Are some religions more susceptible to extremism/fundamentalism?

[nvidiot]

What is the current research or statistics available on the proportion of "moderate" to "extremist/fundamentalist" individuals within various religions? Is there any appreciable difference in the proportions of extremist Muslims compared to say Christians?

I suppose it would be a difficult question to get answers on, I don't think many "moderates" would describe themselves as "fundamentalist" and I have a strange feeling that those that most would label as "fundamentalist" wouldn't define themselves as such...

Any thoughts or even better data available on this? Does the religious denomination you belong to make you more likely to "go fundie" than another?

[note typed on new iphone4 on bus please forgive spelling and formatting errors. ]

 

[Flo]

Does the religious denomination you belong to make you more likely to "go fundie" than another?

I don't think so. I guess it has much more to do with the political and sociological circumstances a religion is working in.

For example, judging by what I hear from "traditionalist" catholics in France, I suspect they would turn "fundamentalists" against people they disagree with in no time should they regain any real political influence or power.

You can also look at the changes that occured in Japan pre and post WWII with religions like shinto and some branches of buddhism, hinduism and buddhism in conflict zones (Sri Lanka, parts of India), and conclude that there's always a core of fanatics in any culture and religion and that it's a very bad idea to give them any measure of power over society at large.