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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent discussion and description of religious extremism
Review: This short book by Malise Ruthven provides a discussion of the meaning and context of religious fundamentalism (Ruthven often refers to it as the F-word). Ruthven looks at different aspects of the phenomenon, comparing and contrasting fundamentalists, traditionalists, and those who believe in the inerrency of their given religious texts. The most valuable insights of this short book are the two on relatively long chapters on fundamentalism and nationalism, and how the two often intertwine and provide justification for the other. The only weakness is that Ruthven focuses a majority of his efforts on the three "Abrahamaic" religions, i.e. Christianity, Islam, and Judiaism. There are some incursions into eastern religions (especially the recently kicked out of government BJP in India). Other than this, the book was an excellent effort to discuss this pressing topic.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent discussion and description of religious extremism
Review: This short book by Malise Ruthven provides a discussion of the meaning and context of religious fundamentalism (Ruthven often refers to it as the F-word). Ruthven looks at different aspects of the phenomenon, comparing and contrasting fundamentalists, traditionalists, and those who believe in the inerrency of their given religious texts. The most valuable insights of this short book are the two on relatively long chapters on fundamentalism and nationalism, and how the two often intertwine and provide justification for the other. The only weakness is that Ruthven focuses a majority of his efforts on the three "Abrahamaic" religions, i.e. Christianity, Islam, and Judiaism. There are some incursions into eastern religions (especially the recently kicked out of government BJP in India). Other than this, the book was an excellent effort to discuss this pressing topic.
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