The Thinklings

"People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe. There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy."

- G.K. Chesterton

Friday, January 28, 2005

Terrorist / Fundamentalist. Same Thing, Right?

Posted by Bill @ 7:21 pm CST
Filed under: Philosophy

If you listen to some people, many of whom are Christians, "fundamentalist" works just as well for a mass-murdering Islamist terrorist as it does for the guy who goes to the church down the street and believes in a six-day creation. For instance, below is a quote from a comments thread on a blog I read. The post itself is a good one, and asks good questions. I'm not linking it simply because I don't want to draw attention to the person who commented (he is a dear friend of mine), but rather to the mindset behind his comment. Here's the quote:

I tend to have a more negative opinion of someone considered fundamentalist. I think of people like Jerry Falwell and Osama Bin Laden. Obviously, Jerry isn't responsible for mass murder, but he does and says stupid things every so often to the point where he has nearly no credible witness to thinking individuals who know his background.

Yes, they are both fundamentalists after all, right?

It hurts to see the day when Christians devour eachother with their words, and apparently see many similarities between a mass-murdering terrorist and a guy who's mass-media filtered soundbites they disagree with. I admit I went a little south on my friend based on this near moral equivalence of Osama Bin Laden and Jerry Falwell. An excerpt from my responding comment is below:

I cringed at the juxtaposition of Osama Bin Laden and Jerry Falwell. I'm not a Falwell fan (I know very little about him), but have you really studied him? Paid attention to what he says, versus what you get through the media's filter? Slander is not pretty. I don't know the man and will be content to let God judge his heart. Regarding Osama, I have a lot more concrete evidence that he is a very bad guy, but whether or not he's a "fundamentalist" has little to do with what I think of him. He murdered 3,000+ people.

It's a cute trick these days, though, to talk about Bible-believing Christians (imperfect as their understanding of Scripture may be) and mass-murdering terrorists in the same sentence. You did it, but you're not alone. Happens all the time. It's a symptom of post-modernism and an example of what passes as post-modern "truth". Sad thing is, I hear Christians slander their brothers and sisters all the time in this way.

"Fundamentalist": It's a label that's been so twisted and distorted, and has been used by one side of the Christian "family" to batter the other. I apologize for my passion here, but I'm tired of the divide we've setup between the "cool, culturally relevant" Bible-believing Christians and the "backwards, fundamentalist, ignorant, Falwell-ish" Bible-believing Christians. Often over the absolute dumbest things (choice of music, views of Christian liberty, etc).

I know the commenter and am quite sure that he does not believe Falwell = Bin Laden. But I believe words matter. Personally, I'm tired of seeing fundamentalists get beat up by their brothers and sisters in Christ and, these days, linked to the terrorist mind-set. No matter how much one might be irritated by certain Christian leaders, I think this linkage is very dangerous and destructive.

What do you think?

9 comments

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Comments on "Terrorist / Fundamentalist. Same Thing, Right?":

1. Bill - 01/28/2005 7:42 pm CST

I want everyone to know that I meant no offense in my responding comment, either to the person I was responding to or to anyone on this site. Please don't read too much into my last paragraph (regarding the divide between Christians) - I am not referring to the Christian Liberty debate that we have had here from time to time. I am also, emphatically, not asserting that there are not real differences between Christians on many important (if soteriologically non-essential) issues.

I also am not saying that certain Christian leaders are above criticism, or that criticism of said leaders in this space is or has been wrong. My sole point is that the increasing use of "fundamentalist" to describe both Islamic terrorists and certain brands of American Christianity troubles me, a lot. I think we should all be more careful.

2. Manders - 01/29/2005 2:06 am CST

Ouch.

Thanks, that was convicting.

3. jen - 01/29/2005 2:17 am CST

Good word, Bill. Thanks for saying what many have long thought. Convicting, indeed.

4. Raindream - 01/29/2005 2:21 am CST

'Fundamentalist' can't be used without context, just as 'conservative' and 'liberal' cannot. A fundamentalist should hold to the fundamentals of his philosophy and perhaps there will be cultural connotations with that stance which encourages the label. So a Christian fundamentalist should be a solid believer and a good citizen, and a Muslim fundie should hold strongly to his faith, which may be Wahabism--I'm not sure. I think it's mistaken to paint them both with the same brush because they aren't on the same canvas.

5. Ellen from MI - 01/29/2005 3:38 am CST

Many of us (including terrorists) *are* fundamentalist (echoing Raindream - believing the fundamentals, right?) I believe the fundamentals of Christianity and Bin Ladin believes the fundamentals of Islam. One (accurate) word for two very different attitudes.

I had a discussion with my neighbor, who wants to decide whether a person is a good Muslim or a bad Muslim based on the Bible. I asked if it wouldn't be more accurate to decide if a person is a good Muslim or a bad Muslim based on what *they* choose to be judged by. Based on their "holy book", many terrorists *are* the good Muslims, holding fast to the fundamentals of that which they believe.

6. Bill - 01/29/2005 3:43 am CST

Ellen

I agree - although with reservations because I don't know enough about the Koran to know whether it truly commands acts of terrorism.

And I echo Raindream here: "I think it's mistaken to paint them both [Christian fundamentalists and Islamist fundamentalists] with the same brush because they aren't on the same canvas."

7. jimmmaaa - 01/29/2005 4:30 am CST

I agree with you Bill. I have seen the same thing on many blog, but would go further and say that many of our Christian Brothers and Sisters do the same thing but in their use of the word Evangelical. That it is used as cut and slam on many blogs it saddens me. It is used in such negative way and that is just not right.

8. Brian in Fresno - 01/29/2005 6:02 am CST

Indeed, very convicting. I'm very disturbed by the, I want to say whimsical, extremely loose way words are thrown around. I can't count how many times I've heard the word Nazi thrown about in a manner that fractures it's meaning and equates soup vendors with mass murderers. This just as an example.

If we want to understand the Islamic mindset we *must* read the Koran. But we can rightly judge a persons actions by how they measure up with the list of the fruits of the Spirit in Galations.

We can in *no* way judge a person's real beliefs by what we read in the paper. It has been filtered throught at least three or four people from the reporter to the editors.

9. Ellen from MI - 01/29/2005 6:13 pm CST

I have a very good book, "Prophet of Doom" by Craig Winn...it has large portions of the Koran, in the order that the books were written (the Koran puts the books in order by size, the largest to the smallest)

If you want to understand the Islamic mindset, it's a good book. Winn also wrote, "Tea with Terrorists";"0

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