This could be a long post, a thesis, a book or some other pile of words. Can't do that right now. Cut past the chase to where the villain explains how he set his diabolical plan in motion. The good guy foils the bad guy and we move to the epilog.
We swapped religious fundamentalism for political fundamentalism. People are inherently fundamentalist. They might not want to acknowledge that about themselves but we cling to a philosophical position that is immutable and irrefutable. We all have our core beliefs that we are quicker to defend than to question.
The Catholic Church did not start this transition but they did kick it into gear. Vatican II concluded in 1965 and its tsunami ripples are still being felt. There would be fewer moral absolutes and more topics open to discussion. The term, "Cafeteria Catholic" had not yet surfaced. For tens of millions, the essence of life was practicing the faith, keeping the faith, defending the faith and drawing others into the faith. Suddenly, the reason for being was open-ended. What to do?
We are all fundamentalists, that bears repeating. Me, I am a fundamentally Anti-Leftist which is not the same as Right-Wing, but let's leave the semantics for another time.
People are selectively rational. Everyone. They might be open-minded and thoughtful about the merits and flaws of popular cuisine or electric automobiles or social media, but they will defend their dogma with reflexive zeal.
We sometimes believe that if we shed our faith, we default to a state of chronic rationalism. It doesn't usually work like that. What do we do after we dispense with our dogma? We find a new dogma.
What has happened to the Catholic Church since 1965? They lost about ninety percent of their members and humanity's oldest extant organization is a shadow of herself. Did all the former members of The Church live their lives without the vestiges of fundamentalism? No.
Ex-Catholics sought a fundamental belief system. They might have converted to Lutheranism or Anglicanism or Wesleyianism had not Protestantism followed a similar trajectory where the rainbow would displace the cross. Seeking the flooring that had been pulled out from under them, cradle Catholics filled up the pews at Kingdom Halls, Mormon temples and upstart Pentecostal churches. Many more would turn to politics.
Families who were avidly Catholic and nominally Democrat became avidly Democrat and nominally Catholic. The Democrat Party would alter their composition to quench the thirst of their members, assisting in their bias formation and bias confirmation. In due course, Leftism would drench every pore of Jefferson and Madison's love child.
Life was once more about practicing the faith, keeping the faith, defending the faith, and drawing others into the faith--the Faith in and of Leftism.
Fundamentalist groups all share certain characteristics. Irrefutability, the unification against a designated enemy, the rooting for proper noun over principle. Loyalty to proper noun explains how members of the Catholic Church could get away with sexual abuse perpetrated against her most innocent members. Both victim and witness thought it more important to serve the institution than the members of the institution. No sin, no matter how abhorrent, was as grievous as the sin of betrayal.
Today's Democrat lays witness to the misery and squalor that is Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland, and most American cities. They tolerate the abuses of power, privilege, and money because to speak out would betray their tribe. Similarly, they don't address America's failed schools or the crimes committed by the past administration. Party is all.
A cult is a cult is a cult. Right?
Wrong. Religious cults are structurally different from political cults. Religious cults usually come equipped with a Hayflick limit. They institute reforms and revisions and then live with those alterations for a long time. Whatever is forbidden by the Amish was prohibited a long time ago. They might drive horse and buggy but they don't meet one year to prohibit buggy wheels and assemble the next year to prohibit horses.
Political cults are without a limiting factor. They are always at war. It is a war that cannot be lost and cannot be won but most importantly, it cannot be ended. The brutal religious wars of Europe gave way to centuries of peace between the belligerents. European political cults would surpass their religious predecessors in both bloodshed and fanaticism.
We are all fundamentalists but we are not all political fundamentalists. We settle our religious differences by self-segregation. That is not so easily done in the political realm. Political cults concern themselves with every aspect of their members--and worse, non-members--lives. Sports have become politicized. The weather has become politicized. Popular music. Entertainment. Literature. The grocery store. You name it.
Is there anything we can do to restore comity to the public square? Short answer: No.
We can do some damage control, however. As much as possible, we can self-segregate. Not easy, but we can try.
A better solution might be conscious fundamentalism. If a person entertains two belief systems, the more rigid system will win every time. Should we return to the narrow-minded to protect us from the mindless? It's an idea worth considering.
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