Islamic Fundamentalists / Islamic Fundamentalism

Islamic fundamentalists are seeking a return to the most basic ideas of the Muslim faith. Fundamentalism was first applied to the conservative Presbyterians who wanted all Protestant churches to return to the most fundamental and basic thinking within the Presbyterian and Lutheran churches. The term fundamentalism was first coined in the United States during the late 19th century.

There are purely religious fundamentalists among the world's Muslim groups, and there are radical, proactive, Jihadist fundamentalists who believe in the killing of all Jews and Christians alike. Much of the terroristic movement of today is based in the thought of Jihad. Terrorists believe that they are dying for God, or Allah, and that their efforts will one day be rewarded. This radical thinking helps to perpetuate the war today. It also promotes the idea that life here on the planet is not necessarily important and that capitalists and capitalism are destroying the world. The Jihadists totally reject all ways of the West.

Islamic fundamentalism is not the problem. Peaceful factions of Muslims believe in the fundamental and basic tenets of their religion. It is the evil de-valuation of life and a staunch belief that it is "my way or no way," that permits the Jihadist fundamentalists to continue what they see as their mission of destruction. The conflict between Sunni and Shiite factions of Islam has been a major source of contention, both today and when it all began in the 7th century.

The media made an effort to equate the Christian fundamentalist movement in the United States with what was happening with the Muslims. The term Islamic fundamentalism is now the primary way that the term "fundamentalism" is used. This shift in thought took place in the 1970s and Islamic fundamentalism now equates with terrorism. This has tended to place a negative light on the earlier Christian movement in the United States. An effort is being made to use the term in its purer sense, without great connection to radicalism.

It is vital to distinguish between the Islamic idealists who make an effort to improve upon their religious practices and the terrorist movement that hides behind Islamic beliefs. Judgments are many and extreme around the globe. It is important that people live according to true definition, which becomes further defined in the practical world via actions.

It is also vital to understand that there are relatively few "fundamentalists" among Muslims who actively seek to blow up buildings and murder Westerners. Most Muslims are perfectly content to live peaceful lives and do not seek the kind of Jihad that Western propaganda imputes to them. As the phony war on terror winds on, it is increasingly difficult – for anyone who looks closely – to believe in a kind of pan-Jihad of angry Arab men. This is a fiction of Western propaganda. Bin Laden, al-Qaeda, the war on terror itself – all have extremely dubious antecedents. Western elites want a holy war for a number of fairly nefarious reasons, but that doesn't make it right – or even real.

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