Conspiracy

[Chris]

As far as I'm concerned, it's all about religion.

Fundamentalist Christians (and Muslims, to be fair) are always worried, that the Devil is after them and that the other side is somehow compromised in that regard. They seek secret conspiracies of Devil-worshippers everywhere. Qanon and the current direction of the republican party is just the latest iteration of this paranoid streak in US politics. Ironically, this is incredibly similar to the Islamic world, except there they tend to see the US as the satanic power with Israel closely behind.

I'm not sure that they're entirely wrong there, to be honest...

[Emil El Zapato]

As far as I'm concerned, it's all about religion.

Fundamentalist Christians (and Muslims, to be fair) are always worried, that the Devil is after them and that the other side is somehow compromised in that regard. They seek secret conspiracies of Devil-worshippers everywhere. Qanon and the current direction of the republican party is just the latest iteration of this paranoid streak in US politics. Ironically, this is incredibly similar to the Islamic world, except there they tend to see the US as the satanic power with Israel closely behind.

I'm not sure that they're entirely wrong there, to be honest...

Exactly, it is a tossup for me ... I would be inclined to go with the Fundamentalist Christians though ...

[Wind]

This is one confused species... Ay caramba.

[Chris]

The funny things is how both groups (fundamentalist Christians and Muslims) worship the same God, but imagine that the other side is the personification of evil and are footsoldiers for Satan. This is always a worry. In Northern Ireland, protestants used to preach that the Pope was the antichrist and Catholics were devil-worshippers. Same with the Sunni-Shia hatred, which goes back centuries, or the antisemitism of Christians and Muslims.

I think conspiracy theories tap into the same sort of ancient hatred and divisions. Republicans in particular tend to see the democrats as "demonrats", demonic vermin to be exterminated, devil-worshippers that literally eat babies. This is serious stuff and such hatred and division almost always leads to mass violence.

BTW, there are some divisions in Europe too, but never of this magnitude. Disagreements are mostly over economic policy and migration, but one side doesn't think the other side is evil personified. This is really medieval (or totalitarian) stuff.

[Emil El Zapato]

The funny things is how both groups (fundamentalist Christians and Muslims) worship the same God, but imagine that the other side is the personification of evil and are footsoldiers for Satan. This is always a worry. In Northern Ireland, protestants used to preach that the Pope was the antichrist and Catholics were devil-worshippers. Same with the Sunni-Shia hatred, which goes back centuries, or the antisemitism of Christians and Muslims.

I think conspiracy theories tap into the same sort of ancient hatred and divisions. Republicans in particular tend to see the democrats as "demonrats", demonic vermin to be exterminated, devil-worshippers that literally eat babies. This is serious stuff and such hatred and division almost always leads to mass violence.

BTW, there are some divisions in Europe too, but never of this magnitude. Disagreements are mostly over economic policy and migration, but one side doesn't think the other side is evil personified. This is really medieval (or totalitarian) stuff.

All true, but in the U.S. that is almost a sideshow while the 'fundamental' problem is one of racism, the satan worship evolved from the angle of humanism and secularism becoming the predominant sentiment, as in most developed nations, and that brought out the fundamentalist Christians to fight the 'others' and the godless pedophiles. It is a highly toxic mix.

[Chris]

All true, but in the U.S. that is almost a sideshow while the 'fundamental' problem is one of racism, the satan worship evolved from the angle of humanism and secularism becoming the predominant sentiment, as in most developed nations, and that brought out the fundamentalist Christians to fight the 'others' and the godless pedophiles. It is a highly toxic mix.

True, but racism itself seems to stem from ideas rooted in religious thought. For instance the term Aryan, PureBlood, comes from the Hindu concept of a spiritually pure, superior group of humans, itself based on the idea of castes, that is the idea that certain groups (often, though not always, differentiated by certain physical characteristics, such as skin tone) are inherently superior to others by birth, that these should be superior, that is they should rule over the lesser groups and that their superiority is genetic, conferred upon them from birth, true their bloodline and inherited.

If you think about antisemitism, would it even exist if Jews weren't followers of another religion?

