Ecoblogi – A Blog by Daniel Elkama

On 22 October 1988, at the Paris premiere of Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ, "Christian" fundamentalists attacked the cinema with firebombs. 13 were injured, one fatally. The fundamentalists' reason for the attack was a scene in the movie where Jesus feels a sexual attraction to Mary Magdalene.

The roots of Christian terror are far back in history. Already in ancient times: Some Christian groups burned the churches and homes of other Christian groups, such as Gnostics and Cathars, and killed them as "heretics". A famous case is also the lynching of the Greek scientist Hypatia, who was influential in the library of Alexandria, by Christian fundamentalists. Hypatia was the first martyr of science and enlightenment. The Gnostics even had to hide and hide their scriptures in caves. An example of this is the Nag Hammadi library found in Egypt. When the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in the 11th century on the authority of the Pope, they killed all non-Catholics in Jerusalem, including Orthodox, Jews and Muslims, even very young children. On the order of the Pope, an army was sent to genocide the Cathar Christians of France in the Middle Ages. An estimated 200,000 to 1,000,000 Cathars were murdered in religious persecution. After the Reformation, the Pope sent his army to bring Northern Europe back under papal control. The result was the sinking of the invincible Spanish Armada off Britain and the Thirty Years' War, which ended with the victory of Sweden and Germany and the defeat of the Pope. In the new era, in the 17th-18th centuries, on the other hand, Protestant countries persecuted e.g. women who own cats or gather herbs as witches and were burned at the stake. The "witches" hadn't done anything bad to anyone, were just interested in nature or believed in nature spirits, or were randomly subjected to fundamentalist violence.

So much evil has been done in the name of Christianity, which is actually based on a message of love, truth and goodness. Directionless darkness of the human mind. The incomprehensible cruelty of blind people towards those who think differently. All this blood shed just to control people's minds and defend the old world view. Madness. Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti said that people's blind faith in religions and ideas eventually leads to violence and suffering. People often have a tendency to love isms, beliefs and religions more than people, their neighbors. Friedrich Nietzche stated that "the last Christian died on the cross", referring to the blindness of Jesus' followers and the atrocities they committed. Suffering often stems from ignorance and lack of wisdom, from people seeing the world wrongly; especially the lack of empathy, not seeing the value of others.

On November 5, 1605, a group of conspirators were caught in London, who had hidden kegs of gunpowder in the basement of the House of Parliament in Westminster, Britain, with the intention of blowing up the House of Parliament and killing the Protestant King James I. To this day, the capture of Guy Fawkes is celebrated in England and effigies of him are burned on November 5. The conspirators were Jesuits and Catholics who wanted a Catholic king to replace James I. This was one of the earliest Christian terror plots. He wasn't a pure follower of James I either: the conspiracy against him stemmed from James I's systematic persecution of Catholics. For example, the activities of Catholic priests were prohibited under the threat of the death penalty. James I, after whom the King James Bible, admired by fundamentalists, is named, can be considered a religious fundamentalist. He also persecuted other Christians: for example, the Puritans fled to America on the Mayflower ship during his time. He was also behind the extensive witch hunts. The heads of the conspirators were finally put on the walls in London's Westminster. Relations between Catholics and Protestants are still badly inflamed in Northern Ireland. From 1916 until the 21st century, the area was fought between the Irish Liberation Army and the British military forces. The IRA carried out several terrorist attacks on civilian targets, and the British army, on the other hand, killed numerous Irish civilians.

Right-wing conservatism, anti-liberalism, racism, fascism, anti-Semitism and Christian fundamentalism have always been linked. In the US Civil War in the 1860s, the Confederacy formed by the Southern States fought against the Union of Northern States, which defended democracy and freedom. The Confederation wanted to preserve the old world order, which included e.g. slavery. Racism is closely linked to religious fundamentalism. The representatives of the Confederacy were religious fundamentalists, according to whom black people descended from the cursed son of Noah, and were therefore cursed. Still, many fundamentalists in the "bible belt" of the American South admire the Confederacy and are racist. The faces of the Confederate representatives would have been worth seeing when Barack Obama became the President of the United States! History shows that evil never wins in the end, the light always wins the shadows in the end. Some are on the right side of history, others on the wrong side. 1865 After the defeat of the Confederacy, the Ku Klux Klan was founded in the USA, which was founded by former supporters of the Confederacy. They also assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, who led the Union and abolished slavery. Since then, the Ku Klux Klan has persecuted and killed black people and other non-whites in the United States with the burning cross as its symbol. They believe that the Jews are in a conspiracy against the rest of the world and other conspiracy theories.

