tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3757493.post114721149876784303..comments2023-11-16T12:01:35.179-06:00Comments on Noises From the Machine: On "Fundamentalist"luaphacimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082422747277912266noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3757493.post-1147227142734796872006-05-09T21:12:00.000-05:002006-05-09T21:12:00.000-05:00Yeah, I see your point, EB. And I am not one to pr...Yeah, I see your point, EB. And I am not one to pretend that langauge can ever exist in a vacuum (thank you, Mikhail Bakhtin), so I sort of have to cede that most people do use it in that sense today. (Which, I think, is why AP suggests that reporters not use it unless referring to the Xian movement that came up with the term.)<BR/><BR/>But that doesn't make me stop tearing my ever-diminishing hair out every time I see the word applied to, say, a hard-line Israeli politician. Meh.luaphacimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01082422747277912266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3757493.post-1147214059170868622006-05-09T17:34:00.000-05:002006-05-09T17:34:00.000-05:00I agree with you on most of this, but..."The root ...I agree with you on most of this, but...<BR/><BR/>"The root of "fundamentalist" implies that the word refers to someone who cares chiefly about the most basic principles of a philosophy or doctrine. By contrast, many fringe groups described as "fundamentalist" pay inordinate amounts of attention to a few, relatively minute points."<BR/><BR/>Except that people don't agree on what the "real" or "most important" or "essential" aspects of a faith are.<BR/><BR/>If you polled 1,000 Christians and asked them what to elicidate the essential tenants of their faith, how many could agree? <BR/><BR/>James Dobson says its his heart's desire to ban gay marriage--for him, that's a Christian dealbreaker. <BR/><BR/>But that's the point: "fundamentalists"--as the term is used nowadays--believe THEIR beliefs--generally ALL of them--are essential. That, to me, marks them: agree with us on basically every doctrinal point, or you're evil.Izzyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15515629179154947025noreply@blogger.com