Pathocracy in the Armstrong Churches of God
A 2019 Psychology Today article by Dr. Steve Taylor titled Pathocracy, unfortunately, offers us some insight into what has happened within the Armstrong Churches of God. According to the article, the concept of "pathocracy" was developed by a Polish psychologist to explain why people with personality disorders so often occupy positions of power. Indeed, the phenomenon is observed within human leadership in both the political and religious realm.
Dr. Taylor observed that "pathocracy is arguably one of the biggest problems in the history of the human race. History has been a saga of constant conflict and brutality, with groups of people fighting against one another over territory and power and possessions, and conquering and killing one another." Nevertheless, he went on to note that "there is an argument that this is not because all human beings are inherently brutal and cruel, but because a small number of people—that is, those with personality disorders—are brutal and cruel, intensely self-centered, and lacking in empathy. This small minority has always held power and managed to order or influence the majority to commit atrocities on their behalf."
Dr. Taylor went on to observe that "people with these disorders feel an insatiable lust for power. People with narcissistic personality disorder desire constant attention and affirmation. They feel that they are superior to others and have the right to dominate them. They also lack empathy, which means that they are able to ruthlessly exploit and abuse others in their lust for power." Likewise, according to him, "psychopaths feel a similar sense of superiority and lack of empathy, but the main difference between them and narcissists is that they don't feel the same impulse for attention and adoration. To an extent, the impulse to be adored acts as a check on the behavior of narcissists. They are reluctant to do anything that might make them too unpopular. But psychopaths have no such qualms."
Now, most of us are not doctors or psychologists, but we can all read a list of symptoms and have the ability to make connections. According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder are: Have an unreasonably high sense of self-importance and require constant, excessive admiration. Feel that they deserve privileges and special treatment. Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements. Make achievements and talents seem bigger than they are. Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate. Believe they are superior to others and can only spend time with or be understood by equally special people. Be critical of and look down on people they feel are not important. Expect special favors and expect other people to do what they want without questioning them. Take advantage of others to get what they want. Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others. Be envious of others and believe others envy them. Behave in an arrogant way, brag a lot and come across as conceited. Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office."
Any of that sound familiar? Anyone with an Armstrong Church of God background should recognize at least some of those traits in Herbert Armstrong, the founder of the Radio and Worldwide Church of God. What about some of the folks who have claimed to be his successors in the movement? What about Garner Ted Armstrong, Roderick Meredith, David Pack, Gerald Flurry, Bob Thiel, Ron Weinland, Jon Brisby, Bill Watson, Adrian Davis, etc.? Indeed, this also explains why so many ACOG folks tend to like and support Donald Trump!
Dr. Taylor went on to note that the phenomenon of pathocracy isn't just confined to personality disorders within the leadership of a group. He noted that "a significant part of the problem is the attraction that many people feel to charismatic demagogues. You can see this in the appeal of President Trump, despite the obvious flaws - his extreme narcissism, lack of empathy and his distorted, delusory view of reality - of his personality disorder. Psychologically, this is very similar to the attraction of spiritual gurus, who often attract the blind devotion of disciples, despite unethical and exploitative behavior. The attraction of gurus and demagogues is a deep-rooted impulse to return to the childhood state of worshipping parents who seem omnipotent and infallible and could take complete responsibility for our lives, and magically solve our problems. At the same time, the paranoia of pathological leaders leads them to demonize other groups and creates an intoxicating sense of group identity with a common purpose."
But why don't the good guys ever seem to end up in leadership? Dr. Taylor noted that "people with a high level of empathy and compassion usually aren’t interested in power. They prefer to be 'on the ground,' interacting and connecting with others. They may even refuse the offer of a high-status position because they’re aware that higher status will disconnect them (although for a non-empathic person, that is part of its appeal). So this leaves positions of power open for people with psychological disorders (or at least with a high level of ambition and ruthlessness, even if not a fully fledged psychological disorder)." In brief, the people who should be in leadership positions don't want to be! Ironically, it is the reluctant ones who are best suited to leadership - the ready and willing are often folks with an agenda or something to prove. In other words, they have little or no concern for the needs of the folks they desire to rule over. They are simply a means to an end.
