The power of fundamentalism

Subject: The power of fundamentalism.

Mob rule has emerged the victor in Pakistan, a mob whipped up by the religious bigotry of blasphemy law, which in a civilised country would be judged at best, odd. 
Eight ago a Christian woman living in Pakistan had an argument with a woman of the Muslim faith after drinking from her cup which the Muslim woman considered her to be kafir, unclean and in the heat of the moment disparaging things were said about the Prophet Mohamed for which she received the death penalty. Can you imagine someone being sentenced to death for the verbal condemnation of someone who lived 1400 years ago, it beggars belief.
With the new Prime Minister Ahmed Kahn (the cricketer) a touch of realism prevailed and the High Court found voice to proclaim her innocent and free to resume her life.
But wait a minute the religious zealots who make up an influential section of Pakistan's population were enraged and demanded vengeance by turning out onto the streets threatening to overturn the democratic authority. So powerful is this religious voice that Kahn backed down and has withdrawn her passport meaning she can't leave the country which of course puts her life in constant danger of being murdered for her religious views.
Sharia law is unmerciful in the context of blasphemy and when a fatwa is proclaimed pity the person who has wrought the wrath of religious ideology down on their head. They lie in wait of religious killing, any hot headed person can decide to enact religious justice and the woman released from the death cell is now more in fear of her life than when she was on death row.
When we see this strange phenomenon in the modern era, (remember 'we' gave up burning witches in the reign of James V) one has to question the power of religion to enact judicial barbarity in this era of so called enlightenment.
How do we square the circle, how do we equate or attempt to rationalise the groups. One in a distant land behaving like uncivilised barbarians the other we meet every day in the office or on the street as colleagues and fellow citizens. Is the Pakistani different in the one country from the other yet still sharing the same religious values on blasphemy and the Sharia Courts death penalty, sufficiently Anglicised not to chop off our heads when we question the vision of the Prophet but feeling if circumstances were different, they would, since this is a slight to the most important thing in their lives.
We in the West do not understand the hold of religion. We have walked away from much of the concept of God and only ritualised our connection with faith in a cursory way if and when we visit a church on a Sunday.
To the Muslim their faith is their life. It's the staff by which they judge themselves in this life and to make fun or seriously condemn the structure of their belief is dangerous for their self belief and esteem. The power of being absolved by belief, from the conflict an individual experiences in terms of the way we live our life each day, makes one understand how 'group think' and religious conformity is so persuasive. It's a measure of strength which an individual by themselves will never have and because of that the potency of the 'collective view' in any walk of life is immensely powerful. 
Group think over lies our concept of democracy but in a very different way. The assumption that the majority should have the right to politically govern is tested at each election and fluctuates according to individual preference. Imagine if the group think had a religious connotation and the majority are bound not by individual preference but by a book of scripture.
We have not yet had to consider how our cherished political democracy would fare if one of the parties was a religious one. We have not considered the power of middle eastern fundamentalism but if we are not careful - we will and sooner than we think.