What is religious fundamentalism

Religious fundamentalism is a focus on differences between members of society on the basis of their subscription or non subscription to a particular faith. It leads to discrimination and divides people into righteous and unrighteous dichotomies. Furthermore, non believers are often the target of blame when problems arise in society. Johnstone (206) affirms that religious fundamentalists reject secularization and insist on adherence to traditional practice.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on What is religious fundamentalism? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Fundamentalism is existent in almost all religions of the world. In Islam, it is manifested when followers oppose writings in books, articles or speeches that criticize the Islamic faith. A case in point was the depiction of Prophet Mohamed in a French newspaper. This sparked riots and violence across various Islamic nations around the world despite the fact that the cartoon was not maliciously motivated. Additionally, several political groups in Islamic nations, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt and Iraq, regard political extremism as a central part of their lives. For instance, the Muslim Brotherhood is just one of the numerous institutions that has brought Islamic fundamentalism back into the political sphere of a Muslim nation. As a consequence, these nations reject consumerism, feminism and several other tenets of the modern era. It is not uncommon to see loggings, mutilations, and female mistreatment in the public sphere within these fundamentalist nations (Coreno 335). In the Christian faith, Protestant fundamentalism stemmed from an early twentieth century publication designed to outline the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Its purpose was to unite American Protestants by clarifying the beliefs that were non-negotiable in their faith. In modern times, Protestant fundamentalism takes the form of reaffirming literal interpretations and applications of the bible. This school of thought moves away from institutional Christianity and the use of sacraments. Instead, it advocates conversion and intimate spiritual experiences. Just like the Islamic fundamentalists mentioned above, Christian fundamentals are also politically conservative. However, their brand of conservatism started in the late nineteenth century. First, a number of them were worried about the effect of science on their followers as the latter phenomenon challenged the Bible’s central claim to truth. In line with this issue was the development of Darwinism, which questioned the authenticity of the Christian creation story.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Furthermore, sociological theories like Marxism claimed that Christianity pacified the masses to protect elitist interests. Johnstone (212) explains that the fundamentalists responded b y focusing on traditional Christian messages rather than on the social aspect. In essence, they were reacting to the disenfranchisement of religion. Evangelical groups now manifest their fundamentalist inclinations through the political sphere, education (in the form of primary and secondary schools), as well as their publications. Several schools are either funded or run by Christian fundamentals. These groups often endorse political parties that support their conservative beliefs. Some of them may lobby against laws that they perceive as secular. Examples include abortion and legalization of gay marriage. In essence, all fundamentalist groups, regardless of which religion they subscribe to, have certain characteristics in common. First, they emerge out of a need to defend religious tradition. Usually, modernization may manifest in one form or another, and thus could be perceived as an attack against the church. Besides this trait, religious fundamentalism is also selective in natu re. It will use an aspect of modernity as well as religion to delineate itself from conventional religion. Cases in point include the use of the internet to spread Islamic fundamentalist teaching and opposition of American Protestants to abortion. Fundamentalists also perceive the world dualistically, in that it is either evil or righteous. Another trait is their propensity towards absolutism. Members must accept their main texts (e.g. Bible or Torah) as accurate and unquestionable. Finally, these schools of thought often have a messianic promise. They assure their followers that they will be rewarded in the end times for their suffering (Emerson Hartman 130). Works Cited Coreno, Timothy. â€Å"Fundamentalism as a class culture.† Sociol. Relig. Journal 63(2002): 335–60. Print. Emerson, Michael Hartman. David. â€Å"The rise of religious fundamentalism.† American Rev. Sociol. 32(2006): 127-144. Print.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on What is religious fundamentalism? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This essay on What is religious fundamentalism? was written and submitted by user Gabriella Becker to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Communication Results essays

