The Fundamentalists

I have a hard time with fundamentalists. They are dogmatic and unwavering in their opinions, which they are more than happy to interject, whether you want to hear it or not. They are argumentative and judgmental. Just not nice people. And all these criticisms I'm stating make me sound just like them.

Condemning the condemners fills the world with condemnation. I would prefer a world with less condemnation, so let's look at fundamentalism and try to find the positive.

There was a German philosopher named Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1830). Hegel is credited with the dialectic method of thinking. You start with a thesis, then form its antithesis, then examine both to form a conclusion (synthesis). This approach in thinking serves as the basis for Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). It involves holding two disparate ideas in your mind simultaneously to learn how to cope with cognitive dissonance.

A thesis and antithesis are mirror opposites of each other. They have as much contrast between the two of them as possible. A good thesis will be sharp and crisp, not wishy-washy. And fundamentalism presents the most crisp, stark view of a idea. The best analysis requires clear data. To properly understand a thesis or antithesis, fundamentalists are a good asset to have. 

In religion, there are two types of adherents: fundamentalists and mystics. Fundamentalists see and champion the particularities of the beliefs, while mystics see the unity between the faiths. Mystics bring peace while fundamentalists bring conflict. My natural inclination is that conflict is bad, but is that true?

In my first manic episode I was convinced we were living in a simulation. I thought if I wrote a book, I could control the simulation. I told Melissa I was going to write a book about utopia where there is no conflict and everything is peaceful. She said that sounded like an extremely boring book and she probably wouldn't read it. I got mad and told her she's the reason we have conflict in the world today.

Aside from the whole controlling the simulation thing, I think my manic mind was on to something. The eastern faiths see the world as a drama, a story being told. A good story will have three parts: the setup, the confrontation and the resolution. The resolution is the cathartic release that we all enjoy. But that release first requires tension. And in our world, who provides the tension? The fundamentalists.

Back to the religion idea, mystics rise above the story while fundamentalists suck you back in. I believe the ultimate reality is that we are all characters in a cosmic drama, thought up by the mind of God. We are all united in one book. But that book is telling a good story, full of intrigue and happiness and loss and adventure and all the things that make a story worth reading. And as long as we want the story to be exciting and passionate, we will engage with the fundamentalists. And once we've had our fill, we will wake up from our dream, come back to reality and remember it's just a story.