Fanaticism is an extreme degree of a person's commitment to any concepts, ideas or beliefs, manifested in the absence of a critical perception of the chosen system, as well as an extremely negative attitude and lack of tolerance for other ideological positions. Such commitment is similar to blind, unsupported and unjustified faith, therefore, fanaticism is most common in the religious sphere, but is not limited to it (this includes political views and national, musical and subcultural), including any of the spheres of human manifestation where there is a division people about choice, belonging, and taste.
What is fanaticism
Extreme fanaticism is a definition that is not so common, usually people express their inclinations or preferences in an average degree, not brought to the point of absurdity of despotism and imposition. But in critical cases, fanaticism takes on rather destructive, harsh and tyrannical manifestations with the imposition of the will and choices of a fanatic, as well as exposing people with other thoughts to punishment, torture, and sometimes death.
Fanaticism is the definition of one of the polarities of the human attitude to any phenomenon, concept, personality, idea, on the other side of which there is an indifferent attitude associated with the absence of any relatively selected feature. Not every psyche is capable of being in one or the other extreme position, usually people adhere to their own opinion, without imposing others, and do not criticize the choices of others, which is called tolerant relations. In most countries with a developed internal psychological culture, it is present, and those in which totalitarianism and dictatorship dominate, build their ideology on a fanatical perception of the ideas of society.
The difference between fanaticism and adherence lies in the fact that with fanatical worship, generally accepted social norms can be violated, for the sake of one's own passion, a person is characterized as emotionally and mentally unstable, being obsessed with an idea. Often a fanatical attitude towards something is part of the picture of a psychiatric illness (usually the manic phase of a psychotic disorder or schizophrenic). Thus, mere adherence to one or another idea may look like strange behavior and a person is more likely to cause a feeling of strange, while the actions of a fanatic are a threat to his and social life or safety, and the feelings experienced by other people from encountering such a person is usually on the spectrum (from anxiety to horror).
Fanaticism rejects alternatives and is every second ready for sacrifices (up to one's own life or the lives of others), is guided in its actions, being an active form of manifestation, exclusively by the desire to achieve the goals of ideals, while completely ignoring legislative, ethical, social norms. Such a person can be compared with a deaf person who is unable to accept your criticism, with a blind person who does not see the destructive consequences of his own actions, with a madman who lives in a parallel reality with other laws. Reaching out to a fanatic is problematic and sometimes simply impossible, basically you can only try to limit their activities and avoid contact in order to avoid influencing your destiny.
When defining fanaticism, the presence of associates is an important feature, since this phenomenon is not individualistic, but mass. Fanatic following requires a crowd and its leader - this is one of the mechanisms of generation and control. A crowd swayed by an emotionally charismatic leader becomes easier to manage than an individual. When talking face to face, critical questions and remarks can arise, an inner protest is easily felt, while being in a crowd, the feeling of responsibility for the consequences is removed and the person does what others do. Consciousness at such moments is open and any thought and idea can be put there, and if you later discuss his worldview with a fanatic, then he will perceive beliefs that do not correspond to his opinion through the prism of negativity, possibly considering attacks or insults.
Such a mechanism has remained since ancient times, when the reaction of a group of people, as one organism, where everyone does not really think, was aimed at the survival of the species. Roughly speaking, earlier the leader indicated where the enemies and the whole tribe fled to destroy the enemy. In order not to be wiped off the face of the earth by ourselves. Fanaticism has the same mechanism, ancient and strong, and the moral character of the manager of ideas often leaves much to be desired. So it turns out that the dialogue and calls for critical thinking do not work, the cessation of fanatical activity is possible only by force, with the use of force, significantly exceeding the capabilities of the fanatic himself.
Fanaticism is an example of a primitive, unconscious faith, decomposing which into components, one can notice the skillful manipulation of human consciousness. And not the truth of his faith and choice. When communicating with a person, you can notice signs of fanaticism, which consist in not dividing good and bad, permissible and criminal - the scanning system of the world is simplified to the point that everything related to his faith is correct and permissible, and everything that is different is bad, condemned and must be fought or destroyed. A fanatic often cannot justify such a position, or these explanations do not have a logical connection (the answer to the question "why do you think I'm bad?" may be "you wear trousers instead of a skirt").
