Mass Shooting at Mormon Church In Michigan

[Whiskey]

If I may: I do not strive to see the good in others...

Hmm.

...Some of the board members here seem to enjoy ridiculing, mocking, and disparaging people who do not share their particular political ideology, I'm not sure if hatred is at the center though (perhaps?). If I had to guess, I would guess that it's centered in how they see themselves compared those who do not align with their particular ideologies...

I see. Thank you for explaining your approach, albeit in a roundabout way. I have been at a loss in the past to understand why you would continue to come to a forum where you are so vocal about your dislike of the participants, so I appreciate your explanation that apparently you "enjoy ridiculing, mocking, and disparaging" others. To each his own, I suppose.

Was that meant to be a compliment?

[ceeboo]

I see.

I haven't seen any evidence that would support this claim.

I have been at a loss in the past to understand......

Unfortunately, it's not merely the past. Your lack of understanding continues.

[Marcus]

I see.

I haven't seen any evidence that would support this claim.

It was your claim!

I have been at a loss in the past to understand......

Unfortunately, it's not merely the past. Your lack of understanding continues.

I see. So you also currently come to this board in order to be vocal about your dislike of the participants.

[canpakes]

Okay. So anyone with that shirt is MAGA. We are making some huge progress here. Gotta have the merch. Anything else besides shirts and hats to be in that club?

Sure. There are dozens of ways to be grifted into the MAGA club. Check out all of the tacky apparel and cheap imported junk that you can spend your money on at The MAGA Club -

https://maga.com/?srsltid=AfmBOordbplMZ ... CQ4uHqEjy-

But if you’re really into just the shirts, drop into the official Trump-sponsored ’WinRed’ store for more options. I suspect that you, especially, may really want to purchase a Trump ‘Daddy’ shirt -

https://secure.winred.com/Trump-nationa ... rt/details

Unfortunately for MAGA club members, Trump no longer offers to publicly spank fans who show up to his rallies wearing the shirt. Sorry.

[Whiskey]

I see.

I haven't seen any evidence that would support this claim.

It was your claim!

Now that, is legend.

[ceeboo]

I see.

Let me guess: My claim again?

LOL!

[ceeboo]

I see.

I haven't seen any evidence that would support this claim.

It was your claim!

Now that, is legend.

I see.

[Marcus]

I see.

Let me guess: My claim again?

LOL!

You responded oddly (and twice!) to the same little bit, so I'm happy to clarify.

In trying to understand "why you would continue to come to a forum where you are so vocal about your dislike of the participants," your explanation that you see hatred as a reason for why a person would "enjoy ridiculing, mocking, and disparaging" others would seem to encompass your behavior and reasoning as well.

I still don't understand the draw to come to a community that you clearly think is beneath you, that is full of people you seem to despise, just to repeatedly tell the people there how much you dislike them. It doesn't seem like a rational use of your time.

[Whiskey]

Let me guess: My claim again?

LOL!

You responded oddly (and twice!) to the same little bit, so I'm happy to clarify.

In trying to understand "why you would continue to come to a forum where you are so vocal about your dislike of the participants," your explanation that you see hatred as a reason for why a person would "enjoy ridiculing, mocking, and disparaging" others would seem to encompass your behavior and reasoning as well.

I still don't understand the draw to come to a community that you clearly think is beneath you, that is full of people you seem to despise, just to repeatedly tell the people there how much you dislike them. It doesn't seem like a rational use of your time.

Not true.

[Gadianton]

6. So even if I don't directly blame people like that when some Joe Sixpack in the pew with PTSD decides that it would be a great idea to terrorize and execute Latter-day Saints, I think it's fair to say that they have contributed to the situation--not just by voicing sincerely held opinions--but by creating a culture where dishonesty about your religious rivals is normalized.

This is where the big crossover is between counter-cult thinking and right-wing politics. He's probably more invested in the "dishonesty' as an apologist than I am. There is that, but his leaders do kind of lead the way in terms of dishonesty. It's more about Satanic panic sensationalism. That's the crossover. He can legitimately claim that his leaders don't get out there and actively make other faiths targets. Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, and Jack Chick are all on the same wavelength. It's a lot of shock and conspiracies and nonsense. Folks like my right-wing friend, and several board members here, don't have the capacity to get beyond that. You can see that in the inability to contribute rationally to topics that aren't political.

People with stable lives like my friend has are able to compartmentalize so that the collective action of their awful beliefs screw over innocent people, but don't cause problems for themselves; well, he's not a farmer, at least. However, people with mental illness and prone to literalism don't understand how it is that everyone can just sit back and not take action. Sanford's perspective is not irrational if we're accepting religious beliefs literally. Dan Peterson has gone on and on about how death doesn't really matter because of this very real next life, that's forever. From the EV perspective, Mormons are likely going to hell. Some EVs give them an out as "heathens", but the evil works of baptism and all that don't bring salvation. Confession is made with the mouth unto salvation. The usual belief is that Mormons are going to hell.

Another popular belief within right-wing Christianity and certainly the Heritage Foundation basically running the country right now is dominionism. Dominionism says using force to make people Christians is just dandy. Hell is a long time, and so if a person is forced to accept Jesus then it's only better for them. In fact, giving someone the chance to accept Jesus at gunpoint is technically better than the beliefs of many of his conservative peers who believe when Trump gets his purge going, democrats will be executed, presumably without the request to accept Jesus. And so Sanford's beliefs aren't even the most extreme, he just acted upon them literally.

If even one person he demanded to accept Jesus did so at gunpoint, that person is saved (see Holy Joe from Jack Chick), and so it's possible that his actions resulted in a net good, if you look at it from the barebone facts as many evangelicals understand them.