#terrorism cw

[matricejacobine]

jobs on the Evil 80,000 Hours Board: AI unsafety expert at ISIS

[notaplaceofhonour]

… people with brains?

[mogainnercircle]

✵ Our enemies believe that they alone dictate the course of history ┈

[ ID in alt text ]

TERRONARCET

[ PT: terronarcet /end PT ]

Terronarcet - Subject's identity is related to terrorism and having NPD. This label also coins a new NPD archetype related to terrorism. Terrorist Narc (⚠👑) - a narcissist preoccupied with fantasies of terrorism. Such fantasies often take advantage of the notoriety being a terrorist may give, reclaiming what was once lost, forcing others to pay attention to you and acknowledge your presence and power over them. Narcissists with this affinity may also be ideologically and/or politically driven.

“One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.” — Gerald Seymour Note: This label does not justify terrorism and terrorist acts, and heavily condemns violence and murder.

┈ but all it takes is the will of a single man. ✵

tagging @pdsarchive @radiomogai coined by @ epikulupu

lmk if that's too severe of a label.

this is the kinda doodoo you get when you have a fictional terrorist as an introject AND he gets slammed with NPD symptoms the worst.

[sensibleshroom]

i think it's really funny to pay attention to how right wing randos on the internet react to situations, because you can directly see when they 100% know what they're saying is bullshit and they don't even believe it, but it doesn't matter, because they're intentionally pushing an agenda. all you gotta do is pay attention to contrasting events.

been half paying attention to the whole. Minnesota shooter situation. and paying attention to the rhythm they're trying to drum up. right now, the conspiracy theory they're peddling is that actually, the shooter was a Democrat, and was being paid off by Tim Waltz. as more and more information comes out, they've been doubling down on this viewpoint.

as of writing this, the posts I've seen them drive this rhythm on have covered several things: there were No Kings rally fliers in the car, and fresh information released on the 'manifesto' states that it includes a list of over 70 politicians and left wing activists in the state of Minnesota, including the politicians that were targeted. (one dead, along with her husband, and one critically injured and hospitalized, along with his wife, if anyone was paying attention.) there was also information released that the killings may be directly related to abortion rights.

this paired with the fliers indicates a direct intent to go on a killing spree for as long as the shooter possibly can until he is caught, and may include a mass shooting in that plan.

again, the current conspiracy theory being peddled is that he was actually a liberal, and this is all a design by Tim Waltz.

at no point have they brought up the word 'terrorism' or 'terrorist act'.

compare this to the Claims Adjuster. he killed one single man, disappeared, and has not come back. there was never any declared intent whatsoever to engage in a mass killing spree, never any indication that he would continue this, he just left a bag of monopoly money and some bullet casings, and they were falling over themselves to scream 'terrorism' and ascribe that to his actions.

the simple fact of the matter is they do not actually want 'terrorism' to be applied in situations where it's their political opponents being targeted, when it very clearly is not a stretch in the slightest to say 'this is terrorism'. they do not actually believe this guy is in any way left leaning. they just want to blame it on the left wing. never take any blame whatsoever, but also, when it does happen, and they know it will, because they are directly invested in whipping their little pawns into a state of violence to do their dirty work for them, make sure they can convince as many people as physically possible that this was someone else's fault so they can keep doing it without anyone telling them to sit the fuck down and shut up.

rinse and repeat.

this, unfortunately, is the actual point of conspiracy theories. the more they prime people to believe them so easily, the more they win. that's why the right wing is absolutely overflowing with insane conspiracy theorists and grifters. that's why Alex Jones was so popular for so long, and given a platform again and again, long after he became the butt of the joke. that's why they kept pouring money into him. because he was good at what he did. now he's slightly too expensive to maintain, so they're gonna find the next guy that's good at talking, good at getting people worked up, whip them into a righteous frenzy and get caught up in their emotions and brainwash them into forgetting critical thinking and becoming entirely dependent on reactionary thinking and unable to break out of that cult-like thinking. their next guy is gonna rack up debt from lawsuits just like Alex Jones, gonna be loud and nauseating and all over social media, going to be shoved down our throats with his constant rage marketing, and when he gets too expensive to maintain, next guy is gonna come, and it will continue to repeat over and over again.

rinse and repeat.

so, yeah, when you see them on twitter and facebook and bluesky and youtube and every social media outlet on the planet, pushing these bizarre theories? they know they're bizarre. they are fully aware. most of those accounts are programmed bots parroting the same shit over and over again. others are real, and some of them have just bought into them and are the audience of people like Jones who fully think they're right and aren't questioning the cognitive dissonance.

a lot of being politically aware and capable of seeing through propaganda is picking out what's being left out, what's not being said, seeing through the clever wording and contradictions. get in the habit of seeing what's missing.