In an attempt to enter into a productive dialogue and find the truth or at least somehow establish a person’s contact with reality, expanding its prism, you are irreversibly faced with unwillingness to talk about the possibility of his mistake. Such people are infinitely confident that they are right and do not want to think about your words, they will rather rush to beat you for objectionable speeches. This characteristic is to see negativity and enemies in people who express other ideas and fight people (often physically) instead of fighting phenomena and ideas. So, a person who is a believer will educate his willpower so as not to steal and instill a similar worldview in children, and a fanatic will shoot thieves.
There are also emotional signs of fanaticism, including excessive emotionality, and the saturation of emotions will be high, and the range will be low (ecstasy is available when in contact with the source, fear, when feeling the unsteadiness of the built concept and hatred, when confronted with dissidents). In relation to the world, it prevails, with the thought of the insignificance of those who do not support the idea, but such assurances of their uniqueness and superior position are doubtful, since the fanatic himself is a person closed from development.
Fanaticism can relate to anything, some of its forms are accepted and quite normal in society (football fanaticism), while others cause fear and a lot of resistance (religious). The word itself is quite widespread and may not always be used in an authentic situation, but if based on a scientific definition, then in the medical classification of violations of behavior, emotions and perception, types of fanaticism are distinguished: religious, political, ideological, scientific, a separate group is the fanaticism of sports, nutrition, art. The last three are the least destructive in their manifestation and more often the negative consequences come down to disputes with relatives and adherents of other positions. Whereas the first three are capable of pushing a person to crimes and dangerous actions. According to the degree of manifestation, there is hard and soft fanaticism, which determines how far a person can go in pursuit of his goals.
Religious bigotry
Religion and the sphere of beliefs are perhaps the most favorable of all human ones for the development of fanaticism. As a way of mass consciousness, any religious structure is ideal, having a concept that is inaccessible to objective verification, a leader who explains interpretations and a set of rules, usually promising many goodies to those who obey and terrible punishment for apostates. Fanatic adherence to religious concepts is due to fear. Moreover, at the beginning of his conversion, a person seeks reassurance and protection in faith, trying to get rid of fear and gain hope, instead he receives only that which changes the source of fear, choosing his own master, and finds himself in an even greater situation in its horror. And if earlier fear was in the social sphere, where the worst thing that could happen was murder, then in religion there are things that are more frightening than death. It is this feeling of fear that pushes a person to violence against those who think differently, to intolerance towards other people's manifestations. Remember at least one person who does not experience wild horror - it is unlikely that he rushed at others, while the frightened one begins to defend himself, including the attack.
People who have faith show a lot of patience and love for any manifestations of the human soul, and often even the perception of negative traits is positive with the hope of change. They also perceive their own god as loving and accepting, understanding and forgiving, and the opposite dark forces do not frighten them, but only force them to concentrate in order to win the confrontation.
The fanatic is afraid of everyone: the deity - for the punishment of his sins, the dark force - for the threat of torment, the abbot or high priest - for condemnation or deprivation of blessing. Each step takes place in tension, requiring tight control, which eventually extends to the outside world and a suffocating demand to comply.
Many religions condemn the fanatical manifestations of the faith of their adherents, criticizing such behavior and forcing a person to return to the real world and worthy interaction, since some manifestations of fanaticism contradict the very religious concept. But we should not forget that some currents of faith, on the contrary, push people to such blind following, encouraging people to commit anti-social actions. Behind such an attitude is usually a person who is far from faith himself, who soberly assesses the situation, but uses the feelings of believers who have fallen under his influence to manipulate in achieving their own interests.
