Vilas Naik asked: Why is fundamentalism and extremism growing in all parts of the world?

Rumel Dahiya replies: Let us first understand what is fundamentalism? In the context of monotheism fundamentalism is the type of religious behaviour that takes a central religious text and places in such a holy, sacred place that it becomes considered infallible and from God rather than from man . Fundamentalists take the tenets of their religion so seriously that earthly evidence will not dissuade them from their religious views, and morality itself pales in comparison to what they think God's will is. Fundamentalism is often seen as violent, intolerant, stubbornly backwards, sometimes inhuman, godly and sectarian. These traits arise because the 'fundamentals' of a religion are held to be those morals, behaviours and beliefs held by the earliest followers, hence, fundamentalist ideas tend to clash with modern society and modern morality. The link here (http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/fundamentalism.html) will explain some of the reasons for rising trend of fundamentalism and extremism. However, it is mainly a leftist view and may not be universally acceptable. To my mind this phenomenon is neither new nor confined to one religion. Its shades are found in all religions and at various times. Primarily it is the result of intra-religion exercise of social and political power. Some people are of the opinion that fundamentalism will ultimately fail. For a brief discussion see http://haystackcommentary.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/why-fundamentalism-will-fail/. However, it is a powerful narrative and likely to sustain itself despite ebbs and flow in its practice.