Fundamentalism and American Identity

Abstract

Fundamentalism's continued vitality raises ques tions about the validity of traditional historical interpretations of the movement. The explanations which focus upon the 1920's and concentrate upon socioeconomic factors in account ing for the rise of Fundamentalism have tended to discourage research into the nineteenth-century background to the move ment, and customarily forecast the quick demise of the group as members accommodate themselves to the urban indus trial environment. Contemporary Fundamentalism, which has, during the last decade, experienced an unexpected efflorescence, can be better understood if it is defined as the name applied to certain millenarians during one phase of their history, which stretches back, at least, to 1870—when they were usu ally called premillennialists—and continues to today, when they prefer to be known as Evangelicals. The unity of this movement over the past century is discussed in terms of its thought, leadership, and social structure. It is argued that Fundamentalism lives in symbiotic relationship with other forms of religion and with cultural trends, leading the Funda mentalist, paradoxically, to affirm both his despair over the world and his identification with much of the world's culture. He has resolved this tension through the creation of innumer able parallel institutions which, though completely Fundamen talist, affirm essentially worldly values. Fundamentalism rep resents a relatively rare example of an authentic conservative tradition in American history. The study of its history and structure ought to prove significant outside the limits of the history of religion.