History Main / ActivistFundamentalistAntics

* Edna Strickland in ''VideoGame/BackToTheFuture'' seems harmless enough in her support for Prohibition in 1931. [[spoiler:It later turns out she was the famed "Speakeasy Arsonist". [[FromNobodyToNightmare And in two other timelines]]...]]

** Estrella Partleigh and the ''Campaign For Equal Heights'' are another good Discworld example: where human beings take it upon themselves to agitate for the civil rights of Dwarfs, despite the fact that Dwarfs are incredibly successful in their own right and do not need humans to advocate for them...

Silly, scary, or both, while the person doing Activist Fundamentalist Antics 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]]. It can even lead to a CrisisOfFaith if things don't turn out the way their indoctrination led them to expect.

** How ridiculous can their protesting get? In a flashback they're shown protesting a wedding reception. One of the protesters was ''the bride herself''. If that's not convincing, Ms. Cendordoll found a reason to protest ''Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold'''',which, we remind you, is a movie ''about Jesus Christ''. (Her excuse is that it's too long and dull, and therefore moviegoers will be tempted into whoring out of boredom.)

'''Ms. Censordoll:''' Only the Jewish parts.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', after Kira becomes a ShadowDictator, a program called Kira's Kingdom runs on many television networks. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything It's similar to]] the evangelical Christian programs on Creator/{{TBN}}, except it's about Kira. Even news programs get in on this: Kiyomi Takada, Kira's official spokesperson, runs an editorial segment where she talks about how Kira loves the people who accept him, the world is a better place under Kira, parents should train their children to love and worship Kira, etc. etc.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', after Kira becomes a ShadowDictator, a program called Kira's Kingdom runs on many television networks. It's similar to the evangelical Christian programs on Creator/TBN, except it's about Kira. Even news programs get in on this: Kiyomi Takada, Kira's official spokesperson, runs an editorial segment where she talks about how Kira loves the people who accept him, the world is a better place under Kira, parents should train their children to love and worship Kira, etc. etc.

* One ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ended with a ban on secular Christmas as well as religious Christmas, all thanks to Kyle's mother. They ended up staging a production by New York minimalist composer Philip Glass, which included all the children in black leotards and doing interpretive dance.

** As of Season 5: The Sanguinistas. A religious movement of fundamentalist vampires opposed to mainstreaming who have [[spoiler: slaughtered the Authority]], converting it's remaining members, and have [[spoiler: blown up at least one True Blood factory]]. They are also convinced they are [[spoiler: the 'chosen ones' of Lilith]].

* 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.

** Literature/CiaphasCain does consider certain people, such as the Redemptionists, to be "Emperor-botherers."[[note]]In British English a "god-botherer" is a slang term for annoying evangelists.[[/note]]

** How ridiculous can their protesting get? In a flashback they're shown protesting a wedding reception. One of the protesters was ''the bride herself''.
-->'''Milly, in bridal gown and veil:''' Hors d'oeuvres are what a whore serves!

* ''Literature/{{ChristianNation}}'' sees a radical, Dominionist Christian sect seize control of the United States and stone gays, closely censor TV and radio and kill heretics.

** Estrella Partleigh and the ''Campaign For Equal Heights'' are another good Discworld example: where human beings take it upon themselves to agitate for the civil rights of Dwarfs, despite the fact Dwarfs are incredibly successful in their own right and do not need humans to advocate for them...

* In ''ComicBook/XMen'', Reverend William Stryker's entire deal is basically one big example of this. He started as a TV [[EasyEvangelism Evangelist]] that blamed mutants for the world's problems, and claiming they were the children of the devil. He started off as a protester, before becoming leader of a para-military hate-cult known as 'The Purifiers' who did this to the extreme: Outright hunting and killing mutants, and trying to 'do god's work' via mass-genocide, but was stopped before he could make an example by shooting Kitty Pryde on TV.

