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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