#fanatic

A fanatic is a nut who has something to believe in. ↗

— Dean Koontz

#fanatic #nut #something #who

The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women's rights, pluralism, secularism, short skits, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. There are tyrants, not Muslims. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that we should now define ourselves not only by what we are for but by what we are against. I would reverse that proposition, because in the present instance what we are against is a no brainer. Suicidist assassins ram wide-bodied aircraft into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and kill thousands of people: um, I'm against that. But what are we for? What will we risk our lives to defend? Can we unanimously concur that all the items in the preceding list -- yes, even the short skirts and the dancing -- are worth dying for? The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love. These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them. How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared. ↗

— Salman Rushdie

#fanaticism #freedom #fundamentalism #human-rights #terrorism

I give no shit to what extent they believe in superstitions and fanaticism. But I will fight till death, if their fallacious belief hurts any individual. ↗

— M.F. Moonzajer

#believe #fanaticism #superstitions #death

Rock and rollers can get you the youth buzz, and younger people are fanatical readers. ↗

— James Ellroy

#fanatical #get #people #readers #rock

In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all. ↗

— Alan Watts

#becomes #certain #clings #faith #fanatic

Democratic societies can no longer give religious fanatics a free hand to abuse and murder non believers. Such action betrays contempt for the basic human rights which animate any democracy with meaning. ↗

— Armstrong Williams

#action #animate #any #basic #basic human rights

That's because international Islamic religious fanatics have the same goal as the Axis fascists - the destruction of our way of life. ↗

— David Hackworth

#because #destruction #fanatics #fascists #goal

We are battling fanatics who kidnap and behead civilians and shoot fleeing children in the back. There can be no dialogue with such people, and the American people understand this. ↗

— Kay Bailey Hutchison

#american people #back #battling #behead #children

There are always going to be encounters that you kind of wish went differently. But the average fan really isn't fanatical. ↗

— Chester Bennington

#average #differently #encounters #fan #fanatical

The downright fanatic is nearer to the heart of things than the cool and slippery disputant. ↗

— Edwin Hubbel Chapin

#downright #fanatic #heart #nearer #slippery