The German magazine Der Spiegel recently published an interesting feature on the increase in religious fundamentalism throughout the world:
The resurgence of religion has been one of the most striking and dramatic phenomena of our time, and has taken some disturbing turns. Terrorists ignite bombs in the name of Allah. The White House is occupied by a U.S. president who calls himself a born-again Christian, prays in public, seeks divine guidance on policy matters, and wraps his policies up in religious garb.
At the dawn of the 21st century, religion is strutting onto the world stage as a powerful though volatile actor, playing in an ever-changing range of roles — a development that was inconceivable to most Westerners a generation ago. Then, the triumph of modernity was supposed to be accompanied by the inexorable demise of religion around the world.
That was flat wrong.
As the article itself notes later, this resurgence is an unintended consequence of globalization. The world has become much more integrated and confusing. A person can lose his job to someone in India. Most products I purchase are made in China and other Asian countries through global supply chains. The decision of one man in a cave in Afghanistan killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City. Islamic extremists in the Middle East plot and plan with their cohorts in Europe through the Internet. Roughly half of my friends in Boston are from other countries. Two of my three roommates are not Americans. I can talk to anyone in the world for pennies on the dollar through my computer (or for free if I choose not to hear their voices). In a typical outing at my local pub, my friends and I will speak English, Hebrew, French or Spanish among ourselves, depending on the specific person to whom we’re talking at that moment.
It’s exciting and scary at the same time. Globalization is going to affect every society in the world in ways that are completely unpredictable, and every person is going to need to adjust.
In times of stress, however, people return to the things that serve as touchstones and give them comfort. For many, this is religion and culture. (Thomas Friedman called this idea “the Lexus and the Olive Tree.”) People may not know what globalization will do to their families, jobs or countries, but they know that God/Jesus/Allah will always be there for them. Things change rapidly in the modern world, but God’s Word will always be true.
Culture (whether religious or not) is also increasing its prominence in a globalized world. On a subconscious level, people fear losing their personal identity in a multicultural world where everything and everyone seems to be mixing, so they focus on their individual culture even more to retain a sense of self and identity. Strangers who live and work thousands of miles away can now affect my personal and work life, but my religion and culture is something personal that I can control and influence.
It would be inaccurate to blame the current state of the world on religious fundamentalism (whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Islamic). The real reason is that the entire world is going through a vast restructuring and reordering on political, economic and social levels. No one knows where this will lead, so people are nervous. When people become nervous, they return to that which gives them comfort. For many people, that comfort is their religion and culture.
Later: Is Western decadence causing the increase in fundamentalism as well? Modernity’s search for meaning is also contributing.
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good points about there not necessarily being a connection between the conflicts around the world and religion. i think that often, we think that religion is the source of all conflicts.
while many, many wars have been fought over religion, we must understand that often these have been in the name of religion, rather for the religion itself. the crusades were in the name of Christ, but ignored his teachings. ETC.
however, one must acknowledge that not all religions are the same. i am by no means promoting what has been going on in the middle east, but one must have a proper perspective of islam to understand that not all religions are peaceful.
read the crisis of islam, a book by a respeced princeton historian. he clearly acknowledges that islam from its very foundation is built upon war of the offensive and defensive nature. at the same time, he makes clear that terrorism is by no means a “religious” thing for islam. in fact, the Q’ran condemns killing innocent people for attacking a country.
so while i am not saying that we must suppress islam because it is inherently a war culture, we must understand this as fact as we enter into a global world. we no longer have the option to sit on the sidelines and claim that we didnt know. the “war on terror” has brought this to light. the pope’s comments that have brought the world to the discussion table.
let me digress at that. the pope was very misquoted and out of context. i am not saying catholicism is right, but i appreciate his perspective. he did say some things that he knew would cause an inflammatory response. i believe this is good. we need to argue out our differences. we need to disagree, because we inherently do.
in fact, without public disagreement, we could never solve the dilemmas that face us. we cannot sit on the sidelines. we have to engage the rest of the world, especially those who dont agree with us (whoever “us” is).
remember that truth will prevail in a pluralistic environment. this is our job. bring the arguments to the table. peter(Quote)
I understand that attaching Fundamentalist Christians with the terrorists is inevitable, because it’s all about destroying the Jews, and controlling Jerusalem when you get down to it. Yes, even the Vatican is part of the land grab in the Holy City. So soon we will be searching out and destroying Fundamentalist Christians and Orthodox Jews so that everyone else will not be offended by their narrow and bigoted rules. I can’t think of one Fundamentalist Christian terrorist to justify this very old world view, how many Fundamentalist Christan martyrs bombed a cathedral, or mosque in the last 2000 years? None that I can think of, but even if there were some, it does not justify lumping them in with the verifiable abominations that Islam, or Catholosisim did, and does. Timothy McVey was a Catholic, but he keeps getting called a Fundamentalist, Remember the woman who murdered her five children in the bathtub? The Media told us that she “homeschooled”, but it turned out she was a Catholic, so it was dropped, and there was a push to let her off because she was tortured by her husband having to work to support her. Catholics submit to the Pope, who wants control of Jerusalem, so they’re okay in the Media. Islam wants Jerusalem because they know if they cry loud enough and long enough we’ll give it to them to shut them up. That won’t stop them from killing us anyway. The Chinese want their oil, and want no problems with those who are supplying it, so what is it to them who get Jerusalem? Funamentalist Christians are the only group, other than Orthodox Jews who believe that Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people. So, since they stand in the way, they will have to go. Mike Corbo(Quote)
It seems to have become popular lately, not without some reason, to attack Catholics. Let me remind you, Mr. Corbo, that just as not all Jews are the same, not all Catholics are alike. Some are more “fundamentalist” than others.
Your assertion that the Pope “wants control of Jerusalem” is patently absurd, as are the others you make about Muslims, Chinese, Fundies, and Orthodox Jews. Jeff(Quote)
Jeff,
I have nothing against Catholics personally. Most people in my family are Catholics, and I love all of them. If you think it has become popular to bash Catholics in the part of the world you live in, I’m truely sorry for them. It is very popular to bash fundamentalist Christians in the USA, that’s where I live. I have attached a link to just one of the resources to prove I am correct about Jerusalem and the Vatican.
Please don’t pronounce my comments absurd until after you have researched for truth. You can start with the link below.
http://rome.craigslist.org/pol/279211814.html Mike(Quote)
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