[JudyKayTee]

I would be interested in everyone's opinion on when being deeply religious turns into fanaticism, particularly as it pertains to Christianity.

[bushg]

When they do things to bring harm to themselves or someone else. Whether it be physical or mental.

[NeedKarma]

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
Winston Churchill

[SkyGem]

I would be interested in everyone's opinion on when being deeply religious turns into fanaticism, particularly as it pertains to Christianity.

First of all, one cannot merely single out Christianity in this context. All religions, to a certain extent, have people who "go all out" for their religion and that has to be clearly understood. Having said that, a person who has religion in their blood, who has the Faith in the veins, is proud to let others know about it. There is nothing wrong with that. Jesus has told us that we should go out and teach all nations about Christianity.

"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ALL Power is given unto me in Heaven and earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." -- MATTHEW 28:18-20 (KJV).

I can say unequivocally that this could very well be because no one can obtain Salvation except through Jesus Christ in order to enter Heaven.

"Jesus saith unto him, I Am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -- JOHN 14:6 (KJV)

So, in the course of evangelizing and proclaiming God's Word, many indeed will "feel the Spirit"! When filled with the Holy Spirit people can indeed move and act in ways they may not ordinarily. But that is the Power of God moving in them. And many of us speak with great passion when defending our Christian faith as we believe with every ounce of our being in it and especially those of us who are Born Again who have given our life to Jesus Christ. Of course, there are many ways of evangelizing and one way is the "street corner preacher". Many have seen him in different parts of the world and there is nothing wrong with that. He is being moved by God to bring God's Word to the people in that manner. Others are set-up to bring God's Word through television, radio, the Internet, etc. What I do not find acceptable and which is indeed fanatical, are those who carry picket signs to funerals and other solemn places in order to make a point. This should be completely intolerable to a true Christian. A committed follower of Jesus should be all about the teaching of Love, Charity, Compassion, Hope, Helping Others Attain Salvation and other virtues that Jesus taught us we should emulate.

So, Christians have the burning desire to let everyone know about the ONE TRUE GOD, the Christian God in the Holy Trinity. It has been ordained by God that they should speak to the world about this as part of their Christian mission, to bring others into Christianity, and to defend the faith with the Truth as written in God's Word. When done as Jesus did it, there should be no question as to whether Christianity is religious or fanatical. Let me assure you, it is deeply religious but anti-Christians would like to make one believe the opposite, which after all, is their sole mission according to their non-faith as infidels. By and large, defenders of the Faith do not need to be intrusive but rather inclusive so as to readily accept anyone who comes searching with a hunger to learn more about Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior. To this end, we must all work and teach by example that obtaining Salvation can only come from accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

[JudyKayTee]

[QUOTE=SkyGem]First of all, one cannot merely single out Christianity in this context. All religions, to a certain extent, have people who "go all out" for their religion and that has to be clearly understood. Having said that, a person who has religion in their blood, who has the Faith in the veins, is proud to let others know about it. There is nothing wrong with that. Jesus has told us that we should go out and teach all nations about Christianity.


I'm not singling out Christians - I simply asked about Christians.

You are entitled to your beliefs but when do religious beliefs cross the line? When does it turn from preaching into offensive intolerance? I'm not interested in a religious argument about who is and who is not saved.

[De Maria]

First of all, one cannot merely single out Christianity in this context. ....

Nor can we single out only the relgious. Some people are fanatical about their jobs, some about their sports, some about their spouse, and some about their atheistic beliefs.

Fanaticism comes in many forms.

Sincerely,

De Maria

[JudyKayTee]

[QUOTE=De Maria]Nor can we single out only the relgious. Some people are fanatical about their jobs, some about their sports, some about their spouse, and some about their atheistic beliefs.

Fanaticism comes in many forms.



That's fine but that's not answering my quesiton - when it comes to religion, when does anyone see it crossing the line?

[spitvenom]

The West Boro baptist church I would say they are fanatics.

[De Maria]

I would be interested in everyone's opinion on when being deeply religious turns into fanaticism, particularly as it pertains to Christianity.

I know your question is about fanaticism in the religious community, however, I believe fanaticism is more of a problem amongst the non-religious. Fanaticism is found amongst all peoples, whether they be religious or not. Atheists are very often fanatical about their non-religious ideas.

# excessive intolerance of opposing views
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Because Christianity teaches the law of love and freedom of conscience, a Christian who truly knows his faith will rarely become excessively intolerant of opposing views (i.e.fanatical). Having said that, we all know that some Christians do become fanatical.

So, since Christianity teaches freedom of conscience, then a Christian becomes fanatical when he becomes excessively intolerant of views which oppose Christianity. Because in doing so, he actually transgresses Christian doctrine.

Obviously, all of us are intolerant of opposing views to one degree or another. That is why we have debates and discussions to help explain our views and possibly reach agreement. The intolerance of opposing views becomes excessive, in my opinion, when one can't have a polite discussion about one's differences.

Sincerely,

De Maria

[De Maria]

Nor can we single out only the relgious. Some people are fanatical about their jobs, some about their sports, some about their spouse, and some about their atheistic beliefs.

Fanaticism comes in many forms.

That's fine but that's not answering my quesiton - when it comes to religion, when does anyone see it crossing the line?

I wasn't addressing you in that message. I have answered you in another.

FYI I've noticed in your replies, that the quotes don't work. If you make sure that there is a QUOTE in brackets [] before and an /QUOTE in brackets [] after the quotation, your replies will look much better and be easier to understand.

Sincerely,

De Maria

[Choux]

Fanaticism is insanity/obsession, whether religious fanatics, political, or fanatics of any kind.

Qualities of religious fanatics are:
Overly emotional,
Lack of rational thought,
Lack of proportion,
Lack of judgement,
Desire to punish non-fanatics,
Need to be dominated(scriptures or leader),

And, so on.

Not all religious people are fanatics, but there are many fanatics, unfortunately! :)

[Fr_Chuck]

Anything can be taken in excess. I get scared to death at little league baseball games, you want fanatical, I see them get into physcial fights over a kids game. If those people took their religion to that extreme they would most certainly be dangerous.

So much of it happens when people take one verse or one section of the religion but seem to feel the others don't matter. They look at a section of the law, or a sectoin about their foods, or some other section and make it more important than all of the other parts.

But in other ways we should be fantatic because our religion should be more important than anything else, and it should be how we live

[inthebox]

I would be interested in everyone's opinion on when being deeply religious turns into fanaticism, particularly as it pertains to Christianity.

When rituals take the place of faith.

[tawnynkids]

It goes beyond the line when you push it down someone's throat, when you force it on someone that didn't ask, when you speak it in a prideful (haughty, arrogant) way rather than a humble way, when it comes with condemnation and judgment, when it comes with an argumentative spirit and seeks to prove someone wrong just so you can be right.

Off the top of my head those are a few "line crossers" and completely unacceptable to do biblically.