Quote
karam-mudra
...who share his positions is radical, inhumane and unteachable.
Studies of authoritarianism/conservatism suggest that "ideological stubbornness" may be explained by a number of combined factors…
- Deferral to perceived legitimate authority rather than open mindedness
- A tendency to compartmentalized thinking, and not noticing contradictions between compartmentalized beliefs
- Identity politics which resist change and justify inequality built around the "good us"/"demonized them" dynamic
- Manifestations of tribalism/cultism: group cohesiveness and `loyalty' are core values, gender roles serve to keep people in their place, religion serves the purpose of tribal unity and self-justification
It should be noted that these are not seen as fixed variables, but rather as a dynamic response to a perceived external threat which attempts to manage uncertainty by addressing the needs for security, dominance, self-esteem, and anxiety management.
A cynical view may well see Nydahl as using the threat of Islam to manipulate these variables in order to establish a strong group identity, however the fact that he actually mentions certain points - such as the Buddhist ideals of self-reliance, openness to experience, etc., and the fact that he himself seems to rely more on claims to legitimate authority rather than being able to think for himself suggest to me that he is as caught up in these contradictions as his followers - to borrow a phrase, the 16th Karmapa gave him the ball and told him to run with it, unfortunately he left the field and even the stadium.