Pope Francis: Fundamentalism, Ideological Extremism - a Disease of All Religions

"Fundamentalism is always a tragedy. It is not religious, it lacks God, it is idolatrous."
Pope Francis



"All of us are quite aware of, and deeply worried by, the disturbing social and political situation of the world today. Our world is increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred and brutal atrocities, committed even in the name of God and of religion. We know that no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind. A delicate balance is required to combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system, while also safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms. But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps. We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted to feed the enemy within. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject."
Pope Francis

"Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself. We Catholics, we have a few, even many fundamentalists. They believe they know absolute truth and corrupt others. I can say this because this is my Church."
Pope Francis

"God cannot be used for personal interests and selfish ends; he cannot be used to justify any form of fundamentalism, imperialism or colonialism."
Pope Francis

"It is essential that all citizens – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – both in the provision and practice of the law, enjoy the same rights and respect the same duties,” Francis said. “Freedom of religion and freedom of expression, when truly guaranteed to each person, will help friendship to flourish and thus become an eloquent sign of peace."
Pope Francis

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photograph of Papa Francesco via

Belfast (1977)

Got to have a believin'
Got to have a believin'
Got to have a believin'
All the people
'Cause the people are leavin'
When the people believin'
When the people believin'
When the people believin'
All the children cause the children
Are leavin'



Belfast
Belfast
When the country rings the leaving bell you're lost
Belfast
Belfast

When the hate you have
For one another's past
You can try (You can try)
You can try (You can try)
You can try
To tell the world the reason why
Belfast
Belfast
Belfast
It's the country that's changin'
Oh, it's the country that's changin'
It's the country that's changin'
All the people
'Cause the people are leavin'
It's the world that's deceivin'
It's the world that's deceivin'
It's the world that's deceivin'
All the people
'Cause the people believin' (...)



More Boney M:

::: Gotta go home: WATCH/LISTEN
::: Ma Baker: WATCH/LISTEN
::: Rasputin: WATCH/LISTEN
::: Sunny: WATCH/LISTEN
::: Daddy Cool: WATCH/LISTEN

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- Photograph via
- lyrics via

Positive vs. Negative Freedom of Religion

The positive (active) freedom of religion is the right to actively express one's religious beliefs - i.e.: the right to religion.
The negative (passive) freedom of religion refers to the right not to have to communicate one's religious stance (a question that is often asked at school, in hospital, or in offices that hand out official documents), not to have to take part in religious education at school, to be "spared" from the teachers' and classmates' expression and practice of religion - i.e.: the freedom from religion.



Negative freedom of religion is something both people of different faiths and non-believers benefit from (Hector, n.d.). Atheists, in fact, can protect themselves by demanding their negative freedom of religion (Schröder, 2005). However, it does not mean that due to one's negative freedom of religion one may keep others from exercising their positive freedom of religion (Heckel, 2004). It is, therefore, rather limited in everyday life as one cannot refer to negative freedom of religion when asking for a "religious free environment" without churches ringing their bells or muezzins calling to prayer (Starck, n.d.).



Positive and negative freedom of religion cannot be separated from each other (Fuchs, 1999). Promoting one's positive freedom may mean reducing somebody else's negative freedom - as, for instance, the never ending discussion about the crucifix in the classroom shows. This discussion, however, can be led in a more balanced way when considering whose positive and negative freedoms are considered and whose are not.
Some scholars do not consider positive and negative freedom of religion as thesis and antithesis but as a synthesis that protects both the right to do something and the right not to do something (Siering, 2011). Focusing on positive freedom of religion and neglecting the negative aspect of freedom distorts freedom and changes it into something only religiously committed people are entitled to. There can only be freedom of religion if both complementary aspects are taken into account (Bielefeldt, 2012).



- Bielefeldt, H. (2012). Streit um die Religionsfreiheit. Aktuelle Facetten der internationalen Debatte, online
- Fuchs, C. (1999). Das Staatskirchenrecht der neuen Bundesländer. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck
- Heckel, M. (2004). Gesammelte Schriften. Staat, Kirche, Recht, Geschichte. Band V. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck
- Hector, P. (n.d.) Zur Religionsfreiheit in der Rechtssprechung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte, online
- Schröder, T. (2005). Religionsfreiheit im abendländischen Kontext, online
- Siering, L. M. (2011). Die negative Religionsfreiheit und ihre Bedeutung bei aufenthaltsbeendenden Maßnahmen. Berlin: LIT
- Stark, C. (n.d.). Religionsfreiheit in Deutschland als positive und negative Freiheit, online
- images via and via and via

