We're watching the largest and most dangerous 'cult' in American history
By: Seth D. Norrholm (Raw Story)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
OP-ED
EXCERPT
This is no longer possible in today's sociopolitical climate. Although members of the GOP still refer to themselves as a political party with principled stances, the reality is they have now morphed into a domestic terror organization and, to use the umbrella term, a cult - the largest and most dangerous cult in American history.
Cult thinking includes ardent adherence to group thinking such as - clinically speaking, in the face of distorted thinking we ask about one's strength of conviction by querying, "Can you think of other ways of seeing this?" Sadly, what we are seeing publicly is 'No' from those who still subscribe to Trumpism/MAGA.
Here are a few examples in today's sociopolitical environment in which cultism has contributed to a lack of middle ground.
There is no middle ground on treasonous, conspiratorial, fraudulent behavior - these are crimes and, arguably, the worst crimes one could commit against their own country.
There is no middle ground on slavery.
There is no middle ground on allowing Americans to die through inaction in response to natural disasters and global health crises.
There is no middle ground on gunning down school children or wearing an AR-15 rifle pin and throwing away a pin to remember a Uvalde victim.
There is no middle ground on jeopardizing national security and retaining and sharing classified documents.
There is no middle ground on breaking campaign finance (i.e., hush money schemes) laws.
There should be no middle ground on tolerance of crime, period.
And so many know this. Tim Scott, Jim Jordan, and Marco Rubio (the last two having gone to law school), all know this and are smarter than they are acting - which takes us back to cult dynamics - if you are a dyed-in-the-wool cultist or pretending to be a cultist - but the outcome is the same - harm to the Country and its people - there is no difference. Whether you actually have a personality disorder or are pretending to be a sociopathically or psychopathically disordered person - if the result is the same - harm to your constituents and your country - what's the difference? As noted in the opening paragraphs, there is a voluntary submission to cultism - Rubio, for example, identified all of the reasons why the 45th President was not qualified when he himself was running for President in 2016. However, perhaps due to his own intolerance of uncertainties in his life, volunteered for Trumpism.
What can be done?
There are exit strategies for people ensnared in a cult. One factor is accountability or repeatedly seeing the adverse consequences of the group's behavior (e.g., indictment, incarceration, job loss) which we started to see even more of this week.
But until one party and its ardent followers can admit they are in a domestic terrorist cult and as Rep. Eric Swalwell said are "unserious" people, there is no hope of unification on the horizon. The first step is getting through to people who can't or won't see the truth.
About the Author:
Seth D. Norrholm, PhD (Threads: neuropsychophd; X, artist formerly known as Twitter: @SethN12) is a neuropsychologist and independent socio political columnist. Dr. Norrholm has spent 20 years studying trauma-, stressor-, anxiety-, depressive-, and substance use-related disorders and has published over 135 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters.
This is why we do not "accept" Trump.
This was published by a journalist in an actual newspaper.:
Barack Obama isn’t really one of us. Not in the normal way, anyway.
This is what I find myself offering up more and more in response to the whiners and the frowners and to those with broken or sadly dysfunctional karmic antennae – or no antennae at all – to all those who just don’t understand and maybe even actively recoil against all this chatter about Obama’s aura and feel and MLK/JFK-like vibe.
To them I say, all right, you want to know what it is? The appeal, the pull, the ethereal and magical thing that seems to enthrall millions of people from all over the world , that keeps opening up and firing into new channels of the culture normally completely unaffected by politics?
No, it’s not merely his youthful vigor, or handsomeness, or even inspiring rhetoric. It is not fresh ideas or cool charisma or the fact that a black president will be historic and revolutionary in about a thousand different ways. It is something more. Even Bill Clinton, with all his effortless, winking charm, didn’t have what Obama has, which is a sort of powerful luminosity, a unique high-vibration integrity.
