Why do virtually all religous fundamentalists seem to preach hate?

Question

When their god - whichever religion they follow - preaches love, tolerance, compassion and forgiveness?

What happened to turn the other cheek?

A frustrated Brit

Answer 1

Fundamentalisms seem to be rooted in an essential ignorance of the religion in question. Everyone thinks they know about their religion but in reality few have really read the texts or studied theology. Any one can come along and say "the Bible says this" or "the Koran says that" and no one knows any better. Any serious study of fundamentalisms makes this clear. They are based in ignorance.

This vague notion is called an inherent ideology which is then mixed with an outside ideology to create these new and very dangerous ideologies which we know as fundamentalisms. The French word integriste is probably better because they do indeed call for an integration of religion and society and are willing to use violent means to achieve their goal. Fundamentalists in the US and in the Islamic world have worked to grab hold of various religious institutions and public schools. In many countries Saudi funding has allowed fundamentalists to provide the sorts of social aid which the governments were unwilling or unable to provide. Add an aggrieved population and you have the mixture for a social movement. And, these aren't religions they are social movements who wish to take power by any means necessary.

To complicate things further there seem to be no really good translations of the New Testament into English (and I doubt into other languages) which take into consideration the subtleties of the Greek language. Some examples of this are found in John Bristow's "What Paul Really Said About Women". The Old Testament is a hodge-podge of writings and contradicts itself all over the place and needs to be put into social context. Also, consider levels of illiteracy in many countries.

What's the most tragic about the Pope's recent statement and the supposed "convert or die" Islamic fundamentalist perspective is that historically Islam was the most tolerant. They wanted people to be monotheist. They were harsh with pagans but pretty tolerant of Judaism and Christianity. They taxed these two more heavily but they didn't convert by the sword as much as Christianity did. In fact, some Protestant Anabaptists hoped the Muslim Turks would invade the Austrian (Catholic) Holy Roman Empire because they felt they would fare better under Muslim than Catholic rules.

But you have to consider who the current Pope is. He's the one that went after Liberation Theologians in Latin America. He had the Brazilian theologian Boff silenced quiet a few times. Of course, he could actually believe the comments he read if Catholic schools teach this. But, I seriously doubt it. Most of those guys are pretty well educated.

There is a series called "The Fundamentalism Project" by Martin Marty and Scott Appleby through University of Chicago Press. See: www.press.uchicago.edu/Complete/Series/FP.html
Also, I have another book on religion and violence which I'll have to edit in as well.

On Forgiveness, etc. check out Desmond Tutu's "God Has a Dream".

I hope this helps some. Just when we think that no one can mess things up worse than they are, someone manages to!

P.S. I forgot to bring up Jewish fundamentalisms. Some very conservative Jews are opposed to the Zionist movement because it is such a literalist reading of scripture. And, the Zionist movement worked in conjunction with British (and later American) Imperialism. Obviously not all Israelis are fundamentalists but they seem to set the tone of the Israeli State. Zionism really clarifies how ideological and political these movements are!

Also, the ideological foundation of modern-day political/fundamentalist Islam finds its roots in response to British Imperialism - e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. In the 70s, 80s, the US (and others) funded Islamic fundamentalists as a counterweight to national liberation groups who may or may not have been "communists".

Answer 2

What has always struck me about Fundamentalist Christians is the righteous certainty they have about their beliefs. Their absolute certainty that the Bible is literally true, their absolute certainty about what is right and wrong, produces intellectual rigidity, if not intellectual rigor mortis, for no reflection or discussion is necessary when one knows the truth. This intellectual rigidity in turn leads to intolerance of those who do not share the fundamentals of their belief system, an intolerance that contrasts sharply with the message of Christian love and acceptance. Such intolerance leads sometimes to emotional abusiveness. Everything may be out of control in this world, but they speak assuredly of their salvation and their escape from reality because they've "accepted Jesus and are guaranteed eternity with God." Sadly, you'd never know they had found such peace because as a whole they are among the most strident crusaders in judging and condemning other people. From my experience with them, they also seem to be lacking in any semblance of serenity that one would expect from someone that's on their way to Paradise in the afterlife. The fundamentalist Christian will tell you that they are absolutely certain about the meaning of Scripture and it's the word of God that inspires their lives. Few understand the historical context of their Bible. In many cases they decide what especially Paul should have said then interpret his words to fit their preconceived ideas. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Ted Haggard live like royalty in multi-million dollar mansions spawned by their preaching. And flying under the radar are a slew of other ministers that have become multi-millionaires by collecting from the faithful and furthering the idea that the Bible is to be read as word-for-word literal. All of them promote the letter of the law over the spirit of the law. And every single Christian I have ever heard or met who claims that the Bible is literal truth is hypocritically selective about which Bible passages are literal and which are not. A rule of thumb seems to be, "If the Bible quote condemns your sins then it's a literal rule, if it condemns something I'm doing then there's some wiggle room." Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers;" "Love your enemies;" "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God;" "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers--that you do unto me." These words are at odds with the lifestyle and preaching of today's fundamentalists.

