Editing Fundamentalism (section)

==Politics==
In modern politics, fundamentalism has been associated with right-wing [[Conservatism|conservative]] ideology, especially [[social conservatism]]. Social conservatives often support policies in line with religious fundamentalism, such as support for [[school prayer]] and opposition to [[LGBT rights opposition|LGBT rights]] and [[Anti-abortion movements|abortion]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Martin|first=William|year=1996|title=With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tzi7bIDP3aMC|location=New York|publisher=Broadway Books |isbn=978-0-553-06745-3}}</ref> Conversely, [[secularism]] has been associated with [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] or [[Liberalism|liberal]] ideology, as it takes the opposite stance to said policies,<ref name="armstrong"/> however, various left-wing policies have likewise been deemed forms of fundamentalism,<ref>{{Citation |last=Graham |first=Peter |title=Liberal Fundamentalism and Its Rivals |date=2006-06-08 |work=The Epistemology of Testimony |pages=0 |editor-last=Lackey |editor-first=Jennifer |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/43179/chapter-abstract/362367716?redirectedFrom=fulltext#:~:text=Liberal%20Fundamentalism%20holds%20that%20it%20is%20a%20priori,confers%20justification%20on%20S%20's%20belief%20that%20P. |access-date=2025-01-15 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-927601-1 |editor2-last=Sosa |editor2-first=Ernest}}</ref> notably stronger forms of [[Woke|wokeness]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaufmann |first=Eric |date=2020-11-20 |title=Liberal Fundamentalism: A Sociology of Wokeness |url=https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2020/11/liberal-fundamentalism-a-sociology-of-wokeness/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=American Affairs Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

Political usage of the term "fundamentalism" has been criticized. It has been used by political groups to berate opponents, using the term flexibly depending on their political interests. According to Judith Nagata, a professor of Asia Research Institute in the [[National University of Singapore]], "The Afghan ''mujahiddin'', locked in combat with the Soviet enemy in the 1980s, could be praised as 'freedom fighters' by their American backers at the time, while the present Taliban, viewed, among other things, as protectors of American enemy Osama bin Laden, are unequivocally 'fundamentalist'."<ref>Nagata, Judith. 2001. ''Toward an Anthropology of "Fundamentalism."'' Toronto: Blackwell Publishing, p.9.</ref>

"Fundamentalist" has been used pejoratively to refer to philosophies perceived as literal-minded or carrying a pretense of being the sole source of objective truth, regardless of whether it is usually called a [[religion]]. For instance, the [[Archbishop of Wales]] has criticized "atheistic fundamentalism" broadly<ref name="McGrath 2007">[[Alister McGrath]] and Joanna Collicutt McGrath, ''The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine'', [[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]] (SPCK), February 15, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-281-05927-0}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/press/display_press_release.php?prid=4542|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316070109/http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/press/display_press_release.php?prid=4542|url-status=dead|title=Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru &#124; The Church in Wales<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=March 16, 2008|access-date=December 30, 2007}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7156783.stm | work=BBC News | title='Atheistic fundamentalism' fears | date=December 22, 2007 | access-date=May 3, 2010}}</ref> and said "Any kind of fundamentalism, be it Biblical, atheistic or Islamic, is dangerous".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atheistnation.net/news/?atheist/article,00139 |title=Archbishop of Wales fears the rise of "Atheistic Fundamentalism" |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227061935/http://www.atheistnation.net/news/?atheist/article%2C00139 |archive-date=December 27, 2007 |access-date=November 4, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> He also said, "the new fundamentalism of our age ... leads to the language of expulsion and exclusivity, of extremism and polarisation, and the claim that, because God is on our side, he is not on yours."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7156783.stm |title=Atheistic fundamentalism" fears |work=BBC News |date=22 December 2007 |access-date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> He claimed it led to situations such as councils calling Christmas "[[Winterval]]", schools refusing to put on [[nativity play]]s and [[cross]]es being removed from chapels.  Others have countered that some of these attacks on Christmas are [[urban legend]]s, not all schools do nativity plays because they choose to perform other traditional plays like ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' or "[[The Snow Queen]]" and, because of rising tensions between various religions, opening up public spaces to alternate displays rather than the [[Nativity scene]] is an attempt to keep government religion-neutral.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/christmas2007/story/0,,2230951,00.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Sorry to disappoint, but it's nonsense to suggest we want to ban Christmas | first=Polly | last=Toynbee | date=December 21, 2007 | access-date=May 3, 2010}}</ref>

In ''[[The New Inquisition]]'', [[Robert Anton Wilson]] lampoons the members of skeptical organizations such as the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal]] as fundamentalist materialists, alleging that they dogmatically dismiss any evidence that conflicts with [[materialism]] as hallucination or fraud.<ref>Pope [[Robert Anton Wilson]], ''[[The New Inquisition]]: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science''. 1986. 240 pages. {{ISBN|1-56184-002-5}}</ref>

In France, during a protestation march against the imposition of restrictions on the wearing of headscarves in state-run schools, a banner labeled the ban as "secular fundamentalism".<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2003/12/19/edscarf_ed3_.php "Secular fundamentalism"], [[International Herald Tribune]], December 19, 2003</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2004-01-17|title=Headscarf ban sparks new protests|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3405453.stm
| publisher= BBC News
|access-date=2023-01-02}}</ref> In the United States, private or cultural intolerance of women wearing the [[hijab]] (Islamic headcovering) and political activism by Muslims also has been labeled "secular fundamentalism".<ref>{{Cite news
| first = Ayesha| last = Ahmad 
| date = 22 April 2002
|title=Muslim Activists Reject Secular Fundamentalism|url=https://www.islamawareness.net/Secularism/activists.html|access-date=2023-01-02|website=www.islamawareness.net}}{{pb}}{{cite web
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030315140709/http://minaret.org/dinner5.pdf
| archive-date= 15 March 2003
| url = http://minaret.org/dinner5.pdf
| title= Minaret of Feedom 5th Annual Dinner Edited Transcript 
| first = Imad-ad-Dean | last=Ahmad
| publisher= Minaret of Feedom 
}}</ref>

The term "fundamentalism" is sometimes applied to signify a counter-cultural fidelity to a principle or set of principles, as in the pejorative term "[[market fundamentalism]]", used to imply exaggerated religious-like faith in the ability of unfettered ''[[laissez-faire]]'' or [[free-market]] [[capitalist]] economic views or policies to solve economic and social problems. According to economist [[John Quiggin]], the standard features of "economic fundamentalist rhetoric" are "dogmatic" assertions and the claim that anyone who holds contrary views is not a real economist. Retired professor in religious studies Roderick Hindery lists positive qualities attributed to political, economic, or other forms of cultural fundamentalism, including "vitality, enthusiasm, willingness to back up words with actions, and the avoidance of facile compromise" as well as negative aspects such as psychological attitudes,{{which|date = November 2014}} occasionally elitist and pessimistic perspectives, and in some cases literalism.<ref>Hindery, Roderick (2008). [http://propagandaandcriticalthought.com/RHComparativeEthicsArticle2008.htm "Comparative Ethics, Ideologies, and Critical Thought"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128013058/http://propagandaandcriticalthought.com/RHComparativeEthicsArticle2008.htm |date=January 28, 2012 }}</ref>