Fundamentalists will be defeated by light and love

French man Guittard Aubin shows defiance with his Tricolor at the Eiffel tower in Paris

08:29, 17 Nov 2015

To state the obvious, the world has a problem with fundamentalism.

Fundamentalism comes in all shapes and sizes. At its heart, fundamentalism is an unmovable conviction that one world view, be it religious, philosophical, economic or cultural, has a monopoly on all truth and everything outside that view is inherently false.

There is no room for discussion, journeying, dialogue or mutual understanding, just a fixed, often aggressive and sometimes appallingly destructive entrenched position.

When fundamentalism corrupts and distorts faith and religion, it is particularly potent as the world view is ‘sanctioned by God’ and so your opponents become opponents of the Almighty.

When fundamentalism erupts into appalling violence such as we have recently seen in Beirut, Kenya, Syria, Iraq and Paris, to name but a few places, we struggle to know what the most effective response is to challenge, contain and dismantle such terrible ideologies. Fundamentalist ideologies bring nothing but chaos, fear, destruction and death.

We struggle to know how to respond because of cause fundamentalists' identity depends on opposition ("I am right, you are wrong"), so they constantly attack in order to be attacked back. They feed off escalating conflict and retaliation.

Linda Woodhead, Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University, said: "So if Europeans are being humane to Muslim asylum seekers, (the Islamic fundamentalists) will try to provoke them to be horrible ('see they really DO hate all Muslims').

"We should not let them set the agenda in this way. We should continue to set our own agenda, and stick to it. The European agenda is about peace, liberty, justice and toleration of difference - not hatred, revenge and uniformity."

Over the last few days the media and social media have often been polarised and simplistic in commenting on the events in Paris and the history leading up to such devastating attacks. We do ourselves no favors with simplistic slogans, condemnations and denials because the web of issues, attitudes and histories is far too complex to be reduced down to soundbite commentary.

And so it is with the risk of over simplification that I offer comment within the constraints of the length of this column, and my comments are one: fundamentalists love people to either join them or oppose them, they thrive on both.

Most people I know and, I am sure, most readers of this article know that we want to live lives characterised by openness, tolerance, the celebration of diversity, living with differences and loving our neighbour whether near or far, like us or very different.

And two: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’" - Martin Luther King Jr

Ultimately the forces of fundamentalism won’t be defeated by military might or even economic pressure or diplomat manoeuvrings, they will be defeated by light and love. Let’s make sure we endeavour, through our words and through our living, to be part of that world changing story.

God bless. 

Hinckley Times 

 Rev JohnWhittaker is the vicar of St Mary's Church in Hinckley. This blog is his take of life from the pews of a church that dates back to the 13th century.