Post by calabi-yau on Sept 12, 2004 10:35:41 GMT -5
Do you do fundamentalism ?
What's your style ?
Taliban and Ayatollahs, American Style
By Lee Salisbury
Sep 9, 2004, 17:31
Fundamentalism flourishes in both the world’s largest monotheistic religions of Christianity and Islam. Despite their distinct, even adversarial differences, each religion has its fundamentalist leader look-a-likes. Whether it’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Rev. Pat Robertson, or Rev. Jerry Falwell, each have an identical mind-set while simultaneously revering different Gods. They are each:
* Certain they are inspired and directed by the God of their inerrant, literally true Holy Book.
* Simplistically viewing world events as a cosmic battle, i.e. God vs Satan, good vs evil, us vs them.
* Demanding unquestioning allegiance to church or mosque doctrine and authority.
* Absolutely and unyieldingly convinced their view is the only morally correct view.
* Aggressively determined to impose their beliefs on one and all, ideally by government legislation.
* Emotionally driven by illusions of exaltation in a mystical/mythical heaven.
All religious people are not fundamentalists. Religious Muslims and Christians attend mosque or church, pray, and individually practice their faith. The basic doctrines of most non-fundamentalists are similar to fundamentalists of their respective religions. But, whereas the non-fundamentalists individually practice their religion, fundamentalists seek to both individually practice and impose as if by divine mandate their specific beliefs on all others. Fundamentalism invariably produces acrimony and schismatic outcomes both within their respective religions and in society at-large.
Fundamentalism is a mind-set, staunchly embraced. To disobey is tantamount to disobedience to God. In America, this attitude is evident in several Christian denominations, whether Roman Catholic or Baptist. These fundamentalists who would normally classify one another as heretics, align themselves with each other to create a political power base to effect legislation favoring their view of particular societal issues. Some of these issues are: women’s reproductive rights, gay marriage, Ten Commandment plaques, physician-assisted suicide, stem-cell research, the death penalty, teaching evolution, and sex education. On every issue, fundamentalists invoke a self-presumed morality for their position. Any opposing view or variation to the fundamentalist position is declared anti-God, of Satan, evil, and immoral.
Rev.Jerry Falwell illustrates Americas incarnation of fundamentalism. Falwell is the founding pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and most recently the Liberty University School of Law, Lynchburg, Va.
In a recent speech at Southwestern Seminary, Falwell preached a sermon on turning the United States toward God. Just as Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani would turn Iraq toward Allah, so Falwell would turn the U.S. toward his God. Remember Falwell’s God is not Catholicism’s God who includes Mary as a object of worship with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or the Morman God who dwells on the planet Kolob, or the Jehovah Witnesses God whose Jesus is "a" lessor God not equal to God, or the Jewish God Yahweh who has no son, or a host of other Gods.
Falwell declared to the fawning clerics-in-training, "We're a nation under God, built on the Judeo-Christian ethic." Falwell failed to mention that no where in his revered Judeo-Christian history is there a hint of the concept of democracy, let alone practice. The Judeo-Christian ethic is based instead on theocracy. In democracy, the governed rule. In theocracy, God rules through His appointees. So the question for Falwell’s brand of Christian fundamentalism is which God of the many Gods is the U.S. under, will Rev. Falwell be His appointee, and how or which of God’s laws will be interpreted and imposed on the populace.
Falwell is making no bones about his Law School’s mission, saying that graduates of the school "would be on the Judeo-Christian side of every issue." "We will not be specializing in and teaching young people how to change any law," Falwell said. "Obviously we are aggressively pro-life." "Our faculty unanimously would feel that Roe v. Wade is bad law. But it will not be their mission to focus on any one law or one legal goal." Yet, he specifically denies pursuing an agenda (?).
Falwell said the school seeks to "train champions for Christ." One wonders if that includes Christ’s teaching prohibiting divorce and re-marriage, an activity significantly higher among fundamentalists than atheists according to Barna Christian Research. Will Falwell’s "champions for Christ" practice Christ’s’ teaching on gouging out the eye to prevent lusting after a woman or appropriate techniques for becoming eunuchs for Christ. Since Jesus rebuked storms and declared, "he that believes in Me, the works I do, you shall do also," will Falwell’s "champions for Christ" shield us from hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. Pat Robertson is famous for claiming to have turned a hurricane away from his home in Virginia Beach, Va., resulting in the hurricane hitting further north, probably on deserving heathens.
