Tag: fundamentalists

Muslim Countries

There’s an argument going on over the religion of Islam and its cultural effect on Muslim countries. Since intellectuals never wish to paint large things with the same brush, here’s what you need to know:

  • there are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world (2.2 billion Christians)
  • there are 50 Muslim-majority countries

Muslim-majority countries

When you say Muslim countries, you really mean Muslim-majority countries because they host people of many religions—just like us.

Muslim-majority countries include: Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. These countries are politically and culturally different. For example, seven of them have had women serve as presidents (e.g., Indonesia and Turkey), while some have just recently given women the partial ability to vote (e.g., Saudi Arabia).

Fundamentalism

Islam has the same types of religious people as us: fundamentalists, progressives, and lights.

Many Muslim-majority countries are also poor with low rates of literacy and large social problems. A common byproduct of a country’s low economic standing is that many of its people follow strict religious beliefs. And fundamentalism can be both good and bad, depending on who’s pulling the strings. Bad leaders take advantage of the simple-minded by using twisted interpretations of scripture to pursue political ends. Good leaders use the exact same scripture to bring hope and comfort.

In Christian countries, bad leaders have used “the word of God” to talk us into burning witches, suppressing women’s rights, suppressing gays, and warring against people of other faiths (plus other Christians) all in His name. But non-religious countries, like China, have also brainwashed their public into warring through nationalism. So is religion really part of the problem or is it just one of the ways to control people?

Modernization

A modern country is a modern country regardless of their majority religion. And most countries continue to move towards greater modernization. When Canada legalized gay marriage in 2005, wasn’t that an act of social modernizing? And now that we’re about to legalize marijuana, isn’t it also the same thing?

Saudi Arabia recently (2015) allowed women to vote in municipal elections—it’s progress. China hasn’t done the same thing yet for men. And is Turkey any more controlled by religion than the US? Many would say yes, but not by much.

It took years of educating Canadians to arrive at where we now are. Education is the impetus behind any society becoming modern. And education is being forced upon any country choosing capitalism so you can’t stop it.

Saudi Arabia is the one exception because it has both money and a theocracy. They’re a country of 20 million with another 8 million guest workers, who bring the educational talents. And only because of their great oil reserves are their leaders able to have their cake and eat it too. But the economic reality for most countries is either to embrace capitalism or face starvation.

Summary

There are a number of points to make:

  • You can’t say “Muslim countries” because there are 50 of them—all different. You can’t even generalize because Indonesia and Turkey are much different than Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.
  • A bad leader’s twisted interpretation of Islam isn’t much different than a bad leader’s twisted interpretation of Christianity.
  • Economic modernization requires an educated society, which brings with it social modernization. And even today’s modern countries are still evolving.

The argument

Sympathizers say fundamentalist interpretations of Islam in order to achieve political gain isn’t to blame. Countries with unstable environments are hotbeds for extremism without the use of religion, and the problem lies more in poor economic conditions and bad leaders. And that absent of religion, these leaders would simply find another way (like, nationalism). Opponents feel that fundamentalist Islam is much worse than fundamentalist Christianity, and the real issue is that so many Muslims are under its spell. And in a world of nuclear bombs, we must desperately hurry these countries along.

Most agree there’s a problem. One that’s dangerous for whatever reason. And I doubt the solution lies in criticizing Islam. I feel a better approach is to get these people listening to country music, eating Domino’s pizza, and watching baseball. Then I’m sure we’ll all get along.

Note: For further discussion, see: Bill Maher with Sam Harris and Ben Affleck, MSNBC with Lawrence O’Donnell and Sam Harris, CNN interview with Reza Aslan, Conversations with Great Minds with Reza Aslan, and The Young Turks discussion between Cenk Uygur and Sam Harris. 

Fundamentalism

In his film, Religulous, Bill Maher takes aim at Christian fundamentalism in America attempting to expose the lunacy of it all. (The title is a combination of the words religion and ridiculous.) I found the film worthwhile but wish it had answered more questions. Like, what’s the definition of a fundie and why does any person want to be one? What percentage of Americans think this way? And is this number shrinking or on the rise? Since Bill didn’t answer these questions, let’s give it a try.

