No More Fun In Fundamentalism

When I was growing up, there was a playwright in town. He was quite popular, and his plays went on tour around the country, bringing joy and tears to many. I admired him, and he was one of the reasons I started writing myself.

One time, he wrote a play about a woman making her way in the world. She was a strong, independent character and showed the men she could do it without them. There were no religious motifs, no transcendent talk, not even one mention of the odd saint or miracle. It was all very matter-of-fact, but still some religious people managed to take offence. They demanded the play be banned because it showed a skewed image of reality spoiling the minds of the youth, and it spoke against the basic tenets of Islam and possibly even Christianity.

The protests were heated and took the form of many blockades and marches. One of those marches reached a theater and the playwright was inside as it happened. He stepped outside in what the press later described as an attempt at suicide by crowd. It was a failed attempt, as the religious people stripped him naked and shouted curses at him, calling him a blasphemer, a heretic, an infidel, and predicting he would burn in Hell forever. They refused to tear him to pieces or burn him, like their ancestors would.

It was a Thursday.

The following Thursday, the crowd assembled outside the playwright’s house and demanded he abandon the play. He refused and attempted another suicide, possibly hoping for martyrdom. Needless to say, they did not execute him.

They skipped the Thursday after that, but then came back the next Thursday and it became a tradition. Overtime, the playwright went from dreams of martyrdom, through depression and the desire to end it all, to resignation and finally steadfast force of habit.

When I visited my home town last week, they were calling it the “Religious Freedom Thursday Extravaganza and Barbecue” and I could not imagine a more edifying use for an old man.

Posted by: Paweł Kowaluk