A different spin on things.

[KenWittlief]

Brainwashing is a term that is often used loosely. Actual brainwashing is a process in which you take a person, usually who has some shared interest or goal, and you:

cut them off from all contact with their friends and family
control all aspects of their life - micro manage the clothes they wear, their hair, their food and drink
keep them busy to the point of exhaustion
deprive them of sleep

and most importantly, control the situation so that you are the only positive point of human contact they have, making them feel that you are the only person who is on their side, their only friend

its very rare that this happens in our society - some cults still use these techniques. Interestingly, military bootcamp rides right on the boarderline of genuine brainwashing.

My point is that the extreemist who make life impossible for everyone else are not all that different from any of us. Somewhere, someone convinced them that God has a personal mission for them, or that God expects them to perform a specific task, or that God has given them special knowledge and insight (a gift...) that no one else has

and in many cases, that is all it takes. Once a person believes they are on a mission from God, everything else becomes trivial. Months of actual brainwashing is not required.