RECENT events in Mumbai make it stunningly clear; the man we all need to fear is the armed fundamentalist of whatever ilk.

It matters little whether he is Muslim or Christian or Jew or Sikh or any of the other ways of knowing an infinite God. The danger of extreme fundamentalist thinking is this: believing himself in direct communication with God, and therefore God's appointed agent, the fundamentalist can, in his own mind, never be wrong. Doubt has no validity; anyone who believes differently from him must be in need of correction. What else is possible?

This narrowness in religious belief has no single home, but has appeared many times in many cultures. Always it has brought suffering and death with it. Among the worst cases in history were the dreaded Inquisitions in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries, when thousands of people -- Muslims, Christians and Jews -- were tortured and publicly burned alive for their beliefs by narrow-thinking Inquisitors. In Portugal alone, 1,175 people died in flames at the stake.

The character of such acts is different only in number but not nature from the public stoning to death of adulterers by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Such things are done, say the perpetrators, because it is the will of God. This leads us to the perennial question: How can an all-knowing and infinitely merciful God allow such horrors to occur in His name?

It seems to me that it is only possible to act with such brutality in the name of an infinitely good Creator if you have insisted on reducing your faith to a simplistic, intolerant formula.
In a world that daily grows both smaller and more complex, fundamentalism of one sort or another is on the rise. Because complex issues and problems make most people hugely uncomfortable, many seek solace in simple answers.

I fully support the right of anyone to find comfort in personal faith. The right to worship in the manner which the individual chooses is guaranteed in Malaysia, and other developed countries, by law. It is when such a believer seeks to impose a narrow, personal vision of his faith on others that problems arise. It used to be that conflict between belief systems affected only those directly involved in the struggle. In the world of yesteryear, cultures were often comfortably separated by geography.

But the world has changed and populations are once again on the move. The tide of economy, culture, custom and belief which once flowed so strongly from West to East has reversed its flow. There are now sizable Muslim populations, for instance, in many European countries. And a rising percentage of the young people in these communities hold fundamentalist beliefs.

The growing strength of fundamentalism in the Muslim world is matched by the growing strength of the conservative Christian right, which increasingly controls the countries of the West. In the United States, there are serious problems with fundamentalist Christian sects, whose practices do not conform to the laws of the land.

The recent debacle at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, West Texas, is typical. Authorities have revealed that of the 463 children they found on the compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, 53 were between 14 and 17 years old. Thirty-one of those girls either had children or were pregnant. What kind of religious thinking condones the impregnation of an under-aged child?

In 1993, a somewhat similar fundamentalist sect was also in the news in Texas. An investigation of the Branch Davidian compound near Mount Carmel revealed over 150 weapons and 8,000 rounds of ammunition. Some of the weapons had been illegally modified to deliver fully automatic fire. When sect members refused to allow federal agents to fully search the compound, the subsequent siege resulted in the deaths of four agents and 82 Davidians, including 21 children and two pregnant women.

No matter what the creed or where in the world, the minute a group of conservative fundamentalists forms themselves into an armed institution, huge problems arise. Sooner or later the organisation, like a shadowy al- Qaeda, will cause another 9/11 to occur.

In his terrifying book Blackwater, Jeremy Scahill traces the rise of the world's largest mercenary army. At any given time, Blackwater has 20,000 soldiers ready for hire. This private army is run by a multimillionaire Christian conservative, Erik Prince, an important financial supporter of outgoing President George W. Bush, himself a born-again Christian who believes he is on a direct mission from God.

The president surrounded himself with supporters like General William Boykin, head of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Boykin, a frequent speaker at evangelical Christian meetings, once described the war on terror as a fight against Satan. He has also told a Somali warlord that "my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol".

When people who think as rigidly as this outsource to an organisation like Blackwater, the result is potentially disastrous. The warriors of Blackwater are often better armed and infinitely more ruthless than their regular army counterparts and are not subject to the Geneva Conventions. They are notorious for, among other things, the massacre at Fallujah in Iraq. Blackwater is also present in Afghanistan.

When Blackwater faces off with the Taliban, what horrors will ensue?

Individual religious beliefs are not the question. Freedom of religion is a basic human right. But when, in a complex world, a system of beliefs becomes too simplistic and intolerant of other systems, humans suffer. The rising tide of narrow fundamentalist thinking linked to arms should frighten us all.

Unfortunately, it's not a new phenomenon for our species.