Dictionaries define a fundamentalist as ‘one who believes in the
literal interpretation and the infallibility of the Bible’ as if
fundamentalism were unique to Christianity alone. This definition
may be modified some day, but, the problem of fundamentalism will
continue to torment us. Even the rationalists and the atheists are
not free from its evil influence. The literal interpretation of the
purpose of life as suggested by the religious books (pleasing god
and striving for heaven etc.) does not appeal to them so they deny
any purpose whatsoever.
Before we embark upon the purpose of life, it would be prudent to
resolve the old dispute about god’s existence. Believers say that
god created the universe whereas the atheists say that it has come
up by chance. Although logically, devoid of emotion, god and chance
convey the same human ignorance about how this beautiful cosmos came
about. But, what distinguishes the two, in practice, is the element
of purpose. When an atheist discovers a deep purpose in life his
chance becomes god. God or chance is, therefore, our choice
depending upon our own mental states. We generally oscillate between
them before maturity.
Now, for the sake of simplicity and immediacy, let us restrict our
discussion to the purpose of human life. And even among us, it would
be helpful to bear in mind, the purpose, as a member of species is
different from the purpose as an individual. Since each human being
is as unique as his/her genes and environment, it is reasonable to
accept that his/her purpose as an individual, too, is unique. After
these elementary reservations, self-actualization stands out as the
general purpose for human life. Even the realization of self or
enlightenment is merely the process of self-actualization for some
of us.
Coming back to fundamentalism, after the hasty retreat of
rationalists from the domain of religion, the priests of every shade
were free to misinterpret the purpose of human life to the extent
that it became one for all - a blind adherence to a particular
creed. This period when religion was a fig leaf for moral fascism is
known in history as the Dark Age.
If fundamentalism has been bread and butter for the clergy, it
served as a shield against ignominy for the hypocrites who are
generally rich and powerful through unfair means. Where religion is
only ritual deep, they easily pass off as religious and attain
respectability by erecting a place of worship. The simple minded
believers have been the victims who, besides being exploited in
numerous ways, fought wars against each other, in the name of god
and religion, of course.
Thus we see that, due to fundamentalism or literal interpretation of
our scriptures, we either deny any purpose to human life or we learn
it by rote or we only pretend to know it. All these attitudes are
harmful for the moral well being of a society. Present moral stupor
in the world may be directly attributed to the cumulative effect of
unbridled fundamentalism down the ages. Industrialization has only
exposed our incapacity to cope with technological and material
progress.
