The Encyclopedia of World Religions

fundamentalism S 161

dutva —Hindu culture rather than Hinduism as a religion—under attack from two sources: secular ism and Islam. They want to make India a Hindu state ( see FUNDAMENTALISM , H INDU ). Islamic fundamentalism sees Islam, too, as under attack ( see FUNDAMENTALISM , I SLAMIC ). Muslim fundamentalists often consider Europe and espe cially the United States as their ultimate enemy. They urge stricter observance of S HARIAH , G OD ’s law for human beings. Fundamentalists living under Islamic governments often see those govern ments as being too lax in their support for Islam. Those born in Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States favor strictly following Islam as a way to establish their identity as Muslims. Muslim fundamentalists also see the state of Israel as an attempt by European powers to take territory from Muslims, as happened during the C RUSADES . Separate entries provide further details on Christian, Hindu, and Islamic fundamentalism. But it is also important to keep several more gen eral points in mind. First, fundamentalism is often a pejorative term, that is, a term that people use for something they condemn. Perhaps for that reason, people do not often speak of Jewish or Buddhist fundamen talism, even though J UDAISM and B UDDHISM , too, have movements that reject modernism. For exam ple, instead of Jewish fundamentalism we tend to speak of H ASIDISM and, a very different movement, Z IONISM . Second, it is common to link especially Hindu and Muslim fundamentalism with violence and ter rorism. We should be cautious. On the one hand, some Christian fundamentalists have committed violent and terrorist acts, too. Examples include antiabortion activists and, more loosely, Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. McVeigh had connections with a movement known as Christian Identity, which recommended bombing federal buildings. On the other hand, just as most Christian fundamentalists do not engage in violence, the same is true of most Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists. Third, fundamentalists may oppose some fea tures of modernism, but they still live in the mod ern world. They are not old-fashioned and out of

explain why the community prays? Perhaps not. Other acts may alleviate anxiety, too. The commu nity could SACRIFICE to the rain god, or it could sim ply hold a meeting at which community members shared their concerns. fundamentalism Movements that vigorously assert traditional religion in the face of modern developments. Fundamentalism arose within C HRIS TIANITY in the United States at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Some scholars insist that it is best to use the term only for Chris tianity. It is now common, however, to talk about fundamentalism in other religions, too, such as I SLAM and H INDUISM . Modernism—industrialization; the develop ment of the natural sciences, including the theory of biological evolution; the rise of states whose populations practice a number of religions and that are officially secular or neutral with regard to religion; research in history and archaeology that has called traditional religious claims into ques tion—all of these developments and more have presented challenges to traditional religions. Many religious people have attempted to adjust their reli gious convictions to these developments. Funda mentalists have responded differently. They often think of themselves as preserving their religious traditions unchanged or as returning to the way things were. In many cases, however, they are pro ducing something new. Nevertheless, they address modernism by opposing it. Modernism has had different effects on dif ferent religious traditions. For Christians in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, it called into question the accuracy of the B IBLE and teachings like the divinity, the VIRGIN BIRTH , MIRA CLES , and the RESURRECTION of J ESUS . Fundamentalist Christians responded by making a list of “funda mentals” that Christians had to believe ( see FUNDA MENTALISM , C HRISTIAN ). Unlike Christianity, Hinduism does not have basic beliefs. Instead, Hindu fundamentalism has reacted to centuries of rule by Muslim and Christian rulers. Hindu fundamentalists see Hin