How to deal with Religious Fanatics : by Outer_Real: Mon Oct 13 2003 at 9:39:44: A Cut-Out-and-Keep Ministry of Information Guide . Knock it off. If they insist on continuing, tell them you didn't realize that they were going to insist on talking about religion, excuse yourself, and walk out. That happens a lot with me too. Bin Laden's concept, though, is very different from the actual meaning of the term. What should you do if your friend insults you simply because you are an atheist? Why is God in the Old Testament such a narcissistic bully, toying with people for his amusement, ordering genocides in which innocent women and children are killed. Tell him you won't discuss it and you're atheist. Be honest, especially since it is a relative. If youre in a room full of believers, think carefully before steering the conversation towards your lack of belief. Encourage your children to listen and be respectful and that they have plenty of time to make up their own minds. You must expose them to those they influence. Teaching in a World of Violent Extremism. I was at this guy's house buying car parts from him and somehow he gets to talking about being a Christian and asks me what I believe in. That shit will get under anyones skin. Its hard to kick a drug if sobriety means admitting that youre a vile person through and through. At the end of the day, we all look at the same moon. If they keep trying to convert you, you may need to reconsider the friendship. Religious fanaticism is defined by blind faith, the persecution of dissents and the absence of reality We probably all know a few fanatical fansof sports teams, pop stars or film and TV actors. So I propose that, when debating the religious, nonbelievers start using two tu quoque arguments. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible. If you are resentful towards religion, consider that much of your resentment probably stems from people attempting to force their beliefs on you. Sustained reason is just the hard work that addiction to fanaticism frees us from. After all, theyre the ones making unevidenced claims about reality, not us. Lets move on. Bin Laden may not have looked like an anti-globalisation campaigner, but he shared with them a concern about the effects of unbridled capitalism. The most obvious might be the feared Al-Qaida terrorists and Taliban militiamen tramping around Central Asia. Synonyms include extremist, radical, chauvinist, militant, bigot, sectarian, diehard, and dogmatist. Let's discuss the question: how to respond to a religious fanatic.We summarize all relevant answers in section Q&A of website Mytholi.com in category: Blog Finance For You.See more related questions in the comments below. We either watched college football or just made conversation. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Reason. In the meantime, the governments of the world are absolutely right to respond to fanatics who turn to terrorism with all necessary force. And if all else fails, do what most families do and find a third-party to vilify. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 457,250 times. Faith and Foolishness: When Religious Beliefs Become Dangerous Grant Shafer says, "Jesus of Nazareth is best known as a preacher of nonviolence".[5]. These works must include the books of the Four Horsemen: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens (one would think the faithful would already have read these, but their misunderstandings aboutThe God Delusionlead me to believe otherwise); the complete works of Robert G. Ingersoll; selected readings from Mencken and Bertrand Russell; Christopher Hitchenss The Portable Atheist, selected writings of Hume; Walter Kaufmanns The Faith of a Heretic and Critique of Religion and Philosophy; George Smiths Atheism: The Case Against God, and Herman Philipses superb God in the Age of Science: A Critique of Religious Reason. Although the Christian Bible quite plainly repeatedly encourages followers to help the needy and poor, many fanatical Christians seemed to have overlooked their book's message on this subject and have instead chosen to label . I just felt so surprised/ambushed by it that I had no time to react or think of how to react. The Intolerance of Tolerance by D.A. This is not to say they are acting in self-defence. Before we start, why dont you tell me what you know about it., If they dont know anything about atheism, or assume that it means you believe in nothing or are satanic in some way, dont criticize them for it. Genocide or Jesus: A God of Conquest or Pacifism? Came to believe that Reason, a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Magic phrase: "That's not my belief system". The start of Christian fanatic rule came with the Roman Emperor Constantine I. Ellens says, "When Christianity came to power in the empire of Constantine, it proceeded to almost viciously repress all non-Christians and all Christians who did not line up with official Orthodox ideology, policy, and practice". what everybody else said, and if that doesn't work you can use my line next. Why are we non-theists so outraged, indignant and disgusted when we learn new things about religion? