Some of us need to fill holes in our science educations. If you have followed the news over the last year or so, you know scientists came out to protest Trump, and there was a whole protest march in defense of science. At the time I didn't think about things too heavily but as I got deeper into my religious deconversion, I realized how I had been infused with "magical thinking" from fundamentalist religion. It is a period of deprogramming myself and re-examining a lot of issues. My desire for certainty in an uncertain world put me in this danger. Now it is okay to say, "I do not know". In an odd way I understand the world of the Trumpkins where science is seen as something bad and "evil". After all I was just inside that world. I know how the preachers and pastors teach people not to trust their own mind, and even how they present "science" as the enemy. It can rock a world, to leave religion. Your whole world can be tilted on it's axis.
When your reality is based on the bible instead of science, it can skew things. It skewed me. Later I would study more of the Bible and be sickened by the narcissism I saw it in with the genocides and other dark features, but I had been trained to believe in the Bible literally and that it had ALL the answers for life's problems. There's things I wrote on this blog, I would change now, I don't think the same way about transgendered people and other things my churches taught me. Even if I remained against war and kept other liberal values, I realized they influenced me in some negative ways as well. I apologize to anyone I offended with some of my over the top religious edicts. There was a "man in the mirror" time when I faced myself down and asked what had religion done to me? Religion can lead people away from compassion. Compassion says 95 percent of people going to hell is insanity. I am glad to be done with that. In fundamentalist Christianity, science IS the enemy. One's world view is not to be tested via the scientific method but via scripture and the bible. This is a trait of all fundamentalist religions. It does not lead to freedom in one's mind but a prison. This is a prison I am happy to be exiting.
I am working out the science gaps now. Outside of medicine and obesity which I studied to remain alive, I had other holes to fill leaving fundamentalist Christianity. Recently I learned about the 6 epochs of extinction in the book "The Ends of the World". This book blew my mind. You mean there were 6 epochs of major life development and dinosaurs were only one latter segment? I found myself exploring Youtube, wanting to see the fossils, this book talked about in video form.
In all my churches even mainstream evangelical ones, I was taught that the world was only 6,000 years old. Some pastors made a nod towards old earth "creationism" but that only expanded the time table a little bit. I used to debate fellow Christians on this saying, "Well it does say in the Bible that a day can be equal to a 1,000 years for God" but this was the reality I was handed. It was an issue I remained mostly "undecided on" but I watched the Kevin Ham videos my friends handed out. Every pastor I had taught that evolution was evil, and a Satanic teaching. By the way this is not just for the fundamentalists but more evangelical circles teach this now too. There are kids now in fundamentalist homes, taught now that evolution is not true or is evil. My Catholic schools mentioned it existed but did a very quick skim over who Darwin was. I never learned about Epochs, or extinctions. I never even learned there was such a thing as the Reformation until public high school.
One crack in my religious faith came via some Christian friends visiting "The Ark".I have a lot of old church friends on my Facebook. Most of them voted for Trump. They have more money to go on so called wholesome vacations. They have remained silent upon my protests but I have not been unfriended. Maybe they are hoping I reform and stop "backsliding". Anyhow, several friends made the far away exodus to Kentucky to go view "The Ark".
Oddly as a fundamentalist Christian, I never took the story of Noah's ark literally. I was surprised to find out these people DID. I even knew enough science to tell my husband, that story could not be literal, even if he loaded the boat with 10 percent of the insect life on planet, the damn thing would have sunk.
"Most authorities agree that there are more insect species that have not been described (named by science) than there are insect species that have been previously named. Conservative estimates suggest that this figure is 2 million, but estimates extend to 30 million."
I didn't expect the place to be like the Smithsonian, but when I saw several pictures of human beings next to dinosaurs like would be cave men drawn like Fred Flintstone and Dino, I almost lost it. They had the statues of Noah and animals in cages for sure, but the dinosaurs in cages through out the place struck me as extremely absurd. Even I remember being taught somewhere in a book, that dinosaurs existed 300 or so million years before humans. The place had the expected statues of Noah with their slate painted portraits and endless cages of regular animals. Those dinosaurs though got on my last nerves. It occurred to me that all my old IFB church members believed this place accurately represented REALITY [well in the past].
