Stephen asked:

Is it fair to say that religious fundamentalism is evil?

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Well, that depends!!

It depends first on just what you mean by "fair". And it depends even more on the standards of good
and evil that you wish to apply. Certainly, to a religious fundamentalist the answer is a resounding
"No!!".

But then, by the very nature of your question, I would have to assume that you are not a religious
fundamentalist. So the answer depends primarily on the standards of good and evil that you apply.
According to some standards, the answer would be "Yes — religious fundamentalism is evil". By
others, the answer would be "No — religious fundamentalism is not evil".

By my own personal moral standards, I would come down on the "Yes" side. I hold the highest moral
regard for knowledge and learning about how Reality behaves. I therefore consider the studied
ignorance of religious fundamentalism to be a particularly bad way of learning how to predict which
way the tiger will jump. But then, my moral standards are not very common, and many people would
disagree with me.

Stuart Burns

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