Even though it begins with the letters "F-U-N," there is very little about fundamentalism that is fun. Religious fundamentalists are people who demand a return to the basic traditions of their religions, which tend to be rather harsh.
The Islamic religion forbids believers to eat pork or drink alcohol, but Islamic fundamentalists go many steps beyond rules such as these. Under fundamentalist law, women are supposed to wear veils and live as virtual slaves to their husbands, who have all power over them. Men may not wear neckties or shave. Movies, perfume, dancing, Western-style clothing, artwork that depicts human beings, and rock music—in fact, almost anything that does not directly relate to Islam—is forbidden.
Most Muslims around the world observe the prohibition against eating pork, but often in nations that are more modern, adults of legal drinking age are able to purchase alcohol. More important, women do not have to wear veils, and some are even able to pursue careers and compete with men. At night, people dance in clubs, and teenagers are free to listen to their favorite rock groups.
The majority of Muslims belong to the Sunni (SOON-ee) sect, with which the smaller Shiite group differs over a number of issues. There are Sunni fundamentalists, as in Afghanistan, and there are also more liberal Sunnis, as in Egypt. There are also relatively liberal Shiites, but the Shiites who have attracted the most attention are the fundamentalists who took over Iran in 1979.
Under their control, Iran is a theocracy (thee-AHK-ruh-see), a government controlled by religious leaders. In Iran, a person who refuses to abide by Islamic law can be put to death. It is ironic that in the twentieth-century Iran, which in the early days of the Persian Empire was noted for its religious tolerance, would become one of the most religiously intolerant nations on earth.
Burning) them, they placed dead bodies at the top of high platforms, which they called “towers of silence.” Vultures flew down to the towers and picked the bodies clean, a site often witnessed by visitors passing through Bombay on trains.
At the end of 1991, Zoroastrianism briefly entered headlines with the death of singer Freddie Mercury (1946-1991). Mercury, born Farookh Bulsara (fah-ROOK bool-SAHR-uh), came from a Zoroastrian family who had fled Iran because of religious persecution. After moving to England, he
Helped form a rock group, Queen, that sold millions of albums with hits such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975) and “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions” (1978). When Mercury died of AIDS, his family held a Zoroastrian funeral service; unlike the Parsis of India, however, they had his body cremated.
World History
