History Main / ActivistFundamentalistAntics

[[quoteright:335:[[{{Sinfest}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Seymour_1_8427.jpg]]]]

Let's say that you are right and everyone else is wrong, but everyone outside your little group of like-minded righteous people is simply too dumb to understand that you are superior. Surely, you would be tempted to try to reach their hearts by methods that might seem a little [[PlayedForLaughs silly]] and counterproductive?

When TheFundamentalist (or any other [[TheOnlyRighteousIndexOfFanatics fanatic]]) is played this way, they can still be scary. There might be a real risk that they'll go off the deep end and bring out the TorchesAndPitchforks or resort to HonorRelatedAbuse. Then again, it might also turn out that whatever {{windmill}} he was fighting was NoMereWindmill after all.

Silly, scary, or both, while the person doing ActivistFundamentalistAntics is often genuinely unsympathetic, it is not always so. They can [[NobleBigot have other redeeming qualities]], or [[WellIntentionedExtremist be on the right track but are taking it too far]]. They might also be [[TroubledSympatheticBigot wrestling with their life, conscience, and/or world-view]].

Please note that this trope relies on how attitudes and behaviors are portrayed within the narrative of a work, and is thus incapable of having RealLife examples: While everyone agree that there's a lot of silly Activist Fundamentalist Antics in RealLife, there will never be a consensus on which groups are this trope and which ones are not.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* In TheVerse of the ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'', a [[TheFundamentalist real Christian]] would never resort to this kind of behavior. (They sometimes do stuff that ''would'' be this trope if it wasn't for the convenient power of EasyEvangelism - such as using people's personal tragedies as a good time to tell them that they are going to hell unless they join the one true religion. But never mind that.)

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

** Interestingly, Marianne and her [[TheLancer lancer]], Nina, are shown to be really loving and caring people. This strongly indicates that the reason they are such [[JerkAss jerks]] with their antics is that they believe they don't have a choice - that it's somehow their holy duty to act as if they were psychopaths.
* Inverted in ''NeverLetMeGo'': no matter how horrible things get, no one ever show any outrage against the system. Two of the three protagonists have emotional outbursts of dissaproval and almost hate, but always [[InternalizedCategorism aimed at themselves]].

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

-->''The name of Lady Hypatia Smythe-Brown (now Lady Hypatia Hagg) will never be forgotten in the East End, where she did such splendid social work. Her constant cry of'' '''"Save the children!"''' ''referred to the cruel neglect of children's eyesight involved in allowing them to play with crudely painted toys. She quoted unanswerable statistics to prove that children allowed to look at violet and vermillion often suffered from failing eyesight in their extreme old age; and it was owing to her ceaseless crusade that the pestilence of the Monkey-on-the-Stick was almost swept from Hoxton.''

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* One ''BostonLegal'' episode had two religious groups suing each other for blasphemy-related charges.

* Virgilia in the ''North And South'' miniseries is a particularly scary example. At first, she was merely ruining family dinners and such, but she eventually goes off the deep end and even calls down a [[TorchesAndPitchforks lynch mob]] on [[MoralEventHorizon her own home]]. The saddest part is that her family actually agreed all along with the core of her political agenda, what they can't stand is her extreme BlackAndWhiteMorality.
* ''PennAndTellerBullshit'' portrays various groups this way. For example, PETA.

* In various Swedish shows, we have the comedy group Grotesco performing their song "Bögarnas Fel" ("Blame Everything On The Gay Men"). One of the most famous versions was held at the extremely popular show "Singalong at Skansen" just a few days before the Stockholm PrideParade. Here, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45MhPfOyGk shown with English subtitles]]. (Click the "subtitles" button, one of the buttons to the right at the bottom.) Of course, the wordplay jokes and some other nuances are lost in translation, but it's still hilarious. (For example, the Swedish word for DoubleStandard technically literally means "twice as much morality", which is played with in the initial speech.) Note the cheering people waving pride flags.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

* ''SlaveMaker'': As a result of their constant AbuseMistake, the would-be rescuers end up "freeing" slaves against their will, resulting in slaves escaping from "freedom" and running back to their master or mistress.