There are certain personality types that are prone to the emergence of religious fanaticism, usually these are people who have a character accentuation of a schizoid, hysterical or stuck type. Such people often end up in totalitarian sects or on their own turn another religion into a farce with their own evidence of faith grotesque in its manifestation.
How to get rid of fanaticism
Liberation from fanatical behavior is aimed at developing critical thinking, restoring adequate perception, and working out the image of the cult. Any fanatical adherence is essentially a psychological, emotional and chemical dependence (if drugs are not used, then periodic states of ecstasy and bursts of adrenaline force the human body to produce opiates on its own in the required quantities). Accordingly, getting rid of bigotry includes many similarities with getting rid of addiction. In the process of joint critical analysis of the presented concept for the presence of contradictions, destructive moments and little-disguised manipulation, a fanatic can reach a certain point, and then breakage begins.
During such periods, the support of people who are not associated with the society of a fanatic is very important, because in an unstable state of disorientation, a person sees the world as gray (the ecstasies are gone), hostile (no one hugs when he just entered) and confused (no one determines where the black is, where is white). It is very easy to return back to the world of dependence and infantile existence, and a new organized life, in which there will be people with successful experience of getting out of the influence of a religious cult, can prevent this.
Objectively, a former fanatic needs psychological help and long-term therapy, with the same degree of seriousness with which drug addicts and victims of violence go through rehabilitation, but only a fanatic in his past role was subjected to both violence and addiction. Often this is a family problem of a systemic type and the rehabilitation of not only one person is necessary, with a high probability in his close circle there will be people who have one or another addiction, who show excessive cruelty, despotism, manipulation of feelings. If you do not pay due attention to changing the whole way of life, then it will be like trying to quit, sitting in a den with friends, and having a new dose in the kitchen cabinet at home.
Fanaticism as a personality trait is a tendency to blindly, unconsciously, without recognizing any arguments, to follow certain ideas and beliefs without alternative; show extreme intolerance towards any other worldviews .
If you want to comprehend the truth, go-oh-oh-he to those rocks, - the Teacher showed in the distance with his hand. - And check what is stronger - a stone or your heads. A few days later, the disciples returned from their exhausting journey. To those who came with a blank expression, the Master said angrily: - Leave, you do not obey me. You have not reached the rocks. For those who came enlightened, the Teacher only smiled, keeping silent. For those whose foreheads were bloodied and their eyes burned with fanatical fire, he asked quietly: - Did I really ask you about this?
The human mind performs a number of functions - understanding the truth, the ability to remember, err and doubt. Doubt is the conscience of the mind, forcing it once again to return to the understanding of a particular issue, to analyze it from all sides. The search for truth is fraught with doubt. Her favorites know for sure that everything needs to be questioned before giving the go-ahead for consent, while not making an exception for themselves. When information enters the mind of an impressionable, emotional, insecure person that greatly excites his mind and feelings, and the function of doubt is atrophied in the mind, he blindly accepts it. In such an algorithm, fanaticism is born, as insanity, madness, exceptional enthusiasm, stupid gullibility and blind worship. Like any mind neutralizer, fanaticism steadily leads a person to degradation.
A fanatic is an invalid of the mind, whose function of doubt is atrophied, and, due to this circumstance, he blindly follows any idea that stirs and excites his impressionable, emotional mind. The trouble with fanaticism lies in the absence of an inquisitive mind and a doubting mind, in laziness and unwillingness to seek the truth. He was told: “The Caucasians are to blame for all your misfortunes,” the thought excited the inexperienced mind with its simplicity and clarity, and he believed without analyzing, without checking, without doubting. The fanatic says: “Let the horse think - it has a big head. I have nothing to think about and everything is clear.” This is how laziness and unwillingness to seek the truth work when the function of the mind is amputated for doubt. The fanatic is to be pitied, for he is as blind as an indabat, and becomes a victim of this disease of his. Andabates in ancient Rome were called gladiators, whose face was covered with a shield with narrow slots, which is why the warrior saw almost nothing. Desperately brandishing his sword, the andabat tried to make up for this shortcoming, but most often hit the air, while the enemy who crept up threw a net and inflicted a mortal wound on him.