This is the history and legacy of the Armstrong Churches of God. As I have said before, that isn't always cream rising to the top. Sometimes turds float on the surface too!
Lonnie Hendrix
56 comments:
Too many people are hostile towards people with a good character, the Cain versus Abel phenomena. Which is why Hollywood movies correctly depict gangs being led by evil leaders. If my manager in a former workplace had been a good person, people under him would have ignored his authority and sabotaged him. Management would have responded by replacing him.
It's like Israel asking God for a king. That king Saul had a bad character is no coincidence. God gave them what they wanted. Israel only
(begrudgingly) accepted a righteous king David because he led them in their endless wars. It was survival issue.
This is the main reason I could never join Meredith or Thiel's groups. Both are flaming narcissists whose main focus is upon themselves. Both of these guys have an appalling and insatiable lust for power and recognition. Look at the endless stream-of-mind dumps Bob Thiel issues every day. No one cares anymore, particularly LCG members. Theil has an "unreasonably high sense of self-importance and requires constant, excessive admiration." What ticks him off more than anything else is that he is mocked so easily. He expects admiration and yet the world mocks him endlessly.
It's always funny how the grey areas and percentages exist, yet the most extreme cases take precedence in all of the studies, and stand out in peoples minds. I believe that Armstrong theology made us paradoxes, exceptions to the general rule that's being described here, by robbing us of our humanity, our empathy. We, the special people who would escape the tribulation and be first in the Kingdom, and with a greater reward. There are feelings which have been killed towards the majority of the other humans outside of our little group by this "theology" which caused us to look down on the others who would not listen to us and our leaders. Those natural feelings, once killed, will not come back.
This is something I've recognized and fought my entire post-Armstrong life. I've encountered the phrases "Principled Psychopath", or alternatively "Principled Sociopath" and have even tried them on for size. To me they mean a person whose empathy for others is dead, yet he tries by virtue of logic and occasional skill as an actor to replicate what has been killed off; someone who has found a way of acting empathetic for the good of others, in spite of the numbness, or personal void of empathy. I also see the damage that narcissitic personality types cause, and have no desire to have any role involving leadership, largely because I realize that I lack natural empathy. I do like the admiration which comes from simply doing a good job for others. That is sufficient.
Armstrongism really Fs people up in strange and off the charts ways! I wonder if even most former members realize the degree to which we've all been permanently altered, and the need for recovery.
All first resurrection Christians will have experienced tribulation. But this does not have to be the WW3 tribulation. For instance, being married to a toxic partner is a living hell.
Nice description of Lonnie, Scout, etc. here. Thanks Lonnie, but why are you so intent in being a big leader on this site?
And, what makes you and the others so qualified to be followed versus those you love to criticize? Frankly, you are no different than the people you constantly excoriate.
Sorry, but if you believe what you wrote, then you are doing exactly what you criticize, ergo a product of the very people you criticize. Just the other side of the same coin.
Have a very nice day!
Indeed, this also explains why so many ACOG folks tend to like and support Donald Trump!
You must have meant Biden and the lying American News Media.
Lonnie,
Why the Trump Derangement Syndrome? I'm serious. Have you not heard the ridiculous claims Biden has made regarding past achievements? How he castigates and name calls those that disagree with him. How he can dabble in Ukraine corruption for personal gain and perhaps the risk taking involved? How he can choose to repeatedly act in ways toward young girls and his daughter that are unseemly and make them uncomfortable at best, but apparently they do not matter and he continues?
I could go on, but I shouldn't have to...
Lonnie ruined what could have been a good article by injecting politics into it. I've been out of the ACOG's for four decades, and I certainly didn't vote for Trump based on the descriptions given in paragraphs five and six. I voted for him because Hillary fitted the description of the NPDisorder far better than he did. And unlike Cankles, Trump has actually reached out to help people on a personal basis, something a narcissist would never do.
