FUNDAMENTALISTS AND ANTI-INTELLECTUALISTS

by Gurdjieff, Monday, November 15, 2004, 13:27

A worrying trend that I am seeing around the world is religious fundamentalism combined with anti - intellectualism. It seems that part of the package of fundamentalism is a distrust of intellect and reason. Terrorists give no rational, reasoned case for their actions - they have a simple sloganised creed which to them explains and justifies everything they do.

I saw the same thing in the election campaigns in the US. People responded more to GWB's sloganising than they did to JK's reasoned arguments. There seemed to be an attitude of "I don't understand what you're saying, so it must be a trick." "All I need to hear from you is God Bless America and Jesus is Lord - all other matters are irrelevant.

By the way, I am no admirer of Kerry - to use an old English expression - he pees in the same pot as Bush...

I think you suffered mostly from a lack of choice.

The terrorist seem to be totally beyond reason, but the US has a tradition of educated, intelligent, Presidents so something has changed.

I am not of the school that dismisses GWB as a moron - I don't think he is, but he does not put his beliefs and actions to the electorate in reasoned terms - he seems to bypass reasoning, and employs instead sloganistic appeals to nationalistic and religious blind faith. From what I have been able to see, GWB's support comes from a less well educated section of US society, and the opposition from the more educated...

Urban America seems to be the educated cosmopolitan vote, and rural America the religious ant-intellectual vote. This is, which ever way you look at, it a worrying and unhealthy polarisation.

Powell has resigned - clearly an intelligent man.

Rumsfeld - at best foolhardy, at worst impulsive and chauvanistic - not in any sense a reasoning man.

I think that one of the reasons so many people around the world do not support the actions of the GWB regime is that they have been so poorly explained.

'God Bless America, Jesus is Lord' might ring the right bells in America, but around the world it doesn't work very well.

Is the rule of law and reason breaking down in the US?

I don't know, so I'm asking you.