I’ve had two particularly obnoxious coworkers in my career. One on the left and one on the right. Their behavior was indistinguishable from that of a religious zealot. They were extremely unpleasant people, and no one should have to listen to them while on the clock.

I didn’t say anything about human rights activism. I drew a parallel between religious zealotry and political zealotry in the workplace that I have personally experienced. And the parallel is perfectly apt.

Horseshoe theory of political orientation. It's very true. Personality types of left and right wing zealots overlap tremendously (inclination towards authoritarianism etc)

I always thought it’s more of a donut (call it a torus if you want to sound smart) than a horseshoe.

I like that label because it has a "stupid" connotation to it.

I'd lean that they are equivalent. Both are all about espousing what the right way to be a human is, and more specifically have strong opinions about the wrong way to be a human

Historically, religion and human rights activism are closely conjoined. Anthropologically, religious proselytization and ideological activism are nearly indistinguishable phenomena.

Religious evangelists believe they are literally saving your soul.

Which is part of what makes them annoying as hell. If they want to do that, let them first prove -- to my intellectual satisfaction, not theirs -- that I have a "soul" to be "saved" in the first place.

Why not?