Religion in the age of spectacle

an essay to understand fundamentalism in contemporary times

Abstract

The assumption of this essay lies in the conviction that religious fundamentalism is a topic about which the sciences of religion and theology cannot remain silent. Definitions and classifications of fundamentalism in its various forms of manifestation are a pressing challenge to academic production. As a novelty, this investigation mainly aims to understand the contemporary world as an age of spectacle and locate Protestant fundamentalism within it. In the logic of the hegemony of spectacle, Protestant fundamentalism needs to make its truth visible, as what is good must necessarily appear. Its specific objectives are: (1) to present Protestant fundamentalism as a metacommunity built around a single thought that needs to be conveyed to remain active; (2) to characterize Protestant fundamentalism as a movement adhering to such a direct presentation of truth that it becomes shallow  and flat. A bibliographic and exploratory research is proposed to achieve the expected results, in which reference works are constitutive parts of the researcher’s archive, not in the sense of a repository, but as readings made and experiences lived (academic life intertwined with personal life). The article develops a qualitative research approach as an in-depth understanding of the subject in depth takes precedence over its control and extension.