- by John Krakauer
Found Krakauer's latest book on the "free" shelf in the marina laundry room the other day; it's an account of brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, members of a polygamous Fundamentalist Mormon sect known as "The School of the Prophets," who insist they received a commandment from God to kill an innocent woman and her infant girl in July 1984.
The following quote from the prologue caught my attention; it's a pretty fair depiction of a zealot ... in this case, men who were attracted to the tenents of a particular religion and became trapped in a self-assured neurosis that betrayed their "faith" ... and led to an aberrant spiral of egomania and self-deceit.
"The zealot may be outwardly motivated by the anticipation of a great reward at the other end- wealth, fame, eternal salvation- but the real recompense is probably the obsession itself.
"This is no less true for the religious fanatic than for the fanatical pianist or fanatical mountain climber. As a result of this his (or her) infatuation, existence overflows with purpose. Ambiguity vanishes from the fanatic's worldview; a narcissistic sense of self-assurance displaces all doubt.
"A delicious rage quickens his pulse, fueled by the sins and shortcomings of lesser mortals, who are soiling the world wherever he looks. His perspective narrows until the last remnants of proportion are shed from his life. Through immoderation, he experiences something akin to rapture."
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