Why Do Republicans Believe Anything They're Told?

[MineralMan]

Part of it is the high percentage of Republicans who are evangelical Christians. Religion is all about belief in things that are improbable, at best, and unbelievable, at worst. If you'll believe some of the things evangelical Christians believe, you'll believe almost anything.

For example, if you believe that the theory of evolution is wrong, despite all the evidence, you might easily believe that global climate change isn't real.

If you believe that Donald Trump is a truthful man who wants the best for all Americans, you might also believe that dinosaurs walked the earth alongside humans.

[redstatebluegirl]

1. I love your posts Mineral Man....

[MineralMan]

2. Aww....Shucks...

[Wounded Bear]

3. I've been saying this for years...

after all, someone who can crawl out of their storm ravaged wreck of a house, look around at all their neighbors' trashed homes and broken bodies and lives and crow how "God loves them" has to be a bit detached from reality.

"God works in mysterious ways" is their way of saying "Damn, that's fucked up" in more polite terms.

[MineralMan]

4. Yup. It's not a new idea. I just thought I'd say it again.

Couldn't hurt.

[Wounded Bear]

7. Absolutely...

Me, I kind of want to get back to where laughing at over-religious types is in vogue again.

Creationism and flat earther bullshit needs to be laughed off the stage.

[MineralMan]

9. Well, I never stopped doing that.

However, it's not a very popular thing to do. It upsets people, for some reason.

[TEB]

10. Wtf wounded bear the earth isn't flat

[elleng]

5. Importance of real education (including history) being diminished for years by repugs;

their major 'achievement,' 'god-fearing ignoramuses' is what they want the electorate to be, and they're winning.

[MineralMan]

6. Indoctrination from early childhood trumps education

in many cases. Not for everyone, of course, but for very many.

[TEB]

12. You nailed it

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. IMHO because they *want* to believe

or, at least, they're predisposed to believe what they are being told. Or they *need* to believe what they're being told in the service of their own goals in order to grapple with the ethics/morality of their desired actions.

[MineralMan]

13. In many cases, that predisposition is a learned thing.

If you grow up being taught that things that are unbelievable are true, you're going to be predisposed to believe almost anything. I guess that's my point here.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

16. Yup

My mom tried hard to get me into religion (Christianity) when I was a kid but, for whatever reason, it just never took. The spirit "never got in me" LOL

[Kurt V.]

11. spot on MM.

Kevin Drum agrees
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/09/637469/

[MineralMan]

14. Thanks for the link!

[Cosmocat]

15. It isn't just the evangelicals though

It is DECADES of right wing propaganda being put out unchallenged.

They are completely brainwashed. It is like when they run the spoon on the tea cup in Get Out, except the word liberal, clinton, etc. completely shuts their brains off.

"Conservatism" is a mind control tool - tell people they are great patriots and christians, pump them up, get the ego inflated. Then tell them they are under attack by _____ appeal to their sense of victimhood, and play to their prejudices and biases. Make the turn that anything is righteous in the battle of good vs evil.

[CentralMass]

17. "Lying" is their native tongue.

[NRaleighLiberal]

18. That, sure. But people in general believe that which is repeated

Endlessly. Such as on Faux, or RW hate radio.

[FM123]

23. You are so right!

And if that kind garbage (like Faux news) is not only endlessly repeated but ALL they consume they become immune to facts, truth, science...

[Xolodno]

19. It has nothing to do with religion...

....its just one of the vehicles they use. At the end of the day, Jesus was a liberal Jew. They don't care about his teachings, all they want to hear about is fire and brimstone consuming their enemies.

It's all about what they "want" to hear. Coal mill, factory, etc. closes down and their UNION jobs disappear. And despite voting against the Union's recommendations for years....they blame it on illegal aliens taking their jobs. Funny thing is, if the factory does re-open in a foreign country....those who work their aren't "illegal aliens".

Some simply refuse to believe their jobs are obsolete, "my grand pappy worked here, my pappy worked here, I worked here and now its gone!". They'll say something along this...and won't get it.


But if some politician says "It's the Democrats fault and I'll do my best to bring those jobs back". They'll follow him or her in goose step.

