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Fundamentalism in its "actual content, experiences, opinions, history, and theories" is "so diverse as to defy synthesis." So writes Berkeley sociologist Manuel Castells in The Power of Identity (Blackwell, 2004). Yet, thanks to an exhaustive study commissioned by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences published under the title Fundamentalisms Observed, we now "know" - know, mind you - "that 'fundamentalists are always reactive, reactionary'" and we also know that "fundamentalists are selective" in their use of the past, no doubt very much in contrast to the exhaustive uses of the past employed by professional sociologists. So much for the diversity of experience.
We also know that "doctrinal evangelicals" are "less educated, poorer, more influential among housewives, more often residents of the South, significantly more religious, and 100 percent of them consider the Bible to be inerrant." Ignore the shockingly patronizing comment about credulous housewives, and ignore the fact that, actually, we don't know anything of the kind about the education or economic status of evangelicals. That 100 percent figure is what stands out in high comit relief. Consider: If you select a group defined by their commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture, and then survey them about their commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture, you are likely (let us say, 100 percent likely) to find that a high proportion of your sample is committed to the inerrancy of Scripture.
Ignore too the fact that Castells elsewhere attributes Frank (then Franky) Schaeffer's book, A Time for Anger, to his father Francis Schaeffer. Castells is a "brilliant sociologist" and his book "a truly stunning achievement." So now we know.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, August 01, 2005 at 04:38 PM
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