So, the algorithm of fanaticism is simple: the receipt of incoming information (irritant) - impressionable, emotional perception without a shadow of doubt in its truth, gullibility - acceptance as a guide to action - aggravation of the reaction - looping. In the last two stages, fanaticism receives an energy charge. A person repeatedly passes the same idea through the mind, only in different interpretations, a chain reaction occurs when the brain keeps returning to the same thought. Hitler was incapable of not talking about the Jews for more than ten minutes. An insecure person, armed with fanaticism, for example, having created an idol for himself, finds in him a kind of compensation for his insecurities.
The fanatic is constantly under the pressure of stress. In a normal person, the mind can skip tens of thousands of thoughts in a day. "Chatter of the mind" is accompanied by a free flight of thoughts. A fanatic is a person of one dominant thought. He is forced by the circumstances of life to switch for a second from the dominant thought to the current needs of the day, but he does this mechanically, half asleep, without losing contact with the fanatical idea. No wonder the word "fanaticism" comes from the Latin fanaticus - "frantic." And then, in turn, from fanum - “temple”. In ancient Rome, fanatics were called temple priests, who showed special religious zeal.
Fanaticism should not be confused with religiosity. It's not about religion, it's about how a person believes. The fanatic, unlike the believer, says: "My God is better" and is aggressive towards representatives of other spiritual traditions. Religion does not teach him hatred of non-believers. If it teaches, then it is not a religion, but a sect. Remember the lieutenant from Dostoevsky's "Demons": he broke all the icons, put out all the candles and immediately hung out portraits of atheist philosophers in the red corner and ... reverently lit the candles again.
Paradoxically, the fanatic doesn't care what cult he serves. There would be a cult, but there will be fanatics. A fan gets a “high” not from an idol, but from serving him. That is, an idol is a screen of fanaticism, he really appreciates not Presley, Marilyn Monroe or Alla Pugacheva, but his “disinterested” service to them. In other words, fanaticism is the self-service of an impressionable mind with pleasure from the process of serving an idol or some idea.
Fanaticism is eternally dissatisfied and dissatisfied with the outer world. Confessing the principle: "We should not bend under the changing world, let it bend under us," he, with youthful maximalism, seeks to shake up the political situation in his country. It is no coincidence that the "dark fellow traveler" of fanaticism awakens during periods of transition for the country. This is a golden time for rabid fanatics, when you can destroy a public building to the ground, and others will rebuild. Fanaticism is always destruction, grief, tears and blood. This is a contagious disease for distrusted and dehumanized individuals, catching them on the hook of purposefulness and sincerity. Oscar Wilde rightly remarked: "The most unforgivable thing about a fanatic is his sincerity." The die-hard youth looks enviously at the sparkle in the eyes of a fanatic, he is captivated by conviction and sacrifice, desperate determination and romance of his life. In an effort to imitate the idol, he replenishes the army of fanatics.
The fanatic's inner world is painted black and white. No halftones. If the enemy does not surrender, he is destroyed. Those who are not with us are against us. Fanaticism needs an enemy like a drug addict needs a dose. As Nikolai Berdyaev wrote, “fanaticism always divides the world ... into two hostile camps. This is a military division. Fanaticism does not allow the coexistence of different ideas and worldviews. There is only the enemy. This terrible simplification facilitates the struggle ... Like a jealous man, he sees only one thing everywhere: only betrayal, only betrayal, only violation of fidelity to one - he is suspicious and suspicious, everywhere he opens conspiracies against his favorite idea.
