#fanaticism

The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women's rights, pluralism, secularism, short skits, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. There are tyrants, not Muslims. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that we should now define ourselves not only by what we are for but by what we are against. I would reverse that proposition, because in the present instance what we are against is a no brainer. Suicidist assassins ram wide-bodied aircraft into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and kill thousands of people: um, I'm against that. But what are we for? What will we risk our lives to defend? Can we unanimously concur that all the items in the preceding list -- yes, even the short skirts and the dancing -- are worth dying for? The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love. These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them. How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared. ↗

— Salman Rushdie

#fanaticism #freedom #fundamentalism #human-rights #terrorism

A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#because #celibate #clergy #especially #fanaticism

But The Same Sea is set precisely in this Israel, which never makes it to the news headlines anywhere. It is a novel about everyday people far removed from fundamentalism, fanaticism nationalism, or militancy of any sort. ↗

— Amos Oz

#any #anywhere #everyday #everyday people #fanaticism

I give no shit to what extent they believe in superstitions and fanaticism. But I will fight till death, if their fallacious belief hurts any individual. ↗

— M.F. Moonzajer

#believe #fanaticism #superstitions #death

There were a lot of gods. Gods always come in handy, they justify almost anything. ↗

— Margaret Atwood

#extremism #fanaticism #god #inhumanity #justification

People are never so completely and enthusiastically evil as when they act out of religious conviction. ↗

— Umberto Eco

#evil #fanaticism #fundamentalism #religion #religion

If I were asked for a one-sentence sound bite on religion, I would say I was against it. ↗

— Salman Rushdie

#religion #religion

Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched." [My Uncle Sosthenes] ↗

— Guy de Maupassant

#fanaticism #patriotism #religion #wars #religion

There are many different rivers that lead into despair: there's poverty; there's political repression; there's gender apartheid - there's a sense of culture loss; there's religious fanaticism. ↗

— Lawrence Wright

#culture #despair #different #fanaticism #gender

Today's Islamic fundamentalism is also a cover for political motifs. We should not overlook the political motifs we encounter in forms of religious fanaticism. ↗

— Jurgen Habermas

#cover #encounter #fanaticism #forms #fundamentalism