Everyone talks about fanatics but no one admits being one. Perhaps it is because we do not understand what fanaticism really is. The best way fanaticism can be illustrated is using three key examples of human behavior which most people are familiar with.

[1] The world [and the translations of the New Testament] keep perpetuating the concept that "the Jews crucified Our Lord Jesus Christ". No one stops to think that Jesus, His Mother - the Virgin Mary, Joseph - her spouse, John the Baptist, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Jairus, Joseph of Arimathea, Gamaliel, etc., etc. were all Jews.

The Jews did not crucify Jesus - the religious fanatics of the time did! (1)

[2] The anti abortion movement has acquired fanatical overtones, yet a far more devastating and quite prevalent moral disorder is child sexual abuse. However, the latter is swept under the proverbial rug while we keep yelling louder and louder against abortion.

We must evaluate these issues within a Scriptural context: Child Sexual Abuse vs Abortion - Which Is the Greatest Transgression? (2) Then we will begin to understand how zeal, bordering on fanaticism, may blind us from recognizing related, but more devastating, sins.

Make no mistake! We are not condoning or justifying abortion under any circumstance - up to an including when the life of the mother is at stake.

[3] The anti homosexual movement spearheaded by a certain segment of the Christian community has almost surpassed the definition of fanaticism. Yet, in their desire to be more Christian than Christ, the most basic tenets of His teachings are trampled upon (3).

Again, we must evaluate this issue under the bright light radiating from the Gospel. We will then come face to face with another case where fanaticism, destroys human dignity and taints the beauty of the Good News personally delivered to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Although the Word of God does not justify homosexuality, it does not encourage the verbal and physical abuses may fanatics use towards homosexuals.

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