Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Fundimentalist or fanatic? What are the deffinitions and where is the line drawn |
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| Caraj |
| 01/30/02 at 17:32:17 |
| I hear folks talk about fundimentalist (spelling) and being fanatic But to me they have very different meanings. I was wondering how all of you define these two words. Correct me if I am wrong and I will take any correction graciously, Fundimentalist: One who tries to stay as close to the foundation of their beliefs, One with a firm, grounded and balanced belief and who would die for their beliefs. Who will try to show others their beliefs out of love, concern and duty but will not shove it down their throats. (sort to speak) God/Allah centered = showing Love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness. Fanatic: One who mixes the foundation with a bit of their own interpretations, One who believes they are right and everyone is wrong, who won't die for their beliefs but who would kill for them. One who is forceful in showing their beliefs in a controling manor. Self centered = showing controling nature, no compassion, no forgiveness, no mercy to those who will not follow their ways. Ok, that is those are my definitions. How close am I to what others believe? |
| Re: Fundimentalist or fanatic? What are the deffinitions and where is the line drawn |
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| mujaahid |
| 02/02/02 at 11:27:02 |
| Assalaamu-alaikum Good question Cara! "Fundimentalist: One who tries to stay as close to the foundation of their beliefs, One with a firm, grounded and balanced belief and who would die for their beliefs. Who will try to show others their beliefs out of love, concern and duty but will not shove it down their throats. (sort to speak) God/Allah centered = showing Love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness." Correct :) "Fundimentalist: One who tries to stay as close to the foundation of their beliefs, One with a firm, grounded and balanced belief and who would die for their beliefs. Who will try to show others their beliefs out of love, concern and duty but will not shove it down their throats. (sort to speak) God/Allah centered = showing Love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness." Correct :) Well done Cara heres a smiley face :) I agree with your definitions. Most fundamentalist muslims are decent, likable people, al they do is follow strictly the codes, fundamental aspects of islaam. They have a strong, firm belief and will strickly adhere to them, and will not be pushed off the path they wish to take. They will also be prepared to fight, and die for tier beliefs. However they will not impose thier beliefs on others who do not wish to follow suite. They will preach islaam, teach islaam to people, but they will not oppress, or force people to do as they believe. A fanatic is someone who does not have a firm grasp of islaam, yet believe that they are right, and everyone else is wrong, so much so, that those who do not floow the exact beliefs they do, these people will see them as bitter enemies and will be prepare to kill and oppress others. They are also prepared to act according to thier own desires rather than that which islaam allows, hence meaning they will carry out actions which islaam striclty forbids, such as suicide bombings, hostage taking etc. Now what the media is doing, in its campiagn against Islaam, is to label both Fanatics and fundamentalists as both one and the same, hence breeding fear in the heart of the general masses agianst islaam, and those who have firm islaamic beliefs. |
| Re: Fundimentalist or fanatic? What are the deffinitions and where is the line d |
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| Dawn |
| 02/02/02 at 15:56:11 |
| I would share your definitions too, Cara. And I would agree with mujaahid's impression of what the media, in general, is doing in dumping both into the same bucket. I have two comments that I would like to add to what he said. First, I think that the media is not the only entity to do this. I find that the general "person off the street" would not be capable of making such a distinction, mostly because they have never thought about it. And it is so much easier to repeat what you have heard than to actually think about it for yourself, especially if it won't really affect your life in any way. This being said, I also think that if the general "person off the street" were to be presented with a scenario where they were forced to think about the differences, they would also conclude along the lines that Cara has. Sadly, this is not likely to happen. Second, Islam is not the only religion to fall prey to this "sorting" algorithm. The media (and here I am presuming American media -- I do not know enough yet about European or other media here to begin to generalize) has even done this to the religion of the majority of its constituants, though perhaps not to the same degree as to Islam. So called "Christian fundamentalists" find themselves in a similar, though again, not as extreme, situation. A doctor who performs abortions is killed, and the finger is pointed at the "pro-lifers", who as "everyone" knows, are fanatics. A clinic is bombed, and again, it is the fundamentalists who are criticized. I pick the whole abortion issue, as it is the most volatile. But a few years ago, it was prayer in public schools, or more recently, the creation/evolution controversy. In any case, I seem to observe a general tendency to lump fundamentalist and fanatic together, without regard for the slander that this is for the fundamentalist. I do not know whether such categorizing is limited to the American media or the "American" mindset, (as the media will slant the news to what attracts viewers, and hence, brings in the money), or if it is a more global phenomena, but if I had to guess, I would go global. America is terribly diverse to have one mindset, though I suppose on a local level, it could be identified. And in any case, it seems to be human nature to lump together that which one doesn't understand and/or feels threatened by and label it "bad". In any case, in the U.S., Islam's fundamentalists get the really short end of the stick here simply because Islam is a minority religion and the folks that can stick up for it are fewer and further between, and the folks that can clearly explain and diffuse are even rarer. Just my thoughts. |
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