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This introductory chapter begins with the proposal that there is a psychology of fundamentalism, a mindset that transcends its particularity in contemporary religious movements. It argues that the mindset of fundamentalism is something more deeply ingrained in the self that finds expression in a variety of human institutions, including religion but by no means restricted to it, and has a history that gives it protean meanings over many centuries. The chapter then discusses the purpose of the book.

This chapter examines leading figures and institutions of the Religious Right in the United States and the distinctive narrative form its public and political activism has taken from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present: namely, the jeremiad. The resurgence of publicly assertive religion has become the subject of intense scholarly scrutiny and the source of much political concern. Social scientists and policymakers have long presumed that as the world modernized it would inevitably secularize. The political ascendancy of the Religious Right in the United States and, more recently, the consequential militancy of radical Islamism confounds conventional wisdom of inevitable secularization. The chapter closes with a cursory comparison of the jeremiad with the jihad, the distinctive narrative form of radical Islamism, which reveals that despite strong rhetorical similarities between them, crucial differences persist in their political effects. Moreover, such a comparison reveals an important irony: just as the specter of resurgent religion has been undermining the longstanding academic confidence in the self‐evident inevitability of secularization, the perceived threat of secularization has been busy mobilizing the faithful both at home and abroad.

This chapter examines religious fundamentalism in South Africa. The vast literature on religious fundamentalism influenced South African understandings of fundamentalism just as an increasingly polarized geopolitics had affected religion in South Africa. From the 1970s up to 1990, every decade saw a crisis of fundamentalism, which dramatically differed from one another. For instance, Christian fundamentalism during the 1970s was used to oppose the apartheid state; ironically, by the 1980s this fundamentalism was used to legitimate the apartheid system. Meanwhile, during the 1990s, Christian fundamentalism was used to resist the new democratic dispensation. In addition, during the 1990s, South Africa was dealing with Muslim fundamentalists who opposed the apartheid state and the postapartheid democracy.

Religion remains exceptionally influential in America but frequently inspires indifference, skepticism or suspicion in other developed nations. Moreover, a huge minority of Americans lean towards Christian fundamentalism—a radical faith rooted in Biblical literalism and ultra-traditionalism. Due to the relative separation of church and state since the United States’ founding, Americans have not experienced the long history of religious oppression that Europeans once endured. Americans thus became far less suspicious towards organized religions, which many see as benign means of worship, not as social institutions. This is a paradox, as prominent Founding Fathers were skeptical of organized religions and Christian dogma. Jouet illustrates the weight of religion in the Bible Belt by describing his experiences as a Frenchman in Texas, where he visited evangelical churches and observed a very different kind of faith from the “soft” Catholicism he was accustomed to in France. This culture shock leads him to explore the fascinating historical and social factors behind the evolution of faith in American society.

The end of colonialism and the Cold War in the second half of the twentieth century and the rise of the demon of terrorism at the beginning of the twenty-first century, has created a tsunami-like impact on politics and international relations, economics, and cultural practices. At the same time, a fierce debate rages in the world about terrorism. Although every religion has a fundamentalist group, after 9/11 particularly, the fundamentalist forces of Islam are receiving special attention from everyone. Fundamentalists and terrorists are also actuated by similar strong feelings and indulge in meaningless violence and senseless killing of innocent people. Hence, people are turning their attention increasingly to the more fundamental question of ‘how to live’. This chapter also studies religious fundamentalism, especially in Pakistan; recent changes in Islamic countries; political reforms in the Arab world; democracy; and globalization.

This concluding chapter presents further thoughts on the polarization between religious fundamentalism and atheistic dogmatism and argues that, instead of dwelling on this polarized climate and retreating into the security of such dogmatic certitudes, we face ever-growing opportunities to dwell in the uncomfortable space of uncertainty and to learn from others what we do not know or see because of our respective complacency. It returns to the topics discussed in earlier chapters in illustrating the dangers between the two sides, both of which are similarly dogmatic restrictions of what is allowed or valid as means of inquiry or criteria for discussion and judgment.

This chapter reviews the books Settling in the Hearts: Jewish Fundamentalism in the Occupied Territories, by Michael Feige and Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount: Who Will Build the Third Temple?, by Motti Inbari. It explains that Inbari's book explores extremist groups in Israel and suggests that it fails to present a comparative analysis of the impact of such groups on religious Zionist and haredi sectors of Israeli society. It explains that Feige's book focuses on Gush Emunim and contends that it fails to provide clarifications on religious fundamentalism in Israel.

