Kevin Robert Dean wrote:
>I've always considered it a sort of "the other" mode of belief. It's not "me" who is immoral, it is "them". As long as there is a generic "them" to pin the blame on immorality, there is the collected belief that people who are in the "us" of Xtianity (and I'll bet this applies to many groups as well) are the good ones--automatically, without any criticism--and those outside are automatically bad. Labels are everything. And if you can label yourself as the "good" then there you have it.
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Right, but as Chuck G points out, self-righteousness is pretty thin
gruel. That's why I recommended Reich's book, he takes up this question:
why did the Germans go for Hitler -- there were many who did -- when he
promised them nothing but further suffering.
"An end with horror...rather than horror without end." That same formula is winning hearts/minds now.
Joanna
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