Know who it is that is your enemy.
Theology, nor even faith in God, Allah, or the Way of Enlightenment are not the forces which we must counter. I can live my life quite acceptably in the same neighborhood as Atheists, Buddhists, and Muslims. Their fundamentalism is not my problem; it is hatred that is my problem. In the case where hate, and at worst, violence is the expression of religious belief, it is not the religious belief that makes it a problem; it is the hate, and violence.
My jingoistic, racist white Baptist neighbor remains as much a good neighbor as my pacifist Buddhist immigrant neighbor, until one of them starts trying to imposing his own desires upon me, or taking his own religiously inspired vengeance out on the other. Then I have a problem, and it isn’t a theological problem. The Witches down the street don’t cause me any harm when they dance naked in the moonlight, unless they start inviting my young children to watch without my permission.
In secular society, it doesn’t matter what you think, feel, or believe. What matters is your conduct in society. God will decide if you did right or wrong. Society must decide if you should be allowed to run around loose. Your opinions of God’s opinion are not legally binding on anyone, not even you. If you believe that God wants you to do illegal things, then surely you must believe He expects you to do time for it. Prison has a long history as the seat of theological exploration.
On the level of nations, the same rules must be extrapolated. The laws of nations cannot include the implication that one nation’s view takes precedence over all others. When that precedence is promulgated by military force, we call it tyranny. What reason have we to call it anything else, when it dresses up in priests robes?
But we must apply that judgment on ourselves. When I seek to spread the message of my Lord, I must act within the law of men, for I am a man. The Lord might not have those restrictions, but I am not He. If my faith sets me against the law, then my faith has called for a sacrifice. That sacrifice must be my own. It cannot be from an unwilling victim of my choice. When I make that choice, whatever my faith might be, to the world at large, I am a criminal.
When I judge the actions of others, their faith is not subject to my judgment, and those who share their faith do not share their guilt, unless they share the actions. I don’t despise the actions of Muslims; I despise the actions of murderers. I am not intolerant of Catholics; I am outraged by the actions of criminals in Priest’s robes. It is not religion, or even fundamentalism which opposes civilization, it is hatred in the guise of religion or nationalism, or whatever particularism it currently uses.
Only one thing can fight hate. Love. It isn’t a quick solution, nor is it an easy one. It is the only one that can work, though, so we need to get on with it.
Tris
“The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness…This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.” ~ Plato ~