Letters from Readers
Seeking refuge in extremism
Thank you for sensibly addressing the issues of
extremism across cultures, and providing a litmus test to help us judge if we as individuals are in that
category (“ISIS, the American Right, and Hindutva,” December 2015). We are extremists if we can blame
and persecute another for the root cause of a problem in which we deem ourselves completely innocent
and righteous.
An extremist group provides a haven where members fan flames, escalating empty rhetoric, planning, or championing destructive acts each may never have considered on their own.
I share your frustration with the sanctimonious who are so willing to design, dispense, participate, or acquiesce to less than humane solutions against the different. Yet, isn’t such short-sighted behavior a part of human nature that those in governments have wrestled since the dawn of civilizations?
As you say, no one can truly know all the complexities of major issues in our societies, regardless of education and experience. Further, most of us are preoccupied with life’s daily grind to affect wider issues, even ones we may care about. So, to save time we digest sound bites and categorize. We delegate responsibility, placing our faith in leaders we trust have focused intelligence and abilities. That’s OK until we abrogate 100 percent of our own involvement. Only if enough of us engage can this pyramid of trust be sustained. Only then can we prevent the repercussions of extremism and self-fulfilling prophecies of gloom-and-doom.
Extremists flourish amid hopelessness. We should be asking ourselves how we can best deal with this desperation in our own gardens. In movements, it can be said blowhards rush in and take over where angels fear to tread.
Emil Walcek
Atlanta, Georgia
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Note: Views expressed in the Letters section do not necessarily represent those of the publication.
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