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I'm fascinated and puzzled by how a small group of ultra-radical Russian Old Believers managed to convince hundreds or thousands (!) at a time to exchange this world for what they trusted would be the next, by drowning or (preferably) burning themselves. This happened from the late 17th century onward, with isolated cases occurring even in the 20th century. They presumably did so for their faith: as a statement of how firm they were in it. In a similar fashion, the much-mythologized Cathars (no, they hardly practiced gender equality, their bishops were all dudes), who presented an ongoing challenge to the authorities in 14th century Europe, were so hell-bent on becoming martyrs for their faith that they reportedly jumped into the fires prepared for them, before being pushed. It doesn't seem unfair at all to compare many of them with criminals who take hostages, counting on being shot dead by the police. Church and State were just their instrument of martyrdom, and they knew how to set it in motion. In the case of those Old Believer radicals, it were the tsar and patriarch who were entirely to blame, for being servants of Antichrist.

There is an age-old question behind all this, of whether religion should reject the world or be a part of it, and in the latter case, to which extent of compromise and 'pollution'. In the case of world rejection, the reli-heads preserve their 'purity', at the cost of an extremely hostile view upon 'the world', to the point where they may find it necessary to forcefully exit, perhaps taking a few of the infidels with them.

Cutting-edge human psychology. Interesting. And always relevant as well.

Description
I'm fascinated and puzzled by how a small group of ultra-radical Russian Old Believers managed to convince hundreds or thousands (!) at a time to exchange this world for what they trusted would be the next, by drowning or (preferably) burning themselves. This happened from the late 17th century onward, with isolated cases occurring even in the 20th century. They presumably did so for their faith: as a statement of how firm they were in it. In a similar fashion, the much-mythologized Cathars (no, they hardly practiced gender equality, their bishops were all dudes), who presented an ongoing challenge to the authorities in 14th century Europe, were so hell-bent on becoming martyrs for their faith that they reportedly jumped into the fires prepared for them, before being pushed. It doesn't seem unfair at all to compare many of them with criminals who take hostages, counting on being shot dead by the police. Church and State were just their instrument of martyrdom, and they knew how to set it in motion. In the case of those Old Believer radicals, it were the tsar and patriarch who were entirely to blame, for being servants of Antichrist.

There is an age-old question behind all this, of whether religion should reject the world or be a part of it, and in the latter case, to which extent of compromise and 'pollution'. In the case of world rejection, the reli-heads preserve their 'purity', at the cost of an extremely hostile view upon 'the world', to the point where they may find it necessary to forcefully exit, perhaps taking a few of the infidels with them.

Cutting-edge human psychology. Interesting. And always relevant as well.