I read an article about extremes today that really struck a chord with me. The article talked about certain Catholic converts that were not fully converted. The description of the first sort, of which I really zeroed in on, are the “fundamentalists/traditionalists” who are described as being paranoid, with a conspiratorial attitude about anyone to the left of them. In practice it is characteristic of and largely confined to a large sub-group of the “conservative” or “traditionlist” Protestants. It is ultimately anti-intellectual and psychologically paranoid, with a huge fortress mentality. You could say these are the modern day Pharisees!
This quote is powerful!
I think fundamentalism is at bottom a psychological malady and a failure of the intellectual imagination; a difficulty in understanding the criteria of plausibility, credibility, and in building or espousing intellectual systems; theological or otherwise. The hyper-dogmatism often observed in the insufficiently-converted Catholic “fundamentalist/traditionalist” is a combination of both the private judgement principle and (usually) some sort of radical, profound psychological insecurity (characteristic of many anti-Catholics as well).
My inclination as far as “conversion” to a Catholic mindset is to live the life of the turtle! My goal is to finish the race, not race to the finish!
