Loneliness and fundamentalism

Since at least the mid-1970s, psychologists and sociologists have been arguing that an increase in loneliness is fuelling an increase in fundamentalism. The general idea is that, the lonelier someone becomes, and the more they rely on religion for comfort, the stricter and more doctrinaire they’re going to want that religion to become; they’re also going to believe in God more fervently, and be more antagonistic towards non-believers.

I am probably the least “fundamental” person you’ll ever meet. I’m into all sorts of left-wing things, like animal rights, and veganism, and feminist politics. But when my loneliness was at the I-can’t-take-it-anymore stage, I found myself becoming more fundamentalist.

You don’t have to kneel on the ground in a Catholic service, but I admired men who did. I liked it when people held their hands upwards during prayer (again, something that is not required). I started reading Catholic theologians. I thought about Jesuits. I toyed (I kid you not!) with becoming a nun.

That is, my overpowering loneliness was pushing me towards a more hard-lined approach to religion than I’d ever taken. Now that my loneliness is less severe, I’m consciously leaning towards more open and less doctrinaire congregations, like the Society of Friends. But I saw the allure of fundamentalism when lonely. I understand it. And I wonder where it would have led me if I’d really allowed it to take over.

More on this, since it leaves me feeling very curious….