THE POWER OF RELIGION IN A SECULAR SOCIETY
CAUSES AND IMPLICATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
Keywords:
Extremism, Fanaticism, Modernity, Nation-state, Pluralism, Religious Fundamentalism, SecularizationAbstract
The power of religion in modern pluralistic societies has come along with its complexities and challenges. The current wave of religious fundamentalism and terrorism has raised the greatest concerns ever in human history whether the world is becoming a normless global village on the pretext of religious freedom of association and sociableness. Fundamentalism in whatever form it comes out with should not be seen as modern phenomenon in themselves, but more as reaction to the emerging trends and values inherent in modernized socio-cultural, politico-economic factors in developing human civilizations. Extreme modernist tendencies and extreme religious propensities are both dead ends and would have to readjust in order to participate in creating a just world of socio-economic and political order for human existence. This piece argues that religion and religious issues still form part of the fabric of modern societies. Religion cannot be withdrawn from the world, neither the world engaging in secular exclusivism. There must be the need for a common ground for interconnection and interdependence.
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