What would cause someone from a normal background to become a religious zealot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just happened to look up a few people I knew back in the day just out of curiosity, and this one guy I knew is full-on Jesus Freak. Like he's got quotes like " Child of God" " Washed in the Blood" etc all over his social media Definitely a quiverfuller, has like 4 kids under 6 and 1 on the way #childrenare a blessing, lots of memes of Bible quotes and religious figures.

Back when I knew him he was a normal guy, grew up in your average American family, with one other sibling, they went to church but it wasn't extreme. Majored in biochemistry. It's not his wife, she was normal too when I knew them back then. They drank, smoked weed, had intellectual debates. The church was not a regular occurrence. They both are now Christian extremists. How does this happen?

I'm about as suspicious and negative re: quiverfull and the like as they come, but "Christian extremist"?

I grew up in a community where Protestant Evangelicals were hugely dominant. Like, I wouldn't wait tables during Sunday lunch because your tip would regularly include a card asking if you had been saved. Or they would ask you directly. It's not my jam, but I knew a lot of people that, in their words, made Christ the center of their life. They are all relatively normal people with responsible jobs, families, etc. And yeah, some people like big families. Have you heard of Mormons or Catholics? I know a Mormon couple with six kids. She told me she wanted to have enough children that the kids could say my brotherS and sisterS when asked about their siblings. He was in the Foreign Service and spoke a couple of difficult languages. She had a college degree and was smart as a whip. Another Mormon family also had six kids and the mom had a PhD. A Catholic guy I worked with had TEN kids. Dad was a lawyer and mom was a doctor. They even did the whole Tridentine Mass.

I just find the premise that people are extremists because they've chosen to make their faith a much bigger part of their life than the average totally false. I also think as people age and start families it's not uncommon to look for a church or return to religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe he's ever been to jail and I don't know about major health issues, it seems one of his kids had a minor health scare but is perfectly healthy, I suppose that could throw any parent for a loop, but the religious conversion seems to predate that from what I can tell. I don't know him well anymore. I just found the extremeness of it all so shocking. Totally unrecognizable from the person I knew. He's all grown a beard.

PP here. Are you joking?

You have to be a troll.

[Anonymous]

Fear. Fear of life, of change, of not measuring up. Religion has answers and rationalizations for everything.

[Anonymous]

Op, will you call someone a Muslim extremist too or does it apply only for Christians?

[Anonymous]

Maybe just the desire for a community, and an environment with a structure that feels predictable and supportive when the wider society often doesn’t seem to offer that. Having kids might solidify such desires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, will you call someone a Muslim extremist too or does it apply only for Christians?

Not OP, but I think there are Christian extremists and Muslim extremists. Also, DUH!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good for him!

LOL. No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, will you call someone a Muslim extremist too or does it apply only for Christians?

If they were an extremist yes. I would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just happened to look up a few people I knew back in the day just out of curiosity, and this one guy I knew is full-on Jesus Freak. Like he's got quotes like " Child of God" " Washed in the Blood" etc all over his social media Definitely a quiverfuller, has like 4 kids under 6 and 1 on the way #childrenare a blessing, lots of memes of Bible quotes and religious figures.

Back when I knew him he was a normal guy, grew up in your average American family, with one other sibling, they went to church but it wasn't extreme. Majored in biochemistry. It's not his wife, she was normal too when I knew them back then. They drank, smoked weed, had intellectual debates. The church was not a regular occurrence. They both are now Christian extremists. How does this happen?

I'm about as suspicious and negative re: quiverfull and the like as they come, but "Christian extremist"?

I grew up in a community where Protestant Evangelicals were hugely dominant. Like, I wouldn't wait tables during Sunday lunch because your tip would regularly include a card asking if you had been saved. Or they would ask you directly. It's not my jam, but I knew a lot of people that, in their words, made Christ the center of their life. They are all relatively normal people with responsible jobs, families, etc. And yeah, some people like big families. Have you heard of Mormons or Catholics? I know a Mormon couple with six kids. She told me she wanted to have enough children that the kids could say my brotherS and sisterS when asked about their siblings. He was in the Foreign Service and spoke a couple of difficult languages. She had a college degree and was smart as a whip. Another Mormon family also had six kids and the mom had a PhD. A Catholic guy I worked with had TEN kids. Dad was a lawyer and mom was a doctor. They even did the whole Tridentine Mass.

I just find the premise that people are extremists because they've chosen to make their faith a much bigger part of their life than the average totally false. I also think as people age and start families it's not uncommon to look for a church or return to religion.

Everything you described is religious extremisim, in this case Christian Extremisim. You can be offended all you want but that's what it is.

[Anonymous]

He grew up in maturity and has better priorities and values. Nothing unusual. Most 20 something christians don't read the Bible much. But as they get older, they become more serious about religion, usually like their parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe he's ever been to jail and I don't know about major health issues, it seems one of his kids had a minor health scare but is perfectly healthy, I suppose that could throw any parent for a loop, but the religious conversion seems to predate that from what I can tell. I don't know him well anymore. I just found the extremeness of it all so shocking. Totally unrecognizable from the person I knew. He's all grown a beard.

PP here. Are you joking?

You have to be a troll.

He's always had facial hair, but not like this. It's not like a regular beard or even your cliche hipster beard. If you ever watched BOy Meets World It's like the beard Eric had when he became Plays With Squirrels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He grew up in maturity and has better priorities and values. Nothing unusual. Most 20 something christians don't read the Bible much. But as they get older, they become more serious about religion, usually like their parents.

I wouldn't call extremism maturity. Also the times I interact with his parents they were not like this, they were normal Christians. I have other people in my life who have renewed their interest in religion, but to this level, like they go to church and take the kids, maybe do some activities, they may even make a religious post from time to time, but not at this level.

[Anonymous]

That's really cool. Happy for them, whoever they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's really cool. Happy for them, whoever they are.

That's really scary. Terrified for their children, whoever they are.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cynthia-jeub-kids-by-the-dozen_n_5c798c1be4b0e5e313ca43e0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fear. Fear of life, of change, of not measuring up. Religion has answers and rationalizations for everything.

This.