Pat asks, What is your take on religious fundamentalists and their political success?
Pat,
When I read your question, I immediately thought of something wonderful Margaret Silf said during a recent talk to us at the Press, “If you think you’ve arrived, you’re in a cul-de-sac.”
Fundamentalists project a great deal of certainty and, when they venture into the political arena, tend to offer what can look like simplistic solutions to complex issues.
A therapist once told me that anger is always a front for fear. I look at the political and religious antagonism in our society and conclude that a lot of us live with a great deal of fear and uncertainty in our lives. It is natural that some of us want to turn to strong, self-assured and (seemingly) doubt-free leaders. This is a phenomenon that shows itself with “liberals” as much as with “conservatives” and among Catholics as much as with Protestant denominations.
My take, and it is only my opinion, is that it requires more courage and real faith to take an uncertain, searching, humble and anger-free approach to both religious and political matters. I’d rather be stumbling along an unknown road than safely cooped up in even the nicest cul-de-sac.
Paul
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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Pat,
That’s a very interesting take on a very complex subject, thanks for the insight. Some of the fear that drives people may be legitimate. For example, I am very concerned (fear?) about the liberal approach to life. A baby is only a baby if you want it, it is the right gender and it is “perfect” – otherwise it is only a fetus which you can “dispose of” as you see fit.
The conservative approach is not without their faults. Some truly believe the death penalty is absolutely necessary. How can they arrive at that conclusion in light of the Gospel? How will taking the life of a criminal make the family of a crime victim any better off than they were before?
Wish I had the answers, and yes, leaders who don’t know all the answers can be very appealing.
God Bless,
Bob
Bob,
It wasn’t Pat who answered the question, but me… so I’ll take the credit for the insight, if you don’t mind!
I do agree with you that we can’t let relativism dominate our outlook. There has to be a way to remain firmly convinced of the basic truths of our faith without becoming overbearing about it. Or am I just being way too optimistic?
Paul
There is nothing more frightening than someone who thinks they have all the answers. We may think we have them but in pretty much every field of endevour, there are big fat tails at the end of the probability distribution of potential outcomes. I tend to give the ultra confident fellows a very wide berth. Hubris and nemesis spring to mind
I love this response.
Simon,
I’m with Meredith.
Paul
Simon…Hubris and Nemesis…I love it!
I have found that the fundamentalist approach is most precarious. Fundamentalism attracts people who look for simple and quick answers to the problems of life. Fundamentalism taken to extremes may actually deceive these people, offering solutions that on surface seem pious offering them interpretations that are pious but misleading. Fundamentalism actually invites people to quit thinking for themselves, many have referred to this as a kind of intellectual suicide. Fundamentalism injects into life a false confidence, assuring their followers that they will be protected from all evils.
On the other hand, relativism, which is to the other extreme letting oneself to go with the flow, or be tossed and swept along by every progressive new age idea that is strictly secular and about the individual, can be as equally damaging to not just the country as a whole, but to the individual.
The problem that is faced globally is the unwillingness for compromise, to stand one’s ground on all issues, in fear that they may lose what is really close to their heart.
A wise man from Liverpool wrote:
Try to see it my way,
Do I have to keep on talking till I can’t go on?
While you see it your way,
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone.
Think of what you’re saying.
You can get it wrong and still you think that it’s all right.
Think of what I’m saying,
We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night.
Life is very short, and there’s no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it’s a crime,
So I will ask you once again.
Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.
While you see it your way
There’s a chance that we might fall apart before too long.
We can work it out,
We can work it out.
The thing is, we can work it out…
Happy Wednesday…
Tim,
Fundamentalism as “a kind of intellectual suicide.” Wow!
Paul
My take, and it is only my opinion, is that it requires more courage and real faith to take an uncertain, searching, humble and anger-free approach to both religious and political matters.
I fall so easily into self-righteousness!
Ah, the anger-free approach is the real challenge for me. Thank you for this. I will keep it with me somewhere in sight so that I don’t forget
You and me both Claire!
Yes, anger-free feels completely beyond me.
I become angry when people think they know who’s going to heaven and who’s going to hell (especially since I always seem to be among the hell-bound). I become angry when people divide their free time between loudly declaring their Christian righteousness and actively working to make life harder for the least among us. More than anything, I become angry when people think any tactic they use to get their way in public policy is validated by their unquestioned righteousness.
Seeing God in someone who hates and demonizes me and uses dirty tactics to defeat my viewpoint in the public square would at least require not viewing that person with anger and hatred on my part, and that may be the most difficult thing God asks of me.
Claire, Fran & Jim,
Especially since the “solution” to the debt ceiling crisis, “anger-free” is more aspirational than actual for me…
Paul
Thank you Paul. Very good insight. And thank you, Pat, for such an important question.
Guy,
Yes, she does know how to pose a question, doesn’t she? One of the many reasons I love her so dearly.
Paul
I am short on time today but I have to say that this is wonderful. I have really been pondering the intersection of fear and uncertainty in the light of the Gospel lately. Two good friends who write for pretty big time Catholic issues blogs have been caught in the crossfire of angry, ugly comments filled with notions of who is the “real” Catholic.
To create this absolute is – well not helpful to say the least. Boy do I love what Margaret Silf said… then again, I typically do!
