Militant Evangelism

       To be an evangelical one needs to have been made privy to a truth, a truth that is self evident and beyond question. These absolute truths can be religious revelations, ideological constructs,  narcissistic impositions, or simply an elaborate falsehood designed to seduce large numbers of people to a cause. Nearly all evangelical efforts are based on an emotional appeal and are made directly
to individuals from the pulpit, in a conversation or on social media by tapping into latent paranoia or hatreds, or by promising a reward.
      Evangelical causes vary from the acceptance of Gods or Prophets, methods of worship or ritual, the proper relationship of a subject to a pharaoh, king or dictator, the economics of nation states, the state verses individual freedoms, correct moral behavior and many more. All start by drawing a line in the sand separating a cause from those who either reject the evangelical beliefs or who have not yet been informed and recruited.
      Evangelism can be Passive; as exemplified by the Gideon's placing Bibles in every hotel and motel room, Direct; as exemplified by Mormon youth knocking on doors and leaving pamphlets, or Confrontational; as exemplified by the Crusades, and now by ISIL. There are sixty thousand evangelical Christians in the United States and over thirty thousand militant Muslim extremist now engaged in an effort to convert the world to their absolute truths their capsulized perspectives and their narrow views.
      Militant evangelism takes place at small and large scales. The bombing of abortion clinics and murder of abortion workers is extreme evangelism using elimination and intimidation to change society to fit within their circle of beliefs. The Crusades, using the recovery of holy relics as an excuse, eliminated an entire civilization of "non believers".  Shiites kill Sunnies over minor differences as have Catholics and Protestants. I personally have been attacked by a frustrated Baptist evangelist with a machete when I refused his gift of eternal life and his demand that I commit to his beliefs. Militant evangelism recruits and controls a following by promoting paranoia and hate using emotionally charged words and measured interpretations of ancient "holy" writings and by limiting information and narrowly focusing educational curricula.
      Evangelistic movements solicit funding by appealing to basic tribal emotions, once of value in a pre-civilized world but now a dangerous vestige of evolution out of sync with nation states and a global economy. There are many potential donors and recruits among those who feel displaced by technology and society and these individuals are easy prey. A cause that reinforces their paranoia and justifies their hate,and simplifies the complex modern world of science and technology by substituting the word of god or ancient prophets empowers them and has great appeal. Give them a gun to make them feel even more powerful and surround them other like minded recruits and you have an army. Use funding from evangelistic groups to select and support political candidates with extreme views and render rational deliberative government bodies impotent.
      Even if one of these extreme militant evangelistic movements were to succeed, it would soon splinter and the new norm established would be confronted by another extreme cause. Those who hope to save us from ourselves may be the most dangerous among us.