Rabid Zealots

Peruse any newspaper these days and you'll find either articles filled with religious exclamations of thanks or whole sections devoted to faith. This by itself is most certainly not a bad thing.

However, all the good intentions and principled verbiage lose their gleam when faith is substituted for common sense. The refusal to open the mind just the tiniest bit and listen to things you haven't heard before is one of the strongest attributes of a zealot. The proverbial step taken over the cliff comes when the zealot begins using ad hominem attacks upon a person who merely states facts.

One finds this common behavior not only in religious discussions, but also in political, technical, and domestic conversations as well. The Rabid Zealot can be found just about anywhere two or more people hold a discourse.

With this in mind, I will now outline a few warning signs which can be used to identify the Rabid Zealot:

• Wide eyes: Zealots are very passionate about their beliefs, and their efforts to convince sensible people to similarly hold a likewise belief in an irrational postulation naturally causes their eyelids to part rather eerily.
• In Your Face: The Zealot often likes to make a point by making their arguments four or fewer inches from your face.
• Feigned Deafness: While expressing a rational argument, you may notice that the Zealot will either focus on something non sequitur or continue their side of the conversation long before you have completed a single sentence.
• Righteousness: The Rabid Zealot always feels more righteous than their neighbor, thus promulgating a sense of unwarranted superiority.
• Irrationality: The Zealot always reveals themselves as something more than just a good-natured debater when they hold to an irrational assumption.

So, the next time you see see someone arguing a point you think may not be correct, take note of their style. Someone who is merely passionate may show one or two of the above-listed attributes, but the Rabid Zealot will show them all.