I earlier recounted how honor-based folk rely on symbolism and the hyperbole it allows, and that the more fanatical (read ultra honor-based) are lately taken to bald-faced lies for the same reason. In this context, then, recall when New York Mayor Giuliani refused a hefty check from an Arab potentate after 9/11, followed by an Egyptian columnist calling the Mayor a 'homosexual'. That jab was to symbolically express that what the Mayor did was to reject, as if in toto, the cultural bedrock of Islam.
By analogy, then, we should not be surprised at the immensity of the impact on the underclass -- which has (almost) always and everywhere, throughout all of history and throughout all of the world, rejected homosexuality in the strongest of terms -- when it became apparent that liberalism was "making war' on their bedrock values. Sensing this, Republican leaders made it official, thereby inaugurating the 'culture wars'. And now you also know the precise psychology behind Muslim rioting with publications of pictures of Muhammad. It may be adult childishness, but it is also brutal reality.
Add, then, the fact that the underclass is devotedly religious, and that their brand of religion in particular allows every Sunday to become a political event equal to the religious. Churches become a built-in marketing tool for Republican politics, and thus the perfect storm for the most effective wedge issue ever -- 'family values'. Such at least is my take.
Life in hell proceeds with Lubbock County Republican Judge Tom Head, appearing on Fox News , announcing his predictions on an Obama (2012) win, with an implicit comparison to Lincoln, in that the same (correct) predictions were being made prior to his election --
"He's going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the United States to the U.N., and what is going to happen when that happens? I'm thinking the worst. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. And we're not just talking a few riots here and demonstrations, we're talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy."
This is classic honor-based hyperbolic bald-faced lying. The Judge was arguably campaigning for the Tea Party under guise of off-hand remarks that could only be construed as telling the Tea Party candidates that they will succeed, just keep on keepin' on. Of course the hyperbolic sensationalism is the very heart of the marketing and for the effectiveness of its influence on the intended audiences. But let me be crystal clear. This is classic honor-based grandstanding and need not be given the slightest credence; it should not have been accorded the airtime it received (the objective in doing it to begin with). Hate groups do the same thing to get the same result. Best not to make a habit of treating nonsense as notable news.
Life in hell boils over, terminally, when the Republicans have finally reduced our nation to 'one fascism under an angry god'. An approach I could not take up in detail for lack of space was made much easier by Dr. Lawrence Britt, whose 14 'Defining Characteristics of Fascism' approach perfection in my mind. Republicanism is precisely the brand of conservatism that in troubled honor-based societies nourishes and supports fascism. I offer the list below (slightly edited) with parenthetical notations to the sections where they or their near equivalents are treated in the series.
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism (Mirror, mirror -- part two)
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights (Land of opportunity -- part two)
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats a Unifying Cause (Imitation of vengeance -- part three)
4. Supremacy of the Military (Islands ahoy -- part one)
5. Rampant Sexism (Silence from the sinkhole -- part two)
6. Controlled Mass Media / Censorship (Behind bars -- part three)
7. Obsession with National Security / Fear tactics (Islands ahoy -- part one)
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined (Behind glass walls -- part two)
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