Terrorism and Religious Fundamentalism: Prospects for a Predictive Paradigm
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2007.11.3619Abstract
The term ‘fundamentalism’, broadly speaking, names today a religio-political perspective found in many if not all major religions in the contemporary world. Most disturbingly, it is associated with variant forms of religious extremism and thus religiously-oriented terrorism, in particular – though by no means exclusively – that of an Islamic ilk. Movements of a fundamentalist type are evident in Islam, certainly, but they may be found also in Christianity, in Hinduism, in Judaism and other religious communities. Contemporary fundamentalism is not the sole province of any one religion. And an upsurge in the totalising claims of fundamentalist ideologues, of whatever religion, together with the utilisation of globalized communication, transportation and related modern technologies, means that the issue of religious fundamentalism itself requires, once again, some careful attention. Although both Christianity and Islam are susceptible to imperialist impositions of one sort or another, as history only too clearly has demonstrated, it is nonetheless the case that Islamic modalities of terrorism have presently taken centre-stage in current world affairs. However, the religious fundamentalism with which Islamist extremism is associated arguably follows an identifiable paradigm that has a wider purview.
References
i. This is an expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Religious Fundamentalism: A paradigm for terrorism?’ given to the
National Counter Terrorism Capability Seminar, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, in August 2005.
ii. A very useful recent discussion can be found in Peter Antes, ‘New Approaches to the Study of the New
Fundamentalisms’, in Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz, Randi R. Warne, eds., New Approaches to the Study of
Religion, Volume I: Regional, Critical and Historical Approaches (Religion and Reason, Vol. 42, Jacques
Waardenburg, Series Editor); Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2004, 437-449.
iii. See Martin E. Marty, Fundamentalisms Compared: The Charles Strong Memorial Lecture 1989, Underdale, South
Australia: Australian Association for the Study of Religions, 1989, 8.
iv. Bryan Gilling, ed., “Be Ye Separate”: fundamentalism and the New Zealand experience, Red Beach: Colcom Press,
1992, xi.
v. See for example Ernest R. Sandeen, The roots of fundamentalism: British and American millenarianism, 1800-1930,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970; James Barr, Fundamentalism, London: SCM Press, 1977; George M.
Marsden, Understanding fundamentalism and evangelicalism, Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 1991; John
Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Bible from fundamentalism, San Francisco, Ca.: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
vi. See for example Santosh C. Saha, ed., Religious fundamentalism in the contemporary world: critical social and
political issues, Lanham MD.: Lexington Books, 2004; Lionel Caplan, Studies in religious fundamentalism,
Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1987; Bruce B. Lawrence, Defenders of God: the fundamentalist revolt against the modern
age, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1989; David Westerlund, Questioning the Secular State: the worldwide
resurgence of religion in politics, London: Hurst, 1996; Gilles Kepel, The Revenge of God: the resurgence of Islam,
Christianity and Judaism in the modern world, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994; Leonard Weinberg and Ami
Pedahzur, eds., Religious fundamentalism and political extremism, Portland, OR.: Frank Cass, 2004.
vii. See Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, eds., The Fundamentalism Project, Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1991; - Fundamentalisms observed, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991; - Fundamentalisms and the
State: remaking politics, economies, and militance, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993; - Accounting for
fundamentalisms: the dynamic character of movements, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994; -
Fundamentalisms comprehended, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
viii. See for example Joseph E. B. Lumbard, ed., Islam, fundamentalism, and the betrayal of tradition. Bloomington,
Ind.: World Wisdom, 2004; Beverley Milton-Edwards, Islamic fundamentalism since 1945, New York: Routledge,
2005; Bassam Tibi, The Challenge of Fundamentalism: political Islam and the new world disorder, Berkeley, CA.:
University of California Press, 2002; Mahmud A. Faksh, The future of Islam in the Middle East: fundamentalism in
Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia, Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1997; Ahmad Mawsilili, Moderate and radical Islamic
fundamentalism: the quest for modernity, legitimacy, and the Islamic State, Gainseville: University Press of Florida,
1999; Mansoor Moaddel and Kamran Talattof, eds., Contemporary debates in Islam: an anthology of modernist and
fundamentalist thought, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 2004; Lawrence Davidson, Islamic fundamentalism: an
introduction, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003.
ix. Martin E. Marty, Fundamentalisms Compared, 1.
x. Ibid, 7.
xi. Ibid, 8.
xii. Bassam Tibi, The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder. Updated Edition.
Los Angeles, University of California Press: 2002, iv.
xiii. Ibid, xxii.
xiv. Ibid, xxvii.
xv. Ibid, 20.
xvi. Ibid, 3.
xvii. Ibid, 14 – material in parenthesis added for clarity of meaning.
xviii. Ibid, 143.
xix. Ibid
xx. Ibid, 155.
xxi. Ibid
xxii. The prevalence of engineering and IT education raises interesting questions about the link between the mindsets of
these disciplines and the mindset of fundamentalism, and the predilection for imposed solutions.
xxiii. As reported by London Correspondents in The Australian, Monday July 11, 2005, p. 13.
xxiv. New Zealand Herald, Saturday July 16, 2005, p. A2.
xxv. New Zealand Herald, Saturday July 16, 2005, p. A2.
xxvi. As cited in the New Zealand Herald, Wednesday July 20, 2005, p. B2.
xxvii. The Australian, Wednesday July 13, 2005, p. 13.
xxviii. Waleed Aly, The Australian, Wednesday July 13, 2005, p. 13.
xxix. Johann Hari, New Zealand Herald, Saturday July 16, 2005, p. A2.
xxx. As reported in the New Zealand Herald, July 19, 2005, p. B2.
