Great Sermon, Earl, as always. Thank you. Another aspect of this sad reality is the fact that FOX is a Cult leader to a lot of dumb, lazy, white...need I go on, and MAGA, is an offshoot Cult filled with many, but not all, of those dumb, lazy, white. Catch the Cult drift? And then of course, you have the Bigly Cult of all, not an offshoot but an age-old corrupt complicity of cancer, which is Christianity. Sorry Jesus Freaks, I loved ya in the 60's. ~
Not to get too semantic, as I can be a bit anti-semantic meself, but your brief argument here helped a revelation reach my conscious brain when so many previous worthy arguments have failed.
Your closer here, "And then of course, you have the Bigly Cult of all, not an offshoot but an age-old corrupt complicity of cancer, which is Christianity...."
In crept a thought through my omni-critical thinking and appreciation for lingo with musical alliteration, most often proving to be an anti-socially isolating mood or mode: No religions can themselves qualify for (paradoxical as it may sound) any PURE form of (ideological) corruption because all religions I can think of are built upon self-validating FAITH alone, rather than any presentation of objective proof via evidence judged incriminating or cross-examined argument between assigned prosecutor and defender. The INQUISITION Excepted... While monotheistic faith systems can and have had corrupt officials and actors (galore).
However, it is the INSTITUTIONALIZATION of RELIGION\FAITH SYSTEM that may be found corrupt (always by fallible human agent). Any human-made INSTITUTION or SYSTEM may be found and proven CORRUPT. However, no RELIGION\FAITH can be fairly called CORRUPT any more than a created PREDATOR can be called murderous, if like a phage their essence is to be an organic material DISPOSAL SYSTEM.
Now cue Graham Parker & the aptly named Rumour or replacement band of performative Latest Clowns for Hire playing that staple of DIVINITY academic programs (that may also be fairly found CORRUPT....) and orthodox inter-faith doctrine excepting the Gnostics who never could agree on orthodoxy, "Break Them Down...."
Thank you for your intellectualized response. A cult is about control, oftentimes through fear. It can have a charizmatic leader promising what never pays off and more times than not engages in harmful practices (think Catholic Church, etc.). In my humble assessment all religions are cults (the dogma, the control, the monetary need, the fear aspect they present, etc.). Not a single Utopian beyond - which many promise, has yet to be proven to any of us. To entitle Christianity as a Cult, I think, is accurate & perhaps diplomatic. The absurdity of both MAGA & FOX is obvious. Just wanted to add some clarification to my rather simplistic point about Cults. In short, as the most destructive species on this planet, we're in deep shit. ~
Thank you too for thinking before responding! I've learned now as a more experienced Substack reader, although I hesitate to generalize, that there is very little in the way of non-academic "trade" communications going on about what has been learned since the birth of Cultic Studies as an academic discipline over the last half-century.
Mass Media in the US rarely has the patience to discuss academic courses much less the evolution of fields & disciplines. Properly prepared with courses and faculty that convene in seminars and symposia marking the changes to thinking about the codification of Cultic Studies. As an inter-disciplinary prepared and taught by faculty who convene with international scholars and teachers and therapeutic practitioners from Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Government studies and Communications.
I say this because until I took such a course as an undergrad in the early 1980's on Cult Dynamics and Group Formation I had no sense of such an academic field advancing with real focused study and also Generalist applications needing no special background studies as a pre-requisite to learning more and I've worked around the Mass Communications bid-net dba business most of my blue collar day job life (primarily pertaining to Journalism).
Having said that let me tip you to two very useful sources for info on Cultic Studies, one now gone yet she, Dr Margaret Singer left quite a legacy online speaking and leading seminars and also as a source for academics and journalists on those rare occasions we as a North American society experience a rash of feature articles or broadcast reports on Cults, Cult Identity and Cult Formation. Needless to say, the larger of our religious institutions would not be pleased to have some of their practitioners' practices analyzed and their organizations discussed anywhere near a Cultic Studies syllabus!
Here are a handful of quick cv's, resumes, feature articles & wiki dossiers to recommend and perhaps we can all deepen our discussions on this thorny subject that while often out of sight and sound often affects US in rarely acknowledged ways.
