My favorite definition of fundamentalism: taking as fundamental that which is not fundamental. One characteristic of the fundamentalist mindset is to insist on the authority of the Biblical texts. However, people tend to pick and choose which texts they want to make authoritative. For example, the Bible could not be clearer about the way to treat the alien, the foreigner in our midst. So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. Pretty clear, yes? What I want to take as fundamental is from a few verses earlier in the passage from Deuteronomy: “Think.” Think how everything is a gift from God and not our accomplishment. Think on the fact that we’re all children of God.
