We Should Reject All Fundamentalism

Today, the Wall Street Journal reprints an editorial from September of 1984 that argues the secular left is just as fundamentalist in their beliefs as is the religious right. The main evidence is that true-blue liberals always consider their opinions to be morally superior. This attitude, The Journal argued then and is apparently re-arguing today, is leading many to leave the left in favor for the right. The conclusion:

If some liberals are now afraid that certain Christian fundamentalists will reintroduce new forms of intolerance and excessive religious zeal into American political life, perhaps we should concede the possibility that they know what they're talking about. But they might also meditate on…why there has been an apparent rightward shift in political sentiment in the U.S. It could be that a great many voters have taken a good look at the fundamentalists on the religious right and the fundamentalists on the political left and made up their own minds about which pose the greater threat to their own private and public values.

What’s amazing about this editorial is that, for 20 years now, major, respected media like The Journal have been presenting a false dichotomy to the American people—as if we have no choice but the extremes.

How about this: how about we reject the moral superiority of both the left and the right? Morality is a very important component to public debate. But no side should claim to have a monopoly on morality or feel justified in labeling their opponents as immoral. For the sake of real progress, debate must be much more robust than just a face-off between two immovable sides entrenched in their own sense of righteousness.

The Journal is correct in labeling the hard left as fundamentalist. But they are flat-out wrong in pretending that the only other choice is the hard right. We should reject all fundamentalism in favor of the open dialogue and intellectual vitality on which the founders built this nation.