California Insurrection

[mirkwood]

I'll decry his actions no matter which political bend he has.

[LDSGator]

One thing I really don’t understand about the rioters is their lack of self awareness. They are the type that want to beat you up when you imply that they aren’t peaceful. 

[Ironhold]

12 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

One thing I really don’t understand about the rioters is their lack of self awareness. They are the type that want to beat you up when you imply that they aren’t peaceful. 

Back when I was dealing with online anti-Mormons in the 2000s, I formulated a hypothesis for what I call the "Holy Crusader" mindset. 

This is a situation where a person becomes so mentally and emotionally invested in whatever they adhere to that they consciously or unconsciously see it as a deity figure, and by extension view themselves as holy warriors in behalf of the cause. 

Since they see their cause as "good" and themselves as the arbiters of "good", they therefore regard anything that is the opposite of their cause as being inherently "evil". Thus, in their eyes, everything they do is justified as part of the larger battle of good versus evil. 

This is how we have, say, people claiming to be "anti-fascists" when they themselves are behaving in a fascistic fashion. 

[LDSGator]

23 minutes ago, Ironhold said:

Back when I was dealing with online anti-Mormons in the 2000s, I formulated a hypothesis for what I call the "Holy Crusader" mindset. 

This is a situation where a person becomes so mentally and emotionally invested in whatever they adhere to that they consciously or unconsciously see it as a deity figure, and by extension view themselves as holy warriors in behalf of the cause. 

Since they see their cause as "good" and themselves as the arbiters of "good", they therefore regard anything that is the opposite of their cause as being inherently "evil". Thus, in their eyes, everything they do is justified as part of the larger battle of good versus evil. 

This is how we have, say, people claiming to be "anti-fascists" when they themselves are behaving in a fascistic fashion. 

Yup. I agree. Always thought the same thing.