Few things frustrate, anger, and scare me more than when a person has the ability to speak intelligently while saying really stupid stuff. It makes those eager to agree with him feel as though they have a really intellectual argument on their side. It's a trick, of course. But it's a powerful one.
It's not just about religion. It's about all kinds of silver tongues with all kinds of agendas. It's about spreading ignorance but disguising it as insight. About spreading paranoia and tribalism but pretending they are "enlightenment".
Case in point, a starving, poor, brutalized third-world country Muslim WANTS to believe that there's something villainous about the freedoms a happy, white American enjoys. Know why? Because some part of him wants that freedom too... and he can't have it. There's some small part of him (part of all of us) that wishes nobody else could either. It's called BEING HUMAN. This Muslim man is practically begging for a reason to justify his insecurities. All it takes is a little push from an ideology that promises the poor man 72 virgins. That tells him that his suffering and shitty life have not been in vain. That there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Promise a broken man all of these things, and you've got yourself another disciple.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in America... a blue collar white man whose once-nice neighborhood is now over run with crime (most of which is black) is just begging for a reason to justify his hatred of the black man. He thinks he's the only one who's tired of it. He thinks everybody else has lost their balls, afraid to say the obvious truth because it's not PC. He thinks everybody knows the black man is inferior but that they are afraid to say it. This man is dying for a leader. A silver tongued radio host who will tell him he's always right and that the minority is always wrong. That every bad thing he has ever done was perfectly natural and understandable. Beautiful parts of capitalism and looking out for one's own.... but that every bad thing the minority has ever done wrong is worth getting upset about. Un-American and a clear threat to the blue collar man's way of life. And, sadly enough, there is always a silver tongued celebrity who is more than eager to take this legion of willing believers under his wing in order to make a few bucks.
And yet... on another part of the country, A 12th generation Christian woman living in the bible belt has been dying since September 11th to say what she really feels. She thinks the towel heads should all be shot, and that the glory of the One True God should be made known before it's "too late". That the blasphemous homosexuals, the liberal hippies, and the filthy Muslims and Jews have destroyed this once great country. She thinks that tolerance has gone too far. That these days, just about anything is seen as being acceptable. She thinks Christianity, the country's one true religion, has come under attack. She's slightly hesitant to voice these concerns, as they aren't quite PC in this day and age. But should a female GOP candidate with similar views speak up first, then this lady will more than happily line up behind her. She only needs a push from a silver tongued leader ready to take advantage of her all-too-willing devotion and she's as good as gone. And, of course, there are many people who are more than willing to take up this "righteous" cause.
It's a crazy power some people have. The power to make all of your followers turn off their ability to think for themselves and to make them enjoy the sweet, promising taste of bullshit. To tell them they are right and everybody else is wrong.
I could make so much money off of people if only I didn't have a conscience. We all could. If only we didn't have that part of us that knows the difference between right and wrong. If only I would give in to my tribal, petty, selfish desires and cash in on the eager ignorance of myself and those around me. Because trust me, it's EVERYWHERE. And it wants to be lied to.
We could all do it if we really wanted to. If we really turned our empathy off entirely. It's possible. The people out there are all too willing.
But that thing called "integrity" pulls most people back. Something just wouldn't be right about preying on the weak. It would be, if nothing else, a moral breach of taste.
Then again... there are plenty of people who never seem to have that moral crisis...
