Page - 13 - in Limina - Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Volume 4:1

13 | www.limina-graz.eu LIMINA 4:1 | Religious Fundamentalism | Editorial reveals a number of common elements: anti-liberalism, anti-pluralism, and in part anti-democratic inclinations. What defines both populism and fundamentalism is that they are, at their core, reactionary in establish- ing a narrow interpretation of history as a revolutionary programme. Both want to preserve a societal model for the future that has been overhauled by modern progress. Change is perceived as a threat: shifting gender roles threaten notions of masculinity, the discourse on gender threatens gender relations, LGBTIQ rights threaten the order of creation, etc. The discussions presented in this issue offer two different angles to in- vestigate the subject matter: one is an intellectual or religious-historic and socio-ethical analysis of religious theories and practices; the other is an explicit theological and practical critique of religious and political programmes that are characterised by anti-rational and anti-democratic identity concepts as well as alliances with liberal political movements and the mechanisms of state power. Neither approach can claim an independent neutral position from which to examine fundamentalist religious ideology and action, thus both offer a specific point of view beyond simple analysis. The first four articles in this edition contribute to the intellectual or reli- gious-historic and socio-ethic discourse. They demonstrate the positional complexities by differentiating between various religious concepts of reve- lation, between inclusionary and exclusionary principles underlying theo- logical positions, between arguments based on reason and tradition, and between universal ethics rooted in human rights and moral systems based on selective cultural or religious argument. Sonja Angelika Strube initiates the discussion by applying additional catego- ries adapted from the discipline of social psychology to expand and enrich the theological study of fundamentalism. Her approach lays bare funda- mentalist ideas justified by religious exclusivism and offers clear insights into different religious styles within Christian churches. Wolfgang Benedek analyses religious fundamentalism from the perspective of human rights in three steps. First, he explores the concept of fundamen- talism and its manifestations though the lens of international law and in- ternational relationships. Then, he examines the threat religious funda- mentalism poses for human rights and in particular freedom of religion. Lastly, he shines a light on the role human rights play in the face of funda- mentalism. On the example of government measures to combat so-called “political Islam” he shows that any such measures need to be aligned with human rights, or else they risk reinforcing fundamentalist ideas instead.