What does the "reformed and recovered Christian fundamentalist" mean?

Question

I've been reading god is not Great by Christopher Hitchens. I'm a Muslim and this book is my most extensive introduction to Christianity so far, as well as other religions including mine, to some extent.

Here is the passage:

Some of these would still be in some danger if I were to name them, but I must admit my debt to the late Dr. Israel Shahak, who introduced me to Spinoza; to Salman Rushdie, who bravely witnessed for reason and humor and language in a very dark time; to Ibn Warraq and Irfan Khawaja, who also know something about the price of the ticket; and to Dr. Michael Shermer, the very model of the reformed and recovered Christian fundamentalist.

I'm now familiar with the basic denominations, sects etc. of Christianity to some extent but am really confused by the churches, traditions, movements and so on. There are so many of them and they may be a bit too confusing for a beginner.

One of them is reformed and recovered fundamentalist. There is a universe of definitions and explanations on the Internet, I know. But believe me, the more I read them the more confused I get. Moreover, I read each one of them separately and think that I've got the idea but then again, whenever I try to combine and make sense of them, I fail.

I would be more than grateful if anyone could explain me what a reformed and recovered fundamentalist is in simple terms for a non-native non-Christian dummy, so to speak.

As a side note, I know it isn't within the scope of this site but now that I've asked one question about the above passage, I must admit that I don't understand either what is meant by know something about the price of the ticket here. I totally understand if you wouldn't like to answer this one since it's off-topic.

Thank you so much.

Answer 1

This isn't really about Christianity, but let me answer anyway.

First, please note that Christopher Hitchens was an extreme and vociferous opponent of both Christianity and Islam. Learning about Christianity from him is like learning about America by reading Soviet Cold War propaganda.

By "reformed and recovered Christian fundamentalist", Hitchens means that Michael Shermer used to be a "Fundamentalist Christian", but isn't any more. (Hitchens describes many Christians as "Fundamentalist" that most people wouldn't).

"Knowing the price of the ticket" means that these are people who have suffered in some way for speaking about about what they believe (or in this case, don't believe). I.e. they they have experienced the cost of speaking out.

Answer 2

I have not read the passage in question before, but given what I know about Hitchens, he likely means that Dr. Michael Shermer used to be a Christian fundamentalist, but is no longer. A Christian fundamentalist is someone who argues that Christianity ought to only have a small number of doctrines, such as the inerrancy of the Bible and the Virgin-birth of Christ. The proper term "fundamentalist" however has also diverged to other connotations, and is sometimes used in contexts that are not theologically accurate.

I would also offer in passing that Hitchens is unlikely to be a good introduction to Christianity - he is heavily biased against it, so what he says should generally be taken with a grain of salt. For a much better introduction, I would read CS Lewis's Mere Christianity, or other works by CS Lewis or GK Chesterton.