Under The Banner of Heaven

I just finished reading this book, which is basically an in-depth look at Mormon Fundamentalism. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Anyway, it got me to thinking. Is there ever a case when being fanatical is ok? The only case that I can think of would be when our forefathers left England to found our country. This book highlights religious zealots, and surprise or not, it got me to thinking about radical Christians. Some of my family is on the border of what I would consider religious fanaticism. By that, I mean that they are very committed to their faith and beliefs. This is not a bad thing.

However, I do believe that Christians (just like any other religion) can be too zealous. My example (outside of the book) would be Dr. James Dobson and American Family Radio. I was raised listening to Dr. Dobson and my mother is still an avid listener. Dr. Dobson is a far-right wing Conservative, who if seen or heard by anyone outside of the American Family circle would be deemed a religious zealot. Now, I am not directly connecting my upbringing to Mormon Fundamentalism. However, I do think that it is important to see the ties between devoted religious persons, and the people that they have influence over.

This book got me to thinking about fanaticism in every form and denomination. In my opinion, being a fanatical Christian results in a very closed, narrow mind - in which every aspect of one's life is subject to criticism. I am sure that my family thinks that I am a horrible person for this, but here are things that I have come to accept:

• Homosexuality does not condem you to hell. All sins are the same in God's eyes, and all humans are created equal. I think it is ok for a person to marry the person that they love, even if they are the same sex.
• Women (or men) can raise a child on their own. I once told my mother that if I was single at the age of 35, I would want to adopt a child. She responded by telling me that this was NOT ok, because according to the Bible, children should be raised in a home with a mother and a father. She believes that a child is better off being raised in an orphanage than by a single mother. Ideally, yes, a child should have both a mother and a father in the same home. But I also believe that women are much more able to support a family by themselves than they were in Biblical times.
• Alcohol is not of the devil. Jesus drank wine, and so can I. Alcohol is just fine, in moderate amounts.
• Not every single word in the Bible is meant to be taken literally.
• Religious leaders very often use their power to exert their views (usually radical) upon unsuspecting believers who are merely trying to do right by God.

I am going to stop here, because I am sure that if my parents see this, I will be getting a very upset phone call from my mother. However, I will end with a very interesting excerpt from the book.

"It's amazing how gullible perople are. But you have to remember what a huge comfort the religion is. It provides all the answers. It makes life simple....

And that's a real big part of what holds this religion together: it's not having to make those critical decisions that many of us have to make, and be responsible for your decisions....

If you want to know the truth, I think people with the religion...are probably the happier, on the whole, than people on the outside. But somet things in life are more importnat than being happy. Like being free to think for yourself."