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    What makes people become obsessed in belief.

    I am not sure where this should be posted. The question is this:What causes people to become so obsessed with belief that they will threaten and harm others if the others do not agree with them?

    Thinking about the ISIS thing,and wondering how these people became this obsessed with their belief. Is it something physical in the brain that allows this to happen,is it just that some people are susceptible more than others. Belief is a good thing,but how does belief become obsession?

    This is NOT a debate,what it is an inquiry into why some people of belief fall subject to this type of belief.

    So,what do you think? Is it inherent in us all ,just waiting to come out. Is it a physical thing in the brain,is it reality for the person effected...I would mention a country and a political group where obsession caused millions of people to die,but that might break this thread before it begins. The effect was clearly there in that country,at times blamed on a single person,BUT could a single person create this effect? Humanity is it seems very complex about group interaction,and that fact may hinder us,or help us.

    This thread is more a thought game,not a debate...how do you see society and its effect on all of us..
    MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

    all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
    NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
    don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




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    #2
    Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

    ISIL/Daesh/ISIS/pick-a-name isn't about belief. It's about land and about power and about securing both through terror and mass murder. Belief just happens to be a convenient tool in their arsenal. If they truly believed in a just god then they wouldn't be doing everything in their power to earn damnation at his hand.
    life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

    Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

    "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

    John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

    "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

    Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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      #3
      Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

      There are many who say "YOU don't know what love is until....(fill in the blank)", or "YOU haven't had great pizza until you've had it at (fill in the blank)", etc., etc. What they are really saying is THEY didn't know until they tried whatever it is they're talking about. THEY found love, joy, satisfaction, pride, etc. and they sincerely believe that because THEY feel so strongly about it, that EVERYONE will, if they'd just see things THEIR way. And that's how belief becomes obsession: narcissism.
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      Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

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        #4
        Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

        I have seen this personally,My Mother was a pretty easy going person up to about 35. That is when she got religion,not simple belief,but an obsession with it,and a very oppressive way of pushing it on everyone. For a kid growing up in a laid back home,to suddenly having an obsessive parent concerning religion caught me by surprise,BUT no amount of pressure about religion from her could make me adopt her view. A few of my siblings were effected,and it became important to them to follow the lead of my mother..Why I went another way I could not say,but I do tend to be a cynic with things not connected to science. Now I do have a belief,but it has evolved slowly over a long period of time,and is still subject to question.

        Why does a person have a sudden conversion to a belief,and why are some of us on a slower paced path.?
        MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

        all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
        NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
        don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




        sigpic

        my new page here,let me know what you think.


        nothing but the shadow of what was

        witchvox
        http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

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          #5
          Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

          Something happens that fills a need/strikes a chord/answers a question/makes you feel good. I distinctly remember watching the premiere episode of The Partridge Family at 8:30 p.m. on a Friday night in 1970. I hadn't seen David Cassidy before then, but I went to bed that night with a crush on him. LOL, but - I guess the same principle applies to anything.
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          Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

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            #6
            Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

            Certainly there are many reasons. In addition to filling a need, and strikes a cord, there is also:

            provides a sense of security

            provides a sense of hope

            provides a sense of peace

            provides a sense of community

            imparts a form of power

            mental illness

            And more that I can't think up offhand. You'd have to look at the individual to determine what it is (or what mixture it is) in that person's case.
            Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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              #7
              Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

              Originally posted by MaskedOne View Post
              ISIL/Daesh/ISIS/pick-a-name isn't about belief. It's about land and about power and about securing both through terror and mass murder. Belief just happens to be a convenient tool in their arsenal. If they truly believed in a just god then they wouldn't be doing everything in their power to earn damnation at his hand.
              This. Terrorism has extremely little to do with religion aside from that it's the mask often used for their reasoning and ends. It's about taking alternate means to gain power and attention, to be put on the radar of mass populations, because of their inability (for whatever reason) to be a part of, or acknowledged by, the operating government parties (I'm not condoning it, I'm rephrasing from a textbook I read once on Terrorism). The global attention, plus the loss of loved ones, family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc... and the promise of eternal salvation provides the fuel for the continued volunteers (loss leads to grief, leads to discontent, frustration, and that is the fuel that provides grounding for hate and leaders who use those grounds to train and build their terrorist force). It's a vicious cycle, but it has naught to do with religion.


              I can't say about any individuals in particular that are solely religious-bent because I've honestly never met any that were that extreme. All I could really think of if they became hostile towards others who weren't of their religious background is that they probably perceive a threat in some form or another, from varying places (depending on personal history) that they feel needs to be removed. But that's just me speculating.

              Perceiving a religious affiliation a form of threat screams to me of someone who has their own internal ghosts to work through but is projecting those fears instead of facing them. But everyone is different, everyone thinks differently, sees the world differently, has different experiences and histories and has found different ways of coping and handling the things that arise in their lives.

              I've only known two people in my life who went from a non-practicing religious status to becoming a fanatic. Both Christian, both were brought up with strict Christian values, and it seemed to me (from the outside) that they both endured some life-changing event(s) and it was their beliefs they fell back on because they were there, because it was a foundation they had built before their lives turned a bit messy, and when the physical and social world begins to fall apart, it's your inner world you rely on to keep you moving forward.

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                #8
                Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

                I think about this,because I have had my moment of enlightenment,mainly telling me stop being so stupid,and just enjoy things with no need for drugs or drink...And that moment was life threatening..I came within a hair of dieing...It did not give me religious conviction,but it did show me a bit of a simple approach to life.."Don't sweat the small stuff,and it is all small stuff" kind of thing..

                I do have my views as to what lies beyond this life,but I seldom share my beliefs with others. What I feel would be very hard to describe to others,it is at times hard for me to grasp completely.

                For me,everyone has their personal path to follow,and it is not my place to deny them their personal vision of eternity...everything is relative...
                MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

                all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
                NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
                don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




                sigpic

                my new page here,let me know what you think.


                nothing but the shadow of what was

                witchvox
                http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

                  I think guilt has a big part to play in it, and that guilt can be manipulated in so many ways to fit the need of the individual who wants to use it.
                  "If you want to know what a man is like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." -- Sirius Black

                  "Time is an illusion, lunch time doubly so."-- Ford Prefect

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                    #10
                    Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

                    Rigid beliefs appeal to people who are fearful about themselves and their place in the world, I think. The great thing about being a fundamentalist -- religious or secular -- is that you never find yourself in ambiguous situations. You always know what's right and what's wrong. It creates a sense of order in the world, where nothing ever happens without a reason.

                    Say you're a fundie Christian and you see a news report about a school shooting. You know it's not just a senseless tragedy: you know it's the result of Satan's work decaying the moral fiber of America. You don't have to feel the uncertainty the rest of us do.

                    But it's a double-edged sword, because people like that therefore also see "enemies" everywhere, which would be terrifying to anyone, so they get into violent rhetoric, or outright physical violence.

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                      #11
                      Re: What makes people become obsessed in belief.

                      I kinda remember as a kid when my mom dragged up into many churches..I started to fear the "Demons under the bed" because the church people always talked about the reality of the demons. I got over it,and also told my mom I would NOT go to church anymore,period. She called the cops who told me I could end up in juvy hall if I did not go. I did not end up in Juvy,BUT that was the last straw concerning Christianity and church for me.
                      MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

                      all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
                      NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
                      don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




                      sigpic

                      my new page here,let me know what you think.


                      nothing but the shadow of what was

                      witchvox
                      http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

                      Comment

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