The human yearning for truth, which might offer security and predictability in life, comes up against the basic uncertainties and unpredictabilities of living, whether as a child or as a grown-up. These uncertainties, and the search for satisfactory answers, are factors that attract many people to fundamentalist beliefs and lead them to subject themselves to leaders who carry the complementary belief, namely, that it is they who “hold the answers” and can control the circumstances of life.
