"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection”. (Henri Paincore)

​

In my opinion, all religions that promote the practice of good and the moral evolution of the human being must be respected and respect each other, uniting in an ecumenical ideal aimed at world peace and the development of humanity. Much more important than religious interpretations and proof of the "Truth" advocated by each philosophy, is the actual practice of good and charity toward others, regardless of which religion one belongs to. But what we see in practice is different. Most religions are very intolerant of other philosophies or points of view that are antagonistic to theirs.

​

"Fundamentalism" is a term used to refer to Belief in the literal interpretation of the so called “holy books", that is, books that can never be questioned, and attachment to dogmas that are considered "absolute truths" and must be followed strictly.

​

"Fanaticism" is an unconditional devotion, exalted and completely exempt of critical spirit, to a religious idea or conception, also characterized by the intolerance to other beliefs.

​

One of the characteristics of "fundamentalists" or “fanaticals” is that they never admit being classified this way. They do not consider themselves absolutely radical, because they think they are simply defending "the word of God" on earth. Their mission is to convert those who do not share their faith, whom they call "people from the world" or "infidels", who will be hopelessly condemned to "eternal damnation" if they do not convert.

​

Thus, it is utterly impossible to debate with a fundamentalist, because he will never have impartiality in his reasoning and will never be willing to expose it to logic and reason. His truth is absolute, it cannot be questioned. But fundamentalists cannot see how the radical attachment to their belief leads them to practice acts that contradict the very belief they hold. In this way, religions whose essence is love and peace are used to justify the worst acts of violence and intolerance.

 

We have seen, throughout history, the danger that religious fundamentalism represents and the terrible consequences of its practice. However, it is much easier for a person to see the fundamentalism existing in other religions and to vehemently deny the fundamentalist or radical position in their own religion.

​

For example, Christians can easily see and condemn the fundamentalism that exists in some radicals who defend Islam by propagating terrorism throughout the world in the name of Allah, based on his holy book: The Koran. But the same Christians do not admit classifying as terrorism exactly equal or even worse actions, practiced in the time of Moses, based on their sacred book: The Bible. This lack of impartiality denotes fanaticism. An analysis of the biblical text is enough to show that the cruelty and violence of that time can be compared to the cruelty and violence that we have seen practiced by modern terrorists. And the reason is exactly the same: Religious intolerance!

​

In the Middle Ages, through the Inquisition, the Catholic Church persecuted and condemned thousands of people to death accused of having practiced "witchcraft" and therefore deserved to "burn in the fire of hell." Let us also remember that, at this time, the Church was fighting science and advocating the thesis that the sun revolved around the Earth. Saying the contrary was considered heresy punishable by death at the stake. Once again: In the name of God.

​

 Killing in the name of god

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible is very rich in accounts of how widespread the massacres of women, children, and animals, which were carried out always, and conveniently, "in the name of God", but with hidden political goals that most people today ignore. We can cite, as an example of these cowardly massacres, the story reported in the Bible in "Numbers 31" when, following "direct commands from God", Moses ordered the attack on the Midianites, who worshiped a God different from their own.

​

Then, there were gathered twelve thousand men into the battle, one thousand out of each of the twelve tribes from Israel. The soldiers went to the Midian region and promoted a huge bloodbath. They burned all the cities, slew all the men and brought the women and children as slaves and all the flocks and goods that they could carry to Moses in his camp, located at the hill of Moab, near Jericho.

​

When the soldiers arrived at Moab, Moses was "indignant" to realize that the soldiers had not killed the women, giving them new orders to kill all the boys and all the women, sparing only the virgin girls, who would remain as slaves to the soldiers. Imagine the cruel fate of those innocent girls, who had to spend the rest of their lives enslaved and raped by those who slaughtered their parents. And all this under the "approval" of God!

​

After returning from Midian with all the goods stolen from the Midianites, among them a lot of gold, the soldiers were numbered and one detail caught the attention: There was not even one casualty in the Israeli army! This clearly indicates that it was not a war, but a massacre. The most incredible thing is to observe those who follow the Bible "literally" trying to defend that such a God, in whom they believe, would be infinitely perfect, just and merciful, even having ordered and approved such atrocities.

​

Now let us consider: Assuming that this story had happened in modern times, and the attack had been carried out by a Muslim army, which, under direct orders from Allah, carried out a similar massacre against a Christian country, destroying several cities and exterminating an entire people , including women and children, what would be the reaction of the Christian West? Of course the world would be shocked. Islamic soldiers would be called "terrorists," and quite rightly so.

