Fundamentalism

[debka_notion]

I think back in high school I wrote something about the perils of fundamentalism. I really don't remember what I wrote, but it's probably still online on my geocities website. It's funny to think about- that (asI think I mentioned recently) my mom looks at my religious outlook, and pretty much sees something fairly fundamentalist. And in some ways, I suppose that she's right, from a secular viewpoint. I can't see it myself though: I can't see someone who is gender-egalitarian as a fundamentalist in Judaism, especially not someone who is more than willing to compromise about Torah MiSinai (the belief that the Torah was given complete from G-d to Moses on Mount Sinai, and that hte entire Oral Law was also given at that time), even if the latter idea is one that has Plenty of backing in traditional sources. Maybe that says something about the current state of Jewish theology as much, or more so than it does about my own beliefs and behaviors, but I always did see fundamentalism as something based on belief, not behavior. But perhaps that is because it's a term I first learned as associated with Christianity, which deals far more strictly and detailedly(as far as I can tell) with theology in comparison to practice than observant forms of Judaism do. I do wonder if, by that definition, one could call someone who is completely non-practicing, but believes in Torah MiSinai a fundamentalist. Yet that seems to miss some part of the package as well.

Comments

[gelishan.livejournal.com]

I've never encountered anyone who called themselves a fundamentalist. I don't know where the term came from, but I've never heard anyone use it positively, which is something I find interesting: is it just the set of people I spend time around, or is it a universal connotation of the term?

[belu.livejournal.com]

Hm. I've generally seen in 'fundamentalist' a desire to force others to also hold their religious views, or at least to hold the values coming from such views, that being, of course, a bad thing. Certainly in this country, this is predominantly a Christian trait. These fundamentalists may or may not actually themselves act in accordance with what the religion mandates, which is how I see being observant.

There might be a more correct word for what I call fundamentalist ('evangelical', perhaps), but 'fundamentalist' has a negative connotation which alternatives seem to lack.

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

There are actually traditional sources that say the oral law was derived logically from the written law. You just don't hear about them much these days.

Besides, being a fundamentalist Conservative Jew means you have to believe that Moshe Rabbeinu wrote the driving teshuvah. :)

More to the point . . .

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

I don't think that "fundamentalism," as it is used in modern American English, can be applied to any Jewish group other than Karaites. The general tone behind the word is that the personality being described accepts the entire foundational text of his religion as literally true, and rabbinic Judaism doesn't do that.