We also should note the historical presence of Armed Forces at the highest ranks and across the globe that were exploiting and shaping the field of Cultic Studies before the field had a name and began attracting academic curricula designated Expert Witnesses to testify before judicial proceedings often involving parents and children, government and the governed. Not necessarily nefarious inter-actions or intent, yet, wrapped up in court proceedings having to do with legal liability. I won't muddy the waters of this our introduction to each other in a Readers Comment section with terms like Moral\Immoral that hover around what and how we think about this buzzword of our times: "INFLUENCE," and now common occupational designation: "INFLUENCER." Google away if ya have a century or so to study up on the evolution of those terms.....
(I can vouch for this extraordinary U.C.-Berkeley Social Psychology faculty member, mentor and before that, although I didn't know of him then, a neighbor also from my childhood hometown neighborhood on the other, northeastern end of North America from the U.C. Berkeley campus. I had begun my studies a short walk from where I grew up at City University of New York's aka CUNY's Queens College).
"The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is a non-profit educational and anti-cult organization. It publishes the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation, "ICSA Today", and other materials."
Paraphrasing here "If they can get you to believe in absurdities, they can convince you to commit atrocities." - Voltaire
The goal of propaganda is to make everyone stop believing anything. Then they step in with the "Truth". It's a manufactured truth.
Back in the early 1980's I worked at a radio station in Rome, GA. It no longer exists. The news director of that station broadcast a story about a teen age girl who ran away from a church run home for wayward girls. The girl had a reputation for lying, stealing, undisciplined, and always running away from the home.
That news director managed to get that place closed down, and ruined the reputation of the people who ran that home. He based his story in what that girl said, when he talked to her at the Floyd County sheriffs office. She told the news director that they spanked her at that home. From there, it turned into a media circus. He even won an award from the AP for the story. It was all based on a lie. He saw an opportunity to exploit people for his own gain, an award from the AP.
He was also a troublemaker. He used one of the Floyd Co. Commissioners to further the agenda of the station owner. The station owner was an ultra conservative. It created all kinds of havoc at their monthly public meetings. They used that particular man because he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box. They took advantage of that.
That same news director went to another radio station in GA. He wrote to the Atlanta Journal how he was being targeted by the local political body. That is, he started his same shenanigans all over again. After reading his story in the Journal, I called the Journal and talked to the reporters who were covering his story. I told them what he did in Rome, GA. I also told them that he sold a news story I wrote, to the Journal, and got paid for it.
All this is to say that Journalism is either a tool or a weapon, depending on how it is used. Fox has been weaponizing the news media. In many cases, the news media today is losing credibility because of the conflicting stories that come out of Fox. It used to be illegal to broadcast a false signal. That ended when The FCC was taken over by Reagan and Co.
I really miss Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. Thank you for your time.
We would not be in the place we are in if it weren't for Faux Nooze and all its spawn. People insist dems need an opposing viewpoint channel, but unlike MAGAts, progressives think for themselves and will not be brainwashed. Substack is my home for news and opinion and I haven't turned on or read a corporate entity in 15 years. I only hope we survive as a democracy to one day see the end of the likes of Baier and his brethren.
L P Inness You are spot on with the culprits who made this happen. And the immigrants the Fascist republicans despise are the ones who did this to us…rupert murdock should have been deported long ago for spreading lies resulting in grave harm.
He looks like he belongs in the Adam's family, doesn't he? The widow's peak, the fake hair dye, then all that cake makeup and the REALLY WHITE teeth. Nothing about these creeps is "real". Fake souls, included.
Fox Noise has been the single most damaging entity in the USA since 1997. The propaganda network has destroyed our country with their lies and misinformation. How anyone can watch that garbage is beyond my comprehension. 😡
“My job is to make sure I use my access to ask the questions my readers can’t. You can either answer these questions or not — up to you. But you will not insult me. You will comport yourself like a grownup, and we will engage thusly. America deserves at least that much. Now kindly answer my darn question. Thank you.” You don't think that you'd be hauled out by Secret Service, thrown to the floor, and handcuffed like Senator Padilla? I do.
First Earl I would like to tell you that your Toxic Tales book was absolutely amazing and spot on hilarious! Is there a sequel coming? I’d be first in line to buy it! I also encourage others to read it.
Secondly, Your integrity for the truth is what draws many of us to your Substack and this community of like minded individuals.
Human interaction is incredibly complex and incredibly simple. Get the simple part right, and the complicated part is still hard, but it’s doable. Get the simple part wrong, and you’ve just made the complicated part impossible. So, what’s the simple part?
