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Fight fundamentalism

A recent article by Jeffery Goldberg in the New York Times Weekend magazine told the story of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan. While the article was certainly an interesting look at a select group of Muslims in Pakistan, its fervent tone only reinforces the American notions that all followers of Islam are religious fanatics, that all Arabs are Muslim, and that America is most threatened by foreign terrorism.

The United States stands far more risk from its own religious and political fundamentalists. But instead of looking inward, U.S. citizens and journalists would rather look to the Middle East to find their villains.

It is true that there are certain groups of terrorists in the Middle East that do wish the West harm. Everyone knows about the camp of Osama Bin Ladin, about the groups in Afghanistan, and others that have threatened the United States, and who are indeed linked to some embassy bombings in Africa.

But what many people do not grasp is that the anger directed toward the United States by these groups has more to do with the legacy of the Cold War than with religion. In many countries where this type of thought is more common, the populations felt abandoned or betrayed by the United States in fighting communism. That legacy of ill will has festered and become an aggressive and fundamentalist battle.

Somehow, the West is more comfortable characterizing the Arab world as one of fanatic war mongers, rather than as ordinary, law abiding citizens like most of them are. This fear of the Middle East and Arabs has manifested itself now in an irrational and hysterical fear of the Islamic religion and Arabs themselves. Just think of how many Hollywood villains are Arabs, in search of nuclear bombs or other weapons with which to blow up the innocent white Protestant world.

These stereotypical views are not just limited to the silver screen. Arabs across this country have had to deal with being eyed suspiciously when boarding planes, with ridiculous questions about their religious views, and in some cases, even being attacked because they fit the American image of terrorists so well.

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, groups of Arabs were attacked and beaten simply because of their appearance. Very recently, two men of Arab decent where detained simply because they were standing during a flight and made the flight attendants nervous. These episodes clearly demonstrate the willingness of Americans to give all their "bad guys" an accent rather than suspect their white friends and neighbors of acts of terrorism.

But it is those white friends and neighbors who have been guilty of the most heinous acts of national terrorism in recent years. Two fundamentalist white men with Western upbringings blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing innocent people. Another fundamentalist Christian is suspected of setting the bombs that went off during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Not to mention the Unabomber's campaign of terror.

What is so frightening is that these men are not the conspicuous outsiders we want our terrorists to be, but citizens that could blend in easily to the American landscape.

What is really endangering America, and everyone in the world for that matter, is fundamentalism itself. The belief that one idea and one way of living is the only way of living leads to violence all over the world. And the belief that one path is righteous and all others are not is not exclusive to any major religion. All over the world there are people who believe that their way is the only way, and those who want to change the world violently.

Even in our own country we have a healthy population of fundamentalists of many religions. It makes no sense for our nation to go on irrationally fearing all Muslims and Middle Easterners, when there are people within our own country who pose far more threat to our well being. We should, instead, impart ideas of respect and tolerance for all ways of life, even those we know very little about.

Fundamentalism is the real enemy in the world. Americans can be just as intolerant of other world views as any other group, and we must make a concerted effort to make our country a beacon for tolerance. Our treatment of people is monitored internationally, and as a world leader, we must take the lead on this issue if there is to be any hope for lasting non-violence. We must fight fundamentalism, both at home and abroad.