George Pyle: From the attack on Salman Rushdie to threats against the FBI, belief in absolutes threatens us all.
The thread connecting all of this reprehensible behavior is the dogmatic belief of religion or politics — or, most dangerously, a mixture of both — that a certain faith tradition or particular leader is to be believed, obeyed and revered no matter what.since 1989, when the supreme leader of Iran declared Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses” a blasphemous attack on Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and put a bounty on the author’s head.
In England, where he mostly lives, Rushdie was protected by Scotland Yard and knighted by the queen. In the U.S. and other Western nations, he has been honored as a brave advocate of free thought and free speech. Which he is. But Rushdie also wins support from Westerners because those who threaten him are, in our eyes, weird extremists who dress funny. Not regular Muslims but radical religious fanatics with no respect for individual freedom or responsibility.Neither The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nor the Southern Baptist Convention has, at least recently, put out a hit on any of its critics or lapsed members.
Americans generally are supporters, fans, adherents, but not worshipers, of their favorite politicians. Richard Nixon’s party abandoned him for sins far less grievous than Trump’s. Jimmy Carter went from refreshing voice of a new generation to 98-pound weakling in less than four years. George H.W. Bush lost his base when he raised taxes. Barack Obama and Joe Biden drew a lot of flak from their own party for not being liberal enough, both of them losing influence in the process.
No potential political rival, Republican or Democrat, can, or seemingly even wants to, call demons from the vastly deep and, like Trump, expect them to actually appear. And looking for a politician who could amass such power in response is not something we should aspire to., who said, “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay.
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