<p>^
if people want to practice intolerant, fundamentalist religion, i have no basis to protest bc it is protected by the constitution. there have been fundamentalist christians around for some time. however, as of late, they have made a much greater push to gain political power, which does pose a threat to society as a whole.</p>
<p>any kind of fundamentalism, be it xtian or islamic or libertarianism or liberalism, is a threat to society when applied politically because solutions to societal problems usually lie somewhere in between extreme positions. </p>
<p>xtian fundamentalism (the kind propoagated by falwell, dobson, etc) encourages divisiveness and fear. the world is drawn into two absolute categories: the believers and the non-believers. the leaders of the movement frame it as if they are being persecuted and silenced by liberalism, which further sets up the us versus them dichotomy. a “war” is being fought against their brand of christianity, and they do frame it in these terms. when they talk about converting people, it is often with war analogies.</p>
<p>the ultimate goal is for the movement to take its rightful “dominion” over america (as a christian nation) and probably also the world although i don’t remember at the moment. setting aside the disgusting assumed superiority in this statement, what would this mean for the people who are non-believers? what would this mean for homosexuals, a group that is especially targeted by this movement?</p>
<p>in the ideal xtian fundamentalist america, we could only get our news from media like the trinity broadcasting network. the only rightful teachers would be fundamentalist christians. judges would have to be bible literalists. pluralism would be banished.</p>
<p>ever been to a creationism museum? dinosaurs drinking out of a stream while children play nearby…scenes of adam and eve with stegosauruses in the background…T-rexes did not eat meat until after eve bit into the apple, and their 6-inch fangs were for piercing watermelons…</p>
<p>because we are a pluralist society, those museums are legit, no matter how far-fetched their ‘science’ is. we let xtian fundamentalists homeschool their kids with textbooks that say damage to the environment is a hoax invented by liberals who aren’t aware that God has put enough resources on the planet for everyone for all time…or define liberty as “fealty to the spirit of the lord.”</p>
<p>dominionists, with their influence over politics, threaten the pluralism that is integral to our country.</p>