Fundamentalism and Religion

Fundamentalism and Religion

For a vast majority, the term “fundamentalism” evokes images of

hostage crises, embassies under siege, hijackings, and suicide

bombers. But these images hardly present a comprehensive picture.

People in the west associate fundamentalism with Islam, this is indeed

a mistaken belief. Fundamentalism is defined as " the affirmation of

religious authority as holistic and absolute, admitting of neither

criticism nor reduction; it is expressed through the collective demand

that specific creedal and ethical dictates derived from scripture be

publicly recognized and legally enforced ." (Lawrence)

Therefore the essence of fundamentalist belief is doctrinal

confirmity, of not only oneself but the conformity of the rest of

society too .While some try to reach their goals through violence, the

majority work through political parties within the electoral process.

People like Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network are only at

fringes. Even if fundamentalism is to encompass such aberrations, such

brand of fundamentalism is a characteristic of all (Christianity,

Islam, Hinduism and Judaism) the religions. This paper by citing

episodes of fundamentalism in leading religions substantiates the

theseis that fundamentalism is not specific to any particular

religion.

Beginning with Judaism, the bombing of Hotel King David in July 1946

is an incident that starkly explifies the Jewish Fundamentalism. The

British entered the premises of the Jewish Agency and took away with

them a large number of sensitive documents. These documents were kept

at the King David Hotel for intelligence analysis. For vengeance and

as a ...

... middle of paper ...

... exceptions to their dogma. It is all but

natural to encounter such people in all the religions. What is

interesting is the reason why people from all the religions harbor

such tendencies? Probably because it offers an easy way out - a

fundamentalist need not think deeply about a doctrine or be highly

educated in it; as one Mormon leader once said, "Don't think for

yourself. The thinking has already been done."[6]

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[1]

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/bombing_of_the_king_david_hotel.htm

[2] http://www.facingthechallenge.org/copernicus.htm

[3] http://www.wikipedia.org/

[4] http://www.wikipedia.org/

[5]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/19E6EA5A-8207-4F06-958F-8DD77A05DC27.htm

[6] http://www.bidstrup.com/religion.htm