[[AC:WebComics]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

----

Compare StrawLoser and BlackAndWhiteInsanity. Contrast AgainstMyReligion, where the character personally refuses to do things that he considers to be against his religion, rather than trying to bully everyone else into behaving the same way. Also contrast TheSoulsaver and SoulsavingCrusader, which can contain behavior that would be this trope if it weren't justified within the narrative. A particularly over-the-top SoapboxSadie might act this way for every new cause that pops into her head.

** Except that [[spoiler:Rev. Steve Newlin, the leader of said cult, is now a vampire - the very creature he campaigns against.]]. This could also be a case of VillainHasAPoint since [[spoiler: not only was his family assassinated by the vampires, it turns out there's an even more dangerous religious vampire fanatics - the Sanguinistas]]
** As of Season 5: The Sanguinistas. A religious movement of vampires opposed to mainstreaming who have now [[spoiler: slaughtered the Authority]], converting the remaining members, and have [[spoiler: blown up at least one True Blood factory]].

** Except that [[spoiler:Rev. Steve Newlin, the leader of said cult, is now a vampire - the very creature he campaigns against.]]

* ''{{Saved}}''. The entire movie. They're all religious fundamentalists, but some are more [[TitleDrop saved]] than others.

* In TheVerse of ChickTracts, a [[TheFundamentalist real Christian]] would never resort to this kind of behavior. (They sometimes do stuff that ''would'' be this trope if it wasn't for the convenient power of EasyEvangelism - such as using people's personal tragedies as a good time to tell them that they are going to hell unless they join the one true religion. But never mind that.)

* In various Swedish shows, we have the comedy group Grotesco performing their song "Boegarnas Fel" ("Blame Everything On The Gay Men"). One of the most famous versions was held at the extremely popular show "Singalong at Skansen" just a few days before the Stockholm PrideParade. Here, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45MhPfOyGk shown with English subtitles]]. (Click the "subtitles" button, one of the buttons to the right at the bottom.) Of course, the wordplay jokes and some other nuances are lost in translation, but it's still hilarious. (For example, the Swedish word for DoubleStandard technically literally means "twice as much morality", which is played with in the initial speech.) Note the cheering people waving pride flags.

* In one ''LawAndOrderSVU'' episode, a guy has tried for eight years to get his kidnapped brother back. The police and everyone else stopped caring many years ago, so he resorted to kidnapping and raping a woman just to get the police's attention. [[spoiler:Oh, and the woman is, of course, in on it, pulling off a little AbusivelySexy show to the audience as her "rape" gets broadcasted on the web.]]

* ''EasyA'': Marianne's group is shown doing this. First against the basketball team, then against Olive. Picketing ''fellow students'' with hateful slogans, Westboro Baptist Church Style, yay...

* ''{{Saved}}''. Just...''{{Saved}}''. The entire movie. They're all religious fundamentalists, but some are more [[TitleDrop saved]] than others.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* People with such behavior exist in RealLife from all religious and non-religious beliefs...[[FlameBait we'll leave it there]].

Compare StrawLoser and BlackAndWhiteInsanity. Contrast AgainstMyReligion, where the character personally refuses to do things that he considers to be against his religion, rather than trying to bully everyone else into behaving the same way. Also contrast TheSoulsaver and SoulsavingCrusader, which can contain behavior that would be this trope if it weren't justified within the narrative.

* In ''ParksAndRecreation'', there is the minor recurring character, Marcia Langman, the spokeswoman for the Society for Family Stability Foundation. In "Pawnee Zoo", she tries to get Leslie to annul a gay penguin wedding since "when gays marry, it ruins marriage for the rest of us." Later in "Time Capsule", she denounces the Twilight books as "There are girls quivering. There are boys staring deeply into girls' eyes as they quiver and so forth. There really is a tremendous amount of quivering. It is anti-Christian. It is pro-quivering."

Let's say that you are right and everyone else is wrong, but everyone outside your little group of like-minded righteous people is simply too dumb to understand that you are superior. Surely you would be tempted to try to reach their hearts by methods that might seem a little [[PlayedForLaughs silly]] and counterproductive?

