Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

Christian Fundamentalism is being “blamed” for Kerry’s defeat in the polls. There are quite a few Democrats convinced that Karl Rove spun his magic on the Evangelicals in this country to cause them to rise up in opposition to Roe v. Wade and gay marriage.

The link above will take you to a site which attempts to explain what Fundamentalism is. And I doubt seriously whether the group identified in DNC talking points really exists as a unified force.

First, I need to let you know I was raised in what this site considers to be a Fundamentalist Church–Southern Baptist. I have to tell you that unless things have changed dramatically, Southern Baptists are not Fundamentalists as defined by:

• Biblical inerrancy
• The divinity of Jesus
• The Virgin Birth
• The belief that Jesus died to redeem humankind
• An expectation of the Second Coming, or physical return, of Jesus Christ to initiate his thousand-year rule of the Earth, which came to be known as the Millennium.

The second, third, and fourth were basic tenets, and the fifth was regarded as true to some extent. But the first was never, in my young mind, viewed as fact. Actually, what separated all Protestant Churches from the Roman Catholic religion was the belief that the Bible contained truths to be discerned by each person individually. Whereas the Catholic Church used priests to explain the Bible to their congregation, Protestant churches encouraged members to read and analyze it themselves. I do not know a single Christian who believes that every word in the Bible carries the hand of God. Unlike the Quran, which Muslims believe was dictated to Muhammed, and the Book of Morman, which members of the Church of Latter Day Saints believe was dictated to Joseph Smith, Protestants view the Bible as a guide to life, with lessons which can help in resolving moral issues. The Bible is the Word of God, but not in the same literal sense as the Quran and Book of Morman. And Christians tend to buy and read other books to help in resolving conflicts in the stories.

Having said all that, I need to point out what the heretics have to say:

American pollsters believe that 15-18% of US voters belong to churches or movements which subscribe to these teachings.

Okay. I’ll take the Guardian’s statistics as valid. Understanding the Guardian’s perspective, I would guess these numbers are a bit inflated, but I’ll accept them. I just read elswhere that about 30% of the members of those churches are Evangelical, and subscribe completely to the tenets of fundamentalism. Given that, approximately 5% of the voting population are these evil Fundamentalists. Remember, my Southern Baptist upbringing wasn’t quite as fundamental as these numbers would have us believe.

To put that into perspective, I would guess that at least 5% of the voting population are environmental fundamentalists, 5% are gay marriage fundamentalists, and another 5% are pro-abortion fundamentalists.

What may have actually happened on November 2 was that those of us who feel religious in the sense of moral values got fed up with being tagged as Fundamentalists. Does everyone who attends church regularly fit the mold? How about anyone who knows a few verses of scripture? Late in the campaign, John Kerry decided he needed to say he followed his faith. Is he a fundamentalist? George Bush follows his, and he is accused of being one.

The Fundamentalists believe God has a plan for our lives, and we are powerless to do anything about it. I don’t feel powerless. Do you?

If so, perhaps you are a Fundamentalist and didn’t realize it.

The word “progressive” brings to my mind forward-thinking, organized planning, and optimistic. Someone who is progressive is someone with a plan and the energy to see it through. A progressive is someone with an entrepreneurial spirit.

A regressive person is someone who holds on to old ideas, regardless of their failure in the past, out of conviction that those ideas will eventually bear fruit if only someone puts enough money and effort into the implementation.

The Democratic Party and its supporters are comprised of a wide range of people. I would consider very few of them to be progressive. That’s what they call themselves.

Think for a moment about all the progressives you’ve known, seen, or read about. Do any of them offer a sense of optimism? Do they offer any new ideas? I don’t mean variations on the old ones. I mean new ideas.

Progressives believe that there are people in this country suffering, and those people need to be helped. Okay. I agree.

But what is the solution to all the ills? Progressives feel the Federal Government is the answer. Now they may argue with me on that point. But my only response is, “If human suffering bothers you, what are you doing to ease it?” Correct answers do not include:

• Marching in a protest
• Working in a campaign office
• Writing op-eds bemoaning the lack of some particular program
• Voicing your concerns during a concert
• Appearing as a spokesperson for some group

The standard solution to our social ills always includes tax dollars. You don’t see progressives out working the soup lines. Where are all the celebrities who spoke out against Bush when it comes time to actually do something? They will donate their personna, and perhaps some money. But what have they ever done? Mr Joe Average progressive will put in some time at a shelter trying to help. But those hours are few and far between. There are too few of him. And you can bet all those college-age folks marching in various protests never set foot in one.

These are the folks who are absolutely distraught over the election result. If they are truly progressive, they should be ecstatic. Dubya is the most progressive President we’ve had, possibly ever. The status has never been less quo. Bush is asking people to actually do something, and not depend on the government to do it all.

Face it, “progressives” are really regressive. They want a move toward the socialism which has failed everywhere it’s been tried. Government is inept. Government is inefficient. There is nothing wrong with the ideas, but government will never do anything but fail in trying to accomplish them. Society must make them happen. When you see a government official in a movie or television program, how often is he a bad guy? 90% of the time? Hollywood seem to think the government is inept and corrupt. Yet they want the rest of us to hand our lives over to that government.

What kind of mixed-up world do they live in?

When society fails to change in the way you want it to change, or more slowly than you would like, what do you do?

My answer is that I need to look at myself and my beliefs and ask if they are valid. I then need to consider whether there is anything I could do to make those changes. If not, I need to reconcile myself to the fact that I am out of the mainstream and either change myself to suit the rest of the world, or continue on as myself and accept the inconveniences that go along with being different.

The Progressive answer is to get government to force the changes on the unwilling.