There is nothing in the world more dangerous than the “True Believer”. I don’t really care what one is a true believer of, they are still dangerous. We, as Americans, having been attacked on 9/11, understand and accept the concept of the true believer as a threat. There is a certain discomfort with Muslims in our society. I would argue that we are confusing the tolerant, peaceful practitioners of a worshipful people with the acts of a group of practitioners of a radical version of Islam that has no real place in civilized society. Let us call it what it is, bigotry. I call the radical practitioners true believers. Most would agree that these radical true believers pose a threat to America, and the world, for that matter.
The radical practitioner, you know, the terrorist we all fear, believes he has “the one true way”. It is an interesting, if rather pathetic, kind of logic. Rule 1, I/my belief is always right. Rule 2, when I/my belief is wrong, refer to rule 1. The second part of this belief system is that if you are not for me, you are against me.
The rule 1/rule 2 problem is a passive kind of belief system. You can believe you are always right and still have a tolerance for others of different beliefs, but when combined with the second part, it can become exceedingly dangerous. Since you are always right and someone not part of your belief system is against you, then they are your enemy. It really gets haywire when you decide that anyone that is against you can be destroyed, or worse yet, must be destroyed. This is the stuff of which terrorist attacks, suicide bombers and political assassinations are made.
Many of you may be nodding your heads at the logical progression, but the context in which it is presented is comfortable for us as Americans. We associate terrorists with radical foreign extremists that attack innocent Americans in mass attacks. It is hard to argue that this not a bad thing, unless of course you are one of the true believers that planned and/or executed the attack or a supporter of such a group. However, let us change the situation just a little and see how our comfort level changes.
Some Fundamentalist Christian religions in this country believe that I am going to Hell. They believe this because I do not believe what they believe, whether it is Baptist versus Catholic, Catholic versus Jew, Muslim versus Christian, or what have you. Each of these religions believes they have the one true way to Heaven (or its equivalent) and, if you practice any other religion, it just doesn’t count, so you are condemned to the infernal regions for eternity. This is not a problem in a tolerant society where people accept that it is my choice to worship, or not worship, as I see fit. They will try to convert me in good faith (pardon the pun) for the sake of saving my soul, but if I make the decision to remain of my belief system, then I have made an informed decision. They feel bad for me and will miss me when they go to their great reward when I don’t get to make the trip. This is religious tolerance 101. Let us use a true believer’s perspective, however, and things can get ugly quick.
Some true believers of radical Fundamentalist Christianity believe that life begins at conception, as do many non-radical believers, but there is a significant difference. Instead of allowing me to have a different opinion, they define abortion as the murder of a child, again, as many mainstream Christians do, but, they take the position that if I promote abortion, perform abortions, or even believe in abortion enough to vote for pro-choice candidates, I am a murderer. Some of the more radical true believers think that they have the absolute right, even the responsibility, to kill me in defense of the unborn child. They believe they have the right to do anything to vanquish the evil enemy, including kill them. Thus, we have radicals Fundamentalist Christians that kill abortion doctors and somehow manage to remain at large for what, years? Tell me they did not have help from Christians that may not be willing to kill, but will support those that do. A common phrase I hear is, "While I do not agree with what he did, I understand why he did it."
We have seen true believers in all forms, whether it be Communists, radical anti-war protestors that blew up buildings, like the Weatherman faction of the Students for a Democratic Society in the late ’60’s, or Ted Kaczynski (well, he may have been more of a nut than a terrorist). One thing is consistent, they are dangerous.
In another blog post, I will point out some even more dangerous true believers that live amonst us and are not only openly tolerated, but actively supported; the fact that they threaten life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, nothwithstanding.
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