Plenty of people have a general or even innate interest in religion thereby representing their belief in a Higher Being, in the sense that they believe there is something beyond our physical senses that is part and parcel of who and what we really are, in essence. That signifies that many of those people will thereby search for the meaning and purpose of life, often in the institutions that are most prominently available in their community, of which, in America, that typically would be represented by churches. As might be expected, in a nation in which the freedom of religion, is a right, there are all sorts of churches, that have all sorts of beliefs, of which, one of those types of churches are those that have a very strict and literal interpretation of the Bible, as Holy Scripture thus being inerrant, of which, those that are congregants of that type of church, are known thereof as fundamentalists.
To believe in a literal reading of the Bible signifies that for those parishioners that there isn’t thereby a lot of room to maneuver as to the meaning of it all, because the preacher to that congregation, typically specifies what Holy Scripture does or does not mean, and seldom equivocates upon such. There is, in a sense, a certain comfort, in the understanding that the Bible does not change with the times, and will therefore not change for the people that adhere to it, but is always the same, now and forevermore. This thus signifies that certain things that are considered to be wrong or sinful, have therefore always been wrong and sinful, of which, fortunately, the pathway to God and God’s glory, is shown to be clear and unequivocal. So then, in knowing this, those that believe wholeheartedly, know what they need to do in order to be a good Christian and thereby to reach Heaven.
Not too surprisingly, those who are fundamentalists aren’t interested in change, because change will upset the construct that they believe in, and therefore they are fearful of change, because anything that would infringe upon their sincere belief, is something to be rightfully fearful of, for they do not desire to have what they believe to be in their control, to actually be something that they are susceptible to losing control of, which would thereby disrupt what is of very high importance to them. Indeed, one of the prominent reasons why people attend church is the sense of security that the church will provide them, specifically when they know what the rules of the road are, and thereby make it their point to follow those rules to a tee. Therefore, those who believe fundamentally that the Bible is inerrant and believe that they have followed what needs to be followed to successfully reach the promised land, are not going to appreciate hearing something that disavows what they sincerely believe in, and thereby they will feel threatened by those that preach or teach something fundamentally different from their belief, which will make them feel insecure, vulnerable, and threatened, which is why those that are fundamentalists typically are very closed-minded, and thereby not readily open for change.