From Mark:

FUNDAMENTALISM is characterised by and thrives on protective stupidity.

Argument, debate, the possibility that they might be wrong – these are not on the agenda. In any other walk of life they would be regarded as unhinged. Very few of them have ever been exposed to the simplest form of bible criticism, yet they feel qualified to tell p[eople who have spent half a lifetime on the subject that they are barking up the wrong tree. It’s rather like witchdoctor medicine confronted with real medicine. The primitive reaction is one of fear, suspicion and hostility – out with the spears and shields. And the witchdoctors themselves, of course, have vested interests to protect: their positions of control and authority. Naturally they resisit. … Fundamentalists need an enemy: an enemy both gives them their own identity and unites them. … they stand for nothing positive at all – simply obedience to rules and the condemnation of those who brteak them. pp.13 – 14

Fundamentalists are impervious to rational argument. They are convinced that they are God’s chosen instruments, and that their victims are agents of the devil. They need to be convinced of this, because it is what gives purpose to their lives. Fundamentalism’s real purpose is not to save but to condemn: for the dissenter or for the outsider it is dangerous almost by definition. pp. 14-15

… Fundamentalism is wrong, a distortion of Christianity, in fact it is its complete contradiction. … Christianity is not a matter of obeyiong commandments, or of obtaining salvation through acceptance of an authoritative holy book, or of believing in certain propositions like a physical resurrection. the irony is that what Fundamentalist Christianity teaches is exactly the sort of thing which the founder of Christianity came to warn people against. p.16

The first priority is that Fundamentalism be identified and denounced. p. 17

… an epidemic of Fundamentalism, which is characterised by and thrives on protective stupidity. p. 19

… the Fundamentalist ‘philosophy’. Religion is a possession which offers security in this life and salvation in the next. The real importance of fellow believers is to provide safety in numbers and reassurance that the belief system is true – if they challenge any part of it then they instantly become outsiders. And the outsiders themselves make the whole exercise worthwhile: there is no point in being saved unless the rest are damned. p. 23

What I do object to is an approach which makes this the official or orthodox position, and denies the validity of any other approach – which in fact wants to ram these beliefs down my throat. I demand to be allowed to hold my own views on the nature and status of the Bible and still be called a Christian. And much more importantly I demand that everybody else be allowed to make up their own minds, so that they are not faced with the alternatives; either Fundamentalism or nothing. p. 28

Fundamentalism is more absurd than dangerous. p. 28

You will never survive in Fundamentalist circles unless you really cease to have any doubts … it is intolerable to them that one erroneous thought should exist anywhere in the world, however secret and powerless it might be. p.35

Fundamentalists are religious Philistines. p.48

… the God whom Fundamentalists have made in their own image, who is an authoritarian bully, who dislikes minorities, and discourages individuality, and who has a poor capacity for logic. p. 56

If people are irrational, it is impossible to convince them by rational means that they are being irrational. This is fundamental to the problem of Fundamentalism. p. 60

…is the function of Christianity simply to comfort the afflicted? Isn’t it as much, or perhaps more, to afflict the comfortable? Or putting it another way, doesn’t the question of truth have any place in the discussion? p.67

What is old hat in the theological seminary or university is unfortunately not at all so in the real world: and that is precisely the problem, that ordinary people aren’t aware of the dangers presented by Fundamentalism, or of the advances made by modern theological scholarship. p.68

…what is also necessary are champions of the common people, who on their behalf will challenge and, if not destroyu, at least douse the dragon Fundamentalism. People need to realise, have a right to be made aware of, the extent to which God and Christianity have been misrepresented to them by the churches. p.69

… they are unable to use the Bible as an historical ducument or collection of documents, they can only copy it. They are like children reading fairytales, whose world is peopled with dragons and knights. The Fundamentalists are always, in their own eyes, donning the breastplate of righteousness and identifying and eradicating idolators and backsliders. This is how they ‘enjoy their faith’ … p. 77

Peter Cameron – “Fundamentalism and Freedom” (Doubleday:1995)