RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM

Today the word “fundamentalism” is associated with religious extremists who adopt a very narrow view of the fundamental principles of their faith and are fiercely intolerant of all who disagree with them. They are prepared to use violence and terror to fulfil their religious and political agendas. They believe that martyrdom for their cause is honourable and will bring rewards after death. Those who do not support or share these fundamentalist views face intimidation, physical attack and even death.

Fundamentalism is not a new phenomenon. It has occurred throughout the centuries, particularly in missionary religions like Christianity and Islam that have fixed doctrinal teaching. However, the word “fundamentalist” itself only originated in the USA at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. It was used to describe a new brand of Protestantism that arose in reaction to liberalising trends within American Protestantism, which, according to these fundamentalist Protestants, were undermining faith in God’s word and the uniqueness of Christ. The distinguishing marks of this movement were faith in Christ as the only Saviour and an absolute reliance on the Bible, which was often interpreted in fairly literal ways without much regard for the historical context in which it was written. Christian fundamentalists demanded rigid discipline, banned all practices they considered liberal, and aggressively propagated their own brand of thinking.

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, practically all religions developed some kind of fundamentalist sect. We find them in Judaism and in Islam, where they rigidly enforce Sharia law in places like Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Algeria and Egypt. Even historically tolerant religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoarastrianism now have their own versions of intolerant sects.

The most important feature of fundamentalism is its insistence that it alone knows the truth of its religion. It demands unquestioning conformity and uniformity of thought. It condemns those who think otherwise as incorrect and as distorters of the truth. It does not encourage critical and analytical thinking or scientific approaches to solving the mysteries of the universe. Instead, it advocates a return to ancient religious customs and “original” cultural moorings and social practices. It has little patience with preaching love, compassion and peace.

Given its respect for a supposedly purer past, fundamentalism is decidedly politically conservative. It has no concern for the rights of minorities. Instead it preaches a return to rigid patriarchal religious views that oppress women and minorities. For example, virtues like modesty, chastity and self-sacrifice are held to apply particularly to women, even though the moral code of the religion calls on both genders to show these traits. But these virtues are distorted into tools to keep women submissive and exclude them from certain roles.

Fundamentalism tends to attract financial support from those whose religious and economic status is threatened by change. Thus it is often well-funded. But its oppressive ideology has negative effects on the oppressed and on the health, education, social and justice systems in a country. In South Asian societies, it tends to deepen social divisions such as those based on caste, and sometimes deliberately fans such divisions for political gain.

Fundamentalism thus presents a major obstacle to Christian witness and to any effort to challenge unjust systems and discrimination of any kind.

P. S. Jacob