[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] It might seem ironic but religious fundamentalism is quite a modern, sui generis phenomenon. As its quest for truth is driven more by casuistry than spirituality, it strives to confute the orthodox and traditional practices of various faiths, polities and cultures.
Thus, fundamentalism is modern not merely because of its emergence in relatively recent times, but because it attempts to impose a systematic structure to dogma and is generally averse towards religion’s essentially metaphysical and esoteric dimensions.
By discarding the intricacies of the metaphorical, fundamentalism clings to a literalist defense of scripture that invariably gives its arguments a reductionist, absolutist and intolerant streak. |