If I’m getting the simple part right, then I’m treating others with respect. When two people who treat each other with respect disagree about something important, they openly share and challenge each others’ logic until the disagreement is resolved.
By gaslighting, Bret Baier is making it clear that he is not interested in resolving a disagreement, and he is treating the person he is gaslighting with disrespect.
When anyone asked, “Who’s your favorite band?” the automatic answer from the 18-year-old me was Pink Floyd. I say that because I’m going to use their “another brick in the wall” metaphor. If a relationship between two people becomes disrespectful, they’ve just added another brick in the wall. If that relationship becomes respectful, then the brick has been dissolved. The wall can’t be built until there are bricks, so before there is a wall, there are bricks. If the wall gets big enough, then we call it authoritarian autocracy.
I can only do two things. I can make sure I’m not making any bricks, and I can do my best to dissolve the bricks in my direct personal relationships. That might not sound like much, but it’s enough.
Barack Obama said it better than me, “One voice can change a room, and if it can change a room, it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world.”
He’s loathsome. They all are.
And he wants us to believe he's somehow different. Just pathetic ....
Great Sermon, Earl, as always. Thank you. Another aspect of this sad reality is the fact that FOX is a Cult leader to a lot of dumb, lazy, white...need I go on, and MAGA, is an offshoot Cult filled with many, but not all, of those dumb, lazy, white. Catch the Cult drift? And then of course, you have the Bigly Cult of all, not an offshoot but an age-old corrupt complicity of cancer, which is Christianity. Sorry Jesus Freaks, I loved ya in the 60's. ~
Not to get too semantic, as I can be a bit anti-semantic meself, but your brief argument here helped a revelation reach my conscious brain when so many previous worthy arguments have failed.
Your closer here, "And then of course, you have the Bigly Cult of all, not an offshoot but an age-old corrupt complicity of cancer, which is Christianity...."
In crept a thought through my omni-critical thinking and appreciation for lingo with musical alliteration, most often proving to be an anti-socially isolating mood or mode: No religions can themselves qualify for (paradoxical as it may sound) any PURE form of (ideological) corruption because all religions I can think of are built upon self-validating FAITH alone, rather than any presentation of objective proof via evidence judged incriminating or cross-examined argument between assigned prosecutor and defender. The INQUISITION Excepted... While monotheistic faith systems can and have had corrupt officials and actors (galore).
However, it is the INSTITUTIONALIZATION of RELIGION\FAITH SYSTEM that may be found corrupt (always by fallible human agent). Any human-made INSTITUTION or SYSTEM may be found and proven CORRUPT. However, no RELIGION\FAITH can be fairly called CORRUPT any more than a created PREDATOR can be called murderous, if like a phage their essence is to be an organic material DISPOSAL SYSTEM.
Now cue Graham Parker & the aptly named Rumour or replacement band of performative Latest Clowns for Hire playing that staple of DIVINITY academic programs (that may also be fairly found CORRUPT....) and orthodox inter-faith doctrine excepting the Gnostics who never could agree on orthodoxy, "Break Them Down...."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDW90zcbjEI&list=RDZDW90zcbjEI&start_radio=1
"Graham Parker - Break Them Down"
fpdiii
337 subscribers
30,427 views May 26, 2007
"Graham Parker and the Latest Clowns play "Break Them Down" at Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River MA 4/20/07"
Thank you for your intellectualized response. A cult is about control, oftentimes through fear. It can have a charizmatic leader promising what never pays off and more times than not engages in harmful practices (think Catholic Church, etc.). In my humble assessment all religions are cults (the dogma, the control, the monetary need, the fear aspect they present, etc.). Not a single Utopian beyond - which many promise, has yet to be proven to any of us. To entitle Christianity as a Cult, I think, is accurate & perhaps diplomatic. The absurdity of both MAGA & FOX is obvious. Just wanted to add some clarification to my rather simplistic point about Cults. In short, as the most destructive species on this planet, we're in deep shit. ~
Thank you too for thinking before responding! I've learned now as a more experienced Substack reader, although I hesitate to generalize, that there is very little in the way of non-academic "trade" communications going on about what has been learned since the birth of Cultic Studies as an academic discipline over the last half-century.
Mass Media in the US rarely has the patience to discuss academic courses much less the evolution of fields & disciplines. Properly prepared with courses and faculty that convene in seminars and symposia marking the changes to thinking about the codification of Cultic Studies. As an inter-disciplinary prepared and taught by faculty who convene with international scholars and teachers and therapeutic practitioners from Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Government studies and Communications.
