Traditionalism and Fundamentalism - how do they relate?

Tweet

Academics have a view of this, which may or may not be the same as a layperson's, either sceptic or believer. They believe that traditonalists who turn to fundamentalism do so because it provides a greater sense of identity than does simply being a traditionalist. To dress in the old ways, to teach according to ancient rules, to practise scrupulously rituals in a manner that connects one with another time, to guard customs so rigorously that even minor changes do not occur, to see the past as the greatest teacher when most others embrace the novelties of today and tomorrow, to hallow scripture with a sense of its inerrancy, to review endlessly set texts according to ritualised rules of exegesis that run against the norms of contemporary critical interpretation, effectively transforms traditionalism into fundamentalism. What starts this process is what I wrote about in an earlier thread on Crisis and religion. The same academics believe that people who are religiously traditonal react to crisis by becoming more traditonal, and thus moving into fundamentalism because of the sense of security that one can get from such rigid belief systems. But that is only what academics think. What do you, as either a sceptic or a believer, feel about this analysis? Lash