[fictionkinfessions]

I don't know how to word this. I've been thinking on how to write this for a few days now but- I'm frustrated with how the fandom sees me. Which... I guess is not an uncommon problem here. Maybe some of you will sympathize.

I am a fictive of Corazon and there are a few of us in this system- but this is probably an issue that a lot of kinnies and fictives have where the fandom sees us as pure hearted and a selfless martyr. As if we never came from generations of bigoted, actual slave owners. As if we didn't blow up hospitals for the child we cared for.

It can't go both ways. Fans can't watch the violence we committed and then claim that we weren't also monsters.

I can't speak for all kins and fictives that share my source and maybe some of my memories. But it is... Frustrating. Being called 'soft and kind' while they turn a blind eye to all the atrocities my bloodline has caused and the real acts of terror I've committed with my own two hands. 'Justified' is not up to fan interpretation when it is obviously untrustworthy.

I had to unlearn a lot. I had to put in real, hard work to curb the things I thought were normal as a child. And that was with the help of the man who adopted me. If I didn't have that - I would have been the same monster that Doffy was. I would have been groomed just as he was; simply encouraged to embrace the toxic and hateful mentality I'd already been exposed to as a kid.

The fandom needs to realize that the very small amount of time that they had to get to know me was limited. And filtered through a child's perspective. I love Law dearly and I'm grateful that I was there to save him from that life but he is not a reliable narrator! Again, I love him so very much... But he has been hurt all his life.

I was a monster just the same as Doffy. I got so very lucky when I was saved. But the fandom likes to put rose tinted shades on when it comes to me and my kin.

Anyway, that is my rant. Please forgive me if it got too long.

Dearest wishes, ❣️ Corazon

✉

[nepentheisms]

Trigun Bookclub: Some Very Long-Winded Final Thoughts (for now)

So what's my takeaway after all this discussion about the allusions to religious concepts and narratives in Trigun? What conclusions does the story draw about faith? And are there any theological ramifications to its message?

From my perspective, the belief system Trigun promotes is a broadly defined humanism that isn't bound by any religious tradition. Declarations of faith in this story are more often directed at individual people or humanity as a whole than toward a god or metaphysical concept. Trigun says that the purest and most fundamental faith is our belief in one another and in our collective capacity for good, and the specifics of any one person's faith are worth pursuing so long as it keeps them in the business of living and engaging compassionately with other sentient beings.

In Trigun's larger thesis on faith, there's also a notable emphasis on the drive for continued life and hope for a future that can be built in the present world as opposed to glorifying death in the service of grandiose ideals, especially if those ideals center on seeing the world as irredeemable and in need of destruction. And it's through this message of continued striving in the here and now that I think Trigun brings up its own point of contention against a particular theological perspective. What we have in Trigun is a firm rejection of apocalypticism.

According to the Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements, apocalypticism is the "belief in the impending or possible destruction of the world itself or physical global catastrophe, and/or the destruction or radical transformation of the existing social, political, or religious order of human society—often referred to as the apocalypse." In Christianity, this perspective is clearly seen in futurist interpretations of the book of Revelation (the Greek root word for apocalypse - apokalypsis, means revelation or unveiling). This eschatological approach treats the text as a prophetic outline of the end of the world in which God brings judgment through a series of cataclysms and then secures an everlasting paradise for the faithful.

Revelation 21:1-4 (NRSV):

(1) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (2) And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them: they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; (4) he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

As we all know, Knives loves to position himself as a bringer of divine judgment in the same vein as the Abrahamic God.