A character pulling Activist Fundamentalist Antics is likely to scream all the wrong slogans at all the wrong places: religious gatherings, comedy festivals, family holiday dinners, even funerals. They may well make botched attempts at EasyEvangelism or EpiphanyTherapy, only to come across as a general {{Jerkass}}. They are likely to step on all sorts of metaphorical toes, including their own as they trip over their own feet. One hallmark of this mentality is [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence the desire to somehow exile and/or exterminate certain types of people]]. Maybe said people [[YourNormalIsOurTaboo break taboos]] and/or [[MoralGuardians are 'immoral']], but the ''real'' issue is what they 'are' and not what they do e.g. they are the SINFUL HELL-SPAWN/children of parents who ate egg-salad sandwiches on a Tuesday IN DIRECT DEFIANCE OF GOD'S WILL. This desire to exclude or eliminate said people stems from the fact that 'their kind' is fundamentally incompatible with the Activist Fundamentalist's vision of a righteous and SmallSecludedWorld. For the same reason, they're most likely EgocentricallyReligious. Some psychologists have argued that the reason why some cultists behaving this way - so militantly, and with so much hostility - is that they are desperately trying to convince ''themselves'' of the righteousness of their cause.

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.

A character doing Activist Fundamentalist Antics is likely to scream all the wrong slogans at all the wrong places: religious gatherings, comedy festivals, family holiday dinners, even funerals. They may well make botched attempts at EasyEvangelism or EpiphanyTherapy, only to come across as a general {{Jerkass}}. They are likely to step on all sorts of metaphorical toes, including their own as they trip over their own feet. One hallmark of this mentality is [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence the desire to somehow exile and/or exterminate certain types of people]]. Maybe said people [[YourNormalIsOurTaboo break taboos]] and/or [[MoralGuardians are 'immoral']], but the ''real'' issue is what they 'are' and not what they do e.g. they are the SINFUL HELL-SPAWN/children of parents who ate egg-salad sandwiches on a Tuesday IN DIRECT DEFIANCE OF GOD'S WILL. This desire to exclude or eliminate said people stems from the fact that 'their kind' is fundamentally incompatible with the Activist Fundamentalist's vision of a righteous and SmallSecludedWorld. For the same reason, they're most likely EgocentricallyReligious. Some psychologists have argued that the reason why some cultists behaving this way - so militantly, and with so much hostility - is that they are desperately trying to convince ''themselves'' of the righteousness of their cause.

* The Equalists from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' are an anti-bending group. The enemy includes: The Avatar, every last bender in existence because, you know, they're inherently evil, and possibly all non-benders who are not Equalists themselves. For extra fun, they're dupes [[spoiler:of one of the more powerful and frightening benders in the world.]]

** Averted for the most part. Any public deviance from the norm is rewarded with being shot if you're in the Imperial Guard, burned alive by the Sisters of Battle or subjected to the Inquisition's attention. However, there are those Literature/CiaphasCain deems Emperor-botherers who get in the way of the real soldiering, such as the Redemptionists.

* ''Website/FundiesSayTheDarndestThings'' lives on this trope.

* An example with a ThinkOfTheChildren MoralGuardian: An excerpt from ''"How I Found the Superman"'' by GKChesterton, [[OlderThanTelevision Daily News 1909]]:

* Reg Shoe (before he was a zombie) in Discworld/NightWatch is the classic useful idiot: he shouts lots of slogans, insists that the revolution happen according to his great plans, and is otherwise an insufferable RuleAbidingRebel. When Vimes shows up and lays out just how little anyone (including the real revolutionaries) cares about what he has to say, Reg's brain "rejected the information as contrary to whatever total fantasy was going on inside". After zombification, his antics are slightly more subdued, in that he's always going on about unfair treatment of the undead, while the other undead wish he'd shut up about it.

* The Age Of The Fall in Wrestling/RingOfHonor, Full Impact Pro and others. The American Healthcare system is ''wrong'' and you're going to hear about it, even though you came to watch a wrestling show. When they actually got around to talking about everything they(or rather, Wrestling/JimmyJacobs) thought was corroding society, fans actually agreed with them. That still didn't stop Age Of The Fall from being [[ProducePelting pelted with garbage]] when they one matches though.

* 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 RomanticizedAbuse show to the audience as her "rape" gets broadcast on the web.]]

* ''Film/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... 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 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. It's shown Marianne's father is also a pastor, and a real {{Jerkass}} one who treats his faith as fact and refuses to let Olive agree to disagree. So, its likely her behavior isn't her fault, its largely he result of her strict religious upbringing that she is trying to protect.