A Canticle For Leibowitz

Ignorance is king. Many would not profit by his abdication. Many enrich themselves by means of his dark monarchy. They are his Court, and in his name they defraud and govern, enrich themselves and perpetuate their power. Even literacy they fear, for the written word is another channel of communication that might cause their enemies to become united. Their weapons are keen-honed and they use them with skill. They will press the battle upon the world when their interests are threatened, and the violence which follows will last until the structure of society as it now exists is leveled to rubble, and a new society emerges...

-- A Canticle for Leibowitz, Chapter 20 by Walter M. Miller, Jr.

When I first read that passage, I thought it was a good prediction of fundamentalists and conservatives and reactionaries in America, but it describes fundamentalists of any faith, anywhere in the world.