Fanaticism

A divine defends religion, meaning Christianity, against accusations of violence, but the apology is a string of straw men. The defence comes down to the secular state being responsible for much violence despite its liberal origins, but the US, which is in fact the secular state, is far from secular despite its secular constitution. Fanatical evangelical Republicans have taken control of it, and have dominated foreign policy for many decades. The supposed errors and faults of the secular state are US Christian jihadism against the rest of the world, and uphold the thesis of religious, particularly Christian, violence in the world.

This book explores the moral psychology of devotion. In the first part of the book, I provide I analysis of devotion; an examination of its motivational role; and an explanation of its connection to a distinctive form of valuing, in which certain values are seen as inviolable and are rendered invulnerable to the typical effects of justificatory reflection. In the second part of the book, I assess the ethical significance of devotion, arguing that certain forms of ethically praiseworthy relationships require devotion. In the third part, I examine how devotion can easily devolve into pathological forms. I focus on fanaticism, arguing that devotion can arise from a particular form of psychological fragility that is linked to group violence. I further argue that this form of fragility can be stoked by group resentment, and that certain social groups can thus be fanatical in the sense that they encourage the emergence of individual fanatics. In the final part of the book, I ask whether there are ways of preserving some of the beneficial features of devotion while avoiding their pathologies. I investigate whether we can be devoted through irony; through affirmation; and through what I call the "Deepening Move." Each of these stances preserves a degree of flexibility and openness in the object of devotion; each one tries to preserve a form of wholehearted devotion despite this openness. (The attached file contains the introductory chapter. Email or message me if you'd like a draft of the entire book.)

Research in consumer culture focuses on the role of fans in creating social spaces or fandoms in contrast with larger society where new cultural meanings and values are socially negotiated. Drawing on media and cultural studies, this article describes fandoms as a process rooted in the larger phenomenon of fanaticism and its interaction with the current society. The article posits the study of fanaticism as a fruitful lens for a deeper understanding of the role of consumption and brands in today’s consumer societies.

Football one of the most important and popular sports branches around the world. As is known in general, football is not just football. Football is not a chance to have more fans than other sports branches. Soccer leads to the happiness and sadness of societies. This is not a simple situation and there are many reasons behind the football industry. Not only does soccer serve the body and health, but it also addresses the heart and soul of the humans. The football industry that develops over time includes historical, social, psychological, sociological and political elements. To define the football industry today, it is necessary to know the history of football. The foundations of the modern football school were laid by the British and systematically formed in the second half of the 19th century. The structure of primitive football dates back to 2000s BC. The first form of football is considered as ‘'a game played with a round object''. People used the foot organ in the rules of play in the Roman period and called it '' Harpastum ''. ‘The game remained popular for 700-800 years, but, although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small as to scarcely be of consequence' (Klacsanzky, 2018). The primitive footballers started the historical process by hitting a round ball with a foot in a rectangular area. They also came together on special occasions to turn football into a social ritual.

Personal narrative on how Rich Erlich of two English departments came to teach (for some 40 years) a work of sociology and political, Eric Hoffer's THE TRUE BELIEVER, and recommending it as an absolutely essential text  as we move into another era of competing "fanaticisms."

The present study was designed to examine relationship between identity statuses and dimensions of celebrity worship. Two measures were used to determine their scores. The Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status II (EOMEIS-II) was used to assess identity status as conceptualized by Marcia (2006). Celebrity Attitude Scale was used to measure the levels of celebrity worship as described by McCutcheon et al. (2002). Data were collected from 141 participants who were high school and college students and fan club members. Correlational analysis was used to find significant correlation between identity statuses and dimensions of celebrity worship. The stepwise method of regression was conducted to further find which among the identity statuses predicted celebrity worship. Results revealed that identity statuses have a significant weak to moderate positive correlation to the dimensions of celebrity worship. Two of the identity statuses (identity foreclosure and identity moratorium) were found to be the predictors of celebrity worship. Further discussions, implications, limitations and recommendations of the study were stated.

At the end of the classic 1957 SF film THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, Scott Carey, the title character, reducing to the infinitesimal asserts, "To God, there is no zero. I still exist!" In the second decade of the 21st century, the "de-centering" of human beings in the cosmos has reached a point where some physicists can theorize an infinity of universes; in such a "plurality of worlds," a realistic evaluation of the human condition must conclude that in the Big Picture of the Real Reality of Things, the human species, let alone any individual human being, is trivial. In such a situation the rise of "fideism" and various Fundamentalisms makes sense not only for the usual sociological reasons but philosophically as well. To God, there may be no zero; in even one universe of the range of vastness indicated by the modern sciences, zero becomes the limit human significance (when we think about it) is frighteningly near.