It must be understood that a fanatic, having a mind incapable of doubt, experiences a state of childish helplessness. He needs a “mom”, and even better, along with a dad and powerful brothers who will “show” everyone if someone plans to offend him. When there is no "family" support, an insecure person with low self-esteem is worried about his defenselessness in the surrounding hostile world. So he reaches under the wing of the flock, trying to climb under the roof of the powerful of this world. Mikhail Veller writes: “When the exuberant energy of youth is concentrated at one point, a terrible penetrating force develops. Fanatics, sometimes reaching peaks, are obtained precisely from children who are deprived of something by nature: timid, weak, ugly, poor - all their desire for self-affirmation takes a single direction in which they can surpass others, compensating for their inferiority. In the accursed days of coups, the fanatic experiences, according to E. Erickson, a keen desire "to succumb to the totalitarian and authoritarian illusion of integrity, set in advance, with one leader at the head of a single party, with one ideology that gives a simple explanation for all nature and history, with one unconditional an enemy that must be destroyed by one centralized punitive body - and with the constant direction of the impotent fury accumulating in this state against an external enemy.
Fanaticism and love are as far apart as good and evil. Love prefers unity, secrecy, the merging of kindred souls. The third superfluous and other peeping to her to anything. Fanaticism is a herd feeling, it “loves” an idol collectively and publicly. The main thing is to get lost in the caudle, to assert oneself due to the mass character, and the idol and ideas are up to the lampada. It is no coincidence that all sorts of scum stick to football fans, which does not even know the rules of the game. There is a fan anecdote: “The kid tells an experienced fan that he and his homies decided to organize a fan group. "And how many of you?" the fan asks. - "Twenty. Only half of football to the light bulb!
Fanaticism is the exaltation of an abstract opinion, divorced from life, an undoubting mind, to the detriment and destruction of the concrete lives of innocent people. Political and religious fanatics neglect the lives of those around them. And this is already the most serious problem that humanity has faced in the face of "ideological" terrorists. Whatever they call themselves, the essence is the same - fanatics. Exploring the psychology of fanatics on the example of the murderer of the German Foreign Minister W. Rethenau (this incident occurred in 1922) Kern, E. Fromm cites the following statement of his: “I would not be able to bear it if the defeated fatherland, split into pieces, was again reborn into something great … We do not need “the happiness of the people”. We are fighting to make him come to terms with his fate... To the question of how he, a Kaiser officer, could survive the day of the revolution, he replies: “I did not survive it. I, as honor commanded me, put a bullet in my forehead on November 9, 1918. I am dead, what remains alive in me is not me. I no longer know my "I" from this day ... I do what I have to. Since I had to die, I die every day. Everything that I do is the result of one single powerful will: I serve it, I am completely devoted to it. This will wants destruction and I destroy ... and if this will leaves me, I will fall and be trampled, I know it. E. Fromm notes: “We see in Kern's reasoning a pronounced masochism, which makes him an obedient instrument of higher power. But the most interesting thing in this regard is the all-consuming power of hatred and the thirst for destruction, he serves these idols not for life, but for death. … And when we analyze the psychic reality of such people, we are convinced that they were destroyers… They not only hated their enemies, they hated life itself. This can be seen both in Kern's statement and in the story of Solomon (one of Kern's associates - V.I., M.K.) about his feelings in prison, about his reaction to people and to nature itself. He was completely incapable of a positive reaction to any living being."
Petr Kovalev 2013
In patristics, the expression is usually used in this sense. jealousy is not intelligible, based on the words of the Apostle Paul () .
Term religious fanaticism, along with the direct meaning, is often used:
- non-church people to condemn Christians who are responsible for faith, practically expressing it in their lives.
- to promote godlessness. At the same time, emphasis is placed on crimes committed under the banner of religion. There are two counterarguments here: 1) fanaticism is contrary to the commandments of Christ; 2) atheistic fanaticism (in Russia, France, Spain, Mexico…) has led to much more victims than religious fanaticism.
What is fanaticism? Who can be called a fanatic?
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)
Fanatics (lat. fanaticus - frenzied; connected with the root fanum - temple) in ancient times were called servants of pagan cults, whose actions were often accompanied by a manifestation of fury. 1 Kings contains a story about how the priests of Baal performed their cult on Mount Carmel: And they took the calf that was given to them and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying: Baal, hear us! But there was no voice, no answer. And they jumped at the altar which they had made. And they began to cry out with a loud voice, and stabbed themselves with knives and spears, as was their custom, so that blood flowed over them. ().
