A leading expert on monotheism has told audiences at the Greenbelt Festival at the weekend that society must listen to the religious fundamentalists for it to step back from the abyss that it now find itself in.

Karen Armstrong, who is a former nun and considered to be a world authority on Christianity and Islam is part of the diverse range of speakers at the Greenbelt Festival at Cheltenham racecourse who have gathered over the past four days.

Armstrong told how violence and terrorism was driven by fear, and that society has to now listen to those who were susceptible to such feelings.

“We must decode what fundamentalists are trying to say to us because they are expressing fears and anxieties that no society can safely ignore,” she said.

“It’s not just that people are stubbornly digging their heels in. People are fighting for survival and in some areas it’s hardening into righteous rage.

“Only a tiny proportion of fundamentalists take part in terror. The trick is to stop the mainstream going to the tiny fringe.

“When these movements are attacked they become more extreme. The Iraq war upped the membership of Al Qaeda – if you are convinced you are going to be wiped out and then they come and fight you, that confirms your fears and makes you want to go for it.”

Armstrong was speaking at the third day of the Greenbelt Festival, and she continued by telling those gathered that suicide bombings were not purely a religious response, but instead was something almost entirely politically motivated.

“People don’t read a verse from the Koran and then decide to go and bomb a London bus. People decide to do that and then usually find a verse to back it up,” she said.

“They are not simply compelled by the dynamic of the Koran – if they were, they would have been doing this for centuries and they haven’t.”

It was also emphasised that fundamentalism was not a return to orthodox, traditional beliefs, but was in fact a spreading rebellion against secular modernity that has led to various new and often shocking doctrines.

Armstrong concluded, “People sincerely believe modern secular society wants to wipe them out. You can see why in some countries – because it’s been introduced at such a pace that it’s felt like a real assault.

“We are gazing at each other over an abyss. The world is divided between those who have had a good experience of modernity and those who have been assaulted by it.”