Which means only without fanaticism. Without fanaticism, it's like

Fanaticism is a terrible disaster both for society as a whole and for the individual. A fanatic invariably appears before us as a mentally ill person who is incapable of taking responsibility for his actions. And these actions can be disastrous for our entire planet or its individual parts, as soon as a fanatic is allowed to power.

Fanaticism... What is this?

However, not every manifestation of excessive interest in something can characterize a person as a fanatic. And vice versa.

Fanaticism is an excessive passion for any idea or personality, expressed in devoting a significant part of one’s life and its spiritual content to the object of worship, as well as in uncompromisingly defending one’s own view and imposing it on other people, often in an aggressive form. This phenomenon can be related to anything - morality, a famous person, a political trend, etc. However, religious fanaticism acts as its most dangerous form.

Concept

Fanaticism as an emotional manifestation is characterized by excessive zeal, enthusiasm, obsession, blind faith in the correctness of one’s (most often extreme religious or political) beliefs, in the superiority and exclusivity of the object of one’s adoration and its followers in one’s own person.

According to the definition of the American philosopher George Santayana, “Fanaticism consists of redoubling efforts when the goal is forgotten”; According to Winston Churchill, “a fanatic is one who is unable to change his mind and never changes the subject.” Both of these definitions imply extremely strict requirements and intolerance for any deviations.

The difference between a fanatic and an admirer is that the behavior of a fanatic is seen as a violation of prevailing social norms, while the fan does not violate these norms (although his behavior may seem strange). What unites fans and fanatics is their all-consuming interest, love for a particular field of activity, occupation, hobby, person.

The so-called eccentrics differ from fanatics in that the ideas they profess and the activities they engage in are usually harmless, but very different from generally accepted ideas or the usual behavior and lifestyle of the people around them. As for fanatics, the object of their worship or passion in itself can be considered “normal”, and only the degree of obsession seems excessive or “abnormal” to others.

Disadvantages of fanaticism and its negative impact

Fanaticism is a destructive tendency towards something. It prevents the individual from feeling freedom, developing, and self-realization in life. And that's not the whole problem. Another danger of fanaticism is the fanatical person's lack of ability to agree with another point of view. As a result, rejection of opposing ideas can become a reason for war, violence, and infringement of rights.

Fanatics do not have a stable psychological state. These are asocial and aggressive people who pose a danger to themselves and society, and do not take into account existing norms and rules. The appearance of fanatics and their behavior only frightens the people around them. To describe a fanatic, the following phrase is enough: “he is crazy.” Fanatic people are characterized by loud speech, harsh expressions, shouting, an unnatural sparkle in the eyes, and active gestures. The fanatic does not want to see and hear the real world. He has his own reality.

Conflict between a simple and a fanatical person can break out for any reason. For example, visiting a club. A fan is ready to tear another person to pieces for any little thing that is opposed to him. He also has strong positive emotions. A crowd of fanatics can practically tear their idol to pieces.

Meaning of "Fanaticism" in dictionaries

Fanaticism – Philosophical Dictionary

(Latin fanaticus - frantic) - a concept used to assess the nature of people’s beliefs and behavior, which manifests a blind, uncritical adherence to the professed idea and a prejudiced attitude towards all other teachings that excludes a reasonable approach. As a principle of behavior, F. means complete intolerance towards dissidents, which is usually accompanied by cruelty (the extreme case is fanaticism), the use of any means and the sacrifice of people for the sake of the pursued goal (Goals and Means), refusal to resolve ideological conflicts by means of persuasion and reasonable evidence . F. is usually associated with religious beliefs, which are most characterized by dogmatism and persecution of “non-believers.” Religious philosophy serves as a weapon for maintaining the dominance of the church over believers. In history, it has repeatedly led to bloody reprisals against “infidels” (medieval Inquisition, witch hunts); savage F. is characteristic of some modern ones. sect. F. is also inherent in fascism with its misanthropy and cult of blind obedience. Communist morality rejects F, Marxist-Leninist ideas are substantiated scientifically. Conviction in their truth is the opposite of blind faith; it is confirmed by practical data and presupposes a creative attitude of the Marxist to theory. Communist parties and socialist states in their practical activities proceed from the fact that communism is the highest humanism. Intransigence towards ideological opponents does not mean preference in any conditions for extreme, violent means in the fight against them.

