DaveXA
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Wasn't sure where to put this, but we need a thread for the wing nuts. Lauren Boebert.
Right wing nuts thread (3 Viewers)
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Optimus Prime
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Posted a similar article on EE about how ‘well Ed’s’ can easily be a gateway to conspiracy theory rabbit holes
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We’ve all followed that friend of a friend online. The one who suddenly went sober during lockdown, cut out sugar, and started posting about her hardcore juice cleanse and daily gratitude ritual.
She’s dubious of modern medicine and societal convention; there’s a rumour going around that she never got vaccinated against Covid.
You heard she recently moved to Bali to become a yoga instructor. That she had started cutting off friends who weren’t “aligned” with her “energy”.
That she’d found a higher purpose. A calling. Then you hear that the mutual friend you have in common is in a WhatsApp group of people who are concerned she’s losing touch with reality.
This is not an unusual trajectory. Since the pandemic, much has been written about the rise of wellness and spirituality fostering a subsequent spike in right-wing ideologies; a pathway that is also cultivating conspiratorial thinking.
Misinformation merchants posing as wellness gurus. In the US, there are many, including Kelly Brogan, a so-called “holistic psychologist” whose website carries the slogan: “Own your body. Free your mind.”
The anti-vaxxer and New York Times bestselling author has promoted several widely disproven conspiracy theories. She went viral in 2020 for claiming that Coronavirus may not exist and that deaths from the virus were caused by fear.
Elsewhere, there’s JZ Knight, another notorious anti-vaxxer who claims to have channelled a 35,000-year-old Lemurian warrior and has spewed hate for Jews and Mexicans.
There’s also Amy Carlson, co-founder of the Love Has Won religious group, who claimed to heal cancer victims “with the power of love” and promoted conspiracy theories about 9/11 and UFOs. Carlson died in 2021 of alcohol abuse, anorexia and chronic colloidal silver ingestion.
All this and more is what prompted the launch of the hugely popular Conspirituality podcast, a show dedicated to exploring the unlikely crossover between the wellness industry and conspiracy theorists who err on the side of right-wing ideologies.
Created after the viral anti-vax documentary films, Plandemic, the show looks at everything from New Age cults (there’s an episode on CrossFit), Scientology, and climate denialists……..
As for how right-wing thinking became enmeshed in all of this, Voas suspects it boils down to the fundamental superiority that lies at the heart of conspirituality.
“Conspirituality is fuelled by distrust of old sources of authority, including science, religion, mainstream media, and political leadership,” he explains.
“Ironically, though, it is also characterised by a willingness to believe almost anything, if the ideas accord with our desires or suspicions. Conspirituality is a kind of crowd-sourced knowledge, where the spread of a belief is taken to be support for its content.”…….
===============
We’ve all followed that friend of a friend online. The one who suddenly went sober during lockdown, cut out sugar, and started posting about her hardcore juice cleanse and daily gratitude ritual.
She’s dubious of modern medicine and societal convention; there’s a rumour going around that she never got vaccinated against Covid.
You heard she recently moved to Bali to become a yoga instructor. That she had started cutting off friends who weren’t “aligned” with her “energy”.
That she’d found a higher purpose. A calling. Then you hear that the mutual friend you have in common is in a WhatsApp group of people who are concerned she’s losing touch with reality.
This is not an unusual trajectory. Since the pandemic, much has been written about the rise of wellness and spirituality fostering a subsequent spike in right-wing ideologies; a pathway that is also cultivating conspiratorial thinking.
Misinformation merchants posing as wellness gurus. In the US, there are many, including Kelly Brogan, a so-called “holistic psychologist” whose website carries the slogan: “Own your body. Free your mind.”
The anti-vaxxer and New York Times bestselling author has promoted several widely disproven conspiracy theories. She went viral in 2020 for claiming that Coronavirus may not exist and that deaths from the virus were caused by fear.
Elsewhere, there’s JZ Knight, another notorious anti-vaxxer who claims to have channelled a 35,000-year-old Lemurian warrior and has spewed hate for Jews and Mexicans.
There’s also Amy Carlson, co-founder of the Love Has Won religious group, who claimed to heal cancer victims “with the power of love” and promoted conspiracy theories about 9/11 and UFOs. Carlson died in 2021 of alcohol abuse, anorexia and chronic colloidal silver ingestion.
All this and more is what prompted the launch of the hugely popular Conspirituality podcast, a show dedicated to exploring the unlikely crossover between the wellness industry and conspiracy theorists who err on the side of right-wing ideologies.
Created after the viral anti-vax documentary films, Plandemic, the show looks at everything from New Age cults (there’s an episode on CrossFit), Scientology, and climate denialists……..
