<< Most of the fundamentalists that I know want/need something absolutely solid to base their worldview upon. Many times have I heard the question "if you start questioning the Bible, where do you stop?" Its not that these people won't or can't think, many of them have good analytical skills. They are not really cretins. Many of them are caring, sensitive individuals. They are just individuals who have an inherent discomfort with the idea of gray areas. >>
I see that as a sign of immaturity, almost childishness. They want/need certainty. But the universe is too complex for that. It's comforting to do as you're told, but that's not using your brain to think for yourself. I have to admit, that is totally alien to me, but I will accept your description of them as not cretins. I do think, however, that they are showing signs of arrested development. You can turn their fear around, too. If you start questioning science, where do you stop? If you reject evolution, you are also (whether you know it or not) rejecting genetics, geology, physics - the entire basis of the scientific worldview. The consequences of that are at least as drastic (for a modern, functioning society) as rejecting the Bible (which, as I said earlier, holds little fear for me since most Jews, with the possible exception of a few of the more extreme ultra-Orthodox sects, do not construe the Bible literally). In the end, you have to think for yourself, which I don't think fundamentalists (of any stripe) are capable of doing. Tom Beck "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
