semitism.net

Earlier today, I wrote about the connection between certain forms of religious fundamentalism - both Jewish and Islamic - and acts of terror.  Pakistani scholar Abdou Filali-Ansary has an interesting take on this in today’s Daily Star...

Muslim intellectuals are being encouraged to press the religious argument against fundamentalist violence in order to deprive the terrorists of their most fearsome and potent arguments. If Muslim scholars can somehow disprove these arguments, it is thought, then the terrorists’ ability to sustain their violent underground will be reduced.

Is this right? A quick survey of the history of religious conflict shows that theological controversies have never been resolved by theological arguments. Looking more closely, one finds that while these controversies were often framed in religious terms, they were not at all about religion. The range of opposing interpretations of religious texts is virtually unlimited, and disputes are seldom resolved by rational argument…

Today, it is clear that fundamentalists and their supporters are completely closed off to even the most elaborate theological refutation of their views, even when produced by distinguished religious authorities. The first reflex of the fundamentalists is to withdraw from the mainstream, to build a shell around themselves that is impervious to any logic other than their own.

The most essential questions that people face today - those that engender the deepest conflicts - have nothing to do with theology. They concern disputes over territory, political power, definitions of rights, and distribution of wealth. The means of discussing these questions is known to all and is expressed in all religions and all languages. The evils most deeply resented - in all societies - are injustice, despotism, corruption and poverty. We all understand what these mean, and how certain people must live with them on a daily basis.

Why, then, do we follow the fundamentalists to the very heart of their madness?