NationStates Jolt Archive

This may be slightly odd coming from someone who is generally seen as rather un-religious, but... I've been getting really annoyed lately with all the use of the term fundamentalist (although I admit I myself have wound up using it, inaccurately to describe certain groups)

fun·da·men·tal·ism Audio pronunciation of "fundamentalist" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fnd-mntl-zm)
n.
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

fun·da·men·tal Audio pronunciation of "fundamental" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fnd-mntl)
adj.
1.
1. Of or relating to the foundation or base; elementary

These are taken from www.dictionary.com

Now, people have often claimed that these religious "fundamentalists" are people who attack others who do not share their beliefs and such. However, while these groups often CLAIM to be adhering to the true principles of their religion, if you really know anything about these religions you will realize they are far from the true teachings of that religion....

So in light of this, why do we call them fundamentalists? They are far more deviant from the religion than many others who practice the religion that our media would never call fundamentalists (as good productive members of society).

In my opinion, it's nothing but an attempt to support and encourage Atheism... (don't ask for proof, this is purely an unsupported opinion).

Extremiss may be a better term, but these groups do tend to identify themselves as being closer to the original values. The mainstream don't try to claim any monopoly on morality, so these groups get the term fundamentalists, since they're the ones laying claim to it.

In any case, the Atheist Fundamentalists you see(Check this site for proof) are more what you'd term fundamentalists, since they do what atheism is supposed to do, which is rubbish (other) religions.

This may be slightly odd coming from someone who is generally seen as rather un-religious, but... I've been getting really annoyed lately with all the use of the term fundamentalist (although I admit I myself have wound up using it, inaccurately to describe certain groups)

fun·da·men·tal·ism Audio pronunciation of "fundamentalist" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fnd-mntl-zm)
n.
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

fun·da·men·tal Audio pronunciation of "fundamental" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fnd-mntl)
adj.
1.
1. Of or relating to the foundation or base; elementary

These are taken from www.dictionary.com

Now, people have often claimed that these religious "fundamentalists" are people who attack others who do not share their beliefs and such. However, while these groups often CLAIM to be adhering to the true principles of their religion, if you really know anything about these religions you will realize they are far from the true teachings of that religion....

So in light of this, why do we call them fundamentalists? They are far more deviant from the religion than many others who practice the religion that our media would never call fundamentalists (as good productive members of society).

In my opinion, it's nothing but an attempt to support and encourage Atheism... (don't ask for proof, this is purely an unsupported opinion).The reason is they believe they are returning to fundamental priciples of their religion (or what they believe are the fundamental principles). That and the characteristic intolerence of other views earns them the 'fundie' label.

I think that as the years go by, the meanings of words change. They gain connotations, and society begins to use them differently. For example, the word pimp:

One who finds customers for a prostitute; a procurer.

intr.v. pimped, pimp·ing, pimps
To serve as a procurer of prostitutes.

www.dictionary.com

However, when I asked a soon to be freshman in high school, he couldn't tell me what it meant originally. He just thought of it as the new word for cool/hip/hep/tight/fly/etc. ad nauseam.

Wow. I just wrote two Latin words... and I think I misspelled one... :headbang:

Languages grow and adapt, especially English, as it has quite a few imported words (mosquito, patio, garage, etc.) I don't know if this is good or not... but maybe it's just there, and not good or bad. Oh well

Just as a historical note, the term "fundamentalists" when applied to Christians doesn't come from them returning to the fundamentals of the religion. Rather, it comes from a series of pamphlets written in the 20's that claimed to be essays about the fundamentals of the faith, as viewed by certain Christians of that time. Since the series was called "The Fundamentals", those who adhered to the ideas in it were called fundamentalists.

I'm thinking, however, that the modern definition of fundamentalism does NOT clarify on a return to basic values (because then, the entire War in Iraq would be eliminated), but however, that fanaticism AGAINST opposing values.