Traditional Catholicism = Protestant fundamentalism?

[otjm]

Don’t worry, the heresy is not mine
An example is this article, that speaks about “the extremist emphasis on the Resurrection”. There are a lot of others, too - I’m sure you are aware of this mindset. I’m not tempted by this nonsense, I’m just shocked and sad. A few years ago I didn’t even know that such things exist in the Church where I was born and raised (yes, I live under such a rock). And I couldn’t imagine that there are Catholics capable of so much hatred. (Sorry, end of rant.)

It is realy not a rant.

Back in the day - before cell phones and internet (waaay before tablets and whatever else gadgets they have come up with), if there was a looney in town (or in the parish), everybody knew them, but they were restricted pretty much to face to face commentary. Meaning, they didn’t attract loonies from up the road, across the river, on the other side of the planet… and so there was not so much of a sense of a rolling force wave coming at you.

Now with improvements (?) in technology, each and every looney has a platform, not to 1 or 2, or maybe 20 other loonies, but a whole electronic city of them. And they feed of each other’s looniness, and attract other fellow travelers, and convert the unwitting and the uneducated and they become a force mejeure, as it were.
You want an example? Look at the lemmings running for the cliff over what has quietly been stewing for some time over some Franciscans. The commentary from the ultra conservatives is so over the top, I am embarrassed to admit they belong (well, from the comments maybe some have departed) the Church I belong to.

However, history is replete with looneys in the fringes of the Church, it is just that these seem so prevalent with their instantaneous “analysis” of what is “wrong” with the Church.

Sad? Perhaps a bit, but the OT told us “there is nothing new under the sun”. It still applies.

 

[JustaServant]

I like what you wrote very much. I have only one question, for anyone.

What the heck is “fundamentalist Catholicism”? I’ve never heard of such a thing.

In the precise definition of the word, there is no such animal as the Catholic Church does not simplify doctrine into five or ten easy steps. She also does not believe in Scripture alone. Historically, Protestant fundamentalism had a beginning (at the turn of the 20th century), and has currently dwindled into small groups of Baptists across the country.
But here is the problem, although the precise meaning of the word has not changed, it has, through popular usage morphed into a word with a different meaning. That is, anything that is extreme. Muslims will tell you they are insulted at the usage of the term “Muslim fundamentalist”, I have even heard the term “political fundamentalist”.
My earlier post was using the term as it has evolved, not it’s precise definition.
Extremism DOES have certain commonalities in mindset and psychology that one can observed.

 

[Cat]

I think many Christians, Catholic or Protestant, who fall into the kind of extreme Fundamentalism that vames describes are seeking safety, both physical and social.

There is safety in being part of a “gang”.

For decades, children and teenagers in poor areas join street gangs because they are trying to stay alive. The gang provides security, society, and structure. The gangs provide conformity of lifestyle: a language, an art form, an acceptable musical and dance style, a dress code, a “court” of sorts to resolve conflicts and mete out punishments for transgressors, and a philosophy of life. And in many cases, the gangs provide a means of income, which is vital to survival in the streets.

You don’t have to think real hard to be part of a gang, because the leaders think for you.

And I think that this “non-thinking” is what Christian fundamentalists find most appealing. As we all know, thinking can get you into trouble! So when someone tells you what to think, what to wear, what to read, what music to listen to, what school curricula to use with your homeschooled children, and above all, what you should believe about theology (usually a very simple theology), you’re safe from the fear of thinking up some heresy or wrong idea about God that will send you to hell. You KNOW you’re most likely to go to heaven when you’re a Fundamentalist! You’re safe!

When I was Protestant, I had quite a few friends who fell into Fundamentalism because they were trying to protect their children, especially their daughters. Many of these families homeschooled, but did not get involved with any kind of homeschool co-op. Instead, they hunkered down at home, seldom associating with anyone other than people in their own small “gang” of fundamentalists. They did not allow their teenagers to date, listen to modern music, go to movies, watch TV, attend theater or concerts, read any kind of modern teenaged literature, including the traditional “rite-of-passage” short short stories and novels, They controlled everything that their children saw and did, and insisted that the “Biblical” method of dating was “courtship dating,” which should lead to a marriage, not just having fun with friends.

Unfortunately, this rigidity tended to backfire for parents. Many of their children were compliant while young and powerless, but the older and stronger they got, the more rebellious they got, which resulted in even tighter restraints from the well-meaning and frightened parents who were just trying to keep their kids “safe.” Inevitably, the child burst free of their bonds and rebelled, often in spectacular and sometimes fatal ways. And sadly, this loss of their children often brought about disillusionment and a complete loss of faith in God and any kind of organized religion. The very methods that were supposed to keep them and their children safe instead resulted in the loss and sometimes death, either physical or spiritual, of their children, and the destruction of their close family.

I believe that this is one reason for the rise of the “megachurch.” These modern church-lite organizations give people who have left the faith an opportunity to ease back into Christian faith and life without any structure or pressure to conform to a lifestyle. I know that many Catholics utterly condemn megachurches, but they need to try to see the good in them–there are many fallen-away Christians who have come back to God and to the Catholic Churhc through the megachurches, which are relaxed and non-demanding, and help the former fundamentalist (Catholic or Protestant) to regain their confidence in God and other Christians.