10:08, right on point. Couldn’t agree with you more!
Trump Derangement Syndrome - the pathology that makes otherwise normal people believe that Donald Trump is a worthy person; that amorality is morality; that autocracy is a charitable form of government; that fraud is character; that nasty playground name-calling is eloquence; and that racism is benevolence.
Go figure.
Lonnie, I live in the American South. If I want to hear about Trump I can just go outside, trust me.
Still, ignoring that, its a fine point you're citing - those who actively crave leadership roles are often not well suited for it. Good leadership is earned and created by your skill and achievements, not just because you wanted it.
Miller:
While psychological factors enter in to the life or a narcissist, so does sociology. Trump makes use of fear in developing his political strategies. White people recognize that they will soon be in the minority and they are terrified. Donald works this issue subtlety but effectively. He brags that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and nobody in his base would abandon him. But he has selected a criminal act of violence that is not out of alignment with the ethics of his MAGA base. They’d all like to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, apparently.
He could easily lose the support of his base by selecting the right act. Let us say he gives a speech on how he would like to create more opportunity for Blacks and Browns in the United States. Such a statement of benevolence would cause his MAGA base to turn as one man and march away. For them, acts of benevolence towards Blacks and Browns (we may as well throw in Jews) would not make the kind of America they want great again.
The same is true of the Armstrongist pulpit. They use the sociology of fear to manipulate their following.
Scout
Lonnie
You had, I repeat, had, an excellent article till I got to you MAGA hatred. I stopped reading. I'm so tired of the hate the is being constantly shoved down our throats about Trump and MAGA. I am no fan of Trump, but the leftist smear of the term MAGA is deliberately decisive and meant to completely invalidate a person's opinions or stance.
We have enough that divides us as a church to now drag in politics.
Miller the author may be a paid operative of the dnc. I have researched a lot of these folks and they like Miller, read like a script. Buyer beware.
I obviously hit a nerve with some folks. When something bites like that, could it be a sign that there is some truth behind it? I personally know good folks who are still members of one of the ACOGs, and folks whom I dearly love who support Donald Trump. They are fine people - I just happen to believe that they are wrong about this or that (I'm sure some of them think the same thing about me). Just for the record, I am not a paid operative of the DNC. This post was the result of my own thinking, and the thinking of psychology professionals whose political affiliations are unknown to me. Moreover, once again, there is NO Church of Lonnie, and I have no desire to be top dog ANYWHERE. I'm content to occasionally offer my humble opinion and prompt people to think about why they believe what they believe. Like ALL of you, I don't have it all figured out yet - and I don't expect to do so in the course of my brief life on this planet. Finally, the reaction to the mention of that politician proves my point that politics should stay out of the pulpit - Good people can and do disagree about candidates and policies (your support for one doesn't validate or disqualify your status as a disciple of Jesus Christ!
Closed minded white people are terrified of being the minority, and they probably should be. Honestly? The only way that could be avoided is through ethnic cleansing, and I desperately hope that is not what the MAGA wing of the Republican Party is planning or suggesting.
Personally, I've very much enjoyed participating in multiculturalism and diversity, and have felt far richer as a human being for several decades of it. Not everyone has flexible genes, though.
It is a sin to vote for the wrong party. It shows that Jesus is not guiding you. Major spiritual fail.
Lonnie wrote: "I obviously hit a nerve with some folks. When something bites like that, could it be a sign that there is some truth behind it?"
That's pretty rich coming from even you.. No, it doesn't "bite" me or hit a nerve, I am just sick of the accusations flying back and forth from both parties who are unfit to serve this country. The Dem's are no more virtuous than the Rep's. Both are morally bankrupt.