Where is the line between faith and fanaticism? It would be good to know. After all, if faith is wonderful, then fanaticism is monstrous. Is it possible to somehow secure ourselves in order to avoid destructive extremes and distortions? Can. To do this, we need to learn three basic rules that will help us always remain sound in the faith - without fanaticism.

Think A famous person was asked: “What are your most persistent habits?” He replied: “Breathe and think.” If you don’t want to become a fanatic, get used to thinking, and thinking for yourself. Contrary to popular belief, the Christian faith has never been the “opium of the people.” After all, in the Bible every now and then there are calls to reason and use your mind. For example, the Apostle Paul advises meditating on God’s words, comparing your life with the teachings of Christ: “Pay attention to yourself and to the teaching... for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you” (1 Tim. 4:16). The Apostle calls us not to mindlessly cram the Holy Scriptures, but to understand them.

It turns out that faith is not only a heartfelt concept, but also a mental one. According to the same Paul, serving God must be reasonable (see Rom. 12:1). In his letter to the Christians of Rome, he warns that they should not blindly imitate everything that is customary to do in the world: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may know what is the will of God, good, acceptable and perfect” ( Romans 12:2). “Renewal of the mind”, “knowledge” - these words do not fit in with the image of a blind imitator and fanatic.

Belief in God does not relieve us of the need to think. On the contrary, both Christ and His disciples advise “testing” your own and others’ ideas, checking whether their consequences will be good, and only then acting: “Test everything, hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21; see also 1 John 4 :1, 1 Cor.14:20, 29). God did not give us humans one head (for example, the head of some great leader) for all of us. This means that the Creator wants each of us to use our own brain. That's what we'll do!

Solve In one of Vladimir Vysotsky’s songs there are lines: “And in front of us everything is blooming, behind us everything is burning. // No need to think! The one who will decide everything for us is with us!” The song was about the Nazis. But religious fanaticism is no better than political fanaticism: both always bring destruction (remember the same Inquisition). And it all starts, as a rule, small: a person allows someone else to decide for himself in important, fundamental issues. We have a choice: either we ourselves are responsible for our decisions before God, or we “shift” this responsibility to someone else. A Christian listens to advice, but takes responsibility and makes the final decision himself. And the fanatic blindly obeys the “leader”. If you want to avoid fanaticism, learn to make decisions in your life yourself. And be responsible for their consequences.

It's not always easy. Moreover, fanatical following of others is somehow convenient. After all, then you won’t have to reason, draw conclusions, make decisions. And most importantly, then in case of failure you will be able to say: “He (s) misled me!” And a person chooses a “great leader” - his “deputy” in relations with God. “Let the priest read the Bible and tell me what to do. And I will only go to church a couple of times a year, at Christmas and Easter, “I’m not a fanatic,” many say... and do not suspect that this very position is the beginning of fanaticism. Because if a person himself does not want to understand what is good and what is evil, then he chooses ignorance. And, not knowing the path, he blindly follows others.

There are enough examples: the priest said that you can receive God’s forgiveness for money by buying an indulgence, and the parishioner believed it and, instead of sincere repentance, began to “buy” absolution for himself. And the poor fellow had no idea that in this way he was insulting God... The highest rank declared that it was necessary to “beat the Jews, save Russia” or “drive out the sectarians” (without bothering to clarify who the sectarians were) - and the ignorant man went to smash his Christian neighbor. Someone very “smart” whispered that one should not communicate with non-Orthodox people, and the parents declared a boycott of children who go to the “wrong” church. And why, for what, why? People don’t ask themselves these questions because “the boss knows better.” But these are their own children, not their bosses. And my own mistakes. And you will answer to God yourself: “Therefore, everyone will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). God will ask us personally for the consequences of our actions. Which means it’s up to us to decide.

