fanaticism 

Obsessive devotion combined with thoroughly invasive attempts to convert people to whatever is being devoted to.

Devotion alone is not harmful. Teaching people about one's devotions or beliefs isn't harmful.

But people are completely out-of-line when they force people into unwilling bondage with the threat of death.

Usually, fanaticism is driven by power-hunger, corruption given by power, the strong desire to be considered right, misinterpretation of religious texts or other manifestos and documents, and/or insanity.

It's not often monetarily driven. That problem is usually called greed, an obsession with money. (Which I suppose might be a type of fanaticism.)

It is not belief, but fanaticism, that is the cause of many of the world's problems.

Some Christians either have a rather blasé attitude towards their faith, or they practise raving fanaticism which would be dangerous to the public at large if carried out in office. (Many Protestant churches are possesed by fanaticism.) These two stereotypes give Christianity a bad, bad, bad image that it's rather undeserving of, as most Christians are moderates, or are the blasé kind aforementioned.

Similarly, the Crusades and the Inquisitions were rather embarrassing fanatical events in history that have nothing to do with the message of Christ, but with the craze of power and being right.

Communism during the Cold War was sometimes fanaticism rooted in a state cult (like Stalinism), or in atheism. This fanaticism led to the deaths of many religious people, guilty of little to nothing else.

The fanaticism of the Ku Klux Klan led to the unwarranted deaths of many African Americans.

Nazi fanaticism killed Jews, communists, homosexuals, Catholics, and soldiers who could all have been doing something more useful than dying.

So, therefore, I believe strongly that it's not Christianity, Islam, Republicanism, Democratism, liberality, conservatism, Zionism, Judaism, capitalism, communism, socialism, dictatorship, or any other belief or circumstance which causes trouble. It is when these things hold too much influence over our lives and cause us to do horrible things. Or, fanaticism.

fanaticism by TarkanAttila22 July 24, 2010

Fanaticism 

Used to describe the blind idolization for certain individuals despite their negative influence

Person 1: Man! Thank god Bleng Blong Macoy won the election!

Person 2: Bro lmfao what's up with your weird Fanaticism for BBM xD

Fanaticism by Kyle Dungo May 9, 2022

Atheist Fanaticism 

Atheist fanaticism is a term used to refer to a form of atheism that takes atheism into zealot levels. Atheist fanaticism is commonly used to refer to new atheism and to refer to scientific fanaticism that's a form of fanaticism that takes science (scientism) and positivism into zealot levels and is (almost) always together with atheist fanaticism.

"Atheist fanaticism and scientific fanaticism are problematic such religious fanaticism, there are atheist zealots and scientific zealots such as there are religious zealots as well. But we must remember the problem is not atheism itself nor science itself, but take atheism and science (scientism) as an absolute truth and not as relative truths such as all truths actually are."

"That's sad to realize how several scientific dissiminators on internet are actually scientific atheist zealots and supporters of atheist fanaticism and scientific fanaticism. We must remember science is not equal to atheism and that there are areas of science that requires people to be deist and even agnostic, such as extraphysics, deistology and so many other areas as well."

Atheist Fanaticism by Full Monteirism March 13, 2021

Freethought Fanaticism 

Freethought Fanaticism, also Freethought Fundamentalism, is a view that considers freethought as a form of atheist fanaticism and scientific fanaticism where it's all based on materialism, positivism and physicalism and in practice is no far different from atheist fanaticism and scientific fanaticism. Furthermore, critics of freethought fanaticism believe it's possible to have other forms of freethought, such as religious freethought, spiritual freethought, esoteric freethought and even extraphysical freethought and not just classical freethought that eventually leads into freethought fanaticism.

"The theory of freethought fanaticism is good, it shows how freethought can also be extremely fanatical and how it would be possible to avoid freethought to become fanatical, that's the why we always need to be pragmatic about the question of physicalism and extraphysicalism to enable to create a true freethought and open the possibilities of people having freethought that is friendly with religion, spirituality, occultism, esoterics and extraphysics. And do not be rationalizations of the dominant ideology and of capitalism as a whole."

Freethought Fanaticism by Full Monteirism April 10, 2021

Scientific Fanaticism

Scientific fanaticism is a term used to refer to a form of fanaticism that takes science (scientism) into zealot levels, seeking to use all possible arguments and tactics to defend scientism and put natural sciences as an absolute truth. Scientific fanaticism is also very common among several scientific dissiminators on Internet and it is considered as an advanced form of scientism.

"Scientific fanaticism is no better than religious fanaticism, take natural sciences as an absolute truth is literally like take a religious belief as an absolute truth. Scientific fanaticism and scientism are bad such as religious fanaticism and atheist fanaticism actually are, even that scientific fanaticism is just scientism being taken to the extreme."

"It's ok to be a fan of science such as be religious, spiritual, deist, agnostic or atheist. But one must avoid becoming fanatical for any of those, there's a big difference between being enlightened and being a fanatical, one can be enlightened for any of those such as one can be fanatical for any of those."

Scientific Fanaticism by Full Monteirism March 16, 2021

Atheist Fanaticism

An extreme, uncritical devotion to atheism as a comprehensive worldview, often accompanied by hostility toward all forms of religion and spirituality. The atheist fanatic treats atheism as not just a conclusion but a cause, and spends significant energy attacking believers, mocking sacred texts, and demanding that public life be purged of religious expression. This fanaticism often ignores the complexity of religious experience, the social goods of faith communities, and the fact that many atheists and believers coexist peacefully. It is a reaction formation that becomes what it claims to oppose.

Example: "He spent hours each day posting anti-religious memes and celebrating when a church closed—atheist fanaticism, making disbelief into a crusade."

Atheist Fanaticism by Dumu The Void April 18, 2026

Scientistic Fanaticism

An extreme, uncritical devotion to scientism, treating science as the sole source of meaning, morality, and salvation. The scientistic fanatic believes that all problems—personal, social, political—can be solved by more science and technology, and that any appeal to values, emotions, or traditions is retrograde. This fanaticism is often blind to the limits of science, the role of power in shaping research agendas, and the need for ethical frameworks that science cannot provide. It is a secular religion with its own eschatology (the Singularity, space colonization) and its own sins (doubt, spirituality).

Example: "He argued that climate change should be left entirely to engineers because 'politicians just get in the way'—scientistic fanaticism, forgetting that science tells us what is, not what should be."

Scientistic Fundamentalism

A rigid, literalist adherence to scientistic ideology, treating the scientific worldview as an unassailable foundation that cannot be questioned. Scientistic fundamentalism rejects philosophy, metaphysics, and any form of inquiry that does not produce empirical data. It often insists on a naive realism (the world is exactly as science describes it) and dismisses as "unscientific" any discussion of values, consciousness, or meaning. Like religious fundamentalism, it derives certainty from a closed system and treats outsiders with suspicion. It is the enemy of genuine scientific curiosity.

Example: "He claimed that consciousness 'does not exist' because fMRI can't find it—scientistic fundamentalism, confusing absence of measurement with absence of reality."

Scientistic Fanaticism by Dumu The Void April 18, 2026