You can read the full article here:
I am struck by these words, which I recognise from my own time in fundamentalist churches where people tend to be treated mechanistically, the opposite of what the church claims to believe:
The following ideas are commonly found in Christian Fundamentalism:That a person is saved by repeating a prayer to Jesus Christ to be saved.That a Christian advances in spiritual maturity and holiness by making decisions: to be baptized, to give his or her life to the Lord, to “surrender” this and that to God.That by following certain definite formulas, such as daily Bible reading and prayer (devotions) a person will live a more spiritual and more holy life than one who does not follow this formula.That wearing certain apparel evokes certain (wicked) behaviors from the person wearing the apparel.That people fall into reciprocal roles, and correct behaviors performed in your role will evoke correct behavior in the other person in his or her role. For example, if a wife is submissive and sweet enough, she will cause her husband to love her.The only way to reduce man to a complex mechanism is to deform him.All of these premises rely on a belief that man is mechanistic by nature. This view of man has its roots in atheism, a belief that man is no more than a sophisticated animal, prompted and guided by drives. According to this point of view, man is programmable, trainable as an animal, for man will follow cues that give him what he wants: rewards.
There is a lot of resonance here with my own writing. See my previous post "why did the disciples follow Jesus?" which points out that there was no obvious reward, salvation or otherwise, in store for the disciples when they committed to following Jesus. Indeed following indicates the idea of a journey. This is another of the themes of my writing: faith is not a destination, but a journey.
