Religious Fundamentalism
...a reaction to liberal-capitalist modernity?
Fundamentalism: The belief in old and traditional forms of religion, or the belief that what is written in a holy book, such as the Christian Bible, as being completely and literally true. The Cambridge International Dictionary of English
Fundamentalism: a: a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as Fundamental to Christian life and teaching; b: the beliefs of this movement; c: adherence t such beliefs. Webster's English Dictionary.
Fundamentalism is a religious phenomenon which has taken 20th century politics by storm. As defined by Webster's English dictionary fundamentalism has a direct correlation with Protestant Christianity; however, it has in the past, and is currently, impacting many other forms of religion. Since the 1970's many religious movements have emerged into political governments and ideologies all over the world. The dominating religion in Europe is Catholicism; Hinduism is very strong in eastern Asia; Judaism is the ranking religion in Israel and Israeli's political decision; and finally, Islam is the principal religion in the Middle East. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, second only to Christianity which has been the main religion in the United States and is actually making a strong comeback in America.
According to Kepel (1994) all of these religions share the characteristic of challenging the way society is organized: either its secular foundation, or the way it has deviated from a foundation based upon religion, as in the United States for example.
When the American government was constructed by its founding fathers, the guidelines for America's laws and ideas where based on what Biblical principals, Christian values and morals. The founding fathers wanted their Christian faith to play a major role in the American government...
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