Have we entered an age of religious extremism?

Extract

[...] Have we entered an age of religious extremism? For many years, and especially since the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11th, public discussion has focused concern on religious extremism. Manifestation of extremism can be bigotry and intolerance, excessiveness, or transgression of defined limits by a particular group of people claiming allegiance to their religion. Extremism can be inter-religious (i.e., directed against different religious communities) or intra-religious (within the same religion). As Abdelfattah Amor, the UN's Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance says, religion is free from extremism”, which means extremism, can be found in Islam, Christianity or Judaism, even though we tend to stigmatize Islamic extremism much more. [...]

[...] Sociologists have observed that Christianity is less and less a “confessing” one - which implies religious practices - as it is more and more becoming a cultural religion, with the claim of common historical and cultural roots. The decline of religious institutions encourages some people to adopt a tougher religion. Besides, the rise of extremism is part of a big process started in the 1970's: the reconstitution of religious feelings. Indeed, as the traditional religious institutions were declining, a proliferation of new beliefs, or new ways of believing, appeared. [...]