One thing that has helped me to understand fundamentalist groups a bit better is to see these tendencies in myself. I consider myself a strong individualist and

One thing that has helped me to understand fundamentalist groups a bit better is to see these tendencies in myself. I consider myself a strong individualist and free-thinker, but I still have places where I take comfort in fitting in to a group. I tend to pick groups that I view as positive: hacker, scientist, feminist, etc. but they are fundamentally (pun intended) filling the same need as religious beliefs. They give me a framework to understand the world and feel connected to others. I think as humans we are deeply attracted to belonging, and sometimes the "better" ideals are more dangerous, because we feel justified in judging others. Intelligent people are better at rationalizing their core beliefs, and therefore have trouble seeing beyond them. Perhaps if we all could recognize the tendencies in ourselves it would provide enough empathy to facilitate change instead of conflict.