How to talk to a fundamentalist

Is to tell them you’re satisfied with your belief system 

Following a decade of global terrorism, our country is increasingly facing a growing tide of conservatism that has swept over everything from the legal system to educational institutions. In a survey conducted by the British Council on the youth vote, an overarching majority has voiced support for religious, conservative parties. Although we commonly associate fundamentalism with men in beards and ill-fitting shalwars, it discreetly manifests itself in many different forms—housewives sticking to the parameters of their homes, young children who are taught not to question, unsuspecting individuals inducted into religious cults, legislators who believe in the absolutism of law, amongst many others. There have been innumerable instances when I have come across seemingly sound people but when the conversation challenges their beliefs they become defensive, dismissive and angry. Fundamentalism is not only about the symbolic or the performative, it is rather about the mindset that adheres to absolutism and enforces that certain beliefs/principles are beyond question. The rigid adherence to a set of principles and the supposition that they are exclusively correct, breeds intolerance towards any opposing views and stigmatizes the anyone who dares to digress.

Before coming face to face with a fundamentalist, it is essential to understand how their mind works—and rest assured, it is at a tangent with the thought process of a liberal progressive human being. What they believe in is of far less significance that how they come to the realization of their established ‘truths’. Regarding religious and moral matters, fundamentalists have binary brains. There is no grey area in their minds when it comes to God or the Quran or much else for that matter. To a fundamentalist, everything is black and white, yes or no, truth or lie which explains why they are able to speak with such assuredness about their beliefs even when facts indicate otherwise. If you use grey relativistic talk, situational, tentative, hypothetical—it will translate to black. They claim to be 100 percent certain of their beliefs and they will demand the same for you. For this reason, fundamentalists are as dismissive of liberal Muslims as they are of atheists or other “non-believers.” If you offer an interpretation that is slightly different from their literal reading they will take that opportunity to point out your inferior understanding or reiterate that you are alienated from the truth. For them, natural disasters are the wrath of God, women are temptations and whatever the Mullah is saying must be right because, despite his inferior intellect, lack of education and sup-par Arabic, he, by some divine mechanism, is able to understand the word of God better than us plebeians. Fundamentalists are people who respond to most questions about their beliefs by the proclamation—“because God said so.” Rationality and logic are eradicated from in their day to day discourse and they would rather stick to their moral code, like slave soldiers, no matter how archaic, discriminatory or unwarranted it seems to be. They fail to grasp the power of their own minds—if God wanted to create clones who behaved and believed in the same way, he won’t have endowed humanity with a mind altogether.

The agenda of a fundamentalist is to homogenize thinking and subsequently convert you—or eradicate your kind altogether. This contempt towards difference is apparent through their need to establish an uncontestable moral code and label behaviors as intrinsically wrong- all people from other sects, non-believers, liberals, secularists, drinkers, gamblers, music enthusiasts, dancers are all on the wrong path, no matter what their reasoning is: “because God said so.” By showing a disregard for their agenda, you have already won. The simplest way to counter a fundamentalist, and one that I personally ascribe to, is to tell them you’re satisfied with your belief system—“No thank you, I do not believe in what you do. I am perfectly happy with my life. You follow your religion and I will follow mine.” After a few attempts, they will hopefully back off and at most pass a snide remark or say “tobah.” If you indulge in conversation, however, be careful. You might be opening yourself up to lengthy a monologue of wherein they attempt to display their knowledge and reassure themselves that they are important servants of God. If you display any uncertainty in your argument, fundamentalists will view that as a weakness and insecurity, consequently strengthening their resolve. If you simply walk away, you are ignoring them and their attention seeking tactics.

The way to deal with fundamentalists on a day to day basis, whether it is a preacher or a strict aunt, is to know that there are happy, well-informed people in the world who do not think like them. Don’t worry about changing their minds— that is a hard and nearly impossible task to carry out. You are not the one with the issue and you do not have to be burdened with ‘correcting’ the world—that is a fundamentalist’s mission.

The writer is a staff member of Pakistan Today and holds a degree from Mount Holyoke College.