It has been claimed that fanaticism is an essential part of 'new' terrorism. In this new terrorism paradigm, new terrorists are mentally unbalanced religious fanatics who are divorced from rational thought. This paper will elucidate the concepts of terrorism and fanaticism and explore the relationship between them. It will be argued that the new terrorism paradigm misunderstands both terrorism and fanaticism. An alternative conception of fanaticism will be elaborated and defended. On this conception, terrorism and fanaticism are more loosely related than is often supposed. Why, in that case, is fanaticism nevertheless thought to be an essential part of terrorism? This is best understood in genealogical terms, by reference to the history and experience of colonialism in shaping the emergence of the ideas of terrorism and fanaticism as well as the way that some terrorism scholars conceive of the relationship between them. The pathologizing of terrorism and fanaticism will be criticized in the light of Edward Said's theory of Orientalism. The paper will conclude by examining the various ways in which influential though misguided conceptions of fanaticism and terrorism have had a malign influence on the theory and practice of counterterrorism.

Stressing that the pronoun "I" picks out one and only one person in the world (i.e., me), I argue against Hunt (and other like-minded Rand commentators) that the supposed "hard case" of destructive people who do not care for their own lives poses no special difficulty for rational egoism. I conclude that the proper response to a terse objection like "What about suicide bombers?" is the equally terse assertion "But I don't want to get blown up."

What, if anything, is fanaticism? Philosophers including Locke, Hume, Shaftesbury, and Kant offered an account of fanaticism, analyzing it as (1) unwavering commitment to an ideal, together with (2) unwillingness to subject the ideal (or its premises) to rational critique and (3) the presumption of a non-rational sanction for the ideal. In the first part of the paper, I explain this account and argue that it does not succeed: among other things, it entails that a paradigmatically peaceful and tolerant individual can be a fanatic. The following sections argue that the fanatic is distinguished by four features: (4) the adoption of sacred values; (5) the need to treat these values as unconditional in order to preserve a particular form of psychic unity; (6) the sense that the status of these values is threatened by lack of widespread acceptance; and (7) the identification with a group, where the group is defined by shared commitment to the sacred values. If the account succeeds, it not only reveals the nature of fanaticism, but also uncovers a distinctive form of ethical critique: we can critique a way of understanding values not on the grounds that it is false, but on the grounds that it promotes a particular form of social pathology.

Circumcision is responsible, as well in its victims as in their neighbours, intact or not, of a systemic, collective and reciprocal paranoia entailing the worst of discriminations. In case of conflict, if one of the enemies is circumcised, the outcomes are catastrophic.

Paper regarding the idea of "religious tolerance" as propaganda designed to just let religion continue to do harm to society and destroy lives. See my paper 'Religion Is Not Benign' in order to better understand this paper:
http://www.academia.edu/11700742/Religion_Is_Not_Benign

Abstract

The aim of this research to examined the relationship between fanaticism and aggressive behavior tendencies of foreign football fans. Data were collected from 93 participants of 4 different fans club at Yogyakarta, which are Milanisti Indonesia sezione Jogja, Juventus Club Indonesia chapter Jogja, BIGREDS (Liverpool FC), and Jogja United Indonesia. Those fans klub had the largest member and the most attractive in supporting their real club. This research used purposive sampling. Instrument for data collection were The Aggressive Behaviour Tendencies  Scale and Fanaticism Scale. Product Moment Correlation were used to analyze the data. Result showed that there is a relationship between Aggressive Behavior Tendencies and Fanaticism on foreign football fans around 0,212 (p<0,05).

