Being a "Fundamentalist"

I am a fundamentalist.

What does that mean to label someone a "fundamentalist?" In its purist form, with regard to the topic at hand it means that the person adheres to the fundamentals of that subject.

Tiger Woods is a fundamentalist. Their are certain things about striking a golf ball that must be followed if you are to strike it well. Grip. Take back. Torso torque. Weight shift. Weight transition. Getting the clubface square at impact. Follow through.

More than that, he's a stickler when it comes to the rule book. You break the rules, you will pay with strokes or disqualification. Without the rules, you have golf anarchy, and the Masters would not be the Masters.

Here's an interesting point: within the realm of golf fundamentalism, there exists extraordinary freedom. Despite the fundamentals, golfers have nuanced swings, nuanced grips. Golf equipment lies on the cutting edge of technology. Does anybody even own a 3- or 4-wood anymore? Considering I could probably not play Augusta National below 100, the fact that most the folks out there today will better that by 30 swings testifies to the variety and freedom within fundamentalist golf.

I am a fundamentalist about many things. You are a fundamentalist, too, though perhaps not in the same areas I am. You may be fundamentalist about your job. In what areas of your life are you passionate about the fundamentals? I contend that adhering to the fundamentals will yield the purest form of the activity in which we find ourselves involved.

I'd love to continue to write at this point, but I'd lose most of you. The next few blogs will take this further. Why the "fundamentalist" insult? Where does that come from? How do we see fundamentalism, good and bad, in the world around us? Until then...