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. CWOTUS ( 26102) "Great Answer" ( 3 ) Flag as . How to Handle a Religious Fanatic - Joshua Rogers You dont want to be blamed for all the evils done by those who rejected religion, do you? How do you deal with religious fanatics? How Can I Respond to Adversity with Faith? - The Church of Jesus Christ Consequently, I had trouble making friends outside the most sympathetic circle of gracious believers at my church. Keep your children indoors and out of harms way! You must understand the cause, and expose the effect.". Okay, so youve been disrespected, condescended to, verbally attacked or even threatened. Ill tell you what Ill get a couple of girls to meet up with you at my apartment, and they can really show you a thing or two., Before he could describe the thing or two they were going to show me, I launched into a fiery sermon, setting him straight and letting him know where I stood in my quest for purity. I shall be focusing only on those with a religious or quasi-religious motivation. Psychiatry professor Dr. Harold Koenig, from the Medical Center in Dukes University, North Carolina, studies the . 1 Don't bring up the subject unnecessarily. Over time, I grew to love Uncle John so much that I found it easy to see how God could love him, and I made a point to try to get that across to him. Say something like I am thankful for the people who grew this food, those who provided it, and those who prepared it. Sprinkle a couple of ammunition belts hanging from both shoulders. Giving family members a chance to right their wrongs and correct their offensive behavior is a must if you are to feel good about your decision down the road. But we can play the Gap Game, too. These 14 items were selected after the evaluation of items [6]. Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! I have a love-hate relationship with Thanksgiving Day. Here are a few religiousgaps: Now its no use for believers to respond, God is mysterious. ), By my shamelessly crude guesstimate, assuming no more than half the world is religious to start with, we only have to deal with, at most, three-hundred-and-twenty-five-million hardcore psychopaths prone to bomb-planting and plane hijacking, spread across the whole world. On their way to conquering the Holy Land from the Muslims by force of arms, the crusaders destroyed dozens of Jewish communities and killed thousands because the Jews would not accept the Christian faith. Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors. Be thoughtful and respectful. The majority of religious people are not fundamentalist; the majority of fundamentalists are not fanatics; the majority of fanatics are not terrorists. Take this seriously. Children may go to church every Sunday with their grandparents, but theyll still look to their parents for true religious guidance. Most of all, they blame the United States of America. [.] If I resolved not to get stressed until she had three meltdowns, for instance, I didnt exhaust myself trying so damn hard to prevent just one. See more. If someone is clearly very intolerant of atheism and will not stop criticizing your beliefs, then a rational discussion with them is probably not worth pursuing. Led by a member of the quorum or class presidency; 10-20 minutes. Confront their bullshit by saying how rude their behavior is and if they don't stop, walk away. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. I wrote this as an article for a university magazine, which can be found at www.thescript.net, and thought it would fit well as an entry here. I do polite first, nice second, then blunt, then I go to asshat mode. No matter what I said to him, he would warmly smile with that twinkle in his eye and say, Youre a good boy, Josh-ah.. Who saw that coming? Aw, thats no fun, he said. Dont Panic! The sad fact is that some relationships are not strong enough and never were to withstand the divide caused by religious differences. He knew how straight-laced I was, and that was probably the reason he enjoyed making these kinds of comments on a regular basis. I tried to do something similar to this by responding with the "it's just what I believe" when I was asked why I'm an atheist. "People are never so completely and enthusiastically evil as when they act out of religious conviction.". Atheists Could Learn a Lot from Religious People About How to Win Debates, read every sophisticated theologian in the history of Christianity, God in the Age of Science: A Critique of Religious Reason, Faith vs. But if youre going to end up feeling frustrated or angry or thinking less of the person youre debating, then leave it. And as I listened, I gradually learned that Uncle John was a man of many sorrows, one with a broken life history, a man who was afraid God could never forgive him for all the ways he had failed. According to Ellens, the al-Qaeda members who took part in the terrorist attacks did so out of their belief that, by doing it, they would "enact a devastating blow against the evil of secularized and non-Muslim America. Make believers read about nonbelief before youll listen to them. If, for instance, you are at Thanksgiving dinner and are asked to give some sort of blessing or say what you are thankful for, you can do so without invoking any god or religion. Dont ask questions that are purposely leading and antagonistic. References. His eyes sparkled, he flashed a wide grin, and when I finished, he broke into a wheezy smokers laugh and said, Youre a good boy, Josh-ah., In the following years, I managed to alienate a handful of my coworkers I told one guy that his main problem was that he was