Over a short span of time in the course of the 1980s, Israel's Supreme Court introduced a series of far-reaching changes into its jurisprudence: it adopted highly activist doctrines enabling it to sweepingly intervene in decisions undertaken by other branches of the state; it substituted its formalistic style of reasoning with a value-laden approach; and it adopted a perception of itself as a political institution. These changes should be understood in the context of the great historical processes that began to take place in Israel in the second half of the 1970s: The decline of the political, social, and cultural hegemony of the Labor movement; the rise of Jewish religious fundamentalism; and the renewal of the struggle between secular and religious Jews over the country's future cultural orientation. The Court, the state institution most closely identified with liberal values, collaborated with the secular group in its struggle. The Court has paid a heavy price for its identification with one of the two major groups contending in the struggle over the shaping of Israeli culture. The Court's new jurisprudence resulted in excessive legalization of decision-making processes. It also bred all the malaises associated with the prevalence of rights talk. In addition to the schism within the Jewish group, there is an additional, profound schism between the Jewish group and the Arab group, which constitutes around 20% of the country's population. Israel officially defines itself as a ‘Jewish and democratic state’, but demographically it is a bi-national state. The discrepancy between the definition and the demography will continue to give rise to many of the problems Israel faces in the coming years.

This chapter discusses resurgence of religious fundamentalism, which brought about the renaissance of Hinduism. The Sikhs exodus in the partition had made them more vulnerable and thus ground was prepared for sowing the seeds of separatism and revival of orthodoxy. Sikh religious revival coincided with Green Revolution. Green Revolution, aided by new varieties of seed and modern farming methods led to prosperity. The Green Revolution began in Ludhiana, the most fertile region in the Indo-Gangetic plain. The Intensive Agricultural Areas Programme (IAAP) was also first conducted in Ludhiana. The discussion then shifts to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. An outline of his start as a preacher to a pawn in party politics is provided. It shows that his early messages spoke of returning to the traditions of Khalsa Panth and renouncing the evils brought by modernism. As his popularity grew, he began to espouse the cult of violence and promote hatred towards Hindus as a means for preserving Sikh identity. The chapter concludes with Bhindranwale’s ‘hit list’, attempts to fortify Akal Takht, and beginning of Indira Gandhi’s involvement.

This chapter looks at South Asian groups in the United States such as Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian, who practice in historical and traditional ways, and contrasts them with contemporary groups who have adapted to hybridized forms with local Americanized variations. It argues that such a contrast coexists with a revivalist fervor that mirrors the religious fundamentalism, here in the United States, of their homeland cultures. The chapter also addresses the concept of the “value of homeland religions” in South Asian communities. It distinguishes between identarian politics of patriarchal and gender confluences in what Stuart Hall sees as diasporic practices, and what Pnina Werbner calls transnational, cultural variations, to suggest a new, “reconfigured community of believers”.

Terrorism has long been intertwined with religion. Prior to the rise of Marxism, nationalism, and anarchism, religion provided the only means to justify acts of terror. The horrors created by terrorists who are religious fundamentalists or by nationalist-separatist terrorist movements that are religiously zealous can be unimaginable. Although terrorists engaged in what they call ‘holy war’ share some of the terrorist psychology with their secular counterparts, they nevertheless differ considerably when it comes to concepts of morality, values, and how they justify and legitimize their terrorist acts. A terrorist comes from a large minority of Muslims from different parts of the globe who are committed to a radical Islam. Psychologically, religious fundamentalism is a theory of suffering and cure. While many may sympathize with the outer, armed jihad of the terrorist, they focus their own energies on the inner jihad: to lead the pious life of a believer.

This chapter focuses on journalist H. L. Mencken, attorney Clarence Darrow, and politician and activist William Jennings Bryan, whose interactions contributed to a collective regional identity for white southerners. The Scopes Evolution Trial transformed the three men into regional symbols of competing cultural and political values that remain relevant today. Darrow and Mencken (and the larger body of journalists that he represented) would be demonized as liberal skeptics, embracing modernism and the debauchery and chaos that would surely follow. Bryan would come to represent the cause of religious fundamentalism and states’ rights.

The quote that serves as the title for this chapter is by an Iraqi woman in Jordan, being interviewed by the BBC at the time of the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein. She provided this response when she was asked about antiwar protesters, together with other women who were gathered together to recount the horrors of the regime of Saddam Hussein. Some of the women's “sexual crimes” included having been raped by one of Saddam's sons. The emerging global consensus that human rights override national sovereignty broke down over Iraq. Iraq brought together the war against terrorism, Islam versus democracy, national sovereignty versus human rights, secularism versus religious fundamentalism. It badly needs the world to believe it can become a normal country.

This section begins with Ashis Nandy presenting his views about Indian political identity. He then moves on to discuss the relevance of the caste system; India in the twenty-first century; India's alter-ego, namely Pakistan; secularism and religious fundamentalism; Indian democracy without secularism; and religion as an anti-democratic element.

This chapter discusses Hindu nationalism and its outreach to Indians living outside of India, particularly the United States. It describes how the movement has impacted the daily lives of Indian Americans in Muncie, Indiana, through a close reading and discourse analysis of conversations with Indian and other South Asian residents of Muncie. The author uses auto-ethnography to situate the analysis within the context of her experiences and argues that the manner in which South Asian Americans in Muncie of differing religious backgrounds might offer a template for challenging religious discrimination.