A character doing Activist Fundamentalist Antics is likely to shout all the wrong slogans at all the wrong places: religious gatherings, family holiday dinners, even funerals. They might make botched attempts at EasyEvangelism or EpiphanyTherapy, coming across as a general {{Jerkass}}. They are likely to step on all toes, including their own, and trip over their own feet in all sorts of ways. One hallmark of this mentality is the desire to forbid other people from living their lives — not because they involve the character in the violation of [[YourNormalIsOurTaboo some certain taboo]] and not because they disobey [[MoralGuardians some "universal" morality derived from the faith]], but simply because they exist and isn't a part of the character's own SmallSecludedWorld. Some psychologists have argued that the reason why some cultists are behaving like that is that they are desperately trying to convince ''themselves'' of the righteousness of their cause.

When TheFundamentalist (or any other [[TheOnlyRighteousIndexOfFanatics fanatic]]) is played this way, they can still be scary. There might be a real risk that they'll go off to the deep end and bring out the TorchesAndPitchforks or resort to HonorRelatedAbuse. Then again, it might also turn out that whatever {{windmill}} he was fighting was NoMereWindmill after all.

Silly, scary or both: While the person doing ActivistFundamentalistAntics is often genuinely unsympathetic, it is not always so. They can [[NobleBigot have other redeeming qualities]] or [[WellIntentionedExtremist be on the right track but take it too far]]. They might also be [[TroubledSympatheticBigot wrestling with their life, conscience and/or world-view]].

** Interestingly, Marianne and her [[TheLancer lancer]] Nina are shown to be really loving and caring people. This strongly indicates that the reason they are such [[JerkAss jerks]] with their antics is that they believe they don't have a choice - that it's somehow their holy duty to act as if they were psychopaths.
* Inverted in ''NeverLetMeGo'': no matter how horrible things get, no one ever show any outrage against the system. Two of the three protagonists have emotional outbursts of dissaproval and almost hate, but always [[InternalizedCategorism aiming at themselves]].

[[AC:Literature]]
* [[{{Deryni}} Archbishop Loris]] is very much given to this. His interactions with the Mearan Pretender Caitrin and her husband Sicard are frequently punctuated with streams of invective against Deryni generally and Kelson and Duncan in particular, along with darkly dismissive assessments of the fates of Caitrin's daughter and younger son after they are taken to Kelson's court. Unfortunately for Henry Istelyn and Duncan [=McLain=], Loris goes far beyond verbal pyrotechnics.

** Except that [[spoiler:Rev. Steve Newlin, the leader of said cult, is now a vampire. The very creature he campaigns against.]]
* Virgilia in the ''North And South'' miniseries is a particularly scary example. At first she was merely ruining family dinners and such, but she eventually goes off the deep end and even call down a [[TorchesAndPitchforks lynch mob]] on [[MoralEventHorizon her own home]]. The saddest part is that her family actually agreed all along with the core of her political agenda, what they can't stand is her extreme BlackAndWhiteMorality.
* ''PennAndTellerBullshit'' portrays various groups this way, for example PETA.
** Or rather, they are ''very'' fond of making sure to get the footage of the groups acting that way, rather than a more "rational" response stated at another date. As per Penn's own description, "Fair, and EXTREMELY biased."
* In ''ParksAndRecreation'' there is the minor recurring character, Marcia Langman, the spokeswoman for the Society for Family Stability Foundation. In "Pawnee Zoo", she tries to get Leslie to annul a gay penguin wedding since "when gays marry, it ruins marriage for the rest of us." Later in "Time Capsule", she denounces the Twilight books as "There are girls quivering. There are boys staring deeply into girls' eyes as they quiver and so forth. There really is a tremendous amount of quivering. It is anti-Christian. It is pro-quivering."

* In one ''LawAndOrderSVU'' episode, a guy has tried for eight years to get his kidnapped brother back. The police and everyone else stopped caring many years ago, so now he resorted to kidnapping and raping a woman just to get the police's attention. [[spoiler:Oh, and the woman is of course in on it. Pulling off a little AbusivelySexy show to the audience as her "rape" gets broadcasted on the web.]]
* In various Swedish shows we have the comedy group Grotesco performing their song "Boegarnas Fel" ("Blame Everything On The Gay Men"). One of the most famous versions was held at the extremely popular show "Singalong at Skansen" just a few days before the Stockholm PrideParade. Here [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45MhPfOyGk shown with English subtitles]]. (Click the "subtitles" button, one of the buttons to the right at the bottom.) Of course the wordplay jokes and some other nuances are lost in translation, but still hilarious. (For example, the Swedish word for DoubleStandard technically literally means "twice as much morality", which is played with in the initial speech.) Note the cheering people waving pride flags.

