I just saw a headline on the news which is good because I was looking for something to write about. Here's what it said.

Muslim Fundamentalism: Main Obstacle to World Peace?

My first thought was...what? This sounds a lot like "Trees: Planning a Conspiracy to Kill Us All?" or any other combination of one small contingent of beings being responsible for the actions of lots and lots of others. My next thought is that maybe, just maybe, they popped that up just for a talking point. Maybe they put that question up just to raise a little contention or a little debate. Maybe. But I don't think that this is the case. I think that there are actually people that believe this sort of thing. I think that there are lots of people that think all of the evil in the world stems from one tiny group ruining it for the rest of us. If they had said just "Fundamentalism" then maybe we'd have something to talk about. I don't think that fundamentalism causes all of the wars and killing throughout the world, but in certain circumstances is does encourage people to stop thinking and to close their mind to other possibilities. I also don't think that Muslims are the root of all evil. I don't think you can assign that kind of blame to any one person or group of people.

Fundamentalism cannot be all bad. It is the belief in a certain set of fundamentals and a following of those fundamental beliefs in order to achieve certain goals. Do all Muslims believe fundamentally in war? Do they all believe in killing everyone with different beliefs? Does any group of people believe exactly the same things? No. People have similar beliefs. People have beliefs based of the same things, but a person's beliefs are also effected by his or her perceptions. Two people can read the same book, or be told the same thing, and come away with with two very different perceptions of the same thing. If two people are told "We are the chosen people of God" one may come away with a feeling of comfort or purity while the other may come away thinking that they should kill everyone else. This is why there is contention in the world. This is why no large group of people ever agrees completely on one thing.

It would be just as accurate to say "Christianity: Main Obstacle to World Peace?" There were centuries where armies conquered and killed in the name of God. At this point in history the Christian Fundamentalists went out and killed large groups of people ostensibly becuase they held different beliefs. Hitler believed that his group of people were better than all the others. He believed that all the others should be killed. However, not everyone that he considered part of that group believed that as well. Belief is a powerful thing. Believing a lie does not make it true, even if millions of other people believe it too. Acting on that belief, or killing for it, does not make it right. Is it right for us to tell Muslims they are wrong? Are the Hindus wrong? Are the Buddhists? What about all of the other religions in the world? Are they all wrong? They don't believe what you do. They don't. Does that make you wrong? It might. Then again, it might not.

The point is this. Never, not ever, will everyone believe the same thing. We will never all agree on what religion is right or wrong, which government is right or wrong, which god is real or false, which savior is true or a lie, or really anything else for that matter. You can't prove that you are right. You can't prove that they are wrong. That's the problem with faith. It takes faith. That doesn't mean you should stop having faith. That doesn't mean you should stop trying to fix the problems with your government. It also doesn't mean that there is not someone who is right. There may be, but even if there is, there is no way to know for sure. Buddha could have been real. Mohammed also could have been real. Jesus might have been real too. They may all have said or meant very different things from what we think. Maybe everything they said was true. Maybe they were all driving at the same point.

My bet is that, fundamentally, people and their need to be right is the main obstacle to world peace. Maybe if we think to ourselves that we will never have exactly the right answer, that we will work our whole lives towards that goal, and that we will keep our minds open to possibilities that we have not yet come across then we will have a much better chance of achieving world peace. It's a nice thought. It also sounds better than "I'm right and you're wrong and lots of other people think so too so I'm just gonna go ahead and kill you since you're obviously a lost cause and you're going to burn in Hell." What an unpleasant way to view the world.

The book is coming soon. It's called "Peace? What's that?"