With the events of September 11’th those two words have again joined
forces to reek havoc on a civilization. It hasn’t been the first time in
history nor is likely to be the last, as long as the psychological
factors fundamental to the promulgation of these two philosophical
concepts continue to exist in the minds of man.
Fanaticism has never been something the purveyor recognizes in
himself. It is and always has been a fault of another, in this case the
demon, Osama bin Laden, and his al-Qaeda. We conveniently ignore
comparably vitriolic responses from religious "leaders" of the opposite
persuasion or from "supposedly good and responsible Christians" who
incite by their words, "lets go over there and bomb all those diaper
heads." It doesn’t matter how those words were said; they still express
what should be an unacceptable thought, no matter how latent.
Fanaticism is fanaticism regardless of politics. It is the subversion
of a belief structure for personal advantage and to the detriment of
another. There are no degrees. There are no magic "lines in the sand"
that you must step over before you advance from simply evangelical to
fanatical. If in your heart and mind you promote your beliefs to
diminish the worth or value of another, that is fanaticism. A free
expression of ideas assumes all participants have equal credulity.
Religion is almost totally based on a faith in concepts that can not
be proven; otherwise, it would be a science. Inductively, that implies
none can be any better or worse than another. Any intent to the contrary
is fanaticism. Faith is the sustenance that maintains the human psyche;
whereas science is the nutrient that promotes the body. A spiritual
vacuum is the basis for insanity and an almost certain, eventual death
to a society. A denial of proven facts is the dismantling of an
evolutionary process that has preferred the human species.
When comparing science to religion, it is like comparing "what is" to
"what could be". Science is the "ship" while religion is the "rudder".
Both are absolutely necessary to life’s travel. Neither can be allowed
to be subverted. Or, the ship potentially sails off course into rocks of
oblivion and annihilates mankind. It is critical that each does the job
for which they are best suited. Just as science is not based on faith,
religion is not based on facts.
Often science is interpreted to be the protagonist of religion. It
happens when people decide their religion is science and substantiated
by facts; when, in actuality, not a single one of the religions of the
world have any scientific merit. So based on that criterion alone, no
religion should be preferred over another, not Christianity, not
Judaism, not Islam, not Hinduism, not Buddhism, nor any of the seemingly
infinite nuances of each.
The only criterion valid to determine the worth of a religion is "how
good of a ‘rudder’ is it." Science has already demonstrated that the
longevity of an organism is based on it ability to adapt and tolerate
change. These entities promote diversification, not specialization. They
grow strong in the differences they encourage, not restrict. They
extract order from chaos, not anarchy. They abhor single mindedness in
religion as intolerable fanaticism.
Maybe there is a lesson here for all of us, especially the Jerry
Falwell thought processes that infect our society that I hear in so many
people when they symbolically want to "go out and bomb the diaper
heads". The only real abominations of mankind are those, who based on
their religious beliefs, claim that condition for others. I am proud of
the maturity our leaders in the White House whose first and continued
thoughts were to build a coalition of equals of people of all faiths.
They reached out to embrace Muslims, not demonize them. They clearly
recognized evil for what it is - the force that aims to divide by
subjugating one person's beliefs and self-worth over that of another.
No comments:
Post a Comment