Religious Fanaticism

Religious fanaticism is fanaticism related to a person's, or a group's, devotion to a religion.

Religious fanaticism is a subjective evaluation defined by the culture context that is performing the evaluation. What constitutes fanaticism in another's behavior or belief is determined by the core assumptions of the one doing the evaluation. As such, there is no academic consensus defining religious fanaticism.

In his book, Holy War, Just War, Lloyd Steffen says, " fanaticism . . . invokes the idea of ultimacy, and its presence in religious life is undeniable." He goes on to say, " fanatics are persons who attach to some object an ultimate valuation and then attend to that overvalued object with what is recognizable as a kind of religious" devotion."