Fundamentalism: A Psychological Problem

Fundamentalism: A Psychological Problem

By Robert J. Burrowes

8
January 2014

Fundamentalism is a widespread
problem. It often manifests in a religious context - making
it highly visible - but there are plenty of secular
fundamentalists too. If we are to understand fundamentalism
we should not view it as a religious problem: It is a
psychological one.

What is a fundamentalist? A
fundamentalist is usually considered to be a person who
adheres strictly to a doctrine, viewpoint or set of
principles that are considered original and 'pure'; this
doctrine might be theological in nature. For the
fundamentalist, many of their beliefs and the behaviours
that arise from them will, at least in theory, be derivative
of their fundamental doctrine. For the fundamentalist, there
is no room to consider views that are at variance with their
accepted doctrine and contrary views will usually either be
dismissed out-of-hand or resisted with considerable vigour
and, often, violence.

In contrast to the fundamentalist,
a person who is 'open-minded' may still hold strong views
and perhaps even have a strong conscientious position on
certain issues. They will usually behave in accordance with
those views and their conscience. However, despite this,
they will usually also demonstrate a willingness to
seriously contemplate an alternative view or course of
action before discarding it. Moreover, they are likely to
accept suffering, in one form or another, as the outcome of
their conscientious position; they are unlikely to use
violence to 'defend' it.

Fundamentalism, in a religious
guise, is both widespread and problematic. For example,
Christian fundamentalism plays a crucial role in shaping US
domestic policies in relation to abortion, gay marriage and
theories of evolution as well as US imperial and military
policy, Jewish fundamentalism is a key driver of Israeli
domestic and foreign policy including in relation to
Palestine, Islamic fundamentalism (of the Wahhabi variety)
drives attitudes towards women and foreign policies in
countries such as Saudi Arabia, Hindu fundamentalism
manifests as a form of religious nationalism in India, and
Buddhist fundamentalism is driving the violence against the
Rohingya (Muslim) population in Burma.

While religious
fundamentalism is recognisable to most people,
fundamentalism has many non-religious manifestations as
well. These are widespread, even if they often occur in less
readily identifiable ways. Moreover, fundamentalist
behaviour is readily observed in individuals as well as in
groups. One example of fundamentalist behaviour is the
parent or teacher who believes that obedience is an
unquestionably desirable trait, that all commands, rules and
laws are right beyond question, and that children and
students should be admonished to obey all of these
unthinkingly. Another example is the wealthy person who
believes that money is the measure of all that has value and
is quite unable to share any of their wealth.

Psychologically, a fundamentalist is a person with an
intense fear of being 'wrong'; that is, an intense fear of
being judged to hold the 'wrong' view or to engage in the
'wrong' behaviour. This intense fear of being wrong develops
during childhood when one or both parents, and probably
teachers, dogmatically refuse to listen to the child, thus
denying it the chance to develop its own views and moral
code (based on its own experience), while also terrorising
(by threatening and using violence) the child into
believing/adopting a particular set of values and beliefs,
and behaving in a particular manner. It is the intensity of
their fear of being judged 'wrong', and the violence they
will suffer if they are so judged, that makes the child
hold, with phenomenal tenacity, to the 'approved doctrine'
with which they are presented. It is this intense fear of
being wrong that marks out the fundamentalist from the
person who is open-minded and/or conscientious.

Fundamentalism is a significant social problem,
particularly in some contexts. And to fix it, we need to
recognise its psychological origin. Unfortunately, however,
this is not easy to do because the terror that holds their
value and belief system in place, and drives their
behaviour, is deeply hidden within the individual's psyche.

In theory, it is possible to liberate a fundamentalist
from their terror, which will open their mind to other
possibilities, by listening to them, deeply, while they talk
about their childhood experience and feel the feelings - the
fear, pain, self-hatred, powerlessness and anger
particularly - that they have suppressed since childhood.
See 'Why Violence?'  and 'Fearless Psychology and Fearful
Psychology: Principles and Practice'
In practice,
regrettably, few of these individuals are likely to have the
courage to feel their own terror and other suppressed
feelings. This means that nonviolent strategies to resist
the violent behaviours of fundamentalists are important and
necessary too.

If you wish to join the worldwide movement
to end all violence, in whatever form it manifests, you can
sign online 'The People's Charter to Create a
Nonviolent World'

Biodata: Robert J. Burrowes has a
lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human
violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an
effort to understand why human beings are violent and has
been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He is the author of
'Why Violence.

His email address
is flametree@riseup.net and his website is
at http://robertjburrowes.wordpress.com

ENDS

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