On Tue, 27 Feb 2001, Will Banks wrote:
> Let me ask all of you enlightened psychologists a
> question...Do you really believe that believing in the
> Bible as the inspired and inerrant word of God is only
> for the uneducated and unintelligent? I look forward
> to your answers.
>
Well, I'm neither enlightened nor a psychologist yet (ABD on the latter,
and I have a sneaking suspicion that enlightenment won't automatically
follow the dissertation defense) but assuming that you're open to hearing
from everyone on the list ...
I used to believe as you do; I was raised fundamentalist. I'm not one now,
for many many reasons. I knew perfectly intelligent and well-educated
people (to the extent that it's possible for *anyone* to be well-educated
in a world so saturated in information and interpretive perspectives; we
all have great holes in our education) in the church. So, empirically, the
answer is no, I don't believe fundamentalism is only for the ignorant or
stupid.
However, I also know perfectly well that all people have amazing abilities
to compartmentalize, and that belief systems (and I'm not excepting my
own, here) are composed at least as much of emotional need as critical
thought. I think most religous fundamentalists (of any religion) tend to
have a knack for this kind of compartmentalization and for not
experiencing cognitive dissonance.
The claims that fundamentalists make simply don't seem logical to me, or,
at most times, just. I *always* try to treat people with respect, but I
don't see any reason to treat all beliefs with respect. Not in my everyday
discourse, anyway; in the classroom, I think, one often has to be gentler.
When I have highly religious students in the classroom I take their
concerns seriously, and I've never been accused of treating anyone
disrespectfully. I've worked with some students on understanding the
difference between the faith-and-revelation and scientific epistemological
approaches, and they're usually quite amenable to that (as long as I don't
use words like "epistemology," of course, which would turn off most
students).
Robin
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Robin Pearce "The wit of a graduate student is like champagne.
Boston University Canadian champagne."
[EMAIL PROTECTED] --Robertson Davies
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