Fanaticism
Fanaticism is one form of obsession.
In Japan it was said that when the sacho (corporate head) says a thing is white, everyone in the corporate downline would say it’s white, even if the thing is black. Japanese custom calls it corporate loyalty, but our book calls it corporate fanaticism. It is no different to the fable of an emperor who had believed he was clothed well, and his constituency had affirmed it, until a child shouted, “But the emperor was naked!”
Fanaticism teaches us to pursue and promote an activity or cause independent of God. “Do not commit murder” says God for example yet war fanatics go out to kill and be killed not because of self-defense. Spies and commanders commit suicide to avoid torture and revealing secrets under interrogation. Japanese warrior-pilots launched suicidal kamikaze attacks on the American navy fleet in the Pacific rather than accept defeat and go home to be reunited with their families. What many consider heroism can be plain old fanaticism.
Fanaticism can be found in organized crime groups, secret societies, terrorist organizations, prison and street gangs, vigilante groups, politics, sports, music, the arts, and religion.
The fanatic displays very strict standards and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. Merriam-Webster described him as extravagant in opinions; ultra; unreasonable; excessively enthusiastic; often uncritical devotion. Harriet Stowe said the fanatic is governed rather by imagination than by judgment. George Santayana defines fanaticism as "redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim." Winston Churchill said, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." The fanatic’s behavior violates prevailing social norms. The subject of his obsession may be "normal", such as an interest in religion or politics, but the scale of his involvement, devotion, or obsession with the activity or cause is abnormal or disproportionate. (Wikipedia)
How do fanatics come to be? The answer is, through deception combined with their reckless approval of and participation in an activity or cause.
They gravitate to the activity or cause because its truths are charismatic, because its leaders and evangelists are charismatic, or because someone with moral authority endorsed it to them. Either that or they gravitate to it without checking the character of its leaders and without validating its “truths.”
Next, they are assigned to small circles and indoctrinated by cell leaders of acceptable leadership qualities. Bonding ensues and affiliation with the movement firmed up. Then they are introduced to bigger circles and given “trust” responsibilities. Intra-organizational competition and peer pressure are applied for them to deliver. They are publicly esteemed and rewarded when they deliver.
Finally, the core leadership welcomes them to its elite circle and turns them into hardline loyalists and apologists of the cause. They are given higher responsibilities, with prayer that they “would not fail.”
Because of religious fanaticism, the world witnessed large-scale punishment, violence and death (eg. the Crusades, the Inquisition, the anti-Semitic movements, mass murder-suicides). The Sept. 11, 2001-suicide attack of al-Qaeda (Muslim jihad extremists) brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the loss of no less than 2,000 lives. Over 900 Peoples Temple members of Jim Jones committed mass murder-suicides on Nov. 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. And there was the case of the Ordre du Temple Solaire.
Still another case was the mass suicide of 39 members of Heaven’s Gate in a hilltop mansion near San Diego, California, in 1997. As with other New Age faiths, the cult leaders, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, combined Christian doctrine (particularly the ideas of salvation and apocalypse) with the concept of evolutionary advancement and travel to other worlds and dimensions. The members believed that the planet was about to be recycled (wiped clean, refurbished and rejuvenated), and that the only chance to survive was to leave it immediately. The group's end coincided with the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. They believed that an alien spaceship was following in the tail of the comet. Killing themselves was necessary so their souls could exit their human vessels and go on a journey aboard the spaceship. (Wikipedia)There was the case of 778 deaths of members of the Ugandan group Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, on March 17, 2000. The movement was a breakaway sect from the Roman Catholic Church. Its founders, Credonia Mwerinde and Joseph Kibweteere, claimed that they had visions of the Virgin Mary. Again, the community was knitted through false religious teachings. The leaders declared that the apocalypse would occur in the year 2000. The cult members were also taught that the Virgin Mary had a special role in the end, and that she communicated with their leadership. They held themselves akin to Noah's Ark, a ship of righteousness in a sea of depravity. The movement developed a hierarchy of visionaries, topped by Mwerinde. They had Catholic graven images placed prominently and defrocked Catholic Church priests and nuns in its leadership. The members perished in a devastating fire, and a series of poisonings and killings, that were either a cult suicide or mass murder orchestrated by leaders of the group after their predictions of the apocalypse failed to pass. (Wikipedia)
Materialism
Materialism is another form of obsession. Encarta defines it as
1. PHILOSOPHY theory of the physical: the theory that physical matter is the only reality and that psychological states such as emotions, reason, thought, and desire will eventually be explained as physical functions
2. focus on possessions: devotion to material wealth and possessions at the expense of spiritual or intellectual values
Many people are driven by materialism. The desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make them more happy, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. (Purpose-Driven Life, p. 29)
Materialism coupled with insecurity makes most men greedy and avaricious, lacking in contentment. Insecurity is lack of trust that God could and would satisfy their need or desire.
A local politician observed that Filipinos are generally intelligent but materialism is making them go loco. Materialism is the cause for the infamous Abu Sayyaf kidnappings, why corruption is rampant in Business and Government, why gambling and drug-pushing thrive into multibillion-peso trades, why men and women (even boys and girls) prostitute themselves, why many are enticed by the material rewards of converting into Islam instead of its highly commendable principles.