I had this following conversation under a picture of a member of one of Noah's family cleaning out a dinosaur cage with two small dinosaurs next to him. My Christian friend had posted a photograph with the same two dinosaur statues above in it:
Christian friend: Before the flood all creatures were vegetarians. Like · Reply · 15 mins
Peep LOL WHY is a dinosaur in there? Like · Reply · 9 mins
Christian friend: Dinosaurs existed before the flood! The climate changes in earth after the flood caused many to go extinct
Peep: That confuses me, I thought they were long gone before then. I do not think man existed on earth the same time as dinosaurs. This is an issue I have not studied though.
Christian friend: It's interesting stuff.
I am kind of playing dumb, to avoid severe conflict. I am not discussing all my new religious thoughts on my Facebook wall. I am offended beyond belief by dinosaurs in the ark cages though. LOL! My intelligence is insulted. At least the conspiracy theorists who told me dinosaurs were MADE UP made a better case then the Noah's Ark people.
I realized I had some major holes in my science education which was very limited and only included some episodes of Cosmos, Star Trek movies, and a few Carl Sagan books which Carl Sagan probably kept me from falling for some of the worse nonsense people are selling. Read his book "The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark". I plan to re-read it. We need the warnings of that book now especially today.
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...
The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan sounded a true warning. Things have worsened. America has given up on science and the Sputnik days and half the country seems to be going into darkness and superstition. In the conspiracy world, I met people who believed in nonsense like the Mandela Effect. Google that one if you want to have your mind blown, you will think some people have dropped acid or are very confused due to faulty memories. One thing I noticed in fundamentalist Christianity especially in fringe circles and conspiracy ones, was more people believed in "flat earth". Do a search on Flat Earth on Facebook. It's all over the place. The whole concept is linked to a total distrust of anything scientific and related to NASA.
Haven't any of these people had to do an International flight? It's crazy. I never have flown internationally but know many who have, and they fly along a GLOBE. I remember reading the "We never went to the moon" conspiracy theory sites. There I was interested but undecided. I told one guy who claimed he worked for NASA on a deconversion board, these websites all claim rockets don't work in the vacuum of space. This man informed me they put oxidizers on rockets, I looked it up and he was right. Funny how all the conspiracy websites I went to, which claimed that we never made it to the moon, never mentioned that little fact.
Not every religious person or fundamentalist gets into hard core conspiracy theory, but all that bible prophecy they are taught, even the mainstream people in the pews are given a false view of reality. I got too deep into conspiracy stuff for my own good. It was more based in questioning the mainstream and trying to figure out what was really going on. However in general in conservative religious circles, science and rationality is put aside for thinking God will solve all your problems and direct every step. We were told things like to make sure to live for eternity instead of this world which God was going to end. The doom-porn flowed like a river. It affected me. I can't tell you how many times I was told the Last Days were here or going to be very soon. I had converted to be a Christian right after I had almost died of an infection in 2001, I suppose I was vulnerable and ripe for the picking and desperate and with endless traumas piled up, seeking any answers I could get. If you notice one thing about some religious Trump people is they do have a very dystopian view of the world. While I was in the thick of religion, I got that view of the world too. There is a helpless feeling not one of action and progress, of being told God is just going to blow up this planet and divide the saved from the unsaved in the next 20 years. The world is going to end soon.
Even my deliverance ministers told me they were moving to a rural backwoods Southern state with all the resultant social ills to ride out the Tribulation. Maybe it's easy to believe in the apocalypse when your own life has become apocalyptic and fallen apart. They want regression not progression. This is why they can write a tax bill, rewarding billionaires and their followers don't care. At least 1890 feels safer to them all I guess.
Its hard to explain how extreme religion has taken over small town America. One friend of mine always says the line between conservative and liberal is not one of class or race but urban vs. rural. I wonder about that now. I lived in one of the most uber conservative small towns in America. That was my town of 11 years ago. They are even known as a bastion of libertarianism and the alt-right. What can I say but the place had an influence on me? I can't name the place for identity reasons but militia members and people who were preppers living off the land were the norm in the place. Homeschooling was more common then going to public school. I liked the friendliness there but I really lived in a bubble. I escape the trauma of big city living almost getting shot by gang members, and run to the woods--well I lived in an apt in town but you know what I mean, and I see this alternative world and it looked better to me at the time. I never was accepted because I didn't have the preresquite family and money or land. It really was a different place.
