A response to extremism

'Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven'

Christ Jesus

A recent documentary examined the state of contemporary religious fundamentalism, and pinpointed a number of worrying developments. Rather than just being a tendency contained within segments of the Islamic world, the presenter found fundamentalist thinking in Christian America, Hindu India, and even in Buddhist Sri lanka.

Fundamentalists of all faith traditions seem to share a number of key beliefs. That faith can be the only means of obtaining salvation. That only through their doctrine can man be saved. That the other side are either aggressors, or heretics, destined to be doomed.

What I find is the most worrying belief, however, is the idea that violence can be progressive or glorious. The most obvious manifestation of this is the cult of the suicide bomber in the middle east. But the documentary also showed how adherents were justifying violence - hindus arguing that their manifestations of violence were merely responses to aggressive Islam and buddhists claiming that they would have been more effective in putting up more of a traditional 'fight' in Vietnam.

All this is totally contrary to God. Violence couldn't do more to create within us a sense of anger and devisiveness. Those are things totally opposed to the nature of God, Love, whose only wish is that we love him with all our heart, and love our fellow man. All religious truth and spiritual freedom boil down to Love. Violence and love are polar opposites, and so we should acknowledge that we can't serve both God and mammon.

Through an attitude of non-reaction, we cultivate within ourselves a grace that withstands human hatred, criticism and insensitivity.

Surely grace is the prize worth struggling for?

Jesus did not lift a finger against his aggressors. His was the true religion. Let us follow his simple precepts, and we will change our world whilst doing it.