Essay on Contemporary Issue: Why Is the Ultra-Conservative or Fundamentalist Version of Christianity (or Religion in General) Gaining the Ground in Today’s U.S. Society?
a. The radicalization of Islamic religion in the Western world including the U.S. may not be endemic to the Islamic community. Speaking only in the context of the U.S. society, as Prothero points out in his book, the ultra-conservative and fundamentalist version of Christianity is gaining the ground in the U.S. Fundamentalist Christian community, alongside fundamentalist Muslims are growing in number. Why?
Rod Dreher in his article/blog in the American Conservative answers like this, “Fundamentalism offers that kind of community. Yes, the community creates pain and breaks sometimes, but it’s still a community that often attracts people to fundamentalism.”
Read Dreher’s article. This particular article/blog is selected because it shows well how common people think about fundamentalism. Here, one point is about a group’s anger towards the general social attitude and practice of their religion.
As Prothero borrows Marsden’s definition of who the fundamentalist is, an “evangelical who is angry at something,” the fundamentals are angry about how the society treats their religion! On the other hand, the fundamentalist belief provides strong solidarity and ethical guides among co-religionists which is necessary for human thriving.
Thus, the fundamentalism has an obvious virtue. Now, answer what you think about their angry attitude and the obvious virtue that it provides solidarity and ethical guideline. When you write, use the knowledge you have from your reading of Smith and Prothero’s books. Write in no more than 400 words but not less than 300 words.
