How many on the right or left politically have actually read the Federalist Papers, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? If they did, they would find out that a lot of what they ascribe to these documents is not there. The Fundamentalism Project shows that absolutists are selective in what parts of their traditions or heritage they stress, whether those traditions are secular or religious. There are too many of these to enumerate. In today’s secular realm, this demonization of “unbelievers” or “outsiders” begins to sound like, for example, “cancel culture,” police unions, gun rights groups and both right wing and left wing movements like boogaloo, the KKK, the American Nazi Party and ANTIFA. These behaviors can range from simple name calling to verbal or physical abuse, bodily injury and in the most extreme cases, murder. Once an “unbeliever” or an “outsider” is demonized or dehumanized, all sorts of behaviors toward them are excused. Then, the person or group can feel free to demonize those who do not share their beliefs.
Once a group or a person begins to internalize the truth so that only insiders can understand it, idealism goes out the window and a “my way or the highway” ethos emerges. Initially, idealism is found in groups or people who sometimes end up with absolutist beliefs and behaviors. We then briefly explore psychological studies that may point to a partial solution to absolutist movements that are tearing us apart.Īccording to the Fundamentalism Project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, absolutist behavior and groups share common threads. These activities have been aided and abetted by a “go along to get along” attitude in groups susceptible to absolutist thinking. We describe absolutist behavior and a number of fundamentalist activities that are alive and well today and in our recent past. Maybe they are, but this essay is an attempt to see if there is a way to ameliorate the harm that they cause.
These experiences bring me to ask whether absolutist belief systems are endemic to human nature.
Even then, it seemed to me that both groups had the same very rigid personality types. In those years I actually researched such groups by attending far-left and far-right political meetings (Young People’s Socialist League and John Birch Society) to try and understand what was going on. I have been interested in absolutist belief systems found in groups since I was in high school. Here is what we know about these beliefs and behaviors. Even though one describes secular and the other religious beliefs, the behavior and speech are identical in both belief system. This essay uses the terms “absolutism” and “fundamentalism” interchangeably.
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