Reply #10: Words change - it's perfectly acceptable to apply "fundamentalist" to any rigid ideological system [View All]

[Rabrrrrrr]

doesn't have to apply only to religions any more.

Fundamentalist atheists, fundamentalists Republicans (or Democrats), fundamentalist Keynesian economists, fundamentalist material objectivists, and so on.

Anyone who believes that their ideological system (whatever it is) is THE ONLY system that is true - and not just true, but also has ALL the truth - is a fundamentalist.

There are fundamentalist atheists. Just as there fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, Jews, and also fundamentalist Capitalists, feminists, white supremacists, and aesthetes.

Sure, it's not the original intent of the word 'fundamentalist', but how many words do we have nowadays that have never, ever been adapted to new situations or expanded into new meanings? Not very damn many.