Know Among the road signs there is one that is very eloquent: in a red triangle there is a car driving along a curve... The sign is called “Caution, track!” Now, if only it were possible to put such a warning sign not only on the roadway, but also on the path of life! After all, people often fall into the “rut” of stereotypical, common, incorrect ideas about God (and therefore about life). And from ignorance to fanaticism - one step... The disciples of Christ did not avoid such a mistake. Fortunately, Jesus was there to stop them in time before their zeal turned into tragedy.

It happened in a village in Samaria, where no one wanted to let Christ into their house so that He could rest from the road. Then two of Jesus’ disciples said: “Lord! Do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and destroy them, just as Elijah did?” Elijah, a great prophet of the past, was one of the most prominent figures of the Old Testament. He shocked his contemporaries with great and formidable signs, and the disciples of Christ wanted to follow his example. But they did not take into account two things: first, the inhabitants of the Samaritan village were not as versed in the law of God as those Israelites whom Elijah punished. This means that the demand from them is different. Secondly, now, during the New Testament, the Lord wanted to show sinners the good News of salvation and forgiveness of sins, and not a destroying fire... In general, the disciples “fell into the rut” of old templates and missed the very essence of Christianity. The religious “rut” did not allow them to turn the course of their thoughts in time in a direction pleasing to God. And Jesus forbade the disciples to bring down fire from heaven. He said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you are; for the Son of Man came not to destroy the souls of men, but to save.” (See Luke 9:52-56).

The fanatic tries to please a God he does not know. The believer tries to know God in order to please Him. To avoid extremes, you need to know God. To know His essence, His Spirit, His heart. And always continue to know Him through the Holy Scriptures and prayer - on your own, personally. By doing this, we cease to be easy prey for charlatans and false teachers. And we acquire the best antidote to fanaticism in the world - a healthy, living faith. It is no secret that dishonest people often used people’s religiosity to manipulate them. And there was an opinion that a believer is an obedient instrument in the hands of others. (This is probably why many still reject faith in God, because they believe that it makes a person naive and weak). But with those who try to know the Lord and His Word not by hearsay, but personally, manipulation does not work. After all, by reading the Bible, we learn a lot of useful things. For example, not only is it important to respect authority, but also that it is important to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29; see also 4:19). We begin to understand that it is useful to check any sermons with the Holy Scriptures to see if they are “truly so” (see Acts 17:11). And then it’s not so easy to deceive us... it’s not so easy to turn us into mindless fanatics, blind instruments in the wrong hands.

God did not create us humans to be puppets. He left us the Bible not so that it would gather dust on the shelves, but so that we - everyone who can read - would read it. And we learned to understand its Author – God. The Lord is ready to reveal Himself to us. Because He wants to see us not as His servants, but as friends. He himself said: “I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father” (John 15:15). God loves and respects us. And therefore gives us the right to think independently, make decisions freely and cognize Him. We need to use this right. Then it is not religious fanaticism that will dominate our souls. And faith, hope and love.

Fanaticism is an extreme degree of a person’s commitment to any concepts, ideas or beliefs, manifested in the absence of a critical perception of the chosen system, as well as an extremely negative attitude and lack of tolerance towards other ideological positions. Such adherence is similar to blind, unsupported and unjustified faith, therefore fanaticism is most widespread in the religious sphere, but is not limited to it (this includes political views and national, musical and subcultural), including any of the spheres of human manifestation where there is division people regarding choice, belonging and taste.

Signs of fanaticism

A characteristic feature of fanaticism is that a person does not divide the content of his faith into good and bad elements, acceptable and unacceptable. He considers everything that relates to his idea to be correct and all outside opinions to be incorrect.

Other signs of fanaticism include:

• close and painful experience, violent reactions to everything related to faith;
• the presence of attributes of faith, the pursuit of an idol;
• defending one's own rightness, not the truth;
• aggression towards others;
• loss of interest in previous hobbies;
• slang, rituals characteristic of the subject of fanaticism;
• pride;
• conviction of one's own righteousness and a sense of one's own superiority;
• isolation or communication with “associates”.