Communication Results essays For the past eight weeks I have worked closely with a group of five other people with the sole intent of being able to experience what it was like working in a group and being able to analyze the work being done and how it was accomplished. For the most part I would like to say that it was a positive experience, but at the same time it was a very difficult thing to accomplish. I would like to start by discussing the different personality types within the group. The group was made up of six people and out of the six, five were SJs (Kelly, Kristin, Nakun, Nat, and Rafae) and only one was a NF (Corinne). The SJs very much followed the Guardian example by assigning tasks and having them completed and done on time. While in the meantime, the NF/ Idealist was great for coming up with ideas, but very poor on implementing and completing the things that needed to be done. This made things very frustrating and hard to deal with especially when it was time to complete our project and everything needed to be in. Corinne was still coming up with ideas for our project in the seventh week of it. We finally had to tell her that the ideas were great but there was no time to expand the project further and we needed to work on just what we had because of the time limit. Many of the tasks assigned to Corinne were not completed until we forced her to complete them. A lot of her responsibilities were taken over by other group members because of her lack of completion. This was very frustrating to the group because it was putting us behind schedule. She kept telling us that the marketing things were in her head, but she would never show us anything written or completed. Finally, we figured out that anything she said we should write down and do it ourselves. I found it simply amazing that we each lived up to our personality types and how the group benefited from taking what we knew and developed our s...

Migration, Immigration and Their Effects on Religion, Women And Essay

Migration, Immigration and Their Effects on Religion, Women And Minorities in Germany - Essay Example A country like the United States is considered to be a â€Å"melting pot† of different cultures and ethnic minorities. The same can also be said with the European Union with its free movement of labor. Higher wages attract workers, especially women to migrate with the idea of having a better and improved welfare. This paper aims to examine the effects of migration on women, religion and ethnic minorities. In this case, Germany shall be examined due to its immigration and refugee policy. It is also considered to have the largest foreign population in Europe. In fact, Germany’s foreign population has already exceeded seven million people for each of the last 10 years, not counting those migrants who have acquired German citizenship (Oezcan, 2004). Clearly, these factors pose challenges to the Germany and the European Union. Migration in Germany In European history, Germany was identified to have a long history of absorbing migrants from Europe: Lutherans from Austria, Huguenots from France, Jews from East and Central Europe. However, this openness through the years sparked debates and inquiries. Nationalists espoused a particularist approach to such issues which stressed on blood rather than territory or birth right. Those that migrated to Germany were never identified to be Germans. Such an approach was very much seen in Hitler's regime wherein Jews were considered to be a lesser race compared to full-blooded Germans. The particularist approach in Germany history was subdued by the need for economic recovery especially after World War II and German Unification. By the end of the late 1980s, foreigners were increasingly being blamed for taking jobs, housing and public services away from German citizens (Hollifield, 1997:48). There was a need to rebuild Germany after the damages it suffered after the war. With a relatively low population and workforce, it needed foreigners to work and rebuild infrastructures. Nonetheless, this was not seen by German citizens who were easily displaced and unable to receive benefits from the state. The Effects on Women, Religion and Ethnic Minorities In 2000, a new citizenship law came into force, the first such measure in nearly 90 years. For the very first time, children born to foreigners in Germany automatically receive German citizenship, provided one parent has been a legal resident for at least eight years (Oezcan, 2004). The demography and ethnic makeup of Germany has clearly become diversified. Data in 2000 shows that 41,300 children born of parents with non-Germany citizenship became German by birth; in 2001 the figure was 38,600. Without the new rule, these children would have appeared among the statistics on the foreign population and therefore would have increased the number of foreigners by about 80,000. With the continuous entry of temporary workers, refugees, asylum seekers from countries such as Poland, Russia, Czech Republic and Turkey, the society of Germany is bound to be characterized by diversity and dynamicity. For instance, the inflow of different culture greatly affects religion. If one would examine the history of Germany, it has been the refuge for exiled religious groups. Previously it was a Catholic country but with the rise of Protestantism and its variants, the German princes changed their alliance. Currently, the country still serves as a hodgepodge for different religions such Roman Catholic, Lutheran Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity. Immigration to Germany in past decades has seen the arrival of more foreign citizens and more religious communities. At the end of 2001, there