To Knives, humans are a source of evil that have to be purged from his world; salvation for his chosen people (plants - the higher beings) can only come through mass death. The realization of Knives' apocalypse is doomsday for humankind. No surprise then that in his followers (some of whom revere him like a deity), we see the sentiments of a doomsday cult. To Legato, service to the supreme being is his sole purpose in life; if Knives commands him to die, then he'll die gladly. For Elendira, the most glorious service to the supreme being is to facilitate his vision for the end of the world, and she wants nothing more than to see it happen. And in Chapel, we see the cruelty and cynicism promoted by the apocalyptic mindset: If the end is inevitable, then all efforts to protect what we have in this world are futile, so what value is there in choosing to be merciful?

The immense harm dealt by real religious groups that hold similar beliefs to these is difficult to overstate. So long as any atrocity in the temporal world can be justified when committed in deference to what are taught to be higher spiritual principles, there are no ethical boundaries these groups won't transgress. Japanese society in recent history has, in fact, had significant experiences with violent apocalyptic fanaticism. The most well-known of these occurred on March 20, 1995, in which the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo carried out its deadly sarin gas attack in the Tokyo Metro subway system. An act of religious terrorism left many dead and thousands injured, all because some people were convinced the world was ending, and it was to their benefit and everyone else's benefit if they could make it end faster.

The doctrine of Aum Shinrikyo was a mishmash of Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian concepts, and Christian eschatological views on Armageddon were especially influential to cult leader Shoko Asahara's prophecies in the time leading up to the attack. Common threads in books of the Christian Bible with apocalyptic elements include emphasis on the corrupting nature of the present world and promises of eternal unity with God after a final war in which Christ emerges victorious against all evil. These ideas are also disconcertingly influential in mainstream American Evangelical Protestant Christianity. Even in the most nonviolent Christians who would never dream of associating with extremists, it's not hard to find an underlying cynicism and detachment with regard to living life in the present. There's the notion that the world is fundamentally broken and sinful, and believers should look forward to God's destruction and remaking of it, because perfect happiness can only come in the thereafter.

1 John 2:15-17 (NRSV):

(15) Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world, (16) for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world. (17) And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God abide forever.

From such a perspective, hope is primarily oriented toward some indefinite point in the future that will come to pass via the eradication of every imperfection that marks the present. What happens in the story of Trigun, however, is an overturning of the apocalyptic narrative. The climax of Trigun Maximum invokes the fantastical imagery of Revelation, creating the impression of a stage set for the definitive final battle between the embodiments of good and evil, but then the story pushes back against the narrative conventions of apocalypticism. There is no end of days, no destruction and re-creation of the world, because it was averted by radical human hope for compassionate understanding in the here and now. And there is no ultimate triumph of Good over Evil in which Satan is cast into the lake of fire. In fact, there may not even be a "Satan" in this story at all.

When Knives collects his sisters into an amalgamated body, his form and theirs take on a draconic appearance, bringing to mind the red dragon of Revelation (that is, Satan). In Knives' own mind, however, he's God pouring out his divine wrath on the humans who've sinned against him, and there are angelic elements to his design as well to reflect this. Ultimately, his form doesn't hold. Vash and his human allies manage a breakthrough in communicating with the collective body of dependent plants, and when Knives is cast to the earth (in another departure from Revelation, this doesn't occur as the outcome of heavenly forces battling against him), he faces Vash one last time as just a man - Vash's brother who's lashing out because he never processed his extreme childhood trauma. Because maybe in the end these forces of absolute good and absolute evil don't exist; maybe our willingness to imagine God and the Devil was always the product of our own messy, conflicted humanity in all its potential for good and evil.

The resolution, then, happens not through one brother killing the other, but through connection and understanding, a little push toward a kinder existence for everyone. Knives ends up having to place his trust in the very humans he hated in order to save his brother's life, and his faith is rewarded. For Vash and the rest of humanity, life goes on; it goes on in an imperfect present, but it's a present where there's plenty of joy to be found nonetheless. So the story closes out under a bright blue sky with the assurance that the song of humanity still sang. There's no looming threat of doomsday, just a path forward toward more life.

[chelledoggo]

believe it or not:

opposing zionism and israel's government

opposing hamas and terrorism

and not being anti-semitic

are not mutually exclusive

weird, right?

[jocktrolls]

I for one think the best thing to come home to after being out of the country is a terrorist attack with an “““unknown cause”””