Abstrak Gelombang Korea (K-Wave) merupakan fenomena demam budaya Korea di tingkat global yang mempengaruhi dunia internasional pada umumnya. Kemunculan beragam bahasa, musik, film, fashion, dan gaya hidup telah mendunia termasuk Indonesia. K-pop sendiri merupakan bagian music yang identik dengan boyband dan girlband yang dinaungi oleh satu manajemen. BTS merupakan boyband Korea yang memiliki fans base di seluruh dunia, termasuk di Indonesia. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan secara kualitatif fanatisme penggemar K-Pop pada komunitas BTS-Army di Medan. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian kualitatif dengan desain penelitian fenomonelogi. Tim peneliti mengangkat fenomena fanatisme pada fandom BTS-Army yang tahun ini sedang marak ataupun naik daun (populer). Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui cara wawancara mendalam terhadap 2 respoden dan melakukan observasi dengan tipe partisipatif. Kerangka konseptual penelitian ini menunjukkan adanya konsumsi terhadap konten-konten BTS dan pengaruh peran media dalam menampilkan kehidupan para anggota BTS. Selain itu, pengaruh dari fanatisme terhadap perubahan perilaku para penggemarnya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan fanatisme terhadap budaya Korea yang dipegaruhi oleh music boyband BTS-Army menunjukkan pengaruh media terhadap konsumsi terhadap media serta perilaku individu yang tampak seperti hubungan kesetiaan, pengabdian, dan kecintaan terhadap idolanya. Abstract The Korean Wave (K-Wave) is a phenomenon of Korean cultural fever at a global level that affects the international world at large. The emergence of various languages, music, films, fashion, and lifestyle has worldwide, including Indonesia. K-pop itself is an identical part of music with a boy band and girl band that is shaded by one management. BTS is a Korean boy band that has a worldwide fan base, not least in Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to describe qualitatively fanaticism of K-Pop fans in the BTS-Army community in Medan. The approach used in this research is a qualitative research method with a phenomonelogy research design. The research team raised the phenomenon of fanaticism in the BTS-Army fandom which this year is so popular. Data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews with 2 respondents and observing with participatory type. The conceptual framework of this study shows the consumption of BTS content and the influence of the role of the media in presenting the lives of BTS members. In addition, the influence of fanaticism on changes in the behavior of his fans. The results showed fanaticism towards Korean culture influenced by BTS-Army music boy band shows the effect of media on consumption on media as well as individual behavior that looks like a relationship of loyalty, devotion, and love for their idols.

Megaleh Temirin (Revealer of Secrets), first published in Vienna in 1819, is one of the sharpest and wittiest pieces of Jewish literature written in the first half of the nineteenth century, and is perhaps the most important piece of Hebrew prose composed before the stories of Mendele Mocher Seforim. A sly and complex story deriding Hasidism and Hasidim, it is told through the correspondence between the beadles of Hasidic courts and contemporary rabbis, and it presents a dark picture of  avaricious frauds and swindlers whose main concern was control over territory and the souls of believers, a goal achieved by beguiling the authorities and attacking all opponents. Perl lends his book a ‘Hasidic’ feel both in its physical design and in its language, presenting a Maskilic version of In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov that lays Hasidism bare so that no reader will ever be able to look at that, or any other Hasidic book, in the same way again. In addition to the book’s satiric sting, which would have been enough to bring its readers a dual pleasure, Perl’s hints at contemporary people and places, hidden within anagrams and numerological tricks. With the unraveling of these clues, which also include the use of actual Hasidic sources, the book is a valuable, contemporary view of historical reality. A meticulous reading of the book may therefore open a window on the hidden worlds of Hasidism and the Haskalah at the start of the nineteenth century.

The first volume (Imagined Hasidism) serves as an introduction to the complex satirical writings of Josef Perl of Tarnopol (1773-1839). At the center of the book stands an analysis of the satires, Megaleh Temirin (1819) and Bochen Tzadik (1838), including a systematic treatment of the ‘characters’ in the central works and a discussion of the dozens of manuscripts to be found in the Perl Archive in Jerusalem. Perl’s writings are analyzed here in the fuller context of Hebrew and Yiddish literature in general and Maskilic and Hasidic literature in particular, as well as other polemical writings and governmental records critical of Hasidism. The study thus presents a complex and nuanced picture of the relationship between literature and history, between the anti-Hasidic reports and the more complicated historical reality, and lays the groundwork for further research into the genre of nineteenth-century Maskilic satire.

The second and third volumes (Megaleh Temirin) present for the first time an annotated edition of Megaleh Temirin. It is based on the first edition and the scattered manuscripts and it includes a comparison to its Yiddish translation. The book is accompanied by appendices on its origins and contents, including fundamental treatments of several passages: an explication of the encoded names, the Hasidic sources used by the author, and the variants found in the manuscripts and in the only edition of the book in Yiddish.

