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The Threat from Fundamentalism.
The world is struggling with an especially pernicious form of religious 
fundamentalism in the form of radical Islamic terrorism. Although it may appear that these terrorists have no program 
other than destruction, they do have an agenda that goes beyond literal interpretations of ancient scriptures: essentially, 
to turn the clock back on such modern ideas as democracy, women's rights, and education. 
But religious extremism is not the only form of fundamentalism that represents a reactionary force. At the 
beginning of this chapter I quoted Patrick Moore, cofounder of Greenpeace, on his disillusionment with the movement 
he helped found. The issue that undermined Moore's support of Greenpeace was its total opposition to Golden Rice, a 
strain of rice genetically modified to contain high levels of beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A.
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Hundreds of 
millions of people in Africa and Asia lack sufficient vitamin A, with half a million children going blind each year from 
the deficiency, and millions more contracting other related diseases. About seven ounces a day of Golden Rice would 
provide 100 percent of a child's vitamin A requirement. Extensive studies have shown that this grain, as well as many 
other genetically modified organisms (GMOs), is safe. For example, in 2001 the European Commission released 
eighty-one studies that concluded that GMOs have "not shown any new risks to human health or the environment, 
beyond the usual uncertainties of conventional plant breeding. Indeed, the use of more precise technology and the 
greater regulatory scrutiny probably make them even safer than conventional plants and foods."
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It is not my position that all GMOs are inherently safe; obviously safety testing of each product is needed. But the 
anti-GMO movement takes the position that every GMO is by its very nature hazardous, a view that has no scientific 
basis. 
The availability of Golden Rice has been delayed by at least five years through the pressure of Greenpeace and 
other anti-GMO activists. Moore, noting that this delay will cause millions of additional children to go blind, quotes 
the grain's opponents as threatening "to rip the G.M. rice out of the fields if farmers dare to plant it." Similarly, African 
nations have been pressured to refuse GMO food aid and genetically modified seeds, thereby worsening conditions of 
famine.
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Ultimately the demonstrated ability of technologies such as GMO to solve overwhelming problems will 
prevail, but the temporary delays caused by irrational opposition will nonetheless result in unnecessary suffering. 

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Certain segments of the environmental movement have become fundamentalist Luddites—"fundamentalist" 
because of their misguided attempt to preserve things as they are (or were); "Luddite" because of the reflexive stance 
against technological solutions to outstanding problems. Ironically it is GMO plants—many of which are designed to 
resist insects and other forms of blight and thereby require greatly reduced levels of chemicals, if any—that offer the 
best hope for reversing environmental assault from chemicals such as pesticides. 
Actually my characterization of these groups as "fundamentalist Luddites" is redundant, because Ludditism is 
inherently fundamentalist. It reflects the idea that humanity will be better off without change, without progress. This 
brings us back to the idea of relinquishment, as the enthusiasm for relinquishing technology on a broad scale is coming 
from the same intellectual sources and activist groups that make up the Luddite segment of the environmental 
movement.