Fundamentalism Is Worse Than Atheism

A recent op-ed in the New York Times by Slavoj Zizek (Defenders of the Faith, 3-12-06), suggests that Europe’s Muslims are indebted to Europe’s atheists for providing an atmosphere of tolerance.

"For centuries, we have been told that without religion we are no more than egotistic animals fighting for our share, our only morality that of a pack of wolves; only religion, it is said, can elevate us to a higher spiritual level. Today, when religion is emerging as the wellspring of murderous violence around the world, assurances that Christian or Muslim or Hindu fundamentalists are only abusing and perverting the noble spiritual messages of their creeds ring increasingly hollow. What about restoring the dignity of atheism, one of Europe's greatest legacies and perhaps our only chance for peace?"

Some critics point out that atheism itself is a belief, and thus contains the same seeds of intolerance as religion. But these critics fail to consider the actual nature of atheism. Atheism is not an affirmative belief. It denies the existence of God. It does not affirm the existence of anything else. As such, it has no sacred text, creed nor rhetoric to give absolute guidance when it comes to living our lives. Atheists may or may not have strong affirmative beliefs about the true nature of the universe, but the one thing they agree on is that there is no God. So it is impossible to see in atheism--a singular denial--the seeds of intolerant affirmation. In other words, if an atheist happens to want to exterminate some other group of people, it is not because atheism explicitly or implicitly tells him to.

A related criticism of Zizek is that religion is one of many belief systems that have, in the past, led to sanctioned violence, murder and destruction. Critics cite Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot and Josef Stalin as non-religious examples. But beneath these seemingly disparate maniacs lies a single, solitary thread. Zizek’s piece concerns fundamentalists, whose belief in a particular religious text is absolute. And wherever one finds mass murder, crimes against humanity or genocide, one also finds fundamentalism. Not religious fundamentalism, per se, but an absolute believe in a doctrine, usually codified, like the racial purity tenets of the Third Reich or the anti-intellectual dogma of the Khmer Rouge. Fundamentalism requires a blind faith in doctrine, usually combined with a trust in the authorities administering that doctrine.

Religious fundamentalism is a subset of a more general fundamentalism, which arrogantly claims: “I know the absolute truth, and all else is false.”

The absolute conviction that a single theological claim is false (atheism) is substantially different, and radically less dangerous, than the absolute conviction that a set of claims are true (fundamentalism).

I'm not an atheist, but atheists don't trouble me. Atheism, in itself, lacks the substance necessary to lead to violence. But of its nature, fundamentalism contains the seeds of division, hatred and intolerance. Sadly, we have witnessed them blossoming time and again.