[Emil El Zapato]

True, but racism itself seems to stem from ideas rooted in religious thought. For instance the term Aryan, PureBlood, comes from the Hindu concept of a spiritually pure, superior group of humans, itself based on the idea of castes, that is the idea that certain groups (often, though not always, differentiated by certain physical characteristics, such as skin tone) are inherently superior to others by birth, that these should be superior, that is they should rule over the lesser groups and that their superiority is genetic, conferred upon them from birth, true their bloodline and inherited.

If you think about antisemitism, would it even exist if Jews weren't followers of another religion?

good point ... another question might be when did those concepts incorporate into religious thought. In the west, Aristotle can be blamed for the notion of 'what you are born to be is what you will be at your last breath'. Religion or philosophy? Or just plain 'the evil gene'. I do know that prior to Judaism the prevailing differentiation of 'me' and 'other' was predicated on culture. Does that mean culture as defined by religion or culture as 'wealth'. If people labeled each other 'within' a religious culture then it might suggest that it is deeper yet than religion. It is just my feeling that Neanderthals didn't make those kind of distinctions, they were united in the goal of survival. It was modern man with his 'technological' breakthroughs that began to believe that they were better than the next person. It's that old 'Caucasus' mountains thing again. It would have infected the Middle East first and then spread to Europe. Modern people in Europe really took to the idea after intermarriage with the 'evil' gene. The 'warrior gene' has been validated by neurologists to exist and is carried by females that are descendants of the first wave of 'gene' spread post Neanderthals. The descendants of hunter-gatherers are innocent of all charges (in most cases). There is, of course, the notion of 'divergent evolution'. If a certain 'flavor' of genetic manifestation imparts a selection benefit then it can and likely will develop in separated but related clans. That's my theory ...

[Chris]

To me, it seems this sort of supremacist thinking is as old as empire and thus civilisation itself. Certainly, the Sumerians were aware by 4000 BC, that they were "superior" to the lesser, uncivilised primitive barbarians that lived everywhere else in the world, with them being the first real civilisation, with city-states, writing, irrigation, mathematics, astronomy, laws, etc... The Greeks of course looked down on everyone else as Barbarians (they still do, to be fair) as did the Romans and later Christendom.

Supremacy wasn't really associated with race or skin colour until quite late in the game, my guess is, this came with colonial conquests and the establishment of slave colonies in the New World. Thereafter, Britain's economy in particular, became heavily dependent on the slave trade and sugar plantations in the Caribbean, which necessitated, probably at least from a psychological viewpoint, the creation of racial supremacy as a justification. In fact only today, Barbados is finally casting off the colonial yoke and becoming a republic at midnight, with the Queen no longer the official owner of Barbados, which is what being a "Commonwealth Realm" really means. By the way, the Queen still owns about one-sixth of the world's surface area, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and much of Antarctica (the so-called British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic territories, which makes up the majority of that continent) as well as their territorial waters. If you want to find the roots of racial supremacy, this is probably where you should look. Am I the only one that thinks it is disgusting, that fifteen sovereign nations are still owned by the Queen and only she and her idiot progeny can be heads of state?

How is that for racism? I somehow never hear wokesters complaining about the unbelievable fact that in fifteen sovereign countries the head of state can only be a white English Anglican woman from just one particular (German-Transylvanian) bloodline.

Which reminds me, one conspiracy on the chart I first posted, which isn't a theory, is about prince Charles, who will be attending Barbados's independence ceremony this evening. He may not be a vampire, strictly speaking, but he is in fact descended from the historical count Dracula, known as Vlad Tepes.

He now owns a castle in Transylvania (the Hungarian part) which he visits every year. His estate is run by Count Kálnoky, a genuine Hungarian-Transylvanian count. Apparently porphyria, a genetic disease that runs in the family and has mostly affected aristocrats, due to inbreeding, was the basis for much of the vampire and Dracula myth. People with porphyria are sensitive to sunlight and have a craving for blood, due to an inherent iron deficiency. Vlad Tepes, famously cruel, used to dunk bread into the blood of his slain enemies and eat it.

[Emil El Zapato]

yes, I have found it disgusting for as long as I can remember.

