In summary, the bishops and their Catholic supporters are sticking with their religious zealotry. But a certain number of Catholics are not. Instead, they are supporting Obama's compromise. Regardless of how small the number of American Catholics supporting Obama's compromise may be, it is a hopeful sign that some American Catholics have evidently transcended their Catholic indoctrination and withdrawn their support of the bishops' religious zealotry. So perhaps there is some hope after all that even properly indoctrinated Catholics might occasionally transcend their Catholic indoctrination.
Now, it should be obvious that the religious zealotry of the Catholic bishops is not the only kind of zealotry that we find in the United States today. For example, we also have the zealotry of certain Republicans for deregulation and for helping the rich get richer. In addition, we have the zealotry of leftist political-correctness police for their agendas for promoting affirmative action and so-called diversity. In short, we Americans today find ourselves in a cultural matrix in which we have no shortage of zealotry.
By definition, the thought-world of zealotry is Manichaean: good versus evil. Zealotry does not like compromise. For zealots, compromise is the enemy of zealotry. There's nothing heroic about going along to get along. But to be willing to die a martyr's death for one's zealotry sounds heroic. In the United States today, the Catholic bishops are probably not in danger of dying a martyr's death, but this may not deter the Catholic bishops from seeing themselves as heroic.
But what makes zealotry so appealing? Moreover, once we recognize our own zealotry, how can we work to counter our zealotry?
As I've intimated, zealotry is appealing to us because it helps us imagine ourselves as being heroic and courageous, at least in our own imaginations. But shouldn't we have certain core values that we live by as well as we can?
However, it may arguably be more truly heroic to be a non-violent resistance fighter fighting against zealotry, provided that we can manage not to slip into zealotry in the process of fighting zealotry. But how can we safeguard ourselves against succumbing to zealotry?
Now, if we were to recognize our own zealotry as a tendency we need to curb, then we would have taken the first step toward curbing our zealotry. But what are the next steps?
Albert Ellis did not frame his approach to rational-emotive-behavioral therapy in terms of zealotry and curbing zealotry. Nevertheless, the approach to therapy that he pioneered is arguably that best way to try to curb one's zealotry. As the context of therapy suggests, we may need the help of another person, a therapist. In addition, apart from the context of therapy, we may need the help of others who can assist us in our efforts to overcome our zealotry.
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