"..politics should stay out of the pulpit"
In fact all politics rests on a underlying moral code. Restated, politics is downstream from culture. I believe Lonnie is fully aware of this, and is attacking this Maga peep-hole into a moral code he disagrees with. This reminds me of the 1970s where there were no conservative voices allowed by the media. People were stripped of their right to choose their own mental diet.
Truth doesn't need a bodyguard. It's only lies and distortions that needs the iron curtain of tyranny. Herb and his minions fully understood this.
Oh, sure, the DNC sends checks to Lonnie Hendrix just to post on some blogs most people have never heard of, mostly about a church that basically went defunct 30 years ago and its hopeful but completely impotent imitators. Somehow, I strongly doubt it.
"I obviously hit a nerve with some folks. When something bites like that, could it be a sign that there is some truth behind it?"
Maybe so, but I also think you completely undermined the very point you were trying to make, by going for the cheap heat. Look at how the thread derailed so quickly into Trump instead of what you were actually saying.
"I obviously hit a nerve with some folks. When something bites like that, could it be a sign that there is some truth behind it?"
A nerve, yes. A bite, no. Perhaps you, Scout, and a few others have some emotional hole within you that requires you to continually attack and debase Trump/Trump supporters. But, why do you do that (even to the hurt of an otherwise good post)? Biden, the Clintons, and more importantly the democrat platform is more dangerous and corrupt than Trump.
Trump might stupidly talk about shooting someone to highly exaggerate a point, but you can’t seriously think that is true.
There are narcissistic and bullying aspects to Trump that are expressed more obviously than those of Biden, but they are fully there. Trump’s overt expression seems to be the location perhaps for the “emotional hole” (for lack of a better description).
But, as adults with matured intellectual and emotional defenses and having Constitutional protections that protect, the support for Trump is based in his energy to support a Republican platform that is far superior to the corrupted democrat platform and democrat beliefs/“agenda”.
Anon 1:59 wrote, "I stopped reading. I'm so tired of the hate the is being constantly shoved down our throats about Trump and MAGA."
There is a certain category of White people that will go ballistic if you say anything critical about The Great Orange Peril (Remember how China was the Yellow Peril). They are highly defensive of him and his blatant amorality. They do not recognize, as if hypnotized, the danger he represents to this nation. He does not rise to the level of carefully planned malice that Putin exhibits. The Great Orange Peril would be more of an oafish dicatator, stumbling into one bad decision after another.
What I do not understand is why the MAGA base does not just admit that the reason why they love Great Orange is because they love White Privilege and they want the Blacks, Browns and Jews disposed of. So, Great Orange can do anything he wants to and his stance in favor of White Privilege forgives all sins in their eyes. And they get riled and testy if you say anything about Great Orange that is not worshipful.
Given the topic that Lonnie covered, it would be pretty naive not to mention Great Orange. It would be like talking about a lunar eclipse and not mentioning the moon, at least in passing.
Anon719,
Yours is a foolish take revealing an inability to understand beliefs different from yours. And, in your lack of understanding you fall back on some critical theory; here, you fall back to projecting critical race theory on others. You have been greatly deceived; your mind is not your own.
The standard line of attack for Armstrongists and evangelicals: If you don't see things the way that I see them, you're deceived or brainwashed! A true Christian or Republican would share my viewpoint or the viewpoint of my group! Talk about being deceived and giving control of your mind to someone else!
Critical Race Theory is a right-wing talking point which most folks cannot define (right and left). If you mean by your comments that there is no such thing as systemic racism or built-in advantages for those of us who happen to be Caucasian, then I think that you are clearly in denial about our present reality! A familiarity with our history and culture would provide ample evidence that systemic racism is real.
isn't Biden letting fentanyl into TX
Look Lonnie,
If someone like 719 can claim to know the true mind of Trump supporters (or simply anti-Democrat platform) as looking favorably on white privilege and the disposal of minorities, that person has a deceived AND brainwashed mind, a damaged mind.
It's one thing to say white people have some advantages due to the way white people are perceived perhaps as less dangerous and/or more competent. But, that is not what 719 said, is it? And you need to focus and recognize that.
