This month the Pope asks us to pray ‘that every tendency to fundamentalism and extremism may be countered by respect, tolerance, and dialogue among believers’.

 

Fergus O’Donoghue

 

Fundamentalism and extremism have always existed as the dark side of religion. They are related, but are not identical. Fundamentalism is a narrow interpretation of any religious tradition, an interpretation that relies on a very narrow reading of the religious texts, such as the Bible and the Koran, that are central to a particular religion. Fundamentalism becomes extremism when it moves into politics and then, often, turns to violent action. When we read about car bombings, about suicide bombers, about threats to publishers and to journalists (all in the name of religion), we are seeing fundamentalist extremism in action. All of this is done in God’s name, but it has nothing to do with God and everything to do with forcing or frightening others into submission.

Fundamentalists feel themselves to be religiously superior to everybody else, including those whom they see as less devoted followers of their own faiths. They want every aspect of public life to be directed according to their own religious views. They are terrified of change and many of them are uneasy in the modern world, so they yearn for an imaginary Golden Age in the past, when everybody was strictly religious. Fundamentalists do not like the world in which God has placed us and want to reshape it according to their own views.

Christian fundamentalism does not turn to violence. It has a literal interpretation of the Bible, so it often quotes verses of Scripture outside their context. It emphasises both individual salvation and enthusiastic group worship. We often associate it with the Deep South of the United States or with Latin America (where it is now very important), but it has also grown enormously in Africa. This may seem very foreign to us here in Ireland, but one of the largest Pentecostal denominations has Irish origins, having been founded in Monaghan about a hundred years ago. Christian fundamentalism is very confident and it growing rapidly in the Third World. Its problems are twofold: the readiness to adopt a “Holier than Thou” attitude to other Christians and a tendency to split into competing groups. Christian fundamentalism has the potential to become both more reflective and less narrow. If this happens, it will offer a lot to all the Churches.

Hindu fundamentalists see all other religions as a threat, particularly Islam. They regard Hinduism as the only truly Indian religion, though, in fact, Buddhism was also founded in India. Christianity is the religion of a tiny minority in India, but its schools and hospitals make it very visible. There is evidence of Christianity in India as early as the year 345, but Hindu extremists still regard the Church as foreign and make life difficult for Christians whenever possible. One of the major political parties bases itself on Hindu fundamentalism. Orissa is one Indian state where Christians suffer regular harassment and where five hundred were killed last year. In such places, Christians themselves, or their churches, are attacked. They are made to feel permanently insecure.

Today, we hear a lot about Muslim fundamentalists. We are much more aware of Islam as a religion, because there is a visible presence of Muslims in so many parts of Europe and here in Ireland, though they represent, in fact, a tiny percentage of the population. There are many different schools of thought and different devotional traditions within Islam. Fundamentalists are not numerous, so we are making a mistake if we regard all Muslims as potential extremists.

Muslim fundamentalism is backed by some countries that have become very rich through oil. Their governments, however, have failed to slacken their iron control over their people and have not distributed their wealth fairly. Many young people, in frustration, turn to extreme interpretations of their religion. Muslim extremists are disturbed by Western culture, which they regard as decadent. Despite the vast numbers of Muslims throughout the world (second only to Christianity as a percentage of the world’s population), extremists think that their faith and culture are threatened by the West. They act against it, and are untroubled if innocent people die as a result of their actions.

A lot of media commentators use the existence of religious fundamentalism and extremism as an excuse to condemn all religions. Our Holy Father the Pope knows the world situation better than almost anybody else, because he gets reports from everywhere. He knows that religious fundamentalism and religious extremism (which is not the same thing) are distortions of true religion and lists the attitudes we should have: respect, tolerance and dialogue. Furthermore, the Pope wants these attitudes to be constant, not just casual and temporary. He knows that it is difficult to remain respectful and tolerant in the face of provocation, but that is the attitude Jesus asks of us.

We Catholic Christians belong to one of the world’s greatest and growing religions. We should have confidence in the Lord’s call to follow him in the circumstances of our daily lives. We should not be afraid of other religions, but should, instead, have plenty of confidence in our own. We are asked to admit our personal limitations and to leave plenty of room in our daily lives for the working of the Holy Spirit. This keeps us open to God’s love in our lives and helps us to share it with others.

Fergus O’Donoghue, S.J.