Fundamentalism, Are Books Newest His of Three Books; 102 Written Has His Bodies
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September 11, bomb attacks in Madrid and London with hundreds of victims, burning automobiles, homes, police stations, and churches all over the world: Truth claims Thomas Schirrmacher paired with violence or its justification yield fundamentalism. This phenomenon can be found in all religions and worldviews. And yet a critique is justified: The term ‘fun- damentalism’ is often used unjustly as a polemical form against those who think dif- ferently. This absorbing book enlightens and sensitizes to a serious problem in our terminology which hinders really understanding the problem. As a sociologist the aut- hor defines fundamentalism as a militant truth claim and then finds corresponding currents in all religions and worldviews. Fundamentalism Prof. Dr. theol. Dr. phil. Thomas Schirrmacher, PhD, ThD, DD, is professor of the sociology of religion at the State When Religion becomes University of the West in Timisoara (Romania), Distingu- ished Professor of Global Ethics and International Deve- Dangerous lopment at William Carey University in Shillong (Megha- laya, India), as well as president and professor of ethics at Martin Bucer European Theological Seminary and Re- search Institutes with branches in Bonn, Berlin, Zurich, Fundamentalism Schirrmacher Thomas Innsbruck, Prague, Istanbul and Sao Paolo. Schirrma- cher has held guest professorships and has given spe- cial lectures at universities on all continents. Schirrmacher is chair of the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), director of the International Institute for Reli- gious Freedom (Bonn, Cape Town, Colombo) and Ambassador for Human Rights of WEA; the WEA represents churches with 600 million members altogether. He also is a member of the board of the International Society for Human Rights. Schirrmacher regularly testifies in the German parliament and other parliaments in Europe, as well as in the EU in Brussels, the OSCE in Vienna and other international bodies. His has written 102 books; three of his newest books are Fundamentalism, Racism, and Human Trafficking. He has earned four doctorates, in missiology and ecumenical theology, in cultural anthropology, in ethics, and in sociology of religion, and received two honorary doctorates from the USA and India. sponsored by: ISBN 978-3-86269-054-1 ISSN 1867-7320 The WEA Global Issues Series 14 Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft (Culture and Science Publ.) Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher VKW VKW Thomas Schirrmacher Fundamentalism The WEA Global Issues Series Editors: Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General, World Evangelical Alliance Thomas Schirrmacher, Director, International Institute for Religious Liberty and Speaker for Human Rights of the World Evangelical Alliance Volumes: 1. Thomas K. Johnson – Human Rights 2. Christine Schirrmacher – The Islamic View of Major Christian Teachings 3. Thomas Schirrmacher – May a Christian Go to Court? 4. Christine Schirrmacher – Islam and Society 5. Thomas Schirrmacher – The Persecution of Christians Concerns Us All 6. Christine Schirrmacher – Islam – An Introduction 7. Thomas K. Johnson – What Difference does the Trinity Make 8. Thomas Schirrmacher – Racism 9. Christof Sauer (ed.) – Bad Urach Statement 10. Christine Schirrmacher – The Sharia: Law and Order in Islam 11. Ken Gnanakan – Responsible Stewardship of God’s Creation 12. Thomas Schirrmacher – Human Trafficking 13. Thomas Schirrmacher – Ethics of Leadership 14. Thomas Schirrmacher – Fundamentalism “The WEA Global Issues Series is designed to provide thoughtful and practical insights from an Evangelical Christian perspective into some of the greatest challenges we face in the world. I trust you will find this volume enriching and helpful in your Kingdom service.” Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General, World Evangelical Alliance Thomas Schirrmacher Fundamentalism: When Religion becomes Dangerous Translator: Richard McClary Editor: Thomas K. Johnson Editorial Assistant: Ruth Baldwin The WEA Global Issues Series Volume 14 Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft Culture and Science Publ. Bonn 2013 World Evangelical Alliance 74 Trinity Place, Suite 1400 New York, NY 10006-2122 U.S.A. Phone +[1] 212-233-3046 Fax +[1] 646-957-9218 www.worldevangelicals.org While this volume does not represent an “official” position of the World Evangelical Alliance we are distributing it to promote further serious study and reflection. International Institute for Religious Freedom of the World Evangelical Alliance www.iirf.eu / [email protected] Friedrichstr. 38 PO Box 535 32, Ebenezer Place 2nd Floor Edgemead 7407 Dehiwela 53111 Bonn Cape Town (Colombo) Germany South Africa Sri Lanka © Copyright 2013 by Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft (Culture and Science Publ.) Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher Friedrichstraße 38, 53111 Bonn, Germany Fax +49 / 228 / 9650389 www.vkwonline.de / [email protected] ISBN 978-3-86269-054-1 / ISSN 1867-7320 Printed in Germany Cover design and production: BoD Verlagsservice Beese, Friedensallee 44, 22765 Hamburg, Germany www.rvbeese.de / [email protected] Publisher’s Distribution: Hänssler Verlag / IC-Medienhaus 71087 Holzgerlingen, Germany, Tel. +49 / 7031/7414-177 Fax -119 www.haenssler.de / www.icmedienhaus.de Individual sales: www.mandvbooks.com The WEA Global Issues Series is sponsored by: Gebende Hände gGmbH / Giving Hands International Adenauerallee 11 • 53111 Bonn, Germany • www.giving-hands.de Martin Bucer Seminary European Theological School and Research Institutes Bonn – Zurich – Innsbruck – Prague – Istanbul – São Paulo www.bucer.org Contents Contents ...................................................................................................... 5 Foreword .................................................................................................... 7 1. History of the Term ‘Fundamentalism’ ............................................... 9 2. My Definition ....................................................................................... 13 3. Theories regarding the Danger associated with the Fundamentalism Concept ............................................................... 29 4. The Scriptures as a Foundation? Three Theories ............................. 77 5. Is Modernity the Adversary? .............................................................. 83 6. Literature ........................................................................................... 111 About the Author ................................................................................... 121 Foreword My Task Throughout history religions have brought about wars and mass murders (as well as peace in small and large contexts and an attention to human rights). However, one can just as well justify wars and mass murders on the basis of a knowingly non-religious worldview, such as those demon- strated by Stalin and Mao. Likewise, most murders that take place daily throughout the world have no religious motivation. Murders are horrible things. People find politically motivated murder to be more terrifying, above all murder committed through terrorism. On top of that, if these acts are justified religiously, the instinctive repudiation increases all the more. In the public eye, religious fundamentalism is primarily connected with murder committed by Islamic terrorists. At the same time, this means that being charged with fundamentalism can result in social rejection for those concerned. My task is difficult, since on the one hand I want to familiarize the read- er with the various movements which are normally meant by the religious ‘fundamentalism’ catchword. At the same time, given decades of study and on the basis of discussions with leaders of fundamentalist movements and religious leaders, specifically in Indonesia, India, China, Tibet, Uyghuria, Uganda, Turkey, and Tunisia, I view the term fundamentalism very criti- cally. On the other hand, when I use the term, I have arrived at my own definition, which is certainly unavoidable. This is due to the fact that there is nowhere anything approaching an homogeneous definition of ‘funda- mentalism.’ I have decided not to present the specific movements in the major reli- gions in their own chapters one after the other. Rather, I want to use them as examples for particular questions or phenomena that occur in multiple religions. Within the issue, there are many topics that will be addressed or dis- cussed, such as ‘modernity,’ terrorism, colonialism, missions, freedom of religion, or the relationship between church and state. I have elsewhere delved further into these issues, but in the effort to put it in a nutshell, I have had to reduce them. On the discussion regarding ‘modernity,’ I would like to refer the reader to the volume entitled Postmodernism by Ron Kubsch. The question of social coexistence between different cultures and religions within a country is described in my volume entitled The Multicultural Society. Problems of 8 Fundamentalism religious freedom are addressed in my volume Persecution of Christians Today, and nationalism and religious racism in Racism. In Koran and Bible I address the different understandings of scripture found in Islam and Christianity. Additionally, outside of this series, I describe in detail both a Catholic fundamentalist movement and an Evangelical fundamentalist movement in my books Concept of an Enemy – Islam and The Beginning and End of Christian Reconstruction, respectively. Since fundamentalism used to denote the view that the Bible is without error, I have to refer those who expect this work to include a discussion of the