Being the Chosen: Exploring a Christian Fundamentalist Worldview

156 Pages·2010·2.101 MB·English

by  Julie Scott Jones

Being the Chosen
For Anna who is love and faith
For Millie who is love and hope
Being the Chosen
exploring a Christian Fundamentalist Worldview
Julie sCott Jones
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
© Julie scott Jones 2010
All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Julie scott Jones has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing limited Ashgate Publishing Company
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union Road 101 Cherry street
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
scott Jones, Julie.
Being the chosen : exploring a Christian fundamentalist
worldview.
1. Fundamentalism--united states. 2. Fundamentalists--
united states.
i. title
280.4'0973-dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jones, Julie scott, 1966-
Being the chosen : exploring a Christian fundamentalist worldview / by Julie scott Jones.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-7741-3 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-0-7546-9472-4 (ebook)
1. Fundamentalism--united states. 2. Protestantism--united states. 3. united states--
Church history. 4. Christianity--Philosophy. i. title.
Bt82.2.J65 2010
230'.04626--dc22
2010007199
ISBN 9780754677413 (hbk)
ISBN 9780754694724 (ebk)
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
1 ‘Furiously Religious’: Contextualising Fundamentalism 1
2 ‘Same or Different’? Defining Fundamentalism? 15
3 ‘true Americans’: the origins of Protestant Fundamentalism 31
4 ‘god’s Chosen’: the importance of Being ‘Chosen’ 49
5 the ‘Right’ Way: orthodoxy and orthopraxy in everyday life 63
6 ‘Counting Down the Days’: Apocalyptic urgency and Agency 77
7 ‘us or them’: An oppositional Worldview 91
8 ‘Fighting for god’: the Politicisation of Fundamentalism 107
9 ‘Taking it to the World’: Fundamentalism in a Global Context 125
Bibliography 137
Index 143
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Preface
To say this book, or at least a version of it, is a long time coming would be an
understatement; it has been a decade in the writing. It has taken me a long time to
process the fieldwork experience that I had at God’s Way1 religious community;
the ‘Chosen’ whose worldview was the catalyst for and is the central focus of this
book. Things also invariably get in the way of writing: teaching, family, and other
commitments.
When I did my fieldwork in the USA, fundamentalism was viewed stereotypically
as ‘backward’, ‘retreatist’ and ‘anti-modern’; something of a relic and a peculiarity of
American Protestantism. it was not a subject of much interest beyond a subdivision of
the sociology of religion. even islamic fundamentalism was understudied and again
rarely beyond the confines of specialist religious research. Following the events of
9/11, things have changed in how we view what was once described as ‘extreme’
religion: the need to engage with and more importantly to understand religious
fundamentalism is a key issue of our time and should be a necessary component of
any socio-political and economic policy making.
This book has two central aims; firstly to outline and explain the nature
of a Protestant fundamentalist worldview. the second aim is to account for
fundamentalist agency and action in the world, which is informed and shaped
by this worldview. ultimately, the aim is ‘understanding’ in its broadest sense;
this book argues that one cannot understand and thus engage with fundamentalist
movements and groups unless one understands the subtle interplay between
worldview and action. The book draws on my participant observation based,
ethnographic field research, living among a group of Protestant fundamentalists
(‘God’s Way’ community) to illustrate its central points.
The book that I would have written ‘fresh’ from fieldwork would have looked
very different and would have been a more conventional ethnographic account.
My understanding of god’s Way, and fundamentalism more generally, has
evolved over time and I am glad that I have chosen to write now. This book is
not a textbook but it is written for my students. I have taught successive classes
of sociologists of religion since 1996, every class has taught me something. You
will never know how much I am indebted to you for making me think through my
work, for embracing ‘astonishment’, for sharing ideas and viewpoints; as well as
pushing me to be a better teacher. This book is for you all.
Julie scott Jones, 2010
1 A pseudonym.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Department of Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan
University for support during the production of this book. I would like to thank
neil Jordan, my commissioning editor at Ashgate, for his support and assistance
during the writing and production of this book; as well as the rest of his editorial
team.