evil; I strongly insinuated to a couple of others that they were going to hell; and I often yammered on about my faith with little regard for whether my coworkers were even listening. Ive done too many bad things, said Uncle John. I just felt attacked about something that was completely unprovoked (I didn't have anything on me or my car showing what I believe in) and I just wasn't sure how I should have handled the situation or how I should have reacted. By fanatic, I refer to those fundamentalists who cast aside the moral constraints of their own doctrines for the betterment of their cause. Nearly all people who are highly religious say believing in God is essential to their religious identity (96% . It makes them feel good. Be sure to encourage your children to engage in these discussions, too. Even my religious family members respect and accept me for who I am. All topics related to atheism, agnosticism and secular living are welcome here. Either the dogma and rhetoric is too thick to see through, or the religious belief has becomes intertwined with out-and-out bigotry. For more tips, such as how to define what atheism means to you, read on! And if we dont, well, then they wont regard us as serious atheists. As Steffen says, though, "Jihad in these uses is always defensive. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. Join us. Walk away and give yourself some time to cool down. (Freedom 24) He goes on to say, "The radicals insist that their central claim God's desire for Islam's triumph requires no interpretation. This is the article for you. Make jokes. he Eagles hold the No. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. All content copyright original author unless stated otherwise. Why cant he keep kids from getting cancer, or stay the waves of tsunamis? Laugh at them them you aren't into their fandom? I paused for quite a while to be sure of my words. Dr. Mary Church is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist based in Honolulu, Hawaii. See that big chip on your shoulder? The Inquisition was the monarchy's way of making sure their people stayed within Catholic Christianity. What is Christian fanaticism? | GotQuestions.org Do you believe Hes strong enough to carry you into the end zone? I asked. It is more widely appreciated in religions today that an actual contact with God's power is the true source of good behaviour. Not a chance. Or, if youre sufficiently sophisticated to see God not as a bearded spirit but as The Ground of All Being, why isnt that Ground obvious to everyone? Its kind of like were a football were just an old, dead pigskin thats useless without a quarterback. Those judgments are not founded on truth or made by the Holy Spirit because most of them don't have the Holy Spirit to help them know the truth. To comprehend religious fanaticism, it is crucial to understand the basics of religion and spirituality. PostedNovember 4, 2014 N.p., Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2021. This is not to say that all or even most of the men and women in the anti-abortion movement are sadists or religious fanatics. According to Dr. Winell, RTS is a combination of 'toxic theology' and . Finally, if the person refuses to stop insulting you or to attempt to understand your perspective better, reassess the friendship. Historically, the term was applied in Christian antiquity to denigrate non-Christian religions, and subsequently acquired its current usage with the Age of Enlightenment.[1]. The third level is even worse than the second. 7 Ticking Time Bombs That Destroy Loving Relationships, The Single Best (and Hardest) Thing to Give Up, 3 Ways to Reclaim Your Hope and Happiness. And when they cant (or shouldnt be) avoided, a thoughtful and respectful approach can help prevent a contentious situation. Try to open your mind, without judgment, to the variability of human perception. Fanaticism Is a Disease Like Alcoholism | Psychology Today Rather, they fear God, and not in a "good" way. In other words, fanaticism is not religious but a psychological category. When he first brought up Jeebus I would have said, "I don't like talking about such a private matter as religion. So stop worrying so much. At age 19, I was a proud, Bible-thumping holy-roller who was on a one-man mission to save the world from sin. For example, refrain from saying something like, What makes you think your religion is so much better than others? Instead, try asking, What aspects of your religion set it apart from others? This is a nicer way of asking the same question. ". The investigators had to invent all sorts of techniques, including torture, to ascertain whether new converts' beliefs were genuine.[10]. Followed if needed by, "We're not allowed to talk about it". "What part of Fuck You! Far more dysfunctional families than your own have been saved simply by identifying a common enemy. [28], Violence based on communalistic-ideologies are quite predominant in the Indian subcontinent, especially since the British Raj, even resulting in the partition of British India based on religious lines. And if people can fault us for not reading Aquinas, Augustine, Origen, Tertullian, and modern theologians like Hart and Alvin Plantinga, well, then, why not ask something similar of them? Try finding support online. I used to do this when I travelled long distances with my toddler. 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