Renouncing past ideology sacrifices hardcore members needed for ground mobilization

Evidence

The Fatimids did not abandon their distinctive doctrines, but on the contrary gave them a central importance in their whole political system. Isma ili theology provided the basis on which the Fatimids rested their claim to the Caliphate and denied that of the Abbasids. As long as the Abbasids survived, the Fatimids were engaged in a religious—i.e., an ideological conflict, in which doctrine was one of their most powerful weapons. In a sense, they were caught in a vicious circle. Because of their initial failure to win over all Islam, they were obliged to maintain their ideological challenge; yet, by so doing, they isolated themselves from the central consensus of Islam, and thus ensured their own ultimate defeat and disappearance. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 392 (#expands, via linked claim)

With her change in thinking, her ghost hunting team broke up under intense personal hostility between the group that wanted to do investigations according to scientific principles, and another, which continued to use Ouija boards, spiritualist sessions and crystal pendulums. … Nowadays, she explains this to herself by her bitterness back then about the years and money she wasted as a ghost hunter. “But that was my fault; that was nobody else’s fault.” Now, studying psychology, she makes a point of addressing ghost believers on her blog, offering explanations rather than refuting claims. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 209 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A movement’s founding ideology can become a trap that ensures its defeat — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 392; Deconverts often become bitter toward their former belief community. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 209; Orthodox factions retained mass member support while reformist factions were expelled — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 483

Related

• A movement’s founding ideology can become a trap that ensures its defeat (similarity 0.85)
• Defeated political movements must choose between obsolescence and full capitulation. (similarity 0.83)
• Deconverts often become bitter toward their former belief community. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• A movement’s founding ideology can become a trap that ensures its defeat #expands (0.75) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 392
• Deconverts often become bitter toward their former belief community. #exemplifies (0.72) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 209