Politics in Minutes (2016)

Anti-modernism

One of the distinguishing features of nearly every religious fundamentalist movement is a desire to turn the clock back. Fundamentalism is most prevalent in the Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - which had been established centuries before the advent of modern political systems. It is the same Enlightenment ideas that challenge these faiths the most, and to some extent force change upon them.

Modernism, for these fundamentalists, takes the form of liberal attitudes to rights and freedom at the expense of morality and traditional values. Some, such as the Amish and Mennonite communities in the USA, have simply cut themselves off from the modern world they disagree with. Others, however, are more aggressive in their opposition to modernity, calling for the repeal of what they see as immoral secular liberalism, and even democracy itself, and a return to the values and ethics on which their religion is founded.