Final answer:
Religious fundamentalists feel threatened by the paradox of tolerance because it challenges their sole authority over religious truth and suggests the need to accept diverse beliefs, which can be seen as undermining their strict interpretations.
Step-by-step explanation:
Religious fundamentalists often feel threatened by the paradox of tolerance because it challenges the absolute authority of their beliefs and the dominance of their religious perspectives. By acknowledging the paradox, it implies that there is a need to tolerate diverse religious ideas and practices, which can be seen as a threat to the fundamentalist view that their understanding of religious truth is the only correct one. The emergence of religious extremism showcases a reliance on divine revelation over historical context, reason, and science, leading to a rejection of political secularism and conflict with contemporary societal norms.
Freedom of religion is a principle that entails both the ability to freely practice one's religion and the premise that government should not establish a religion. This can come into conflict with extremist views, where there is little room for interpretation outside of what is considered divine revelation. Such a stance becomes problematic when it leads to actions that conflict with the law or contribute to bias against other groups. Conflict theorists argue that this power dynamic has been used to maintain existing power structures and suppress dissent or dissatisfaction by dictating practices through religious authority.
Historically, the promotion of a single religious perspective and suppression of others has often led to violence and social conflict, as seen within schisms of major religions and between religious communities. This has been used both as a force of unification within a group and as justification for violence and discrimination against others. As a result, religious fundamentalists who view their strict interpretation as uniquely legitimate may feel threatened by any form of religious or ideological diversity.