed to be the first to be named Christians, were fundamentalists. They lived strictly by the rules given by Jesus while he was on the earth. Now we are in a time when everyone is a Christian. I have friends who are Christians who don’t know that Paul was first called Saul and killed many believers. I have Christian friends who don’t know that John was the only disciple who was not martyred. I know Christians, who have no idea that when Christ died, he bore the punishment for every sin ever committed, past, present and future, so as to give a new life to anyone who would accept it. Christianity has become to America what Judaism is to Israel. It has become that everyone in America is a Christian, whether they are or are not.

I am not one of these Christians, and I don’t want to be known as one of these. I do, however, want to be known as a Christian who is like the ones in Antioch. The fundamentalists who knew the doctrines of Christianity and they followed them to a tee. If this means that I must be known as a fundamentalist, then so be it. I would rather have people thinking I am some sort of fanatic than to be one of these who don’t even know their own faith.

In our present age, fundamentalism has become a bad word. It has become what we call people think differently than us and demand that we think as they do or die. Though this is not what fundamentalism is, I would rather be associated with this name than the one that has no meaning left in it at all. Once the word Christianity is stripped of all meaning, it can no longer be used to differentiate between those who are and those who aren’t Christians. Fundamentalism is the only name that holds any true meaning anymore, so this is the name I must take.