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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAuthoritarian followers
I used to believe that with religious people, Jesus and the teachings of patience, tolerance, compassion, love, humility and understanding were paramount.
This election proved me wrong.
A true follower would not support someone who mocks the disabled, etc., etc., ad infinitum.
So it has become painfully clear these people are authoritarian followers first, followers of the teachings of Christ somewhere else down the line.
Every trump supporter I know is highly religious. So by definition you cannot reach them with logic.
Rest assured now that they have the reins of power, they will try to implement an authoritarian Christian theocracy at the state and federal level.
This is not a disagreement over conservative versus progressive ideologies... It is highly religious, very scared authoritarian followers (read Altemeyer: The Authoritarians) trying to impose their values on the rest of humanity.
treestar
(82,383 posts)They will say "at least we didn't riot (their word for protest) as if that makes them look virtuous. I want to ask them, is there nothing that would make you protest? No matter how bad things got from your point of view, you would never protest? That tells me they are authoritarian followers who are smug in their pride that they always do as they are told.
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)Very informative.
BSdetect
(8,998 posts)Gets them blinkered to the point of absurdity.
As we are now seeing.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)But we have 2000 years of Christians behaving badly for the sake of doctrinal purity and ignorance.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)mopinko
(70,107 posts)it warps the mind and the conscience, and turns follows into parrots.
read also, john dean "conservatives with out conscience"
Snarkoleptic
(5,997 posts)This is an important work on the subject, and it's free!
Bob Altemeyer's - The Authoritarians
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
The feedback Ive gotten from those who have read The Authoritarians enables me to give you the major reason why you might want to do so too. It ties things together for me, people have said, You can see how so many things all fit together. It explains the things about conservatives that didnt make any sense to me, others have commented. And the one that always brings a smile to my face, Now at last I understand my brother-in-law (or grandmother, uncle, woman in my car pool, Congressman, etc.).
Maybe itll work that way for you too.
Bob Altemeyer
May, 2010
Well, you might be thinking, I dont believe any of this is true. Or maybe, youre thinking, What else is new? Ive believed this for years. Why should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the Whole Book link on this page?
Because if you do, youll begin an easy-ride journey through some very relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look at the research.
For example, take the following statement: Once our government leaders and the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within. Sounds like something Hitler would say, right? Want to guess how many politicians, how many lawmakers in the United States agreed with it? Want to guess what they had in common?
Or how about a government program that persecutes political parties, or minorities, or journalists the authorities do not like, by putting them in jail, even torturing and killing them. Nobody would approve of that, right? Guess again.
Dont think for a minute this doesnt concern you personally. Let me ask you, as were passing the time here, how many ordinary people do you think an evil authority would have to order to kill you before he found someone who would, unjustly, out of sheer obedience, just because the authority said to? What sort of person is most likely to follow such an order? What kind of official is most likely to give that order, if it suited his purposes? Look at what experiments tell us, as I did.
If, on the other hand, youre way ahead of me, and believe the extreme right-wing elements in America are poised to take it over, permanently, I think you can still get a lot from this book. The studies explain so much about these people. Yes, the research shows they are very aggressive, but why are they so hostile? Yes, experiments show they are almost totally uninfluenced by reasoning and evidence, but why are they so dogmatic? Yes, studies show the Religious Right has more than its fair share of hypocrites, from top to bottom; but why are they two-faced, and how come one face never notices the other? Yes, their leaders can give the flimsiest of excuses and even outright lies about things theyve done wrong, but why do the rank and file believe them? What happens when authoritarian followers find the authoritarian leaders they crave and start marching together?
I think youll find this book explains a lot. Many scattered impressions about the enemies of freedom and equality become solidified by science and coherently connected here.
You think Im pulling your leg? Click the link.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,702 posts)an authoritarian world-view (God as the strict, punishing father) and/or have an authoritarian hierarchy (you must obey the clergy and accept what they say without question) are probably going to be Trump supporters. These are mainly the fundamentalist Protestant denominations and conservative Catholics. Some other denominations (e.g., Episcopalians, ELCA Lutherans, Unitarians, UCC) tend to encourage free thought rather than unthinking obedience. Members of these denominations tend to be liberal.
There isn't a perfect Venn diagram overlap suggesting that all Trump supporters are religious as opposed to all atheists being liberal. I know a couple of Trumpers who wouldn't set foot in a church except at gunpoint, but they are all in for Trump because they think he'll cut their taxes and they hated Hillary. The fact that Trump is actively furthering right-wing Christian dominionism doesn't seem to bother them in the least. But these people are also authoritarian followers in the sense that they love the idea of a "strong" leader and a military that can crush everybody else's. They are the flag-waving America First types. So it seems to me that the characteristic most likely to predict support for Trump is authoritarianism more than religion.
Comatose Sphagetti
(836 posts)dalton99a
(81,505 posts)to purify "their" country