You tell her the truth. That good-intentioned people who thought they were smart were manipulated by the bad-faith, hostile acts of a foreign government perpetrated by online disinformation campaigns scientifically developed to trigger certain emotional responses in certain segments of our population. And that it worked. And that this is why she needs to be careful when she uses the Internet, and is why she needs to think for herself and educate herself so she doesn't fall victim to the lies and crimes of others. Teach her that the Internet is a tool just like any other, and if she doesn't use it properly, she could seriously hurt herself. Tell her you wouldn't let her use a chainsaw without proper supervision or training, so you won't let her use the Internet without proper supervision or training.
Tell her that Trump was aberration - a representation of the worst of our country, which was brought to the forefront because another country wanted to tear us down to their level. And tell her that it doesn't represent the majority, not even close. Tell her to look at Trump as an example of why this country was founded, why the protections against the government in our Constitution are so important, and why it's important to participate in our democracy. And tell her that what makes our country great is that, while we may trip up or go the wrong direction at times, we nonetheless have the potential and capacity for great change, and that it's up to her and her generation to make sure this amazing experiment of a country moves closer and closer to fulfilling the aspirations set forth by our founders and ancestors.
Edit: The fact that this comment has brought the propagandists and the brainwashed out of the woodwork is just further proof of the veracity of my statements. Keep em coming, comrades. The more you post, the more you prove me right. This wouldn’t strike such a chord with you if there weren’t truth behind it.
Edit 2: To anyone who thinks blaming Russia is the wrong choice, you severely underestimate how effective their tactics were. These tactics were engineered using the scientific method and a complex understanding of psychology. They effectively figured how to use the Internet for inception purposes, and it worked. To think otherwise is, quite frankly, naive and dangerous. Trump simply would not have won without that effort being so effective. That’s the indisputable fact of the matter. And that’s why blame falls primarily on Russia. Refusing to blame them as the major force behind this is exactly what Putin would want, as well...
Also note how I never said to blame Russia and no one else. Of course racism and classism are huge problems in our society and there are other things to blame. But those existed before 2016 just as much as they did during the election. Fox News was always this way, the GOP was always this way, corporate influence was always this way. Trump would not have won simply because we are a racist, classist society. But what would have stopped him from winning was if Russia didn’t manipulate and brainwash a massive portion of our population. If we’re ever going to come together as Americans, we need to forgive those good people who were brainwashed. And that’s going to take some careful thought on our part to mete out the good-intentioned brainwashed from the bad-intentioned racists and fascists. But that’s not a story to tell your sons and daughters, because that’s not their fight (yet) - that’s still our fight. This was a suggestion on how to heal our country, and it has to start with teaching our children that our country isn’t full of horrible people because it’s not.
I think we need to be prepared for many more Trumps to come.
1) Look at the string of Republican presidential ticket candidates, wholly unqualified, ignorant to the core, and willfully deceitful. 2008 Sarah Palin, 2012: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain; 2016 Ben Carson, Donald Trump. Each of these candidates spent time at the top of Republican polls (or were on the ticket), despite a litany of bigoted, bizarre, and deceitful statements and positions... Slavery was good for black people! Dropping income tax to 9% for rich people isn't an economic death spiral, it will increase tax revenue!
Re watch a primary debate with Trump and the other Republican candidates from 2016. Watch them all try and one up each other on how big a war crime they want to commit until Trump blows them all out of the water calling for murdering family members of accused terrorists and assassinating world leaders--while Republican voters cheer. He's a step further, not an outlier. Rinse and repeat for immigration, taxes, and climate change.
The problem isn't Trump. There is a reason he's got 80-90% approval among Republican voters. He's one of many, and more are coming down the pipe.
I've never thought W had malice in his heart. The man was simply not as willful as the demon occupying the vice president seat while he was president. W honestly thought he was doing the right thing for others. That said, the man had his moments where I seriously questioned his intelligence. He made the ultimate pawn for Cheney.
Bush also thought God was speaking to him, he was massively deluded
But I don't make excuses for anyone with no basic sense of morality. If you're listening to Cheney and doing the awful shit he wants, I don't think you deserve much credit.
With that being said, it is important to recognize that it's never just the president. Bush had a whole network of awful neocons in his administration, and in the media supporting him. Many have found their way into Trump's WH.
Christian here. If you’re hearing actual voices, see a doctor. Christians believe God speaks in a “still, small voice” through the Holy Spirit. This “speaking” is more like a peace felt through meditation and prayer. An affirming peace. We also believe God reveals Himself through scripture to us.
So, if you read your Bible, pray, and give room for God to “speak” to you in those times, you can live a fulfilling and peaceful life.
It’s hard to blame the invasion of Iraq on a Bush and his spirituality. There was a lot of bloodlust in the air for like a decade after 9/11. I was 21 when it happened, and I still agreed with invading Iraq at the time. Looking back, I see it was wrong and entirely misguided by anger and bad intelligence.
Let’s not pretend these guys are more than just people. They fail and screw up simple concepts. Democrats and Republicans alike. Donald Trump is an outlier. A self-centred, vainglorious, and hollow little man. His life has been spent in pursuit of money, sex, and power (and he wouldn’t necessarily deny that if it was asked of him in a praising manner). There is little question that he will be remembered as the worst, most divisive, and most morally deficient POTUS in history.
Ridding ourselves of his stink will take a century.
I'd like to introduce you to this True Scotsman who is a friend of mine.
TL;DR there is no single group called "Christians" and there as such can be no all-encompassing statements about what "they" believe, not in anywhere near as specific a manner as you attempt.
So are you one of these unrepsented different Christians that doesn’t believe in what I wrote?
