The fine line between Fundamentalism (known) and Fantasy(unknown).

Here is a little philosophical fodder for your consideration. Does fundamentalism have to be in conflict with fantasy?

Joseph Campbell:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell

Four Functions of Mythology.

Joseph put down a framework for the 4 functions of mythology. He derived these functions from a comparison of world religious traditions. It is not hard to find the horrible human tragedies that accompany familiar religious movements in history like the witch burning or the crusades. He, as I, started on his path from a sort of anti-religious point of view. However he eventually came around to the view that embedded in all the world religions was a common thread of common wisdom, in the form of stories, to aid in the process of human development .

Simply speaking the the four functions were:

Psychological - ego development
Sociological - Cultural development
Cosmological - Material Science (known)
Mystical - Opening the mind to the great mysteries of the universe (unknown)

Your article points to the current battle in the cultural mind between the latter two.

If you talk to a quantum physicist, a biophysicist, or an astrophysicist in private, In general I would bet that you would find a materialist point of view integrated quite nicely with a great appreciation for the mystery. Whereas if you step back away from the frontiers of science you will find a more absolutist view of materialism.

Your comments seem to make an attempt to grab at the historically retractable evidence within the Canonical biblical texts that support some of the materialist suppositions as proof of the mystical references.

First off the objective of the mystical references can be looked at as literally or fundamentally, or they can be looked at from a sort of dispensational way where the objective of the story was to impart upon the reader a sense of awe.

This sort of materialistic or fundamentalist point of view when applied to the operation of opening the mind of the individual beyond the "known" sort of short circuits the process.

Today or cosmology or science provides a sense of wonder that is potentially as effective as the ancient stories of virgin births or resurrections were in the context of the center of gravity of the cosmological understanding of the people in those times.

For me the sociological messages embedded in some of the text of the bible that reinforce the most humane universal concept attributed to ancient people of:

Do No Harm

Are the most helpful.

Thanks for your consideration

Ric