FANATICISM

by David Nuttle

Fanaticism is a very intense fervor and conviction, without doubt, in a belief, cause of specific activity, It may have a political, ideological, religious, ethnic of=r other origin, In most cases, there is a radicalization factor such persecution, repression, injustice, poverty, and/or need for survival. There is cognitive rigidity and a lack of empathy for others with some type of group dynamic. The media or others may be acting to validate extremist narratives. At all times, there is an unwavering and uncritical devotion for a belief, cause, and-or activity that forms the fanaticism, as noted above.

In the days of formation of the Islamic religion, the persecutions against Islam caused its founders to create the fanatic belief that fairness must be achieved by elimination of all non-Muslims from earth to create a Global Islamic caliphate. To help achieve this goal, creators of Islam promoted a fearless warrior class to be known as Islamic jihadists who were then promised, in the Quran, to receive many great rewards in Islamic Paradise if they were killed defending or promoting Islam. Such belief has become a fanaticism promoted by Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims and is the "driving force" for current conflicts with non-Muslim populations.

Communism was created as a fanatic rejection of economic inequality and as a means to make all people more or less equal and be provided with their needs, The collective farms they created to feed all lost personal incentives to produce and failed to have adequate food crop production to meet population needs, and people starved. State planned enterprises did not perform well due to mismanagement and the production was so low shortages and high inflation rates were the result. Only communist leaders benefited, and the population's protests over abuses and loss of freedoms resulted in democide (mass murder of opposition by government) as practiced by Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and others. Pol Pot was the only leader of a communist nation, Cambodia, who came close to creating equality for his peoples. His means of doing so was to murder all Cambodians (Khmer) except poor farmers having no formal education.

In the U. S. today, there are competing forces of fanaticism from jihadists such as Somali refugees here who seek to help create an Islamic Global caliphate, communists who want seek accommodation with communist nations like the PRC (China), and radical Dems who are "power hungry" who hope to create a one-party government by importing many illegal immigrants and providing them with favors, so they will vote democratic to help achieve this one-party goal. The U. S. Congress is now mostly dysfunctional due to have such a political mix focused on individual goals rather than public interests.

Fanaticism may be the cause of human extinction since it creates and sustains the kind of destructive forces sufficient to cause self-destructive chaos!!!