Are the terrorist fundamentalists really fundamentalists in the authentic sense of the term? Do they really believe?
What they lack is a feature that is easy to discern in all authentic fundamentalists, from Tibetan Buddhists to the Amish in the United States — the absence of resentment and envy, the deep indifference towards the nonbelievers’ way of life.
If today’s so-called fundamentalists really believe they have found their way to Truth, why should they feel threatened by nonbelievers. Why should they envy them? When a Buddhist encounters a Western hedonist, he hardly condemns. He just benevolently notes that the hedonist’s search for happiness is self-defeating. In contrast to true fundamentalists, the terrorist pseudo-fundamentalists are deeply bothered, intrigued and fascinated by the sinful life of the nonbelievers.
One can feel that, in fighting the sinful other, they are fighting their own temptation. This is why the so-called fundamentalists of ISIS are a disgrace to true fundamentalism.
I do not think these people and their ilk can be explained or understood, only dealt with. I believe they are fundamentally lacking in human and humane characteristics and therefore have no claim on civilized treatment in return. but I believe that too many are too PC and afraid to state what needs to be stated and too hesitant to do what needs to be done. Chamberlain already demonstrated the futility of appeasement with people who are beyond the pale and we must learn from that lesson in history. How many more parents, and grandparents who are Holocaust survivors have to see a precious child be beheaded? How many more times must a person's Jewish connections be hidden in the futile hope of getting them safely back into the arms of their loved ones?
ReplyDelete