FUNDAMENTALISM
AND THE PRICE OF DEFECTIONIn the most diverse traditions (American Christianity, Islam, Hin-
duism and even more surprisingly Buddhism) one can find move-
ments entirely focused on a returnto the religious values promoted by
the religious guild and supposedly perverted by further developments.
Although such movements are as diverse as the contexts in which they
arose, there are some common trends, and the legitimization of vio-
lence in the service of a religious restoration is one of those trends.
[292] We generally hesitate between two different explanations for the
existence of organized groups that seem prepared to perform acts of
extreme violence (or "heroism" as seen from the insiders' perspective)
in order to coerce a wider community into proper religious attitudes.
On the one hand, it is tempting to think that this is all to do with reli-
gion—that is, fundamentalist extremism is simply an excessive form of
religious adherence, a caricature of ordinary behavior in the religious
communities where it emerges. This is a common theme in Western
liberal reactions to fundamentalist Islam; religious leaders and their
henchmen are seen as just "more Muslim" than ordinary Muslims, a
view that fits the old and persistent antipathy to Islam in the West.
This also fits our common notions about religious identity. If you
assume that supernatural concepts naturallycreate identity and soli-
darity as well as powerful emotional bonds between people, then it
would seem that having a stronger commitment to such concepts
would result in extremist behavior. A second interpretation, equally
common though at odds with the first one, is that religious extremism
hasnothing to do with religion. For instance, fundamentalism is seen as a
brazen attempt to gain social control on the part of small groups—to
attain the influence, power, prestige that society is reluctant to give
them. This view is often put forward by many people from the coun-
tries where such movements are active. Muslim intellectuals argue
that fundamentalist movements are a caricature of a more authentic,
nobler and more generous Islam (and can use considerable scriptural
authority to back up this argument). In the same way, many Chris-
tians, Jews and Hindus react with horror to the assimilation of their
religion with such movements as Bible-belt fanatics, ultraorthodox
rabbis or mosque-burners in India.
Both interpretations, in my view, fail to explain what is special to
such movements. For one thing, even if fundamentalism were just an
RELIGION EXPLAINED