{"id":686,"date":"2007-12-02T09:45:53","date_gmt":"2007-12-02T14:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/"},"modified":"2007-12-02T09:45:53","modified_gmt":"2007-12-02T14:45:53","slug":"i-was-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"I was wrong."},"content":{"rendered":"

That got your attention, eh? Yeah. . . . probably not what you think. But confession is good for the soul, right? Let’s hope so. And I’d thought I’d give those curious rubber-neckers something really<\/em> fun to print out and pass around. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

At first, I only tentatively studied the history of fundamentalism while at IU. A lot of the classic historians published in the tradition of Perry Miller<\/a>, writing with a sort of jaundiced cynicism that fetishized separatists and just\u00a0left me sad. Martin Marty<\/a> is the better standard with his “carapace” metaphor for fundy communities. “No, no, no!” I thought. “Fundyism isn’t hermetically sealed like that. It’s not hard-shelled. He’s just a modernist!”<\/p>\n

Then Stephen Stein<\/a> introduced our class to\u00a0Nathan Hatch<\/a>, George Marsden<\/a>, and Joel Carpenter<\/a> — all three believing<\/em> and conservative Evangelical scholars, all three well-published and sound historians, and all three saying (in sum) “Yeah, I was a fundamentalist once. But then I got over it.”<\/p>\n

I remember telling my major professor all that and responding with “Yeah, I was a fundamentalist, and I’m not<\/em> over it. I’m still<\/em> a fundamentalist.” I had great hope for fundyism. I thought it could be beautiful. I mean, taking the Bible seriously is a good thing, right? A very<\/em> good thing.<\/p>\n

Now, taking the Bible seriously is still a beautiful thing! Don’t get me wrong. I guess, however, that I was a little too serious about the Bible. A little too earnest about being a woman of the Book.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0about everything else?\u00a0I was naive. I was too optimistic. And I was wrong.<\/p>\n

I was trained to be a “productive critic of rhetoric.” That means that you don’t just observe, you judge. You don’t just spit out facts, you produce something that can change the world. I was taught to assume that as human beings there’s always room for improvement! Everything we do is flawed (yes! the Academy agrees with the Church), and we must talk (rather than fight)\u00a0our way to bettering ourselves.<\/p>\n

I remember sitting in the IU Union looking at our department’s\u00a0building from across the street and vowing to God that I would not waste the wonderful\u00a0training I was getting. I asked God to help me put it to work. I didn’t want to just forget it. I wanted to use<\/em> it. I wasn’t there to just make my employer look good; I wanted that education to change me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

At my oral\u00a0comprehensive exams, one professor asked me point-blank, “How can you be a rhetorician and go back to a place like . . .\u00a0Bob Jones<\/em>?” The disdain dripped from his lips. I was flabbergasted and irritated, but I\u00a0responded, “How can I not? Believers have always been a dominant force in the discipline of rhetoric since Augustine. Finding practical solutions with our words from the Word fits perfectly!”<\/p>\n

I still believe it does.<\/p>\n

I don’t know yet what happened or how to digest it. I was an apologist — and a good one. I was fully committed — loyal to the core. God had to actually push<\/em> us out of the subculture — our “slice of Christendom” as I always called it.<\/p>\n

I guess change was unwanted or feared. Apologia was considered unnecessary. Or . . . independent<\/em> apologia was distrusted. I really don’t know. I was clearly “othered.” I’m coming to believe that everyone “in” fundamentalism fears that they’ll be “out,” and that fear drives them to rigidly maintain the boundaries. Everyone’s at risk. Everyone may be “out.” So when someone’s just a little bit different, when someone doesn’t fly far enough “under the radar” (as they say in Reality TV), it’s easier to vote them off the island than try to stretch the frames of acceptance to keep them there.<\/p>\n

I had great hope for my “home” as I always called it. But my home isn’t in\u00a0a movement, thankfully. It’s in a Savior. I can’t get the two mixed up.<\/p>\n

[tags]Stephen Stein, History of American Religion, Fundamentalism, George Marsden, Nathan Hatch, Joel Carpenter, Perry Miller, Martin Marty, Productive Criticism[\/tags]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That got your attention, eh? Yeah. . . . probably not what you think. But<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speak","category-think"],"yoast_head":"\nI was wrong. - A Time To Laugh<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Camille Lewis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Camille Lewis\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"headline\":\"I was wrong.\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-12-02T14:45:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"commentCount\":12,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Speak\",\"Think\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/\",\"name\":\"I was wrong. - A Time To Laugh\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-12-02T14:45:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2007\\\/12\\\/02\\\/i-was-wrong\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I was wrong.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Time To Laugh\",\"description\":\"He has made everything beautiful in His time.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\",\"name\":\"Camille Lewis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Camille Lewis\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/author\\\/cklewis\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I was wrong. - A Time To Laugh","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Camille Lewis","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/"},"author":{"name":"Camille Lewis","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82"},"headline":"I was wrong.","datePublished":"2007-12-02T14:45:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/"},"wordCount":703,"commentCount":12,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82"},"articleSection":["Speak","Think"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/","name":"I was wrong. - A Time To Laugh","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-12-02T14:45:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2007\/12\/02\/i-was-wrong\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I was wrong."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/","name":"A Time To Laugh","description":"He has made everything beautiful in His time.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/#\/schema\/person\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82","name":"Camille Lewis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Camille Lewis"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3ed8b5a90bf93bc38301c4113d43b1c1f9ad36cf8b887d7bfb93c179e93ec41e?s=96&d=retro&r=g"},"url":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/author\/cklewis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}