• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

what makes a religious extremist?

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
In the past on these forums I have been accused of being a religious extremist

Which if you know me is plainly ridiculous

Putting me in with The Taliban is both stupid and wrong

But what makes a person a religious extremist?

I say a religious extremist is a person who puts their religion before their humanity and the humanity of others

What do people think?
 

Rachel Rugelach

Shalom, y'all.
Staff member
Premium Member
I haven't been here on these forums all that long, so I wouldn't know why anyone would accuse you of being a religious extremist. I can only say that's not the impression I've gotten of you, @Eddi.

I think that a religious extremist is a person who goes beyond the bounds of how the majority of his religion's members observe their religion. I don't necessarily think that an excess of piety makes someone a bad person -- unless his religiosity infringes on the rights of others.

I don't think that all religious extremists are terrorists. Some religious extremists seem to be content to chasten only themselves, such as by wearing a hair shirt or practicing self-flagellation. It seems weird to me, but it's their business.

However, I do think that all religiously motivated terrorists are religious extremists.
 

Viker

Häxan
New In the past on these forums I have been accused of being a religious extremist
You have? For me, you've seemed like the opposite.

A religious extremist is someone not willing to budge or grow when faced with contrasting, often sensible, ideas and experiences on the outside of their box. They're likely to get stuck on black/white, us/them or all/nothing thinking. They will often put their beliefs before the safety or sanctity of others, even themselves.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Curious. This would make all non-anthropocentric religions inherently extremist.

A bit weird, but I'm okay with that, I guess. Proud extremist, over here!
 

Wildswanderer

Veteran Member
In the past on these forums I have been accused of being a religious extremist

Which if you know me is plainly ridiculous

Putting me in with The Taliban is both stupid and wrong

But what makes a person a religious extremist?

I say a religious extremist is a person who puts their religion before their humanity and the humanity of others

What do people think?
It's just a label people use, ultimately meaningless.
For atheists, anyone holding to a religious belief is an extremist, because the nonbeliever doesn't acknowledge anything that can't be observed.
 

Exaltist Ethan

Bridging the Gap Between Believers and Skeptics
Religion is a world view. Different religions have different world views. If you obsess about the world view that your religion has created, you could be viewed as an extremist, but to me, an extremist is someone who is not only obsessed with their world view but is obsessed when other people don’t hold that worldview either, trying reluctantly over and over to force people to believe the same world view. And since proselytizing is against the rules of this forum, it isn’t against the rules to passively be fanatical about your opinion on here, but to actively try to convert others here and forcing your extremist views is.

And oddly enough I see this kind of thing happening with the Baha’is of this forum, despite their own religion forbidding this.
 

osgart

Nothing my eye, Something for sure
Religious extremists use their religion to justify violence and/or condemnation of people that are not in the same group as they are. They'll use their power to control the masses, and stamp out non believers, and non belief. They want to enforce their religious convictions on everybody else.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
In the past on these forums I have been accused of being a religious extremist

Which if you know me is plainly ridiculous

Putting me in with The Taliban is both stupid and wrong

But what makes a person a religious extremist?

I say a religious extremist is a person who puts their religion before their humanity and the humanity of others

What do people think?
A religious extremist, in my view, is anyone who thinks that they are in possession of "The Truth," and are willing to take any action to see that others see the light.
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
In the past on these forums I have been accused of being a religious extremist

Which if you know me is plainly ridiculous

Putting me in with The Taliban is both stupid and wrong

But what makes a person a religious extremist?

I say a religious extremist is a person who puts their religion before their humanity and the humanity of others

What do people think?
"Extreme", for me, is what lies outside a 3-sigma deviation from the mean. (See 68–95–99.7 rule - Wikipedia)
A religious extremist is someone who believes or does what 99.7% of religious people would not believe or do.
 

icehorse

......unaffiliated...... anti-dogmatist
Premium Member
While there is not a perfect one to one correspondence, I believe most extremists understand and defend their scripture quite literally, with limited or no context (historical or otherwise) applied.
 

Aštra’el

Aštara, Blade of Aštoreth
I say a religious extremist is a person who puts their religion before their humanity and the humanity of others

By this definition… I am most definitely a “religious extremist”.

My spiritual-religious system is such a huge part of my life and who I am. It is my Weltanschauung refined, into the greatest weapon. It is a corridor of dreams and ambitions, illuminated by True Will. It is a numinous conduit for forces Above and Below and Within to reach out and touch this world through me. It is sacred culture, and personal tradition. It is a monument to my God(s), and to who I was, and to what I Will to become.

Whatever it is you mean by “humanity”, yes… my religion comes before that.
 

rational experiences

Veteran Member
Science is extremism. Claiming you own all of creation everywhere by writing some scribbles of numbers symbolised giving it numbers and telling stories as just a human.

Then preaching you are the man god.
 

TagliatelliMonster

Veteran Member
For atheists, anyone holding to a religious belief is an extremist

You seem to have the bad habit of constantly strawmanning atheists.
So, what's up with that?


In the past on these forums I have been accused of being a religious extremist

Which if you know me is plainly ridiculous

Putting me in with The Taliban is both stupid and wrong

But what makes a person a religious extremist?

I say a religious extremist is a person who puts their religion before their humanity and the humanity of others

What do people think?

I think it's a pretty vague label, tbh. In the sense that it's a bit hard to draw a line saying "at this point, it's extremism".

In it's extreme form, I would say that it's definitely extremism when your faith-based beliefs dominate your life so much that you feel compelled to impose them on others resulting in intolerance, oppression, violence, etc.

But to me, someone who for religious reasons for example disowns his son because he's gay or alike, is an extremist to.

It's hard to pin down a definition. I also feel like the definition might shift depending on context.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
So that basically covers most religions. It's funny because atheists do the same thing.
There is a difference, actually. I never bring my "light" to anyone's home, or church, shrine, temple or what-have-you. I only bring it to places like this -- where people have indicated a willingness to discuss such issues.

I have been in many religious establishments, for many, many reasons, and my behaviour is always the same -- I respect the fact that the place is for worshippers of one faith or another, I wear the white skull-cap (if that's the norm), or take off my shoes (when that's the thing done). I kneel when the congregation kneels, and I am in every way non-disruptive. And most of the atheists that I know are exactly the same.

The religious, on the other hand, do knock on people's doors, all over the world, to deliver their "good news," and their WatchTowers. They have their signs and megaphones and free Bibles or Qur'ans on the busiest street corners where they constantly accost and irritate passers-by who merely want to enjoy their walk, or shop.

Such displays by atheists, on the other hand, are really quite rare. How often do you see a guy, on any street corner, with a sign saying "Jesus does NOT save, so quit church and join the atheist club?"

So, as you might expect, I take exception to your remark.
 

TagliatelliMonster

Veteran Member
So that basically covers most religions. It's funny because atheists do the same thing.

Did you miss the word "anything" in the part where he said "...willing to do anything to make others see..."?

Because that most definitely doesn't cover "most" religious people.
Or your average atheist, for that matter.
 
Top