The Violence of Religious Fanaticism

Teacher gave Silas the names of the three sénéchaux and the Grand Master, and Silas confronts them with deadly force. “Teacher, I have returned.” “Speak,” the voice commanded, sounding pleased to hear from him. “All four are gone. The three sénéchaux... and the Grand Master himself.” There was a momentary pause, as if for prayer. “Then I assume you have the information?” “All four concurred. Independently.” “And you believed them?” “Their agreement was too great for coincidence.” An excited breath. “Excellent. I had feared the brotherhoods reputation for secrecy might prevail.” “The prospect of death is strong motivation” p. 13. It is clear that when given the order, Silas is never too hesitant to use violence to hunt, interrogate and kill the four members of The Priory. In fact, it seems that for him, violence is the only answer, whether it is physical violence or non-physical violence, when it comes to interacting with people that he has been told are “Enemies of God”. This sort of attitude is common among fanatics because for them, only two kinds of people mattered: those who follow and respect their holy religion, and those who seek to defile and destroy their holy religion http:www.psy.ku.dkmirdalterrorisme1.htm. They love only those who conform to their ways; and for those who are against them, they are given the privilege to be defenders of God to seek and destroy. Indeed, as defenders of God, they feel that they have become superior beings and have been given the right to remove those who challenge their doctrine. Violence, for them, no longer becomes a burden, but an honor. Killing an enemy of God means that you have done a great service to God and therefore should receive respect and esteem. This 58 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI is why a lot of fanatics run to battlefields to wage war in the name of their religion. Silas’ fanatical zeal towards his religion brings him through the same twisted emotional experiences. When the Teacher tells him to eliminate the Priory of Sion because they have a keystone that could threaten the existence of his Church, Silas immediately sees that order as a heavenly quest given by God. He believes that God is requiring his service to save His great name. He feels great honor knowing that he is tasked with the carrying on God’s will, even though he knows that it will require the sin of murder. He also feels that all his violence can be justified because what he is doing, using his skills to hurt people, is done in service to God. Tonight, however, it had all come rushing back. The hatred he had fought so hard to bury had been summoned. He had been startled how quickly his past had resurfaced. And with it, of course, had come his skills. Rusty but serviceable p. 34. This brutality is, of course, a contradiction to Jesus Christ’s teaching that is “to love others” Kohmescher, 1990: 150 without exception. Yet Silas created his own wisdom in order to justify his actions, and it is that those who try to destroy the message of Jesus Christ must also be destroyed. Jesus message is one of peace... of nonviolence... of love. This was the message Silas had been taught from the beginning, and the message he held in his heart. And yet this was the message the enemies of Christ now threatened to destroy. Those who threaten God with force will be met with force. Immovable and steadfast p. 34. Therefore in reality, he is actually also working against God. It is a logical fallacy to think that he can save the Laws of God by breaking them. Yet his fanatical mind offers him only violence as the only solution towards the “enemies of God”. 59 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI He is just too ignorant to realize that while he aims to please God, his fanatical violence has caused him to become unworthy to be called a Christian.

c. The Double-Edged Sword of Religious Fanaticism

Silas’ religious fanaticism in The Da Vinci Code brings one significant message that is instead of representing the form of the true faith of Christian, religious fanaticism is actually a violation toward Christian belief. As mentioned in the previous analysis, Silas as a fanatic believes only in the correctness of his own belief, even if that version is a distorted one. He also believes that since he is performing the mission from God, it means that all his actions can be justified, and even necessary. His heavenly mission gives him, in short, a license to murder enemies of God – which, as we find in the novel, are mostly innocent civilians. Moreover, he always believes that every action he takes, every help he gets, every coincidence that happens while performing the mission from God, happens because of divine intervention. Silas felt the fiery throb transforming now to a prickling sting. The vodka tasted terrible, but he drank it, feeling grateful. Fate had dealt Silas a healthy share of bad luck tonight, but God had solved it all with one miraculous twist. God has not forsaken me. Silas knew what Bishop Aringarosa would call it. Divine intervention p. 378. Of course, God never gave Silas any special missions or any licenses to kill anybody. Silas is simply fooled into believing that. The fanatic is tricked into believing that as a dedicated son of God, he is saving God’s house by doing what has to be done, and is helped by God in every step of the way. However, He does not realize that it is actually not God who benefits from his fanatical dedication, 60 but a certain person – in this case, the Teacher – who is using him to achieve his own personal agenda. However, the Teacher is not only using Silas as his tool to gain what he wants, but also as the weapon to destroy Silas’ religion at the same time. The Teacher was using the fanatic in order to tarnish the name of the church, and he succeeded in doing that. By having Silas kill the four members of the Priory and then having him caught and gunned down by the police, the Teacher has successfully caused people to question the integrity of the Opus Dei for years to come. Silas is, in the words of Aringarosa, being “double-crossed”. The Teacher gains his goals – discovering the secret bloodline of Jesus and framing the church – and it is all possible because of how much a fanatic Silas is. Silas’ blind obedience and his limited understanding of his own religion have made him the perfect weapon for the Teacher. The Irony here is that while Silas is zealous and dedicated to his religion, it was this zeal and dedication that finally brought shame to his religion, “Teabings ultimate insult, of course, had been to demand payment in Vatican bonds, such that if anything went wrong, the investigation would lead to Rome” p. 462. Of course, Silas does not understand this. He does not understand that his crimes will make people doubt his religion and see Opus Dei – as Catholic organization – as a big hypocritical organization. How could an organization that teach Love and promote holiness order one of its monks to murder its enemies? That is just wrong. Besides, though he may be forgiven in his own community as a lamb that is led astray by a cunning conspirator, the public is not so forgiving. 61