TED演讲:怀疑乃信仰之关键(6)

 　　In effect, they are the infidels.  实际上，他们才是异教徒

　　Like fundamentalists of all religious stripes, they have no questions, only answers. 像所有不同宗教的原教旨主义者一样，他们没有发问问题，只有答案

　　They found the perfect antidote¹ to thought and the ideal refuge of the hard demands of real faith. 为思想找到了完美的对抗手段，为对真正的信仰提供理想避难所

　　They don't have to struggle for it like Jacob wrestling through the night with the angel, 他们不必像雅各那样挣扎，整夜与天使摔角

　　or like Jesus in his 40 days and nights in the wilderness,  或像耶稣一样在荒野外耗上四十昼夜

　　or like Muhammad, not only that night on the mountain,  或像穆罕穆德一样，不只在那夜的山顶

　　but throughout his years as a prophet, with the Koran constantly urging him not to despair, 而且他作为先知的日子中，《可兰经》一直使他不要失望

　　and condemning² those who most loudly proclaim  同时指责那些高声宣扬

　　that they know everything there is to know and that they and they alone are right. 自己无所不知，以及只有他自己才正确的人

　　And yet we, the vast and still far too silent majority,  然而，我们这些沉默的大多数

　　have ceded³ the public arena⁴ to this extremist minority.  已把舞台让给少数的极端主义者

　　We've allowed Judaism to be claimed by violently messianic West Bank settlers, 我们已经允许暴力的，以救世主自居的约旦河西岸定居者自我宣称为犹太教

　　Christianity by homophobic hypocrites and misogynistic⁵ bigots, 惧怕同性恋的伪君子和厌恶女人的偏执狂自我宣称为基督徒

　　Islam by suicide bombers⁶.  自杀式炸弹袭击者自我宣称为伊斯兰教

　　And we've allowed ourselves to be blinded to the fact that  允许我们自己对这样的事实视而不见

　　no matter whether they claim to be Christians⁷, Jews or Muslims, 不管他们自我宣称为基督教徒，犹太人或伊斯兰教徒

　　militant⁸ extremists are none of the above.  而激进的极端主义者，并不是以上任何一种教徒

　　They're a cult⁹ all their own, blood brothers steeped in other people's blood. 他们属于邪教，血腥兄弟干预他人的血海深仇

　　This isn't faith. It's fanaticism¹⁰, and we have to stop confusing the two. 这不是有关信仰的，而是狂热主义，我们须避免混淆二者

1 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

2 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 ceded   

v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Cuba was ceded by Spain to the US in 1898. 古巴在1898年被西班牙割让给美国。
• A third of the territory was ceded to France. 领土的三分之一割让给了法国。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

5 misogynistic   

参考例句：

• And it brings out everything that is most noxious and misogynistic about the right. 而且，这种情绪也流露出右派思想中最为保守有害，歧视女性的那一面。 来自互联网

6 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

9 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

10 fanaticism   

n.狂热，盲信

参考例句：

• Your fanaticism followed the girl is wrong. 你对那个女孩的狂热是错误的。
• All of Goebbels's speeches sounded the note of stereotyped fanaticism. 戈培尔的演讲，千篇一律，无非狂热二字。