Comments on: The Fundamentals of Fundamentalists http://www.amateurtopologist.com/blog/2010/02/25/the-fundamentals-of-fundamentalists/ Everything but topology. Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:17:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4-alpha-19719 By: Patrick http://www.amateurtopologist.com/blog/2010/02/25/the-fundamentals-of-fundamentalists/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Patrick Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:31:59 +0000 http://amateurtopologist.com/?p=643#comment-47 I don't think that you were necessarily the target audience of this post; I think that talking to you about this would have been like preaching to the metaphorical choir. The people I was writing this 'to' are the people on the internet who simply cannot <em>understand</em> why fundamentalists believe what they believe, and it sounds like you're not in that set. I don’t think that you were necessarily the target audience of this post; I think that talking to you about this would have been like preaching to the metaphorical choir. The people I was writing this ‘to’ are the people on the internet who simply cannot understand why fundamentalists believe what they believe, and it sounds like you’re not in that set.

]]> By: Kevin Riggle http://www.amateurtopologist.com/blog/2010/02/25/the-fundamentals-of-fundamentalists/comment-page-1/#comment-46 Kevin Riggle Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:17:29 +0000 http://amateurtopologist.com/?p=643#comment-46 <i>But… step back and think about it.</i> You assume we haven't done so already. I grew up among Christian fundamentalists -- I assure you I have thought about it at length. <i>Just don’t assume that they’re acting out of irrationality; to them, it make perfect sense.</i> I don't. Sometimes it makes perfect sense to them. Sometimes they just avoid thinking about the contradictions at all costs. The difference between a Christian fundamentalist and myself boils down a difference in the axioms we've chosen to build our worldviews around. The central axiom for fundamentalism, as near as I can figure it, is "The Bible is literally true." Which actually ramifies out into "One particular interpretation of (usually) the King James translation of the Bible into English is literally true," because there are contradictions inherent in the text, and they have to be resolved to produce a coherent worldview. The central axiom of my life, I suppose, is that the universe exists independent of my observation of it -- that there is some objective truth -- and that humans can know that truth, to within error bars. I can no more prove that than a Christian fundamentalist can prove that their privileged interpretation of the KJV Bible is literally true, but I do find I have a much harder time finding examples that falsify my axiom than I do finding examples which falsify the fundamentalists' interpretation of the Bible. (I haven't found an example of the former yet, though I'm open to suggestions. The latter are a dime a dozen, and the reader can no doubt conjure up their own examples.) But… step back and think about it.

You assume we haven’t done so already. I grew up among Christian fundamentalists — I assure you I have thought about it at length.

Just don’t assume that they’re acting out of irrationality; to them, it make perfect sense.

I don’t. Sometimes it makes perfect sense to them. Sometimes they just avoid thinking about the contradictions at all costs. The difference between a Christian fundamentalist and myself boils down a difference in the axioms we’ve chosen to build our worldviews around. The central axiom for fundamentalism, as near as I can figure it, is “The Bible is literally true.” Which actually ramifies out into “One particular interpretation of (usually) the King James translation of the Bible into English is literally true,” because there are contradictions inherent in the text, and they have to be resolved to produce a coherent worldview.

The central axiom of my life, I suppose, is that the universe exists independent of my observation of it — that there is some objective truth — and that humans can know that truth, to within error bars. I can no more prove that than a Christian fundamentalist can prove that their privileged interpretation of the KJV Bible is literally true, but I do find I have a much harder time finding examples that falsify my axiom than I do finding examples which falsify the fundamentalists’ interpretation of the Bible. (I haven’t found an example of the former yet, though I’m open to suggestions. The latter are a dime a dozen, and the reader can no doubt conjure up their own examples.)

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