January 9, 2005

The future of fundamentalism.

Here is a piece in the NYT Week in Review about the rise of religion everywhere in the world except Europe. But it's not fundamentalism -- which one scholar defines as "essentially a backlash against secularism and modernity."

R. Scott Appleby, a history professor at the University of Notre Dame, co-authored a book called "Strong Religion: The Rise of Fundamentalisms Around the World." That book was published in 2003. Now, he's saying:
"There is some evidence, some literature that says fundamentalism is on the decline, that it has peaked or is peaking precisely because it has a tendency toward violence and intolerance, and those ultimately don't work. They lead to bloodshed, loss of life, and no recognizable economic upturn, and there is an exhaustion with it."

No comments: