Zwerver Posted August 3 11 hours ago, Zwerver said: The problem is in putting politics, religion, or whatever above all else. That's where fanaticism of whatever variety begins. 2 hours ago, Doug said: This seems like a pertinent idea for a separate topic. I see it as a matter of egoic identification (the "above all else" fanaticism). When one's political or religious affiliations "feel like me" - people with that experience relate to those concepts as if they were literally part of oneself. They end up confusing their own emotional reactions with the way reality actually is - hence all the trouble. In my experience, only a minority of people are that fanatical, whether from a political, religious, nationalistic, or any other concept-derived perspective - but they make most of the noise, and they drive all of the fear and conflict that reinforces all the concept-created division and wastes of time, energy and resources. 1 hour ago, Zwerver said: It's alright with me if we make it a separate topic. (Can I already do that?) There is also a psychological component to all this, such as you describe. So there is enough to talk about. OK - here we have the separate topic on fanaticism. Any comments? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites