Fundamentalism has as a sacred doctrine; hatred. Suffering is viewed as
salvific, and they have no problem attributing the pain of their
injurous behaviors to the victims non-conformance to their (the
fundamentalists) paradigms.
Prejudice is a by-product of that hate, it is promoted in their sacred
texts. In many circles (of fundamentalism), prejudice is worn as a
requirement of membership, a badge of honor (tongue in cheek).
Knowledge and intelligence are dismissed as "worldly" and a direct
enemy of their gods revelations, one of which is often interpreted into
the model that they proclaim with certain glee, that is; homosexuals
are an abomination to their god, therefore a prime target for their
hate.
I do not make the claim here that all religion is a form of mental
illness, there is not enough room, nor do I have the time or
inclination. Religious fundamentalism, on the other hand, is manifest
with profound absence of decency, respect, and responsibility, in such
sociopathic means, that it would be impossible to ignore the facet of
mental illness that it reflects.
Throw into the mix, a politic that you have a god that agrees with you
to the exclusion of all others, and a politic such as that of George
Bush is realized. In my opinion, the politics of George Bush are the
epitome of Christian fundamentalism, a confirmation that mental illness
can function at as a religio-politic and that people will follow that
contraption to the detrament of the society of which it is a part.
Cheers
.
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