The topic of this episode comes from a listener. He wrote in part:
“Your videos are infused with insights that aid the nondualist in speaking with dualists. However, there is not (or at least I did not see) a single video that addresses these insights together. This request may seem counterintuitive: why should a nondualist need to defend themselves? Sadly, I come from a large family of Fundamentalist Christians, and I am constantly harangued because I am not a Fundamentalist. … Unfortunately, as you may imagine, I do not get very far when I share my view in this way, and so, I would benefit greatly by a video of the aforementioned suggestion.”
His actual suggestion was worded as “How to talk to a dualist.” I am calling this episode “How to Speak with a Fundamentalist” but it applies to non-fundamentalist theists as well.
The topic of this episode comes from a listener. He wrote in part:
“Your videos are infused with insights that aid the nondualist in speaking with dualists. However, there is not (or at least I did not see) a single video that addresses these insights together. This request may seem counterintuitive: why should a nondualist need to defend themselves? Sadly, I come from a large family of Fundamentalist Christians, and I am constantly harangued because I am not a Fundamentalist. … Unfortunately, as you may imagine, I do not get very far when I share my view in this way, and so, I would benefit greatly by a video of the aforementioned suggestion.”
His actual suggestion was worded as “How to talk to a dualist.” I am calling this episode “How to Speak with a Fundamentalist” but it applies to non-fundamentalist theists as well.
The topic of this episode comes from a listener. He wrote in part:
“Your videos are infused with insights that aid the nondualist in speaking with dualists. However, there is not (or at least I did not see) a single video that addresses these insights together. This request may seem counterintuitive: why should a nondualist need to defend themselves? Sadly, I come from a large family of Fundamentalist Christians, and I am constantly harangued because I am not a Fundamentalist. … Unfortunately, as you may imagine, I do not get very far when I share my view in this way, and so, I would benefit greatly by a video of the aforementioned suggestion.”
His actual suggestion was worded as “How to talk to a dualist.” I am calling this episode “How to Speak with a Fundamentalist” but it applies to non-fundamentalist theists as well. I have to deal with this all the time. I have to think about this every time I preach. I preached in our local community church last month, and as I was preparing my sermon I had keep in mind who I was talking to and consciously put things a different way than I would in one of my podcasts or videos.
Generally speaking people in the pews are coming from a dualistic position. That is especially true of evangelicals but also true of mainline Christian churches. Theism is dualistic, and traditional Christianity is certainly theistic. So I do not get into the pulpit and immediately say something that is going to shut people’s minds to what I have to say. So I come at it carefully.
I often start with some humor. For example in my last sermon I started off with what I called Grandpa Jokes, which are like dad jokes. Kind of silly, but hopefully somewhat funny. At least it gets people groaning. Laughing opens people up physically as well as psychologically. It is important when talking with theists that we do not approach it too seriously, that we do not make the conversation dualistic – dual spelled both dual and duel. There is no advantage in getting into a duel with people.
Of course that is exactly how dualistic thinkers will approach spiritual conversations. When Evangelicals are not preaching to convert, they are engaging in what is called apologetics, which has nothing to do with being apologetic. It has to do with defending the faith against perceived threats. Those threats are understood as any religion or philosophy or worldview that is not evangelically Christian.
Fundamentalists see the world in terms in black and white terms – as a battle between right and wrong, the godly and ungodly, Christian and nonchristian, Christ versus antichrist. It can get apocalyptic very quickly. The fact is that as soon as we start to talk in nondualistic terms, the evangelical apologetic instinct quickly kicks in with Christians. We will be seen as a threat, and fundamentalists will feel the need to “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints” as the letter of Jude puts it. Mental barricades go up quickly. People get defensive.
There is nothing we can do about that. In most cases there is no way that the nondual message of the Kingdom of God or Unitive Awareness can be heard without evangelicals getting defensive. As soon as they recognize that what we are talking about is not the standard evangelical party line, then the battle lines are drawn in their minds. They are afraid to think outside the box. They are afraid of being deceived by Satan or demons. It is scary for them to consider the possibility that they have got it wrong.
