July 29, 2008: Not All "Fundamentalisms" Are The Same

If you take the words of Joseph Smith or Mohammed literally and try to pattern your life after theirs, you will be a violent sex offender. If you take the words of Jesus literally and try to pattern your life after his, you will be a celibate pacifist.

That is my basic answer to those who try to lump together all brands of fundamentalism into a single sinister phenomenon. Lately I have been reading the comments of some religion haters who find little to distinguish between Muslim, Mormon and Christian fundamentalism, and who claim that they are all roots of intolerance and evil. Here is why I think such judgments miss the mark:

Mohammed married a six-year-old girl and had sex with her when she was nine. (Look it up, her name was Aishah.) He was a child molester. As far as I am concerned, that is all we need to know about that pervert. Imitate Mohammed, and you will rape single-digit aged girls and call it marriage. And you will kill people too. Among Mohammed's countless atrocities, he ordered the beheading of the 800 Jewish men of Medina in 627. He had plenty of encouragement from the Koran, which says concerning infidels:

Seize them and slay them wherever you find them: and in any case take no friends or helpers from their ranks. (Surah 4:89)

I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, smite ye above their necks and smite all their fingertips of them. It is not you who slew them; it was Allah. (Surah 8:13-17)

(Read more about Mohammed's demented personality and violence in Unveiling Islam by former Muslim professors Ergun and Emir Caner.)

Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, was another piece of work. He committed adultery with Marinda Nancy Johnson when she was 16, and on March 24, 1832 a mob that included Marinda's relatives tried to castrate him. (Instead they merely beat, tarred and feathered him.) In 1835 Smith's wife Emma caught him sleeping with their housemaid Fanny Alger and kicked the girl out of their house. Smith went on to "marry" about 40 women between 1840 and 1844, including 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball. Smith basically fornicated with anyone he could seduce or overpower and called it "celestial marriage."

He also incited followers to violence against opponents of Mormonism. In 1842 he preached that some sins were so heinous that they could only be atoned for if the guilty one were to "spill his blood upon the ground." He let his followers do the spilling. When he wanted former Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs dead, he simply prophesied that the man would "die by violent means within one year." Mormon enforcer Orrin Porter Rockwell did his part to fulfill Smith's prophesy by firing three bullets into Boggs' head and neck.

But when it comes to trying to make Jesus the author of violence and brute sexual conquest, you draw a total blank. Jesus never married, was never accused of sexual impropriety, and taught that even mental adultery was wrong (Matthew 5:28). Imitate him and you will be a celibate. And where do you ever find Jesus practicing violence, or inciting his followers to it? He told Peter to put his sword away (Matthew 26:52), commanded us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), and told us to turn the other cheek when we are struck (Matthew 5:39). It is true that over the years many people have committed acts of perversion or violence in the name of Jesus, but the simple fact is they cannot find justification for such behavior in the example of his life or in any of his teachings.

As you can imagine, I really don't like mentioning Jesus in the same breath as Mohammed and Joseph Smith, because Jesus is Holy God Incarnate while Mohammed and Smith were evil clown freaks with followings. I only mention them together here because they are regarded in the popular, secular mind as "founders of major
religions," and all equally dangerous if taken too seriously or followed too closely. That is just not so. Follow in the footsteps of Mohammed and Joseph Smith and you will impregnate young teenagers like Warren Jeffs or murder thousands (millions if you could) like Osama Bin Laden. Follow in the footsteps of Jesus and you will simply do good.