The Art of Being a (Political) Fanatic
Okay, let’s first begin with your upbringing. You were born and raised in a family who taught you to respect your elders and love your younger. But really? Because every family thinks that they are teaching the young ones this important lesson but for real many teach that you have to fear your elders and instill fear of you in your younger. Elder the person is, more fear for him/ her you should have. And they teach you that the eldest in the world is a thing called God which you should fear the most and in return He loves you the most. If you don’t do things for him to keep him happy, He is going to avenge before or after your death as per his wish. Then this fear somehow turns into love because they tell you that this thing called God loves you so much and if you don’t love him back, he might even give you cancer or something like that or to your children. Then you love him. You love him so much that I can not convince you otherwise.
Then you grow up and politics palpates you and you realize how the world works. You try to think of being a responsible citizen but you are lazy to think, so you go with the lessons of your upbringing. There is some party who talks about development and employment and all but you need something sensational in your boring life and your needs are fed by some political party which talks as per your upbringing. Now, you know that there are different kinds of Gods according to different kinds of stories followed by different kind of people but the story you follow is the most scientific and the real one. Actually, science is not mature enough to grasp the hidden knowledge in your real story. Those who question the reality of your story are either the ones siding one or other versions of God’s story different than yours or are foolish to their bones who are incapable of taking any of these stories seriously. But you know, some kind of feeling in your guts tells you that the story you follow is abso-damn-lutely true and the political party who talks about these stories as reality becomes your favourite one. You oficially announce yourself as a fan.
Now it’s not enough to become a fan. Fan is a short word, less enthusiastic. You have to become the original one, a fanatic. And becoming a fanatic is not easy. You need dedication and discipline. The first step in becoming a fanatic is to stop thinking about a thing or an idea in different manners. You have to convince yourself that whatever knowledge your party serves you is the truest form of knowledge, you have to take it without questioning and propagate it too. Spoon-doctor the facts if necessary, tell lies if needed but do not let your party’s knowledge be proven wrong. If the institutions who have the authoritative voice over some stuffs, to give you an example like FDA tells that the drug is safe but if it is against your party beliefs then you have to entirely dismiss all the studies and whatever comes in the way vehemently. How could they! How could they question the beliefs of your party? They must be funded by the opposition party or parties to undermine the strength of your party because you know that the one who speaks the truth have many enemies but that does not change the truth. In these similar manners, you can shut off the people who bear different belief than yours which gives you more confidence and sense of righteousness and superiority and you are inspired to do the same in the future.
The second step in becoming a fanatic is to call everyone else fanatic who bear views different than yours. See, suppose ladies raise their voices to say that whether or not to abort the child they have in their bellies should entirely be their choice and if it is against your party beliefs than those ladies must be labelled as abortion fanatics. As simple as that! Suppose you believe in banning the meat of a certain animal, say goat and people speak up to say that they should be given their right on choosing their food then you have to use twisted animal rights argument and your sentiments being hurt and all and above all labeling them mutton fanatics. You can also argue that those anti-you fanatics are trying to undermine your culture and playing with your sentiments and trying to impose foreign traditions. They are foreign culture fanatics. This act of labeling everyone else fanatics is quite relieving. It ossifies your belief that you are in the right. The third step in becoming a fanatic is the final one, developing a deep sense of animosity towards everyone who bear different views than yours. First, you have to speak violently to defend your views and if things are getting out of hand then you must act violently. Always keep in mind that you are one with your party, kind of like unison with the God as your story says working towards generating more respect towards God. So, if anyone points finger towards you for your violent words and actions then there is a big party to defend you and above all, an invisible soulmate to embrace you even if you die. See, this is the final act of a fanatic, dying for your party’s and your story’s cause. You must forget entirely that you are a fanatic, you will do so in the very first step I firmly believe, and act according to the strict rules outlined in your real story and your party. This needs discipline. You must always be ready to die to defend your party and your story. Then only, you shall be called a true fanatic. Remember, ready to die for your party and your story and if your party adds the concept of love of nation then for your nation too; and if it adds the concept of love of goats then for goats too and so on.