Fundamentalism is simply too simple and too easy to be true. Its ease with the Glory of God is the first indicator of its falsity. When all the answers are easy, all of the rules clear and easily kept, when doubt and fear and bewilderment and mystery are disavowed & disallowed...

... where certainty about all things reigns, there you have fundamentalism in all of its ferocious, soul-shriveling horror. It is exactly there where you may find many forms of religion, but it is also exactly there where you won’t find the authentic Christian Faith confessed...

... or lived. You will find a spirit of anger and anxiety, of joyless separateness and hopeless judgmentalism. There you will find domestic violence in the name of fidelity, suppression in the name of submission to authority, & minds open only to echoes but never questions.

But where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Joy. Learning. Growing. Discovering. Wonder. Jaw-dropping amazement at mercy so great that one dances despite the frowns of fake religion & passes the champagne around because God’s Kingdom is massive rather than confined.

Those matters long ago known as “the fundamentals” are true. Fundamentalism, however, is a lie. It shows up for the party dressed as an angel but rapidly reveals its sinister soul. In the end, fundamentalism is a self-salvation project doomed to fail...

A social and ecclesial program rooted in fear rather than love, and it is shown in every generation to be not only an empty suit but a prison to break free from.