The editor of the book, Professor Jonatan Meir, teaches in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University. He has published several articles on the Haskalah of Eastern Europe, Hasidism, and a number of varied topics in twentieth-century Kabbalah.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Contents


Introduction                                                                                     
Scholarship on the anti-Hasidic writings of Josef Perl • Hasidic hagiography and the emergence of satire • Two-fold reading of Perl’s writings and the gematriyot • Satire, literature, and history • ‘Holy Books’ and subversive books

Chapter 1: Josef Perl, Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, and the ‘Holy Books’
Prayer of the fall of Hasidism and the expungement of their books • Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht and the critique of hagiography • Sefer Sipurey Ma‘asiyot and the parodic response to it • Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov, ‘heretical books’ and the ‘Holy Books’ • In praise of the true Tsaddikim • ‘Laughter of the heretics’: testimonies about the polemics against Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • ‘Holy Books’, ‘sacredness of hagiography’, and parodies of hagiography • Appendix: Parodic manuscript about an opponent of the ‘Holy Books’ who was reborn as a horse

Chapter 2: Speaking Names in Sefer Megale Temirin                             
Time of the composition of Megale Temirin, censorship, and a note on the Buch • Hasidic books and the emergence of parody • Structure of Sefer Megale Temirin • The Introduction to Sefer Megale Temirin • Main Hasidic courts • The court in Żołyń (Łożne) and the peregrinations of the Buch • The court of Dishpal (Międzyboż), moneyboxes of the Besht, the holy relics • The court in Aklo (Olika) and the ritualized reading of Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • Function of the footnotes and the parodic hagiography • History of the rabbis – clandestine opponents of Hasidism • The Besht in Tarnopol • Rabbi Meir Jacob of Zasław and the letters from Galicja  • Zaddikim in Galicja • Ciphered stories • ‘Holy Places’: reincarnations of a praise from Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht • The revelation of the Buch and the death of the secretary • ‘Gang of criminals’: another death and an escape to the Land of Israel • The End: Ovadia Ben Petahia and the rabbi of Opatów

Chapter 3: Joseph Perl, Hirsh of Zydaczów, and the Polemics of Gematriyot
Reb Zevi Hirsh of Zydaczów and Hasidism in Galicja • Maskilic opposition to the Zydaczówer • Letters concealed in Sefer Megale Temirin • A manuscript about the misdeeds of the Hasidim • Books, education, and a note on Reb Nathan of Nemirov • Zydaczówer’s ban on the Maskilim and the first Gematria • Parodic letter of Perl and the second Gematria • About the parodic letter and the jumble of gematriyot • Denunciation and expulsions of R Zevi Hirsh • ‘Father of impurity’: Joseph Perl and the writings of the rabbi of Komarno • Final note • Appendix: Parodic letter against the Zydaczówer

Chapter 4: Speaking Names in the Book of Sefer Bohen Zaddik               
The manuscript of Sefer Bohen Zaddik and the difficulties with its publication • Structure of the book • In search for the true Zaddik and the rabbi of Opatów • Travels of Ovadia Ben Petahia between the towns of Galicja • Kromcza Ruska (Zaleszczyki) or the entrance to Galicja • ‘Briks’ (Tarnopol): Rabbi Jehoshua Heschel Babad and the school • ‘Bicik’ (Lemberg) Rabbi Jacob Orenstein and a ban on the Maskilim • ‘Abdera’ (Brody) Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margaliot and Sefer ha-Zoref • The explanation of the names of the rabbis • Utopia and dystopia • The hidden butcher and his kabbalistic writings • The discovery of the colonies • The image of the disciples of the Gaon and the ‘true Hasid’ • ‘The solution for the East’ or heterotopia •  The will to flee and the emissary

Chapter 5: The Imaginary Influence of Sefer Megale Temirin                     
The myth about the success of the book • Pamphlet Megale Sod • The manuscript about the misdeeds of the Hasidim • Dialogues about Sefer Megale Temirin • For whom Sefer Megale Temirin was intended and who read it • Note concerning Sefer Megale Temirin in Yiddish • Influence real and imagined • Was Sefer Shivhe ha-Besht written by a parodist? • Temerl Bergson and Sefer Megale Temirin • Writ of defense of Hasidism • Sefer Megale Temirin and the Hebrew literature • Appendix: writ of defense of Joseph Judah Lob Sossnitz

Afterword: Note on the Anti-Hasidic Outlook                                       

Bibliographic Abbreviations   

Reviews:
(1) Dan Meron, 2013, ‘Megaleh Temirin’, Kivunim Hadashim 29, 55 pages (Hebrew)
(2) David Assaf, 2014, ‘Hasidim will not Read it but Tear it’, Haaretz, Tarbut ve-Sifrut, p .6 (Hebrew) http://onegshabbat.blogspot.co.il/2014/04/blog-post_18.html
(3) Eliezer Brodt, 2014, 'New book Announcement- Megale Temirin', The Seforim Blog http://seforim.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/new-book-announcement-megale-temirin.html
(4) Matan Hermoni, 2014,  הסבתא המופקרת של הספרות העבריתHaaretz, Sfarim (Hebrew) http://www.haaretz.co.il/.premium-1.2382365
(5) Shinichi Yamamoto, 2015, 山本　伸一, "ヨナタン・メイール編著『想像のハシディズム』", ユダヤ・イスラエル研究　第28号  http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jsjs/jistudies.html
(6) David Biale and David Assaf,, 2015, 'Revealer Revealed', Jewish Review of Books, pp. 17-21  http://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/1454/revealer-revealed/
(7) Hillel Halkin, 2015, "Sex, Magic, Bigotry, Corruption- and the First Hebrew Novel', Mosaic Magazine,  http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2015/05/sex-magic-bigotry-corruption-and-the-first-hebrew-novel/
(8) Tomer Persico, 2015, "Interview", Lula'at haEl http://tomerpersico.com/2015/08/10/meir_perl/
(9) Ariel Evan Mayse, 'Review', Jewish History (2015)ת  http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10835-015-9245-2
(10) Review - Gal-Ed

Rather than an abstract, this is an excerpt:

The mixture between identity and affiliations.

"Narcissism and identity are notions that refer the one to the other, the notion of identity being located at the interface between narcissistic space and social space. Let us notice first that the term identity implies the report of a permanence within time of elements characteristic of per-sonality, perceptible for the subject itself and for others. Therefore, within identity, two sides must be acknowledged that concern two aspects of narcissism. One is intimate: being oneself at one's own eyes, and the other social: what we present to others in order for them to recognize us, in all the meanings of the term. So, identity appears under the double sides of a reason of being, and a social reason referring to personal field on the one hand, relational, familial and social field on the other hand."

"... iterative narcissistic wounds,... induce an over-investment of the present and hinder the narration constitutive of identity." Paul Denis

That is telling to which point, from the victims of sexual mutilation, the mixture is easy, and even unavoidable, between what appears like a most intimate physical identity to them and their belonging to the national or ethnical community; an irreversible surgical inscription, collectively and systematically committed upon the body of individuals, in their most tender infancy, with the active complicity of their own parents, cannot not appear as a major and hardly arguable sign of belonging to the social group. That is at the price of the most concretely and objectively racist negation of human identity that can be imagined.
Similarly, according to the philosopher Michel Serres, in pure logic, identity can only be individual and speaking of collective identity is a mistake. So, still according to him, it cannot be said: "I am English." But I belong to the English community." and thinking differently risks in making fall into xenophobia or racism. Then, techniques of education through violence create a confusion between identity and affiliations that is likely to participate of racist thought: "A good spanking never harmed anyone!" tends to tell, like Mrs. Chirac, that spankers are superior to non-spankers whereas, very obviously, the reverse is true since the best are very obviously those who do not need violence to impose their authority.
Therefore, initiation rites through maiming markings do not constitute any identity. They only constitute accessory elements of identification, "particular signs". Imposed by torture, those barbarities have nothing to do with the feelings of belonging that ensure the social and human dimension of identity.

This paper develops the notion of an extremist mindset. This mindset is understood in terms of its distinctive preoccupations, attitudes, emotions and thinking patterns. Two key extremist preoccupations are persecution and purity. These and other elements of the extremist mindset are identified by reference to uncontroversially extremist individuals and groups. The extremist mindset is shown to be morally, politically and epistemically vicious. The suggestion that extremism can be regarded as a virtue is considered and rejected. Various accounts of the causes and sources of extremism are considered, including the view that extremism draws on certain natural human tendencies. Building on Foot's suggestion that virtues are corrective, the proposed antidote to extremism is the cultivation by educational institutions of corrective anti-extremist virtues.

