Have you ever considered the actual definition of what fundamentalism really means? It means you haven’t given any deep thought to your religion or politics. It literally means that you are still stomping around in the shallow, wading end of the pool and have been too terrified to venture out into the deep waters. It means that you got so hung up on the most basic principles of what you believe that you have never bothered to expand the horizons of your mental awareness.
Here is the actual definition of the word ‘fundamental’;
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1.forming a necessary base or core; of central importance.
basic, underlying, core, foundational, rudimentary, elemental, elementary, basal, root so basic as to be hard to alter, resolve, or overcome.“the theories are based on a fundamental error”
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1.a central or primary rule or principle on which something is based.“two courses cover the fundamentals of microbiology”
synonyms: basics, essentials, rudiments, foundations, basic principles, first principles, preliminaries;
Are you really proud of the fact that you have never advanced past the first grade? That you stalled in the doorway of what lies before you. You stopped at the beginning of the path to gaze up at the mountains in front of you and decided that was enough for you.
I am asking you to follow the path. Climb the freakin’ mountains. Use the fundamental bits of learning that you are clinging to like some kind of life raft to float you down the river of enlightenment. Better yet, combine the bits of fundamental wisdom into new shapes and structures. Don’t get fixated on the ‘thou shalt nots’ and the catch phrases. Don’t get stuck in the worn out ruts of the plodding non-thinkers. Forge your own way. Look for the messages of love and acceptance in what you believe. They are there. And there are far more of them than the are words of hate and bigotry.
In the end, your religious and political leaders or your gods or at the very least your grandchildren and their children are going to judge you for who your persecuted and are going to admire you for who you accepted. If the people around you are caught in the swamp of fundamentalism, step boldly past them and strike out on your own.
You are smarter than that.
Pouring My Art Out 
In a glass half full sort of way – maybe they’re still in the stage where they are questioning everything so they can better understand, instead of following blindly.
we can hope
When we cease to grow, we start to die.
I bear that in mind
I bare than in mine too
oh my
Also it took me a while to make the comment option vanish from that reblog I did so you may have a comment or two lurking over there.
that’s fine
Perhaps there should be a campaign to start some sort of Liberal Fundamentalism which could advocate mass acceptance of sanity, individual differences and the pursuit of happiness in this life, free from the misguided pursuit of happiness on Cloud 9.
There are a bunch of them. I just watched a good show on Atheists and their movement on CNN last night.
I will try to Google it. European CNN is very different. I’m wondering if it’s possible to add misguided fans of Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson himself to that list of people who need to step out and see the light.
I still don’t know the story behind all that… what did he do?
According to a BBC internal investigation, which was made public today Clarkson hit his producer in the mouth and verbally abused him repeatedly over a space of about 20 mins. The report said his language was too bad to report. The producer eventually took himself off to an accident & emergency ward at some local hospital in Yorkshire. The background to it states that after a long day filming in southern England and then a much- delayed helicopter flight to the north Clarkson arrived at his hotel and was livid because there was no evening meal layer on for him. There is speculation that he had a beer or two too many.
He has often showed himself to be arrogant with xenophobic views. Consequently, he is the darling of the brutish elements of the right-wing working class. He was getting too big for his boots and an embarrassment for the BBC. It was inevitable that he would mess up sooner or later.
I sort of figured it might be something like that.
Power corrupts.
I sure hope so
An excellent post.
Though some people do become enamored with standing in their yard yelling at everyone else who puts on their intellectual mountain climbing gear. It’s sad.
It takes all kinds.
Bring it Arthur. This should be Freshly Pressed!
thanks… but we all know they hate me
No they don’t
they ought to… ha
I agree with Glazed — well done, Art. But you know, I may disagree with part of it. I don’t think they’re smarter than that.
sssshhh… a few may still come around…
I agree with Elyse. Those who are religious or political fundamentalists are not smarter than that. They think they have all the right answers and that they — and those who share their religious, political, and ideological beliefs know the “truth.” Everyone else is just deluded, blind, and/or lost.
Great post, Arthur.
sometimes the lost can be found
Sometimes there are exceptions to the rule.
If I make one person decide to look deeper into the true meaning of anything, that counts for a lot
True. If they read and internalize what you have written. But, as they say, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
I am trying to lead a horse to water and then make it think
Ha! I see what you did there, Arthur. You sure are being profound today.
I will be back to posting ridiculous pictures of myself soon enough
I knew we could count on you.
I know I do
Don’t lump us all together. We’re not all like that.
I am only talking about the people that I am talking about
I didn’t mean you Arthur. Your post was awesome. I agree with you..
oh… then yay
Reblogged this on Golden Daze and commented:
Art Browne’s crack squirrels took the day off, today, allowing Art’s brain to put together a profound philosophy. It kind of reminds me of the guy in a coma who momentarily wakes up. Way to go, Art! Great message. Check out Art’s blog, by the way. It’s zany, fun, and usually overrun by his crack squirrels.
hey now… we have our moments of brilliance… I just don’t let them interrupt the humorous flow of my blog.
I can’t let your head get too big. Apparently, you and I are competing for world dominion.
I am shooting for domination of this and all the other universes, as plainly laid out in blog posts and my action/humor sci-fi series.
I love this Art. You’ve said it well. And I believe you are basically right.
YAY… I love it when I am basically right… perhaps even ‘fundamentally’ right