11/11/2017 0 Comments The Authority Of The BelieverThe Authority Of The Believer Scriptures' title='The Authority Of The Believer Scriptures' />The True Believer Wikipedia.The True Believer Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements is a 1.American writer Eric Hoffer, in which the author discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism.Hoffer analyzes and attempts to explain the motives of the various types of personalities that give rise to mass movements why and how mass movements start, progress and end and the similarities between them, whether religious, political, radical or reactionary.He argues that even when their stated goals or values differ, mass movements are interchangeable, that adherents will often flip from one movement to another, and that the motivations for mass movements are interchangeable.Thus, religious, nationalist and social movements, whether radical or reactionary, tend to attract the same type of followers, behave in the same way and use the same tactics and rhetorical tools.As examples, he often refers to Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Christianity, Protestantism, and Islam.The first and best known of Hoffers books, The True Believer has been published in 2.SummaryeditPart 1.The Appeal of Mass MovementseditHoffer states that mass movements begin with a widespread desire for change from discontented people who place their locus of control outside their power and who also have no confidence in existing culture or traditions.Feeling their lives are irredeemably spoiled and believing there is no hope for advancement or satisfaction as an individual, true believers seek self renunciation.Thus, such people are ripe to participate in a movement that offers the option of subsuming their individual lives in a larger collective.Leaders are vital in the growth of a mass movement, as outlined below, but for the leader to find any success, the seeds of the mass movement must already exist in peoples hearts.While mass movements are usually some blend of nationalist, political and religious ideas, Hoffer argues there are two important commonalities All mass movements are competitive and perceive the supply of converts as zero sum and all mass movements are interchangeable.As examples of the interchangeable nature of mass movements, Hoffer cites how almost 2.Saul, a fanatical opponent of Christianity, became Paul, a fanatical apologist and promoter of Christianity.Another example occurred in Germany during the 1.Communists and Fascists were ostensibly bitter enemies but in fact competed for the same type of angry, marginalized people Nazis Adolf Hitler and Ernst Rhm, and Communist Karl Radek, all boasted of their prowess in converting their rivals.Part 2. The Potential ConvertseditThe New Poor are the most likely source of converts for mass movementsfor they recall their former wealth with resentment and blame others for their current misfortune.The Authority Of The Believer u0026 How To Use ItUnderstanding Power and Authority.Christ has given every follower his power and authority to defeat Satan and all evil spirits. Serial Key For Parallels 7 here. Properly Discerning Spiritual Authority to Rightly Follow the Lord Introduction.The matter of authority is a great subject in the Bible.The universe itself is.Spiritual Authority What it is, who it is given to, what you can do with it, and how to use it.The True Believer Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements is a 1951 social psychology book by American writer Eric Hoffer, in which the author discusses the.The Authority Of The Believer Creflo Dollar' title='The Authority Of The Believer Creflo Dollar' />Examples include the mass evictions of relatively prosperous tenants during the English Civil War of the 1.Germany who passionately supported Hitler in the 1.In contrast, the abjectly poor on the verge of starvation make unlikely true believers as their daily struggle for existence takes pre eminence over any other concern.Racial and religious minorities, particularly those only partly assimilated into mainstream culture, are also found in mass movements.Those who live traditionalist lifestyles tend to be content, but the partially assimilated feel alienated from both their forbearers and the mainstream culture the orthodox Jew is less frustrated than the emancipated Jew4.A variety of what Hoffer terms misfits are also found in mass movements.Examples include chronically bored, the physically disabled or perpetually ill, the talentless, and criminals or sinners.In all cases, Hoffer argues, these people feel as if their individual lives are meaningless and worthless.Hoffer argues that the relatively low number of mass movements in America at that time was attributable to a culture that blurred traditionally rigid boundaries between nationalist, racial and religious groups and allowed greater opportunities for individual accomplishment.Part 3. United Action and Self SacrificeeditIn mass movements, an individuals goals or opinions are unimportant.Rather, the mass movements chief preoccupation is to foster, perfect and perpetuate a facility for united action and self sacrifice.Mass movements have several means.Mass movements demand a total surrender of a distinct self.One identifies the most as a member of a certain tribe or family, whether religious, political, revolutionary, or nationalist.Every important part of the true believers persona and life must ultimately come from her identification with the larger community even when alone, the true believer must never feel isolated and unwatched.Hoffer identifies this communal sensibility as the reappearance of a primitive state of being common among pre modern cultures.Mass movements also use play acting and spectacle designed to make the individual feel overwhelmed and awed by their membership in the tribe, as with the massive ceremonial parades and speeches of the Nazis.While mass movements idealize the past and glorify the future, the present world is denigrated The radical and the reactionary loath the present.Thus, by regarding the modern world as vile and worthless, mass movements inspire a perpetual battle against the present.Mass movements aggressively promote the use of doctrines that elevate faith over reason and serve as fact proof screens between the faithful and the realities of the world.The doctrine of the mass movement must not be questioned under any circumstances.Examples include the Japanese holdouts, who refused to believe that the Second World War was over, or the staunch defenders of the Soviet Union, who rejected overwhelming evidence of Bolshevik atrocities.To spread and reinforce their doctrine, mass movements use persuasion, coercion, and proselytization.Persuasion is preferable but practical only with those already sympathetic to the mass movement.Moreover, persuasion must be thrilling enough to excite the listener yet vague enough to allow the frustrated to.Hoffer quotes Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels a sharp sword must always stand behind propaganda if it is to be really effective.The urge to proselytize comes not from a deeply held belief in the truth of doctrine but from an urge of the fanatic to strengthen his own faith by converting others.Successful mass movements need not believe in a god, but they must believe in a devil.Hatred unifies the true believers, and the ideal devil is a foreigner attributed with nearly supernatural powers of evil.For example, Hitler described Jews as foreign interlopers and moreover an ephemeral Jewishness, alleged to taint the German soul, was as vehemently condemned as were flesh and blood Jews.The hatred of a true believer is actually a disguised self loathing, as with the condemnation of capitalism by socialists while Russia under the Bolsheviks saw more intensive monopolization of the economy than any other nation in history.Without a devil to hate, mass movements often falter for example, Chiang Kai shek effectively led millions of Chinese during the Japanese occupation of the 1.Japanese were defeated.Fanaticism is encouraged in mass movements.Hoffer argues that the fanatic is perpetually incomplete and insecure1.Part 4. Beginning and EndeditHoffer identifies three main personality types as the leaders of mass movements, men of words, fanatics, and practical men of action.No person falls exclusively into one category, and their predominant quality may shift over time.Mass movements begin with men of words or fault finding intellectuals such as clergy, journalists, academics, and students who condemn the established social order such as Gandhi, Trotsky, Mohammed, and Lenin.The men of words feel unjustly excluded from or mocked and oppressed by the existing powers in society, and they relentlessly criticize or denigrate present institutions.Invariably speaking out in the name of disadvantaged commoners, the man of words is actually motivated by a deep personal grievance.The man of words relentlessly attempts to discredit the prevailing creeds and creates a hunger for faith which is then fed by doctrines and slogans of the new faith.A cadre of devotees gradually develops around the man of words, leading to the next stage in a mass movement.
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