What is Fundamentalism?

Question

We normally take fundamentalists and extremists as the same. Are we right or Wrong?

Answer 1

Fundamentalism means strictly adhering to the basic principles of any set of rules or religion or cult.
For example we believe that " any number divided by zero equals infinity "
We believe in it coz we strictly adhere to the basics of mathematics.

In the same way when a person strictly follows the rules set by by his religion, he is called fundamentalist as far as religion is concerned.
Extremism is a bit different. If a person believe that he is right and everybody else is wrong, i think he is extremist.

Answer 2

A fundamentalist is a person who follows and adheres to the fundamentals of
the doctrine or theory he is following. For a person to be a good doctor, he
should know, follow, and practise the fundamentals of medicine. In other words,
he should be a fundamentalist in the field of medicine. For a person to be a
good mathematician, he should know, follow and practise the fundamentals of
mathematics. He should be a fundamentalist in the field of mathematics. For a
person to be a good scientist, he should know, follow and practise the
fundamentals of science. He should be a fundamentalist in the field of science.According to Webster’s dictionary ‘fundamentalism’ was a movement in
American Protestanism that arose in the earlier part of the 20th century. It was
a reaction to modernism, and stressed the infallibility of the Bible, not only in
matters of faith and morals but also as a literal historical record. It stressed on
belief in the Bible as the literal word of God. Thus fundamentalism was a word
initially used for a group of Christians who believed that the Bible was the
verbatim word of God without any errors and mistakes.
According to the Oxford dictionary ‘fundamentalism’ means ‘strict maintenance
of ancient or fundamental doctrines of any religion, especially Islam’.
Today the moment a person uses the word fundamentalist he thinks of a muslim who is a terrorist

Answer 3

Little difference between the two.

I know some Extremists Xians will gleefully claim Fundamentalist status - claiming it means a return to the Fundamental principals. But in all honesty there's little difference between Fundamentalist Islamic & Fundementalist Christian Extreamists.

.

Answer 4

Fundamentalism is a term with differing meanings and definitions.

The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined to describe a narrowly defined set of beliefs that developed into a movement within the US Protestant community in the early part of the 20th century. These religious principles stood in opposition to the modernist movement and espoused the strict adherence to and faith in religious "fundamentals".

The term "fundamentalist" has since been generalized to mean strong adherence to any set of beliefs in the face of criticism or unpopularity, but has by and large retained religious connotations (especially since the Iranian revolution, when Islamic fundamentalism became a term used to explain the political Islamic movement based on fundamental Islamic beliefs).[The collective use of the term fundamentalist to describe non-Christian movements has offended some Christians who desire to retain the original definition: These critics strongly object to being grouped with what they see as widely divergent philosophies "Fundamentalist" has also been used pejoratively against those who hold an intransigent set of beliefs. The term has been used to characterize religious advocates as clinging to a stubborn, entrenched position that defies reasoned argument or contradictory evidence

Please check the following link for further detailed information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalism

Answer 5

i personally feel that fundamentalists seem to be the type of people who think of life and their surroundings very literally, and don't really oppress other people with their beliefs as far as physically harming someone, they use the government or a type of media to spread their views. Extrememists seem to be just like the fundamentalists, but they take it a step further or to the "extreme" and harm people. I don't agree with putting the two in the same category but i do agree that their both something that we as a human race should not be a part of.

Answer 6

Fundamentalism is related to the absolute follower of a particular cult.For example Catholic and protestant. These are two faiths and their respective absolute followers are also there.They can be termed as fundamentalism. But if some Catholic criticise the other cult and they form a group and in an organised manner then it becomes the extremism.

Answer 7

Fundamentalism is defined as “the practice of asserting the absolute truth of your own beliefs and practices to the deliberate exclusion of the possibility of truth in the beliefs and practices of others.” It is nothing but bigotry.

Fundamentalists have this "holier than thou" attitude, which gets in your nerves. They always presume to know more about your religion than you do. Fundamentalists talk as if no case could be made for the Catholic faith.

Are they our modern day Pharisees?

How can I bring myself to even respect them? They resort to black propaganda and lies. Here are some examples of their lies and propaganda.

+ The Pope is the Anti-Christ (they have been saying this since Martin Luther made the accusation).

+ The Church is the ***** of Babylon in the book of Revelation

+ Catholics are not Christians

+ Catholics put Mary in the same level as God

+ Catholics worship statues and idols

+ The Catholic teaching on Indulgence is a permission to commit sin

+ The Catholic Church is the Mother of all harlots.

+ Catholics worship Satan

+ The Catholic Church started Islam

Source: Chick Publications and posts on YA, R&SS

If any of these allegations were true I would be the first to leave the Catholic Church. And to add insult to injury they justify these allegations by saying “we don't want you to go to hell; we love you” which to us is a lame excuse for bashing Catholics. Do they really expect us to fall for that line?

To my fundamentalist brothers & sisters: Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. – Matthew 7, 1-2 (KJV)

Answer 8

They are the same thing. Fundies believe that only they know what their 'God' wants and that only they are living the correct way (even if in secret they sin like hell). They are the ones telling everyone else they are evil. And they come in more forms than just Christian. They are the ones who stand across the street from a gay soldiers funeral holding up signs and yelling that he/she is going to hell and that they are evil as the family stands there grieving. Think loud-mouthed, unenlightened, judgemental nutjobs and you've got it.

Answer 9

Fundamentalism have both sides in a coin. In the positive side, you regard any uncompromising view on the basics in a question of faith, as a kind of fundamentalism; in the negative side, you stick to a point of view dogmatically and doggedly and even seek to uphold and enforce that view against all, even to the point of using violence against those who are opposed to your views. The former uncompromising position has often resulted in good things. Many reformers belong to this category. The latter has given rise to a lot of violence and disturbance of peace and order in the society.

Answer 10

The difference and similarity with both is hard to tell. It's pinned one onto one all the way.

But in general term as practiced now, it's like our 2 hands...
both are hands but one is right and another one is left.....
it works together sometimes and work differently some other times....
but most of the times it is related......