Global Manifestations of Religious Fundamentalism in the 1980s

Posted: March 27th, 2020

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Global Manifestations of Religious Fundamentalism in the 1980s

            Religious fundamentalism emerged as a reaction to the liberalism and modernism of faith in the late 20^th century. Fundamentalists resisted the modern approach towards interpreting part of the doctrines. Instead, they proposed a primary analysis of the Bible. In the 1980s, societies across the globe had already embraced fundamentalism as a belief in the literal interpretation. In the Middle East, a revolution culminated in the replacement of secular law with religious doctrines (Berger 64). This adaptation of the law infused elements of radicalization that manifested themselves in the form of fatal attacks by extremists across Asia, Northern Africa and parts of the Middle East. Religious fundamentalists also ensured that they integrated various elements of Islamic law into the state. The incorporation of such practices is already evident in countries such as Morocco. Christian evangelicalism, which is one of the leading denominations that has embraced fundamentalism, has managed to spread across South America and the United States. Orthodox Jewish fundamentalists facilitated the sweeping instability across the Middle East by creating settlements in the Palestinian region. A significant characteristic of the fundamentalist dogma is intolerance for other religions (Berger 67). This intolerance is responsible for the conflict between Hindus and Christians in India. Their influence has since grown to demand an increased voice in matters of public office. The wave of religious fundamentalism took secular states by surprise and overturned the existing principles that governed people (Saroglou 39). The religion-linked turmoil has served to dismiss the current political and social order that existed within most countries and regions. For instance, while Christians are fighting in Ireland, the Jews in West Bank are struggling with expansionism, and the Buddhists in Sri Lanka have embraced a militia approach. In this respect, it is evident that religious fundamentalism has managed to traverse globally since the 1980s.

Works Cited

Berger, Peter L. “The Desecularization of the World: A Global Overview.” The New Sociology of Knowledge: The Life and Work of Peter L. Berger, edited by Michaela Pfadenhauer, Routledge, 2017, pp. 61-76.

Saroglou, Vassilis. “Intergroup Conflict, Religious Fundamentalism, and Culture.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, vol. 47, no. 1, 2016, pp. 33-41.