The fundamentalist war against Satan is as unceasing as it is uninformed. The field of conflict is so often located in such unlikely places that one has to wonder if Satan has even been told that he’s supposed to show up to fight. Â Satan is evidently much like the Taliban who are known to win a strategic battle against the American way of life every time someone buys a smaller car, skips a vacation, or eats a salad. You may not even know you’re playing, but you’re losing just the same.
Allowing children to attend a secular college? The hordes of hell advance in dread array.
Canceling mid-week service? Christians tremble in fear as the fiery host drives back the faithful few.
Discontinuing your door-to-door outreach? You can almost see devil spiking the ball and doing an evil endzone dance of glee.
Gird your loins and prepare to do battle in whatever patch of lentils your pastor has chosen to defend. Maybe this time the devil will actually show up.
Fundamentalism is largely the product of American thought and as such lends itself well to the sort of rugged individualism that we so admire in this country. This picture of the Christian as a lone gunmen is so revered that fundies put “Independent” right in their name. All we need is thee and me and the KJV (and truth be told, I don’t even really need thee).
What this reclusive Christianity means is that a New Testament Bible-Believing Independent Fundamental Baptist assembly is accountable to nobody in matters of doctrinal minutiae or hair styles except their pastor, his old pastor, the president of that pastor’s college, and the staff evangelists from the regional IFB fellowship. Thankfully, the people in this accountability chain do not get involved in the oversight of things like ethical breaches and moral failure. It’s there that being Independent really pays off.
If your ideal of Christianity is a church built on a deserted island then fundyland may just be for you. “Plays well with others” doesn’t even make it onto the fundamentalist report card.
