Is Fundamentalism a psychosis?

[annabanana]

And I'm talking across the board here. The various stripes of this phenomenon seem to have so much in common. They all have a crippling fear of women's freedom (and sexuality in general). They all seem to need a bipolar world view; right vs wrong, black vs white, all or nothing. And they can't seem to accommodate anything resembling a "grey" area. They are desperate for certainty and seem to live in a permanent state of fear of the unknown (or even "different", for that matter).

I honestly don't think I'm overstating the fact to consider them all unbalanced.

:hide:

[knowbody0]

1. i grew up surrounded by them

and yes, early on i realized they were psychotic. i was called a communist for protesting the viet nam war, and eventually banished from that side of the family.

[annabanana]

2. Is it just a need

for absolutism? I've known a couple of people to "go there" after shattering personal crises. I suspect they were relieved not to have to figure things out for themselves anymore.

[knowbody0]

7. IMHO

it is a fear within themselves, for they are persecuted by their own thoughts and deep desires. they believe these come from satanic forces that want to corrupt them and condemn them to eternal damnation. when faced with free spirited, open minds, they are conditioned to relate the oppposition to the evil force they fear.
i had many of my relatives nearly bust a vein in their beet red faces,and spoiled many a gathering with my mere presence back in the day. in the end, i had pity for them all, they are tortured humans.

[rocktivity]

3. They're definitely obessive/compulsive. But that's more of a neurosis

The flagship symptom of a psychosis is the lack of a conscience; the inability to tell right from wrong. Fundamentalists are obsessed with ensuring that nothing EVER threatens their beliefs, because that in turn threatens what they believe about themselves. That's why they react to such threats in such an excessive manner. Fundamentalists definitely have a conscience--it's just a grossly misdirected one.

:headbang:
rocknation

[jaysunb]

4. Well, if they're not neurotic or

suffer from psychosis, then what the hell is it ?? Just plain nuts ?

[rocktivity]

6. If you're doing psychotic things for neurotic reasons

I guess that's as close to being "just plain nuts" as it's possible to get!

:headbang:
rocknation

[jaysunb]

13. Gotcha !

Makes sense to me.

I've long thought that there may be some sort of pysco/hypno stuff going on with a good number of Americans. Seems I recall talk somewhere about mass hypnosis. That's what this latest wave of American style fundamentalism seems like to me. That combined with the insecurity of whites in this country about their rapid decent to minority status here and globally , sets it up quite nicely.

[Warpy]

10. I always flash on a Far Side cartoon when I have to talk to a fundy.

It's looking over a psychiatrist's shoulder, pad in his lap, patient on the couch. On the pad is "JUST PLAIN NUTS."

It may or may not be true, but thinking of this and the Monty Python "Spot the Loony" sketch both work well until I can make an escape.

[leftofthedial]

5. psychotic

delusional

amoral

antisocial

rationalize heinous acts

many of them hear voices and act on what the voices tell them to do

serious mental illness

hard to believe they are not institutionalized (or imprisoned, as we tend to do here in Murka)

[Hamlette]

14. and the GOP is starting to look more and more like them each day

The way to get people to vote for you without thinking or holding you accountable is to become like a religion. I swear, some people would believe in god no matter what and some will vote GOP no matter what.

[EVDebs]

8. The basis of the 'futurist' eschatology based upon an incorrect

interpretation of Biblical end-times prophesies in Daniel, Thessalonians, and Revelation.

What's fascinating is that this interpretation, as with the Left Behind series of novels (by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins) and the Late Great Planet Earth (by Hal Lindsey), is that these are directed mainly at US Protestant denomination members while the origination of this 'futurist' eschatology is from the 1500s by Jesuit priests, specifically Francisco Ribera.

See 'The Catholic Origins of Futurism and Preterism'
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/antichrist.htm

and also Steven Wohlberg's book End Times Delusions.

This subject is fascinating because in more modern times the CIA (Hal Lindsey is a consultant to them) had is leadership 'corp' in the beginning as mostly Knights of Malta (oringinally 'Knights Hospitaller'). This is a very dedicated group of Catholics, and for many years the Papacy would excommunicate Freemasons (who, according to John J. Robinson's book Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry, originated as the Knights Templar...the enemies of the Knights Hospitaller). Wild Bill Donovan, Bill Casey, John McCone, James Jesus Angleton, Allen Dulles, etc. etc. all Knights of Malta. And now we see the rise of an empowered Opus Dei, born during fascist Franco's regime.

The duping of Protestant denominations into accepting these 'end times delusions', and accompanying fascist undertones -- blind acceptance of leadership, fear tactics, propaganda, etc. -- all play into what your posting alludes to: psychosis.

Playing upon fear.

[annabanana]

11. fine for them, but..

what about the OTHER fundies? (Muslim & Jewish, etc)

Hmmm . . never seem to hear about "fundamentalist" Buddhists.

[EVDebs]

19. Fundie Jews, those 'settlers', also use this same 'futurist' eschatology

The 'Third Temple' mentioned in the link I gave above requires that the Al Aqsa Mosque be destroyed and replaced with said Third Temple. The land claims also are controversial; Bush has played upon these themes with his fundumentalist base, who don't really care since they'll be spared any sweat due to a 'pre tribulation' secret rapture. The Bible makes clear that the Second Coming will not be a quiet affair !

