[The following is a piece written for AP English, senior year. It was a group project, actually I believe there were five in my group. Why is it so short? Because I wrote it all myself the night before, of course. Did my group do research? Of course. Did I use some of it? Obviously. Did I use the sections they wrote up for me? Of course not. Hence, the grade was a B- since it was expected to be longer. I can't say the majority of my group was unhappy.
It was originally cited, but since this is a weblog I cba to properly cite much of anything. If there are a few citations that I missed because I don't feel like reading through again, so be it. Also, WordPress formatting was being a bitch so I had to get a little creative in some spots, namely line spacing. Enjoy.]
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Fundamentalism; noun: a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles. Such is how the Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines the term. However, a textbook definition is but a fraction of the true meaning of “fundamentalism,” considering the wide range of connotations for the word and variations of fundamentalist ideologies in the world. Perhaps the largest of these ranges would be of fundamentalism of the religious variety; a form of the idea of strict adherence to set principles that has existed for centuries the world over. Religious fundamentalism knows no single creed nor code, and instead expands across the entire spectrum of religious thought. As the vanilla definition of fundamentalism states that fundamentalism is characterized by “strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles,” religious fundamentalism tends to expand upon this concept substantially. Religious fundamentalism is generally characterized by a zealous, enthusiastic nature towards one’s religion not commonly seen among casual followers, and can result in much more extreme situations of religious bigotry or violence amongst groups. Religious fundamentalism’s long history illustrates this stereotype well, and shows that even with their differences, fundamentalist sects of different religions all have commonalities.
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The term “fundamentalism,” although defined in a secular sense so as to apply the term to any situation which fits said previous definition, is actually derived in its modern usage from a name used to describe a late-19th- and early-20th-century trans-denominational Protestant movement that opposed the accommodation of Christian doctrine to modern scientific theory and philosophy. It is in this original context, in describing religious thought, that the term originated. Religious fundamentalism as a concept, however, stretches much further into the past than the original coining of the term in the 20th century. Throughout history, theistic attitudes developed from their original, primitive origins as “absolutes;” individuals bowed to the will of a god or gods as their limited understanding of the world around them caused them to turn to supernatural explanations. As the world advanced into the modern age, however, two different general forms of religious schools of thought began to form with changes in society: a more modern movement, akin to what is witnessed in most modern western religions today and believed by more “casual” theists, and a more traditional attitude closer to a fundamentalist viewpoint. This traditionalist perspective is what effectively developed into the modern definition of religious fundamentalism, as a rejection for compromise between religious thought and scientific advancement effectively caused the previously mentioned group of Protestants to branch off from the central, more “casual” group.
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Religious Fundamentalists, however, are not only Christians, and Christians are by no means the largest group of religious fundamentalists. Religious fundamentalism, in its loosest definition, exists in all religions, from Buddhism to Hinduism; Judaism to Taoism. Fundamentalist Jews, for example, tend to believe themselves to be God’s chosen people, and as such feel certain entitlements and other distinctions that they feel place themselves above other religious groups. Most obvious among these beliefs of entitlements are their claims to Palestinian territories, and Israel’s willingness to occupy the area at a whim. Another key example of a fundamentalist sect would be the Church of Latter Day Saints, better known as Mormons. The Mormons, while officially a sect of Christianity, are often considered by most followers of Christ to be pseudo-Christians due to their often peculiar beliefs. Fundamentalist Mormonism is often characterized by peculiar, often foreign beliefs to modern society. Chief among these beliefs would be the practice of polygamy, however other aspects such as the exclusion of African Americans from the priesthood and a form of penance known as “blood atonement,” or the spilling of a sinner’s blood to gain forgiveness, are common to fundamentalist Mormons. To be fair, it should be noted that, officially, polygamy is disallowed by the Church, and many other aspects listed are no longer practiced by “moderate” Mormons.
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Perhaps the most notable group of religious fundamentalists, at least in today’s world, are those among the Islamic religion and its various sects. Following the September 11th attacks, Islamic fundamentalism took center stage on international news networks and syndicates, and has continued to remain a household name. Islamic fundamentalism is rooted deeply in the Qu’ran and its interpretations, particularly in strict adherence to the teachings of the holy book. A very large percentage of Muslims often take the Qu’ran in some sort of literal sense, aligning themselves with the baseline definition of fundamentalism by default. Islamic fundamentalists, though, often take it a step further, to an area of religious extremism centered around violence and warfare to further their cause. Beyond the normal tenets of Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic extremism takes a deeply rooted hatred for the west and allows it to spill into a war of holy proportions, known to followers of Islam as jihad and popularized in the modern day by the writings and theories of Islamist scholar and activist Sayyid Qutb. Jihad’s true definition, however, is again disputed and interpreted. Generally, Islamic law defines jihad as a struggle, often armed, in defense of the global Islamic community. The meaning of “defense” can obviously be interpreted in numerous ways, and was interpreted very loosely by Mr. Qutb, a martyr for Islam himself. Qutb described the decadence of the western world, and how it was infecting the morals and ideals of the Muslim world. As such, it was his belief, and the belief of his followers, that those who aligned themselves with these decadent beliefs and promoted them were fit to be killed in order to protect the Islamic religion and maintain the sanctity of “good” Islamic morals.
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People have taken Gospel and hymn literally for centuries, however it has been only recently that such viewpoints towards religion have come to the forefront of news and topics to the rest of society. This is not because society was ignorant of such religious tenets, but rather because western society mostly grew away from such fundamentalist beliefs as its scientific knowledge expanded. As society’s knowledge grew, factions of traditionalists who wished to clench on to their beliefs remained with their core, fundamental religious views. There are those parts of the world where society and religion are closely related, such as Islamic society outside of the west, and where scientific advancements failed to have a real impact upon religious beliefs because they were so deeply rooted in the society. There are also parts of the world where religion is so far removed from society that fundamentalists have little to no influence on daily life, such as in many parts of Japan or the state-atheism of China. But even across these vast geographic distances and distinct cultural boundaries, fundamentalist religious sects all manage to maintain one key similarity: a devotion to their own beliefs which they feel is unrivaled by any others. Some even manage to go the extra step, and show nothing but disdain for the beliefs of others, and yet, others keep taking it further and further. It is likely that, with their common factors causing them to endure against one another, the fires of fundamentalism and extremism will burn for as long as the human race draws breath.
