• Vespair@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    This is just a quiet part out loud thing again. Remember, to most American evangelicals, anything less than a devotion to evangelical Christianity is satanism. It’s a binary thing to them, so whether you’re actually Jewish, or Hindu, or atheist, or whatever, it doesn’t matter; if you aren’t American evangelical Christian, then you are Satanist. I’m not being hyperbolic, this is a core tenet of American evangelical Christianity.

    • Xhieron@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Make no mistake: Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Christians Universalists, Christians who happen to vote Democrat, and other Christian or near-Christian faiths will not be spared. This is certainly a religious movement, but it does not have Jesus of Nazareth at its head.

      This movement has more in common with the Westboro hate/terrorism group than with orthodox Christianity, and Christians who do not espouse the right political hatred will absolutely be labeled Satanists too.

      • Neato@ttrpg.network
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        9 months ago

        They won’t spare their own, either. Fascists turn on their own for bullshit purity tests every time. This is always just a grab for power and religion is just the excuse.

        • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Yep. Look no further than the spats between Marge and Bobo for a preview. Or between tiny d and…well, nearly anyone that’s ever worked for him.

      • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        other Christian or near-Christian faiths will not be spared. This is certainly a religious movement, but it does not have Jesus of Nazareth at its head.

        They certainly were not spared during the original exercise of fascism.

        And I’ll go one point further and assert that the closer a single individual is to walking the tenets of classical Christianity – compassion, honesty, practicing ethical consideration in choosing personal acts, abhorring unnecessarily hurtful acts – not only will they NOT be spared, they will be among those most violently targeted, as soon as they become known to the persecutors.

        Why? Because these are True Believers, and they are what real resistance is made of.

        Regardless of the belief system underlying a True Believer, that’s what makes a True Believer tick: the belief itself. It doesn’t have to be Christianity, or even any specific religion; just their own belief system and their near-exclusive personal reliance upon it in daily life, and especially in times of crisis.

        Nothing outside that belief system moves them in matters that are important to them, nor do they require external validation for their choices. That makes them impossible to control, hard to spot because they are not necessarily talkative or participative on social media, and frequently impossible to predict if you don’t know them personally.

        So when that belief system involves a deep abhorrence of all things unnecessarily hurtful to others (or “evil” if you will), when they are the ones who actually decide to be that One Good Man in their current reality when they hear the old maxim “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” – classic Christianity, in a nutshell – they are deeply threatening to authoritarian governments and regimes that rely on manufacturing fear and the manipulation of personal belief to maintain control over individual citizens.

    • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      "Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

      He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

      He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”

      Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over."

      —Emo Phillips

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      My favorite thing was noticing how many of them also call any non-xtian religion (but also includes Mormons and JW and Catholics, too, lol, WUT) “pagan”.

      First time I ran across such a thing, I was like…“wait, wait, wait, what?” in the middle of one of them going through a Gish Gallop of evangelical bullshit.

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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    9 months ago

    When I think of a satanic cult in Alabama, Tommy, I think of the largest terrorist organization in our history, the KKK.

    Ever been to one of their meetings, Tommy?

    • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      We all know he’s a regular. Nursing a beer and longing for the days they could…BBQ Uppercase Ts…and…decorate trees with rope…

    • CynicRaven@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      It’s goofy as hell. House members and senators can get donations and contributions from people anywhere. I’m sure it could be funneled to circumvent, but I would expect laws that candidates be only allowed to get them from entities and people in their geographic constituencies would at least have some kind of positive effect.

      • rayyy@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        House members and senators can get donations and contributions from people anywhere

        Mostly rich folks with right wing agendas that benefit themselves though. It was mostly the rich right wingers that funded Jan6 - looking at Ginny Thomas.

      • Manos@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Out of state donations help out a lot of Democrats in red area too. The difference tends to be Republican candidates get mega-donors and corps from out of state, while Dems get lots of small donation from private citizens throughout the country.

        The 2020 Senate races in Georgia, Kentucky and Texas come to mind. They had popular Dem candidates that were getting donations from all over because of the attention their races were getting.

    • vortic@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      He’s not completely there for himself, though this trip is certainly self serving or he would do it. He’s there to put his weight behind a candidate for Mitt Romney’s senate seat. A MAGAT who has been endorsed by Trump.

  • Tedrow@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    This is a part of Christian Nationalism. Their strategy is to say that leaders of groups they don’t agree with are literally possessed by demons. This is their plan to dehumanize the opposition. They are very careful to mention going to war with, and killing, the demons. You can see the slippery slope. This is very intentional language.

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      It goes hand in hand with them claiming all their opposition are pedos, as well. Even though if there is any group with a pedo problem, it’s the right wing.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Fuck it. I’ll get possessed by a progressive demon that taxes billionaires and corporations at a fair rate, over following a god that supports bigotry against LGBTQ people and laughs at children’s drowning in a river filled with razor wire, any fuckin day of the week.

  • Blackout@kbin.run
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    9 months ago

    He’s got to be more specific. I belong to at least 3, which one is stealing kids?

  • Drusas@kbin.run
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    9 months ago

    “We have never overcome a cult like we’re dealing with right now.”

    More projection.

    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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      9 months ago

      40 years. The Satanic Panic was strongest in the 80s. Dungeons and Dragons, oooohhh, oh no. Motley Crue said Shout at the Devil! Daycare employees are undoubtedly sacrificing horses and making children participate.

      See: Michelle Remembers

      Anyway, ok Tommy. I can’t take you seriously because of your name. See the Friendly Atheist blog to learn how far off these jokers are from understanding anything at all. Support the Freedom From Religion foundation and the Satanic Temple.

      • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yep, you hit the high points. The McMartin daycare thing was insane.

        And I am sorry to report that I did in fact read Michelle Remembers whenever it came out; I had finally forgotten it Thank You Very Fucking Much lol. Of all the lurid unworthy trash I have read in my life, that was likely the unworthiest.

    • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I thought it was the 80s, with the backmasking/D&D/Judas Priest bullshit?

      Jesus, I’m so old all the screaming/arm flapping/Chicken Little satanic panics are starting to blend.

      EDITED TO ADD: I should have read the other comments first, lol.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      For a hot sec, I was like “the mid 90s weren’t 30 years ago”.

      Death is just around the corner for me.

  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    That’s like the one and only religion that actually respects humanity, so even taking this guy’s bullshit at face value, it’s still good news lol.

    Tenets of satanism:

    I - One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.

    II - The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.

    III - One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.

    IV - The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one’s own.

    V - Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.

    VI - People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one’s best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.

    VII - Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

  • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Can you imagine sending your eighteen year old son to play football for this guy? Must’ve been quite interesting if your eighteen year old son also happened to have an abundance of melanin.

  • Maple Engineer@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    The Satanic Panic is back? The whole drag queen story thing ran its course and they couldn’t come up with anything new so they went back to the Satanic Panic? What’s next, satanic messages in music if you pay rock music MP3’s backward?