The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

It is a tome which must be read by all those who want to understand the evils of institutionalized religions.

Why there is so much division between religions. This book is the best i have read on why people become fundamentally prone to violence. Very informative and well written.

I am satisfied.

Muestra Karen Armstrong las raíces profundas de los actuales fundamentalismos que estamos atestiguando en tres religiones monoteistas. En un inglés claro y elegante la autora cautiva al lector desde la primera página.

We must read

Most Americans are proud of the cultural, economic, technological and political progress that has taken place in the US in the last two hundred years. But to many of the world�s citizens modernization has been extremely painful. The changing of society has also led to religious and political changes that have threatened many devoted religious believers. Karen Armstrong discusses modernization and its effects on three religious faiths: Islam, Protestantism, and Judaism. Secular governments have replaced theocracies; religious reforms have alienated believers; and modernization has caused abrupt cultural changes. Fundamentalism in America developed early in the 20th century when �higher criticism� scholars began taking a more liberal view of the bible. Jews began making religious changes in order to facilitate assimilation into the general society. Islam was threatened by modernization attempts made during the 1800s to the present. Britain and France interfered in Egypt while Britain and Russia made their presence known in Iran. Their involvement was near ruinous. Brutal secular governments in Turkey and Egypt threatened the Muslim world. Finally the United States �which was viewed as a benevolent country because of its non-involvement in the Middle East � became a negative force when it was involved in the overthrow of Prime Minister Musaddiq in Iran in 1953. The US�s support of the Shah even when the mass of Iranian society was protesting his regime, -a regime that had no respect for religion or culture - was a further blight on our diplomacy. These three religious societies feel threatened by the world, and this has resulted in the growth of more extreme fundamentalist views. It�s them vs. a corrupt world (the United States is not free from this phenomenon. Not only are fundamentalists trying to inject more religion into government, but also the Christian Reconstructionists have the avowed goal of making the US a theocracy). This should be a must read book for everyone, and especially those who feel that Western society, including the United States, has had nothing to do with the growth of extreme fundamentalism and its resulting fear of the West