I chose this definition based mostly on the discussions we had in class. I know that many of the definitions that we studied in class focus on the importance of doctrines within fundamentalism, but I do not feel that it is necessary for a doctrine to be included in a movement in order for it to be fundamentalist.
A western religion that could be considered fundamentalist is Christianity. Often times they are called born again Christians as we saw in the movie “Left Behind”. Christianity is largely based around the idea that the Bible is “the final authority for doctrine and practice…to believe the Bible is to take it literally, to regard every work of it as inerrant and fully divine, to acknowledge no authority above it or equal to it” (Boone, 5). This idea ties in with what Vincent Crapanzano says in his book, “Serving the Word: Literalism in America from the Pulpit to the Bench”. This books focuses on the term literalism and its meaning to read literally what is written. He talks about how interpretation is an inevitable process of reading a text and that everyone interprets things differently. Also, when people are reading they are looking for different things within the reading. According to Crapanzano, “Whatever merit the Fundamentalist’s critique has, it does rely on questionable assumptions about textual meaning, interpretation, and objectivity. It assumes, for one, that there is a single correct interpretation of Scripture. I have found that many Fundamentalists extend this mode of reading to other texts- to life generally” (pg19). Literalism is a discipline and if one strays away they are leading themselves towards sin as well as farther away from God. My interpretation of fundamentalism succeeds in the case of Christian fundamentalism.
Another example of a western religion that is often referred to as fundamentalist is Islam. Christian fundamentalism and Islamic fundamentalism have many similar traits. In both religions women are expected to play traditional roles. They both think that they are erroneous and that their way is infallible. Both believe in strict interpretations of their text, the Bible for Christians and the Koran for Muslims. An important aspect of each religion is that they believe they are speaking what the majority of the people feel, but they are really only speaking what a minority feel. Islamic fundamentalism fits the description of my definition.
An eastern religion that is often characterized as fundamentalist is Hinduism. In Daniel Gold’s essay Hinduism is defined as, “a Hindu means a person who regards this land of Bharatvarsha from the Indus to the Seas, as his Fatherland as well as his Holyland” (549). Within this religion there is not a single set of god’s to worship.
“Although “fundamentalism” is a common designation, in the press and increasingly among academics it is used in a variety of ways. For a number of reasons it tells us everything and yet, at the same time, nothing” (Esposito, 5).
References:
“The Bible Tells Them So” by Kathleen C. Boone
western--Christianity and Islam we talked a lot in class Hindu for eastern and the market just talk a lot about thw the market is god and that american people are brainwashed into shopping