CRT demands that every white person apologize and admit their racism and be anti-racists as opposed to being merely non-racist. I've read DeAngelo and Kendi so I know what is being said in those CRT circles.
Banned site is partisan. Might as well be a soap box for Democracy Now channel & Amy Goodman.
DiAngelo is definitely not a CRT writer, though some shills took so much offense to her work that they lumped it in with CRT. Kendi, also an author of popular works, uses some CRT tenets but in a different sense than the classic CRT theorists.
Try Derrick Bell's works instead. Dated, but far better reading.
If people are serious about these discussions they will post their email addresses so that discussions can get past the censor who seems to hate it when certain opinions are expressed on HIS website.
Allow me to articulate the misgivings some of us have regarding what we see unfolding. The basic Republican/Conservative platform from the Reagan era appears totally reasonable. When juxtaposed against the basic Democratic party platform, it is possible to negotiate compromise so that everyone gets part of what they want or need. That's always been the American way, and has made us great as a nation.
Maybe there aren't too many readers here who remember Iran before the Islamic revolution. It was a fairly reasonable, stable nation, mostly Muslim. When the Shah was deposed, and Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile, conducting the Islamic Revolution, calling for jihad, and even radicalizing a formerly reasonable Koran, the national character of Iran immediately changed. They're the terror of the world!
In 2017 when President Trump was elected, he hijacked and radicalized the Republican national platform. Following Charlottesville, it was no accident when all the White Nationalist militias emerged from their well earned marginalization, to identify and back their president. The formerly reasonable Republican platform was co-opted, and many of the twentieth century advances to our civilization as well as the protective alliances which had prevented World War III, suddenly began to be reversed and elliminated. Moderate Republicans were lionized and forced out, their voices of reason and moderation silenced.
Why can't everybody see and realize what is happening to us? It's not as if this has been a subtle transformation! Our rights are being stripped from us, and groups of our fellow humans whose suffering had been largely reversed by hard-won progress are watching in fear as that progress is being reversed! Is this actually alright with some of you? Are you not hearing what these hard-right people are saying, and what they have planned for you? They are not freedom-loving patriots! They are power-crazed liars whose lies have deliberately created mass distrust in our essential institutions which have been set up as checks and balances to protect us against people like them!
I hate to say it, but it's starting to look as if my carton of Newports is going to taste awfully good!
Anon 3:22:00 PM PDT
‘and even radicalising a formally reasonable Koran’.
Well me fell off me chair when me read that one.
Can’t stop laughing………….p*sing me pants……………
Having lived in the MEast for a couple of years I can assure you, it aren’t even close to bin formally reasonable.
The fear and intimidation the underlying constant threat of violence is simply a heartbeat away, through even the simplest of misunderstandings. I felt that in the teeming cities of the MEast.
Ask any victim of the ‘cult’ in Afghanistan Sudan Libya Yemen Somalia Nigeria Saudi Syria Iraq Iran etc etc ….. or of 9/11, ya get the idea.
Life in the west is indefinitely better than there.
That’s why so many prefer to ‘move’.
But granted the Shah was preferable to what we now see in Iran etc etc….
Anon 3:22:00 PM PDT
‘and even radicalising a formally reasonable Koran’.
Well me fell off me chair when me read that one.
Can’t stop laughing………….p*sing me pants……………
Having lived in the MEast for a couple of years I can assure you, it aren’t even close to bin formally reasonable.
The fear and intimidation the underlying constant threat of violence is simply a heartbeat away, through even the simplest of misunderstandings. I felt that in the teeming cities of the MEast.
Ask any victim of the ‘cult’ in Afghanistan Sudan Libya Yemen Somalia Nigeria Saudi Syria Iraq Iran etc etc ….. or of 9/11, ya get the idea.
Life in the west is indefinitely better than there.
That’s why so many prefer to ‘move’.
But granted the Shah was preferable to what we now see in Iran etc etc….