Or are you just some guy that looks for opportunities to demonstrate the “True Scotsman” bit as much as he/she possibly can?
Because I outlined some pretty basic Christian stuff that transcends denominations. I never said “True Christians”, and I never implied you have to do any of the things listed in order to demonstrate “true Christianity”. I explained a thought pattern recognized by Christians almost universally. The reason I explained it like that was to offer insight into a pattern or thought-process those outside of faith may be unfamiliar with.
So: No True “True Scotsman” user would mess up the “True Scotsman” as much as you just did. Truly.
Believing in your magical sky daddy (for whom there is this much evidence, by the way: zero) really does appear to have frazzled your delicate little logic circuits. See here:
Christians believe God speaks in a “still, small voice” through the Holy Spirit.
This is a direct claim and there are many self-labelled christians who would be a bit bamboozled at the specificity of the "still, small voice". This: a very literal "no true scotsman" as you've made a claim about "Christians" which does not pertain to all who identify as such, by any stretch. I'm going to need that sentence again so let's refer to it as $SuperWellSpicySentence from here on in.
This “speaking” is more like a peace felt through meditation and prayer.
Another direct claim about an experiential and metaphysical thing which is just, I mean, come on my guy. Every single christian experiences this in this way? Insert $SuperWellSpicySentence here.
I’m good without carrying on a conversation if you are. I don’t and didn’t treat you with disrespect because of your beliefs or ideas. I explained a thought process from a different point of view to bring clarity and awareness.
You are disparaging my belief-system and belittling me. If you can’t have a conversation without resorting to that foolishness, it’s best that we don’t converse at all.
Your “True Scotsman” bit was misplaced. You don’t have to be aggressive because I pointed that out
Beliefs that are ridiculous don't really deserve respect. And you did commit a no true scotsman. You don't speak for all christians, you speak for yourself. That is what you believe and what you understand some others believe. There are christians who believe that god literally speaks to them. Do you deny that?
Your whole schtick is to be “offended” that I speak for a group you have zero respect for.
That’s ridiculous.
You just want to prove that your premise about Christians and other religious people is flawless logic, and that they all fall into classic lapses.
It’s almost like you’re spending your time karate-chopping strawmen. You’re not making me angry or even annoyed. You’re boring me. This isn’t conversation. This is a temper-tantrum I won’t participate in.
Said the angry annoyed man who tries so hard to convince himself his irrational beliefs are rational that he has to run away whenever anyone points it out. Toodles!
You're the one who chose to believe in fairytales. A wee bit of belittling comes with the territory. I thought you were all supposed to rise above it, but I guess I must be thinking of traits of a different type of true christian. Blorp!
Charming behavior on here. Now it’s my problem you’re aggressive and pushy. Me speaking up was to bring insight to the subject matter. I wasn’t speaking up in order to have conversations with people who choose to willfully disrespect me.
You get to choose how you act in response to people with a system of beliefs you don’t agree with. It’s not my fault you’re so intolerant that you can’t help yourself.
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u/TuckerMcG Jan 09 '19 edited Jan 10 '19
You tell her the truth. That good-intentioned people who thought they were smart were manipulated by the bad-faith, hostile acts of a foreign government perpetrated by online disinformation campaigns scientifically developed to trigger certain emotional responses in certain segments of our population. And that it worked. And that this is why she needs to be careful when she uses the Internet, and is why she needs to think for herself and educate herself so she doesn't fall victim to the lies and crimes of others. Teach her that the Internet is a tool just like any other, and if she doesn't use it properly, she could seriously hurt herself. Tell her you wouldn't let her use a chainsaw without proper supervision or training, so you won't let her use the Internet without proper supervision or training.
Tell her that Trump was aberration - a representation of the worst of our country, which was brought to the forefront because another country wanted to tear us down to their level. And tell her that it doesn't represent the majority, not even close. Tell her to look at Trump as an example of why this country was founded, why the protections against the government in our Constitution are so important, and why it's important to participate in our democracy. And tell her that what makes our country great is that, while we may trip up or go the wrong direction at times, we nonetheless have the potential and capacity for great change, and that it's up to her and her generation to make sure this amazing experiment of a country moves closer and closer to fulfilling the aspirations set forth by our founders and ancestors.
Edit: The fact that this comment has brought the propagandists and the brainwashed out of the woodwork is just further proof of the veracity of my statements. Keep em coming, comrades. The more you post, the more you prove me right. This wouldn’t strike such a chord with you if there weren’t truth behind it.
Edit 2: To anyone who thinks blaming Russia is the wrong choice, you severely underestimate how effective their tactics were. These tactics were engineered using the scientific method and a complex understanding of psychology. They effectively figured how to use the Internet for inception purposes, and it worked. To think otherwise is, quite frankly, naive and dangerous. Trump simply would not have won without that effort being so effective. That’s the indisputable fact of the matter. And that’s why blame falls primarily on Russia. Refusing to blame them as the major force behind this is exactly what Putin would want, as well...
Also note how I never said to blame Russia and no one else. Of course racism and classism are huge problems in our society and there are other things to blame. But those existed before 2016 just as much as they did during the election. Fox News was always this way, the GOP was always this way, corporate influence was always this way. Trump would not have won simply because we are a racist, classist society. But what would have stopped him from winning was if Russia didn’t manipulate and brainwash a massive portion of our population. If we’re ever going to come together as Americans, we need to forgive those good people who were brainwashed. And that’s going to take some careful thought on our part to mete out the good-intentioned brainwashed from the bad-intentioned racists and fascists. But that’s not a story to tell your sons and daughters, because that’s not their fight (yet) - that’s still our fight. This was a suggestion on how to heal our country, and it has to start with teaching our children that our country isn’t full of horrible people because it’s not.