Tag Archives: fundamentalism

The Sacrifice of Dissociative Identity and a Sympathetic Response

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Last week, I posted about the ways I noticed Earl Turner falling into the identity of a dissociated, paranoid fundamentalist. I can’t say I was shocked by the fact that throughout the last half of The Turner Diaries  Earl only became more dissociated, remorseless, and absolute in his dualistic mindset, but it is so hard for me to imagine thinking or feeling the ways he expresses feeling that I had a difficult time processing everything I was reading. Furthermore, I was constantly reminded that this book is the creative work from the imagination of Andrew Macdonald. I still cannot believe that this imagining represents what he believed would be the means by which an ideal world would come into being. Continue reading →

Trigger-happy Humans

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The Turner Diaries offers a unique perspective in comparison to the other apocalyptic stories we’ve read/watched thus far. Written as several journal entries, it brings us directly into the mind of a fundamentalist, Earl, who serves as our only biased source of information. This piece of historical fiction seems much like what a delusional, racist, paranoid fundamentalist would have imagined would result from the Civil Rights Movement – an apocalypse. Continue reading →

Paranoid Progression

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The Turner Diaries offers truly fascinating, though incredibly difficult to imagine, insight into the dissociated and dualistic mind of a paranoid, fundamentalist. From the beginning of the novel it is evident that religious thought is working underneath what looks like an entirely politically themed plot. As I neared the end of the first section of the novel, I was actually very surprised at how completely religious the book began to sound. As Earl becomes more immersed in his role for the Organization we see the story shift from that of an impassioned bigot into the story of a fundamentalist soldier for the “army of God,” in his case the “army” for the Organization/Order. Continue reading →

From Page to Screen

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The Turner Diaries, by Andrew Macdonald, and the film, “The Forbin Project” offer insight into a unique apocalyptic experience. They deal with controversial issues, which can have consequences of epic proportions, as we later learn. I find that the controversy excites very narrowly defined extremes, and it is these exact ramifications that encompass the truth and individuality consistent with apocalyptic nature.
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Becky teaches children about necromancy…

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All y’all remember Becky from Jesus Camp? Well here she is teaching children how to raise the dead. At one point she tells them that she can teach them to pray their dead pets back to life…

And while we’re at it, here’s a clip from The Simpsons where they spoof the “Left Behind” series with “Left Below…”

Enjoying Violence, Avoiding Dualism and Endism without an End

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Much of what Strozier wrote in this week’s set of essays seemed to respond to my concern about how easily the “saved” characters in Glorious Appearing accept the punishment of the surrounding sinners. It is no less appalling to me that they could simply sit and watch, and even enjoy, the mass murder of most of the remaining population by Jesus – especially considering the gruesome manner in which the deaths were carried out. Continue reading →

Disconnecting with One’s Self for “God”

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After viewing Jesus Camp in class last week, I was really struggling with separating my personal beliefs from my observation and judgements of the Fundamentalist lifestyle/belief system. It’s incredibly frustrating to see something that I so strongly disagree with at work in real life. Hearing about this type of organized religion and indoctrination is difficult to grasp, but seeing it in action on screen was a huge shock for me. After thinking a lot about what was presented in the documentary, I was able to step back a little bit and take into consideration the psychology behind groups like these. This week’s Strozier readings helped me to gain a more level-headed perspective on the inner workings of those so heavily influenced by the Fundamentalist mindset. Continue reading →

Fundamentalism: The Be All and End All

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In his concluding essays, Strozier presents a very thorough analysis of the various tenets of apocalyptic fundamentalism and how they influence the overall doomsday mindset that has prevailed in society. It is interesting to trace Strozier’s didactic approach to understanding the fundamentalist way of thought. His previous readings writings introudced us to the dualism and particular psychology associated with apocalyptic violence. In his later essays, Strozier narrows his argument by linking the root of violence to paranoia.
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Skepticism and Shadows

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It took quite some time to get used to the tone of Glorious Appearing. As a liberal New Yorker without strong religious affiliations, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop (so to speak). This can’t be serious, I kept thinking, even though I knew the premise of the series. Continue reading →

Was the Swastika the WWII Era Mark of the Beast?

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Over the past couple weeks we’ve alluded to Hitler and the Holocaust a few times. With this week’s reading, it was really all I could think about. Hitler is directly analogous to Carpathia who, in Glorious Appearing and the rest of the Left Behind series, is the Antichrist. Then in Strozier’s essays, the description of how the fundamentalist mindset exhibits violent potentials seems to resonate with Hitler’s actions towards the Jews in the Holocaust. Because of our fixation with the end of times and our curiosity in psychological reasoning, we are left to analyze his actions from a purely apocalyptic standpoint. Continue reading →