M6A1 Project 3B Assignment: Religious Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Fundamentalism
What Makes "Fundamentalism" A Distinctly Global Phenomenon?
Fundamentalism alludes to the phenomenon in a religion where the believers embrace the early forms of religion with the perception that it’s beyond criticism, and worthy to be enforced upon other people without presenting any logical arguments. For instance, Lechner and Boli (2015) refer to the situation where some people in Islam, who are commonly referred to as Islamist show the characteristics of fundamentalists. According to the authors, the aim of these groups is to enforce the Islamic law in Islamic countries by trying to unify all Muslims and convert other unbelievers. The groups see violence as the most appropriate means of achieving their objectives (Lechner & Boli, 2015, p. 416). Various commentators show that people had largely started to witness fundamentalism in the 20th century, and it has continued to spread with the new millennium. People who embrace this way of life argue that they are the descendant and preservers of the true and traditions of the region. Suggestively, they should not be regarded as a contemporary manifestation of beliefs and ideologies that other people left in the distant past. Nevertheless, the emphasizes that these people raise and the issues they seek to address could not be so, if they were not exposed to the modern world. Oliver Roy supports these sentiments by stating that “ the illusion held by the Islamic radicals is that they represent tradition, when in fact, they express a negative form of westernization” (Lechner & Boli, 2015, p. 424). From these comments; one can argue that westernization has been popularized and spread across the globe, especially with the rise of globalization. Suggestively, better means of transport, advancement in technology, and media are the key drivers of globalization, and they are significant factors that have led to the spread of western cultures. From this perspective, the factors influencing globalization can be considered as what makes fundamentalism a distinctly global phenomenon.
Crabtree (2012) review shows that the essence of the written word has contributed significantly to the development of human beings since the stone paintings to the modern means of presenting text. The author notes that the written word is critical for industries and technology, as it has facilitated rapid changes to take place, increasing efficiency and human development. Nevertheless, the written world has the tendency to slow down cultural change. According to Crabtree (2012), once something is written and embraced by people, the longer it persists and generations continue to read it, the more it defines the cultural truth. Philip Jenkins states that in the last century, Christianity has shifted its influence to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Resultantly, the biggest Christian groups are now in Africa and Latin America (Lechner & Boli, 2015, p. 429). People in these regions had their traditional religious beliefs that were overturned by the introduction of Christianity during the Europen colonial era.
Many people have grown reading the Bible, which is the written word of Christianity. The Bible has been tr...