As for how right-wing thinking became enmeshed in all of this, Voas suspects it boils down to the fundamental superiority that lies at the heart of conspirituality.
“Conspirituality is fuelled by distrust of old sources of authority, including science, religion, mainstream media, and political leadership,” he explains.
“Ironically, though, it is also characterised by a willingness to believe almost anything, if the ideas accord with our desires or suspicions. Conspirituality is a kind of crowd-sourced knowledge, where the spread of a belief is taken to be support for its content.”…….
Wellness is turning people into right-wing conspiracy theorists – here’s how
As a surge of New Age influencers perpetuating right-wing ideologies swarms the internet, Olivia Petter asks how wellness became a gateway to conspiratorial thinking
www.independent.co.uk
Optimus Prime
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This whole thing is just weird and, honestly, a little creepy." That comes from a debate in the Texas state legislature that was supposedly about "furries," a subculture of people who dress up as anthropomorphic animal characters. But it wasn't the furries that state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, was calling creepy.
That would be Republican state Rep. Stan Gerdes, author of the FURRIES Act, an embarrassing acronym that unpacks into the "Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education Act."
Gerdes claims to believe that children in elementary schools are "identifying" as animals, and that the schools are indulging this supposedly dangerous delusion by letting kids eat out of dog bowls or use litter boxes instead of regular bathrooms.
Absolutely no part of that true, and it is indeed "a little creepy" for Republicans to obsess over an entirely imaginary problem.
"Texas schools are for educating kids, not indulging in radical trends," declared Gerdes in an X post announcing the bill, which has the support of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
The bill purports to ban "non-human behaviors" in school, a list that includes "using a litter box for the passing of stool," "barking, meowing, hissing, or other animal noises," "licking oneself" and an "outward display" of "features that are non-human."
There's also a helpful list of such features, including fake tails, "animal-like" ears and fur, whether fake or real, which could certainly cramp the style of those who enjoy fuzzy outerwear in cold weather.
Careful readers may already notice that wearing costumes, which is what Gerdes is trying to describe with this overwrought pseudo-legal language, is not "non-human behavior." Indeed, it is exclusively human behavior.
Sure, some folks put little outfits on their pet cats and dogs, but that's not the animal's doing. At least on this planet, only members of homo sapiens are freaky enough to be entertained by a cat dressed as an avocado. I'll note that most cats look annoyed, rather than joyful, when forced to don human-made lewks.
Everything about this bill is based on false claims and absolute nonsense. Young children are not "identifying" as animals in school. The superintendent of the school that was accused of letting kids use litter boxes told the Houston Chronicle that no such thing was happening, and that she'd made an "extra effort" to investigate classrooms herself.
"Furries" are real people, mind you, but they're adults — and they don't "identify" as animals, either. They are hobbyists who enjoy dressing up as cartoon characters and stuffed animals, create elaborate artworks involving anthropomorphic animals and sometimes attend conventions while wearing homemade animal costumes..............
That would be Republican state Rep. Stan Gerdes, author of the FURRIES Act, an embarrassing acronym that unpacks into the "Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education Act."
Gerdes claims to believe that children in elementary schools are "identifying" as animals, and that the schools are indulging this supposedly dangerous delusion by letting kids eat out of dog bowls or use litter boxes instead of regular bathrooms.
Absolutely no part of that true, and it is indeed "a little creepy" for Republicans to obsess over an entirely imaginary problem.
"Texas schools are for educating kids, not indulging in radical trends," declared Gerdes in an X post announcing the bill, which has the support of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
The bill purports to ban "non-human behaviors" in school, a list that includes "using a litter box for the passing of stool," "barking, meowing, hissing, or other animal noises," "licking oneself" and an "outward display" of "features that are non-human."
There's also a helpful list of such features, including fake tails, "animal-like" ears and fur, whether fake or real, which could certainly cramp the style of those who enjoy fuzzy outerwear in cold weather.
Careful readers may already notice that wearing costumes, which is what Gerdes is trying to describe with this overwrought pseudo-legal language, is not "non-human behavior." Indeed, it is exclusively human behavior.
Sure, some folks put little outfits on their pet cats and dogs, but that's not the animal's doing. At least on this planet, only members of homo sapiens are freaky enough to be entertained by a cat dressed as an avocado. I'll note that most cats look annoyed, rather than joyful, when forced to don human-made lewks.
Everything about this bill is based on false claims and absolute nonsense. Young children are not "identifying" as animals in school. The superintendent of the school that was accused of letting kids use litter boxes told the Houston Chronicle that no such thing was happening, and that she'd made an "extra effort" to investigate classrooms herself.
