Fundamentalist. A Study in Contronyms.

Written by an Orthodox, this essay can be applied, mutatis mutandis, to the situation in the Catholic Church.

From Byzantine, TX

Recently the heads of the OCA and Antiochian Archdiocese came together to issue a joint declaration. In it they spoke against fundamentalism.

"We strongly condemn extremism and fundamentalism, whether in the Church or society, and call to repentance those who would perpetrate acts of violence or hatred against any of our brothers and sisters in our communities or in society.​"

And it reminded me of a debate between Fr. John Whiteford and Dr. Demacopolous (available here) hosted by Kevin Allen (of blessed memory) on that very topic. It's worth listening to because not a lot has changed in the years since it was released.

By all appearances the word has taken on two very different meanings.

On the one side it seems to mean: Taking everything to extremes. A punctilious and observably slavish devotion to the letter of the law without any visible deference to the spirit of the Christian ethos of mercy. An almost childlike affinity for proof-texting topics without understanding of the historical or situational exigencies that made such canonical pronouncements necessary.

On the other side it seems to mean: A convenient and often baseless throw-away word used to demean people who actually believe what the Church teaches and expect the laity (and especially the clergy) to act as if they do too. An appeal to the sophistry of scholarship to ensconce heretical ideas inside orthodoxy by claiming that the opposition is either ignorant or hateful or possibly both.

I am also reminded of Met. Philip (Saliba) speaking in an AFR interview about how all canons were not to be treated equally. Specifically, when he received assistance from a Jewish heart surgeon that a canon exists that precludes a Christian from being treated by a non-Christian. Obviously such a rule had its reason in the time it was written, but has no resonance today. I am further reminded of the discussion at the Crete event where much was made of looking at fasting again in light of modern food options and the subsequent discussions afterward about whether efforts to "update" fasting rules were anything short of a convenient path to abrogation. Is fundamentalism the responsible act of a Christian in protecting the remnant? Is being a fundamentalist just another way of wanting all of Orthodoxy to be frozen in amber?

We are talking past one another, and until we quit picking up the word fundamentalist only to bash each other over the head with it, we need to put down the phrase for a bit. One group thinks it is a clear declaration of myopic thinking and the other thinks it is a slur used by people advocating dissolute living. 

What is interesting is that those people who come from outside the Church often choose Orthodoxy specifically for this steadfast adherence to these ancient precepts of the faith. They see what a constant acceding to modernity has done to their previous affiliations and are fleeing to what they perceive to be the safe shores of our unchanging dogma and discipline. That's the very reason why most converts are the least likely to value any change or see it as any form of improvement on what is already written. To them, if the world simply followed what was already written, the fundamentals of life for a great many very lost and despondent people would already be improved.

And the academics see a very different thing. Our hierarchs are not responding to things. They aren't seeking ways to revivify what is measurably unwell. Where are our youth going? What do we say to the barren mothers seeking options in having children? How do we speak to same-sex attracted people in a way that doesn't shout them out of the church entirely? To them the Church must respond and when it does it needs to be open to changing things up a bit. And yet just down the street from that academic is a  little parish peopled by laity that see modern formulations as the entire problem in the first place. There's a disconnect here and a lot of mistrust which confounds fruitful discussion.

So for my part, I'm putting "fundamentalism" in time-out. And I think anyone who uses it should expect to be like the man who takes the lid off a beehive without a protective suit on. Very little honey will be gathered and a lot of frantic, stinging swarming will follow.