How do you define a religious extremist?

Question

State your religion as well, and a few words about how religious YOU are

Gabriel I don't want your proofs, otherwise I would have asked for them. It's a very simple question

It would be easyer to answer my question though, with or without proofs

epaphras_faith: I was looking to know the level of belief in god of my answerers (atheist, agnostic, spiritual but not religious, if you follow the words in your holy book - of your religion - or if you just believe in god but follow no rituals....) or whatever you think would define your level of belief best

Answer 1

Someone whose religion permeates every aspect of their daily lives. Some who views all other religious paths as False, while believe theirs is the One True Faith. Some whose world-view is split into Believers (of their faith) and Sinners (anyone not in their faith) and lets this judgment permit any sort of violent act against another just because they aren't one of the Faithful. Someone whose compassion is limited to members of their own faith.

Answer 2

I'm an agnostic, I suppose, leaning toward pantheism some of the time and atheism the rest of the time.

To me, an extremist is someone who is willing to be manipulative and deceitful, let alone actually physically harmful, in the name of their god. We all know about radical Muslims who strap dynamite on their bodies because they are willing to die for Jihad, and I suppose by now most of us are aware that fundamentalist Christians really do see themselves in a holy war, whether against said Muslims specifically or against all non-believers (in their particular belief system).

But an extremist is also someone who brain-washes their children, the way the movies "Jesus Camp" and "Obsession" illustrate. They compared the Muslim version to Nazi propaganda techniques in "Obsession" on solid grounds. If you watch these two movies in close proximity, it may well chill your blood to see the parallels in the techniques used by fundamentalist Christians, as you watch a pretty little girl say quite seriously that missionaries jumping up and down and shouting "Martyr! Martyr!" is cool.

But I will go one step further: to me, an extremist is anyone who is willing to suspend their disbelief, their logic and reasoning, and take their religion on "faith." Faith is generally defined as belief in the absence of evidence, or even belief in the face of evidence to the contrary. Such a person simply cannot be trusted. They are not rational.

Answer 3

Some one who will murder for self righteous reasons using God as a scapegoat!
I'm a Christian, when the Christ said come to me He wasn't talking about coming to a religion, or come to a system, or to a specific doctrine He was inviting me to a personal effort to see Jesus, to see Him.
God is not aloof and He isn't so far above us that we have to take a tortuous path up a mountain side to the top to see Him. He is our saviour who came down to live with us!
Christ gave us a message of hope, mercy, and light in this dark world.
Using His words for your own personal agenda makes you not only a religious extremist, but real bad as well. It makes you an evil ambassador for God. He doesn't like that.

Answer 4

I am Christian.

I think that it's safe to say, most people on this site are at least a little confused as to what religion really is. This is indicative of our culture, as I believe that there is a cross-section of the main stream culture represented in this category. Religion is the repetitious practice of anything. Some people wash their hands before eating religiously. Some people watch the evening news religiously. Religious behavior that is somehow related to God, or the things of a particular community organization that people identify as "godly" are what people most often call religion. The confusion comes in when people think that religious activity in itself has any value to God. He really could not give a flip about how many merit badges you get in Sunday School. He wants people to KNOW HIM and to live and walk out a truely godly life, loving other people. That's what He is interested in most.

Now that we got some definitions out of the way, I will try to answer your question. The term you are refering to, "religious extremist" was coined by the secular media, who needed to hang a tag on muslims blowing themselves up in grocery stores and bus stops for the purpose of mass murdering innocent men, women and children in the name of "allah." So it isn't really a matter of how I define the term that counts, but how it has been defined for all of us, too many times to count now.

How religious am I? Well, I don't really attend any one church right now, and haven't for nearly 5 months, because I relocated to another city and haven't found a good "church home" yet. I do not read the Bible on a daily basis (remember the definition for religion I just gave you). I talk with the Lord daily, but it is not at a set time or duration. I generally do not bow my head in prayer before I eat meals, although I do try to remember to be thankful to the Lord that I have the privelege of eating. I do religiously attend work, as I have an addiction to eating food for survival, and a desire to pay my bills on time.

Answer 5

A religious extremist is one who has a hidden agenda and hides what they truly believe.

Those who wish to enslave the masses under a one world leader are religious extremists. They hide behind "peace and love" mottos while they plan their tyrannical totalitarian takeover.

I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Answer 6

That is a good question, and it depends on the point of view of the answerer. I am a born again Christian and could be called an extremist.
A Muslim extremist might be blowing people up, but a Christian extremist would be preaching all the time and might irritate people instead of blowing them up..

Answer 7

My definition of "extremist" is if religious doctrine overrides basic human rights.

If a person choses a religious rule over someone else's human right to life, health, personal family life, freedom of self-actualization, freedom of belief and access to basic public services, then they are an extremist in my book.

Answer 8

Someone who has very very strong beliefs, usually of a fundamentalist nature (an interpretation as close to literal scripture as possible) and who is not content to simply believe on his or her own. The person feels the driving need to convert others.

I'm an atheist.

Answer 9

Someone who thinks another religion is by definition bad/wrong. That someone doesn't even have to have a religion himself IMO.

I'm Agnostic.
does that count as religion ?
I choose not to choose something I don't know..., be it an almighty person or the non existance of such a person.
I am interested though.

Answer 10

Anyone who would limit their life or the lives of others in the name of dogmatic beliefs that are dictated to them.

I believe in truths I discover for myself through experience and the natural world around me.
Eclectic Pagan, a learner.