Ideological Fundamentalism

My friend Brian recently posted that there is usually Two Sides to Every Story.. I encourage you to check it out.. Brian is a great writer. I responded to his post saying:

"These days terms like conservative and liberal are representative of ideological fundamentalism. It is why I have been identifying more with moderation or centrism."

To that point here is a definition of Fundamentalism that I agree with:

"strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles"

Now usually this pejorative word (i.e. Fundamentalism) is used to marginalize and cubbyhole religious people who generally lean to the extreme right leanings of religion. I submit to you that many folks who hold extreme left leaning religious and ideological views are Fundamentalists as well. Their views are often as narrow as the conservative ones that they decry.

The journey from Fundamentalism has not been a straight or easy one for me. I think the first journey was a religious one where I began to embrace the ideas of grace and love from a different perspective. I had always been able to give the Greek definitions of those words but seldom manifested them in my life.. I was a hard judgmental human being. I recounted this journey from Charismatic Fundamentalism here.

The journey from Ideological Fundamentalism was a bit different. I remember in the 1990s calling Bill Clinton evil and gloating when the Monica Lewinsky scandal brought him down.. sad days for sure. My journey to Ideological Moderation or Centrism oddly came via the Blogosphere. As I dialoged with liberals I found much common ground in the conversation. I also found that there is a wide diversity of thought in the world of conservatism.. we all did not walk in locked steps. Depending on the issue I found myself comfortable in both camps.. and I was so enjoying the stimulation that this more moderate journey was bringing me.. I was learning a lot and growing as a human being.

Well, I think that I am rambling a bit and don't really have a lot more to offer on the topic. I invite you to join the conversation. Do you think Ideological Fundamentalism is an issue in the country that you live? Do you think that people on the extreme ends of the ideological spectrum can ever work together? Or are folks simply too deeply entrenched in their ideology to have a productive conversation with folks with opposing ideologies?

And yes.. I think that I am becoming more of a "glass half-full" kind of guy ☺