This article examines how US colonial officials understood and utilized the categories of superstition, fanaticism, and religion during the occupation of the Philippines in the early twentieth century. I adapt Jason Josephson-Storm's model of the trinary to explore the colonial politics of these categories. I focus on ideas about Filipino supernatural charms, typically referred to as anting anting. Civil administrators like ethnolo-gist Dean Worcester and officers of the Philippine Constabulary blamed these charms for superstitious credulity and fanatical resistance against US rule. As such, beliefs, practices, and communities categorized as superstitious or fanatical were targeted strategically for reformation or elimination. I argue that ideas about superstition, religion , and fanaticism were key parts of US war and policy, often serving racial projects of governance. Pursuing this line of inquiry allows scholars to see the material stakes of the category of religion and its proximate others. Keywords superstition – fanaticism – secularism – colonialism – Philippines – American religious history

Study guide and background materials for a flawed book by a flawed author — which remains one of the most important works for an introduction to serious analyses of fanaticism. THE TRUE BELIEVER offers Hoffer's "Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements," from the Exodus as related in Torah through World War II and its immediate aftermath, so it necessarily has no agendas regarding the various fanatical groups of the 21st century, making the book all the more valuable as a warning about the mass movements in our near future.

ABSTRACT: This essay uses the method of historiographical criticism to reexamine the frameworks used to research the relationship between apocalypse and violence. Its focus is the presentation of Anabaptist rule at Münster in the mid-1530s. New religions scholars and historians alike often cite this case as evidence of how millenarian prophecy can lead believers to violent actions. The essay demonstrates that this view is based largely on anti-Anabaptist and anti-sectarian propaganda that has its origins in the medieval and early modern eras. Partly because of the popularity of Norman Cohn's The Pursuit of the Millennium (1957), which translated older polemical interpretations of religious outsiders into a modern scholarly form, hostile assumptions about Anabaptist violence have found their way into academic debates today. The essay shows that the distorting effects of these kinds of assumptions are not limited at all to the case of Anabaptist Münster, but in fact shape unhelpfully the way scholars conceptualize more generally the relationship between dissenting "sects" and established "churches." "Thinking outside the cages" of polemically derived conceptualizations can form the basis for cross-disciplinary research on believers under siege.

This essay examines Việt Minh deployment of propaganda on race hatred and cannibalism during the First Indochina War (1945––1954). It evaluates the literature on the First Indochina War and on historical institutionalism for its ability to help explain this propaganda. It then focuses on the war for the Mekong Delta, arguing that weak state control led to continued violence and the breakdown of social trust. The paper then brings culture into the explanation, arguing that the circulation of these propaganda texts makes sense only when we delve into the cultural and social history of the Mekong Delta.

*** UPDATE: I have now included a complete text of the essay in a pre-publication version. Please consult the published text before citing. *** This paper focuses on the largely negative memory of Anabaptist rule at Münster in scholarship and pop culture. The book from which the essay comes is available on Kindle for under $5. Go to https://www.amazon.com/European-Mennonites-Challenge-Modernity-Centuries/dp/1889239097. For images related to the essay, see http://wke.lt/w/s/Uv0QV.

Histories of Early Modern religion in Europe typically contrast the activities of ordained theologians with those of laity. The thought and writings of the former usually constitute " theology " and those of the latter " piety. " The result has long been a divided history. Confessional church historians have written histories that were essentially genealogies of (male) officer holders, while scholars of folklore, culture or literature analyzed the contributions of laity. Since the so-called cultural turn, the contributions of laity as organizers, transmitters and patrons of Early Modern religious movements are being recognized. What has been less studied are the intellectual achievements of laity, many of whom possessed deep knowledge of theology, history, and ancient languages and played important roles in Early Modern religious history. This article provides an overview of the main issues and the development of lay theology in the period and argues for increased study of the phenomenon.

(proofs version) I characterize and discuss Kant’s account of
enthusiasm (Enthusiasm / Enthusiasmus) in his early, middle, and late publications as well as in his lecture notes. Kant’s reflections on enthusiasm do not amount to a mere afterthought. While not at the center of his epistemology, aesthetics, or ethics, the concept of enthusiasm was clearly of philosophical interest to Kant over a period spanning several decades.

