In the midst of several conflicts and tensions in the world, the compelling need to promote inter-faith harmony and understanding is increasingly realized. Such promotion increases possibilities of durable peace among various communities and often also among several countries. Religious fundamentalism is characterized by a rigid and narrow understanding of religious texts and precepts, leading to sectarian views and frequently to avoidable conflicts with people of other faiths or sects.

One main problem created by religious fundamentalism is that this discourages human understanding on the basis of rationality due to very rigid adherence to what was written or spoken several hundred years back, and may have had a very different context compared to the situation existing today. Secondly, and related to the first factor, is the tendency for this irrationality to very easily turn against people of other sects and faiths, particularly in the hands of mischievous elements. This can lead to entirely avoidable conflicts and violence; we can see too much of this in the pages of history. Many well-intentioned people had reasonable hopes that in modern times several factors would combine to reduce the prospects of religious fundamentalism and in some sections of human society this has already happened.

However, looking at the world we see that on the whole trends of religious fundamentalism have shown surprising strength and resilience right up to the 21st century. Why and how this happened is a subject for detailed study, but what must be clear is that while religious fundamentalism may be strong, it is not desirable. What the world needs instead is inter-faith harmony, and fundamentalist, rigid understanding of one’s religion is not compatible with the promotion of inter-faith harmony.

We need a more enlightened and liberal understanding and practice of religion which has greater compatibility with peace, human welfare, gender justice, inter-faith harmony and rationality. Of course rejection of religious fundamentalism should never be confused with the rejection of religion, as religion for many people has many positive aspects aligned with ethical life, philanthropy, kindness, taking care of those in distress, compassion, mental and spiritual peace, reducing attachment to consumerism and voluntary simplicity or austerity.

This in fact is the proper role of religion which is highly compatible with the welfare of humanity and in fact all forms of life. Some of the best and greatest scholars of religion have in fact devoted themselves to the interpretation of religion in such contexts, clearing many misconceptions and contributing much to welfare at several levels. Some other religious scholars have gone a step ahead to also speak of a society based on justice and equality, as well as resisting injustice to create such a society.

Those who follow this approach may be devout followers of their religion but at the same do not hesitate to reject any isolated highly objectionable passages found in some religious texts. A serious problem with religious fundamentalists is that while they are very insistent regarding the greatness of their own religion, they can be very hostile towards other religions. They have a tendency to falsely interpret history and to mix up mythology with history in arbitrary ways in order to spread hostility against other religions based on falsehoods or twisted halftruths.

Common people of various faiths are perfectly capable of living in harmony with people of other faiths, quite often happy to do so, but the fundamentalist and sectarian elements often try to create problems and obstructions. Hence it is clear that, from the point of view of peace and welfare of humanity, fundamentalist and sectarian elements of all religions can create serious problems, and almost all of them are associated with various forms of violence. This violence may be directed against people of other faiths, or even against those people of their own faith who do not agree with their view of religion. Thus while fundamentalist and sectarian elements of all religions generally have violent tendencies and are harmful for peace, social harmony and democracy, in recent times more attention has been focused on Islamic fundamentalist and sectarian forces including the militants among them.

What is more important is to know how many of these militants with fundamentalist beliefs increased in several countries in the middle of several modern influences. Partly this increase reflects a reaction against some harmful aspects of modernity which damage social relationships in significant ways, but there are other factors too.

One of the biggest sources of funds for the spread of Islamic fundamentalism over the years came from Saudi Arabian royalty, while this royalty got special support from the USA. In many countries the fundamentalist forces could be strengthened because of the financial support received from Saudi Arabia or some of its allies who had plenty of oil money at their disposal.

In due course this money was used by the USA and its CIA, using Pakistan in the important role of intermediary, to collect Islamic militants from all over the world to fight the Soviet army in Afghanistan which had come there to support a communist government at its invitation. This provided the biggest opportunity to these militants from many countries to get modern, deadly weapons as well as the training to use these weapons effectively.

After their use for ousting the Soviet army was fulfilled, these militants were by and large left free to roam to many places including their original countries and spread violent disruption there. In Iran the democratically elected patriotic Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh was ousted by the USA and Britain when he tried to protect the national interests of Iran. In his place they brought back the monarchy of the Shah of Iran who established a regime characterized by suppression of people and torture.

It was the repressive rule of this regime which created the conditions for the arrival of the regime of fundamentalist forces. In Afghanistan it was the highly corrupt and inefficient regimes supported by the USA which created the conditions for the return of the fundamentalist forces led by the Taliban. It is by now widely known that in Gaza the emergence of Hamas was supported by Benjamin Netanyahu and some other Israeli leaders as a counter to left and secular forces among the Palestinians. Thus what we see in country after country is that Muslim religious fundamentalism grew either when funds and support became available for this from resourceful or powerful countries, or else militants among fundamentalist forces were directly recruited or supported to be used against left and secular forces. As powerful Western countries supported many corrupt dictatorships and monarchies in Muslim countries, the youth had to find some channels of opposition. As the left forces faced too much repression, the secular paths became more risky.

For those still keen to oppose the corrupt and oppressive dictatorships, the fundamentalist conservative forces could provide some protection and hence the forces of resistance also found a more convenient channel in fundamentalism. This explains how Islamic fundamentalism could spread at a fast pace in many parts of the world, with some of the most powerful Western countries playing an important supporting role in this, although later they were also forced to fight such forces.

At the same time, powerful Western countries have also played an important role in supporting (and getting supported by) fundamentalist forces of several other religions too. People should realize how they have been opportunistically used by various forces in narrow ways for their own interests, and come to the enlightened, welfare-oriented, liberal path of religion that emphasizes peaceful co-existence, while giving up the sectarian and rigid, narrow path. In addition they should promote inter-faith harmony for the unity of their nation and indeed for the unity and welfare of all humanity.

(The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, When the Two Streams Met and A day in 2071.)