Religious Fanatics

Religious and political groups often include subgroups of militants that aggressively advocate group values and attack members of other groups. Scholars often treat fundamentalism as a social construct and limit their view to recent history, and familiar cultures.  Religious historian, Karen Armstrong, for example, argued  that “modern fundamentalism” had its roots in 15th century Europe when the discovery of the New World began to change old beliefs. At the end of the 15th century, all Jews and Muslims were being expelled or killed by Christians in Spain, as Spain was colonizing many areas of the planet by ship and guns, beginning an era of genocide in the "New World". Their example was followed by England, France, Portugal and Holland.

Armstrong, like many scholars of European and Biblical history, has no sense of events going on in the rest of the world and no sense of human evolutionary history.  While the 15th century marked the beginning of a new assault by Spanish Christians on a succession of non-Roman Church groups, they did not invent fundamentalism. They were ignorant, belligerent and amoral; their actions were consistent with human nature before and after.

One undeniable role of most religions is to justify the most horrible acts of destruction, imprisonment, torture and killing. There will be no easy solution when angry, fanatical humans with religious disguises practice hate and threaten others. Fanatics will attack communities of nicer, more rational humans. The tendency is for nice, rational humans to become fanatical in response. The law of Karma is that conflict escalates and everyone loses. The law of revenge, Lex talionis, produces an endless cycle of revenge killing.

You can argue that human nature can change and permit sustainable, free societies. Or you can argue that a number of social constructs can identify and constrain the bad guys, leaving the good guys time and space to enjoy peaceful lives. Or you can argue that human nature will not change and bad guys cannot be constrained by any combination of social constructs. A study of the chaotic, paranoid response in the US to the September 11 2001 attack on the twin towers in New York, USA does not support an optimistic view of social constructs.

History records an interminable series of wars of revenge. Wars are contagious. Social order and peaceful intentions fade as belligerence increases. The wealth of every great civilization has been squandered on war. The results are predictable – death, destruction, and sooner or later, the collapse of warring states. There are no winners.

The main lesson from the US in the 21st century is that belligerence can prevail in “free” societies and assumes many forms. Countries with big investments in military equipment and armed personnel are primed to fight the enemy and will seek opportunities to go to war.

Religion for the 21st Century 2009 Edition is available in print or download formats. The book is intended for a well-educated smart reader, who is interested in a world view of religious expressions past, present, and future. The main theme is that each religious group has its own  claims and stories and will tend to reject others. A reader committed to one point of view may not accept the egalitarian review presented here.

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The  Psychology & Philosophy series was developed by Persona Digital Publications. All rights to reproduction by any means are reserved. We encourage readers to quote and paraphrase topics from Religion for the 21st Century, 2009 edition, published online and expect  citations to accompany all derivative writings. The author is Stephen Gislason and the publisher is Persona Digital Publications. Located on the Sunshine Coast, Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada.