Resisting the Ideology of Fear

Tariq Ramadan is a senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation in London, and currently a visiting professor at Oxford’s St. Antony’s College. He recently wrote a syndicated article titled, “Resisting the Ideology of Fear.” Here are a few excerpts from that article:

“Global terrorism and the global war against terrorism both fuel, in equal and pernicious ways, the global ideology of fear.

“The upkeep and feeding of the “ideology of fear” has become a political weapon, particularly as part of the opportunistic strategies of the great economic powers of the day.

“Terror is a fact, not an ideology, and the killing of innocent people must be condemned with no exception. It is the ideological use of its consequences that is problematic.”

“Our very conception of humanity and life are at stake. Far more than simple politics, this new ideology is the challenge of our times.

“Today’s most urgent task is to bring together women and men from all backgrounds, from all convictions and religions, in the name of the common universal principles of the dignity of human beings and of the critical spirit. To overcome the ideology of fear, to loosen the grip of the emotions, requires a demanding critical intelligence, and a sense of ethics of debate, or receptivity. Some will identify these qualities with belief and spirituality, others with their conscience alone. But each one will understand them as the necessary imperative qualities of his or her humanity.”