Fundamentalism
What comes to mind when you hear that word? I think of rules, religion, zealots, exclusivity. One thing I didn’t think about until recently was the role fundamentalism in other spheres of intellectual life. I’m of course talking about the pejorative way the word has evolved, not the dictionary definition about a 19 th century Christian movement. I’m talking about narrow-mindedness. An unwillingness to consider points of view that fall outside of one’s comfort zone. And most of all, a dehumanizing of those who hold contrary positions. The religious fundamentalists call their opponents heathen. The political fundamentalists call their opponents ignorant. Or worse, as I found out recently on a normally friendly forum I frequent. Our little cyber community has a pretty wide range of backgrounds. The only ostensible connection being an appreciation for a particular metal band. We’ve got our stoners, preppies, left wing, right wing, Christians, agnostics, atheist...