Here I still live in a small conservative town but they are wealthier and more educated but some of the same religious stuff leads to the same type of beliefs. One of the biggest now especially in evangelical and fundamentalist circles is that science along with the government and many other institutions are not to be trusted. Surely many of our institutions have grown corrupt. Trump has sold the nation off to the highest bidder but Carl Sagan was right, the desperation and distrust have led to a dumbing down.
I do ask myself why is there such a concentrated effort now to deny science? While other Western nations go more secular and progress this one seems hell bent for more superstition and darkness. It wants to roll things back. It has grown anti-intellectual too. I have my thoughts too wondering if religion is just used as a control mechanism in society, the priests and strong-men got a lot of use out of it. Sadly I believe there is a real concerted effort overall to convince people to not trust their own five senses and ability to reason, so they can then be convinced of anything. It's definitely expanding beyond religion.
sadly i was raised on fundamental religeon, i asked questions things got grim , i walked away the first chance i got . Theses days i live with a jedi, im still a kind of Christian but it doesnt go well when people ask questions because they dont like the answers .
ReplyDeleteI've talked to a lot raised in fundamentalism and how damaging it was for them. Many were sheltered and denied knowledge. Science books were kept from them as much as any Harry Potter. I had the uber-Catholicism which has facets of that world, and some over-lap but I was not allowed any questions either, and got slapped and told I had to believe this or else. LOL about the Jedi, it is scary because many aren't even asking questions anymore and accept all the answers.
DeleteDear Peeps, what struck me most about your article is that multitudes of dumbed-down people neither have time for science nor scripture. While the web is full of edifying info, most people - even college educated - are into games, tv, celebrities, vacations way above their budgets. Lowest Common Denominator LIEstyle. Seems to me that if all the Bibles dissapeared, and the Bible churches closed, and the preachers went back to building houses / selling insurance, our society wouldn't get any smarter anytime soon. Godda run, take care.
ReplyDeleteIt's true many have neither time for science or scripture. I studied scripture intently for many years too, more then I let on here. I was deep into it. Too many believe what pastors and politicians tell them without checking the facts.
DeleteI don't believe in scripture has having all the answers. There's a lot of promises fundamentalist religion makes via scripture that doesn't pan out in reality. To me now, I believe there is still some wisdom that can be found there, and in the moral teachings of Jesus, but with other world scriptures, it's humans trying to explain the world historically and otherwise and finding answers. Believing in scripture as I did as the end all of all things got me in trouble.
I was fundamentalist enough to be influenced by the direct rejection of some science in that world. Planning one's life according to Revelation may even explain some of the "giving up" of human progress among religious and conservative circles. I don't blame people for distractions but the rejection of wisdom and trying to seek out knowledge is not a good trend either. I hate to say it but my own experience in religion, they don't like it if you are too smart, they don't want you thinking about too much.
Thank you very much for posting this blog, Peep. We are living in a scary world these days and Trump is not helping to rectify Americans' problems with bigotry and hatred. Most of anti-intellectualism and anti-sciences sentiments came from narcissistic wounds, malignant narcissism, selfishness, and bigotry. Those who call themselves Christians and support Trump and the current Republican policies do not want scholars and educators in academia to rebuke them for their prejudicial views that are responsible for their bad decisions that hurt millions of people in this world.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans tax scam include charging taxes to non-profit private universities that provide full no-loan financial aid packages to low-income students because:
1. Elite universities that provide full financial aid to low-income students usually rejected admissions applications from bigots who hold views or expressed their hatred toward those who are different from them: underrepresented minorities, adults with disabilities, low-income and working class, immigrants, and people who are not fundamentalist “evangelists.”
2. Elite universities do not hire or keep professors who hold bigoted views.
3. Elite universities protect disenfranchised people from religious abuse and religious bigotry.
4. Elite universities provide family living wages to employees who grew up poor and middle-class
5. Employees of elite universities usually hold egalitarian views and Republican employees tend to be less bigoted or abusive.
6. Republicans and academia did not mix well since the Reagan administration of the 1980s that negatively changed the Republican Party. Reagan cut back on social services programs and financial resources for low-income adults and the current Republican Party want to cut back on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In the 1980s, Reagan wanted to cut back on welfare for low-income mothers, food stamps, and Pell Grants for low-income students. He wanted more students to take out loans.