Fanatics are not psychologically stable, antisocial and aggressive. They are dangerous to themselves and others, as they do not obey any norms and rules. A fanatic causes fear in those around him by his very appearance and behavior. They are often described with the phrase “he’s like he’s out of his mind, crazy.” The appearance is usually appropriate: loud speech, harsh and expressive expressions, screams and threats, an abnormal shine in the eyes, active gestures. A fanatic does not see or hear the real world, he lives in his own reality.

How to get rid of unhealthy fanaticism

In general, it must be said that any fanaticism is an unhealthy phenomenon. Therefore, society and every individual are faced with the task of getting rid of fanaticism. Practice shows that it is easier to get rid of the carrier of this phenomenon than to get rid of his unhealthy beliefs; but this, to put it mildly, is not a completely legal method.

The best way to get rid of fanaticism is, of course, education. But this task is not at all easy. Enlightenment is practically inaccessible to a person whose mind is completely turned off and who lacks critical thinking. So first you need to teach a person to reason.

And many people are simply too lazy to reason. The structure of the surrounding world is so complex that an unprepared person gets lost and does not know what conclusions to draw and what to hold on to. But any ideology (be it religious, political or something else) provides a person with a highly simplified, distorted and extremely understandable picture of the world, a kind of ready-made information with all the conclusions, which saves a person from the need to think for himself. The fact that this ready-made information may not correspond to reality does not concern the adherent of fanaticism: in principle, he does not want to live in reality, he is more pleased with the small aquarium provided by ideology. This is the essence of fanaticism. Knowing this, you can try to get rid of fanaticism through some kind of psychoanalysis.

If you are the person who has fallen into fanaticism, then it is good that you are aware of it. This means it will be easier for you to curb yourself.

Here are some tips to help you get rid of bigotry

:

• If you are an adherent of any religion, political or social ideology (racial, sexist), then you must understand that this is precisely an ideology, that is, a greatly simplified model of the world, equipped with false conclusions. Start studying the problem you are interested in comprehensively, using modern scientific sources, and explore other points of view. Even if supporters of alternative versions are mistaken, then they are certainly no more mistaken than you are: after all, there is no greater mistake than believing in an ideology.
• If you encounter a person who has fallen into fanaticism, you can try to enlighten him. If this does not work out, it means that this person does not need the truth - he wants to live in his inner world. You should leave him alone. If at the same time he commits illegal acts, then this should be prevented - call the police, an ambulance, and personally neutralize the madman.

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Story

The Federal News Agency, which began work on May 22, 2014, was headed by the former top manager of the regional branch of RIA Novosti Vladislav Kraev (who was the general editor) and the former editor of Rosbalt Evgeny Zubarev. The agency owns the websites “People's News” and “Economy Today”. Since August 25, 2014, editor-in-chief Evgeniy Zubarev has owned the domain, where the Kharkov News Agency (NAHNews) began publishing materials in September.

In 2015, FAN and a number of media outlets (“Economy Today”, “Federal Agency of Incidents” and “Svobodnoe Vremya”), owned by a common legal entity, moved from the street. Savushkina, 55 (where the so-called “troll factory” is located) to the office in the business on the street. Beloostrovskaya, 8. By 2017, in addition to FAN, Politics Today and Economics Today, People's News was also listed there. Since 2021, the FAN-funded English-language publication USA Really has been operating, covering problems in the United States, which was blocked on the largest American social networks shortly after its creation.

The agency employs former employees of Rosbalt, RIA Novosti, Telegraph, and Baltinfo. Popular search queries related to FAN were devoted to events in Syria and Ukraine. The publication's journalists were the first to receive exclusive materials from Syria, which RBC attributed to the help of the Wagner PMC, which is associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin. The head of the agency, Evgeniy Zubarev, admits bias in the editorial policy in relation to some news from Ukraine.

Read also: Nikolai Amosov’s “1000 movements” system

In 2015, according to SPARK-Interfax, the revenue of the Federal News Agency amounted to 7.4 million rubles.