This paper aims to analyze the attitude of soccer fans after the outcome of matches under the influence of a pitchman (celebrities and idols), involvement and fanaticism. The literature was supported by the concepts of happiness and attitude applied to sports, interacting with the literature on the influence of the pitchman (studies 1 and 2), involvement (study 3) and fanaticism (study 4). The data was collected in four rounds of the Brazilian soccer league, comprising 931 fans of the 16 best teams in the country. The data was analyzed using the GLM (General Linear Model). The findings indicate that the outcome of the match will have more influence on the attitude of fans than the endorsement of a pitchman, and that this influence is enhanced by the involvement and fanaticism of fans.

The current political climate is awash with groups that we might be tempted to label irrational, extremist, hyper-partisan; it is full of echo-chambers, radicalization, and epistemic bubbles. Philosophers have profitably analyzed some of these phenomena. In this essay, I draw attention to a crucial but neglected aspect of our time: the way in which certain groups are fanatical. I distinguish fanatical groups from other types of problematic groups, such as extremist and cultish groups. I argue that a group qualifies as fanatical only if it has features that promote individual fanaticism. But how might a group promote individual fanaticism? I argue that a typical feature of fanatical groups is their tendency to encourage an emotion that philosophers sometimes call “ressentiment,” which differs from ordinary resentment. I explain what ressentiment is, how it can be fostered, and how it can lead to fanaticism. I contend that this account helps us to identify a disturbing and increasingly widespread feature of contemporary social and political groups.

Negli ultimi anni, l’Italia non è stata colpita da attacchi terroristici di matrice jihadista, né ha sperimentato gli elevati livelli di radicalizzazione di alcuni dei suoi vicini europei. Significativamente, il numero di foreign fighters che hanno abbandonato il territorio italiano per unirsi allo Stato Islamico o ad altri gruppi jihadisti – circa 130 individui – è molto più basso se comparato ai numeri della Francia, della Germania, del Regno Unito, ma anche di paesi più piccoli come l’Austria o il Belgio.
Questo quadro di relativa quiete, tuttavia, presenta un’importante eccezione, riguardante la propaganda dello Stato Islamico, che menziona l’Italia e, in particolare, Roma con una frequenza che può apparire sproporzionata.
Analizzando i contenuti ufficiali in lingua inglese pubblicati dallo Stato Islamico a partire dalla proclamazione del “Califfato” (nel giugno del 2014), il presente studio di carattere esplorativo ha contato 432 riferimenti all’Italia, al Vaticano e a Roma. La città è frequentemente citata, con diverse accezioni, anche nella propaganda in lingua araba. L’analisi dei riferimenti individuati mostra che, a parte alcune eccezioni significative, lo Stato Islamico riserva particolare attenzione all’Italia perché si riferisce a Roma come simbolo dell’Occidente e della Cristianità. La maggior parte delle menzioni, infatti, riprende fonti islamiche secondarie che affermano che il Giorno del Giudizio giungerà soltanto quando i musulmani combatteranno i “Romani”, e profetizzano la loro conquista di “Roma” (originariamente sulla base di un riferimento storico al confronto secolare tra le forze musulmane e i “Romani” d’Oriente - ovvero i Bizantini - in epoca medievale).
A ogni modo, la posizione centrale che la capitale italiana occupa nei messaggi jihadisti – anche in senso figurato – è un fenomeno allarmante, poiché può essere interpretata dai seguaci dello Stato Islamico come un’esortazione a compiere attacchi nella Città Eterna o, più in generale, in Italia.

This paper is an attempt to clarify the Islamic theological position to issues of fundamentalism, extremism, terrorism and related terms, and in so doing frame the context for acceptable forms of resistance (be it violent or not, physical or otherwise).

MajlisTT notes the recurring association of a multitude of labels with negative connotations associated with Islam by some persons throughout the world. Labels include fundamentalism, fanaticism, extremism (especially violent or militant extremism), terrorism, radical Islam, Jihadism and the Jihad movement, amongst others. These labels, individually and collectively serve to cast Islam in a negative light, and paint with a broad-brush Muslims and Islamic ideology as one of violence, rooted in warfare and even barbaric in its approach to dealing with contemporary society and its issues.

The activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria evolved within a very short time from a religious sect professing hatred for western values, into a violent dissident group. The group has become a threat to the social and political stability of Nigeria and neighboring countries, and they are believed to have links with ISIS and Al-Qaeda. The group's media-attention strategy includes recording vicious moments of slaughtering captives, displaying victims' mangled corpses, and sending threatening media messages. Though seen as a propaganda strategy by the group, this paper contextualizes the group's activities as an extreme and sadistic form of public performances-an otherwise descriptive strategy for complex fanaticism. This article explores a historiographic and analytic description of performance and fanaticism, and underlies the relationship between the two terms as tangible sociological constructs that serve the terror group as mechanism of representation and communication. By applying the frameworks of historical and performance theories, the article describes how the concept of fanaticism shapes and constructs the identity and public actions of Boko Haram.

