Fanatics

The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be either good or evil. Hannah Arendt

Some years ago – more than a century ago – there was a major outbreak of Yellow Fever in the city of Memphis. More than 5,100 people died of the mosquito-borne disease (somewhat akin to Ebola). The city lost its charter as people fled in a great exodus; but not everyone left town.

We read in Wikipedia: “When the 1878 epidemic struck, a number of priests and nuns (both Protestant and Catholic), doctors—and even a bordello owner, Annie Cook—stayed behind to tend to the sick and dying, despite the high risk of contracting the disease, which often resulted in a painful death. The Episcopal nuns' superior, Sister Constance, three other Episcopal nuns, and two Episcopal priests are known throughout the Anglican Communion as "Constance and Her Companions" or, informally, the "Martyrs of Memphis". Added to the Episcopal Church's Lesser Feasts and Fasts in 1981, their feast day (September 9) commemorates their sacrifices.”

As we remember the awful events of 9/11, it seems appropriate to remember that not all religious fanatics are created equal. I read a poster online that says, “Science flies you to the moon, Religion flies you into buildings.”

After 9/11, it is hard not to be put off by religious fanatics, to think of them solely as being evil, and to live in fear of them – or terror; but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Fanatics are enthusiasts – people dedicated to a cause. That cause does NOT have to be a desire to kill, maim, or harm others. Some sports fans are certainly violent hooligans, but they are the exception to the rule; the vast majority of fans are folks who simply enjoy a particular sport to a great degree, and who bear witness to their enthusiasm by purchasing game tickets, sports memorabilia, team gear, and the like.

If one wants to identify all religious fanatics with the likes of the Taliban or their ilk, one certainly may, but the truth is that the honest-to-goodness religious fanatics are people like you and me – folks who go through life striving to be good, decent, and productive members of society.

We do not ask much of one another, except to be honest. We do not think of ourselves as heroes or religious superstars. We rise up in the morning, do what needs to be done, have a bit of fun if possible, unwind as best we can, and then get some rest so we can get up and do it all over again the next day.

We don’t think of ourselves as fanatics because we aren’t overly invested in winning or losing. We don’t consider the things we do to be all that sacrificial. It’s no sacrifice to phone a friend to see how they’re doing. It’s not all that burdensome to take a meal to someone who’s sick. It’s not all that spectacular to politely share the road with well-mannered and crazies alike.

None of that looks fanatical – or fantastical – and yet it is. The very things we take for granted, like courtesy, paying our bills, yielding the right of way (even when we don’t legally have to) are the consequence of yielding to One to whom we will one day give account for the decisions we’ve made and the lives we’ve led.

To “bear witness” is to be a martyr. One doesn’t have to die to bear witness; on the contrary, one has to live. Our lives bear witness to what we believe. The Martyrs of Memphis made it clear that they considered it supremely important to bring comfort to others despite the mortal danger it put them in.

We live in a day and an age where suffering is more often than not a consequence of decisions made for the sake of greed and corruption. The worst thing we can do is run away in the hopes of finding a better, safer place to call home, or to sit silently on the sidelines hoping things will improve through magic.

The world only improves when life’s fanatics roll up their sleeves to tackle life’s problems head on with love and courage. So be good in this, our world.