American Hellscape: How Trump's Well-Armed Shock Troops Could Become Even More Deadly & Barbaric

[appalachiablue]

By Thom Hartmann, Daily Kos, Aug. 3, 2021. - Ed.

With armed militia groups trying to take down our democracy, from January 6th to invading state capitols, things seem bad, maybe even Civil War bad. But if they hook up with the Christian right- with one small change to their ideology - we could be plunged into a hellscape right out of the 10th century. There’s a thin line between what we call “civilization” and the kind of grim barbarism created by ISIS, Boko Haram and Al Qaeda. That line is defined by a single and simple tweak of a culture & its main religion’s primary story-line with a variation that, from time to time, infects human cultures. Here it is:

Societies that believe one gets to heaven by doing good works define the baseline for today’s “civilized” cultures. But the one characteristic of barbarous cultures, consistent across the ages, is the belief that the surest path to forgiveness of sins and instant entry into heaven is to die while killing others in a “righteous” cause. We all recall how, after 9/11, followers of Al Qaeda’s founder Osama Bin Laden were ridiculed for believing that there’d be “72 virgins” waiting for them when they reached heaven, as if this were some sort of weird, anomalous belief unique to Bin Laden’s sect.

And, within modern Islam, it is both weird and anomalous. But throughout recorded history, this single difference in one of the many stories that make up cultures and their religions is the defining line between civilization and barbarity. Multiple cultures, at multiple times (including western culture) have embraced the idea that dying in battle is the instant route to heaven. Every culture that embraces this belief turns monstrous until the story is purged.

If the hard-right fringe in American and European culture adopts this belief, western civilization will face its most serious and historic challenge. And we may be closer to that dystopian possibility than most people realize. Recently I’ve been reminded of this since Louise and I binge-watched Vikings, a dramatic series originally produced for the History Channel of Canada that begins with the story of Ragnar Lothbrok, a famous Norwegian raider who terrorized Europe (and even seized Paris) in the 9th century...

More,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/3/2043642/-American-Hellscape-How-Trump-s-well-armed-shock-troops-could-become-even-more-deadly-and-barbaric
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https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26431858

[viva la]

1. I don't know if the "stormtroopers" who are crying at the possibility of jail-

and falling apart at the idea of a shot or a mask-
are likely to be up for dying in battle. They are more about watching Vikings on TV, you know, and fantasizing.

But if they do find their guts, they'll be nasty, no doubt.

If the hard-right fringe in American and European culture adopts this belief, western civilization will face its most serious and historic challenge.

[Chainfire]

2. I think that someone has the wrong idea.

The American Brown Shirts do not intend to die in battle for their salvation, they intend to kill us non-believers on their path to glory.

They see themselves as patriotic Christian heroes, modern "Minutemen" on a mission to make America Great Again. That is why there are no hard core right wingers who do not own an AR-15 and a metric ton of ammo. The guns and ammo aren't for sport shooting or hunting. It is for us liberals, the well-educated, non Christians, and people of color. They intend to return America to it's "rightful owners." Given a strong leader and half a chance, they will out Nazi the Nazis.

Nothing is more dangerous than a fanatic with a gun and a Bible.

[viva la]

3. The March of the unbrained

They willfully choose militant zombiehood.

A Bible and a gun, as you said.