Dr. Viktor Frankl’s abiding belief was that distress about the meaning of life is the proper domain of the physician's practice. He identified three syndromes of neurosis in the Age of Anxiety: fatalism, tranquilization, and fanaticism.  In The Doctor and the Soul, a manuscript begun even before his incarceration in German concentration camps, he argues that physicians must be able to identify the phenomenology of these conditions and intervene through activation of Conscience, or Will-to-Meaning.  With generous textual support and secondary analysis from Frankl's own writings. this paper offers three contemporary medical case studies in which patients have diminished quality of health due to beliefs and behaviors that are associated with fatalistic, tranquilized, or fanatical attitudes.  In addition to accurate diagnosis, Frankl provides clinicians with practical interventions that emphasize "the task character of life" for their patients, inviting his medical colleagues to see themselves as both the activator and safety rope to the patient's own climbing journey. He demands physician neutrality about patient value judgments, saying repeatedly that a physician’s responsibility is to activate conscience, not dictate to it.  The paper closes with thoughts on Frankl's curiosity not only to individual meaning-making, but to questions about Ultimate Meaning.

This article, a chapter from the author’s recently published book (March 2018) titled, Ta’ifah, Sectarianism and Imagined Sects, attempts to build fundamental conceptual idiomatic distinctions between community according to religious or confessional affiliation (at-tai’fah), sectarianism (at-ta’ifiyyah) and confessionalism (al-madhabiyyah) – concepts and phenomena that are deeply intertwined. The author also explores related concepts such as identity, religious affiliation, sect, difference, anaticism (taasub), and others. Bishara analyzes the linguistic and semantic conceptual evolution of the term sectarianism, as well as the evolution of the term through the concepts of confession/group (firqa), sect (tai’fa), and craft (hirfa) – concepts that reflect on the ways (turuq), the occupational and professional congregations as well as the Sufi orders, within Islamic society. All of these developments are examined to reach an understanding of the widespread modern Arabic term sectarianism–sectarianism being a modern term, and sect an old one. Through a critical debate with the modern Western sociological concepts of sectarianism (al-ta’ifiyyah or al-firqiyyah), the study attempts to develop the term “sect” as an analytical sociological term that can be used to analyze the formation, evolution, and characteristics of new contemporary imagined communities, according to religious communities that the author calls imagined sects in his book. One of the major theses in this work is that modern religious communities (tawa’if: plural of tai’fah) do not produce sectarianism; rather, it is sectarianism which breeds the imagined communities that the author calls imagined sects.

Key Words: Group community of belief or confession  (al-tai’fa) Sectarianism (al-ta’ifiyyah) Confessionalism
(al-madhabiyyah) Sect (al-firqa) Fanaticism (al-taasub).

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar dos procedimientos argumentativos que pueden usarse para enfrentar discusiones con personas cuyas opiniones son radicalmente opuestas y que tienden a desarrollarse en medio de fuertes alteraciones emocionales, o en las que existe la posibilidad de que uno de los interlocutores, como en el caso de una discusión con un fanático religioso o político, recurra a la violencia verbal o física. El primer procedimiento, de Philippe Breton, se basa en un protocolo que incluye tres acciones: el distanciamiento, la escucha activa y la argumentación; y el segundo, de Hubert Schleichert, plantea lo que él denomina “argumentación subversiva”.

Argumentación, fanatismo, agresividad, tolerancia, retórica, violencia

This ICCT Research Paper examines the current extent of Italy's Sunni jihadists in Syria. Italy presents interesting particularities, including a relatively small number of foreign fighters compared to other European countries (around one hundred, and only a small minority with Italian passports, according to recent estimates), the scant presence of domestic recruitment networks operating within the country and the prevalence of individual pathways of radicalisation over group mechanisms. However, the Italian case has not been extensively investigated. This exploratory paper, based on a case study-driven approach, first examines the scale of the problem and then focuses on the individual cases of four Italian nationals who differ in terms of both sex and origin. It also takes into account the different reactions of their families.