Answer 3

"Hate" has become a liberal code word these days. Fundamentalists don't preach hate. In the mind of many people today, if someone dares to say that something is wrong, that person "hates."

God doesn't preach "tolerance," either. He preaches exclusivity. God says, "My way or the highway." And, because He is God, He gets to have the say so. Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) He didn't say, "All roads lead to me." So, when fundamentalists preach this, they are accused of "hate."

As far as love, compassion, and forgiveness, all of these are true of God. But He is also a God of justice, righteousness and truth. He doesn't tolerate wickedness. He punishes it, just as any good parent would punish their child for disobedience. But, as a parent still loves their child when they are being punished, so too is God.

But not all are His children. Jesus made this quite clear. "You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and has never stood by the truth, since there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie he speaks in character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)

It is only those who are truly sorry for offending a holy God, and receive the gift of salvation that was purchased by His Son's death that are guilt-free. Anyone who trusts in anything (or anyone) else, must stand before a holy God on the day of judgment and state their case. The standard by which they will be measured is the Ten Commandments. If a person has ever lied, stolen, coveted, or used God's name as a curse, they will be guilty. Unless they have had their penalty paid for them, they deserve hell.

And if that is "hate," then you need to talk with my Father. He is the one who said it. I am merely speaking what I have heard Him say.

Answer 4

Fundamentalists in every belief system seem to do this, even atheism. Thankfully the fundamentalists are usually a very small percentage. Unfortunately, they seem to have a knack for making money and getting on television. Turn the other cheek isn't a belief for every religion.

Answer 5

Wow talk about Christian bashing one person makes a comment and every one jumps on board. Is it safe to leave my own home. How can you all say every Christian? You make it sound like I go out burning houses of non believers, Murdering children, killing peoples beloved pets. How can you pigeon hole every person into this hateful category? Have I ever condemned anyone here? Shame on you all!
Christian girl.<><

Answer 6

Because it's easy. Just like literal Fundamentalism is easy. There is very little real thought or research involved...just go to the church and listen to what your preacher says (and make sure he backs himself up with plenty of out-of-context quotations) and you're good for the week. Doesn't matter if you beat your wife and kids, get drunk, or poison some heathen's pets. God thinks you're good and that's all that matters.

Their compassion and forgiveness is reserved exclusively for one another. They somehow see themselves as God's mouthpieces, and if you reject them or get irritated at their constant talk about your going to hell they decide that you are either tragically misled or worse one of the "enemy". Exactly who the "enemy" is changes as much as clothing fashion. If directly confronted about their fluid definition of their "enemy", the details are waved aside and tossed under the convienent blanket of "the devil."

It's a very simplistic, uncomplicated way of looking at things.

I almost envy the faith that it takes to embrace such a world view despite all the real-world evidence to the contrary. But I have thoughts. Which kind of screws up the "faith" thing.

Edit: chapelite_av, I rest my case.

Answer 7

What a great question! I have pondered this one over many times. Fundamentalism seems to translate into extremism. Anything pushed to extremism and beyond tends to push well past its founding beliefs and goals. Fundamentalists pervert the faiths that they claim to follow and almost always develop a separatist agenda. This is my formula: Extremism + separation - base beliefs and tenets= hate. There you have it...my best GUESS.

Answer 8

They love to cram their beliefs down others' throats and if that involves saying harmful things about other people's lifetstyles, then they will do it. It's that "Onward Christian soldiers" and "save the world" type of thing. Be glad you're in the UK and not in the midst of it over here.

Answer 9

It's the nature of fundamentalism. Remember, it is a reaction against modernism, NOT a holdover from days gone by. Fundamentalism starts from square one with a siege mentality.

Answer 10

You know I don't think there is much difference between any fundamentalists Islamic, Christian and others. I shudder to think what the world would be come if they all banned together?