Religious fanaticism, or religious extremism, is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm that is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism that could otherwise be expressed in one's other involvements and participation, including employment, role, and partisan affinities. Historically, the term was applied in Christian antiquity to denigrate non-Christian religions, and subsequently acquired its current usage with the Age of Enlightenment.
Members of the Jansenist sect having convulsions and spasms as a result of religious fanaticism. Engraving by Bernard Picart.
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri of al-Qaeda have promoted the overthrow of secular governments.
Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm.
The Fanatics of Tangier by Eugène Delacroix, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Japanese holdouts persisted on various islands in the Pacific Theatre until at least 1974. Hiroo Onoda offering his military sword on the day of his surrender.