[Dreamtimer]

The funny things is how both groups (fundamentalist Christians and Muslims) worship the same God, but imagine that the other side is the personification of evil and are footsoldiers for Satan. This is always a worry. In Northern Ireland, protestants used to preach that the Pope was the antichrist and Catholics were devil-worshippers. Same with the Sunni-Shia hatred, which goes back centuries, or the antisemitism of Christians and Muslims.

I think conspiracy theories tap into the same sort of ancient hatred and divisions. Republicans in particular tend to see the democrats as "demonrats", demonic vermin to be exterminated, devil-worshippers that literally eat babies. This is serious stuff and such hatred and division almost always leads to mass violence.

BTW, there are some divisions in Europe too, but never of this magnitude. Disagreements are mostly over economic policy and migration, but one side doesn't think the other side is evil personified. This is really medieval (or totalitarian) stuff.

Yep. This has been the foundation of my concerns for years. I have written here more than once about my father warning me that bringing religion into politics was a bad idea and would be the quickest way for me to lose my freedoms. And nearly right away, along came Gingrich and his Christian Coalition. And now we have fundamentalists seeping into all aspects of public life.

Their mission, their 'freedom of religion' is to witness and convert. They won't stop. And if they need to 'kill the devil' they will.

It is indeed very dangerous. And the distraction of 'socialism! socialism!' is making things worse.

[Dreamtimer]

Am I the only one that thinks it is disgusting, that fifteen sovereign nations are still owned by the Queen and only she and her idiot progeny can be heads of state?

No Chris, you're not. It's nuts.


I think one of the best examples of racism and religion being intertwined comes with the Irish. They're were brutalized and starved. There's a quote from a British noble who said that it would be easier to stomach their suffering if they weren't so pale. So there you have the skin color thing. They didn't look different enough. So one could focus on the red hair.

In America, when I was growing up, it was not good to have red hair. You were a freak and kids made fun of you. Some parents would die their children's hair.

I relish the irony of the Irish becoming incredibly popular all over the world with their music, dance and culture. We now have celtic symbols abounding. The effort to destroy the culture and its roots has failed spectacularly.

I believe it will take much time and effort for racism to die. We need to grow up as a species.

The fact that so many educated folks so easily glom onto conspiracy theories is evidence of this lack of maturity, imo.

[Emil El Zapato]

No Chris, you're not. It's nuts.


I think one of the best examples of racism and religion being intertwined comes with the Irish. They're were brutalized and starved. There's a quote from a British noble who said that it would be easier to stomach their suffering if they weren't so pale. So there you have the skin color thing. They didn't look different enough. So one could focus on the red hair.

In America, when I was growing up, it was not good to have red hair. You were a freak and kids made fun of you. Some parents would die their children's hair.

I relish the irony of the Irish becoming incredibly popular all over the world with their music, dance and culture. We now have celtic symbols abounding. The effort to destroy the culture and its roots has failed spectacularly.

I believe it will take much time and effort for racism to die. We need to grow up as a species.

The fact that so many educated folks so easily glom onto conspiracy theories is evidence of this lack of maturity, imo.

In the Hispanic community, red hair makes you a superstar. My adoptive aunt was a red head (in retrospect it might have been dyed but my adoptive mother was very freckled). I've always loved it, just like the community in general. At one point, the Cuban community had many dyed redheads. etc.

[Dreamtimer]

Well, red hair is way cool now. People dye their hair many shades of red. I considered it more than once. But I just don't dye my hair.

We had a member who was quite focused on red hair and bloodlines.

[Chris]

Well, red hair is way cool now. People dye their hair many shades of red. I considered it more than once. But I just don't dye my hair.

We had a member who was quite focused on red hair and bloodlines.

It's the Neanderthal legacy. I must have a higher than average Neanderthal admixture in my gene, I once went through a Neanderthal genetic checklist and the vast majority applied to me. Red hair and freckles are a dead giveaway that your neanderthal DNA has asserted itself. Note, that the people with the highest amount of Neanderthal admixture in their genes are the Jews, followed by the Irish, other celts and some isolated ethnic groups in Russia. Australian aborigines too, I think. Apparently red hair is common amongst all these groups.

