"Fanaticism refuses to look at another man as a person. It regards him only as a thing. He is either a 'member' or he is not a member. He is either part of one's own mob, or he is outside the mob. Woe to him, above all, if he stands outside the mob with the mute protest of his individual personality! That is what happened at the Crucifixion of Christ. Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, came as a person, seeking the understanding, the acceptance of the love of free persons. He found Himself face to face with a compact fanatical group, that wanted nothing of His Person. They feared HIs disturbing uniqueness. It was necessary, as Caiphas said, that this 'one man should die for the nation'--that the individual Person, and about all this Person, should be sacrificed to the collectivity. From its very birth, Christianity has been categorically opposed to everything that savors of the mass-movement." ~ Thomas Merton (DISPUTED QUESTIONS, page 132)
with thanks to the Thomas Merton group's "Words of Merton" .. this one was too profound not to share via blog (or via megaphone for that matter!!!)