Madeleine, the Muslim

"I was raised Catholic, became Episcopalian & found out later my family was Jewish. I stand ready to register as Muslim in #solidarity."
Madeleine Albright, Tweet from 25 January 2017

"If you force Muslims to register, we will all register as Muslims."
Madeleine Albright



Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright, the first woman to become the United States Secretary of State, was born in the district of Prague in 1937. Her parents had converted from Judaism to Catholicism, never talked about their Jewish background and raised their daughter in Roman Catholicism. In fact, she only learned in her adulthood that her parents had originally been Jewish and that many of her Jewish relatives had been victims of the Holocaust.
As her father was a strong supporter of Edvard Beneš, the family was forced into exile and Madeleine spent the war years in Britain. There, she appeared as a refugee child in a film that was produced to promote sympathy for war refugees in London. After the collapse of Nazi Germany, Madeleine moved back to Prague with her family, then Belgrade. In 1948, the family emigrated to the United States where Madeleine's father applied for political asylum. At the time of her marriage in 1959, she converted to Episcopalianism (via).
Recently, she declared she was ready to register as Muslim as the introduction of a Muslim registry and the "total and complete shut down of Muslims" have been announced (via).

"I’m very proud of my Czechoslovak background, but my identity the way I describe it now: I am an American, I am a mother, I am a grandmother, I am a Democrat, I came from Jewish heritage, I was a Roman Catholic, I am a practicing Episcopalian, I am somebody who is devoted to human rights, I am somebody who believes in an international community and I can’t separate those things. ... I can trace these various parts as having a profound influence on me in one form or another." Madeleine Albright

"This year, Passover and Easter were around the same time, so I went to a Passover seder with one of my friends, Rabbi David Saperstein ... and on Easter Sunday, I went to Harper’s Ferry for Easter sunrise service, which was an ecumenical service. Putting all the stories together, what it makes me think is the extent to which people have a need to believe ... the idea that while we may be divided according to various religions, what is interesting is the similarities of the stories, of people yearning for something and being saved and having the hope of having a better life. Also, the whole aspect of charity and forgiveness and generosity — these are common in all religions as far as I can tell. It’s interesting, I was always the most most religious member of my family. ... Even as a little girl, I played priest. I really find there is a comfort in religion and it doesn’t matter which of the various traditions, it’s a similar aspect. ... The thing that makes me the saddest is the divisions created by religion when it should be the opposite. ... I look for the common threads rather than the divisive ones." Madeleine Albright

"During the Kosovo War, one of the things I did was to hold daily conference calls with the other foreign ministers of NATO. We had the British, the French, the Germans, the Italians and me on the phone. The Italian foreign minister said ‘Why don’t we pause the bombing because it’s Easter?’ And the German official said, ‘Why would we pause to honor one religion while we kill the people of another religion?’ I thought it was one of the most amazing statements in terms of the commonness of identity and the importance of making the right moral decisions." Madeleine Albright

In 1937, Adolf Eichmann's department decided to "concentrate entirely on the total registration of Jews in the Jewish Registry" (Aly & Roth, 2004):
"The registry is of value because it can determine, in addition to purely personal information, the biological, the state-political, (and) the criminal circumstances in view of ethnic German (völkischer), economic, and moral considerations. It is crucial for the non-Germanic registry that each examinee be registered based on his race and family relations." 

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- Aly, G. & Roth, K. H. (2004). The Nazi Census. Identification and Control in the Third Reich. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
- photograph by Stephen Voss via and via

Ford Motor's Archbishop and Religious Pluralism

"(...) to assist the company in becoming a worldwide corporate leader in promoting religious tolerance, corporate integrity, and human dignity. We strive to act in accordance with our beliefs and out of love for human being and all of creation, promoting understanding and respect for the various faiths. We help management to increase and maintain religous diversity, attract, develop, and retain talented employees of faith, and be more aware of religious consumers' and investors' needs." (via)

Ford has received hundreds of awards for its diversity policies. And Ford started very early. In 1916, the company employed people from 62 nationalities and more than 900 people with disabilities. A few years later, Ford hired ethnic relations experts to promote a tolerant work environment, in 1950 it hired its first African American senior manager (via), 1950 - at a time of "legal" segragation in some states. The Ford Interfaith Network, one of several company-approved employee groups, was founded in 2001 to promote dialogue and tolerance; different religious groups and atheists can join. Among other activities, the network sponsors community and interfaith events, sends its "Insights & Inspirations" mails to more than 3.500 employees, and discusses food and flexible hours (via). And Ford Motor's Archbishop?...



... The Ford Cortina was built by Ford of Britain from 1962 to 1982. It was originally to be called "The Archbishop". (photos via and via and via)