1.

Fundamentalism - Introduction
Riesebrodt defines fundamentalism as an urban movement directed primarily
against the dissolution of personalistic, patriarchal notions of order and social
relations and their replacement by depersonalized principles.1
Fundamentalism nowadays is almost exclusively used with negative and radically
conservative connotations and according to the popular, journalistic meaning, it
applies those labels to anyone considered religiously conservative and fanatical.
Fundamentalist has been used pejoratively to refer to philosophies perceived as
literal-minded or carrying a pretense of being the sole source of objective truth,
regardless of whether it is usually called a religion.
Since its inception the word fundamentalism has expanded in its connotations in
relation to the narrow meaning it held in its inception. The word fundamental, in
the beginning had a Christian connotation. However, interestingly, the term
fundamentalist somehow got out of its original Christian context and into world
religions, politics and violence and denotes any religious impulse that emphasizes
on strict or literal adherence to its basic tenets. i.e., fundamentalism or the
fundamentalist attitude is one that is found in many groups that subscribe to a
particular ideology and is not exclusive to religion.
Fundamentalism is often partly motivated by identity or a form of xenophobia
(against either strangers of another country or of another religion) and a loss of
members to other causes (perhaps more secular ones).
There have been various approaches to try and understand fundamentalism, the
psychological approach to fundamentalism terms it as a psychological disorder.
The issues surrounding women, minorities, and fundamentalism are currently
being debated throughout the world at every level and by every segment of
humanity. Fundamentalism has been in the past and unfortunately still continues to
be used to misuse religion and tradition to justify practices that discriminate
against girls, women and minorities.

1 John A. Guidry, et.al(ed) , Globalizations and Social Movements Culture, Power, and the Transnational
Public Sphere (Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2000), 317

2. Distinguishing and Differentiating Fundamentalism2

Fundamentalism is not the same as radical adherence to the tenets of belief as held
by radicals viz. extremeism or fanaticism. Fundamentalism is not conservativism.
Some fundamentalists could be extremists, but some liberals and Catholics could
be extremists too. Therefore, extremism should not be treated as a distinguishing
feature of fundamentalism. While it is a tad be a bit harder to make the distinction
in a given moment, and while conservatives may find themselves aligned with
fundamentalists, so long as theyre not opposed to freedom of expression and the
advancement of culture, they should not be lumped in with the fundamentalists.
This holds true for the majority of conservatives. There is a distinction between the
journalistic, sociological, evangelical, and historical-theological usage of the word.
In short, these refer to religiously conservative, religious anti-modernist, a meanspirited conservative evangelical, and rooted in historical movements and
prototype, respectively. Fundamentalism is not confined to any one geographical
area or religion.
3. Fundamentalism in India
To get straight to the point, Sati, the practice of the burning of the wife in the
funeral pyre of the husband, was an integral part of the fundamentalist Hindu
culture, until it was banned by the British before Indian Independence.
The tragic plight of the Indian women can be traced to India's very own religion Hinduism. According to Indian culture, women in the Vedic and Vaishnava
religions or scriptures have been referred to in the context of crushing of women
to the status of sub-humans. Rather than being due to some kind of corruption, the
terrible practices of sati, female infanticide, dowry and related acts are actually
enforced. It is also a commonly-known fact that in the Vedic era and in the Puranic
era- if a woman or a lower-caste person so much as heard the Vedas (Hindu
scriptures) being recited, molten lead would be poured into their ears, to deafen
them forever.
According to Manu, If a wife, proud of the greatness of her relatives or (her own)
excellence, violates the duty which she owes to her lord, the king shall cause her to
2 Olson, R., "What Is Fundamentalism and Who Is a Fundamentalist?" (2013, February 12):
Retrieved August 15, 2015.

be devoured by dogs in a place frequented by many. It was the high castes who
destroyed the dignity of women by,
(1) Forcefully confiscating a woman's property,
(2) Enforcing the dowry system,
(3) Locking women in the home, and
(4) Denying their women education and keeping them in a state of enforced
illiteracy.
Many marriage practices of Hinduism prevalent today have a terrible origin. The
Hindu scriptures are as belittling of women as are other scriptures we have already
examined. Manu's assessment of women placed them in a position where they
were easily compromised by the patriarchal structure.
Manu goes on to describe women as more emotional and less rational than
men, lacking depth in their reasoning and without a strong sense of justice. At
creation, women had been given a love for ornamentation, the emotional responses
of malice and dishonesty, and proclivities of idleness. In this context, men and
women were not equal, but this was less important than their unity in a harmonious
whole. Over time, that harmonious whole was defined as a structure of power
based in patriarchy.
Coming to the modern times, while abortion in the West is common practice, it is
rampant in India for very different reasons, i.e., the preference of a boy to a girl,
i.e., female infanticide. The preference of a son is again, culturally ingrained in the
mentality of the patriarchal nature of the fundamentalist Hindu culture.
There is a prevalent understanding that sex-selective abortion is more humane than
infanticide or female child neglect, as well as being less traumatic for everyone
concerned. Technology, in the form of pre-natal testing, is now available to the
masses. Consequently, at one time, testing sites and abortion clinics were widely
advertised and accessible, with the admonition that it is more cost effective to pay
approximately 1000 rupees for procedures pre-natal than considerably higher costs
at the point of marriage arrangements later. In 1990, a widely reported study of
8000 amniocentesis procedures in Mumbai found a result of 7999 female

