The best weapon against theocratic authoritarianism

Is education. As long as anybody can access a stable internet connection, they have limitless potentiality to learn. Yeah, there is a problem because there’s so much inaccurate(or otherwise misleading) information out there, but somebody smart enough can figure out how to weed out the accurate knowledge from the bullshit.

That’s the problem though. Getting to the point where one is intelligent enough to make that critical distinction can take years of practice and study. It’s important to discuss these things because making these distinctions I think is also contingent upon where our values lie.

I mean… If you’re horny for guns, are you likely to listen to any sort of well-supported arguments for gun control, no matter how logical or rational they are?

If you’ve got a hard-on for Jesus, are you likely to believe that religious people and nations tend to be more violent, as opposed to secular people and nations?

Unfortunately, even when equipped with knowledge, the impetus for change is for somebody having a good enough heart to see when they are wrong.

The root of the problem is that we are rapidly descending into a world where facts don’t matter anymore. Conservatives fear things for reasons that have no basis in reality: the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants(illegal or otherwise), Gun reform, socialism, CRT, Books. On the other hand, Conservatives don’t fear things that have basis in reality, like Climate change and authoritarianism.

So they have to demonize these things in order to try and get people to stay away from even looking at them. One day, I fear they may try and gain more control over people’s ability to do research online. That idiot Sam Sorbo(Wife of Kevin) just talked about how raising your hand in classrooms inhibits a child’s ability to learn, or some such bullshit(you figure out her logic). The point is that more and more conservatives seem to be wanting to do away with the school system completely. It’s not enough that kids are robbed of their ability to learn. They have to be kept totally goddamn ignorant just so right wing politicians can remain in power.

That is sad, but from a practical standpoint, it should be obvious what they are doing. Emphasis on SHOULD, because without the necessary knowledge, it’s not that obvious.

It’s more than just that. People usually tend to go to sites that reinforce their existing beliefs, not sites that are necessarily more accurate. Example: your average christian is going to visit christian sites, not talkorigins.org or atheistrepublic.com.

Confirmation bias is a powerful thing.

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Trump has stated that he “loves the poorly educated”. Of course he does, they’re easier to scam.
The npr show Fresh Air had an interview with Will Bunch that’s available online. He wrote the book “After the Ivory Tower Falls”. It sounds interesting. For one thing he talks about the conservatives attempts to take over education.

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