If not interested, delete.
mike
---------------
Terry Eagleton
Saturday February 22, 2003
The Guardian
There are two things desirable for fighting fundamentalists. The
first is not to be one yourself. The US government's war on the
movement is somewhat compromised by the fact that it is run by
scripture-spouting fanatics for whom the sanctity of human life ends
at the moment of birth. This is rather like using the British
National party to run ex-Nazis to earth, or hiring Henry Kissinger to
investigate mass murder, as George Bush recently did by nominating
him to inquire into the background to September 11. Fundamentalists
of the Texan stripe are not best placed to hunt down the Taliban
variety.
The second desirable thing is to know what fundamentalism is. The
answer to this is less obvious than it might seem. Fundamentalism
doesn't just mean people with fundamental beliefs, since that covers
everyone. Being a person means being constituted by certain basic
convictions, even if they are largely unconscious. What you are, in
the end, is what you cannot walk away from. These convictions do not
need to be burning or eye-catching or even true; they just have to go
all the way down, like believing that Caracas is in Venezuela or that
torturing babies is wrong. They are the kind of beliefs that choose
us more than we choose them. Sceptics who doubt you can know anything
for sure have at least one fundamental conviction. "Fundamental"
doesn't necessarily mean "worth dying for". You may be passionately
convinced that the quality of life in San Francisco is superior to
that in Strabane, but reluctant to go to the gallows for it.
Fundamentalists are not always the type who seize you by the throat
with one fist while thumping the table with the other. There are
plenty of soft-spoken, self-effacing examples of the species. It
isn't a question of style. Nor is the opposite of fundamentalism
lukewarmness, or the tiresome liberal prejudice that the truth always
lies somewhere in the middle. Tolerance and partisanship are not
incompatible. Anti-fundamentalists are not people without passionate
beliefs; they are people who number among their passionate beliefs
the conviction that you have as much right to your opinion as they
have. And for this, some of them are certainly prepared to die. The
historian AJP Taylor was once asked at an interview for an Oxford
fellowship whether it was true that he held extreme political
beliefs, to which he replied that it was, but that he held them
moderately. He may have been hinting that he was a secret sceptic,
but he probably just meant that he did not agree with forcing his
beliefs on others.
The word "fundamentalism" was first used in the early years of the
last century by anti-liberal US Christians, who singled out seven
supposed fundamentals of their faith. The word, then, is not one of
those derogatory terms that only other people use about you,
like "fatso". It began life as a proud self-description. The first of
the seven fundamentals was a belief in the literal truth of the
Bible; and this is probably the best definition of fundamentalism
there is. It is basically a textual affair. Fundamentalists are those
who believe that our linguistic currency is trustworthy only if it is
backed by the gold standard of the Word of Words. They see God as
copperfastening human meaning. Fundamentalism means sticking strictly
to the script, which in turn means being deeply fearful of the
improvised, ambiguous or indeterminate.
Fundamentalists, however, fail to realise that the phrase "sacred
text" is self-contradictory. Since writing is meaning that can be
handled by anybody, any time, it is always profane and promiscuous.
Meaning that has been written down is bound to be unhygienic. Words
that could only ever mean one thing would not be words.
Fundamentalism is the paranoid condition of those who do not see that
roughness is not a defect of human existence, but what makes it work.
For them, it is as though we have to measure Everest down to the last
millimetre if we are not to be completely stumped about how high it
is. It is not surprising that fundamentalism abhors sexuality and the
body, since in one sense all flesh is rough, and all sex is rough
trade.
The New Testament author known as Luke is presumably aware that Jesus
was actually born in Galilee. But he needs to have him born in Judea,
since the Messiah is to spring from the Judea-based house of David. A
Messiah born in bumpkinish Galilee would be like one born in Gary,
Indiana. So Luke coolly invents a Roman census, for which there is no
independent evidence, which requires everyone to return to their
place of birth to be registered. Since Jesus's father Joseph comes
from Bethlehem in Judea, he and his wife Mary obediently trudge off
to the town, where Jesus is conveniently born.
