Over the last few years i have experienced Fundamentalism and Extremism in different forms. In this article I try to reflect on fundamentalism and extremism. It is not a research paper, rather my personal reflection.This article was translated in Irish language and published in an Irish magazine called, 'Timire'.
Years back, when I was in the Jesuit Novitiate in India I was sent to a village for an experiment with another co-novice. We were staying in a tribal village and trying to learn about the lifestyle and culture of tribal people. One day the village catechist (a woman) asked us if we could accompany her to visit some Christian families in a far distance place. We readily accepted the proposal and planned the visit for the next day. We left early in the morning and it took almost three hours to reach our destination by bicycle. Upon our arrival, the Christian brethren welcomed us warmly and washed our feet according to the tribal custom. They had migrated from another place and were working in the field of Hindu landowners. While we were talking a few onlookers - mostly youth belonging to Hindu religion gathered around us. At one point they wanted to know the purpose of our visit. While the catechist tried to explain, they stopped her and said, “You are Christian missionaries and have come here for conversion.” They sent an alarm and soon we saw that a mob was coming with sticks. We got out of the place as quickly as we could, running for our lives. This was one of several experiences where I encountered fundamentalism from a close quarter.
Fundamentalism and Extremism are quite common phenomena in our world today especially in third world countries and is particularly prevalent in many countries in Asia and Africa. There are many forms prevailing in our society and the most notorious is religious fundamentalism and extremism. There is also political fundamentalism and extremism but often this is based on a particular religious ideology. Interestingly, all the major religions speak of peace and equality. Not even once has any founder of a major religion said that one religion is superior to another. But then question arises when and how has fundamentalism and extremism first evolved?
Fundamentalism might have existed a long time but the first time the term was coined was to explain a movement within the Protestant community in the United States. In the early part of the 20th century Presbyterian academics and theologians at Princeton Theological Seminary began Fundamentalism as a movement to reaffirm orthodox Protestant Christianity and secure it against the challenges of liberal theology, German higher criticism, Darwinism and other ‘isms’. Even until 1950 there was no mention for fundamentalism in the Oxford English Dictionary; the derivative ‘fundamentalist’ was added only in its second 1989 edition. How then did the seeds of fundamentalism spread so fast and created such havoc all over the world?
In my opinion many fail to understand the inner meaning of religion. Many seem to take the Holy Scriptures in the literal sense and combined with their emotions. In the third world the religious leaders play a very vital role because many people are illiterate. They take their innocence for granted and literally ‘brainwash’ them. In the developed world fundamentalism developed due to taking Holy Scripture in a literal sense word by word. Even certain religious leaders took the leading role and misled the people. How do we tackle this problem?
When the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi saw a riot between Hindus and Muslims his response was a non-violent one and he began a fast. During his lifetime he repeatedly said, “We are all brothers and sisters.” Many great leaders and thinkers also said that we are children of the same God. Mother Teresa served all people irrespective of their religion because she saw them all as children of God. It is reaching the same destination but by taking the path of peace. What can we do as a meaningful response?
I strongly believe that instead of emphasising that our own religion is superior to another religion we need to positively appreciative each other’s religion. We need to be more respectful while dealing with other religions. The most powerful instrument is dialogue. Mutual dialogue will help all of us to find a common ground. We can join each others’ celebrations and appreciate them. This will help us to overcome fundamentalism and extremism. Finally fundamentalism and extremism were not created by any God or given to us. Rather we human beings created and nurtured it and now it is our fundamental duty to work to counter it from our world and make it history.
(Ripon Rozario sj)
Insightful article Ripon!
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