Racism. If the main evangelical leaders did an about face and embraced everyone and encouraged Democratic voting, but the Cult of Chutulu started preaching where they left off....the cult would see its numbers swell.

I could go on, but I have work to do.

[lunasun]

32. Yep it's a whole basket full of crap not just religion imo

[lunatica]

20. And the sooner we accept the truth of that the sooner we can move on.

[meow2u3]

21. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything

Republicans stand for nothing but power at the expense of the many, so they'll believe anything they're told if it furthers their insatiable lust for power.

[JHB]

22. There's also a long tradition of hare-em scare-em stories and urban legends

About a certain band with elaborate costumes and makeup: "Did you know that KISS Stan's for Knights In Service of Satan?"


Proctor and Gamble retired their crescent-moon logo to avoid having to incessantly respond to rumors it was a sign of the company's pact with the devil.

That the peace symbol is actually a sign of Satan.

The most outlandish things can seem believable when you're steeped in a worldview that everything is a conspiracy by Satan to take souls.

[democratisphere]

24. Just plain gullible and dumb.

[llmart]

34. Gullible people like things put into very simple terms.

Simple explanations for simple minded people. They don't do nuance. The world and many aspects of life are complex because of diversity of cultures and people, but they are not smart or are willfully ignorant. They aren't interested in delving very deeply into any discussion. Religion is only one way in which they become gullible.

[uponit7771]

25. The root of the problem is the right are not good at discerning character of their "in group".

The rights "in group" leaders have a given 75% credibility without earning it. Their leaders are religious leaders, the rich, the military vets, men and mostly white skinned people.

The lefts "in group" leaders might have 50% credibility without earning it ... MIGHT and includes a wider swath of characters.

America's left has more working class and poor and can't afford to take chances on overtly shifty people because they're the same skin color or same religion or same politics.

The left are more skeptical ... period ... of our political leaders, even the ones we "like" have to earn soft authority constantly.


You'll notice in link below the Pizza Gate story flourished on FB because it was repeated by people that were respected by MAGA Minions.

Nearly 50% of Trump voters believed in part or whole that Clinton ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizza parlor.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/anatomy-of-a-fake-news-scandal-125877/

How stupid the subject matter is doesn't matter, if the person is a part of the rights "in group" then they're more apt to believe.

[Fred Sanders]

26. Stupid folks look backwards. Smart folks look forward, they can see both past and future.

Stupid folks are susceptible to fear, smart folks not so much.

No one is to blame for the spectrum of human nature or intelligence.

Today one man is to blame for politically exploiting human nature without remorse, not that it is anything new, again.

.........

Make America great, again.

Are we missing the comma?

[maxsolomon]

27. They are not willing to listen to the long, boring reality of things.

"Taxes is bad" is much easier to understand than the logic of progressive taxation, what it pays for, what benefits the individual sees, the larger cost that is avoided by social spending, the percentage of revenue that is actually "wasted", etc.

I once met a roommate's father, a devout Christian, just after finishing a fascinating book called "Testament" that explored the archaeological evidence around the Bible. He was staying with us for a few days and I thought he'd be interested. It was in no way disrespectful to either Judaism or Christianity, but he never looked at it past the 1st few pages. I came back from school and he told me it was written by an unbeliever, so he put it down.

Self-Centered Fear. THAT is why they believe anything they're told. They don't want to wake up.

[treestar]

28. Their authoritarian mindset may play into it, too

Someone in authority says something, to them, it must be true.

[hvn_nbr_2]

29. Banana Republican epistemology

Truth is whatever they want to believe, and they want to believe whatever feeds their anger and outrage. They are addicted to outrage. Evidence and logic are bogus, alien, even evil concepts.

[Fresh_Start]

30. People believe what validates their own interest and position

In my opinion, Trump voters love his lies...even though they know he is lying.

Why? Because they can pretend to believe him and that allows them to support actions which without a valid excuse, they couldn't support.

Essentially they are participants in the lie...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. Dinosaurs never walked the earth.

Fossilized bones were planted by Satan to confuse man.

I got this theory from someone who is very loud about their denial of evolution. Very loud. Even louder if you disagree.

Sometimes the jaw just drops.

[lunasun]

33. +These kind of people used to be a joke . Now they are all over the place and often in charge