The Holy Fathers did not apply this term to Christians, as it is genetically alien to the principles of the Christian faith and has a certain semantic conditionality. Various deviations from the healthy Christian faith they always gave precise names. Often used in patristics is the expression unreasonable jealousy, unreasonable jealousy. “About every deed, if you do it without reflection and research, know that it is vain, although it is decent, because God imputes the truth according to prudence, and not according to unreasonable action” (St. Ascetic words.Word 89).
The reasons jealousy is not intelligible are different: pride, vanity, conceit. Such unreasonable zeal is especially dangerous when demonic flattery feeds it: “So, he teaches another to cruelly exhaust his body with fasting, scourging, sleeping on bare ground and other similar embitterments of the flesh so that he either falls into pride, dreaming that he does great things. affairs ”(Prep. .).
The Holy Fathers also write about the devastating consequences of such deviations from the healthy Christian faith: “Our God is the God of peace, and all God's peace brings. And zeal for the truth, when it is from God, is peaceful, meek, compassionate towards all, even towards those who violate the truth. Therefore, you will understand that the zealous ferocity that kindled you is not from God. The enemy sat down to your heart and inflamed it so unnaturally ... ”(Prelate.).
The word fanaticism has been actively used since the 19th century by unbelieving and liberal-minded Christians who have fallen away from centuries of tradition, against those whose religiosity is not limited to the cold performance of rituals. In the 20th century, in the atheistic lexicon, it became one of the most common concepts. Indefinite and vague in meaning, it turned out to be very convenient in an era of mass disbelief for condemning any religious activity that does not fit into the framework of the usual consciousness. As soon as a person who visits the temple three or four times a year (to receive baptismal water, bless the cake and light a candle when there is trouble at work) starts visiting every month, acquaintances begin to say that he has become a fanatic ...
Holy Scripture teaches us to treat the word with great responsibility. “You will not say the same word: one will revive, and another will kill your soul and, perhaps, the soul of your neighbor. That is why it is said: let your word always be in grace, salt is dissolved() (St. rights. My life in Christ).
Religious bigotry
hegumen Ignatius (Dushein)
religious fanaticism. Until recently, this concept was associated only with the school history course of the times of the USSR. But something has changed. And not only here, but all over the world. Now the words “extremism”, “fanaticism”, “fundamentalism” are full of all the newspapers, and every second politician speaks of “tolerance” and “tolerance”.
However, very often the same concepts for different people can mean very different things. What is religious fanaticism?
For a non-religious person, any manifestation of religiosity in general can seem like a manifestation of religious fanaticism. Went to and began to observe fasts - a fanatic; says that abortion is a sin - extremist; well, if he mentioned Tsarist Russia with a kind word, then he is simply a great-power chauvinist.
Thus, for non-church people, the concepts of “believer” and “fanatic” are practically identical. On the contrary, for an Orthodox person the accusation of fanaticism sounds insulting to say the least.
What does the word "fanaticism" mean? "Fanaticos" - from Latin is translated as "frantic". Brought up on Western films, modern Russians represent believers exactly like this - intolerant, frenzied, fasting, with eyes burning from unhealthy ecstasy.
However, such a state from the point of view of Orthodox asceticism can only be assessed negatively. Orthodoxy is generally a religion of sobriety. Spiritual sobriety. It does not call a person to elevated spiritual states, it does not invite you to take off with the help of imagination or emotions into transcendental distances to communicate with angelic ranks and the faces of saints. On the contrary, it categorically warns against such “flights”.
Orthodoxy only invites a person to look at himself soberly, without rose-colored glasses. Look carefully at what is inside, in the heart. See what is really happening there.
Fanaticism is completely alien, unnatural to normal Orthodox spirituality. In Orthodoxy there is a concept of "zeal for God." The example of people who shed their blood for the faith - martyrs - has always been and remains the glory and praise of the Church. Is this not a manifestation of fanaticism?
