We all agree that the problem is fundamentalism (the strong form, I sometimes use a softened version of the term). Where we don’t all agree, is what the “cause” is — consequently, what to do about the problem.

The so-called “new atheism movement” often expresses the sentiment that moderates are to blame for fundamentalism. Such debates often continue ad nauseum, and no longer interest me. I would also like to refrain from discussing the far future, defining “the far future” as that which is beyond my lifetime. When looking within these parameters, within this time-frame, it should be quite uncontroversial to say religion is here to stay. To repeat myself: to avoid debate, I’m explicitly only looking up to my horizons, my lifetime. I’m saying Cyrus Jones lived forever*.

There’s one particular reason why having this “moderates are to blame” attitude is so useful for atheists: they typically have no idea how to “talk to” fundamentalists. (And the obvious response to that statement of mine is: does anyone?) Moderates they can talk to, however. — Nevertheless, this blog focuses on fundamentalism, its purpose is to investigate fundamentalism and its dangers directly (i.e. not via “drying up the breeding ground” or something indirect like that), and in the process, make some (minor?) contribution to fixing the problem. If you think this is an absolute waste of your time, that’s fine. Much of this blog isn’t for you then. I suggest you move on, or if you’re curious, lurk but don’t waste your time commenting.

The reason I say this: aggressive anti-moderate rhetoric is detrimental to this blog’s mission or modus operandi. It shuts down conversations and erodes any hope this blog has of achieving its primary goal: to encourage critical thinking among fundamentalists (as opposed to handing down The Truth, like both “evangelical” atheists and certain kinds of evangelical Christians are prone to doing), and to promote cross-cultural understanding and peaceful co-existence of fascinating diversity. (Rephrased: diversity that is here to stay, must develop to a point where it can peacefully co-exist. Obviously so. Tautologically so in fact.)

The goal here on this blog should not be to convert anyone from anything to anything else.

If this blog were to achieve the goal of cross-cultural understanding and acceptance of diversity, fundamentalism would by definition no longer exist. That of course also won’t happen (remember: Cyrus Jones lived forever*), but we can certainly make some progress. Any battles beyond this goal, is outside of the intended sphere of interest or influence of this blog. We aim to build bridges and promote cultural exchange. Once that is done, we merely observe the results with inquisitive fascination, ideally not passing any judgements: impartial detached observers. Anthropologists. It is not our place to judge. (Gotta love idealism.)

Recap: if you think this is a quixotic quest, a waste of time, I propose it is also a waste of your time trying to convince us we’re wasting our time. Let us choose how we want to spend our time. If however you believe this blog is detrimental to humanity as a whole, we’re on an interesting collision course. If you believe that to be the case, after reading enough of this blog to have an informed opinion, it is very likely that your view of the world places you in my “fundamentalist” category.

And this blog exists to address that very problem: the problem of fundamentalism…

Thus, if you find yourself in that category, I would be very interested to have a brief exchange. Half a dozen comments maybe, possibly not more than a dozen though. Please forgive me if I start encouraging people to not feed the troll after a dozen comments: that is often enough to know whether the discussion is going to go anywhere that remains interesting. Alternatively, I might try to steer the conversation into new interesting directions (risking accusations of not finishing some supposed “debate”).

*Gravedigger, Dave Matthews Band: one of my all-time favourite songs. The first 45 seconds of that first link provides all the necessary context for this reference, and it doesn’t contain video: just an image of the album cover. For the impatient, the YouTube-less, the headphone-less-while-in-the-office, or the deaf, or the deaf, you can find the relevant lyrics here. I hate the music video, it ruins the song. It should be listened to with the eyes unoccupied.