* ''ZinniaJones'' has at least two episodes on this. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWOQGhhrIpE one about MassResistance]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EwlT5KzeRE one about Westboro Baptist Church]].

* Such people exist in RealLife from all religious (non)beliefs...[[FlameBait we'll leave it there]].

* In various Swedish shows we have the comedy group Grotesco performing their song "Boegarnas Fel" ("Blame Everything On The Gay Men"). One of the most famous versions was held at the extremely popular show "Singalong at Skansen" just a few days before the Stockholm PrideParade. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45MhPfOyGk Here shown with English subtitles]]. Of course the wordplay jokes and some other nuances are lost in translation, but still hilarious. (For example, the Swedish word for DoubleStandard technically literally means "twice as much morality", which is played with in the initial speech.) Note the cheering people waving pride flags.

* In various Swedish shows we have the comedy group Grotesco performing their song "Boegarnas Fel" ("Blame Everything On The Gay Men"). One of the most famous versions was held at the extremely popular show "Singalong at Skansen" just a few days before the Stockholm PrideParade. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45MhPfOyGk Here shown with English subtitles]]. Of course the wordplay jokes and some other nuances are lost in translation, but still hilarious. Note the cheering people waving pride flags.

* [[{{Deryni}} Archbishop Loris is very much given to this. His interactions with the Mearan Pretender Caitrin and her husband Sicard are frequently punctuated with streams of invective against Deryni generally and Kelson and Duncan in particular, along with darkly dismissive assessments of the fates of Caitrin's daughter and younger son after they are taken to Kelson's court. Unfortunately for Henry Istelyn and Duncan [=McLain=], Loris goes far beyond verbal pyrotechnics.

* In TheVerse of ChickTracts, a [[TheFundamentalist real Christian]] would never resort to this kind of behavior. (They sometimes do stuff that ''would'' be this trope if it wasn't for the convenient power of EasyEvangelism - such as using people's personal tragedies as a good time to tell them that they are going to hell unless they join the one true religion. But never mind that.) However, preachers of ''other'' faiths easily fall into this trope, [[StrawLoser thus proving the Christians to be superior]].

* One ''SouthPark'' episode ended with a ban on secular Christmas as well as religious Christmas, all thanks to Kyle's mother. The only song left for the kids to sing for Christmas was "Kyle's Mom is a Big Fat Bitch" (in D minor, no less).

A character doing Activist Fundamentalist Antics is likely to shout all the wrong slogans at all the wrong places: religious gatherings, family holiday dinners, even funerals. She might make botched attempts at EasyEvangelism or EpiphanyTherapy, coming across as a general {{Jerkass}}. She is likely to step on all toes, including her own, and trip over her own feet in all sorts of ways. One hallmark of this mentality is the desire to forbid other people from living their lives — not because they involve the character in the violation of [[YourNormalIsOurTaboo some certain taboo]] and not because they disobey [[MoralGuardians some "universal" morality derived from the faith]], but simply because they exist and isn't a part of the character's own SmallSecludedWorld. Some psychologists have argued that the reason why some cultists are behaving like that is that they are desperately trying to convince ''themselves'' of the righteousness of their cause.

When TheFundamentalist (or any other [[TheOnlyRighteousIndexOfFanatics fanatic]]) is played this way, he can still be scary. There might be a real risk that he'll go off to the deep end and bring out the TorchesAndPitchforks or resort to HonorRelatedAbuse. Then again, it might also turn out that whatever {{windmill}} he was fighting was NoMereWindmill after all.

Silly, scary or both: While the person doing ActivistFundamentalistAntics is often genuinely unsympathetic, it is not always so. He can [[NobleBigot have other redeeming qualities]] or [[WellIntentionedExtremist be on the right track but take it too far]]. He might also be [[TroubledSympatheticBigot wrestling with his life, conscience and/or world-view]].