About half the voters voted for Trump but all the "smart" people think bashing Trump is popular.
Black people and college-educated white people were the two key demographics most responsible for President Biden's victory in 2020. I find myself in excellent company with them.
I also know who the Trump supporters are. They're the ones driving around in the big diesel pickup trucks on election day with the flags, rolling coal, as they call their deliberate emissions of horrendous black exhaust. The state elections officials know who they are, too. They're the ones threatening to kill them and their families, getting their home addresses and mobbing their houses. They're the militia people caravaning to the Mexican border. Or the cartoonish bumpkins breaking into the Capitol to disrupt the entry and certification of the electoral votes.
So, yeah. That 50%. You made a case, but I'm not sure it was the one you intended.
Anon 11:46,
Meh. Women have always voted Democrat at a much higher clip than men. So, as more women attend college, more of the college educated vote democrat. Not driven by education as much as by sex (male or female).
Unfortunately, the colleges are filled with liberal instructors (close to 90%) intent on swaying their students far left. Still even with their abusing their power dynamic advantage over college students they still only convert 58% of white voters. More Conservative instructors would greatly improve education and the college experience.
Yeah. That was Rush's speel, 12;43. Personally, I've always felt that more education, more knowledge and facts automatically cause you to be a more liberal thinker. Knowledge, in and of itself, is non-partisan and tends to open you up. Throttling that knowledge narrowcasts your brain and your outlook and makes you very conservative.
Throughout his term as President, Trump was actually forcing his Einsteins to edit official government publications, and wanted to can the NASA weather website, because of all the climate science contained there. Books were removed from the shelves of libraries in public schools. The study of Critical Race Theory was branded as treasonous at worst, and unpatriotic at very least. Influential Republicans wanted to preserve their right to lie to their constituents and actually came out against fact checking on social media! If fact checking interferes with your agenda, it's time for some education and a new agenda!
Remember the 'ol antiintellectual high school dropout, HWA, what he did to us and how he controlled us? Do you know what "reminiscent" means???
Liberal. Conservative. They're slippery slopes. How about righteousness. Unrighteousness.
Do tell, 12:43, when was the last time you studied at a college? I'm doing a second round right now for fun and this popular story of "liberal indoctrinators" looks like absolute hooey to me.
That particular group of women is either evolutionist & believes a vacuum scalpel on a baby in the fetus is no worse than sending beef cattle or fish or squashed bug back to the cosmos, or if they do believe in God then they vote Dem. & pro-abortion and think they can strongarm God into granting mercy after each Democratic party's abortion clinic procedure.
Nah More like an outpatient procedure to excise a tapeworm or other parasite. (Just kidding)
Seriously, women are not monolithic. There is an entire potpouri of thoughts and emotions that they have regarding pregnancy termination. Don't set them up as one stereotype or strawman for essy attack. If you're a guy, there's no way you can know what they go through as they experience the happenings uniquely theirs.
More importantly than what the Mom's go through, is what the poor baby goes through during it's abortion.
Now we've come back full circle. There is none righteous. The serious Christian isn't going to vote for a candidate or platform that has horrendous bad mixed in with a few good policies. If he votes, he's gonna have to get the leaven out by writing in Jesus Christ.
Yeah Anon456,
I didn’t listen to Rush much. So, I suppose I’ll just have to blame statistical facts for my thoughts on this rather than ol’ Rush.
Having a doctorate and an engineering degree and a well fed appetite for being a lifetime learner largely removes me from the stereotype some incorrectly like to place conservatives in.
It’s interesting to me when people talk about their education and openness of mind while engaging in stereotyping.
It is foolish to believe that conservatism is produced by throttling knowledge. Instead it involves the classical practice of gathering knowledge and evaluating it and considering its implications.
This evaluation process is crucial for gaining wisdom and practical principles. Consistently practicing this will also develop your “feel” for when an assumption is a good one…a key principle to becoming a good engineer given by one of my professors who was also an eminent scholar. This is similar to CS Lewis’s belief on “ought”, that a good education will help you discern and develop what “ought” to be and how we “ought” to live.
