4.25.2006
More of Scraps Conversation... From Zit...
So this is what I made this site for. I wanted to carry on these conversations here, where everyone can post... Apparently, no one got that... Anyway, here's a post from Zit...
I certainly agree the any form of extremism can be dangerous. But MLK jr. was an extremist as well. The reason that religion and extremism are so closely tied is that within a religion there is an imediate following. With a following that trusts a leader, and is asked to exhibit faith, or blind faith, in the hands of extremist manipulators, this can be so deadly. When the Hail Bop people and Jonestown people are brought up, you are speaking about a cult. Fairly harmless to mainstream society due to the fact that they don't have the numbers. Cult's often do have religious basis. Christianity was once a cult, just ask the disciples, and my boy, JC. Hitler may have not believed, but he used a religious guise to accomplish what he wanted. I consider most of your examples of a religious nature. I'm not exactly sure how to describe 'extreme'. In my simple and uneducated mind, I define it as: a group whose ideas separate themselves from the mainstream, often accepting no other possible outcomes other then those they deem to be correct. Feel free to rip my argument and definition apart, but I figured we needed a starting point.
My thoughts:
I agree that extremism isn't necesarily a bad thing... However, like I said in the last post, when you remove logic and/or knowledge from extremist thought, you run into trouble. As far as your definition goes, I agree... And that's not really a bad thing. If you believe your thoughts and beliefs are correct, then there are no other outcomes...
d
I certainly agree the any form of extremism can be dangerous. But MLK jr. was an extremist as well. The reason that religion and extremism are so closely tied is that within a religion there is an imediate following. With a following that trusts a leader, and is asked to exhibit faith, or blind faith, in the hands of extremist manipulators, this can be so deadly. When the Hail Bop people and Jonestown people are brought up, you are speaking about a cult. Fairly harmless to mainstream society due to the fact that they don't have the numbers. Cult's often do have religious basis. Christianity was once a cult, just ask the disciples, and my boy, JC. Hitler may have not believed, but he used a religious guise to accomplish what he wanted. I consider most of your examples of a religious nature. I'm not exactly sure how to describe 'extreme'. In my simple and uneducated mind, I define it as: a group whose ideas separate themselves from the mainstream, often accepting no other possible outcomes other then those they deem to be correct. Feel free to rip my argument and definition apart, but I figured we needed a starting point.
My thoughts:
I agree that extremism isn't necesarily a bad thing... However, like I said in the last post, when you remove logic and/or knowledge from extremist thought, you run into trouble. As far as your definition goes, I agree... And that's not really a bad thing. If you believe your thoughts and beliefs are correct, then there are no other outcomes...
d
