Category: Fundamentalism
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Karen Armstrong – September 11th 2001, Islam and the West
Karen Armstrong argues that there is no inherent incompatibility between the Western and Islamic world, but sees economic and political factors as the main reasons for increasing tensions in recent decades. Armstrong’s arguments can be used to criticise Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civlizations’ thesis, which sees increasing conflict between different cultures/ religions as an inevitable outcome…
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The causes of Fundamentalism
Steve Bruce argues that the main causes of Fundamentalism are modernisation and secularisation, but we also need to consider the nature of the religions themselves and a range of ‘external factors’ to fully explain the growth of fundamentalist movements. Modernisation has undermined religion in at least three ways: Social life has become separated from religious…
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What is Religious Fundamentalism?
The early 21st Century has seen the rise of various Fundamentalist groups, for example: The increasing influence of the New Religious Right in the United States The rise of Zionism in Israel The rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Steve Bruce: Communal and Individual Fundamentalism Communal individualism is that usually…
