Isms

To a certain extent we can sympathize with a young man recently arrested for vandalism. He said hate for religion drove him to desecrate two local churches. We can sympathize because he appears to be mentally ill and miserably unhappy, and because these days religion is an easy thing to hate.

It is more difficult to sympathize with Paul Hill, the man who killed over abortion, although he, too, appeared to be mentally ill. Possibly our powers of sympathy were taxed by the fact that he was older, and because he did not seem to be suffering – from either remorse or doubt. In fact, he seemed maniacally happy.

Looking back through history it is difficult to see how the good done in the name of organized religion outweighs, or even balances, the harm done. Sufficient examples of the latter can be found in Ireland and the Middle East.

Beyond the chilling smile of someone on a bad drug – in this case, religion – it is the unwarranted self-assurance of the fundamentalist that frightens us; professing to know what God wants is arrogant at least and delusional at worst.

It is possible that Hill was right in calling his act justifiable homicide; it is also possible that Moslems are right in calling the U.S. an evil empire to be destroyed at any cost. The point is, truly spiritual people do no harm, whatever their convictions.

The problem with isms is that they are too often the refuge of the weak spirited as well as the weak minded. Those who practice an ism must remember that comfort breeds complacency, which can lead to complicity. When we allow extremists into our fellowships we have a responsibility to monitor their actions, to confront them, and to report them to authorities when they pose a danger to others.