SONGSOPTOK: The
personal make up of each person in all societies seems to be fashioned by
religion. What is your opinion about that?
MARY
SCULLY: Well I don’t really agree with that statement. It might be true
in more rural and small town communities all over the world but it isn’t
relevant in most cities where all sorts of
religious views commingle and people live, work, and socialize with
others of very different religious ideas.
SONGSOPTOK: In your
opinion, are religious beliefs related to communal sentiments or to spiritual
consciousness?
MARY
SCULLY: Religious beliefs are a spiritual matter but of course they can
foster communal sentiments among adherents. They can also foster conflict with
others in an environment of religious intolerance—as in the US during the
1950s, at least in small towns.
SONGSOPTOK:
Do you think that respecting religious ideas and ideals can be
considered as religious fundamentalism?
MARY
SCULLY: Respecting the religious beliefs of others is an essential part
of the right of freedom of religion and more broadly of living harmoniously
with others. If it’s fundamental to anything it is to human decency.
SONGSOPTOK:
What, in your opinion, is the relationship between religious
beliefs and fundamentalism? Does practicing a religion eventually lead to
fundamentalism?
MARY
SCULLY: I wrote about this in my article. I believe fundamentalism is
at heart right-wing politics looking for justification in scripture—whether
it’s the Bible or the Qu’ran. Since I come from a right-wing Catholic
fundamentalist family, I observed that process up close and personal in many
people. They hide their right-wing agenda behind quotes from the Bible. But the
impulse is political, not religious.
SONGSOPTOK: A
certain section of all human society has exploited religion to their personal
ends – religion seems to be a sound business proposal. What is your opinion
about this? Do you think that these people are intentionally fanning the flame
of fundamentalism all over the world? What, in your opinion, should be done to
prevent this?
MARY
SCULLY: Standing steadfast on the right to freedom of religion is the
first defense. And in today’s political climate, that means chiefly defending
Muslims and in particular Muslim women’s right to wear a veil, including the
niqab. There can’t be any equivocating on that right. And part of standing with
them is refusing to compromise with those who claim the women are being coerced
by men or Islam. That demeans the women who in many countries, most notably
Bahrain, led the revolutionary uprisings. People who lead revolutions are
perfectly capable of deciding what they wear without our impugning them as
pathetic victims.
SONGSOPTOK: It
seems that the huge wave of fundamentalism sweeping the whole world dates from
the time of the fall of the Soviet empire and socialism. Do you think that
there is a link between the two? If so, what are your thoughts about it?
MARY
SCULLY: Well as I said in the article, the wave of rumblings about fundamentalism
began with the 1979 Iranian Revolution against the Shah. The events of 9/11
gave US imperialism the pretext for stepping up propaganda against
fundamentalism but only to further their military plans in the Middle East.
It’s crescendoed to a deafening pitch since then. The fall of the Soviet Union
is an important factor not because they stood between the US and European
neoliberal colonialism in the Middle East but because it fractured the already
politically disintegrating socialist and communist movements. There is an
alternative leadership to the fundamentalists but it is persecuted, divided,
weak, individual, and often in jail or in exile so it presents no real
challenge to the status quo.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you
think that there is a link between fundamentalism and subsequent development of
capitalism as can be observed in places like Afghanistan?
MARY
SCULLY: I believe fundamentalism is a counterrevolutionary force in the
Middle East and elsewhere. Neoliberal capitalism in the US and Europe have no
intention of allowing capitalism to develop in Afghanistan or anywhere else. It
views those countries as resources for raw materials, for export manufacturing,
and as markets. Feudal political relations—or even better, slave
relations—serve that best. They are trying to destroy the urban and rural
working class who are the only force that can seriously challenge their
domination and end their tyranny.
SONGSOPTOK: This in
turn raises the question of the relationship between religious faith and
fundamentalism. What is your opinion? Can fundamentalism be considered as a
means for developing capitalism?
MARY
SCULLY: If by fundamentalism you mean as typified in the Taliban or
Islamic State, absolutely not. Capitalism really doesn’t have much of a future
in the plundered countries because it involves the formation of a working class
that would threaten capitalist rule. Neoliberal capitalist regimes do not
intend to allow the development of capitalism in those countries.
SONGSOPTOK: What,
according to you, should be done to prevent the rise of fundamentalism all over
the world ?
MARY
SCULLY: I don’t focus my political energies on opposing fundamentalism;
I concentrate on opposing US and European neoliberal colonialism, in particular
organizing against their endless wars. I concentrate on supporting popular
movements for democracy and against tyranny in the Middle East, Africa, Asia,
and the Americas. Creating alternative social movements for democracy is the
best defense against fundamentalist counterrevolution.
SONGSOPTOK: There
seems to be a correlation between the level of economic development and the
rise of fundamentalism – some of the poorest regions of the world bear
testimony to the fact. How important is education and economic development for
fighting fundamentalism?
MARY
SCULLY: Well there isn’t much information on the class character of
those recruited to the Islamic State from the Middle East, Africa and Asia;
there is scant information suggesting they are fairly well-off and educated,
not impoverished urban or rural workers. But there is plenty written about the
estimated (by the UN) 25,000 recruits to the Islamic State from 80 different
countries. They are reportedly quite affluent and disaffected right-wing youth
attracted by romanticism and machismo. It has long been noted that terrorism as
a political method attracts the more affluent. Not to mention, police agents.
SONGSOPTOK: Can
atheism be an effective weapon for fighting fundamentalism ? Or do you
consider atheism to be another form of fundamentalism?
MARY
SCULLY: Well I wouldn’t think atheism any kind of weapon at all against
political fundamentalism. You can hold any or no religious belief you choose
but fighting fundamentalism is a cock-eyed way of doing things. One ought to
concentrate politically on opposing war and imperialism although that involves
exposing fundamentalism’s political character as part of counterrevolution.
SONGSOPTOK: Do you
think that Internet can become a powerful means for preventing the rise of
fundamentalism? Or do you think that Internet & social media are, on the
contrary, helping fundamentalism to spread far & wide at a much faster
rate?
MARY SCULLY: According
to media reports, the Islamic State is masterful in recruiting through social
media. Although it escapes me how one can romanticize and make beheading
appealing. I think social media should be used as extensively as possible to
rebuild the international antiwar movement, to build the Boycott, Divestment,
and Sanctions movement against Israel, to expose and denounce Islamophobia, and
to tell the truth about US neoliberal colonialism around the world. ‘
We sincerely thank you
for your time and hope we shall have your continued support.
Aparajita Sen
(Editor:
Songsoptok)
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