I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

I am Christian fundamentalist. Meaning, for one, that I believe in the above declaration by Jesus Christ. This claim by Christ I believe to be absolute truth. For sure, when compared to other religious belief systems, this is an exclusionary statement.

It divides people. Either you subscribe to it, or you don’t. There is no in between. This is not a gray area. There are other quotes like this from Jesus found in the scripture. For instance in John 3:3 he says this: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In Luke 13:3 he said: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Christian fundamentalists like me take these words literally. Jesus wasn’t talking metaphorically. He wasn’t talking in parables, as he was apt to do. He meant what he said and said what he meant.

In the last couple of years there have been a plethora of books written about the “dangers” of Christian fundamentalism. Some have reached the best-seller list such, as “American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century,” by Kevin Phillips; “Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism,” by Michelle Goldberg; “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America,” by Chris Hedges; “The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege,” Damon Linker; and, probably the world’s most famous atheist, Christopher Hitchens’ new book. “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”

To give these folks their due, they are very intelligent thinkers. These authors, and many others like them, represent the intellectual power of what I call the secular left and they have significant influence in the world of academia, the mainstream national media, the arts and entertainment industry.

The common theme in these books and among the secular left is that people like Tim Wildmon are a clear and present danger to other Americans who do not agree with my fundamentalist Christian beliefs. The pejorative three words often used to describe us are: The Religious Right. In their view, people like me have a political agenda (some would say hidden) to take over the country and subject non-believers – through the power of the government – to our particular religious dogma. Often these people will say that we represent the Christian version of the Taliban.

Obviously, the idea of a group of people gaining control of government and using it to force others to obey their particular religious beliefs scares many Americans. It would scare me, if I thought it were a real possibility. Now there may be people and groups in this country who would like to do this, but trust me, none of the Christian fundamentalists I know have any desire to force their religious creeds on other Americans who chose to believe differently or who chose not to believe in God at all. Where I think these people who want others to believe that we are, in fact, plotting to take over America become intellectually dishonest is when they confuse the masses into accepting the idea that just because fundamentalist Christians are active and engaged in the political process for the purpose of championing what we see as biblical values – that somehow equals imposing a theocracy.

For instance, take one of the most divisive social issues of our time – abortion. Christian fundamentalists believe that human life begins at conception and should be protected by government. So what do we do? We work through the legal process and the political process to elect representatives who share this view. This is how the American process works. All we are doing is participating in the same way any other group advances their cause. This is not the same as attempting to force an atheist to confess John 14:6 or either he goes to jail.

If you are going to make the argument that religious people should be discredited or disqualified just because their religious beliefs motivate their political activity, then you would have say the American civil rights movement was a case of Christian minister Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., organizing to force government to impose a particular belief on America that all men are equal in the eyes of God. This was a movement that at its heart was religiously motivated.

We Christian fundamentalists – a shrinking number for sure – are becoming outcasts in American popular culture. To borrow from the Bible, we are becoming societal lepers. We are unwilling to go along with the idea that all roads lead to God, therefore we are labeled intolerant. We are unwilling to say that all lifestyles are morally equal, therefore we are bigots. We believe each person must repent of their sin and accept Jesus Christ as savior in order to go to heaven so we labeled fascists. It’s unfair, but it a reality. The secular leftists who subscribe to secular humanism and moral relativism will not tolerate Christian fundamentalism.

Now isn’t that an irony.

** Tim Wildmon leads two tours of Washington, D.C., and Mount Vernon with a special emphasis on our America’s Christian heritage. Find out more information at www.spiritualheritagetours.com