7. Since the 1980s, the academia became friendly to disenfranchised and oppressed populations that Republicans and “evangelist” Christians usually rejected. Since the Reagan Administration, many evangelist Christians found Republican Party more to their liking.
A tax law specialist of Harvard Law School, Howard E. Abrams, explained further last week on Republicans values that do not mix well with academia who tend to be more egalitarian and open-minded. Abrams “thinks provisions in the tax bill targeting colleges and universities stem from both a need to raise funds and, more broadly, from Republican disillusionment with higher education.”
“They need all the revenue they can get,” Abrams said, “I think there are more people in the Republican party than in the Democratic party who believe that higher education is failing the public—that it’s full of liberals teaching things that are irrelevant to getting a job. So the value of higher education seems less significant to many Republicans than to many Democrats.” (http://thecrimson.com/article/2017/12/20/endowment-tax-passed/)
Republicans’ values and sentiments sound like sadistic malignant narcs’ values that I could not and would not embrace. Bigoted white supremacist Republicans sounded like they had narcissistic injury when they dealt with rebuke from scholars, professors, and educators for expressing their ignorant views.
(cont.)
Thanks Anon, I appreciate your good thoughts and in depth responses here. Yes this world has gotten very scary. Yes Trump has increased the hatred and bigotry and we have seen a divide grow even more extreme. I thought more would wake up and start to demand better but outside of liberal and protest circles, I have not seen this happen.
DeleteYou are right that Republicans are trying to silent scholars and educators. Trump even demanded a censored word list for the CDC. I thought it was insane and hope they disobey unlawful rules and dictatorial demands.
The world view promoted by evangelicalism and fundamentalism, I came to believe is damaging and opposed to science. Dominionists have promoted a worldview that favors bigotry, anti-intellectualism and oppression.
I know about the tax scam going after graduate students and that was a huge controversy. It was weird to me they wanted to tax poor graduate students further, and it seemed a backdoor way to destroy academia. I do think these extreme Republicans have deemed academics as the enemy. When I was in IFB, I was taught academics were evil liberals. Some of these attitudes bothered me even then but I figured well not every academic was an extreme liberal and there was a range, but with time and being "inside" I realized there was a huge strain of anti-intellectualism, all the bible colleges and self proclaimed IFB "doctors" withstanding.
I had a lot of cognitive dissonance, as pastors didn't seem to like my questions or studies. I would try to talk to my pastors about the dangers of Dominionism for instance or question the roots of holidays and historical and other biblical studies, and I noticed these men were far more irritated by my desire for knowledge, then desiring to share any they may have beyond their sermons and official outlets. These pastors taught me that the wisdom of this world was foolishness to God and that being ever studying was going to lead me away from the truth. My mind felt split between two ends. Remember I had the Unitarian Universalist background and the foundation of the first deconversion. I tried to be a good Christian but realized more and more this meant shutting down my mind and being told not to examine anything. This one athiest had a good slogan to me, his name is Theramin Trees on Youtube, and he said, "People who don't want you to think are never your friends".
There definitely is a divide here, where the seeking of knowledge, science, and more is seen as "bad things" in extreme Dominonist religion, fundamentalism and evangelicalism. Trump has made the "dumbing down" Carl Saqan warns of as new policies. They are not hiding the fact they are anti-university. Remember how I warned against the college bubble? Even economics have been used as a would be war against more education. Liberals and western European countries want to expand education while the religious conservatives want to shut it down. I know the anti-intellectualism, is something that pushed me out. I had the conspiracy theory world divert me for awhile but even now I am having to work on reprogramming my mind for reason and rationale.
continuing...
Many in fundie churches are told not to trust everything from psychology to history to space exploration. We were told Satan is behind many sciences, I kid you not. They had me believing Freud was an occultist and that naturopath medicine was better then regular. I never could afford naturopath medicine and was so desperate I stuck to the scientific and thank goodness for that. I believe one thing that has happened in American culture, and this is due to the class structures, is the divide between the educated and non-educated has grown wider. I am kind of an unusual person having had a college education but ending up with one foot in each world. There's aspects of the wealthier academic world, I do not understand and I even wonder myself if my own class disenfranchisement, pushed me into fundamentalist religion. Later of course I noticed my fellow church members did not view education the same as I did and did not have the same love for libraries or college days.
