Once we lived comfortably with not knowing all the answers. We allowed the mystique of the unknown to not only puzzle us, but to inspire us. We had many answers but even more questions. Life and the world were mysterious.
But now we are
all-knowing. Whether we are religious or anti-religious, we are certain of our
convictions. We are right and others are wrong. We have all the answers; we
have become fundamentalists.
Fundamentalism is the
certainty of possessing the truth. There is no other way of considering
an issue. “We are right and everyone else is wrong.”
There is comfort in a
fundamentalist approach because it presents the world as a series of simple
choices: good versus bad, wrong versus right.
It is this simplicity that
makes all forms of fundamentalism appealing, because a complex world is a
frightening place. By pigeon-holing communities and stereotyping individuals, I
am protected from having to see the complexity of each unique person and each
unique situation.
Our fear of humanising the
‘enemy’ and living with uncertainty causes us to move towards extreme
positions.
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