I am a Calvinist.  This means I am into “ism’s.”  Does this make me a fool?  To some it does.  To some, identifying yourself along with any “ism” is to allow yourself to be brainwashed by another’s ideology rather than allowing your own mind to govern your beliefs.  Is this the case?  Of course not, at least not with me.  I used my mind to study, examine, and embrace the system of belief known as Calvinism.  No system was shoved down my throat, I did not grow up in this tradition, and was against when I became a Christian for 2 years.  I am not brainwashed, I don’t think I am a fool, and I am not allowing another’s ideology to govern my mind.

I wonder though, why do so many people hate “ism’s?”  Couldn’t each belief be classified into some kind of an “ism?”  Possibly.  But more is at stake in this conversation than most think.  Those who are against ism’s beware – you have more in common with terrorist’s then you think.

Existentialist’s don’t want to the boxed into an “ism”…nor do postmodernists.  The person who isn’t into “isms” gives himself the liberty to conveniently dismiss anything he doesn’t like or agree with as an “ism,” which by his definition does not deserve to be taken seriously, while his own beliefs are defended against being considered an “ism.”  Giving yourself the privilege of destroying other positions while parking your own position in an unidentifiable location is a form of linguistic terrorism. (Ravi Zacharias, Why Jesus, page 14)