John:

Middle-of-the-road Christians seek to apply general principles articulated in their scriptures against a background of right action, action which somehow forwards the good of those around them.

Fundamentalists in the sense used here believe in literally applying ANY doctrine in their scriptures even if to do so requires the most heinous rationalization or complex justifiers. The difference lies in whether or not they are willing to use rationality rather than blind, authoritarian dramatization of assorted edicts, out of context and out of proportion.

A