Religious Fundamentalism: Specific to Islam only?

“Those who still cling to the great fundamentals and who mean to do battle royal for the fundamentals shall be called fundamentalists” (Moore)

Fundamentalism can be traced back to the inception of the religion itself. Contemporary fundamentalism, no matter how crudely it is described and defined, is different in its entirety from the fundamentalism present in the medieval ages. A number of religions have come and merged into this ever-evolving debate regarding fundamentalism and its foundations. The history of fundamentalism begins with the advent of Christian church; which many scholars agree, was biased and prejudiced against the minorities of every sort; whether homosexuals or people from different religions.

No matter how generalized it may sound, but the fact remains that Christian church in the medieval ages was the strongest proponent of religious bias and prejudice. They believed and practiced such biasness because of their belief that these were the “words of God”. On the other hand, non-fundamentalists believed that it could be attributed in varying degrees to the first century culture rather than God or word of God. Throughout the history of Christianity, fundamentalism has been directly correlated with discriminatory behavior and right-wing authoritarianism, a feature related to contemporary Islamic fundamentalism. Some other scholars still believed that fundamentalism, seen in the psychological perspective, was a “Mindset, a closed belief system and right wing authoritarianism.” (Fulton, Gorsuch, Maynard)

Contemporary thoughts and ideas about violent fundamentalism are largely related to Islam and its various sects, albeit categorically denied by Muslims themselves. They come up with the argument of the involvement of mass media in portraying Islam as a religion prone to fundamentalism and prejudice. However, they fail to comprehend why West came hold negative stereotypes of Islam in the first place. A fact that goes unnoticed and ignored is the conflicting relationship between Christianity and Islam throughout the last millennium. The spread of Islam in the western Mediterranean until the 15th century, the military confrontations with the crusaders from 11th to 13th century, the fall of Byzantium and the rise of Ottoman Empire from the 15th to 20th century were among a number of factors, which lead to alienation and distrust of Islam that was primarily viewed as a threat to Christendom. 222. The rise of Khomeini in Iran, the call for Jihad from Iraq during the Gulf-war, the religio-military coup in Sudan, the rise of extremist organizations such as Al-Qaeda in Muslim countries, Oklahoma City bombings and the attacks on World Trade Centre are the primary reasons behind the West’s conceived image of Islam-the religion, as a heaven for fundamentalists.

However, religious fundamentalism and extremism can also be found in the contemporary Christian and Jewish states and organizations. In her review of Stern's book, “Terror in the Name of God”, Isabel Hilton points out the similarity between fundamentalist Jews and fundamentalist Muslims by quoting one of the former as reported by Stern:

“Here in Israel, we don't like to say this very loudly, but the radical right Jewish groups have a lot in common with Hamas.” (Hilton)

The state of Israel, only the second state to be created based upon religious ideology, has been a prime example of Jewish fundamentalism since early 50’s. This extremism, according to scholars, was originated in the form of ancient Jewish nationalism that was based in the “Cult of Caiaphus”, the Jewish Pharisee that Jesus admonished, and who later sought Jesus’ death by crucifixion, since Jesus dared to challenge their version of Jewish law, and also its attendant sorcery, which has evolved into the modern Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. The contemporary form of this Jewish Law can be found in this quote attributed to Central Region Command of the Israeli Army.

“Under no circumstances should an Arab be trusted, even if he makes an impression of being civilized. In war, when our forces storm the enemy, they are allowed and even enjoined by the Halakah (Jewish law) to kill even good civilians” (Fattah)

Modern day Christianity is not spared from fundamentalism and extremism either. The organizations such as “Christian Identity, The Order and The Turner Diaries” are extremist and fundamentalist in nature to say the least. They have their own agenda which, according to them, is based upon the religious teachings of Christ and God. They argue that they ought to make a model world for Christians. They have used violent means in the past, and are not afraid of committing them in the future as well.

“In 1984, members of The Order stole $3.8 million from an armored car, most of which has never been recovered. That same year they were responsible for the assassination of Alan Berg, a Jewish radio talk show host in Denver who engaged in harsh criticism of neo-nazis and Identity ideology.” (Cline)

Hinduism is another religion which has had its share of fundamentalists as well. The organizations such as RSS, Bajrang Dal and political parties like BJP have been propagating their own agenda in the form of religious rhetoric. Their leaders, much like those in Christian and Jewish world, argue that they take such extremist and marginalized actions in order to serve God, completely denying and ignoring the worldly benefits that they reap from such efforts. Incidents of the extreme actions by such fundamentalists are numerous, one of them being the attack on a prayer meeting of Christians in Rajasthan, India.

“Hindu extremists violently attacked a prayer meeting in Rajasthan state last night, seriously injuring nine Christians, including one woman… those who attacked the prayer meeting were wearing the typical khaki uniform of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu extremist group. A member of the Rajasthan State Minorities Commission confirmed that the border area was the center of RSS activity in the state…” (International Christian Response)

An analysis of three of the biggest religions of the world has portrayed that fundamentalism is not something we can associate with a particular religion. It might be the case that at certain instances in history a certain religious fervor has coerced many people into considering another religion biased and prejudiced, but that is how the history has been shaped. The contemporary world tends to forget the reasons behind the so-called Islamic fundamentalism and extremism, they tend to ignore the fact that majority of the Muslim states have been a victim of colonization in the last century and they have been exploited and marginalized in every way by the West. The resulting desperation on their part results in the extreme actions, which are then associated with Islam, albeit social factors have much bigger impact in such cases. The contemporary capitalist world has once again made an escape goat in the form of Islamic extremism, instead of solving the longstanding issues of poverty and under-development in these least developed Muslim countries. The subjugation and marginalization continues by the West, the Muslim response to this injustice is labeled “terrorism”, while West continues its own economic terrorism in the form of capitalism with full throttle. If Muslim terrorism has an end, it would come after the end of Western economic terrorism. Till then, we would go on blaming one religion or the other for adhering to fundamentalism and extremism.
















Bibliography

Cline, Austin. "Politics of Christian Identity." 09 Oct. 2005 .

Fattah, Abd E. "Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel :: Book Review ::." Media Monitors Network. 28 Aug. 2004. 09 Oct. 2005 .

Fulton, Aubyn S., Richard L. Gorsuch, and Elizabeth A. Maynard. "Religious Orientation, Antihomosexual Sentiment, and Fundamentalism Among Christians." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (1999): 15. 10 Oct. 2005.

Hilton, Isabel. "Everybody Hates Somebody Somewhere." The New York Times: Book Review Desk. 16 Nov. 2003. 09 Oct. 2005 .

"Hindu Extremists Attack Prayer Meeting in Rajasthan, India." International Christian Response. 15 Aug. 2005. 09 Oct. 2005 .

Moore, Leroy. "Another Look at Fundamentalism: A Response to Ernest R. Sandeen." Hartford Seminary Foundation: 196+. 10 Oct. 2005.