Dismiss it all you like, but I’ve heard from far too many enormously smart, wise, spiritually attuned people who’ve been intuitively blown away by Obama’s presence – not speeches, not policies, but sheer presence – to say it’s just a clever marketing ploy, a slick gambit carefully orchestrated by hotshot campaign organizers who, once Obama gets into office, will suddenly turn from perky optimists to vile soul-sucking lobbyist whores, with Obama as their suddenly evil, cackling overlord.
Here’s where it gets gooey. Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet , of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve . They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul.
The unusual thing is, true Lightworkers almost never appear on such a brutal, spiritually demeaning stage as national politics. This is why Obama is so rare. And this why he is so often compared to Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., to those leaders in our culture whose stirring vibrations still resonate throughout our short history.
Do you think Obama supporters would have stormed the Capitol if Obama had lost the 2016 election?
There would have been violence. Maybe storming the Capitol. Maybe attacking the inauguration. Something.
Particularly if it occurred after a year where widespread rioting was allowed without repercussions.
You have no basis for saying that. It is a delusion of Trump supporters that he , and they, are just like everybody else.
You seem to think that the 2020 insurrection was a normal response that would naturally emerge when someone loses an election.
How can you possibly ignore that Trump incited / motivated / organized ( " Be there, will be wild! " ) his supporters for months and even the hour prior to the insurrection?
Projection.
No, there is no credible evidence in that. You lack proof.
Another 'nuh-uh' denying the obvious and ignoring all the quotes from Trump himself. Pathetic.
To be honest. Would you trust the quotes from this guy?
Another fun reminder of the Obama cult:
The Is Obama the Messiah? blog
You are presenting random opinions of a handful of online commentators, which are insignificant. Trump has almost 250 cultists in the US Congress. Almost all of them fold to Trump, willingly, when he threatens them.
The idea that there is some sort of equivalence in cultishness between Trump and Obama is bonkers.
Oh bullshit. Remember the kids in Detroit (I think) who were taught this little ditty?
"Barrack Hussein Obama....mmmmm......mmmmmmm.......mmmmm"
And how could anyone forget "Ain't nobody got time for dat. Obama gots a stash"
I cant forget it because I have never heard of it.
Now you have. Kinda reminds us of what the Hitler Youth did, or what happens in North Korea
Right wing rage bait has always been lies. The garbage about Obama taking away their guns, putting right wingers in FEMA camps, or ending their free speech.
Not only did none of that happen, but right wing media took over everything. They cornered the market on speech trying to shut down any other voices.
They have FOX, OAN, RBN, NEWSMAX, SINCLAIR, right wing Trump supporter bought CNN pushing it to the right.
CBS and ABC caved to the right. MSNBC caved getting rid of some of their most popular hosts and now shutting it down with a new ridiculous acronym.
Bezos bought the Washington Post, other legacy media hounded to death by right wing activists shifted to the right, a huge number of right wing podcasters give them high profile platforms for right wing opinions.
Many other major print organizations were bought by Trump backers or forced to shift to the right.
It is a cult if they are rabid to destroy any other opinions or thoughts but that of the cult.
America wrote free speech into our constitution but the whining of right wing culture "warriors" are deliberately destroying our most precious freedom simply because they don't want any other opinions, ideas or beliefs to pierce their cult bubble.
If right wing opinions are popular, there would be no need to gobble up every second of airtime or publication.
For Godsakes they hate SESAME STREET! They shut down PBS because they are offended by puppets offering a variety of characters.
When a cult gets so rabid they cannot tolerate children's programs that embrace all children of every background we have a serious cult problem.
Yesterday...... "plague".
Today...... "cult".
Can't wait for tomorrow's unhinged rant of the day.
And when is democracy going to end? It’d be kinda nice to have a ballpark timeline to plan ahead.
As soon as they can cure the plague and imprison the cult members.
So it’ll be a while, cool.
Well you know what they say....
Nobody expects the Leftist Inquisition!!
I suppose that’ll be a common occurrence once democracy ends. Just another thing to prepare for, sigh.
Alas. I'll keep an eye out for you in the gulag, assuming they just don't summarily execute the both of us.
Thanks comra,,i mean friend, much appreciated