The “you’re not a REAL Catholic” attacks slay me — and not in a good way. I’m still licking wounds from years ago when I received those multiple stab wounds. I so wish I were thicker skinned and more forgiving.
Fran,
I’m completely with you. Can you imagine Jesus at the Final Judgment, using “real Catholic” as a criterion for admission into the Reign of God?
Paul
I think that people find the fundamentalist approach reflected in politics as a safe clear-cut answer to some of the more liberal points of view. What makes some so fearful of liberal and so safe with conservative I am not sure that I get. Maybe think for yourself instead of looking for a soft place to land. I do agree tho that both sides have underlying fear issues.
I am probably too conservative for liberals and too liberal for conservatives; neither red nor blue. I’d like to think that I will make my choices by what I feel in my heart, my own personal truth. The tippy ends of the sea-saw are not for me! I don’t think that either side allows for much free thinking. I am nothing if I am not a free thinker.
m.
Marg,
“The tippy ends of the sea-saw are not for me!” In theory, I agree with you. In practice, however, I think the weights are so firmly pressed down towards a reactionary conservative outlook that I sometimes find myself further out along the plank than I imagined I’d be.
Paul
Fr. Paul,
That is very well-expressed. I am always very cautious of opinions that seem to be etched in stone with no wiggle room. I appreciate the use of the word “mystery” in the Catholic faith because we don’t know everything; in fact, the older I get, the more I realize how little I know.
Thanks for Margaret Silf for that wonderful quote. Now, back to reading “Inner Compass”!
God bless,
Lynda
Lynda,
Thanks for reminding me of the importance of “Mystery.” I’d quite ignored it in all of this discussion.
Paul
The topic today compels me to reach out from my lurker (or creeper as my kids were say about Facebook) status to tell you all how much I appreciate the information you provide at this very special site. I have been not able to keep up with your blog, Fr. Paul, but today’s message hits me right between the eyes, especially as our government struggles to “work it out.” Thank you all for your wisdom!
Linda M.,
Welcome from out of the shadows! I don’t honestly know if I have any wisdom or not (maybe some has rubbed off on me over the years), but I try my best. Thank you for your thanks.
Paul
Whenever I hear the word fundamentalist, one person comes to mind: Hitler. Create an enemy out of someone, convince the masses that this enemy is to be feared above all, continue until they are so frightened that they’ll do anything to save themselves (or their way of life), convince them that you and you alone have the answers. You have their best interest at heart and are willing to sacrifice yourself to save them! What a blessing!! The masses have a “savior” and in the name of safety, they abdicate all responsibility. A mass hysteria takes hold, freedom is gone, anger and hatred loom large. Only after the horror, do the folks realize their enemy was in their own imaginations. Religious fundamentalists of all persuasions are who make all religion to an outsider seem “cultish”. They rob others of the gift of free will that God gave to each of us. We don’t come to God, unless we choose to. We may, out of fear, act as if we have, but true faith comes from within, it can’t be attained for us.
Same with this budget mess here…..if it’s not done by Aug. 2nd, the sky will fall. They say that every year in Calif. and California is still here. I don’t understand all the economics of it, but I doubt we’ll disappear from the planet because of it (tho’ there are politicians on both sides who want us to believe that. If we do, they become our “saviors”!). I also don’t believe that fear and anger are always unjustified. There are legitimate causes for fear and anger. The human race wouldn’t be here without them. Sometimes, that “light at the end of the tunnel………….is a freight train coming at ya!” And anger harnessed can be a force for change……it gives you a lot of energy that can be directed for good. It’s not the anger that’s bad, it’s the way people use it………..same as religion.
We toured some caves in Belise. Archaeological sites of the Mayan Underworld. The skeletal remains of the human sacrifices still there; women, children, men. What the archaeologists think was the reason for these sacrifices………..drought. Sometimes when I hear all these self-appointed, self-righteous political and religious leaders screaming at us, I think “we haven’t come as far as we’d like to believe we have.”
Only now, instead of coming up with solutions, they’d rather we volunteered to be thrown to “the gods”!!
Oops!! I think I have fundamentalism and fanaticism confused, they seem so similar to me. Guess I should do my homework before I open my mouth or let fly with my big fat fingers!!!! Night all!
Emma,
There isn’t that much of a gap between fundamentalism and fanaticism.
And, when it comes to “big fat fingers,” come and see these Irish peasant hands of mine…
Paul
It seems to me that fundamentalists are people who are sure they’re right; and if they happen to be wrong, it’s everyone else’s fault. And there’s always someone who agrees with them.
It seems to me that politicians are people who are sure they’re right; and if they happen to be wrong, it’s everyone else’s fault. And there’s always someone who agrees with them.
That could be the reason for their success.
People want structure (need actually), and in a world that is literally exploding at the seams with new technologies, new discoveries, new lifestyles, new definitions of all we hold dear – anything that offers a semblance of structure to hold off the anarchy is a welcome relief. That said,
God gave us a brain; it should be put to good use. And if Marg is neither red nor blue, I’m pretty much all colors of the rainbow – why else did God put all the colors there?
Angela,
“I’m pretty much all colors of the rainbow – why else did God put all the colors there?” Well said. Thank you for the reminder.
Paul