海角大神

The fundamentals of algebra are its most basic laws, upon which the whole system is built. 鈥淪alt, Fat, Acid, Heat鈥� are the fundamentals of cooking, according to Samin Nosrat鈥檚 book of that name. Fundamental things are 鈥渂asic,鈥� 鈥減rimary,鈥� 鈥渆ssential鈥� 鈥� the word 鈥渁pplies to something that is a foundation without which an entire system or complex whole would collapse,鈥� according to Merriam-Webster.

It would be logical to assume, then, that fundamentalist is simply a term for someone who values 鈥渢he fundamentals,鈥� whatever they may be in context. While this is indeed part of the definition, fundamentalist and fundamentalism have had pejorative connotations since they first appeared in English.

Fundamental has been in common use since the 15th century. Fundamentalist and fundamentalism, though, are much later 鈥� they rose to prominence in the 1920s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The terms were first used to describe a group of Protestants who reacted to the increasing secularization of American society by advocating for what they saw as the fundamentals of 海角大神ity, including a belief in the inerrancy of the Bible, and the need to separate from a sinful world. 聽 聽

Some people embraced the label, proudly referring to 鈥渙ur fundamentalist views.鈥� In wider public discourse, however, it acquired negative connotations, as some prominent fundamentalists 鈥� the politician Williams Jennings Bryan, for example 鈥� made a grand cause of banning the teaching of evolution and supporting the Ku Klux Klan. 聽 聽 聽

As English speakers employ it today, fundamentalist still carries these connotations. It implies fanaticism, backward thinking, and a too-rigid adherence to doctrine. It can be used in secular contexts, but, as journalist Richard Ostling puts it, 鈥淲riters have often employed the term to mean 鈥榟ardline religious people I don鈥檛 like very much.鈥欌��

Because of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the Taliban鈥檚 victory in Afghanistan, the news is again full of reports of 鈥淚slamic fundamentalists.鈥� This may indeed be an accurate way to describe certain aspects of some groups 鈥� Salafists, for example, look back to the Prophet Muhammad and the two generations that followed him to inform their observance.聽

If a group doesn鈥檛 self-identify as fundamentalist, however, the Associated Press Stylebook, which is followed by the Monitor, advises against using the term. Its pejorative connotations lead to too-easy dismissal of certain ideologies, rather than opening up understanding about why people might hold them. Mr. Ostling urges that what he calls 鈥渢he religious F-word鈥� be avoided with the same care that we eschew other derogatory language.