Fundamentalism

Submitted by Fay Voshell (United States), Apr 1, 2003 at 11:52

Fundamentalism comes in many guises. We're most often accustomed to thinking of religious fundamentalism, but political fundamentalism is equally wide spread. To put it another way, those who are completely left or right of the political spectrum are often just as fundamentalist as Islamists.

Like the Islamists, political fundamentalists think strictly in black and white, ideological categorizations and thus are incapable of nuanced opinions. Their committment to ideology is one reason they find it easy to reflect Islamists' ideological beliefs and why they villify the US in the same terms as Islamist fascists.

Many political extremists have gained access to the highest institutions of learning in this country, and like all ideologues before them, they use their foothold to discourage and to prevent the genuine dialogue that should be characteristic of academia. Unless
Americans take note and protest against the extremism, there is a danger that free speech will continue to be threatened.

F Voshell

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