ABSTRACT
‘Extremism’ is a term often used by liberal critics for the activity and beliefs of people who seek to impose intransigent religious or secular ideologies. When confronted with extremism today it is easy to make the perhaps mistaken assumption that it is merely the creation of contemporary circumstances. Recent studies indicate that what has often been presumed to be ‘the irritating perversity of the young’ is better understood as an adolescent’s response to biological change in the brain itself, knowledge of which should lead to a better response to teenage behaviour and give some insight as to why some young people are seemingly drawn easily into radical extremes, along with often violent behaviour. Observation of extremism across cultural divide is often impaired by limited cross-cultural awareness. So, concentration on a single culture, in this case Christendom, may help to clarify aspects of the problems for those who wish to see what role education may take in directing young people’s enthusiasm and idealism into creative channels.
