Ideology – religious or a-religious – can inspire hatred and even violence. Granted. But the question here is focused and specific, not floating in the gauzy speculativeness of Cloud Cuckoo Land. If a “person” (flesh and blood, corporate, institutional, ideological, or whatever) can be known by his/her enemies, then what does Islamophobia teach us about those consumed by it?
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
“Cognitive mapping” — biological predisposition shaped and reinforced by nurture — is obviously a factor in Islamophobia. So is fear, of course. The question is whether morality — or, beyond that, something one might even call evil — is also a factor.
Wait!
I’m not a religious believer. I’m not a believer in paranormal or extraterrestrial influence on human character. I don’t expect to find a logical explanation. I’m just looking for some kind of concept … or at least phrase … I can grasp as an anchor.
Tentatively I’ve embraced a concept offered by Herman Melville. The articulation is found in the novella Billy Budd, chapters 10-11. Here’s the key passage, expressed by the narrative “voice” or “persona” at the very end of chapter 11.
What defines the man characterized by “natural depravity”? That,
though the man’s even temper and discreet bearing would seem to intimate a mind peculiarly subject to the law of reason, not the less in his heart he would seem to riot in complete exemption from that law, having apparently little to do with reason further than to employ it as an ambidexter implement for effecting the irrational. That is to say: Toward the accomplishment of an aim which in wantonness of malignity would seem to partake of the insane, he will direct a cool judgement sagacious and sound.
These men are true madmen, and of the most dangerous sort, for their lunacy is not continuous but occasional, evoked by some special object; it is probably secretive, which is as much to say it is self-contained, so that when moreover, most active, it is to the average mind not distinguishable from sanity, and for the reason above suggested that whatever its aims may be — and the aim is never declared — the method and the outward proceeding are always perfectly rational.
Got that? We’re talking about the kind of person who keeps a calm, controlled demeanor while using rational means to accomplish irrational (and often wantonly destructive) ends. In other words, we’re talking about evil.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Bryan Fischer – Suspend Muslim immigration, Muslim military service, building of mosques
Posted by Bryan Fischer – May 02, 2013
Of course, the majority of Muslim immigrants do not want to kill us, but they are not the Muslims we have to worry about. The problem is we have no way of distinguishing the Muslims we do have to worry about from the ones we don’t. And we can’t watch them all.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
In essence and in most manifestations, Judaism is a religion of peace, compassion, and service. Same with Christianity. Same with Islam. Fundamentalist fanatics of these faiths and of many others often promote hatred and exclusion and even violence. Aberrant, “naturally depraved” individuals like Osama bin Laden of current history and Melville’s fictional John Claggart might prove destructive, on whatever scale.
Essentially, though, people like them are rogues, outliers, fanatics. Theirs all are religions of peace. The rogue fanatics should be rejected and the faiths they profess acknowledged for the positive forces that — at their best! — they really are. Aberrations who preach fear, hatred, and violence should be acknowledged, obviously. But they should be acknowledged and dealt with as the dangerous aberrations they are, not as exemplars of the faith they claim to represent.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Think of it in terms of perspective. We know how matters look from our position. How might they look from another part of the table? (The table is a subtly rounded polygon, not a rectangle. Facets can merge, blend, overlap almost imperceptibly.)
What do we lose by hating one another? by fearing one another? What might we gain by accepting and understanding one another? We cannot allow terrorists to rip apart our nation, let alone our world. The more we listen to and heed “naturally depraved,” hate-driven false shepherds like Bryan Fischer, the more we allow terrorism to control us. We hate and fear? Then the forces of evil win. We accept, tolerate, try to understand one another? Then what’s best in humanity wins!
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
I really don’t like the “winning/losing” analogy. It’s late, though, and I’m tired. I might edit this tomorrow.