These ideas of the Ku Klux Klan have gained continuity among supporters of Donald Trump and Q-anonists. The Trumpists tried 2021, even a revolution when they stormed Capitol Hill. Democracy was really in great danger here. Trump is a fundamentalist, racist and fascist who seeks autocracy and absolute power. He is the complete opposite of a genuine Christian, a money-hungry playboy millionaire and a hate-filled, power-hungry thug. Trump's hypocritical fundamentalism was shown at its most ironic when he walked from the White House to a nearby church, which was burned in a protest, with a Bible in his hand, to speak against the Black Lives Matter movement, which started after the murder of a black man by a white police officer. Q-anon claims that climate change is a lie and that "Jews are starting forest fires with space lasers". Trump and his supporters are a direct continuation of the Ku Klux Klan and the Confederacy. The Ku Klux Klan represents absolute evil and everything else that Jesus taught, even though the Klan claims to be Christians. They only think they are Christians, even though they are not. The worst thing is that even Hitler thought and claimed to be a Christian. He claimed in the Holocaust that he was "continuing the work started by the Catholic Church." The Popes had persecuted the Jews bloody since the Middle Ages and eventually expelled all the Jews from Europe. Hitler also put numerous priests and Christians who opposed him to concentration camps, as well as all Freemasons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Numerous fundamentalist churches in Germany, including Pentecostal churches and others, actually supported Hitler and he rose to power in part with their support. Luther was a "great prophet" for Hitler, when he had written the book "Judaism and their lies" in his last years, embittered and pessimistic.

Of course, fundamentalism and religious intolerance occur equally in religions other than Christianity. Religious intolerance is a universal phenomenon that the world should overcome. Iran is an Islamist theocratic tyranny where women have no human dignity. In Myanmar, a celebrity Buddhist monk incites hatred against Rohingya Muslims and their villages are burned. Most Rohingya Muslims have fled the country. In Pakistan and India, churches are currently being burned, Christian homes are being destroyed, and Christians are being killed by stoning by extremist Muslims or Hindu extremists. According to Open Doors, Christians are persecuted in most parts of the world. Hundreds of millions of Christians have to live under constant fear. Extreme Islam in itself is a fairly recent phenomenon, for example in Afghanistan even before the 70s, the Islamic revolution and the Taliban, women lived a normal life and walked without a burkha in colorful national costumes. In fact, the medieval Islamic Middle East preceded Christian Europe, the cradle of civilization, tolerance and culture, where the philosophy of ancient Greece was continued.

This all speaks of religious fundamentalism at its worst and how dangerous it is. Throughout history there have been fights about whose god is better. The fight has not only remained, for example, between Christians and Muslims, but also within Christianity there have been bloody fights even over very small theological differences. Only the age of enlightenment based on philosophy started to bring equality and tolerance between different religions. The French Revolution and the US Constitution brought religious freedom into law for the first time. US President Thomas Jefferson is known to have said that it doesn't matter to him whether his neighbors believe in one God or a million, as long as they live in harmony and peace. Religious fundamentalism is based on people's need to be absolutely right and deep intolerance, on wanting to destroy others. Others are seen as "heretics" and dangerous "powers of Satan or darkness" or representatives of the devil. They are perceived as a threat to the existence of one's own identity. Dissidents are seen as "others" who are not worthy like "us". A fundamentalist needs to be absolutely right, because otherwise his world and worldview will crumble and his identity will fall apart. A so-called cognitive dissonance occurs. So he's basically trying to protect his own ego. Religious fundamentalism is related to anti-liberalism and conservatism: it seeks to maintain the past world and its hierarchies, even with violence. It often tends to idealize something from the past that no longer exists. For example, many current Christian revival movements, such as Lestadioism in Finland, have frozen in the 19th century worldview and its ideals, even though the world has moved on. Fundamentalism is a battle for people's minds. It is based on the idea that the thinking of others must be controlled by violence.

