Anyone short of fanatical tends to agree that fundamentalism, often with the resulting extremism, is dangerous in any form.

Fundamentalism is a threat to any society, because its divisive nature breeds intolerance and even fuels (often violent) hostility towards non-conformists. Clearly such things are not healthy (especially in the non-homogeneous societies that are pre-eminent today), and do little to promote harmony between people.

Why do people turn to fundamentalism? Fundamentalism is the simplest interpretation of an idea. It is easy to grasp by anyone, since taking things literally requires little in the way of mental effort. Fundamentalism offers a degree of supposed “stability” in a seemingly crazed world. People find it hard to accept change, let alone adapt to it. Fundamentalism offers comfort in the company of like-minded people. Never mind that they are proverbial dinosaurs.

Like many social phenomena, fundamentalism is self-perpetuating. It is passed on from parents to children (who are infinitely malleable) and so on and so forth. Additionally, when there is fundamentalism, there is a suppression of introspection and critical thought. Ultimately, fundamentalists are incapable of questioning their world-view because it is deeply ingrained and because of their conscious will not to.

What is shocking is the fact that many people who are from an educated background, (who one may presume to have a degree of healthy scepticism regarding various interpretations and viewpoints, especially the more radical ones) are often keen fundamentalists.

For example, the rise of the “Family First” political party in Australian politics is a demonstration of worrying elements present in a fairly stable society, as most of it’s supporters hail from the middle (and thus supposedly higher-educated) classes. From this, it could be said that fundamentalism is independent from socio-economic background and education.

Where things begin to fall apart is that fundamentalist interpretation is still, after all, an interpretation. Language is constantly evolving: meaning, spelling and usage of words change over time.

There is a somewhat sad irony regarding the fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible, for instance. The original tomes were written in many different languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, and Ancient Greek. They were subsequently translated into Latin, and then into English for wider consumption (though some modern translations derive from the “original” sources). However, it is not surprising of the possibility of things being “lost in translation”, despite the rigorous efforts of translators and theologians. At the end of the day, fundamentalists are relying on the words of men.

Part II of this essay will be continued in a future post.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 18th, 2006 at 8:37 pm and is filed under Humanity & Society, Miscellany. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.