DeleteHow can I put this, the open world of education with it's computers, great careers, dreams of the future, is walled off by financial realities for too many now. Republicans with their trickle down nonsense have widened this huge gap between the haves and have nots. Education while lauded historically as a way to rise up in the world with the expectation in America that your children would do better then you lost respect among the lower classes as they became more and more walled off from it's attributes. Republicans have made use of these class barriers.
And you are right Universities support many things these extreme religionists and power brokers don't like, they have stood historically against bigotry, underrepresented minorities, for disabled rights, against classism--I definitely straddled two worlds reading books by bell hooks, and then going to church, having a stridently Republican pastor tell me fighting for "rights" was against God's will. They also do not like the idea that education will bring people to ask questions and examine extreme religions. Many university presses publish books against cults, and study cultic and religious movements. Education is the world of egalitarianism and human advancement. Fundamentalism is the world of authoritarianism. There's a reason why even nations that go fundamentalist in other religions, start closing down the universities and silencing the academics. Trump is basically bringing America into the early stage of the American Taliban when he is so busy silencing the scientists and showing down agencies like the EPA.
correction above, showing down should be shutting down.
DeleteWe are definitely seeing two colliding world views. I believe we are now in the midst of a concentrated effort AGAINST higher education via extremists like Trump. Education historically has represented FREEDOM for people. Those who desire power, money and the abuse of so called low information voters definitely want the least educated populace they can get. When Trump chose Devos for education secretary I was appalled. The attacks on education by the way are not just reserved for the colleges and universities but being done at the lower level too, I sometimes wonder if some have the goal to relegate all education back to the wealthy and end public education all together. Republicans definitely seem to have these views. I do not support all the home schooling, that will take another article, and yes I did know people who home schooled their children.
http://time.com/4765410/donald-trump-betsy-devos-atf-public-education/
Republican values are against more liberal values which do support the value of education, science, reason and seek egalitarianism and open mindedness.
I see their anti education values as being the values of malignant narcissists too. I am old enough to remember when education was valued beyond just putting slot A into slot B and education being for just getting a specific job.
Republican tax scam also eliminated tax breaks for people who donate money to social services agencies because they want poor people to:
ReplyDelete1. Depend on “evangelical” fundamentalist Christian churches rather than the “worldly social services agencies.” Social services agencies that are not affiliated with churches usually encourage and help victims of domestic violence and adults victims of child abuse to leave their abusers. These social services programs help adults to find an apartment, financial resources, jobs, and programs that helped adults to stay independent of their abusers. Narcissistic abusers who lost their supplies did not like these programs, especially when these programs refused to help them. Bigoted churches had a history of helping narcissistic abusers financially, legally and emotionally. Most of Republicans today are malignant narcissistics and abusers. They usually support abusive parents, including those who run a homeschool program to hide from the authorities when they abused and killed their children.
2. Listen to fundamentalist evangelist Christians who felt “slighted” and “ignored” since “elites saw them as backward, bigoted losers.” Most of these so-called Christians are malignant narcissistic who dealt with narcissistic injuries when their victims left them or criticized them.
3. They want evangelist churches instead of social services agencies to provide social services because these churches would force adults to embrace their religious views before they get any resources. Some churches are financially abusive to low-income adults in order to “teach them the value of money and that God should be first in their lives.” Evangelist fundamentalist Christian churches are more likely to help abusers rather than victims of abuses. Many Republicans tend to hold similar values and viewpoints as abusive people.
4. They want people to depend on their version of God and embrace false prosperity gospel and teachings that demonize poor people and praise wealthy people and narcissistic abusers.
5. They want poor people to embrace their version of Jesus Christ, a Republican version of Jesus Christ. Their version of Jesus Christ is the one who demonize the poor and disadvantaged populations. They are more likely embrace Calvinist views and prefer to “help” poor people by denying them of financial resources, food, clothes and housing. They are more likely to deprive victims of domestic violence of a safe housing and financial resources in order to force people to stay with their abusers. They could do some intervention program to force people to develop religious narcissism and stoicism.
6. They want churches to force victims of domestic violence and adult victims of child abuse to reunite with their abusers. They believe that good social services program helped people to get away from their abusers. Some Republicans are narcissistic abusers who lost their supplies, thus, they support tax scam and other misanthropic policies.