In February 2021, the Federal News Agency had a monthly audience of 11 million people, which made it the leader among the Media Factory sites. According to Medialogy, FAN took seventh place in terms of citations in 2021.

Notes

1. Soviet military encyclopedia, 1980.
2. Dictionary of foreign words. 18th ed., erased. - M: Russian language, 1989. - P. 531. ISBN 5-200-00408-8 (erroneous)
3. 1 2 3 4 Fanaticism // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
4. Santayana, George. Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons)
5. Thorne, Scott; Bruner, Gordon C. An exploratory investigation of the characteristics of consumer fanaticism (English) // Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal : journal. - 2006. - Vol. 9, no. 1. - P. 51-72. — ISSN 1352-2752. — DOI:10.1108/13522750610640558.
6. 1 2 Berdyaev N. A. About fanaticism, orthodoxy and truth / “Man”, No. 9, 1997.
7. Berdyaev N. A. The fate of Russia: Self-knowledge / Rostov-on-Don; Phoenix, 1997. P. 263.
8. G. P. Chistyakov - philologist, historian, theologian. He was a priest of the Church of St. Cosmas and Damian in Moscow and rector of the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary at the Children's Republican Clinical Hospital, a member of the Board of the Russian Bible Society and the International Association for the Study of the Church Fathers, rector of the Public Orthodox University, founded by Archpriest A. Men, head of the department of cultural history at MIPT . He has given lectures at MIPT on the history of Christianity and theological thought since 1985.
9. Chistyakov G. Where does this anger come from?
10. 1 2 Religious extremism
11. Modern terrorism: myths and reality
12. Mexican terrorists hijacked a plane
13. A group of Christian terrorists who were preparing to start a war with the government is on trial in the United States.
14. Optical sights for the Pentagon are “coded” by the New Testament
15. US Marines fire Bible code rifles (inaccessible link). Retrieved August 26, 2010. Archived September 24, 2010.

Medieval fans

Often a person analyzes his actions and comes to the conclusion that only his behavior is basic and correct in all respects. This is not true. Each person is very scrupulous and competent, but in his own way.

When people communicate with each other and one of them strives for complete fanaticism from the ideas of the other, then such fanaticism cannot be called real.

The concept of “without fanaticism” helps people get rid of unnecessary dependence on other people’s opinions.

In the Middle Ages, Christian Europe experienced a regime of “fanatics.” These were the crusaders who spread the canons of the Catholic Church by force.

At the same time, the Inquisition flourished. People disliked by the authorities and the church were betrayed by the fanatical ministers of the Catholic Church to various tortures, condemnation and even death.

How beautiful this world is, look!

Happy, harmonious people see the world as surprisingly diverse. Every day brings something new, and under the influence of this new, people’s worldview is formed and modified. But for a fanatic of diversity, the world does not exist. He uncompromisingly fights against everything that goes beyond the framework of his chosen truth. The principle “whoever is not with me is against me” is a fundamental rule of life. The tendency to go to extremes is inherent in every person, but a reasonable, thinking person can and must learn to control it. Fanatics wear different masks - a moralist, a fighter for the freedom of all people on the planet, a religious righteous person - but underneath all of them hide faces distorted with a grimace of anger. Can a fanatic become a peace-loving and tolerant member of society? The probability of this is small, but, of course, it exists, but you won’t be able to walk this path alone. Only an experienced psychologist will help a person understand that there is no monopoly on truth.

Long cardio

This is my favorite workout. She has another goal - meditation. Surprisingly, after a certain point it really brings pleasure.

Your heart loves long cardio. This is a useful thing for the development of your heart and cardiovascular system. It reduces the risk of dying from heart disease.

They need to be done once a week and it lasts about one to one and a half hours. This is running, cycling or swimming. It is best to start with running for 40 minutes and gradually increase the time to an hour. There's nothing complicated about it. All long workouts should be done with heart rate monitoring.

You don’t really need a trainer here, but it’s best to start running with a group. This is very useful for making training enjoyable. The heart rate zone for long cardio is 120-155 beats per minute. If the goal of intense interval training is to briefly bring the heart into the last zone, then the goal of long-term cardio is to steadily keep it in one middle zone.

Many people, like me in the past, make the same mistake. They start running like crazy. I would go outside and run like it was a competition. My heart rate reached 170 beats per minute.

There are some helpful tips for long cardio sessions. It is better to do them in the morning or in the first half of the day, since heavy training has a bad effect on sleep. It's hard to sleep after them.

It is important to control your pulse. Try not to let it get too high. You also need to remember about water, especially when it’s hot. I also recommend signing up for easy competitions. This works very well for motivation.

Scandals

In July 2021, FAN editor-in-chief Evgeny Zubarev, during a hearing on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s claim against Yandex to exclude 22 links to materials about his business from the search engine results in order to “prevent the dissemination of information about the names of articles,” tried to prevent other journalists from going to court The media, instructing their employees to take all available seats in the hall.

At the end of October 2021, Google, without explanation, removed links to FAN and the entire archive of publications on Google News from search results. FAN considered this “an act of political censorship that benefits the US government, carried out to limit the dissemination of information about the fight against international terrorism.” After a request to Google from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Roskomnadzor, on November 4, 2017, 8 days after the blocking, Google unblocked access and the news archive.

In December 2021, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against RIA FAN as associated with Evgeniy Prigozhin’s Concord Management and Consulting.

In August 2021, RIA FAN and three related publications were added to the Russian Wikipedia spam list as sources of political disinformation. In response, RIA FAN released news with reference to State Duma deputy Mikhail Yemelyanov, in which he stated that Wikipedia’s decision is an example of the selectivity of freedom of speech in the West.

1. 1 2 3 IA FAN - a new project by Evgeny Prigozhin?
2. Information agency "FEDERAL NEWS AGENCY (RIA FAN)"
3. https://riafan.ru/page/o-nas
4. 1 2 Prigozhin has already dismissed Poltavchenko // Fontanka.ru, 09/23/2016
5. The St. Petersburg “troll factory” suffered from the “Maidan flames” (inaccessible link). Retrieved February 5, 2021. Archived February 5, 2021.
6. Game of trolls: the hip digi-kids helping Putin's fight for online supremacy
7. Rezunkov V. They love Putin for 12 hours straight // Radio Liberty, 03.14.2015
8. Petrov O. Agony of trolls from RIA FAN // The Moscow Post, 02.11.2016
9. A network of pro-Kremlin sites associated with the “troll factory” was identified using Google Analytics
10. Open-Source Information Reveals Pro-Kremlin Web Campaign (inaccessible link)
11. Anton Butsenko. Networks of “Ukrainian” news sites have been discovered in Russia “Business Petersburg”, 11/11/2014
12. Adrian Chen. The New York Times Agency, 06/04/2015
13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andrey Zakharov, Polina Rusyaeva, with the participation of Vladislav Kovalenko. RBC investigation: how a “media factory” grew from a “troll factory” RBC, No. 4, 2017
14. Kremlin propaganda moves to the USA
15. Why St. Petersburg publications are closing and what happened to BaltInfo, Telegraph and Echo of Petersburg
16. FAN launches the “Media Classifier” project
17. The most read Internet portals were divided by class
18. 26 anti-Russian media, according to the Federal News Agency
19. RIA FAN has replaced its editor-in-chief
20. About 20 journalists were not allowed to attend the open court hearing on Prigozhin’s lawsuit against Yandex.
21. The editors of FAN announced the cessation of issuing links in the Google service News “RIA Novosti”, 11/02/2017
22. Google News stopped publishing news from the FAN agency, which is associated with the “troll factory” Meduza, 11/02/2017
23. Google Incorporated has returned FAN access to Google.News
24. The United States imposed sanctions against the FAN agency, Mishkin and Chepiga. RBC. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
25. Treasury Targets Russian Operatives over Election Interference, World Anti-Doping Agency Hacking, and Other Malign Activities | US Department of the Treasury. home.treasury.gov. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
26. Wikipedia blacklisted four media outlets associated with businessman Prigozhin. New newspaper - Novayagazeta.ru. Retrieved August 5, 2021.