National Counter Terrorism Capability Seminar, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, in August 2005.
ii. A very useful recent discussion can be found in Peter Antes, ‘New Approaches to the Study of the New
Fundamentalisms’, in Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz, Randi R. Warne, eds., New Approaches to the Study of
Religion, Volume I: Regional, Critical and Historical Approaches (Religion and Reason, Vol. 42, Jacques
Waardenburg, Series Editor); Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2004, 437-449.
iii. See Martin E. Marty, Fundamentalisms Compared: The Charles Strong Memorial Lecture 1989, Underdale, South
Australia: Australian Association for the Study of Religions, 1989, 8.
iv. Bryan Gilling, ed., “Be Ye Separate”: fundamentalism and the New Zealand experience, Red Beach: Colcom Press,
1992, xi.
v. See for example Ernest R. Sandeen, The roots of fundamentalism: British and American millenarianism, 1800-1930,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970; James Barr, Fundamentalism, London: SCM Press, 1977; George M.
Marsden, Understanding fundamentalism and evangelicalism, Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 1991; John
Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Bible from fundamentalism, San Francisco, Ca.: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.
vi. See for example Santosh C. Saha, ed., Religious fundamentalism in the contemporary world: critical social and
political issues, Lanham MD.: Lexington Books, 2004; Lionel Caplan, Studies in religious fundamentalism,
Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1987; Bruce B. Lawrence, Defenders of God: the fundamentalist revolt against the modern
age, San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1989; David Westerlund, Questioning the Secular State: the worldwide
resurgence of religion in politics, London: Hurst, 1996; Gilles Kepel, The Revenge of God: the resurgence of Islam,
Christianity and Judaism in the modern world, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994; Leonard Weinberg and Ami
Pedahzur, eds., Religious fundamentalism and political extremism, Portland, OR.: Frank Cass, 2004.
vii. See Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, eds., The Fundamentalism Project, Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1991; - Fundamentalisms observed, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991; - Fundamentalisms and the
State: remaking politics, economies, and militance, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993; - Accounting for
fundamentalisms: the dynamic character of movements, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994; -
Fundamentalisms comprehended, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
viii. See for example Joseph E. B. Lumbard, ed., Islam, fundamentalism, and the betrayal of tradition. Bloomington,
Ind.: World Wisdom, 2004; Beverley Milton-Edwards, Islamic fundamentalism since 1945, New York: Routledge,
2005; Bassam Tibi, The Challenge of Fundamentalism: political Islam and the new world disorder, Berkeley, CA.:
University of California Press, 2002; Mahmud A. Faksh, The future of Islam in the Middle East: fundamentalism in
Egypt, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia, Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1997; Ahmad Mawsilili, Moderate and radical Islamic
fundamentalism: the quest for modernity, legitimacy, and the Islamic State, Gainseville: University Press of Florida,
1999; Mansoor Moaddel and Kamran Talattof, eds., Contemporary debates in Islam: an anthology of modernist and
fundamentalist thought, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 2004; Lawrence Davidson, Islamic fundamentalism: an
introduction, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003.
ix. Martin E. Marty, Fundamentalisms Compared, 1.
x. Ibid, 7.
xi. Ibid, 8.
xii. Bassam Tibi, The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder. Updated Edition.
Los Angeles, University of California Press: 2002, iv.
xiii. Ibid, xxii.
xiv. Ibid, xxvii.
xv. Ibid, 20.
xvi. Ibid, 3.
xvii. Ibid, 14 – material in parenthesis added for clarity of meaning.
xviii. Ibid, 143.
xix. Ibid
xx. Ibid, 155.
xxi. Ibid
xxii. The prevalence of engineering and IT education raises interesting questions about the link between the mindsets of
these disciplines and the mindset of fundamentalism, and the predilection for imposed solutions.
xxiii. As reported by London Correspondents in The Australian, Monday July 11, 2005, p. 13.
xxiv. New Zealand Herald, Saturday July 16, 2005, p. A2.
xxv. New Zealand Herald, Saturday July 16, 2005, p. A2.
xxvi. As cited in the New Zealand Herald, Wednesday July 20, 2005, p. B2.
xxvii. The Australian, Wednesday July 13, 2005, p. 13.
xxviii. Waleed Aly, The Australian, Wednesday July 13, 2005, p. 13.
xxix. Johann Hari, New Zealand Herald, Saturday July 16, 2005, p. A2.
xxx. As reported in the New Zealand Herald, July 19, 2005, p. B2.
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2015-06-01
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Pratt, D. (2015). Terrorism and Religious Fundamentalism: Prospects for a Predictive Paradigm. Marburg Journal of Religion, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2007.11.3619
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