7. They want to help programs that would force Americans to develop narcissism or deal with intervention programs that force adults to agree to “get help” from narcissistic therapists to become narcissistic themselves.
Republican representatives and Senators who agreed to support Trump also created tax scam as an insult to the last Republican president, George W. Bush, who wrote bipartisan tax code into law that included tax breaks for paying student loans, going to college, and working for low wages. George W. Bush and his father refused to support Trump as a Republican candidate in 2016 election campaign. After Trump became a candidate, both of the Bushes refused to support Trump and his friends. Trump took revenge against previous Republican presidents and members of Congress. Trump threatened Republicans who did not support Trumpcare earlier this year. (cont).
As far as your first point goes, one thing if you really want to see how far Republicans are taking things google "faith based intiatives". They have transferred a lot of social services in my community to the churches. My food co-op for instance is run by a church. I nod and am polite during the prayers.
DeleteI know years ago Republicans wrote articles about doing away with Social Security and welfare with the idea that all social services should be privatized and this gives me pause especially when it comes to this faith-based stuff. I appreciate the help from kind churches, but I wonder some about this joining of church and state to help the poor.There has been a transfer in my small community of a LOT of social services to be done by churches. While everyone can surely appreciate the help and glad that there are generous Christians out there, I wonder about the marriage of social services to churches, and what this could mean in the future. Some churches are kind and treat the poor decently but some very fundamentalist/evangelical churches preach David Ramsey Republican solutions or put on programs like "Bridges to Poverty" where they tell poor people if they just act like rich ones, that they will make more money. They will insist on "budgeting" class and "responsible" living with patronizing attitudes towards the poor.
I agree with all of your points. I do believe an atheist in my town in need of food, clothes, and help would be more apt to keep quiet about their real beliefs. Many of churches who do get government money to help the poor, do witness to the people who go to their programs. I always found a disconnect that some of the churches where poor people go to get help, taught the same Republican politics that kept them poor and in need in the first place. Many had jobs where they were underpaid and worked at places like Wal-Mart. I certainly have absolutely no interest in being part of a religious body that supports politicial and financial oppression. As some of the lines for food hand-outs grow, and the people in need grow higher in number from oppressive tax-bills and Republican desires to wipe out the safety net, will any of these church people in these conservative churches wake up about their slavish devotion to Trump and the Republican party?
I agree about the narcissism to it all as well. It is setting up a dog eat dog system. We live in a country now where while there is still Christian charity, the religious right stands against the poor. Trump's narcissistic policies and other evils have been helped a long by the conservative church world. Narcissism is definitely playing a role, where appearances and double-talk is ruling and authoritarian religion is telling people they must bow before the ultra-rich and pay more taxes to benefit the them, and has shut down compassion and empathy for anyone on the lower end of the scale. One reason for my deconversion, was my own asking myself what was I a part of and realizing the disconnect inside. My own values meant I had to walk.
DeleteBush one signed ADA, one can't even imagine one of our present day money-hungry monsters being so altruistic. They are proud of their narcissism, and sadly they have enough narcissists and narcissistic enablers to cheer them on.
DeleteA majority of Republicans today and Trump are malignant sadistic narcs who had narcissistic injuries when they see people in the academia, although some of them graduated from an Ivy League university. Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university, but he chose not to put his education to good use.
ReplyDeleteMany employees of these good social services programs are alumni of universities that challenged them mentally in courses where many Republicans failed and received rebukes from their abusers. Bigoted people also went to top universities, including Ivy League universities, but they were usually not top students. A few “conservative” students did well because they did not write bigoted statements in their papers nor expressed their hatred in their speeches or in class discussions. Some Republicans were actually liberal students who did well in colleges and graduate schools. Some of these liberal students became “conservatives” later in life for a variety of reasons. One of them was because of their narcissisms, their marriages and family lives went south, which might have motivated them to join fundamentalist “evangelist churches and Republican Party. These two groups tend to support malignant narcissistic and abusive people.
As the old joke goes, if the earth was flat, cats would have pushed everything over the edge!
ReplyDeleteLOL, never heard that one before, but I agree. It's absurd, a human would have fallen off the edge long ago.
DeleteLOL, never heard that one before, but I agree. It's absurd, a human would have fallen off the edge long ago.
Delete