It would be hard to think up a more ludicrous way of registering the
population of the entire Roman empire than having them all return to
their birthplaces. Why not just register them on the spot? The result
of such a madcap scheme would have been total chaos. The traffic jams
would have made Ken Livingstone's job look positively cushy. And we
would almost certainly have heard about this international
gridlocking from rather more disinterested witnesses than Luke. Yet
fundamentalists must take Luke at his word.
Fundamentalists are really necrophiliacs, in love with a dead letter.
The letter of the sacred text must be rigidly embalmed if it is to
imbue life with the certitude and finality of death. Matthew's
gospel, in a moment of carelessness, presents Jesus as riding into
Jerusalem on both a colt and an ass - in which case, for the
fundamentalist, the Son of God must indeed have had one leg thrown
over each.
The fundamentalist is a more diseased version of the argument-from-
the-floodgates type of conservative. Once you allow one motorist to
throw up out of the car window without imposing a lengthy prison
sentence, then before you know where you are, every motorist will be
throwing up out of the window all the time, and the roads will become
impassable. It is this kind of pathological anxiety, pressed to an
extreme, which drove the religious police in Mecca early last year to
send fleeing schoolgirls back into their burning school because they
were not wearing their robes and head dresses, and which inspires
family-loving US pro-lifers eager to incinerate Iraq to gun down
doctors who terminate pregnancies. To read the world literally is a
kind of insanity.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
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<P><TT>FYI.</TT></P>
<P><TT>Pedants and partisans <BR>Terry Eagleton argues that fundamentalism is characterised by a <BR>dangerous reverence for words<BR><BR>Terry Eagleton<BR>Saturday February 22, 2003<BR>The Guardian<BR><BR>There are two things desirable for fighting fundamentalists. The <BR>first is not to be one yourself. The US government's war on the <BR>movement is somewhat compromised by the fact that it is run by <BR>scripture-spouting fanatics for whom the sanctity of human life ends <BR>at the moment of birth. This is rather like using the British <BR>National party to run ex-Nazis to earth, or hiring Henry Kissinger to <BR>investigate mass murder, as George Bush recently did by nominating <BR>him to inquire into the background to September 11. Fundamentalists <BR>of the Texan stripe are not best placed to hunt down the Taliban <BR>variety. <BR><BR>The second desirable thing is to know what fundamentalism is. The <BR>answer to this is less obvious than it might seem. Fundamentalism <!
BR>doesn't just mean people with fundamental beliefs, since that covers <BR>everyone. Being a person means being constituted by certain basic <BR>convictions, even if they are largely unconscious. What you are, in <BR>the end, is what you cannot walk away from. These convictions do not <BR>need to be burning or eye-catching or even true; they just have to go <BR>all the way down, like believing that Caracas is in Venezuela or that <BR>torturing babies is wrong. They are the kind of beliefs that choose <BR>us more than we choose them. Sceptics who doubt you can know anything <BR>for sure have at least one fundamental conviction. "Fundamental" <BR>doesn't necessarily mean "worth dying for". You may be passionately <BR>convinced that the quality of life in San Francisco is superior to <BR>that in Strabane, but reluctant to go to the gallows for it. <BR><BR>Fundamentalists are not always the type who seize you by the throat <BR>with one fist while thumping the table with the oth!
er. There are <BR>plenty of soft-spoken, self-effacing examples of the species. It <BR>isn't a question of style. Nor is the opposite of fundamentalism <BR>lukewarmness, or the tiresome liberal prejudice that the truth always <BR>lies somewhere in the middle. Tolerance and partisanship are not <BR>incompatible. Anti-fundamentalists are not people without passionate <BR>beliefs; they are people who number among their passionate beliefs <BR>the conviction that you have as much right to your opinion as they <BR>have. And for this, some of them are certainly prepared to die. The <BR>historian AJP Taylor was once asked at an interview for an Oxford <BR>fellowship whether it was true that he held extreme political <BR>beliefs, to which he replied that it was, but that he held them <BR>moderately. He may have been hinting that he was a secret sceptic, <BR>but he probably just meant that he did not agree with forcing his <BR>beliefs on others. <BR><BR>The word "fundamentalism" was f!