Materialism teaches us to value the creation (the visible) above the Creator (the Invisible). It makes us see the woman, but not her Creator; the gift, not the Giver.
Materialism makes us forget of our need to be righteous. It eggs us to covet, lie, steal, quarrel, kill… to compromise with the devil… to deceive and be deceived… to prioritize material gain over soul health and growth. It makes us spend more time in fixing and dressing our houses and cars—to find more pleasure, fulfillment and security in them—than with God. It makes us believe that success in life should be measured in terms of the number of cars and houses one has owned; the number and quality of lovers, embraced; the number of foreign places, visited; the luxuries and comforts, enjoyed; the fine food and drinks, savored; and the amount of money and jewelry, kept.
One face of materialism is love of money.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be contented with what you have, because God said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. HEBREWS 13
5 No one who loves money can be judged innocent [sin-free]. SIRACH 31
9 People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 1 TIMOTHY 6 nlt
Who among us has mastered money? It is he who walks away from money every time it threatens to compromise his love-relationship with God.
Who is mastered by love of money? It is he who walks away from God (as the rich man did in Matthew 19:16-24) when his wealth or source of income is threatened. It is he whose heart is plagued with fear of loss and fear of less.
23 Y’shua looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Y’shua said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a gamla [hawser] to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” MARK 10
Because of materialism, we go for gains which we will eventually lose, not for gains which we will permanently keep. We are rising to be a “something-for-nothing generation.”[1]
Because of materialism, we want to be happy animals rather than be blessed as children of God. (The Bondage Breaker, p. 41)
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called… 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 TIMOTHY 6
Say No to Obsession
Y’shua after withdrawing into a desert cave of Tiro, near Jordan, called His disciples—the Seventy-Two and the Twelve—and He said to them, “If a part of a house other than its foundation gives way, the house will need only minor repair. But if its foundation gives way, the whole house falls down in ruin. Those who put their faith in God are like to a house with solid foundation. But those who put their faith in a false god are like to a house that will fall down in ruin, for its weak foundation will give way. This explains why idolatry, which deprives man of his true God, is the greatest sin.
“That which a man loves so much, enough to forsake God and everything else, is his god. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.[2]
“The drunkard is guilty of idolatry for wine is his god. The fornicator and the adulterer are guilty of idolatry for the flesh is their god. The glutton is guilty of idolatry for food is his god. Anyone who makes god of his personal talent or material possession is guilty of idolatry of earthly riches. Anyone who loves his father or mother, sibling or children, lover or somebody else, more than he loves the Father is guilty of idolatry. I tell you the truth, whoever puts his love and hope in a false god will suffer for it.
“In the time of (Prophet) Jeremiah, the people had forgotten God and boasted of their temple, for there was nothing like it in the world. So God stirred the anger of (the Babylonian king) Nebuchadnezzar, caused him to seize Jerusalem and burn it, along with it the temple, so that things held sacred were trodden by infidels.
“Abraham had loved his son Isaac a little more than what was right and so to take away this wrong out of his heart, God commanded him to slay his son.
“David had loved his son Absalom more than what was right so God permitted Absalom to rebel against him and to be slain by Joab. Absalom had loved his hair above all things and so it was used as a rope to hang him.
“(Prophet) Job had loved his seven sons and three daughters more than what was right. One day Job lost them all, along with his earthly riches.
“(Patriarch) Jacob had loved his son Joseph more than his other sons so God caused Joseph to be sold. His sons even deceived Jacob, making him believe that the beasts had devoured Joseph.
“He who loves a person more than his heavenly Father loves the provision more than the Provider.
26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. LUKE 14
“I tell you, love God above all. Detach yourselves from every attachment that hinders love of God. Your Father’s gifts are not meant to be gods; they are given to further your soul growth on earth.
“Which is greater: the Giver or the gift? I tell you, treasure the Giver. Do not yield to the illusion that you will stay in this world forever and keep your gifts with you. You are pilgrims, born naked, and naked shall you depart from this world.” (cf. Gospel of Barnabas, chapters 33 and 99)
St. Theresa of Avila wrote, “It will be of great help towards perfection if we constantly keep in our thoughts the vanity of all things and the rapidity with which they pass away, so that we may withdraw our affections from things which are so trivial and fix them upon that which will never come to an end. It will have the effect of greatly fortifying the soul.”[3]Go for Love
Obsession is often mistaken for love. What is the difference between them? Obsession forces its way to have its object and pays whatever the price just so it can keep, protect and “love” its object, even for a brief moment. On the other hand, love honors and respects the human freewill. It does not demand its own way (1 Corinthians 13:4 tlb) but waits to be accepted—and accepts it when its offering is not reciprocated.
[1] William Gracian, Find Real Happiness (Manila: Worldlink Marketing Corp., 2005), p. 44.
[2] 2 Peter 2:19. Our god is not what we say we worship but what we serve. Our god is what we give our lives over to.—John W. Ritenbaugh.
[3] St. Theresa of Avila, The Way to Perfection, E. Allison Peers translation editor (New York: Image Books, 1964 ed.).
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