"Furries" are real people, mind you, but they're adults — and they don't "identify" as animals, either. They are hobbyists who enjoy dressing up as cartoon characters and stuffed animals, create elaborate artworks involving anthropomorphic animals and sometimes attend conventions while wearing homemade animal costumes..............
Optimus Prime
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Optimus Prime
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NSFW - Language
and the response
==============
I realize we increasingly have become a society that embraces a “my way or the highway” attitude. Both sides are guilty of that way of thinking.
Yet, it seems especially egregious from those on the left.
Progressives’ lack of tolerance for other views has presented itself in different iterations, from the cancel culture phenomenon to angry demonstrations on college campuses when a conservative dares to speak.
So perhaps it's not surprising that liberals love slapping labels on those who have the audacity to believe something different from progressive dogma.
Nazi. Hitler. Bigot. Hater. To name a few.
In the latest episode of his HBO show “Last Week Tonight,” comedian John Oliver joined the name-calling party, devoting a full 30 minutes to the nonprofit Christian legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom.
His conclusion?
ADF, in Oliver’s view, has “worked extremely hard to put a misleadingly friendly face on what is an utterly hateful ideology. And it benefits immensely from people not knowing just how poisonous and disingenuous it is.”
That’s quite the accusation. And Oliver’s screed – without any additional background about ADF – could easily make HBO's viewers falsely conclude that something truly nefarious is going on.
In reality, Oliver’s rant painted a picture that doesn’t exist.
“John Oliver’s recent 'Last Week Tonight' episode is an unfortunately predictable exercise in manipulating audiences with sound bites, statements, and distorted narratives with little to no context, designed to draw applause more than present truth," said Kristen Waggoner, president and CEO of ADF, via email. "Rather than engaging our issues in good faith, Mr. Oliver relied on outdated tropes and vulgar laugh lines that are not journalism – they are propaganda meant to silence principled dissent."
ADF states on its website that its purpose is to “advance the God-given right to freely live and speak the truth.”
And the attorneys with ADF have proven extremely successful in advancing those rights, which is probably why Oliver decided to attack them.
Since 2011, ADF has directly represented the winning parties in 15 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and has played roles in dozens of other victories since its founding in 1994.
The “God-given” rights that ADF seeks to defend are some of our most cherished constitutional rights. The First Amendment offers robust protections for free speech and religious freedom, and these rights are at the heart of ADF’s work.............
and the response
==============
I realize we increasingly have become a society that embraces a “my way or the highway” attitude. Both sides are guilty of that way of thinking.
Yet, it seems especially egregious from those on the left.
Progressives’ lack of tolerance for other views has presented itself in different iterations, from the cancel culture phenomenon to angry demonstrations on college campuses when a conservative dares to speak.
So perhaps it's not surprising that liberals love slapping labels on those who have the audacity to believe something different from progressive dogma.
Nazi. Hitler. Bigot. Hater. To name a few.
In the latest episode of his HBO show “Last Week Tonight,” comedian John Oliver joined the name-calling party, devoting a full 30 minutes to the nonprofit Christian legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom.
His conclusion?
ADF, in Oliver’s view, has “worked extremely hard to put a misleadingly friendly face on what is an utterly hateful ideology. And it benefits immensely from people not knowing just how poisonous and disingenuous it is.”
That’s quite the accusation. And Oliver’s screed – without any additional background about ADF – could easily make HBO's viewers falsely conclude that something truly nefarious is going on.
In reality, Oliver’s rant painted a picture that doesn’t exist.
“John Oliver’s recent 'Last Week Tonight' episode is an unfortunately predictable exercise in manipulating audiences with sound bites, statements, and distorted narratives with little to no context, designed to draw applause more than present truth," said Kristen Waggoner, president and CEO of ADF, via email. "Rather than engaging our issues in good faith, Mr. Oliver relied on outdated tropes and vulgar laugh lines that are not journalism – they are propaganda meant to silence principled dissent."
ADF states on its website that its purpose is to “advance the God-given right to freely live and speak the truth.”
And the attorneys with ADF have proven extremely successful in advancing those rights, which is probably why Oliver decided to attack them.
Since 2011, ADF has directly represented the winning parties in 15 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and has played roles in dozens of other victories since its founding in 1994.
The “God-given” rights that ADF seeks to defend are some of our most cherished constitutional rights. The First Amendment offers robust protections for free speech and religious freedom, and these rights are at the heart of ADF’s work.............
Not funny, John Oliver: Standing for religious liberty doesn't equate to 'hate' | Opinion
John Oliver's 'Last Week Tonight' screed about ADF, a Christian legal organization that won multiple Supreme Court decisions, was grossly misleading.
www.usatoday.com
Optimus Prime
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