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2. IntroductionFanaticism is the belief in politics, religion, or other areasthat greatly exceeds the norm in enthusiasm and includes awillingness to sacrifice all else to realize its ends.Sometimes fanaticism is like an addiction. When it isaddiction it may be harmful or destructive. 3 3. Fanaticism Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncriticalzeal, particularly for an extreme religious or politicalcause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessiveenthusiasm for a pastime or hobby. The fanatic displays very strict standards and littletolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. In his book Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk, Neil Postman statesthat "the key to all fanatical beliefs is that they are self-confirming....(some beliefs are) fanatical not because theyare false, but because they are expressed in such a waythat they can never be shown to be false.4 4. Religious Fanaticism Religious fanaticism is fanaticism related to a persons, ora groups, devotion to a religion. In his book, Holy War, Just War, Lloyd Steffen says,"Religious fanaticism . . . invokes the idea of ultimacy,and its presence in religious life is undeniable."He goes onto say, "Religious fanatics are persons who attach to someobject an ultimate valuation and then attend to thatovervalued object with what is recognizable as a kind ofreligious" devotion." 5 5. Features of Religious Fanaticism1. Spiritual needs: Human beings have a spiritual longingfor understanding and meaning, and given the mysteryof existence. Religion has power to meet this need formeaning and transcendent relationship.2. Attractiveness: It presents itself in such a way that thosewho find their way into it come to express themselves inways consistent with the particular vision of ultimacy atthe heart of this religious form. 6 6. Features of Religious Fanaticism3. Live option: It is present to the moral consciousness as alive option that addresses spiritual need and satisfieshuman longing for meaning, power, and belonging.7 7. Religious Fanaticism in 20thCentury (At a Glance) 1905: In France the law on the Separation of the Churches and the State is passed, officially establishing it a state secularism and putting and end to the funding of religious groups by the state. Becoming a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and other pagans, the Ancient Order of Druids organized the first recorded reconstructionist ceremony in Stonehenge.(Encyclopedia, 2012)8 8. Religious Fanaticism in 20thCentury (At a Glance) 1908: The establishment of the Khalifatul Masih afterProphethood in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, theSecond ManifestationofGods Power.(Encyclopedia, 2012) 1917: The October Revolution, in Russia, leads to theannexation of all church properties and subsequentreligious suppression. (Encyclopedia, 2012) The 1917 Constitution of Mexico is written makingMexico a secular state. (Encyclopedia, 2012)9 9. Religious Fanaticism in 20thCentury (At a Glance) 1930s:Rastafari movement, the Nation of Islam isfounded. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 1932: A neo-Hindu religious movement,the BrahmaKumaris or "Daughters of Brahma" started the origin ofBKWSU can be traced to the group "OmMandali", founded by Lekhraj Kripalani(18841969).(Encyclopedia, 2012) 10 10. Religious Fanaticism in 20th Century (At a Glance) 1939 1945: Millions of Jews are relocated and killed bytheNazi government during Holocaust.(Encyclopedia, 2012) 1947: British India is partitioned on religious lines; intoan Islamic country of Pakistan and the secular nation ofIndia with a Hindu majority. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 1948: The Jews return to their ancient biblical homelandand the state of Israel is created. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 11 11. Religious Fanaticism in 20th Century (At a Glance) 1961:Unitarian Universalism formed from merger ofUnitarianism and Universalism. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 1962 1965: The Second Vatican Council takes place. 1965: Srila Prabhupada establishes the InternationalSociety for Krishna Consciousness and introducestranslations of the Bhagavad-Gita and Vedic Scriptures inmass production all over the world. (Encyclopedia, 2012)12 12. Religious Fanaticism in 20th Century (At a Glance) 1966: Anton Szandor LaVeys Satanism begins, withAnton Szandor LaVeys founding of the Church of Satan,although Satanism in itself has always been defined by theChristians themselves. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 1984: Operation Blue Star occurs at holiest site of theSikhs, the Golden Temple in Amritsar. 1984 Anti-Sikhriots follow. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 13 13. Religious Fanaticism in 20th Century (At a Glance) 1979: The Iranian Revolution results in the establishmentof an Islamic Republic in Iran. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 1989: The revolutions of 1989, the overthrow of manySoviet-style states, allows a resurgence in open religiouspractice in many Eastern European countries.(Encyclopedia, 2012) 1990s: European pagan reconstructive movements(Celtic, Hellenic, Roman, Slavic, Baltic, Finnish, etc.)organize. (Encyclopedia, 2012) 14 14. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Aden-Abyan Islamic Army: The Aden-Abyan Islamic Army is an Islamist militant organization based in southern Yemen. The group was responsible for kidnapping of 16 foreign tourists in the December 1998 in Abyan. Yemeni government forces attacked place where the hostages were being held resulting in four of the hostages being killed while the remainder were freed. The Aden-Abyan Islamic Army was also believed to have been involved in the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Aden.(Encarta, 2012) 15 15. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20 th Century Al-Badr: Al-Badr is an Islamic militant groupoperating in the Jammu Kashmir region, run byJasniel Rihal. The group was allegedly formed bythe Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in June1998. (Encarta, 2012) Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya:Years active:19942006Headquarters:KismayoOperating Areas: Somalia(Encarta, 2012)16 16. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century All Tripura Tiger Force: Active:1990 - present Ideology: Tripuri nationalism Leaders: Ranjit Debbarma Area of operations: Tripura, India (Encarta, 2012)17 17. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Al-Qaeda: Leaders: Osama bin Laden (19882011) ,Ayman al- Zawahiri (2011 present) Active regions: Worldwide Founded by Osama bin Laden at some point betweenAugust 1988 and late 1989, its origins being traceable tothe Soviet War in Afghanistan. (Encarta, 2012)18 18. 19 19. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Armed Islamic Group of Algeria: is an Islamistorganization that wants to overthrow the Algeriangovernment and replace it with an Islamic state. TheGIA adopted violent tactics in 1992 after the militarygovernment voided the victory of the IslamicSalvation Front, the largest Islamic oppositionparty, in the first round of legislative elections heldin December 1991. (Encarta, 2012)20 20. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20 th Century Destruction of Babri Mosque:Constructed 1527Destroyed 1992 The Babri Mosque was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, India, on Ramkot Hill ("Ramas fort"). It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organizers that the mosque would not be harmed. More than 2,000 people were killed in ensuing riots in many major cities in India including Mumbai and Delhi. (Encarta, 2012)21 21. 22 22. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Deendar Anjuman: Active:1924-present Ideology: Sunni Leaders: Moulana Syed Siddique Hussain Area of operations: India Deendar Anjuman is an Islamic organization based inHyderabad, India. It is a banned terrorist organization inIndia since 2001. This organization believes the preachingof Islam among the non-Muslims through the grass-rootlevel. (Encarta, 2012) 23 23. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Hizb ut-Tahrir:Leader: Ata Abu RashtaFounder: Taqiuddin al-NabhaniFounded: 1953Membership: Estimated 1 millionIdeology: Sunni Islamism24 24. 25 25. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Hizbul Mujahideen:Founder :Muhammad Ahsan DarSupreme Commander: Sayeed SalahudeenFounded:1989izb al-Mujhidn, meaning "party of holy warriors"), founded by Ahsan Dar in 1989, is a Kashmiri militant group active in the Indian- administered state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. Their headquarters are located in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir.(Encarta, 2012)26 26. 27 27. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Jamaat-e-Islami:The Jamaat-e-Islami is a social conservative and Islamist political party, advocating for an Islamic and democratic form of government in Pakistan. The JI was founded on August 26, 1941 in Lahore by Muslim theologian and socio-political philosopher Abul Ala Maududi. The party is led by an Emir (lit. Leader), and currently Syed Munawar Hasan is tenuring as Emir of JI. The JI is headquartered in Mansoorah district, Lahore. (Encarta, 2012)28 28. 29 29. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20 th Century Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh: Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh; abbreviated: JMB; was a Islamist organisation operating in Bangladesh. It was founded in 1998 in Palampur in Dhaka division by Abdur Rahman and gained public prominence in 2001 when bombs and documents detailing the activities of the organization were discovered in Parbatipur in Dinajpur district. The organization was officially banned by the government of Bangladesh in February 2005 after attacks on NGOs, but struck back in mid-August when it detonated 500 bombs at 300 locations throughout Bangladesh.(Banglapedia, 2012) 30 30. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Lashkar-e-Taiba: It was founded in 1990 by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam and Zafar Iqbal in Afghanistan. With its headquarters based in Muridke, near Lahore in Punjab province of Pakistan, the group operates several training camps in Pakistan- administered Kashmir. (Encarta, 2012)31 31. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Osbat al-Ansar: Osbat al-Ansar or Asbat an-Ansar (League of the Partisans) is a Lebanon-based Sunni fundamentalist group established in the early 1990s which professes the Salafi form of Islam and the overthrow of the Lebanese-dominated secular government. The organization is largely based in Ain al-Hilweh. (Encarta, 2012) 32 32. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) is a Sunni Deobandi Pakistani organization, and a formerly registered Pakistani political party. Established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, its stated goal is to primarily to deter major Shiite influence in Pakistan in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. (Encarta, 2012)33 33. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20 th Century The Taliban: Alternative spelling Taleban, is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. It spread into Afghanistan and formed a government, ruling as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until December 2001, with Kandahar as the capital. However, it gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Mohammed Omar has been serving as the spiritual leader of the Taliban since 1994. (Encarta, 2012) 34 34. 35 35. Rise of Religious Fanaticism in Late20th Century Shiv Sena: Shiv Sena is a nationalist political organizationin India founded on 19 June 1966 by political cartoonistBal Thackeray. The party originally emerged out of amovement in Mumbai demanding preferential treatmentfor Maharashtras over migrants to the city. The partyoperates as a network of street gangs and has a powerfulhold over the Bollywood film industry. It is currentlyheaded by Thackerays son, Uddhav Thackeray. MembersofShivSena arereferred to as ShivSainiks.(Encyclopedia, 2012) 36 36. 37 37. Impact of Religious Fanaticism Religious conflict Religious violence False religious explanation Destruction Class struggle Backwardness Cultural conflict Crime activities Terrorism38 38. Unitarianism Unitarianism is a religious theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being. Thus, Unitarians contend that main-line Christianity does not adhere to strict monotheism as they do, maintaining that Jesus was a prophet, and in some sense the "son" of God, but not God himself. 39 39. 40 40. ConclusionMostly religious fanaticism is used in a negative sense.Sometimes it occurs violence and destruction. Most oftentheir ideology does not match with the real religiousexplanation. So everyone should have a clear conceptabout real religious explanation and avoid religiousfanaticism carefully. 41 41. References Britannica Encyclopedia, 2012 Microsoft Encarta, 2012 Banglapedia, 2012 Postman, N. 1976. Crazy Talk, Stupid Talk. New York Rudin, J. 1969. Fanaticism. A psychological Analysis.University of Notre Dame Press, London.42 42. 43 43. 44