Attorney Pamela Harris, a constitutional law expert at O'Melveny & Myers' Washington office who taught a church and state course at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, cited another concern. "Are they teaching tolerance, or are they teaching that there is only one true and correct viewpoint? That would be troubling and that's my question," Harris said.
Barry W. Lynn, a lawyer and executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, believes Falwell has his own agenda in mind. A former seminary student with a master's degree in theology from Boston University, Lynn compared Falwell's mix of religion and law to that of Muslim fundamentalists. "I think that the Taliban-like character of this is present because Jerry Falwell seems to believe that religion must trump any other considerations in making law, and that is a theocracy," Lynn said. "Falwell wants to be sure to be the ayatollah and he wants to run the show."
Falwell said he has "no intention" of allowing Americans United for Separation of Church and State "to steal the country from people of faith." Falwell fails to define which faith or whose faith. In light of the fact that faith is based on that for which there is no reliable evidence and that faith essentially defies logic explains why faith is so uniquely different to each individual and cannot be regimented. Christian’s multiplicity of several thousand denominations illustrates this very point. Falwell demonstrates author Salman Rushdie’s quote, "Fundamentalism isn’t about religion, it’s about power."
From a Christian perspective, equating a fellow Christian with the Taliban may seem rather inflammatory, but in fact it only brings home the reality that fundamentalism is fundamentalism regardless of what religious garb. It becomes most apparent why many theologians of both Muslim and Christian religions have decried fundamentalist preachers for hijacking their religions. In contrast to European nations, fundamentalism’s popularity in America and Arab nations sadly reveals much about the mental acuity and/or spirituality of these nations and their inhabitants.
Though fundamentalists preachers claim belief in a loving all-wise God, their preaching often reflects hatred for those who believe differently. Fundamentalist preachers are pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-gay bashing, pro-atheist hating, pro-fetus til out of the womb, pro-science scoffers. Christian fundamentalists are anti-Arab. Arab fundamentalists are anti-Christian. Fundamentalist are even anti-fundamentalists of differing doctrine. Fundamentalists refuse to acknowledge their hatred, but their actions reveals otherwise. 19th Century Christian poet and dramatist Friedrich Hebbel succinctly sums up the fundamentalist psyche of all religions "If you hate something thoroughly without knowing why, you can be sure there is something of it in your own nature."
What's your style ?
Taliban and Ayatollahs, American Style
By Lee Salisbury
Sep 9, 2004, 17:31
Fundamentalism flourishes in both the world’s largest monotheistic religions of Christianity and Islam. Despite their distinct, even adversarial differences, each religion has its fundamentalist leader look-a-likes. Whether it’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Rev. Pat Robertson, or Rev. Jerry Falwell, each have an identical mind-set while simultaneously revering different Gods. They are each:
* Certain they are inspired and directed by the God of their inerrant, literally true Holy Book.
* Simplistically viewing world events as a cosmic battle, i.e. God vs Satan, good vs evil, us vs them.
* Demanding unquestioning allegiance to church or mosque doctrine and authority.
* Absolutely and unyieldingly convinced their view is the only morally correct view.
* Aggressively determined to impose their beliefs on one and all, ideally by government legislation.
* Emotionally driven by illusions of exaltation in a mystical/mythical heaven.
All religious people are not fundamentalists. Religious Muslims and Christians attend mosque or church, pray, and individually practice their faith. The basic doctrines of most non-fundamentalists are similar to fundamentalists of their respective religions. But, whereas the non-fundamentalists individually practice their religion, fundamentalists seek to both individually practice and impose as if by divine mandate their specific beliefs on all others. Fundamentalism invariably produces acrimony and schismatic outcomes both within their respective religions and in society at-large.
Fundamentalism is a mind-set, staunchly embraced. To disobey is tantamount to disobedience to God. In America, this attitude is evident in several Christian denominations, whether Roman Catholic or Baptist. These fundamentalists who would normally classify one another as heretics, align themselves with each other to create a political power base to effect legislation favoring their view of particular societal issues. Some of these issues are: women’s reproductive rights, gay marriage, Ten Commandment plaques, physician-assisted suicide, stem-cell research, the death penalty, teaching evolution, and sex education. On every issue, fundamentalists invoke a self-presumed morality for their position. Any opposing view or variation to the fundamentalist position is declared anti-God, of Satan, evil, and immoral.
Rev.Jerry Falwell illustrates Americas incarnation of fundamentalism. Falwell is the founding pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and most recently the Liberty University School of Law, Lynchburg, Va.
