Do people who you might think of as fundamentalist consider themselves to be fundamentalist? Is it a label held with pride and identity or is it only a negative given by non-fundamentalists?
Certainly the term is used so negatively by the media that most of the Christians I know don't use the term(anymore) to self-identify. They're more likely to identify themselves as Biblical Christians, conservative Christians, evangelical Christians etc.
That the term is extended to describe people in many religions is probably part of the reason that the people in those religions don't seem to identify with it.
'Fundament':
Dictionaryfundament
1 the foundation or basis of something.
2 humorous: a person's buttocks.
ORIGIN: Middle English (also denoting the base of a building, or the founding of a building orinstitution): from Old French fondement, from Latin fundamentum, from fundare `to found.'
So, the 'fundamentalist' is so, because of a firm belief in the validity of the 'thing as it was founded'.
In the case of religion, this pertains to the 'original' version of scripture.
But strangely, we see that even older versions of the same 'foundation' exist, but are ignored,in favor of latter revision. It is then the 'update' which is claimed to be 'fundamental'.
I can safely say, that most people are 'fundamentalist' when it comes to their own self-perceived 'identity'; this is 'what it is' and there is no questioning of its validity or veracity.
Next, we have the issue of the 'meme'; it works by process of adoption via perceived affiliation, or as some would say, it 'resonates' with the recipient.
The meme infiltrates memory, and co-opts something close to the root of identity. This positioning allows or causes the person to strongly 'identify' with the payload of the meme; in other words, the meme, once established, is able to marshal the 'defense systems' of the psyche and to use those to maintain its dominance.
It is unlikely that the meme (eg, monotheism, etc) will be seen as foreign to the psyche, by the possessor thereof; but others may take notice, and question the propriety of such ideas and positions taken by the one possessed. It is at those times, that the meme defends itself, calling into play the entire force of the psyche; and thus will express itself, both to repel attack, and also to transmit itself whole into the nearby 'attacker'.
Keeping in mind that even a small expression of 'doubt' is bound to trigger defense, we can see that any internal doubt will trigger a massive psychic auto-immune event, as the defenses 'owned' by the meme, will turn against the source of its own power, eg, the person possessed. In some cases, the meme vs psyche 'battle' devours all available energy ('libido',in Jungian terms) and leads to grave illness, and sometimes even death by auto-immune disease, or by suicide.
Such is the dilemma of the 'fundamentalist'. Always on the precipice of doubt, he is motivated to banish all competing ideas, to establish the 'ultimate purity'; and so importantly, to push upon others, the same routine. And the more 'believers' exist, the more likely 'conversion' becomes. We can see this process in action in our world today, as masses of humansbattle other humans on real battlefields, memes firmly in control, exactly as generals.
Fundamentalism then, reveals the existence of a potentially deadly 'parasite' which is perfectly adapted to possess and seize control of humans, even entire populations of us.
Is there any remedy for this human affliction?
In brief, yes. Advaita(nonduality) affords a convenient 'brain-wipe' procedure, with choose-able levels of retention of prior contents. During the Advaita processes, memes are shaken out of the psyche sooner rather than later; the pain and bleeding of the event of their leaving, varies, according to the depth and chronicity of the infection. Advaita also stands as prophylaxis, serving to already-satisfy the otherwise 'questing' mind.
Unfortunately, one who 'believes' he is 'an Advaitin', but who has retained the meme of monotheism, will still play by the rules of the meme, but now, naming the deity as 'Self', and so on. I think it was inevitable that there should arise, a 'fundamentalist Advaita', given the profoundly pernicious persistence of the meme of monotheism. That meme merely hides behind a cloak of 'alternative' ideas, but always ready to spring forth in defense and self-replication.
Note: The state or concept of 'notheism' does not 'deny the existence of god', it denies the existence of 'gods'.
As my old buddy Dane quipped;
"I not only don't believe in God, I hate him, too!"
