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and relationship with the community of believers. Those fundamentalists with
contrasting beliefs (e.g., Jew vs. Muslim) are placed in extremely negative re-
lationships with one another. The non-fundamentalist faithful are more likely
to allow other kinds of knowledge to provide a context for their exercise of
faith. The relationships that religious narratives call for with those outside the
faith depends on the particular narrative. For example, compassion plays a
large role in most Christian faiths, but this aspect in action has historically
been thwarted by the requirement to evangelize, bringing disease and despair
to many native peoples.
Religious narratives have high personal relevance for both fundamentalist
and non-fundamentalist believers. They also have high (negative) personal rel-
evance to combatants in religious wars. For those outside the faith, personal
relevance is a function of exposure, context, and pre-existing relationship.
Religious narratives are often invoked in calls to action. For example,
Christians and Jews are exhorted to obey the ten commandments. Mormons
and Jehovah's Witnesses are required to actively evangelize. In many faiths
at different times and places, religious narratives are invoked to require war
or persecution. Examples are the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the ongoing
conflict between Jews and Palestinians in Israel.
Many young people in areas of conflict around the world are exposed only
to religious narratives and calls to battle at home and at school. This sort of
brainwashing was present at least as early as the Children's Crusades, and prob-
ably long, long before. The political or strategic narratives that are drummed
into these children grow out of religious narratives. These narratives are likely
to inherit the authority of true belief and preclude alternative ways of thinking
about conflict or personal agency. An extremely difficult but enormously valu-
able goal would be to introduce these single-minded young people to other
sorts of narratives that engage their narrative intelligence, critical thinking
skills, and compassion or empathy.
Some religious institutions are more accepting of other kinds of stories to
inform spiritual practice and, in the case of strategic narratives, broaden the
search space for solutions to problems. The Episcopal and Unitarian churches
in the United States are good examples. In these institutions, the fundamental-
ism of true belief is tempered by a view of religious texts as guidelines for ethics
and morality rather than literal truths.
Religious narratives can also give birth to cultural narratives that provide
structure and guidance for everyday life. They are derivative of religious belief
without the constraints of fundamentalism. The cultural narratives of Judaism,
for example, provide rituals and shape communities that are also able to admit
