Some people are obsessed. They are totally consumed by a single belief and cannot to let it go.
Hitler was obsessed by the Jews, that’s for sure. What did these rascals do to him? Sneer at his early paintings? Or did some wily Jewish chick reject his advances?
Moby Dick obsessed captain Ahab; a little over the top if you ask me.
Humbert Humbert lusted endlessly for prepubescent Lolita. A strong case of hebephilia!
A pesky “lying press” obsesses POTUS; why is every journalist so unfair to me? he laments.
Obsession is a cancer of the brain. It starts innocuously and if not treated in time it will metastasize with devastating consequences.
“Obsession is the single most wasteful human activity because with an obsession you keep coming back and back and back to the same question and never get an answer.” Norman Mailer
Obsessions are as varied as cockroaches. Some are health-related (hypochondria), some are political (neophobia) and some are rooted in religion (scrupulosity).
The religious obsession is by far the most disturbing. It regulates every part of its follower’s lives; they constantly worry about infringing or having anybody infringe the rules of their faith.
Religious freaks obsess that one might say or do something blasphemous; and it could be anything. Recently, Asia Bibi, a young Pakistani Christian woman was accused of such deed and sentenced to death.
“The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2018. Bibi’s alleged blasphemous comments were supposedly made after co-workers refused to share water that she had carried; they said it was unclean because she was a Christian (this is a hangover from the caste system, as most of those who converted to Christianity in pre-partition India were members of the lower castes).”
To disciples, the Afterlife seems to be more important than life itself. If you are a good boy/girl (if you blindly obey us), you will go to Paradise when you kick the bucket.
I have been a bad boy and this does not scare me. What frightens me is our Republic’s drift toward divisiveness and authoritarianism (strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.)
You might call this an obsession if you like.
For my part my motto is: “vivre et laisser vivre” (live and let live).
Alain