Fixed it for you. While they certainly have more than their fair share of absolute dunces too, they don’t believe in nonsensical things because of a lack of intelligence.
Most of them have been subjected to literally the same kind of programming that (other) cults use to ensure obedience and coherence for their entire lives, and then turned up to 11 for the past decade or so.
It’s not about being stupid. It’s about being successfully duped.
Disclaimer: I’m not pointing this out to absolve them from the consequences of their words and actions.
I’m pointing it out because you can’t defeat indoctrination by just assuming that the cult members are just morons who can’t know better or ignorant people who haven’t been told the objective truth.
That’s missing a crucial difference between ignorance and brainwashing that I neglected to mention at first but have added to my comment now:
Like with any cult, there’s different levels of susceptibility to and understanding of objective reality.
While some are indeed just bad people looking for a justification for their bigotry, others are otherwise decent people whose minds have been so warped by the brain washing that they’re incapable of accepting evidence contrary to the core “truths” without first being deprogrammed.
For an example from real life, my partner grew up a Jehovah’s Witness. Until a couple decades ago, that cult and the conservative politics that go hand in hand with it was her “truth”.
It was only with enormous effort of her own and the support from her then-husband that she managed to break free of the cult.
Even then, she went through hardcore Catholicism and other mental, spiritual, and political “halfway houses” before becoming the left wing atheist I know and love so damn much today.
Yeah, but conservatives are stupid
Fixed it for you. While they certainly have more than their fair share of absolute dunces too, they don’t believe in nonsensical things because of a lack of intelligence.
Most of them have been subjected to literally the same kind of programming that (other) cults use to ensure obedience and coherence for their entire lives, and then turned up to 11 for the past decade or so.
It’s not about being stupid. It’s about being successfully duped.
Disclaimer: I’m not pointing this out to absolve them from the consequences of their words and actions.
I’m pointing it out because you can’t defeat indoctrination by just assuming that the cult members are just morons who can’t know better or ignorant people who haven’t been told the objective truth.
I agree
That’s the worst bit
They can do better
Most of them choose not to, because it’s more important to them that they can openly hate
That’s missing a crucial difference between ignorance and brainwashing that I neglected to mention at first but have added to my comment now:
Like with any cult, there’s different levels of susceptibility to and understanding of objective reality.
While some are indeed just bad people looking for a justification for their bigotry, others are otherwise decent people whose minds have been so warped by the brain washing that they’re incapable of accepting evidence contrary to the core “truths” without first being deprogrammed.
For an example from real life, my partner grew up a Jehovah’s Witness. Until a couple decades ago, that cult and the conservative politics that go hand in hand with it was her “truth”.
It was only with enormous effort of her own and the support from her then-husband that she managed to break free of the cult.
Even then, she went through hardcore Catholicism and other mental, spiritual, and political “halfway houses” before becoming the left wing atheist I know and love so damn much today.