abortions. Without a doubt, marriage politics were and are an important causative
factor for low female sex ratios. Religious teaching requires that all daughters be
married; an unmarried daughter is a humiliation to her family.3
Now, fundamentalism in India is more about holding to the past and, or culture
(this includes faith).4
According to Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr., Fundamentalism is a response of a
people who are bewildered by the complexities and contradictions of the modern
world, and that they are essentially trying to retreat into a haven of belief.5
Hindus argue that the rise in Hindu fundamentalism is a natural reaction to the
growth of Islamic Puritanism. Thus, this is a defense mechanism to protect the
faith against militant Islam.
The recent victory of the BJP pasty in the elections has led to an upsurge of Hindu
fundamentalism in India. One of its manifestations is the campaign against foreign
influences in India. This is one of the many attempts by RSS to ban competition as
part of a larger movement to promote the sale of Indian made goods in India. RSS
officials claim that Coke and Pepsi are the most visible symbols of the
multinational invasion of this country. This is again evident in the recent news
about Maggi Noodles and the Make in India initiative. The RSS campaign is called
Swadeshi, which is a term borrowed from the movement launched by Mahatma
Gandhi against Britishmade goods during India's freedom struggle. The use of this
term is political opportunism because RSS has otherwise little love for him they
conveniently forget that it was an RSS member that assassinated Gandhi in 1947
because RSS said that he was too close to the Muslim minority. But for RSS this is
a useful slogan since it taps into a tribal memory of Hindus and enables the RSS to
exploit Hindu fears about Indian Muslims.
3 Sandra Wagner-Wright, Birth, Marriage, Honor & Poverty: Ramifications Of Traditional Hindu
Culture & Custom On Modern Indian Women,(Hawaii: University of Hawaii, 1975), 45-46
4 Gabriele Dietrich, The Rise of Communalism and fundamentalism in India: Socio-Economic-Religious
Perspective in Re-Visioning Indias Religious Traditions, (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1986) p.209210.
5 Varieties of fundamentalism, The New Indian Express (Thiruvananthapuram), 25 August 2002, p.17.

From the time of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Hindutva philosophy
was followed. The Hindutva philosophy is very vague, but it is based on creating
a more specifically Hinduculture in Indian policies, thereby replacing the secular
policies followed since 1947. But the BJP had to be careful in using Hindu
religious fundamentalism. If it went too far, it would have shattered the coalition
government. On the other hand, many people voted for the BJP because it said that
it would introduce strict Hindu religious fundamentalist policies, and so there was
a climate of expectation that it will do so. There was a great increase in religious
based violence by Hindu militants against minorities and still continues today.
Fundamentalism, however, could mean the end of foreign investment if the country
fell into religionbased community violence. There are many other countries in
Asia (and elsewhere) that are seeking foreign investment and would offer greater
stability. Therefore, the BJPled coalition government has to tread a tight rope
balancing a secular face and a fundamentalist agenda. This means, the fate of
women and minorities stays the same, as it was in the Vedic times.
It is interesting to note that the Tihar Jail has a mother in law section exclusively
for women jailed for abusing their daughters in law.6
Fundamentalist Hinduism also has a poor track record as far as minorities i.e.
Dalits are concerned. We shall list a few of the instances.
The India's Ministry of Home Affairs reported in its Annual Report 2009-2010 that
826 communal incidents occurred in 2009, in which 125 persons died, compared to
943 incidents in 2008 in which 167 persons died. Other specific cases of religionbased rights violation reported since 2008 were: desecration of places of worship;
destruction of property and institutions run by minorities in Karnataka and Madhya
Pradesh states; denial of genuine entitlements and concessions in the name of
religion; restrictions on converting to the religion of one's choice (introduced by
the state governments of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Himachal
Pradesh and Rajasthan) and religious riots and pogroms. A survey conducted by the
National Law School, Bangalore (July 2009) in six states of India revealed that
6 Joseph,

