Semantics of Fundamentalism

Currently fundamentalism has come to mean the fanatic, fringe elements of any religion. This raises the doubt as to whether these extreme, intolerant views are "fundamental" to the religions in question. That they are not, is evident if their scriptures are taken in their true context.

Hinduism has always preached "Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu" irrespective of their religion. Also conquering the world was never the goal for Hindus like for Alexander & Napoleon.

Even the early non-Vedic religions like Buddhism & Jainism preached non-violence  as one of their important creeds. Buddhism's goal of achieving the ten perfections could be followed by any one. Jain monks & nuns so abhorred inhaling micro-organisms & causing their death, that they were wearing masks even in pre-Covid days!

With the advent of Jesus Christ, a new religion based on love & forgiveness dawned among the Semitic religions, replacing the "eye for an eye & tooth for a tooth." His Sermon on the Mount exhorted Christians to be virtuous like God. He stopped the stoning of a woman by asking the first stone to be cast by a perfect person. He even went to the extent of asking to "turn the other cheek." But all this was given the go-by during the Spanish Inquisition. But even during that time, the silver lining to the cloud was St.Teresa of Avila who gathered a group of women & practiced austerities to attain Salvation.

"That which you have been given is but the fleeting pleasure of this life. Better & more enduring is God's recompense to those, who when angered, are willing to forgive. He that forgives & seeks reconcilement shall be recompensed by God." (Surah 42, Verse  35) of the Holy Quran. 

Unfortunately, like the Spanish Inquisition, many have overlooked this dictum.

When Rabia of Basra was born in a very poor family, the Prophet reputedly appeared in a dream to her father & said "Do not be sorrowful for this daughter who is born is a great Saint." Her famous prayer, enjoins unconditional love of God, like St. Teresa's or Akka Mahadevi's or Meera's.

"O my Lord,

If I worship you from fear of hell, 

Burn me in hell.

If I worship you from hope of Heaven,

Exclude me thence.

But if I worship you for your own sake,

Then show me Your Eternal Beauty."

(But she has not achieved the renown of St. Teresa of Avila.)

Can not the above examples be considered as "fundamental" to the respective religions?

Perils of Dogmatism in Religion, Politics & Law

In law, when a case is argued in court, an extremely one-sided (dogmatic) view is taken by the prosecution, followed by a similar opposite view taken by the defence. Hopefully, the judge, after examining evidence, takes an even-handed view, deciding the case on its merits.

Unfortunately, a similar polarised view is taken in politics, with each party claiming it's infallibility & utter ulterior motives of the other parties. How ridiculous this is, becomes evident when even the much criticised "Papal Infallibility" is restricted only to theological affairs. This has gone to such an alarming extent that parties claim an ideal perfect country can be achieved only if other parties are exterminated, forgetting the fact that a responsible & strong opposition is the only protection against tyranny in a democracy.

Even in the case of religions, all religions agree about Divine Omnipotence & that everything occurs because of God's will, conveniently overlooking the fact that this  includes the creation of religions other than their own, for God's own inscrutable purposes. The very idea of a single "true religion" is absurd as all religions have supposedly evolved for different human needs at different countries at different times.

This lamentable way of thinking can be partly ascribed to the lack of reading habit, as without extensive reading of seminal books in all ouvres, one cannot make magisterial pronouncements as if one is  born omniscient.

Even if one does not want to follow Richard Dawkins, one can surely read Thomas Paine & Bertrand Russel!

Centenary of an unique symphony

Last year marked the centenary of Ralph Vaughn Williams'  Symphony 3, subtitled "Pastoral" (1922), an unique piece in the symphonic world in that none of the 4 movements are fast or have overt rhythms. 

The four movements are:

1. Molto moderato

2. Lento moderato

3. Moderato pesante

4. Lento.

Even though it is called "Pastoral", it is actually a beautiful elegy for the dead of WW I, (in which the composer served in the Royal Army Medical Corps) & a meditation on the sounds of peace.

David Cox writes "The opening theme is harmonised in chords following the contours of the melody like Debussy." The listener is always aware of the impressionist nature of the music throughout the work. Constant Lambert writes of "The creation of a particular type of grey, reflective,  English landscape mood."

The symphony has a playing time of around 35 minutes & scored for a large orchestra & a wordless soprano in the final movement. Unfortunately it is the least performed of Vaughn Williams' symphonies.