Indeed, in all nations and at all times those who gave their lives for their people, country, just for their neighbor were glorified. And in general, if a person does not have something in life that he himself values higher than his own life, then this only means that he has not yet risen above the level of only an animal state.
The question is: is a person himself ready to die for his faith, or is he ready to kill other people for it, even at the cost of his own life? And here the Christian sees the boundary between readiness for self-sacrifice and fanaticism.
For a Christian, the very idea of violence against another's freedom is unacceptable. This organically follows from the Christian teaching about God: God Himself does not allow any violence on His part towards people. A Christian will defend his freedom, including with weapons, but he will never encroach on the freedom of another. Fanaticism, on the other hand, strives to establish its “truths” throughout the world through violence.
Fanaticism is indifferent to the spiritual perfection of a person; its goals are in this, “earthly” dimension. Not so in Orthodoxy. The spiritual life of an Orthodox person is all directed inward. A Christian sees all his problems in himself, it is there - the center of his struggle, there, in his heart "the devil fights God", and there, in the depths of the heart, under the rubble of sins and passions, that treasure is hidden - the Kingdom of God - there is nothing more valuable in the world. This is the main difference between "religious zeal", "spiritual zeal" and fanaticism.
This does not mean that everything that is happening around does not bother the Orthodox at all. It's just that the main front of the struggle for the salvation of the soul is in the soul, and not in the Duma and not in the trenches. The Apostle Paul wrote: “…our battle (struggle – I.I.) is not against blood and flesh (that is, people – I.I.), but against principalities, against authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spirits of wickedness in high places” . And the spirits of malice do not threaten us with machine guns or “martyrs' belts”, they burst into our hearts along with anger, hatred, pride, lust, greed, and other passions.
Where the correct vector of spiritual warfare is lost, and the struggle begins not with the spirits of malice, not with one's own passions, but with “flesh and blood” - with people, religious fanaticism may arise there.
Are such phenomena possible in Christianity? In a normal spiritual life, no. When it is distorted - yes. That is why we find historical examples of religious fanaticism not only in other religions, but also in many Christian communities that have fallen away from the fullness of the Orthodox Church.
Islam, born in Arabia, conquered half the world with fire and sword. Catholicism tried to assert its dominance through the Crusades. Protestants, colonizing America, carried out the genocide of the native population. Various sects often carried out massacres against those who were in no hurry to seek soul salvation from their leaders.
Orthodoxy, on the contrary, is characterized by a tolerant attitude towards people of other faiths. Firmly insisting that it is the Orthodox Church that possesses the fullness of Truth, Orthodoxy does not call for the destruction of those who do not think so. Orthodox Russia has mastered vast territories for a thousand years, but nowhere have bonfires been lit with pagans, Buddhists or Muslims. Many nations have converted to the Orthodox faith, but always by preaching, not by force of arms. The same peoples who became part of the Russian Empire with their beliefs were never oppressed on religious grounds. Moreover, mosques were built from the treasury of the Orthodox Empire, lamas and mullahs were kept.
When they want to accuse the Orthodox of fanaticism, they usually remember the Old Believer schism of the 17th century. Indeed, the tragic events associated with the schism did not occur without the fault of the higher hierarchs. But is it possible to consider the Old Believer schism as a phenomenon organically characteristic of Orthodoxy? Rather the opposite. The lack of an elementary spiritual education among the people, excessive ritualism, addiction to the dead letter and human traditions - all these are distortions, and not the normal state of the Church. And this is precisely what caused the split. Repressions against the Old Believers were carried out by the government, not the Church. Suffice it to recall that Archpriest Avvakum was executed when Patriarch Nikon himself had already been deposed and exiled. The persecution of the Old Believers was a topical issue for the state, and it was under its pressure that the church hierarchy justified them. Church bans on schismatics were imposed not by the Russian bishops but by the Eastern Patriarchs.
