Published: November 04, 2009 09:54 am      

Fanaticism is alive and well

Shirley Caudill

People do strange things in the name of “religion.” Wars are fought over religion; people have been known to kill themselves in the name of religion — or kill others in the name of religion. And some say, “We have the RIGHT to choose. Our democracy is supposed to protect us from fanaticism and forced worship.

In my humble opinion, we should have rights as long as they don’t tread on the rights of others. When you infringe on MY rights you have over-stepped your boundaries. It is that simple — or should be that simple.

We have come to the point in this country that the boundaries are grey and fuzzy. There are those who try to infringe on my freedom of speech and tell me I cannot defend my OWN religious beliefs. And yet I have to tolerate listening to rhetoric that insults my beliefs? I cannot talk about God or Jesus in public? I cannot call my tree a Christmas tree?

Somehow there are those who try to tell me I cannot speak freely and let you know that same sex marriages are against MY religion. Or that adultery is against MY religion. Why not? Have I lost my freedom of speech? If so, we are in a dictatorship mode in this country. Is that what we want for all the hard work we have done in the name of FREEDOM even since Adolph Hitler?

Our military men have fought and died for our freedom since the beginning of this country. The soldiers knew and still know that it is not wise for any religious sect to gain a monopoly on religion in any country. Even those soldiers who claim to be atheists.

We see the dangers of a monopoly every day in the news where they kill their citizens for trying to practice a different religion, murder their own children for going against Islam, and seek to destroy Americans for not practicing their religion.

Look at Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, for instance! If they have their way, there will be ONE worldwide religion. We cannot afford to tolerate that mindset in AMERICA. We know God is not the author of all this religious confusion. So could it be His opponent?

Would you believe there are schools here in America that teach Muslim children to engage in deadly combat with Islams’ perceived enemies? US. We cannot sit here with our heads in the sand and let it happen here. Like we let the pilots who caused 9/11 come here to our free country to learn to FLY airplanes and not learn to land airplanes — duh!

We’ve experienced our own witch hunts in America, and hopefully learned some valuable lessons. Recall some history and the New England Calvinist pioneers who settled there to preserve their fundamentalism from worldwide Eratacism of the Stuart Court and joined forces over the years with successive waves of fanatics who came to America to practice their peculiar form of intolerance in our tolerant climate — but the New Englanders enforced the earliest form of political correctness. Never forget the Salem witch hunts!

Let us not believe that witch hunts are dead in America. They have taken on new forms but have become endemic from one end of the political spectrum to the other — fanaticism, abuse in legal forms, self-righteous indignation, contempt for justice — be AWARE.

We cannot afford to allow the fanatic strains to get the upperhand in American society — like the Macarthy witch hunts, the Iran-contra hunts and others — Google it. We cannot allow history to repeat itself. Our veterans have fought too hard and too long for our freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Nor can we tolerate secular fanaticism or atheist fanaticism, with books like “The End of Faith: Religion and The Future of Reason,” by Sam Harris, considered to be a militant atheist.

Carl Sagan wrote “The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.”

We still congratulate ourselves for being the Land of the FREE. We don’t EVER want to be ruled by fanatics like one with a square mustache sporting a huge poster of himself to the world. Since the 1600s millions of people have come to America from all over the world to escape FANATICISM.

Lest we forget!

Shirley Caudill of London is a former newspaper editor/publisher and longtime freelance columnist. She is a Nashville native who has lived in Kentucky 40 years. She has six children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren and is married to a retired Army First Sergeant. She can be reached at gunnstar4912@gmail.com