Religious Fundamentalism and Human Rights

Contents Preface. 1. Origin and development of religious fundamentalism. 2. Fundamentalism relativism and rationalism. 3. Christian fundamentalism. 4. Islamic fundamentalism. 5. Jewish fundamentalism. 6. Fundamentalism and religious freedom in India. 7. Religion and dalit identity. 8. Religion and women's rights. 9. Secularism. Bibliography. Index. Religious fundamentalism is a deep and totalistic commitment to religious belief involving a return to supposed fundamentals away from doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life. It is one of the major threat to human rights. Freedom of expression freedom of information freedom to freely choose change and discard ones religion and the right to life are some of the fundamental human rights which are threatened by fundamentalism. Keeping in view the amount of harm being caused by fundamentalism it becomes the paramount duty of all persons interested in social progress to expose and oppose fundamentalism. The collective action of governments international agencies civil society and leaders of various religions along with proper moral educational programmes to people of all age groups are essential to eradicate the evil of religious fundamentalism from the society. The present volume discusses the issues of religious fundamentalism and its threats to rights and freedoms of human beings. It is a significant contribution to the study of religion human rights and social movements. It would be of interest not only to scholars in the fields of anthropology philosophy sociology and religious studies but also to activists in voluntary organisations and social movements in the emerging global public sphere. 255 pp.…