 

We can quote September 11th  attack on the twin towers, carried out by muslim terrorists. Such cruelties are as damning and unjustifiable as the massacres reported in the Bible. But as such biblical massacres were carried out by the "people of God", in the "name of God", the vision is different, everything becomes justified, and the innocents who have shed their blood are called "enemies" of God's people. Moses and his soldiers cannot be called "terrorists" because they killed in the name of "Jehovah", but "Bin Laden" or "Islamic State" can, for they kill in the name of "Allah"! Hypocrisy and total nonsense! Any fundamentalism is reprehensible, be it Islamic, Christian or any other denomination. One should not kill in the name of any God, nor Allah, nor Jehovah, or any other. No "holy book" can justify such absurdities, neither the Koran nor the Bible.

​

But what causes a person to become "blind" in the name of a "truth" to such an extent that he loses his "good sense" and may even commit or even support such unjustifiable barbarities? What tools are used to psychologically influence masses of people, taking away their capacity for discernment and reason? The answer is: "Fear!"

​

In the time of Moses, it was necessary to impose the Law in a severe way, because the world was an extremely violent place and had no laws. Then, only an authority legitimized directly by "God" would be able to keep a violent people united through the fear of "Divine Wrath". This fear was the only force able to control the people of that time, who feared the "terrible curses" that would fall on them if they dared to disobey "The Words of God."

​

At that time, there was no scientific knowledge to explain naturally occurring disasters such as floods, droughts, earthquakes, plagues, diseases, etc. So people associated any natural event with a "divine punishment". This fear was then conveniently used as a form of control by the political leaders, who held the total and unquestionable power over the people, because it was "legitimized" by God Himself.

​

In addition, each leader sought to demonstrate that "their God" was stronger, more powerful and more cruel than the God of the neighboring people. The victories in battles were an evident sign of which "God" would be superior. Thus, by massacring an enemy, the people became more confident, obedient, and completely submissive to their leader, who was conveniently the "direct representative" of this God.

​

The people of Israel was then "chosen" by God. Therefore, people who had the misfortune to be born in a neighboring nation and who possessed different religious beliefs would be considered "enemies of God" and could be massacred without any problem of conscience, as the The Bible itself mentions, including women, children, and animals. This "Divine authority" gave rulers unquestionable power.

 

However, such power was also used to attain other unworthy goals, such as the conquest of lands and goods of other peoples, under the justification that such peoples "worshiped other gods" and, therefore, deserved to be crushed, and conveniently also had all their goods stolen. This is exactly what happened to the Midianite massacre.

​

 “Fanaticism is the only form of willpower that even the weak and insecure can be brought to attain.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)

​

Incredibly, fear is such an effective people-control tool that it is exploited to this day, and with great success. Nowadays, most religions have become great businesses which make millions and exploit, with mastery and impeccable eloquence, the "fear" that their believers have to face the "Word of God", since this God is very cruel and vindictive.

​

The strategy is exactly the same applied thousands of years ago. Fear of "losing salvation" or retaliations from an oppressive God causes people to stop using critical reasoning and question concepts that, for those who can observe impartially and with discernment, are obviously incoherent and even absurd! The believers, who should not question anything, do not realize how much they are being manipulated mentally, emotionally, and often financially.

 

Fortunately there is an antidote to ignorance called knowledge! In the modern world, scientific discoveries are slowly explaining and mainly demystifying the Laws of nature. Advanced telescopes show us the awesome immensity of the Universe, and that we are not the center of it. On the contrary, we live in a tiny point located on the periphery of our galaxy (milky way) that contains billions of stars, and in the universe there are billions of galaxies, each one containing billions of other stars as well.

​

This vision of the greatness of the Universe gives us a different conception of the Creator, quite different from the anthropomorphic view of God as an "old man with long white beards" who would be all the time busy in punishing humans and imposing his authority through fear and cruelty. The Universal Creator Intelligence (God) is at an infinitely higher level than this anthropomorphic view created by human beings themselves.

​

Therefore, it is not religions that must be fought, but ignorance and lack of information, arousing in people the critical sense and the capacity for logical reasoning, in order to combat fundamentalism and fanaticism, no matter what religion it is found, which so many harms have brought and continues to bring to mankind.

​

"Do not believe in anything just because you have heard. Do not believe in the traditions just because they have been passed down through countless generations, do not believe in anything just because it is said and preached by many. But after much observation and analysis, when you come to the conclusion that something is reasonable, and that it leads to happiness and to the benefit of yourself and of all, then accept it, and live up to the teaching. " - Buddha, quoted in the book "Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World”  by Lama Surya Das.

​