Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows fall?
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is he
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.
I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.

IT’S A SEDUCTIVE idea. I used to sing those words, back in the far-off days when I was myself an ardent fundamentalist. It’s an old song, recently revived by the brilliant jazz/gospel a cappella group, The Idea of North. The words capture, better than any intellectual analysis could, the essence of Christian fundamentalism: there’s a personal god out there who will watch over you in an individual way, paying attention to the specific details of your life, as long as you have committed yourself to belief in Jesus Christ as God’s son and your personal saviour.