As already mentioned, fanaticism for Orthodoxy is not typical at all. It arises as a result of wrong spiritual life. In sects, where there is no question of a correct spiritual life, fanaticism is the most fertile environment. The gas attacks of the adherents of “AUM Shinrikyo”, the militant appeals of the “White Brothers” have not yet disappeared from memory, reports about the crimes of Satanists regularly appear in the press.
Only the right spiritual guidelines, the right spiritual life, can save a person from fanaticism. And the Orthodox Church offers means that can save society from the danger of an escalation of religious extremism.
“You are the salt of the earth,” the Lord said to the apostles who originally made up the Church. The Church is the salt of the earth. What is salt? The first preservative known to people. Something that prevents decay. The farther people go from the Church, the more pronounced the smell of decay. Without the Church, the world will go rotten, corrupted in its iniquities. One of the consequences of spiritual decay is fanaticism, and only the Church can resist it without riot police and special forces.
The main sign of obsessive adherence to the idea is considered intolerance towards other religions. Undisguised hatred and contempt for heterodoxy gives rise to aggression, which sometimes manifests itself in the most disgusting forms. By itself, a fanatic does not pose a great threat to society, however, the association of such people in groups may sooner or later result in open clashes between representatives of different faiths. Mass fanaticism is also dangerous because not only the fanatics themselves, but also little-religious and non-religious groups of citizens will suffer from such actions.
The declassified archives in the case of the execution of the royal family revealed the deep roots of Jewish orthodox fanaticism. The ritual murder was committed on the eve of "Av 9" - the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomon's temple.
Another sign of religious fanaticism is orthodox religious fundamentalism, which does not accept anything new. The fanatic perceives his idea as an absolute truth, not subject to criticism in any of its manifestations. Even if the criticism is fair and justified, an ardent follower of a religious idea is not able to deal constructively with objections. Often, the fan considers her a personal insult and is able to bring the argument to a fight, in which he quickly enters into a state of passion. At the same time, realizing that he can be defeated, he perceives what is happening as his fight against evil, and is ready to either kill his opponent or accept "" death.
Fanatics like to be the first to label, loudly pronouncing: "", "sectarian", "", etc. Putting a person in an uncomfortable position, the main task of such a frenzied one is to make the opponent retreat and get confused. At the same time, the main goal is victory in a verbal or hand-to-hand combat, and not ideological questions from the series “whose god is more correct”.
Examples of religious fanaticism in history
Religious struggle in the ancient world was present on the territory of many modern countries. The most famous persecutions on religious grounds are the extermination of the followers of the religious reform of Akhenaten in Ancient Egypt, the persecution of Christians during the heyday of the Roman Empire.
But perhaps the most famous victim of dissent was Jesus Christ and almost all of his apostles. For their ideas and "heretical" sermons among the Jewish population, each of them accepted a terrible martyr's death.
Mass religious fanaticism in medieval Europe resulted in crusades, destroying foreign cultures, and "witch hunts". Entire generations of such fanatics saw paganism and dissent as a threat to their spiritual world and tried to physically exterminate everyone who did not fall under their true.
Giordano Bruno, Joan of Arc, Jan Hus and many others died at the hands of fanatics. Those scientists, thinkers, philosophers who could not be burned at the stake were forced to give up their ideas by force: Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus.
Bartholomew's Night is a terrible massacre of the Huguenots (French Protestants), provoked by the ardent Catholic Catherine de Medici in August 1572. According to some sources, more than 30,000 people died that day, all of them were branded with the word "heretic".
Religious fanaticism in the modern world
In the modern world, religious fanaticism is most often associated with the Islamic world - terrorism, jihad, Sharia courts, etc. In particular, the tragedy of September 11, 2001 in the United States, the massacre of Christians by Muslims in Indonesia in 2000, modern religious clashes in India, as well as individual terrorist attacks around the world are cited. However, very often, under the guise of religious fanaticism, certain political and financial forces actually operate, the goals of which are very far from Islam in particular and faith in general.