M., "Tihar has a special cell for moms-in-law," The Times of India, August 21, 2006.
Retrieved August 16, 2015, from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Tihar-has-aspecial-cell-for-moms-in-law/articleshow/1910510.cms

untouchability is still prevalent in rural India despite the fact that Dalit
participation in social activities has improved. The above study pointed out that
Dalits are not allowed inside many temples, are not allowed on main roads in
villages and expected to talk with folded hands before the upper castes. However, it
is to be pointed out here that although untouchability still exists, it is gradually on
the wane. The most recent atrocity has been the 'reconversion', cases have been
reported of 'forced re-conversion' instigated by extremist groups in places like
Orissa, where most victims are indigenous and tribal peoples.
4. Islamic Fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is, in essence, a political movement composed of groups
and organizations which, while Islamic theology is their cover, aspire to state
power4. Islam regards women as physically, intellectually, morally and spiritually
inferior. This belief is explicitly stated in the Koran. Muslim theologians have
concluded that man was the original creation, and the woman was created for the
pleasure of man. The consequences of Islamic fundamentalism is best understood
via instances of its deplorable nature.
The way Islamic Fundamentalism works is, (allow me to make a crude
generalization); any pedantic whim is justified using Islamic Theology. E.g., On
the basis of eliminating prostitution, women were kept home at night with a hope
that by so doing, prostitution in West Sumatra would be gone. While sane logic
could not accept the fact that prostitution would not take place without men, the
misogynist attitude of male-biased policy makers has taken victim the womenfolk.
This policy was obviously strange because women in West Sumatra, with their
matrilineal family system, had been actively engaged in public issues, and now
they were going to be domesticated in the name of Sharia in the regional autonomy
system. Victimization of women in the district of Karimun, Riau, took place when
women who were dressed in an un-Islamic way were caught at broad daylight
because they were suspected as sex workers. In banning prostitution, un-Islamic
women were caught and detained because they were assumed to have been the
roots cause of various social ills.
In countries such as Algeria, many women have been deliberately targeted and
assassinated for the 'crimes' of simply working outside the home and not wearing

the veil.7 In Pakistan in 1977, General Zia al-Haq took over the country in a
military coup and proceeded to make life a living hell for Pakistani women. He
introduced two Islamic laws, the Zina and Hudud. The word Zina refers to
adultery, fornication, rape, and prostitution. Hudud are the punishments meted out
for these crimes. In real life, rapists are completely protected by Islamic law.
Rather than receive any kind of justice, the raped woman is usually charged with
adultery or fornication.8
Any mention of Fundamentalism today inevitably has some vague reference to
Islam. Fundamentalist Islam is a great problem within some societies, but it is not
necessarily a threat to international peace and security. Islamic fundamentalism
gives religious leaders the ability to arouse the mobs into great frenzies and they
have used modern communications technology to do so. 9
Islamic fundamentalists have been successful in controlling society by suppressing
the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 21 years, the ruling mullahs have
enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on girls and women,
making them slaves by enforcing a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced
veiling, second-class status, lashing, and stoning to death.
5. Brief history of Christian Fundamentalism
The Fundamentalist movement has its roots in Princeton Theological Seminary
because of its association with graduates from that institution. Two wealthy church
laymen commissioned ninety-seven conservative church leaders from all over the
Western world to write 12 volumes on the basic tenets of the Christian faith. They
then published these writings and distributed over 300,000 copies free of charge to

7 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2000: Events of December 1998-November 1999 (London: Buckworth, 2000)
p 439

8 Human Right Watch, Crime or Custom. Violence against women in Pakistan (New York: Muhlen,
1999) p25
9 Macdonald, L. (n.d.). "The nature of Islamic fundamentalism," Links International Journal of Socialist
Renewal,Retrieved August 16, 2015.