They do not realize that they are actually afraid of Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God. Religious people were afraid of Jesus in his day. His hometown synagogue was so afraid of what he said that they tried to throw him off a cliff after his first sermon. Religious conservatives eventually banded together to have Jesus executed. The same mentality is present in religious conservatives today. We must understand that Jesus’ nondual message of the Kingdom of God is very threatening to evangelical Christians.
So when we speak with fundamentalists we have to be very aware of this fear. Fear often manifests as anger. We are seen as a threat, just like Jesus was seen as a threat. Jesus warned of this. He said: “Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.”
So how do we speak with a fundamentalist? First of all we speak with them and not at them. That is why I phrased the title of this episode as “speak with” rather than “talk to” fundamentalists. Remember in reality we are one, and it is important that we communicate that. They are not the enemy, even though they will perceive us as the enemy. So it is bests to do everything we can to model the inclusive attitude of Jesus, who is the Christ in whom we live and move and have our being.
Second, we are not trying to convert them to nondualism. There is no need for it. Furthermore there is no need to defend nondualism. Reality can defend itself. Fundamentalists will try to defend their positions and convert us because they believe that anyone who does not believe the way that they believe is headed for hell, and that they need to do what they can to save us. The reality is that fundamentalists are already living in an earthly hell of their own making. Fundamentalism is hell, which anyone who has come out of fundamentalism knows.
Yet our task is not to save them from their hell of fundamentalism. It is a hell formed by the dualistic self. The door of hell is locked from the inside. Only they can open it. But they do not want to open it because it means the death of everything they have ever thought was real and true, including the dualistic self. So like Milton’s Lucifer they would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.
So there is nothing we can do. Furthermore there is nothing that needs to be done. Everything is as it is. It cannot be other than it is. Evangelicals are the way they are, until hopefully one day they see otherwise. There is nothing we can do to open their eyes. Only Christ can do that. All we can do is witness to the truth. There is no point in arguing. There is no point in debating. When I was deconstructing my evangelical Christianity I watched a lot of online debates between Christian apologists and New Atheists. Theism versus atheism. Both sides love to debate.
But a debate between dualism and nondualism is an oxymoron. It is a dualistic exercise. In nondualism there are not two sides. Both sides are parts of a larger whole. Yin and Yang. The seeming duality that fundamentalists see as reality is actually part of a greater nondual whole. It is important to communicate the larger nondual reality in how we speak with fundamentalists. We do that by communicating love and compassion and showing that we are not threatened by them. Then perhaps they might feel less threatened by us.
The reality is that there is nothing we can do about that. People will react the way they react. If we point to Nondual reality well, and if they dare to glance in that direction, they will be scared, and rightly so. For it means the destruction of their dualistic worldview. They cannot imagine spirituality without having an enemy. They cannot imagine truth without a corresponding falsehood. They cannot imagine one without two. But that is our message: not two. Nonduality.
So I do not debate, but I do challenge people. When I am in a private conversation or in a discussion group setting, then I use the Socratic Method. Instead of making statements about nonduality, I ask questions. These questions are direct and can feel threatening, but that is alright when a person is interested.
The questions are meant to reveal to people that the theistic and dualistic worldviews are based on assumptions and presuppositions that do not stand up to scrutiny. My questions are a way of deconstructing their view of reality, which can prepare the way for a glimpse of nondual awareness to emerge. When everything is revealed as nothing, then what remains is Reality.
So how do we speak with a fundamentalist? We do the best we can, pointing to that which is beyond this illusory world of duality. Keeping in mind Jesus’ advice not to give dogs what is holy or cast pearls before swine. That may sound judgmental, but Jesus simply meant that if someone does not appreciate the treasure of the Kingdom of God, there is no use talking about it. If we continue to do so, Jesus says they will “trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” That is what happened to Jesus.
So we speak to fundamentalists in unconditional love, which is the ethic of nonduality, and it is modeled in our words and attitude. If that love is not accepted, and if the pointers to nondual reality are rejected, then we do what Jesus says and wipe the dust off our sandals and move on. That is the best way to speak with a fundamentalist.