In a recent speech at Southwestern Seminary, Falwell preached a sermon on turning the United States toward God. Just as Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani would turn Iraq toward Allah, so Falwell would turn the U.S. toward his God. Remember Falwell’s God is not Catholicism’s God who includes Mary as a object of worship with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or the Morman God who dwells on the planet Kolob, or the Jehovah Witnesses God whose Jesus is "a" lessor God not equal to God, or the Jewish God Yahweh who has no son, or a host of other Gods.
Falwell declared to the fawning clerics-in-training, "We're a nation under God, built on the Judeo-Christian ethic." Falwell failed to mention that no where in his revered Judeo-Christian history is there a hint of the concept of democracy, let alone practice. The Judeo-Christian ethic is based instead on theocracy. In democracy, the governed rule. In theocracy, God rules through His appointees. So the question for Falwell’s brand of Christian fundamentalism is which God of the many Gods is the U.S. under, will Rev. Falwell be His appointee, and how or which of God’s laws will be interpreted and imposed on the populace.
Falwell is making no bones about his Law School’s mission, saying that graduates of the school "would be on the Judeo-Christian side of every issue." "We will not be specializing in and teaching young people how to change any law," Falwell said. "Obviously we are aggressively pro-life." "Our faculty unanimously would feel that Roe v. Wade is bad law. But it will not be their mission to focus on any one law or one legal goal." Yet, he specifically denies pursuing an agenda (?).
Falwell said the school seeks to "train champions for Christ." One wonders if that includes Christ’s teaching prohibiting divorce and re-marriage, an activity significantly higher among fundamentalists than atheists according to Barna Christian Research. Will Falwell’s "champions for Christ" practice Christ’s’ teaching on gouging out the eye to prevent lusting after a woman or appropriate techniques for becoming eunuchs for Christ. Since Jesus rebuked storms and declared, "he that believes in Me, the works I do, you shall do also," will Falwell’s "champions for Christ" shield us from hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. Pat Robertson is famous for claiming to have turned a hurricane away from his home in Virginia Beach, Va., resulting in the hurricane hitting further north, probably on deserving heathens.
Attorney Pamela Harris, a constitutional law expert at O'Melveny & Myers' Washington office who taught a church and state course at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, cited another concern. "Are they teaching tolerance, or are they teaching that there is only one true and correct viewpoint? That would be troubling and that's my question," Harris said.
Barry W. Lynn, a lawyer and executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, believes Falwell has his own agenda in mind. A former seminary student with a master's degree in theology from Boston University, Lynn compared Falwell's mix of religion and law to that of Muslim fundamentalists. "I think that the Taliban-like character of this is present because Jerry Falwell seems to believe that religion must trump any other considerations in making law, and that is a theocracy," Lynn said. "Falwell wants to be sure to be the ayatollah and he wants to run the show."
Falwell said he has "no intention" of allowing Americans United for Separation of Church and State "to steal the country from people of faith." Falwell fails to define which faith or whose faith. In light of the fact that faith is based on that for which there is no reliable evidence and that faith essentially defies logic explains why faith is so uniquely different to each individual and cannot be regimented. Christian’s multiplicity of several thousand denominations illustrates this very point. Falwell demonstrates author Salman Rushdie’s quote, "Fundamentalism isn’t about religion, it’s about power."
From a Christian perspective, equating a fellow Christian with the Taliban may seem rather inflammatory, but in fact it only brings home the reality that fundamentalism is fundamentalism regardless of what religious garb. It becomes most apparent why many theologians of both Muslim and Christian religions have decried fundamentalist preachers for hijacking their religions. In contrast to European nations, fundamentalism’s popularity in America and Arab nations sadly reveals much about the mental acuity and/or spirituality of these nations and their inhabitants.
Though fundamentalists preachers claim belief in a loving all-wise God, their preaching often reflects hatred for those who believe differently. Fundamentalist preachers are pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-gay bashing, pro-atheist hating, pro-fetus til out of the womb, pro-science scoffers. Christian fundamentalists are anti-Arab. Arab fundamentalists are anti-Christian. Fundamentalist are even anti-fundamentalists of differing doctrine. Fundamentalists refuse to acknowledge their hatred, but their actions reveals otherwise. 19th Century Christian poet and dramatist Friedrich Hebbel succinctly sums up the fundamentalist psyche of all religions "If you hate something thoroughly without knowing why, you can be sure there is something of it in your own nature."