Fundumentalist Islam, not having gone through a Reformation, as the book What Went Wrong by Bernard Lewis points out, is mired in the 7th Century. Even slavery was tolerated until JFK pushed Saudi Arabia on it in 1962. Women's rights are abysmal and Irshad Manji whose book The Trouble With Islam Today is now under threat of reprisals for daring to speak up. Her website www.muslim-refusenik.com: ''I swear by Allah that some brothers are planning to take action against you. . . . Just as Van Gogh was taken care of. This is your last warning.''

from 'Outspoken lesbian Muslim pushes for religious reform'
http://www.suntimes.com/output/religion/cst-nws-rebel01.html

Again, what is everyone AFRAID of ?

[Mz Pip]

9. Hyper religiousity

is an actual mental disorder. It involves sopmething called temporal lobe epilepsy. It describes people who are overly preoccupied with religion in that they hear voices, sse visions. There's been some research done on it. The link below describes some of the details.


http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web2/Eguae.html

I don't know if this really includes people who seem to believe that God micromanages the universe, though.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[TNDemo]

12. It is religion of fear and guilt.

I sat through bunches of those sermons about hellfire and brimstone and they are enough to scare the poo out of you. It is using what they have to keep you in the pews and on the straight and narrow - guilt and fear of retribution. It was actually comforting to me at age 18 or so because it made all the decisions for me - kinda like a parent but one you don't have to rebel and break away from. As I got older I saw it from an adult perspective but it makes things very easy - everything is black or white.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. My personal opinion? Hell yes.

But it can also be tied to an inability to critically think, methods of child-rearing which rely on heavy doses of guilt and physical punishment, and a repressive, negative outlook towards the universe in general.

[undeterred]

16. I wouldn't say psychosis, but

I definitely agree that they have a sharply bifurcated world view which has no shades of grey; I also think there are a lot of people pulled into this who have issues with "authority". They need someone to be firmly in charge (and it has to be a white male); things have to be all or nothing.

I would add that most fundamentalists lack the skill of critical thinking. The reason a lot of people outgrow fundamentalism is because they begin to read or get an education or consider new ideas and realize that the world is a lot more complex than fundamentalism makes it out to be. I wouldn't equate critical thinking with education too strictly though. There are a lot of people who learn to think critically on their own, and many with years of formal education that never do. I think that some of the Christian colleges and now "Christian law schools" are an attempt to insulate people from learning to think critically while they acquire the credentials they need to be a judge or whatever.

I think people who travel are in "danger" of changing their worldviews also. Nothing like culture shock to make you realize that your way is not the only way.

Its like having two sets of mental furniture. I know a fundamentalist who was by profession an interpreter. She was well aware of the ambiguity involved in translating languages from one to another, including sign language. But it never occurred to her that this same ambiguity and need for context also applied to interpreting the Bible, which is written in ancient languages whose words and meanings are not completely certain.

[noamnety]

17. From the NIH

"Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions or compulsions. Having one or both is sufficient for the diagnosis. An obsession is a recurrent and intrusive thought, feeling, idea, or sensation. A compulsion is a conscious, recurrent pattern of behavior a person feels driven to perform.

This behavior can be a physical action (such as handwashing) or a mental act (such as praying, repeating words silently, counting). The behavior is aimed at neutralizing anxiety or distress.."

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000929.htm

It's fair to question whether there might be some mental issues with those who are obsessed with religious doctrine to the point of absurdity (gays are destroying the fabric of society!) while ignoring real issues that are in fact damaging the world (pollution, health care crisis).

Those that are happily ignoring the plight of the thousands dying from a lack of simple affordable medicine, while having rapturgasms at the sight of Schiavo certainly seem to have a distorted view of reality.

[earth mom]

18. Mental Illness is a part of it....

but I'd say extreme Fundamental Christianity also stems from

1. Reaction to the fear of death/the unknown

2. Indoctrination/mind control by it's leaders for $$$

3. Lack of education by it's followers

[applegrove]

20. Some people are born with the ability to have faith. The devout of

any religion can be amazing. Are they all crazy? No. We define crazy as someone who sees something of which there is not one shred of evidence. They have the evidence in the existence of the universe itself. That is a bloody miracle.

So if atheists say there are no miracles.. are they crazy? I would not say so. They just stopped asking questions and looking for answers beyond what they can see and what science presents to them. Fundies do the same thing.

Nobody has all the answers. Some people try it one way.. some the other.

As to extremists in the hierarchy of religions..well many, many Muslims look at extremist Islam and say: "that is not my religion" and they are right about that. Religion, or trying to explain the miracle that is life & the universe, is a personal thing.

IMHO

[kweerwolf]

21. There's a book I read a number of years ago ...

... I'm not sure if it's still in print, but the title was "When God Becomes a Drug." According to the book, religion (and specifically "fundamentalism") could become a addiction for some people. I'm going to have to dig that book up and re-read it some day because it hits me more and more often that many of these fun-D'uh-Mental-ists must be "mainlining Jesus."