In particular, religious conservatism and fundamentalism have seen science, democracy and enlightenment as a threat. Churches have persecuted scientists throughout the centuries. The Italian scientist Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in Rome in 1600 by order of the Pope when he said that the universe was infinite and that there were countless stars around which the planets revolved. Galileo Galilei was sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life and forced to crawl in front of the Pope and apologize for showing that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Otherwise, he would have been tortured by the Catholic Inquisition. Charles Darwin presented his theory of evolution, and was first laughed at and finally condemned angrily by the churches. Even today, Darwin arouses great anger in many fundamentalists and churches, and they e.g. demand the removal of the theory of evolution from school curricula. In all these examples, it's about clinging to the old world view: Earth is the center of the universe or that animal and plant species have always been the same. Even if science presents the fundamentalist with completely waterproof evidence, the fundamentalist will not believe it. They are a threat to his ego and the integrity of his world view. Otherwise, if his worldview were shattered, the fundamentalist would become very afraid: it would be scary for him to face a world that is different from what he is used to. A world where the order he has firmly believed in does not prevail. The background of fundamentalism is therefore a deep and strong fear, although in reality the "new world" is not scary but just different. The terrible thing is that the fear of fundamentalists has led to the death and torture of millions of people throughout history. In the words of Jesus: "The blind help the blind and all fall into the well."

The 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer proposed that every truth goes through three stages 1) first it is laughed at 2) then it is violently opposed and 3) then it is accepted as self-evident. History has followed this formula for many scientific truths, such as the aforementioned movement of the Earth and the theory of evolution. All this is due to people's blindness and resistance to change, which causes resistance to development according to Ohm's law.

What many fundamentalists do not know, Darwin was a devout Christian. The theory of evolution does not contradict the Bible when the Bible is interpreted correctly. The problem with fundamentalism is the literal and dogmatic unconditional interpretation of the scriptures and the lack of understanding of allegories, similes, conventions and context. A person reads writings so that he only sees in them what he wants to see. He creates god in his own image. In the psychological model of Neisser's sphere of perception, a person easily sees around him only those things that support his previous worldview. For example, a fundamentalist sees dinosaur fossils as the remains of creatures that died in the flood. Everything is just set up to support the old notion. He can't believe, and can't see any scientific evidence of how dinos lived millions of years ago. A fundamentalist does not understand, for example, that the writings of the Bible represent the worldview of their time and that Jesus and the prophets spoke in parables. Often, for example, a lack of understanding of Judaism leads to incorrect interpretations of the Bible. Christianity is based on Judaism. A fundamentalist doesn't understand that the Bible is a book written by humans, with errors. In Judaism, reinterpreting scriptures and understanding contexts and conventions, or reconciling science and faith, has not been a problem in the same way. A large part of the famous scientists have been Jewish, even more than 30% of the Nobel laureates. Science and faith are not really in conflict, they are compatible. At their best, they complement and support each other. Many famous scientists have believed in God, such as Darwin, Newton and Einstein. Einstein is known, for example, for his statement: "God does not roll dice." Einstein believed that God's great plan was behind everything.

Likewise, atheism has brought evil into the world. In the Soviet Union, churches and bibles were burned and believers were persecuted and killed. Millions of people around the world have been killed in the name of communist atheism. Karl Marx presented his thesis that "religion is the opium of the people." Communism does not accept freedom of religion as a human right and a constitutional right. Communism can be seen as an idea that is just as much fundamentalism as religious fundamentalism. Anything inappropriate to the idea will not be tolerated. China conquered Tibet bloodily in the 1950s. Monasteries were razed to the ground and over a million Tibetan Buddhists died in the genocide. The Dalai Lama fled to India. China claimed to have “liberated Tibet from the slavery of the Dalai Lama.” In reality, the Dalai Lama was by no means a despot, but a gentle and well-liked ruler who eventually received the Nobel Peace Prize. China still claims the Dalai Lama as a terrorist and, most ironically, as a "religious fundamentalist." The Dalai Lama has spent his entire life speaking for peace, compassion, tolerance and interfaith peace and dialogue. It should be noted that atheism is not evil, except when it is based on some blind and violent idea. Many atheists speak for tolerance, dialogue and humanism.

