how to respond to a religious fanatic

Like so many of us, you became host to a powerful parasite that mutates quickly and has taken over minds throughout human history. Reason is a much harder master than god. (For semantic precision by "fundamentalist" I mean a person favouring strict observance of their own religious doctrine to the exclusion of all other sources of moral guidance. In a situation like that I sometimes say that I am a Pantheist. But if youre going to end up feeling frustrated or angry or thinking less of the person youre debating, then leave it. How to Handle a Religious Fanatic At age 19, I was a proud, Bible-thumping holy-roller who was on a one-man mission to save the world from sin. More probably, you will make them more suspicious that you are in league with the Great Satan. The absolute truths that fanatics latch onto might be religious or political, right-wing or left-wing, Christian or Islamic, libertarian or communist, new age spiritual or old-time religious. His eyes sparkled, he flashed a wide grin, and when I finished, he broke into a wheezy smokers laugh and said, Youre a good boy, Josh-ah., In the following years, I managed to alienate a handful of my coworkers I told one guy that his main problem was that he was evil; I strongly insinuated to a couple of others that they were going to hell; and I often yammered on about my faith with little regard for whether my coworkers were even listening. Fear is a lack of faith. Unless you can deliver to them the contact with the Holy Spirit/Great Life Force/Power of Almighty God that they so desire, against their will (for they will deny their isolation from it), you will not be able to convince them. But religious people arent concerned about that. 10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft thanks to Howie Roseman's deft trading skills, and now the Birds have to figure out how best to use that valuable draft capital. [6] An example of Christians who didn't line up with Orthodox ideology is the Donatists, who "refused to accept repentant clergy who had formerly given way to apostasy when persecuted". Why would an omnibenevolentGod consign sinners to an eternity of horrible torment for crimes that dont warrant such punishment? Take this seriously. At the end of the day, we all look at the same moon. These are not rules for the religious fanatic to follow, because he/she won't follow them, even if you got him to agree ahead of time to follow them, he/she would still not follow them. I just felt attacked about something that was completely unprovoked (I didn't have anything on me or my car showing what I believe in) and I just wasn't sure how I should have handled the situation or how I should have reacted. By contrast, only three-in-ten people who are classified as not highly religious (31%) say religion is very important in their lives, and most of the rest (38%) say religion is "not too" or "not at all" important to them. Thats unconscionable. Your views are equally right and important. This is a breaking news story. Weve learned though, that treating alcoholics as criminals doesnt help us or them. Fanatics always act zealously. If scientists were to respond likewise by saying, The brain works in mysterious ways, or Evolution works in mysterious ways, theists would simply sneer, for they cant see the beam in their own eye. The argument-from-gaps depends, of course, on the claim that science will never be able to explain these things, but that makes the argument vulnerable to unforeseen advances. If the person shows up at your door, dont just slam it in their face. For example, respond to the question, What religion are you? with I watch football every Sunday, but my mom says thats not a religion. Keep your children indoors and out of harms way! Picture for yourself an ugly, scarred, bearded face. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. CWOTUS ( 26102) "Great Answer" ( 3 ) Flag as . "I recently spent a number of meal times with my wife's (religious) family. Nearly all people who are highly religious say believing in God is essential to their religious identity (96% . In fact, its not the beard that drives people to kill at all (ignoring any link to testosterone). Laugh at them them you aren't into their fandom? That happens a lot with me too. For example, refrain from asking, Why are Christians so crazy? Youre not only generalizing, but youre backing the person into a corner, as they couldnt possibly begin to answer your question. Dont bother trying to reason with them. 7 Ticking Time Bombs That Destroy Loving Relationships, The Single Best (and Hardest) Thing to Give Up, 3 Ways to Reclaim Your Hope and Happiness. [7] Even politics may be a less contentious topic to bring up. 7. For parents, this is an area that weighs especially heavily. Fanatics are determined to go to any length to prevent women the right to choose, to the point of embracing the unethical Machiavellian practice of the ends justifying the means, as the new Arizona law illustrates. These works must include the books of the Four Horsemen: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens (one would think the faithful would already have read these, but their misunderstandings aboutThe God Delusionlead me to believe otherwise); the complete works of Robert G. Ingersoll; selected readings from Mencken and Bertrand Russell; Christopher Hitchenss The Portable Atheist, selected writings of Hume; Walter Kaufmanns The Faith of a Heretic and Critique of Religion and Philosophy; George Smiths Atheism: The Case Against God, and Herman Philipses superb God in the Age of Science: A Critique of Religious Reason. Although fanatic jihadists have committed many terroristic acts throughout the world, perhaps the best known is the September 11 attacks. Make eye contact and focus on what the person is saying. Im lucky to have a supportive family. For more tips, such as how to define what atheism means to you, read on! Bin Laden's concept, though, is very different from the actual meaning of the term. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/8\/88\/Deal-with-Religious-People-if-You-Are-an-Atheist-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Deal-with-Religious-People-if-You-Are-an-Atheist-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/8\/88\/Deal-with-Religious-People-if-You-Are-an-Atheist-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/aid84557-v4-728px-Deal-with-Religious-People-if-You-Are-an-Atheist-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"