Religious fanaticism is the most extreme, aggressive form of zeal in matters of religion and faith. It is characterized by an unshakable view of a particular doctrine and intolerance towards other people's views. History knows many examples of how fanaticism adversely affected certain groups of people and entire nations, forcing those who think with different directions to go with fire and sword.
Signs of religious fanaticism
The main sign of obsessive adherence to the idea is intolerance of other faiths. Undisguised hatred and contempt for different beliefs gives rise to aggression, sometimes manifested in the most disgusting forms. A fanatic alone does not pose a great threat to society, however, the unification of such people in groups can sooner or later result in open clashes between representatives of different faiths. Mass fanaticism is also dangerous because not only fanatics themselves, but less 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 "9 Av" - the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple of Solomon.
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 constructively object to objections. Often a fan considers her a personal insult and is able to bring the argument to a fight in which she quickly enters into a state of passion. At the same time, understanding that he can be defeated, he perceives what is happening as his struggle with evil, and is ready to either kill his opponent or accept a “martyrdom” death.
Zealots love to be the first to label, loudly pronouncing: "heretic", "sectarian", "pagan", etc. Putting a person in an uncomfortable position, the main task of such a frantic individual is to make the opponent retreat and get confused. Moreover, the main goal is to win a verbal or hand-to-hand duel, 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 in many modern countries. The most famous religious persecution is the extermination of followers of Akhenaten's religious reform 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 martyrdom.
Mass religious fanaticism in medieval Europe resulted in crusades destroying foreign cultures and the “witch hunt”. Entire generations of such fanatics saw paganism and dissent as a threat to their spiritual world and tried to physically exterminate all those who did not fall under their definition of a true believer.
At the hands of fanatics, Giordano Bruno, Joan of Arc, Jan Hus and many others died. Those scientists, thinkers, philosophers who could not be burned at the stake were forced to abandon their ideas by force: Galileo Galilei, Nikolai Copernicus.
Bartholomew’s night is a terrible massacre of the Huguenots (French Protestants), provoked by the ardent Catholic Catholic Catherine de Medici in August 1572. According to some reports, that day, more than 30, 000 people died, all of them were branded with the word "heretic".
The flip side of the coin was anti-religious fanaticism during the formation of Soviet power. He expressed himself in the fight against prejudice, persecution of the church, religion and militant atheism. In fact, the same "witch hunt", just the opposite.