irst used in the early years of the <BR>last century by anti-liberal US Christians, who singled out seven <BR>supposed fundamentals of their faith. The word, then, is not one of <BR>those derogatory terms that only other people use about you, <BR>like "fatso". It began life as a proud self-description. The first of <BR>the seven fundamentals was a belief in the literal truth of the <BR>Bible; and this is probably the best definition of fundamentalism <BR>there is. It is basically a textual affair. Fundamentalists are those <BR>who believe that our linguistic currency is trustworthy only if it is <BR>backed by the gold standard of the Word of Words. They see God as <BR>copperfastening human meaning. Fundamentalism means sticking strictly <BR>to the script, which in turn means being deeply fearful of the <BR>improvised, ambiguous or indeterminate. <BR><BR>Fundamentalists, however, fail to realise that the phrase "sacred <BR>text" is self-contradictory. Since writing is meaning!
that can be <BR>handled by anybody, any time, it is always profane and promiscuous. <BR>Meaning that has been written down is bound to be unhygienic. Words <BR>that could only ever mean one thing would not be words. <BR>Fundamentalism is the paranoid condition of those who do not see that <BR>roughness is not a defect of human existence, but what makes it work. <BR>For them, it is as though we have to measure Everest down to the last <BR>millimetre if we are not to be completely stumped about how high it <BR>is. It is not surprising that fundamentalism abhors sexuality and the <BR>body, since in one sense all flesh is rough, and all sex is rough <BR>trade. <BR><BR>The New Testament author known as Luke is presumably aware that Jesus <BR>was actually born in Galilee. But he needs to have him born in Judea, <BR>since the Messiah is to spring from the Judea-based house of David. A <BR>Messiah born in bumpkinish Galilee would be like one born in Gary, <BR>Indiana. So Luke cooll!
y invents a Roman census, for which there is no <BR>independent evidence, which requires everyone to return to their <BR>place of birth to be registered. Since Jesus's father Joseph comes <BR>from Bethlehem in Judea, he and his wife Mary obediently trudge off <BR>to the town, where Jesus is conveniently born. <BR><BR>It would be hard to think up a more ludicrous way of registering the <BR>population of the entire Roman empire than having them all return to <BR>their birthplaces. Why not just register them on the spot? The result <BR>of such a madcap scheme would have been total chaos. The traffic jams <BR>would have made Ken Livingstone's job look positively cushy. And we <BR>would almost certainly have heard about this international <BR>gridlocking from rather more disinterested witnesses than Luke. Yet <BR>fundamentalists must take Luke at his word. <BR><BR>Fundamentalists are really necrophiliacs, in love with a dead letter. <BR>The letter of the sacred text must be rigid!
ly embalmed if it is to <BR>imbue life with the certitude and finality of death. Matthew's <BR>gospel, in a moment of carelessness, presents Jesus as riding into <BR>Jerusalem on both a colt and an ass - in which case, for the <BR>fundamentalist, the Son of God must indeed have had one leg thrown <BR>over each. <BR><BR>The fundamentalist is a more diseased version of the argument-from-<BR>the-floodgates type of conservative. Once you allow one motorist to <BR>throw up out of the car window without imposing a lengthy prison <BR>sentence, then before you know where you are, every motorist will be <BR>throwing up out of the window all the time, and the roads will become <BR>impassable. It is this kind of pathological anxiety, pressed to an <BR>extreme, which drove the religious police in Mecca early last year to <BR>send fleeing schoolgirls back into their burning school because they <BR>were not wearing their robes and head dresses, and which inspires <BR>family-loving US pro-!
lifers eager to incinerate Iraq to gun down <BR>doctors who terminate pregnancies. To read the world literally is a <BR>kind of insanity. <BR><BR>Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003<BR><BR></TT><BR><TT>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:<BR>no2AllOutWar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com<BR><BR></TT><BR><BR><TT>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the <A href="http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/">Yahoo! Terms of Service</A>.</TT> <BR></P><BR><BR>vrafael@ucsd.edu<p><br><hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
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