'It's a cult': Former GOP lawmaker blames Republicans for contributing to the cult of Trump

But…really? No critical thinking?

It's quickly stomped out by groupthink. Other people point to lack of education, but I don't think that's correct. They are surrounded by Republicans. All their friends and family are republicans. Most people in their towns are.

Going against the group means being ostracized. They see the amount if hate and vitriol being cast at the others and they are terrified that it will be cast at them. So they always go along with the group, never against it. They can think critically but they won't ever do so out loud.

Look at how even some far right people have been painted as liberal hacks by Republicans just for not being far right enough.

They are absolutely terrified that will happen to them.

it would seem to me that the intersection between certain flavors of religion, authoritarianism, faux patriotism, hate of the "other" and self loathing is a perfect catalyst for this national cult nightmare.

I agree, it is a sort of bug and deep down I think these people either want a rigid hierarchical society (where they are at least not the bottom rung) or are 100% willing to burn everything and everyone down to the ground - its binary with zero nuance or room for compromise. trump is the perfect guy for them.

To further your point, there's a reason Republican law makers and red states are attacking and demonizing education, and stepping it down. Critical thinking skills aren't really developed in a lot of curricula as it is, it's a lot of date memorization and fact regurgitation unless a student takes an AP or honors class or their school's equivalent.

A lot of people, especially politicians and law makers, don't seem to understand that the best tools to give students is the ability to think critically, do actual research (not just watch jimbob's YouTube rants), media literacy, and to question what their leaders tell them. The amount of times I've asked for sources from right-wingers and they give me links to articles and studies published by organizations with an obvious bias or funded by groups with an obvious agenda and they don't understand how that impacts their credibility.

The same thing with abortions. You really think Republican politicians care that much about abortions? Their loudest constituents might on "religious" grounds. But for them it helps prevent an educated voting population from growing. Forcing a woman to birth and care for a child impacts their ability to get an education.

A lot of it just comes down to educating people with the proper skills rather than preparing them for some standardized test.

But…really? No critical thinking?

Critical thinking requires a certain level of intellect. That is the main reason why Republicans basically want to destroy the educational system.

Home schooling, subpar school books, underpaid and frustrated teachers, to little money to actually afford the basic educational materials in schools - the goal is clear. Apart from a few select expensive schools, the masses should be held down education wise.

And it continues after school, too. Murderous tuition fees and student debt are designed to keep the poor down low, and the few less well off who managed to survive school without succumbing to docile dumbness are kept in nearly forever debt, preventing them to get far and pressing them into subpar jobs just to pay back those loans.

I definitely will never trust a conservative for the rest of my life, nor will I tolerate them in my social circles. At best, they have terrible judgement, and a lot of them have made it clear that they'd like to inflict physical violence on people like me and people I care about, so staying away from them is a matter of personal safety.

I'm sure there are some people who identify as conservative are harmless, but even if they are, I can't count on them to stay that way.

The problem is that right wing radio and fox primed their audience to believe bullshit. Then media changed and people got their news from youtube and Twitter. Fox has been struggling to regain the narrative but they can't.

It is not you, it's a big paradigm shift in how we should rationalize about society and the human race. I used to believe that 10% of the population was truely dumb, and used to believe I was a pessimist. Truth is it's closer to 30%, and I think I am being generous.

Critical thinking is not a cornerstone of our DNA. Better arguments and better "facts" won't change the mind of those people. Critical thinking is important to you, not to them.

Propaganda. In this case it's designed to make people angry about an issue and in angry people critical thinking shuts down and falls back on group opinions. Any rational argument from outside that group then becomes an attack on the commonly held beliefs.

Leftists are not immune, we just haven't had it happen to us yet.

Alas we have, though not with someone as obviously vapid and self-serving as Trump

I have a bit of a failure of empathy when it comes to people who get sucked into cults.

One popular method for inducting people into cults is called "Love Bombing". You give the subject a bunch of positive attention, you occupy their social time with in-group events, and you generally just make them feel good when they're around other members of the group.

People who don't experience much empathy or friendship in the outside world are easy targets for this approach, because they don't know where else to get this kind of warmth and affection.

A community devoid of empathy is ripe for cults to ply their trade.

But if you’re basically mentally healthy, the signs of cultdom seem so obvious to me that I have a hard time understanding why they don’t see them.

I spent a lot of effort facing the history of humanity was all over the globe people were cultist towards stories that had no basis in realty. They set food laws, clothing rules, marriage - all based on childhood stories they are raised on - much like the spoken/written language they were raised on.

I think people raised on Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Fox News - aren't much different. It seems the human pattern is global and people who actually want to take a science thinking attitude of sincere facts and honest leaders.

I don’t know that I will ever be able to see Trump supporters (~90% of conservatives) as mentally reliable people from now on. I don’t mean to be dramatic; I go back and forth on this (hence it being a dilemma). At times, I tell myself, “it’s not that bad, it can’t be that bad,” but then another poll comes out reporting that 3/4 of these folks really are forehead-deep in the Kool Aid.

What's you're reasoning for this? My experience pans out differently

This guy in particular though was vocal in his criticism of Trump while he was in office. Not saying you're wrong in general just in this case this guy did bring the heat compared to his compatriots

Those who speak out often get voted out.

Having a moral compass is route one to becoming a former Republican

trump is a useful moron, to them. he's easily manipulated and brings an enormous, and apparently unshakeable support base. if they still have political (or even personal) goals or aspirations, why would they shoot themselves in the foot by denouncing him?

I've been calling Trump the symptom and not the problem since 2016. He is the direct result of the decades of GOP rhetoric. They've always been building toward a demagogue since Regan.