You don’t have to be “religious” to be a fundamentalist. I grew up in a very fundamentalistic church. It was not the doctrine that was the problem; I believe strongly in the fundamentals of The Faith such as God creating out of nothing, Jesus’ virgin birth and His resurrection from the dead. The problem was, and is, the rules added to Christian belief. For instance, when I was young, watching movies was forbidden. Well, I wrote a book on movies some years ago; I guess I kind of outgrew that human-centered rule. But you see the problem – people make rules that tend to please or benefit them. Control by some government, group, or institution can become “fundamentalism,” where someone else says they know what is best for you; and then makes you do it.

You don’t have to be “religious” to be a fundamentalist; your fundamentals will determine your sexual, political, racial, national, or historical viewpoint. The university can have its own fundamentalism replete with evangelists, apostles, dogmas, and liturgies. Not abiding by human-determined codes of diversity, equity, and inclusion can get you in trouble. Not affirming someone’s self-identification by their preferred pronouns can get you in trouble. Not agreeing with professors who tell you what to think can get you in trouble. You see the problem. When people determine what the fundamentals of their faith are, then they can tell you to “Be kind” or “Be respectful” – until the fundamentalist determines that your views are wrong. The result could be grade reduction, cancellation, or viewpoint suppression.

No, you don’t have to be “religious” to be a fundamentalist. All you need to be a fundamentalist is to control how others think or speak or act. Fundamentalism is simply a desire to control others. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, encouraging everyone to think and speak freely, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found. [First published at MarkEckel.com, picture credit <Snappy Goat> Yale University]