Christian fundamentalism is a powerful player in America’s drift from global leader to imperial bully. Nations that do not become part of Bush’s “coalition of the willing” face being labeled rogue states, even enemies of freedom itself. One of the deepest truths of history, however, is that people in despair will act out of their powerlessness in ways that confound the powerful. Bush’s strategy and style, particularly regarding Iraq, may do more to contribute to terrorism than to contain it. Certainly terrorism thrives on injustice and inequity, including the enormous disparities between wealthy and poor wrought by the unrestrained market forces that conservatives applaud. (Garrison, 2005)
Fundamentalism is a term popularly used to describe strict adherence to Christian doctrines based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. This usage derives from a late 19th and early 20th century Tran denominational Protestant movement that opposed the accommodation of Christian doctrine to modern scientific theory and philosophy. With some differences among themselves, fundamentalists insist on belief in the inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth and divinity of Jesus Christ, the vicarious and atoning character of his death, his bodily resurrection, and his second coming as the irreducible minimum of authentic Christianity. This minimum was reflected in such early declarations as the 14-point creed of the Niagara Bible Conference of 1878 and the 5-point statement of the Presbyterian General Assembly of 1910. (Evangelical Dictionary)
Fundamentalism also obscures stewardship, a biblical concept in which the earth is the Lord’s and humans are appointed as “gardeners” to prune and care for it. Conversely, conservatives place inordinate weight upon the largely unregulated institution of global corporate capitalism. Markets, of course, have no values other than to buy and sell, unless circumscribed by moral restraint, which market fundamentalists are loath to impose............
