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you are here: > Self > 4. Religion and SELF
| 4.14 |
Common component- fundamentalists/fanatics
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| All religions have attracted fundamentalists and fanatics. Looking at all religions having a set of life stages, one of those stages is to grow stagnant and lose its way. | ||
| This period is often after a period of great growth. Islam is in such a period at the moment, as too is christianity and judaism. In response to the vacuum of central global leadership, splinter groups emerge, seeking to "reform" the religion from the inside. | ||
| Christianity has undergone a number of major events and "reformation" break-away's, most notably Lutherans/Presbyterians and the Church of England. | ||
| The romance of fundamentalists | ||
| What is often missed when trying to understand radical movements, particularly, violent fanatics is that to the followers, the fanatical leaders are Romantic visionaries and leaders. | ||
| A spiritual quest is one of the most powerful and emotionally appealing journeys for any human being, especially those who have imagination and under achieved ambitions. It is the educated that become the followers of fanatics, not the illiterate. | ||
| The notion of the spiritual quest, of doing battle against a perceived evil is liberating to those with poor sense of self. Fanatical leaders know this and prey on this weakness of wanting to somehow "right a life of under achievement". | ||
| When such quests involve danger, even mortal danger, to the follower of the fanatics, the feeling is like the ultimate high. Clarity of mind, clarity of spirit. These are all sensations experienced by followers of fanatics on romantic paths. | ||
| That acts such as suicide bombing and murder of innocents could somehow be considered evil and not righteous does not even factor into the fanatical follower on their quest. | ||
| The only way to bring a follower of a fanatic out of their romantic delusion is to call on their greater desire to find the real truth behind the romantic message they are following. Most specifically on the real motives of the leaders of these groups. | ||
| Countries and organisations targeted by fanatics should focus on making public the real financial and moral position of messianic fanatics. The more aware followers are of the true selfish nature of fanatic leaders, the less likely followers will stay. | ||
| To date this is the opposite strategy adopted by countries such as the United States. Instead, recent administrations have added credibility to fanatics by not exposing them as common criminals. | ||
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