Dangers of fundamentalism in today’s world

Nigel Scotland concludes his series on fundamentalism

One of the most dysfunctional aspects of religious fundamentalism has been the abuse of women. Buddhist communities prevent women marrying a man of another faith without permission from their local authorities. In both Iran and Afghanistan  women’s rights are severely restricted by rigid adherence to  Sharia law. Iranian women are compelled to wear the hijab in public places with a fine and a prison sentence for non-compliance of from ten days up to two months.Roya Heshmati, an Iranian woman, was lashed 74 times in 2023 for an alleged hijab violation. Her case led to widespread condemnation in Iran and across the globe.

In Afghanistan the Taliban enforce the strictest interpretation of the Koran and women when in public are compelled to be covered in black from head to toe, denied secondary school education and take no part in public life. A poll of women’s rights experts ranked Afghanistan at ‘the worst place in the world to be a woman’.

Religious education – an issue of major concern.

It is the case that certainty can prove dangerous. If there is no doubting then reason, discussion and faith are excluded and this in turn leads to fanaticism. In particular many fundamentalists seem unable to recognise that any  perceived God who needs oppressive teaching, war, bombs, violence, executions and excessive  abusive  punishments to promote his mission must be feeble, inhuman and evil. 

There is currently widespread concern in the UK about the present very weak state of religious education and particularly so in secondary schools where it  not considered a priority, financially under-resourced and lacking in  the number of sufficiently trained specialist teachers. If there is one subject which demands absolute  priority in the present school curriculum  it is Religious Education. We are living in  a world that is currently being turned upside down and torn apart by religious fundamentalist and terrorist movements. Not only are such groups seeking to enforce harsh and often brutal visons on other people and nations but at the same time  they are engaging  in internecine warfare causing further destruction,  unrest, widespread fear and yet more loss of life. Already there are  growing undercurrents of this strife and conflict among fundamentalist individuals and groups within the majority of Western nations. 

Young people in this country desperately need to be able to leave school with a solid basic knowledge, empathy and understanding of the world’s major religions and most importantly the fundamentalist factions which they generate. In particular they need to be instructed how to read, understand, interpret and apply the sacred texts of their own and other religious institutions. Most obviously young people must be taught to understand and apply sacred texts  such as those already quoted in this article and those in the following paragraphs.

Interpretation of texts

Genesis 9:2 was used by Christian fundamentalists to justify slavery as was Exodus 21:20 which states, “If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod … he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property”. 

Deuteronomy 9:5 which states “on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you” appears to offer support to invade the territory of other nations. Slavery was justified in South Africa by Christian fundamentalists on the  basis of  Genesis 9:25-27 and Ephesians 6:5 which urges, “Slaves, be obedient to your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart as to Christ”. 

In the past doctrines of racial separation were based on passages such as Acts 1:8-17 and Revelation 5:9 and 7:9.  Mark 16:18 is still used to justify snake-handling by the Snake-handling Pentecostal churches  in Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia despite the fact that some members are badly bitten and a few have even died from snake-bite.

The same verse was used by the cult leader Jim Jones to persuade more than 900 of his People’s Temple Cult to die in a mass-murder suicide pact by drinking deadly poison at their compound in Guyana in 1978. 

Paul in his First Letter to Timothy asserts that women are to be subservient to men and are not allowed to teach. (1Timothy 2:11-15). Similarly Sura 4.34 in the Quran states that “men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other … Good women are obedient … As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them”. 

Mark 9:43-45 states, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your if your foot causes you to stumble cut it off”. Similarly the Quran 5:38 states, “As for male and female thieves cut off their hands for what they have done”.

It is essential therefore that students in our secondary schools and colleges be taught how to assess and draw out the meaning and relevance of sacred texts. They need to be able to ask whether the original intended to be taken literally or whether it  was parable, allegory or metaphor?  Other questions then follow such as what will be the consequence if a particular text is actioned literally? 

Pupils should be able to understand the  original historical context which caused a text to be written? They then need to ask what did it mean to the first readers? Did it promote goodness and well-being or result in action that paid disregard to the sanctity of life or failed to treat people with dignity or respect? 

If we fail to provide an education that offers a sound understanding, empathy and respect for the world’s major faiths together with an ability to assess their potential dangers we are failing to face up to the realities of the present world.

In fact, we will simply be guilty of making it a growingly dangerous country in a shaking world. Worse still, we will have failed to equip the next generations of children and young people for the business of twenty-first century living. If our government and the department of education continue to avoid this issue the result as everyone knows will be more conflict within our nation and the nations of the world.