GOD'S WARRIORS

(The following was originally written as a series of e-mails to various acquaintances on August 23, 2007 following the 3-night CNN special of the foregoing title by Christianne Amanpour,)

Pursuant to what I learned from the CNN special, I have made at least 8 observations of characteristics seemingly shared by all three fundamentalist groups, ultra-Orthodox Jews, fundamentalist Muslims and fundamentalist Christians. I have also just finished reading Jimmy Carter's new book, "Peace, Not Apartheid," which is a good supplemental read on these topics. Carter was interviewed by Amanpour several times. I think Thomas Friedman has also prolifically written on Middle East issues.

In fact, I would say that one of the major ironies of their mutual distrust and even hatred of each other (less so between Orthodox Jews and right-wing Christians) is how much they are all alike!

Anyway, here they are:

1--They each claim infallibility, as much as the others are so "obviously" wrong;

2--They each are certain that their deity of choice (who is supposedly the same shared deity) is on their side exclusively (supports #1);

3--They are each convinced that the rest of the world is in serious decline and that their belief structure is the only salvation;

4--The more extreme of each group is willing to inflict harm on the others to prevail. They are each defined mainly by what human behavior they are AGAINST, and that is also generally shared between groups;

5--Each is also convinced they are under attack and endangered for their beliefs; and

6--They are each able to recruit unquestioning disciples who manifest their own extremist views. Some are willing to die therefor.

7—There is a reliance of each on an ancient infallible text as the source of their infallible authority, to the exclusion of any current empirical observations; and

8—Most persons in each group manifest a certitude that they speak and act for their respective deities, tied in with Nos. 2 and 4.

I was transfixed by what I saw, even as I was angered, especially by what I was seeing and hearing about the right-wing Christians on the last night. It is obvious there is a LOT of money flowing into each fundamentalist group, and that they have enormous secular power in their respective geographic areas. In fact, their persecution complexes are actually assisting them financially and politically. The right-wing Christians are especially ironic in claiming and exercising their First Amendment rights to promote their religion in the US while being willing to legally relegate other religions to secondary status!

Their common opposition to homosexuality, sexual liberation/female liberation, female clergy, secular government, secular entertainment, alcohol consumption and other shared "enemies" is striking. Therein lies the root of the decline of civilization they each deplore and vow to correct.

They are each defined mostly by intolerance of nonbelievers. This makes them each very dangerous, but in the US, at least, they are free to promote such aims.

Finally, I am moved to conclude that mental and emotional stability may be in inverse proportion to religious belief, irrespective of cult. I hate to generalize about any group of people for I have always tried to judge only individuals, but while I am willing to consider individual exceptions to the foregoing assumption, I am wary of anyone who puts his/her own religious beliefs beyond question. That sort of arrogance borders on mental illness, in my view.

The term, "psycho asshole" comes to mind!

I am aware of the distinction between "fundamentalist" Christians and "evangelical" Christians. I have used "fundamentalist" interchangeably with "right-wing" since there are some evangelicals who are not right-wing. I can't say I know any "liberal" fundamentalists!

Now, having explored at length the 8 or so major similarities among ultra-Orthodox Jews, fundamentalist Muslims and fundamentalist Christians as presented via Christianne Amanpour's three-night program on CNN, I now feel obliged to acknowledge one significant difference between those groups, and that is how they each address and utilize violence in furtherance of their respective goals.

The fundamentalist Christians talk violently, but for the most part they have no need for the use of it because they are so empowered, primarily in the US. There are some exceptions, like Eric Rudolph and the other abortion-clinic bombers. On the other hand, the least empowered (in the Western World sense) are the Muslims, and they seem to reach for violent acts almost indiscriminately. Ironically, both groups are strong on belief in an afterlife (less so, I think, for most Jews), but Christians seem much less willing to go there than Muslims, whose ethic seems to reflect a certain oriental attitude (moreso than Christians) that diminishes the significance of earthly life. Muslims seem much more prepared for self-sacrifice than either of the two other groups. Their use of indiscriminate violence toward "infidels" seems the most frequent.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews are quite empowered, but their violence seems acutely focused toward Palestinian Arab Muslims and Christians. What is so striking to me about the attitudes of some is their seeming pleasure at their targeted use of violence, which is reflected in Israel state policy as well. That obvious pleasure is chilling to observe, and perhaps for me the most terrifying. I contrast that pleasure with the grim attitude of most Muslims and the bombast of fundamentalist Christians. While some Islamic states may be officially aggressive or violent, Israel is the most overtly violent, though almost exclusively toward Palestinians, and that moves me to conclude that Israel is a terrorist state. Others will surely and vehemently disagree, but if North Korea and Iran so qualify, then Israel certainly does as well in my opinion. Furthermore, the US taxpayer is directly funding a lot of that anti-Palestinian violence.

I think that is about all I can say on the subject.