Rightwing Simpletons, Self-Immolators, and Flame Fanners
Ideas are living cultural forces that have the capacity to seduce and subordinate the individual — Dostoevsky
Constance Garnett translated the majority of Russian literature into English in the first half of the twentieth century. After translating Dostoevsky’s novel Demons, Garnett changed the title to The Possessed. Decades after Garnett’s death, translators changed the title back to Demons to remain true to Dostoevsky’s theme.
A Russian literary critic explained, “For Dostoevsky, ideas are living cultural forces that have the capacity to seduce and subordinate the individual consciousness, and the individual who has become alienated from his own concrete national traditions is particularly susceptible.”
Dostoevsky’s characters displayed what is now known as ideological possession. The ideology itself isn’t necessarily the problem; it’s the way people believe it, which can be harmful.
In 2015, the Advocate, a popular LGBT news outlet, reported that antigay Texas pastor Rick Scarbrough, who had promised to go to jail to defend traditional marriage, was now threatening to put himself on fire to prevent marriage equality.