Passion

People believe that ideas can be dangerous, and being passionate about an idea can be even more dangerous. Because we have seen and learned about innumerable horrifying crimes committed by people with incredibly strong conviction about their ideas. The Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, and the Cultural Revolution are just 3 examples that come to mind immediately. As a result, we are told by today's society that we should be tolerant of other ideas and not be too "arrogant" as to think that we are right and others are wrong. It seems that if we say to ourselves that there is really no one right answer, then we're bound to build towards a more tolerant and peaceful society.

But is passion dangerous per se? Sure, if you are passionate about a belief that tells you to kill people who didn't do what you tell them to do, then that is dangerous. If you act on a belief that tells you to enslave people of a different race because they're sub-human, then that is dangerous. But what if you believed in freedom, reason, and respecting other people? What if you believed in living an independent life of happiness? Is passion about these ideas dangerous too? Socrates believed in reason so strongly that he was willing to die for his belief in it. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson believed in freedom so strongly that they risked their lives to gain and protect it. How can you equate these men with the likes of Hitler and Stalin?

It is ideas that are dangerous, not the passion. Holding evil ideas, even if very weakly, can be dangerous. Would Hitler have been able to succeed had he not had the acquiescence of the general German public? Would the extreme part of Islam today succeed if the rest of "moderate" Islam is largely silent as acts of unspeakable evil are committed? If you hold a dangerous idea, then even if you don't act on it, you are still dangerous. That's because you will simply acquiesce to those who would act on it.

Why would people think that passion is dangerous? Because passion makes people ACT. So to tell people "it doesn't matter WHAT you believe in, just don't be too passionate about it", is to say that the only good idea is to not act on your ideas. To believe in an idea so stupid would be funny if only it wasn't so sad.