There is an excellent book on the subject, which I own, titled the Neanderthal Legacy. It analyses very comprehensively, the distinct characteristics of Neanderthals as opposed to Cro Magnons and how they are so much more common in groups with a high amount of Neanderthal admixture, like the ethnic groups I mentioned.

Some of the characteristics of Neanderthal society that differentiated them from Cro-Magnons:

They were mostly night creatures and slept during the day. They worshipped the moon, were matriarchal and followed a lunar calendar. They were left-handed, sexually promiscous, artistically talented (The Lascaux cave paintings are believed to be their legacy), highly musical and communal. They had bigger brains than cro-magnons or modern humans and were probably more intelligent as well.

I could go on, but if you look at it from a distance, doesn't it suddenly make sense that right-wingers (Cro-magnons) who are patriarchal, early risers, monogamous, often homophobic, nationalist, etc... would hate the left-wingers (Neanderthals) so much? Maybe it is a crude characterisation, but at least some of it fits the mould...

[Emil El Zapato]

It's the Neanderthal legacy. I must have a higher than average Neanderthal admixture in my gene, I once went through a Neanderthal genetic checklist and the vast majority applied to me. Red hair and freckles are a dead giveaway that your neanderthal DNA has asserted itself. Note, that the people with the highest amount of Neanderthal admixture in their genes are the Jews, followed by the Irish, other celts and some isolated ethnic groups in Russia. Australian aborigines too, I think. Apparently red hair is common amongst all these groups.

There is an excellent book on the subject, which I own, titled the Neanderthal Legacy. It analyses very comprehensively, the distinct characteristics of Neanderthals as opposed to Cro Magnons and how they are so much more common in groups with a high amount of Neanderthal admixture, like the ethnic groups I mentioned.

Some of the characteristics of Neanderthal society that differentiated them from Cro-Magnons:

They were mostly night creatures and slept during the day. They worshipped the moon, were matriarchal and followed a lunar calendar. They were left-handed, sexually promiscous, artistically talented (The Lascaux cave paintings are believed to be their legacy), highly musical and communal. They had bigger brains than cro-magnons or modern humans and were probably more intelligent as well.

I could go on, but if you look at it from a distance, doesn't it suddenly make sense that right-wingers (Cro-magnons) who are patriarchal, early risers, monogamous, often homophobic, nationalist, etc... would hate the left-wingers (Neanderthals) so much? Maybe it is a crude characterisation, but at least some of it fits the mould...

I'm down with that...

It's the Neanderthal legacy. I must have a higher than average Neanderthal admixture in my gene, I once went through a Neanderthal genetic checklist and the vast majority applied to me. Red hair and freckles are a dead giveaway that your neanderthal DNA has asserted itself. Note, that the people with the highest amount of Neanderthal admixture in their genes are the Jews, followed by the Irish, other celts and some isolated ethnic groups in Russia. Australian aborigines too, I think. Apparently red hair is common amongst all these groups.

There is an excellent book on the subject, which I own, titled the Neanderthal Legacy. It analyses very comprehensively, the distinct characteristics of Neanderthals as opposed to Cro Magnons and how they are so much more common in groups with a high amount of Neanderthal admixture, like the ethnic groups I mentioned.

Some of the characteristics of Neanderthal society that differentiated them from Cro-Magnons:

They were mostly night creatures and slept during the day. They worshipped the moon, were matriarchal and followed a lunar calendar. They were left-handed, sexually promiscous, artistically talented (The Lascaux cave paintings are believed to be their legacy), highly musical and communal. They had bigger brains than cro-magnons or modern humans and were probably more intelligent as well.

I could go on, but if you look at it from a distance, doesn't it suddenly make sense that right-wingers (Cro-magnons) who are patriarchal, early risers, monogamous, often homophobic, nationalist, etc... would hate the left-wingers (Neanderthals) so much? Maybe it is a crude characterisation, but at least some of it fits the mould...

What is the name of the book, Chris ... Cro-Magnon is a somewhat deprecated term for modern humans but nevertheless it sounds like it might be an interesting read.

deprecated: science/technology