This article is longer than the usual, and may seem out of place on a blog about, primarily, the use of the handgun in personal protection, and other related self-defense and preparedness topics. However, part of knowing the potential threats in our world is understanding how they are fostered. In this series of articles, we are going to look at the threat of fanatical ideology.
There are different forms of fanaticism, but here we will address those that inspire and lead to violence. For example, cultish Christian offshoot religions that dance with snakes might be quite fanatical in their ideology, but not necessarily prone to violence towards others. It is the radical, violent, ideologies active in the world, currently, that the armed and prepared citizen within the United States should be concerned with, and having some historical understanding of these ideologies is useful.
I am a perpetual student of history. I actually have a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in history. I use neither in a professional capacity, though I occasionally say things that sound erudite, after which I proclaim, “benefits of a classical education,” in my best Hans Gruber voice. If you don’t get that reference, watch Die Hard. If you never watched Die Hard, get off my blog. Seriously.
A particular trend that is a constant, dare I say chronic, condition among many groups of mankind throughout history is fanatical hatred towards specific others. This fanaticism can run among small, fringe elements in a society, or, indeed, among entire nations or cultures. This fanaticism of concern is a deep hatred directed towards a designated “other.”
Fanatical hatred for the other can be fostered through a tangible event, or series of events, in which the other has actually committed violence against you and yours. Very often, ongoing cultural hatred is derived from a series of escalating violence. However, often, fanatical ideology and behavior can be whipped up among a society based on beliefs that seem absurd to anyone on the outside looking in.
Victimology: The Root of all Violent Fanaticism
Fanaticism takes hold when one group of people considers themselves perpetual victims of another, specific, group of people. Fanatics tend to separate themselves into two camps: oppressors and oppressed. And, you guessed it, the fanatic is always oppressed, whether real or imagined, and the “other” is always the oppressor. Being a perpetual victim becomes key to the self-identity, and often expanded cultural identity, of the fanatic. When you and yours are victims, you have a cause. Often, in the mind of the fanatic, it is a cause worth dying for.
Pertaining to victimology, the fanatic considers himself a victim of the “other” through a variety of mechanisms. Sometimes, legitimate violence causes one to become fanatical, seeking a life-long revenge against the perpetuating “other.” Often, however, fanaticism is fostered through generations of perceived wrongdoings not grounded in much reality. Other times, a blow to the ego, or a collective disgrace to a society, breeds generational fanaticism.
Historical Examples
Obviously, the first example that springs to people’s mind when discussing fanaticism is everyone’s favorite historical villain, Nazi Germany, headed by none other than Adolph Hitler. The truth is, if not for the entailed fanaticism against specific, designated, ethnic and social groups, Hitler would have gone down in history only as an overly-ambitious expansionist. He might have even ended up as a celebrated hero of Germany, the leader who won back their pride after the disgrace of the loss in World War I. Targeting the Jews and other groups for genocide, however, made him the quintessential fanatic of history.
Interestingly, Imperial Japan is directly responsible for far more millions of deaths than the Nazi war machine. They were far more brutal to prisoners than even the Nazis. Yet, are they as vilified in history as Hitler’s apparatus? No. Why? Because, though their general brutality was astronomical and appalling, it was not directed at specific groups, designated for genocide. They were the original Kamikaze suicide bombers, and arguably a fanatical nation in general, but it was not targeted at a specific “other.” The Nazi attack against groups of people, in particular the Jews, was insidiously directed, and the fact that the educated, highly achieving, modernized Germans did it at a national level makes it very frightening, the peak of fanaticism.
Consider the Balkan war in the 90s. The Christian Serbs started massacring the Muslim Croats in mass. To help quell things, the United States intervened and we, literally, blew the Serbs back to the Middle Ages. As it turns out, when you need to dig out of your own shit for the next 100 years, you don’t have time to commit genocide. Was this a religious thing? Not really.
The basis for the fanatical hatred between the Christian and Muslim populations in this region was not a divide caused by religious doctrine or traditions, but, rather, a matter of lingering, fanatical, victimology. Centuries ago, the prosperous medieval nation states (yes, this history dates back THAT FAR, but fanaticism has no expiration date) were taken over by the Ottoman Empire. Some of those fiefdoms converted to Islam. Now, fast forward 800 years later, and who is to blame for your unsatisfactory station in the European economic, political, and social ecosystem? Why, those traitors who converted to the religion of the oppressor 800 years ago, of course! It is more complex than can be discussed here, of course, but it is that absurd.
Scapegoat Finding and Fanaticism
Jews and other minorities were branded as culprits in the failure of the mighty German nation. When faced with the ramifications of their own actions, many will turn to a leader who finds the “other” as a scapegoat. Thus, Hitler got massive buy in to genocide. Germans were more ready to embrace the idea that the Jews were controlling their dismal, post-war, economy, rather than admit that being war mongers and causing tens of millions of deaths in Europe and elsewhere was a bad idea that had consequences.
Similarly, the Serbs thus considered the Croats “traitors” to their way of life and the cause of all problems. We see such scapegoat mentality play out in startling fanaticism over and over again. The Rwandan Genocide between the Hutus and the Tootsies is an example of this. And so it goes, over and over again. The desire to blame a subversive entity among you rather than blame yourself is a strong elixir for a society that is unhappy with its station in the world.
Religion
Although religion often plays into fanaticism, the actual fanatical hatred towards “the other” is rarely seated within the religious doctrine itself, though the Atheist Stasi led by such intellectuals as Sam Harris and Gnome Chomski endlessly rail against religion as the basis for all of mankind’s woes. Fun fact: Nazi Germany, Socialist Russia, Communist China, and Imperial Japan were all officially atheist regimes, encoding a complete rejection of religion by the state, a Sam Harris and Gnome Chomski wet dream! Good thing man finally enlightened himself and rejected religion, now we have peace! Oh, wait….
However, religion is often used as a tool among fanatical regimes or groups. Andrew Breitbart is quoted as saying “politics is downstream of culture.” What does that mean? Essentially, the culture of a people dictates the political apparatus and structure that emerges. Similarly, religion is downstream of culture. Jihadi Islam is an example of this, as the religion gets used as a tool of extremism by leaders of an intolerant society. Likewise, cults that are derived from mainstream religions do, indeed, hijack the notion of being “God’s People.” The suicide bomber thinks he is “God’s People.” Followers of Jim Jones, the people who literally “drank the cool aid,” thought they were God’s People.
Therefore, the idea that religion is the foremost fomenter of extremism is absurd, as the vast majority of people killed by their own government in the 20th Century were killed by atheist states, killing that notion quite decisively. However, the use of religion to manipulate is, indeed, an ongoing problem.
Next week we will discuss fanaticism on a large scale, in the world currently, as it pertains to ourselves and our security, here as armed and prepared citizens, in the United States.
Reflex Handgun 
Leave a comment