I say this because until I took such a course as an undergrad in the early 1980's on Cult Dynamics and Group Formation I had no sense of such an academic field advancing with real focused study and also Generalist applications needing no special background studies as a pre-requisite to learning more and I've worked around the Mass Communications bid-net dba business most of my blue collar day job life (primarily pertaining to Journalism).
Having said that let me tip you to two very useful sources for info on Cultic Studies, one now gone yet she, Dr Margaret Singer left quite a legacy online speaking and leading seminars and also as a source for academics and journalists on those rare occasions we as a North American society experience a rash of feature articles or broadcast reports on Cults, Cult Identity and Cult Formation. Needless to say, the larger of our religious institutions would not be pleased to have some of their practitioners' practices analyzed and their organizations discussed anywhere near a Cultic Studies syllabus!
Here are a handful of quick cv's, resumes, feature articles & wiki dossiers to recommend and perhaps we can all deepen our discussions on this thorny subject that while often out of sight and sound often affects US in rarely acknowledged ways.
We also should note the historical presence of Armed Forces at the highest ranks and across the globe that were exploiting and shaping the field of Cultic Studies before the field had a name and began attracting academic curricula designated Expert Witnesses to testify before judicial proceedings often involving parents and children, government and the governed. Not necessarily nefarious inter-actions or intent, yet, wrapped up in court proceedings having to do with legal liability. I won't muddy the waters of this our introduction to each other in a Readers Comment section with terms like Moral\Immoral that hover around what and how we think about this buzzword of our times: "INFLUENCE," and now common occupational designation: "INFLUENCER." Google away if ya have a century or so to study up on the evolution of those terms.....
https://icm.thinkific.com/courses/the-impact-of-donald-trump-on-america-a-cultic-studies-perspective-homestudy-with-dr-janja-lalich-and-dr-jamie-marich
https://www.psychologicalharassment.com/Margaret-Thaler-Singer-Biography.htm#:~:text=Margaret%20Thaler%20Singer%20was%20an%20expert%20in%20cults,the%20Nobel%20Prize%2C%20and%20received%20several%20other%20awards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ofshe
(I can vouch for this extraordinary U.C.-Berkeley Social Psychology faculty member, mentor and before that, although I didn't know of him then, a neighbor also from my childhood hometown neighborhood on the other, northeastern end of North America from the U.C. Berkeley campus. I had begun my studies a short walk from where I grew up at City University of New York's aka CUNY's Queens College).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cultic_Studies_Association
"The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is a non-profit educational and anti-cult organization. It publishes the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation, "ICSA Today", and other materials."
All good things to you and yours, Randy.
Respectfully yours,
Tio Mitchito
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of A-tone-ment Seekers)
Media Discussion List\Looksee
Just look at the guy? You can tell he is a smarmy (sp?) and loathsome person. ICK!
‘Smarmy’ was exactly the word I thought of when I saw the photo of him!
Same here. Ugh!
Paraphrasing here "If they can get you to believe in absurdities, they can convince you to commit atrocities." - Voltaire
The goal of propaganda is to make everyone stop believing anything. Then they step in with the "Truth". It's a manufactured truth.
Back in the early 1980's I worked at a radio station in Rome, GA. It no longer exists. The news director of that station broadcast a story about a teen age girl who ran away from a church run home for wayward girls. The girl had a reputation for lying, stealing, undisciplined, and always running away from the home.
That news director managed to get that place closed down, and ruined the reputation of the people who ran that home. He based his story in what that girl said, when he talked to her at the Floyd County sheriffs office. She told the news director that they spanked her at that home. From there, it turned into a media circus. He even won an award from the AP for the story. It was all based on a lie. He saw an opportunity to exploit people for his own gain, an award from the AP.
He was also a troublemaker. He used one of the Floyd Co. Commissioners to further the agenda of the station owner. The station owner was an ultra conservative. It created all kinds of havoc at their monthly public meetings. They used that particular man because he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box. They took advantage of that.
That same news director went to another radio station in GA. He wrote to the Atlanta Journal how he was being targeted by the local political body. That is, he started his same shenanigans all over again. After reading his story in the Journal, I called the Journal and talked to the reporters who were covering his story. I told them what he did in Rome, GA. I also told them that he sold a news story I wrote, to the Journal, and got paid for it.