Oil is the cause of despondency

During confession, new Christians often hear the word “give” - people ask God for health, happiness, and prosperity. And there seems to be nothing wrong with this, but there is a feeling of a consumerist attitude towards the Lord. But in confession you should probably use not the verb “give,” but a completely different one: “forgive.”

Many of us are ready to talk about everything except our soul. For example, a woman may come up and talk about a terrible sin. It turns out that the day before I ate a spoonful of puree, and then found out that there was vegetable oil in it. How hard does it take to harden, to distort the meaning of repentance, so that a drop of vegetable oil can plunge you into despondency?!

There is a fantastic willingness to repent of anything. And you rarely hear repentance for the unbelief of your children, for ignorance of the faith and teachings of the Church.

The criminal code will not help

Most often, such people practice ritual belief, know who and where to light a candle, and also always keep a bottle of holy water at home. For them, the concept of sin is associated exclusively with serious crimes: murder, theft, and so on. And here we must explain to a person that the division of sins into deadly and not so deadly is very, very conditional. If one steals his whole life, and the other only condemns his loved ones, then they will both destroy their souls if they do not repent, although from the point of view of the criminal code their guilt is unequal. And here sometimes patience and even humility are needed, because you have to explain the same thing to a person many times.

Once a woman came to confession. At first she listed many “minor” sins: resentment, envy and the like. As if between the words, the phrase slipped through her mouth: “I haven’t gone to church for a long time.” I asked her: how long ago - a month or two? She answered: “Twenty years.” Wow! This is where we should have started! This is the cause of all other sins. Others had to stand in line while I spoke to this woman in detail...

I remember another example: a man constantly came to confession and simply remained silent, waiting for the prescribed prayer to be read. To all my admonitions and suggestions that he could have sinned in certain situations, he shook his head negatively. And only my assumption that he had already achieved holiness and could no longer come to confession made him begin to remember “small”, “meaningless” sins.

Forms of fanaticism

Ideas of sexism or feminism and political parties can turn into fanaticism. In general, fanaticism can arise in any area where there is the right of personal choice and belief: tastes, group membership, theoretical concepts, music, and more. But freedom in conditions of fanaticism looks conditional. The fanatic is not free, he is dependent and sick.

More often the phenomenon of fanaticism is discussed within the framework of religion. Believers do not join sects, do not kill themselves for the sake of enlightenment, and do not give all their earnings (not just their own) to the religious treasury. This is what fanatics do. Terrorism is also a variant of a fanatical attitude towards faith.

Based on the degree of danger, we can distinguish two forms of fanaticism:

• Average. Adherents of the idea deny alternatives and defend their point of view. Fanatics of the average type mainly communicate with their own kind and, if necessary, defend their faith.
• Severe form. Fanatics try to convince adherents of other opinions or win over neutral people to their side. To convince them, they use harsh methods: torture, beatings, threats, punishment.

In addition to the above forms, we note:

• Socially acceptable fanaticism, for example, football (it is treated with caution, but more or less loyal), subcultural (teenage thematic associations based on interests: music or philosophy, clothing style).
• Socially condemned fanaticism (sects, terrorism).

It is worth noting that any form of fanaticism is potentially dangerous. Football fanatics often continue their path in the criminal direction. Teenagers can kill for wearing the “wrong” clothes (reports about this are not so uncommon, for example, the sensational “explain about your clothes”).

Who is an adept?

A close concept to the word fanaticism is adept. Adepts are people who are followers of a philosophical or religious movement. Adherents can be both fanatics and those who treat their “belief” without fanaticism. Fanaticism in this case is presented as an extreme degree of adeptism.

One of the meanings of the word fanaticus is Temple. A similar meaning is “holy man” and other offensive words. People whose faith sometimes reaches the point of frenzy, bordering on madness, are called fanatics. They blindly follow their “destiny.”

This is not always useful for a person, since he is forced to constantly comply with the canons of his “order” and rarely has his own choice, since everything is decided for him, including standard human needs. If we analyze these personality traits, we should note extreme hostility towards other “religions.”