ministers and others involved in church leadership. The books were entitled The
Fundamentals, and they are still in print today as a two-volume set.
Fundamentalism was formalized in the late 19th century and early 20th century by
conservative ChristiansJohn Nelson Darby, Dwight L. Moody, B. B. Warfield,
Billy Sunday, and otherswho were concerned that moral values were being
eroded by modernisma belief that human beings (rather than God) create,
improve and reshape their environment with the aid of scientific knowledge,
technology, and practical experimentation. In addition to fighting the influence of
modernism, the church was struggling with the German higher criticism
movement, which sought to deny the inerrancy of Scripture.
6. Christian Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism, for in the Christian circle, was a movement within the church
that holds to the essentials of the Christian faith. It was a reaction against the loss
of biblical teaching, at a time when the world was embracing liberalism,
modernism, and Darwinism, and the church herself was being invaded by false
teachers. Though most of the fundamentalists are evangelicals too, i.e. those who
believe that salvation is only through faith, evangelicalism is not religious
fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism in Christianity is built on five tenets of the Christian faith,
although there is much more to the movement than adherence to these tenets:
1) The Bible is true. Associated with this tenet is the belief that the Bible is
inerrant, i.e., without error and free from all contradictions.
2) The virgin birth and deity of Christ. Fundamentalists believe that Jesus was born
of the Virgin Mary and conceived by the Holy Spirit and that He was and is the
Son of God, fully human and fully divine.
3) The substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. Fundamentalism
teaches that salvation is obtained only through Gods grace and human faith in
Christs crucifixion for the sins of mankind.
4) The bodily resurrection of Jesus. On the third day after His crucifixion, Jesus
rose from the grave and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.

5) The authenticity of Jesus miracles as recorded in Scripture and the second

coming of Christ to earth.
There are many quotations that, if taken literally suggest women's oppression from
the Bible, e.g., I Timothy 2.11-12, where it says Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over
the man, but to be in silence. Paul says, Wives, submit yourselves to your
husbands, as unto the Lord. (Ephesian 5.22-24) And further, The head of every
man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man. Man is the image and glory
of God, but the woman is the glory of the man, The apostle Peter says in I Peter
3.1-2, 6 that wives should be in subjection to your own husbands and have
chaste conversation coupled with fear.
The Patriarchal view on women was developed and upheld through centuries. The
famous theologian Origen stated, For it is improper for a woman to speak in an
assembly, no matter what she says, even if she says admirable things or even
saintly things; that is of little consequence since they come from the mouth of a
woman.10 Another thinker named Tertullian said, You (women) are the devil's
gateway. You are the first deserter of the divine law; you are she who persuaded
him (Adam) whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so
easily God's image (which is) man... (It is woman's fault that) even the Son of
God had to die.11 Martin Luther believed the man to be head and master of the
house and wrote one time that If they (women) become tired or even die, that
does not matter. Let them die in childbirth, that's why they are there.12 John Calvin
is known to have said that political equality for women would be a deviation from
the original and proper order of nature.13 Thomas Aquinas has written As regards
the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active force in
the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex;
10

Origen, Fragments on First Corinthians, 258

11 Milton C. Sernett, Church History, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Dec., 1995): P 734-736
12

H. Ellerbe, The Dark Side of Christian History (Orlando: Morningstar & Lark, 1995) P.136

13 Michael Parenti, History as Mystery (San Francisco: City Lights Publishers, 1999) P.88.

while the production of woman comes from a defect in the active force or some
material indisposition, or even from some external influence.14
The connection between abuse and the Bible appears to have at least two
dimensions, especially within the various strands of the Christian tradition.
1) Many men who abuse their wives justify it based on the alleged biblical
teaching of male headship.
2) Abused women, especially those who have been taught Biblical principles of
male headship and female submission, understand the abuse they face either as
God's rightful punishment for their sins or God's will for their lives, even if it
involves suffering unjustly.
However, the fact remains that religious scriptures cannot be blamed for the
believers attitudes. As all interpretations are according to personal predispositions,
various personal interpretations should be considered responsible for the attitudes
of the believers.15
7. Concluding remarks
Religious fundamentalism affects most of the societies in the world. Irrespective of
religious affiliation, women and children are the most affected groups. The
maturity of a society can be judged by looking at how the women and children are
treated. The church today is having a hard time dealing with the postmodern,
secular culture and needs people who are not ashamed to proclaim the Gospel. The
truth does not change, and adherence to the fundamental principles of the doctrine
is mandatory. These principles are the rock upon which Christianity stands, and, as
Jesus said, the powers of Hell will not overcome it.
Fundamentalism is not at all what it is made out to be. The greatest failure is that it
allowed its detractors define what it means to be a Fundamentalist. As a
consequence, many people today see Fundamentalists as radical, extremists who
want to establish a state religion and force their beliefs on everyone else. While
14 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Volume 1 (Hayes Barton Press, 1862), P. 856.
15 Christopher G. Ellison, Conservative Protestantism and the Corporal Punishment of Children:
Clarifying the Issues. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 35 (1996): 1-16.

this may be true of the radical Islamic faction, nothing could be further from the
truth, for the others. Christian Fundamentalists only seek to guard the truth of
Scripture and defend the Christian faith.
In retrospect, on unbiased reflection on the matter, one would surmise that the
version of fundamentalism that is so openly mocked and chastised is not the one
that was first initially started, and that is not alluding to the No True Scotsman
fallacy.