In the 21st century, not only in the USA but also in Europe, in Hungary and Poland, anti-liberalism and religious fundamentalism have risen, which are a hindrance to the unity of the EU. The latest to join the group is Russia, where Putin and the Orthodox Church claim to be waging a "holy war" against Ukraine. Orthodox Patriarch Kiril is e.g. poured holy water on nuclear weapons and claims that Russian soldiers who fall in Ukraine will go straight to heaven. Russia claims to be fighting "against the anti-Christian West and homosexuality and the liberal world order". Putin's war is also a war against all environmental protection and the green transition, after all, Russia's economy is based almost exclusively on fossil energy, oil and natural gas.

In Finland, fundamentalism has rised its head in recent decades. Anti-liberalism, racism, anti-science and right-wing conservatism are also related to fundamentalism here. Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen is, among others, claimed homosexuals as evil and sick. According to science, homosexuality is an innate quality, not a disease or evil. In many revival movements, environmental protection and the green idea are swear words. I remember e.g. some fundamentalists have said that the green idea of vegetarianism and veganism are "demonic and satanic" and that vegetarians are "possessed by demons". Many fundamentalists deny climate change and hate renewable energy, such as wind power. Former MEP Eija-Riitta Korhola has claimed, e.g. the chickens exploding in the coops because of the wind turbine and other absolutely absurd things. The root of all this is the fear of everything new and change. Just as the mad Don Quixote fought windmills thinking they were dangerous giants, many fundamentalists fight wind power because they are so deranged and psychotic that they fear them as new and modern.

It can be seen that there is a war between darkness and light in the world. Often those who think they represent the light are in the deepest darkness. I am a Christian and I know from my own experience that many who claim to be Christians are not, but represent regression, darkness and hatred. In the Bible, Jesus teaches the pharisee Nicodemus that if he wants to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he must be "born again from above". This means a change of mind, that a person starts striving for good in all his activities and takes the side of justice. At the heart of true Christianity is love. Paul writes: "Live as children of light." In the English language, the word "repent" is originally from the Greek "metanoia", which means a new mind, renewal of the mind. I too could claim to be a formula driver, but I have not driven a formula. Anyone can claim to be a Christian, but he is not a Christian if he lacks a renewed mind, love and God's word. God's word is supposed to produce good fruit in man. Jesus says: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Every branch that does not bear good fruit is cut off from the tree and thrown into the fire.” 1 John states that a Christian who does not love is not a Christian. A true Christian is not filled with anger or greed. A true Christian is always on the side of good. When he does wrong, he is humble and admits it, and does not defend his wrongdoings. John Newton, the composer of the hymn Amazing Grace, which was influenced by African music, worked on a slave ship in the 18th century, but came to faith, realized that he was doing completely wrong, and started working to help the slaves and free them. He died at Christmas time in 1807, a couple of months after slavery was abolished in the British Empire

The war of darkness against light can be seen in many ways, we live in a very dark and scary world. Some people are capable of unimaginably horrible acts. War can also be seen in how the darkness tries to extinguish the light. Darkness seeks to extinguish the flames of enlightenment, science, democracy, and genuine faith and wisdom. Let the light guide humanity through the darkness. Humanity can still reach the opposite shore. We have already won many battles against the darkness. Democracy, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, science, elimination of poverty and inequality, feminism and human rights have made progress in the world, especially since the Second World War. Step by step, humanity has been moving towards better things. Even a hundred years ago, child mortality was high due to the lack of vaccines, people's average life expectancy was half of what it is now, people were poorer, and oppression was everywhere, from where it has now been banished. In the beautiful words of Sibelius's Finlandia: "O rise Finland, you showed the world that you banished slavery. And that you didn't bend under the oppression. It is the birthplace of the dawn" Let us remember with respect those who have fought against darkness and oppression throughout history. Our rights are the result of their struggles.