The film’s definition of a fundamentalist seems to be churchgoers who take their scripture literally. For Christians, it’s believing in Old Testament stories like Adam and Eve, Jonah living inside a whale, and Noah running around collecting all those animals. It also includes believing in the existence of Hell, Mother Mary as a virgin, and that homosexuality is a sin.

It appears people become fundamentalists for three reasons:

  • Jesus loves you
  • You enjoy feeling superior
  • You’re susceptible to the euphoria of prayer

Fundamentalists are usually born into an already fundamentalist family or belong to the utterly broken and totally screwed up. I don’t think kids from good non-fundie homes wake up saying, “Hey, I want to start believing in this stuff, literally.” But those with battered backgrounds often seek out the help of the church. Why? Because above all else, Jesus loves me. And this form of love is obviously better than the one I should have received from home.

It also appears that as soon as the cameras shut off, fundies began snickering over how dumb they thought ol’ Bill was. Comments like “he doesn’t know” and “he’ll never be saved” could easily have come from this group. One of the pillars of super-faith seems to be the feeling of being chosen or superior. And when you think of it—these people have been ridiculed their entire lives. But thanks to fundamentalism, they’ll soon be the winners sitting atop the mountainside, while condescending, bully-bastards who once taunted them suffer at their feet. (And revenge is so sweet.)

The third reason appears to be the reaction some have to prayer. It’s like the power of prayer is an upper-based addiction like no other. Something chemical is going on here because they’re all high on Christ.

So to summarize: “newbie” fundamentalists want (and need) the love of Jesus, like to feel superior, and are addicted to the euphoria of prayer. 

Problem

So why did Bill say we have to be afraid of them? All the fundamentalists in the film seemed harmless. Looked like nice people. Is it because those who believe blindly are susceptible to carrying out bad wishes from an evil command? Are fundamentalists primarily docile people who can become dangerous because they don’t like to think? And is it terrorism we’re talking about, or is it voting largely the same way and their tendency to sometimes carry signs that say “God hates fags,” all because some leader told them?

Solution

What’s popular these days are arguments between atheists and fundies, which are mostly futile. It may be better to acknowledge that fundamentalist-type people exist and treat them accordingly? For example, like we have international agreements to reduce the number of nuclear arms, we could have international faith agreements to remove controversial passages from each other’s scripture, just to keep everyone safe.

Prior to finding this notion absurd, consider that the Catholic Church has altered its canon a number of times. For years, it said babies who died before baptism were sent directly to limbo. And though this was probably a motivation to push followers into practicing early sacraments (since rituals are part of cementing adherence), it created additional suffering for already grieving parents. But the church reversed its policy to unbaptized babies now go to heaven. Furthermore, today the Vatican acknowledges Darwinism as a valid belief system, and sometimes says homosexuality isn’t a sin. (At this rate we’ll have birth control by Christmas.)

Religious authorities must take responsibility for having created this mess. Rules that were necessary in the past have become outgrown in many places. The fault doesn’t lie with fundamentalist-type people, it’s with doctrines like the Bible and the Quran. Blaming fundies is like blaming a three-year-old for falling into a pool. Put up a fence!

Simple-minded people will always be among us and will always require some sort of care. So let’s give them a bible that is simple and pure. One that says everyone goes to heaven (regardless of religion) and there is no hell. We could make it even more positive by putting greater emphasis on one God and less on the messenger. (Plus, we should stop forcing these folks to evangelize and give away all their dough.)

For the sake of fundamentalists, we should rewrite parts of our bibles to clean up the faith. This way everyone gets to follow the rules and we can all get high.

Note: There are many psychological reasons why I would join. It’s an easy answer to natural questions and a straightforward path to heaven. And in places like Europe and CanAmerica, religion is a choice. But in other parts of the world, fundamentalist behaviour can be forced upon you — and most people hate it. (Some don’t.) Remember this before you judge.