F is for Fundementalists
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
— Winston Churchill
Everyone, everywhere has encountered some type of fundementalist. Whether they're a militant vegan, a gun-rights supporter, a die-hard Republican, or unhealthily fixated on Harry Potter, these folks won't rest until they've convinced (or coerced) everyone in earshot to agree with them. You might, on occasion, turn into this person yourself when presented with a particular topic.
Given this wide field, I'd like to focus on how the media-- both fiction and news reporting-- present the idea that fudementalism is inextricably linked to religious belief. Speculative fiction can be particularly bad for this trope, and I have noted before the urban fantasy tends to draw on religious fundementalists as automatic villains. The idea seems to be that it's a zero sum game: either you are outwardly secular, or a frothing fanatic. As anyone who has boarded a plane while wearing a head covering is well aware, this attitude leaks out of news stories and book series and into real life.
I don't have any issue with religious extremists turning up in fiction. After all, it's part of the human condition. However, it would be nice to see a continuum of different views represented, rather than a diametric choice between non-belief and fanaticism. For perspective, of the 2.2 billion Christians in the world, about 1% are the extreme American Protestants, with a similarly small number number are the type of Catholic that Dan Brown seems to think dominate the world. Less than 5% of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims would be described as radical. (I'd include other religions, but Hindus, Jews, and Buddhists are conspicuously absent from Urban Fantasy City and its surrounding environs).
There needs to be an acknowledgement of this diversity, and of the fact that most people of faith are reasonable folks who find guidance and peace in whatever spiritual path they follow.
— Winston Churchill
Everyone, everywhere has encountered some type of fundementalist. Whether they're a militant vegan, a gun-rights supporter, a die-hard Republican, or unhealthily fixated on Harry Potter, these folks won't rest until they've convinced (or coerced) everyone in earshot to agree with them. You might, on occasion, turn into this person yourself when presented with a particular topic.
Given this wide field, I'd like to focus on how the media-- both fiction and news reporting-- present the idea that fudementalism is inextricably linked to religious belief. Speculative fiction can be particularly bad for this trope, and I have noted before the urban fantasy tends to draw on religious fundementalists as automatic villains. The idea seems to be that it's a zero sum game: either you are outwardly secular, or a frothing fanatic. As anyone who has boarded a plane while wearing a head covering is well aware, this attitude leaks out of news stories and book series and into real life.
I don't have any issue with religious extremists turning up in fiction. After all, it's part of the human condition. However, it would be nice to see a continuum of different views represented, rather than a diametric choice between non-belief and fanaticism. For perspective, of the 2.2 billion Christians in the world, about 1% are the extreme American Protestants, with a similarly small number number are the type of Catholic that Dan Brown seems to think dominate the world. Less than 5% of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims would be described as radical. (I'd include other religions, but Hindus, Jews, and Buddhists are conspicuously absent from Urban Fantasy City and its surrounding environs).
There needs to be an acknowledgement of this diversity, and of the fact that most people of faith are reasonable folks who find guidance and peace in whatever spiritual path they follow.
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