When a people puts this into practice they can develop principles that also ought to be conserved and preserved AND identify beliefs and ideas that ought to be discarded.
That is largely classical conservatism.
And so while some may take pride in standing with identity groups based primarily in their dna,
it is better to stand with those that cast a wide net, evaluate and wonder at the catch and its implications, and discern that which ought to be the knowledge and principles on which we live our lives.
This practice is ongoing and does not haphazardly relinquish the tried and true wisdom of the generations that have gone before.
Anon March 14/12:43's assessment re: "liberal instructors" is supported by recent research:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/the-college-fix-proves-by-the-numbers-deep-bias-against-republicans-in-higher-ed/
December 5, 2022
". . . College Fix’s two exclusive reports that document — with data, numbers, facts and figures — the extreme bias against conservatives and Republicans within higher education.
"This fall semester we embarked on two major research projects to show that universities are blue blobs in red states — and blue and purple states too, for that matter.
"In one investigation, we looked up the political party registrations of professors within a wide swath of humanities departments across more than a half-dozen universities.
"The Fix analyzed Ohio State University, University of Nebraska-Omaha, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Georgia, Cornell University, University of Oklahoma and the University of Alaska-Anchorage.
"We found a total of 33 departments in which not one Republican professor, not a single one, could be identified. By the numbers, we identified 61 Republican professors compared to 667 Democrat ones.
"Six of the seven states analyzed are primarily Republican, with the exception of New York. Yet, all universities showed a strong Democratic tilt among their faculty.
"Progressives are obsessed with offering students scholars who “look like them.” They have zero interest in providing scholars wide a variety of views. Intellectual diversity is dead, or at best on life support, on today’s campus.
"In our second investigation this fall semester, a review of 44 universities across 11 states found that an overwhelming majority of faculty donations went to Democratic candidates or causes, according to Federal Election Commission data for the 2022 midterm election cycle.
"Almost all, 96 percent, of faculty donations went to Democratic candidates and organizations, leaving a measly 4 percent to Republican candidates and organizations.
"In terms of dollar amounts, $4.57 million to Democrats, while approximately $190,000 went to Republicans.
"In total, The Fix analyzed donations at universities across 11 states: Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
"What both these investigations prove is that the bias against Republicans within the academe runs deep — very deep. It’s something that’s known, even widely agreed upon, but crunching the numbers like this shows just how extreme the tilt is."
Basically, I believe that what you just proved, 4:58, is that most intelligent people are Democrats. Let's face it. If the Republican profs and chair heads in colleges and universities were more intelligent than their Democrat colleagues, they'd be the ones who took control and had the greatest amount of influence on the students. It's pure Darwinism. Why do you think that there is such a strong trend amongst Republicans towards authoritarianism? They can't win debates through intellect, so they resort to force!
This commentary thread reflects the political and religious polarization of the wider culture in the United States. It is always interesting to see where folks go with these discussions. Sometimes they reveal more about the commentators (what motivates them) than they do about the thesis of the original post.
RSK's observation that the mention of Trump derailed the conversation, and that is obviously just what happened. Even so, I appreciated the comment that mentioning him was unavoidable considering the topic - and his absence also would have been noticed by everyone. Still, I hope everyone will see some merit in the Polish psychologist's thesis about historical leadership.
I wish that we could all see and admit that there is some truth/validity/merit in BOTH the conservative and liberal perspectives on the various issues. If not, everyone would see things exactly the same way - we'd all be the same thing (liberals or conservatives). The inability to entertain the other perspective demonstrates our lack of imagination and constitutes the reason for the polarization which exists. Once again, the truth is rarely found in the extremes - it is usually found somewhere between them. Compromise was the genius of the American system, and I've always said that the complete triumph of either side's agenda/program would result in a major catastrophe for the nation.
Finally, getting back to the original thesis of the post, I would hope that we can all see the applicability of the notion that pathocracy provides some interesting insights into the phenomenon of leadership within our former culture (the ACOGs). Clearly, I think that most of us could make a rather compelling case that many ACOG leaders have displayed some rather profound symptoms of personality disorders. In other words, does anyone want to challenge that premise?
No 622. You must not think so narrowly. Colleges were not established to create college professors. They were established to create educated individuals that go out into the community and world to produce. By your logic, you must concede that because primarily conservative white men became the captains of industry and/or political and military leaders throughout most of western civilization they were the most intelligent, capable, and talented segment of the populations.Or you can begin to consider other factors. Maybe you’ll recognize there are other factors involved in the proliferation of the extreme liberal bent among college faculty as well.
Ah, but the sticking point is that just because academics might be overwhelmingly liberal in their personal views, that's still not proving some kind of rampant "indoctrination". How are you going to do that in a geology class, an engineering class, trigonometry class? And why cast the students as mindless receptors?
Cause that's what Rush taught 'em to do, RSK.
Liberal people are generally accepting and inclusive. That is often an attractive quality to young people, in fact it's the key to making a wide variety of friends in a diverse environment. Conservative people worry about loss of their culture, "other" people having a voice in making the rules, and things no longer being as they were in the mythical "good old days."
The boundaries defining liberal and conservative are always moving, and feed off one another. The more liberal some become, the more conservative their opposite counterparts become. John F. Kennedy, as he is now frozen in time, would be considered very conservative today, just as Barry Goldwater would be considered almost liberal.
In certain respects, I can understand the fear conservatives have for the liberal charisma which they believe influences young students in places of higher education. It's a natural thing, and impossible to repress or throttle. So the rhetoric takes an authoritarian turn, which actually leads to forbidden fruit syndrome.
There are parents who even fear high school science classes, because their children might no longer believe Genesis 1. Their daughters might aspire to careers as opposed to becoming traditional housewives. It is a constantly changing world in which we live. Some resist compromise and adaptation. They fear change even when it plainly brings improvement. Education, by nature, advances knowledge, and often defies agendas.
Anon1239,
LOL. It cracks me up when people like yourself project their own fear onto conservatives.
It is the Left that needs to provide trigger warnings for their fragile followers who are ill-equipped to encounter differing viewpoints.
It is the Left that creates safe spaces on campus where their fearful students and teachers must hunker down to protect themselves from those “others” with their more traditional and logical beliefs.
For many of these Left leaning individuals, their inability to deal with the present creates a desire and curiosity for something different in the future. This is often based more in imagination than creativity. They imagine changes they hope may be better for themselves but often they don’t have the disciplined mind to create in the present.
Depending on who wins in November, I'll check back with you in a couple of years to see how that's working out for you.
Should be easy to remember "5:15". Maybe we'll be detained in the same FEMA camp?
818,
That is an example of the irrational fears of those of the Left.
We'll see! Won't we?
Well, 4:58, Nice cliche from talk radio, but aren't you concerned about the world's greatest superpower turning its back and walking away from NATO and the UN? Or more trade wars caused by additional tariffs with additional new diseases and pandemics being set off as retaliation? Returning to ignoring climate science at a time when the conditions which cause the warming of the ocean and the deterioration of the polar ice caps and glaciers are still on the rise? Or the threats made about changing not the interpretation of the Constitution but the words of the actual document itself? These are things which have already been articulated as promises! Violence and blood bath if there is disagreement or the vote goes the wrong way are actually being extended to us as if they are a good thing. Are those some of the things you feel that fearing is irrational? Just as we treat Dave Pack, you have to recognize the ridiculousness of things that come out of other leaders' mouths and call them on it!
You can't just have someone making ridiculous, foolhardy, harmful statements, and then when people express concerns, play it down and dismiss those concerns as irrational paranoia. As you digest these things, have you considered the possibility that they will actually do these things they are promising? Europe, Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are certainly taking them seriously.
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