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   Eaton (eaton@phire.place)'s status on Monday, 04-Dec-2023 03:04:19 JST Eaton

   in reply to

   • myrmepropagandist
   • Syn-(h)ACK

   @SynAck @futurebird Yep. The roots go back much farther (authoritarian fundamentalism and reactionary right politicos were both gung ho about anticommunism in the 60s and 70s, and convinced that the UN/etc were plots to take over America) but the reagan campaign was the real birth of the tight partnership we see now

   • Embed this notice
     Syn-(h)ACK (synack@corteximplant.com)'s status on Monday, 04-Dec-2023 03:04:20 JST Syn-(h)ACK

     in reply to

     • myrmepropagandist

     @futurebird As someone who grew up Baptist, lived through the D&D/heavy metal/Satanists kidnapping kids on Halloween/etc panics, and now as an adult who still holds Christian beliefs, I can say that it comes down to two words: power and control.

     In the Before Times when books, newspapers, TV, and word-of-mouth were the only sources of information (and the news media was still trusted), all it took was for the media to suggest a scenario and the rank-and-file would get all a-flutter because they couldn't fact-check it like we can now. If it was reported as news, well then it must be true!

     IIRC, it was Ronald Reagan's campaign that figured out how to mobilize evangelical Christians as a political demographic (remember the Moral Majority and Focus On the Family?) and once the higher-ups in those religions got a taste of the power and control that politics can offer, the inevitable slide into today's Christian Nationalism was begun. Since power begets money (and vice versa), they would never attack the institutions that keep that power and control intact (and the money flowing), so they choose to use terrifying "spiritual forces" (that can't be rationally questioned) to generate fear in their followers and redirect their moral outrage towards other things in order to keep the money and power status quo.

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     myrmepropagandist (futurebird@sauropods.win)'s status on Monday, 04-Dec-2023 03:04:21 JST myrmepropagandist

     in reply to

     In the US moral panics tend to be linked to a sincere belief in Satan and/or demons. Some Christian practices lean into the existence of The Devil(tm) very heavily.

     This is, frankly, terrifying. If you believe that there are evil beings working non-stop to corrupt your family you will look for those forces. Anything "different" or superficially gothic could be a threat.

     Why don't they ever decide The Devil is payday lenders, insurance companies, war profiteers and IDK FDA deregulators? 3/3

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     myrmepropagandist (futurebird@sauropods.win)'s status on Monday, 04-Dec-2023 03:04:22 JST myrmepropagandist

     in reply to

     In hindsight moral panics always seem deeply silly, you have to wonder how anyone fell for such nonsense.

     Media plays a role in allowing panics to happen either by uncritically repeating the claims of the morally panicked, or by presenting those claims as a question. I remember local news segments that wondered if maybe there really were "demonic messages" encoded in records played backwards. If D&D clubs maybe really were Satan worship.

     And this is still occurring in right wing media. 2/

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     myrmepropagandist (futurebird@sauropods.win)'s status on Monday, 04-Dec-2023 03:04:24 JST myrmepropagandist

     How synthetic are moral panics? A moral panic, like Dungeon's and Dragon's in the 80s or the CRT and LGBT content in schools more recently tends to involve a 'threat' to children. Something evil, incomprehensible (and probably sexual) is coming to get the kids.

     This causes people to spring to action without thinking, & it makes anyone critical of the panic seem like a creep.

     A moral panic could happen at any time, in any place-- but are there wider conditions that make a panic more likely? 1/