It's aQuestion ofFaith: Discourses of Fundamentalism ... - JAC Online

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336]AC Conference, the fivefundamentals offaith, which separatehereticsfrom believers, include 1)the virgin birth ofChrist, 2)substitutionary atonement (Christ's death as payment for human sin),3)the bodily resurrection of Christ and the supernatural reality of miracles,4)inerrant Scripture (without factualor scientificerror) and 5) dispensational premillenialism (theliteralSecondComing of Christ) (Bendroth 5). But this historical definition iscomplicated by the fact that the term "Christian fundamentalist"within U.S.culture oftenconjuresimagesofpeoplewith narrow or extreme attitudes. And in itscontemporary sensethe term "fundamentalist"isused more broadly to includegroupsofpeopleforwhom religiousbeliefconstitutesanallencompassing personal and socialidentity and who perceivethis identity asbeing threatened by secularsocialforces. AsMarty and Appleby suggest,this notion of perceivedthreat isessentialfor understanding fundamentalist responses: Feeling this identity to be at risk in the contemporary era, they [fundamentalists] fortify it by a selective retrieval of doctrines, beliefs, and practices from a sacred past ... to serve as a bulwark against the encroachment of outsiders who threaten to draw the believers into a syncretistic, areligious, or irreligious cultural milieu. (3) In defining Christian fundamentalist discourse within this essay,then, I am not referring to adescription of practices0 r institutio nalaffiliations,but rather to aset ofguidingassumptions,whatKathleenBoonedescribesinTheBibleTells1bemSo:The DiscourseofProtestantFundamentalismas"atendency, ahabit ofmind, rather than a discretemovement or phenomenon, ...abody ofdiscoursearisingfrom beliefinthe sole authority of an inerrant Bible" (10)and what Joseph Kincheloe names as"an absolutistviewofreligiousauthority, theliteralnatureoftheBibleasaninfallibletext, andthe centrality ofaconversionexperienceon the road to the salvationofthe soul" (50).In my class,the seven students who described themselves as"Conservative Christians"belongedto severaldifferentchurchesanddenominations,but alldefined themselvesasholding "true" Christian beliefsthat were more authentic than those ofother students and feltthat they werethe only oneswho were "saved."Regardless of whether students named their beliefsasfundamentalist or not, their discourses seemed powerfully shaped by these common tendencies or habits of mind. As Bendroth suggests,the discourseoffundamentalismhasbecomeincreasinglyprominent becauseof"[i]ts powerful languageofalienationanditscritique ofmoral laxity in the wider culture" (5).It isthis powerful languageofcritiquethat I wishto explore further by profiling the writing of Luke, the student who seemedto bethe most resistant in my English 300course. Luke: A Case Study A 19-year-oldsophomore majoring in English, Luke was amember of the men's gymnastic team and a Christian Fellowship Bible group on campus. Without question, one ofthe most important issueson Luke's mind washisfaith. Describing himself asan Episcopalian Christian in astudent survey, Luke's religiouscommitments surfacedin the classin many ways. During classdiscussionsabout readingson multicultural issues,he often pulled aNew Testament from his backpack to cite
Discoursesof Fundementalism 337 biblical authorities whom he feltwere relevant to the topic at hand. His papers also reflected his interest in writing about and sharing his religious beliefs:for the first assignment,which askedstudentsto tracethehistoryofoneoftheirbeliefs,Lukewrote anarrative describinghisconversionexperienceandhissubsequentviewsoflifeafter death. Severalofhisinformalresponsepapersto assignedreadingssharedhisreligious beliefsaswell, usually in opposition to what he considered the secular and controversialissuesin the texts. Almost allof Luke' soral and written responses reflected afundamentalist discoursethat motivated hisresistanceto classassignmentsandthe overall goalsof the course throughout the term. From the firstday,Luke madeitclearthat hewasopposedto readingandwriting about issuesofdiversity. In addition to marking "disagree"to asurvey of statements such as"1believe issuesof diversity should be addressedin university courses" and "1enjoy classesthat deal with issues of diversity," Luke hinted at his religious convictions in writing about hisinitialattitude to the class:"my attitude toward this classis1hope the material isdiscussed in an unbiased manner and not assumed to be correct, such asthe theory of evolution" (Survey 1-5-93).Usingthe theory of evolution asanexampleofhow curricularknowledgecontradietshisreligiousbeliefs, Luke suggeststhat being"unbiased"meansacknowledginghisreligiousconvictions asequally valid in relation to other views. Given that evolution isone of the most contestedand highlydebatedissuesofschoolcurriculum for fundamentalists,Luke's comments, inretrospect, arenot that surprising. Still,asateacher,1didn't realizethat Luke's comment foreshadowedthe strugglesover "secular"knowledgeand religious beliefthat were to motivate his resistancethroughout the term. One ofthe most visiblesitesofLuke' sappealsto religiousauthority canbe seen in his response papers to assigned readings. To illustrate the ways that Luke's responseswere shapedby hisreligiousdiscourse,I present two ofhisresponsepapers which illustrate hisnegotiations with the texts and my goalsasateacher in assigning them. Biblical Authority and Revisionist Reading Luke's firstresponsepaper waswritten in responseto Kristine Beatty's poem "Lot's Wife." This poem offersarevisionist readingofthe biblicalstory of Lot's wife, who turned into a pillar of salt after looking back at the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah.' The narrator ofthe poem describesthe dailydutiesofLot's wife-baking bread, raisingchildren, and tending to sickneighbors-as 0 pposed to her husband, who spendshis lifein contemplation with God (whileLot "struggleswith the Lord ...shestruggleswith the housework"). The narrator suggeststhat Lot's wifedoesnot "regret the sacrifice" of turning into stone because her definition of sacrifice is dependent on relationswith her community rather than with God. Studentsreadthis poem in conjunction with two other essaysabout the limitingnature ofgenderroles. This poem seemedespeciallyappropriate forthe unit, 1thought, becauseitoffers arevisionistreadingofhow men andwomen' sworkhas beentraditionally valuedand it suggestspossibleconsequencesin making such judgments. 1envisioned students engaging in an intertextual conversation among the two essays and this poem,
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