All this is to say that Journalism is either a tool or a weapon, depending on how it is used. Fox has been weaponizing the news media. In many cases, the news media today is losing credibility because of the conflicting stories that come out of Fox. It used to be illegal to broadcast a false signal. That ended when The FCC was taken over by Reagan and Co.
I really miss Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. Thank you for your time.
Thanks for your diligence exposing that SOB, Franky.
I miss them, too. Corporate media is a joke now. Has been for a long time.
We would not be in the place we are in if it weren't for Faux Nooze and all its spawn. People insist dems need an opposing viewpoint channel, but unlike MAGAts, progressives think for themselves and will not be brainwashed. Substack is my home for news and opinion and I haven't turned on or read a corporate entity in 15 years. I only hope we survive as a democracy to one day see the end of the likes of Baier and his brethren.
100-percent (and in agreement) on all counts.
L P Inness You are spot on with the culprits who made this happen. And the immigrants the Fascist republicans despise are the ones who did this to us…rupert murdock should have been deported long ago for spreading lies resulting in grave harm.
Does anyone else think he looks like a grown-up version of Eddie Munster?
Whoa. I will never be able to unsee that now, Ema.
💯🎯
Me!!!
Fantastic article D.Earl🙌🏼
I appreciate your raw accurate assessment of today’s media.
Your journalistic integrity is essential in this age of information warfare.
Thank you.
That is one of the fakest smiles I've seen, and as a former professor, I've seen a lot of fake smiles.
I appreciate you enduring this crap so that you can keep us informed, Earl.
So telling studies show Fox "news" viewers know less than those who watch no news at all.
And what little they know, is complete bullshit.
He looks like he belongs in the Adam's family, doesn't he? The widow's peak, the fake hair dye, then all that cake makeup and the REALLY WHITE teeth. Nothing about these creeps is "real". Fake souls, included.
No disagreement here.
Fox Noise has been the single most damaging entity in the USA since 1997. The propaganda network has destroyed our country with their lies and misinformation. How anyone can watch that garbage is beyond my comprehension. 😡
No argument here, Meg.
“My job is to make sure I use my access to ask the questions my readers can’t. You can either answer these questions or not — up to you. But you will not insult me. You will comport yourself like a grownup, and we will engage thusly. America deserves at least that much. Now kindly answer my darn question. Thank you.” You don't think that you'd be hauled out by Secret Service, thrown to the floor, and handcuffed like Senator Padilla? I do.
THAT would be a journalist's dream. Go ahead: Make my day.
First Earl I would like to tell you that your Toxic Tales book was absolutely amazing and spot on hilarious! Is there a sequel coming? I’d be first in line to buy it! I also encourage others to read it.
Secondly, Your integrity for the truth is what draws many of us to your Substack and this community of like minded individuals.
Keep up the good works.
Very kind. Many thanks all the way around.
(A sequel might be coming ...)
"And if you somehow do not think I am telling you the truth ..."
The main reason I am a paid subscriber, is because I can rest assured you tell the truth.
There's frankly, no better legacy.
As for Baier, as you mentioned, it's about the money, and exposure.
Thank you, Terry.
Thank you Terry, you’re right.
Excellent. And natch he bought a house in Florrible.
Florrible ...
*like
Human interaction is incredibly complex and incredibly simple. Get the simple part right, and the complicated part is still hard, but it’s doable. Get the simple part wrong, and you’ve just made the complicated part impossible. So, what’s the simple part?
If I’m getting the simple part right, then I’m treating others with respect. When two people who treat each other with respect disagree about something important, they openly share and challenge each others’ logic until the disagreement is resolved.
By gaslighting, Bret Baier is making it clear that he is not interested in resolving a disagreement, and he is treating the person he is gaslighting with disrespect.
When anyone asked, “Who’s your favorite band?” the automatic answer from the 18-year-old me was Pink Floyd. I say that because I’m going to use their “another brick in the wall” metaphor. If a relationship between two people becomes disrespectful, they’ve just added another brick in the wall. If that relationship becomes respectful, then the brick has been dissolved. The wall can’t be built until there are bricks, so before there is a wall, there are bricks. If the wall gets big enough, then we call it authoritarian autocracy.
I can only do two things. I can make sure I’m not making any bricks, and I can do my best to dissolve the bricks in my direct personal relationships. That might not sound like much, but it’s enough.
Barack Obama said it better than me, “One voice can change a room, and if it can change a room, it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world.”
Well done, James. (again)