Two Fundamentalisms

Obviously, we are in a clash of cultures – the West and Islam (at least it seems to me – when there is a group of people who hold other beliefs that are different from mine and are so intolerant of mine that they wish to kill me and all those that believe as I do – that’s a clash).

With my visit to Lancaster and learning more about the Amish, I realize that culture clash is not just the above. The Amish certainly believe that there is a clash between their culture and “normal” American life (though I am wondering what constitutes “normal” nowadays). Yet, they don’t want to kill me for being different!

So why the difference? Both are fundamentalist in relation to their sacred texts. They both believe that modern western culture is decadent and immoral. Both believe that they hold to their sacred texts and conventions better than others. Both often eschew modern learning – one only to the eighth grade and the other that which did not exist back in the Middle Ages. Both withdraw into their own cultures rather than accepting the mores of the overall culture in which they exist. Both have been descriminated against and their followers killed for their beliefs.

Yet one wishes to be left alone (the Amish) and the other (Islam) wishes for us to convert. One tolerates me, while the other wishes me to convert or submit. One wishes to be left alone while the other wants me to agree to abandon my cultural foundations and totally accept theirs. One would rather ignore me, while the other would kill me.