
The Battle for God
A History of Fundamentalism
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Narrated by:
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Lisa Armytage
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Karen Armstrong
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By:
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Karen Armstrong
In the late 20th century, fundamentalism has emerged as one of the most powerful forces at work in the world, contesting the dominance of modern secular values and threatening peace and harmony around the globe. Yet it remains incomprehensible to a large number of people. In The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong brilliantly and sympathetically shows us how and why fundamentalist groups came into existence and what they yearn to accomplish.
We see the West in the 16th century beginning to create an entirely new kind of civilization, which brought in its wake change in every aspect of life - often painful and violent, even if liberating. Armstrong argues that one of the things that changed most was religion. People could no longer think about or experience the divine in the same way; they had to develop new forms of faith to fit their new circumstances.
Armstrong characterizes fundamentalism as one of these new ways of being religious that have emerged in every major faith tradition. Focusing on Protestant fundamentalism in the United States, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, and Muslim fundamentalism in Egypt and Iran, she examines the ways in which these movements, while not monolithic, have each sprung from a dread of modernity - often in response to assault (sometimes unwitting, sometimes intentional) by the mainstream society.
Armstrong sees fundamentalist groups as complex, innovative, and modern - rather than as throwbacks to the past - but contends that they have failed in religious terms. Maintaining that fundamentalism often exists in symbiotic relationship with an aggressive modernity, each impelling the other on to greater excess, she suggests compassion as a way to defuse what is now an intensifying conflict.
©2000 Karen Armstrong (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"One of the most penetrating, readable, and prescient accounts to date of the rise of the fundamentalist movements in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Excellent...highly intelligent and highly readable.... This is a book that will prove indispensable...for anyone who seeks insight into how these powerful movements affect global politics and society today and into the future." (The Baltimore Sun)
"Armstrong succeeds brilliantly.... With her astonishing depth of knowledge and readily accessible writing style, [she] makes an ideal guide in traversing a subject that is by its very nature complex, sensitive and frequently ambiguous." (The San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle)
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The concept of religion helping to tie mythos (the story) with logos (practical wisdom), the need for balance between the two, the supreme importance of ritual to help confirm this has really helped me understand the most basic concept of religion. The author has unlocked why religion is so important, why it is so human, and why it is necessary to being a human. It is necessary to understand a world that does not always make sense, and lays down laws to govern a world that does not make sense. You can tell the author has a great deal of respect for religion and this is by no means a book on why religion is bad. It is specifically a book on you can start with an ideology that has so many positives (societal and individually), but somehow warp it to construct something that is extreme and damaging. The idea of fundamentalism occurs as a reaction to an external factor - modernity, colonialism, science or isolation, when religion feels boxed in and has no release. It is these external factors that squeeze religion, forcing thinkers to pick and choose aspects of religion, and thus create fundamentalists. The history of fundamentalism is SO important to understand this - you cannot understand Jewish fundamentalism without understanding Jewish isolation in Eastern Europe, Islamic fundamentalism without understanding Western colonialism and pressure, and Christian Fundamentalism without understanding the American Protestant reaction to the Enlightenment, rationalism and science.
The chapters on American Protestant fundamentalism are particularly incisive, as it so clearly explains everything that is occurring in the US right now. The author even remarks how the US might eventually decide on a fascist ideology at some point, and this book was written 25 years ago (in 2000)!! Everything that is being done by the current administration are foretold in this book, as this has been the goal of the Protestant Fundamentalists since they began to organize their beliefs and ideology in the early 70s (see the Christian Reconstructionists).
This book was written in 2000, and given how much has changed in the last 25 years, I would have loved to known how her conclusions would be different. In the late 90s, it seemed like the fundamentalists in all 3 religions were losing influence. Safe to say, the opposite is now true.
It is a long, but important book. I would encourage anyone to read this if they truly want to understand this world we live in.
Where does religious fundamentalism come from?
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The best overview of religious fundamentalism in the 3 Abrahamic faiths
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Very Illuminating
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An education for the modern world
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Faith, compassion, and politics!
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Expert analysis of fundamentalism, of mythos/logos
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I will listen to it again
Great Read
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fundamentalism
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One final point. Armstrong is, of course, an historian of religion, but this book also works as profound sociology of knowledge, and pretty good political science, to boot!
Do yourself a favor. Read the book!
The most important book you haven’t read yet
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At no time did the author say you shouldn’t believe in God.
She basically stated how some views of God came about in the 3 major religions.
You of course can accept or reject it.
I found it to be enlightening.
Must have an open mind and heart.
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