RELIGION AND FUNDAMENTALISM, AN INEVITABLE COMBINATION?

The flourishing of fundamentalist tendencies within many of the World’s great Religions arouses fear, disapproval and some amazement.

Much of this derives from the misuse of the term “fundamentalist”, which has somehow come to be associated with intolerance and violence, whereas, in reality, it refers mainly to a strong attachment to the basic tenets of the religious belief to which the “fundamentalist” belongs, and above all to the persuasion that this, and only this particular Religion or Sect has the definite answer to all the Transcendental questions.

From a strictly logical perspective, it is utter nonsense to assert that “all Religions are true”, because there is only one possible alternative: either all Religions are false or one, and only one Religion is true, and from this assertion we could conclude that, actually, again from a strictly logical point of view, fundamentalism makes much better sense than ecumenicalism.

Whether we like it or not, this perception seems to be growing and fundamentalism is the leading trend. People in the West, however, should not limit themselves into considering – and therefore fearing – only Islamic Fundamentalism, and ignoring, instead, the fundamentalist strains in other leading Sects and Religious Movements.

These tendencies are less evident to us because we have got used to them and they blend into our environment, but nonetheless they exist and present tangible dangers. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, which in the early sixties set an ecumenical example with Pope John XXIII, has been led by fundamentalist Pontiffs since 1978, although, it has to be said, John-Paul’s striking political acumen, as well as his great personal charisma and charm, hid his basically fundamentalist policies rather efficiently. The present Pope, instead, is openly and aggressively fundamentalist and obviously ill at ease when talking to leaders of other religious sects, be they Christian or otherwise.

Signs of unrest emerge also in the East, and we are confronted today with a phenomenon which would have been unbelievable only a few years back: i.e. Hindu fundamentalism.

I believe that the phenomenon deserves investigation and comment, and I would be curious to know if any of my Facebook friends or readers of my blog have come to similar, or absolutely opposite, conclusions.