Is this a common problem? Being Accused of Being Brainwashed and in a Trump Cult

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Wm777

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Okay CAF Community - could use some apologetic pointers here…

I just returned from a trip to NYC where I visited a very liberal, childhood Catholic friend… I am a moderate conservative, but I have aspergers and often find greater acceptance in the liberal communities because my own party thinks I’m too weird… Anyway, while liberal he has been one of my best friends since Catholic high school 35 years ago…

The trip was a super-great success, except for one thing… He’s incredibly mad about Trump being President, and he listens to a lot of liberal forms of social media I dont understand or agree with… As a moderate, I’m okay with it, but - he asked me a question about something - and I gave him a Catholic response on the matter, which seemed fine to me… My response was an approbation to healing masses and Christian mysticism which I engaged with around W’s second term…

In any case - despite 35 years of Catholic friendship - he turned around and started talking about a “Trump cult”; whereby some liberal media (particularly Jewish folks, therapists and millenials) are saying Trump is trying to set himself up as a messiah.

I tried to explain to him it wasn’t true. It’s hard to imagine a Jewish therapist who claims he once made the mistake of being brainwashed by Rev Moon (and who - as a Jewish person - doesnt believe in Jesus as the Christ) to maintain a very credible position on the Catholic Catechism or the sacraments… especially when he is now some kind of psychological counselor, who - in being a psychological counselor - usually follows a morally relativistic form of morality… I tend to separate therapy from faithful absolutes as such; I find greater healing in the morals and spirituality of the sacraments… In any case, some people seem to be saying we are being “brainwashed” into being Christians by Trump, who is setting himself up as a “messiah”, when none of it is true at all… I’m not a big Trump fan, and - at 5* - I’ve been a Catholic all my life…

For a guy I went to Catholic school with 35 years ago, and who has been one of my best friends all that time, to suggest I’m being brainwashed into a Trumpian cult is complete rubbish… But - the worrisome part is - he was so angry, he meant it…

I had to tell him to back off because he was wrong… which was defensive but necessary… He wasnt going to let it go, so all I could do was tell him I loved him and wished him peace, which he finally accepted after a lot of patient dialogue on my part…

My question here is - is this common? Has anyone else encountered this problem? Or is it something particular?
 
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I read a LOT—Lol!—because I’m retired, old, partially disabled, can’t hear on a phone, and gave away my television. 😀 When I’m awake, I’m usually on CAF or reading on the Internet or newspaper and magazine articles having to do with US and world government and economics, societal trends, etc. The blind and crazed Trump hatred is a palpable cancer but this is the first time I’ve heard this particular myth.
 
The progressive left has had its undergarments in a bunch since '16. That’s gotta cause some chafing!
 
Rau said:
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Minks:
The blind and crazed Trump hatred is a palpable cancer…
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Strong language, but by all accounts republican supporters reciprocate when referencing Pelosi et al!
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If I may say, I am open to all responses, so I respect both points of view as much as possible.

But, ironically, you’re also both right. Neither side will let up. And I think they’re starting to drive us all crazy - perhaps even deliberately.

That makes some sense intellectually.

But faith is a different matter.

Faith is greater than intelligence because it goes beyond reason into wisdom.

The result seems to be - we don’t trust ourselves like we used to…

There has to be some basis for effective communication, and - when people mercilessly start attacking each others faith - it’ll never resolve itself because an offense against mercy is the only sin that can’t be forgiven.
 
Limankaro said:
This close to elections all kinds of propaganda and conspiracies will surface. Expect more of it coming 😁
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Be careful with laughter.

The only credible point I found on the podcast was a claim that Trump was out for revenge. This was based upon an alleged citation from one of his books.

In any case, people laughed at him, which motivated him to run (on a revenge motive) to prove them wrong. Consequently, he got elected. Essentially, if anyone is to blame, its one side disrespecting the other. That is what brought us into this mess.

Revenge is not a Catholic ideal, nor is laughing at people, so I hold both sides accountable.

Along those same lines - I dont want this thread to get locked, so I will ask participants to observe a reasonable sense of Christian charity at this point. And I will flag anyone who disrespects others in order to preserve the integrity of my OP.

That said, you make a very good point… it’s not going to be pretty, and - when it rains - its best to wear a raincoat and carry an umbrella…
 
Wm777 said:
My question here is - is this common? Has anyone else encountered this problem? Or is it something particular?
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It’s very common for people who seemed otherwise normal to take leave of their senses when Donald Trump entered the room. I cut off a friend of about 15 years’ standing and deleted various people off my Facebook when they just turned into crazy raving rabid illogical bundles of emotion over Trump. I have no idea why this is (I’ve heard it called “Trump derangement syndrome”) but I do not have room in my life for people who get so wrapped up in what some garden-variety rich politician is doing.

I would suggest you tell this friend that you would prefer to agree to disagree with him on politics and that you don’t want to talk about it any more and instead focus on talking about and doing enjoyable, mutually agreeable things. If the friend can’t set the subject of Trump/ politics aside then my advice is for you to cut him off and find a new friend. Life is too short to deal with angry, unbalanced “friends”.

Re the point about “brainwashed into being a Christian”, all my friends pretty much know I’m a cradle Catholic who grew up in a Catholic culture and had an interest in religion years before Trump ever stepped foot into the political arena, so nobody is going to accuse me of converting due to Trump.
 
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thistle said:
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Wm777:
In any case - despite 35 years of Catholic friendship - he turned around and started talking about a “Trump cult”; whereby some liberal media (particularly Jewish folks, therapists and millenials) are saying Trump is trying to set himself up as a messiah.
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Certainly not a messiah. Trump is closer to Satan than God.
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You know the state of Trumps soul?
 
I think this friend of yours is too isolated and reading too much stuff on the internet and his priorities in life have become confused.
 
Wm777 said:
some people seem to be saying we are being “brainwashed” into being Christians by Trump
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They are confusing correlation with causation, a common fallacy. I think the truth is that Trump’s nominally anti-abortion stance and other aspects of his politics attracts a certain number of Christians. The suggestion that Trump is attracting them to Christianity is ludicrous.

You know, with the war drums beating in the Middle East, particularly this latest trouble with Iran, I wonder if some End-Timers (Christians who see the Apocalypse as just around the corner) are identifying Trump as a key figure in some kind of Holy Last Battle. As far as I’m concerned, that would be just another crazy conspiracy theory, but I know a lot of people get excited in this way whenever things flare up in the Middle East. And driven by social media, this sort of idea could gain traction. 🤔
 
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Sounds like your friend has a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. I don’t believe a cure has been found yet.
 
Unfortunately, I have witnessed this.

The “Trump derangement syndrome” is very real.

Now, to be fair, there are those on the right who have an equally deranged view of the left. However, they are a small minority. But it seems like the Trump Derangement Syndrome is growing.

Again, to be fair… if there was a fringe Democrat who no one thought could possibly win the general election to become President against a Republican, whom everyone thought was a sure lock; PERHAPS many on the right would be unhinged too. However, I honestly doubt it would be to this extreme because MOST traditional Christians tend to be moderate/conservative and not far left.

To be completely honest: I really think “Trump derangement syndrome” is ultimately a symptom of a lack of faith in God.

I think as the number of atheists continues to grow, the number of extremists will increase (either or left or right)
 
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It looks like a particularly serious case of the generalized trend toward polarization and intolerance, which to a large part is facilitated by internet habits. The more often you interact with people on social media, or on forums such as this one, and the less often you need to interact with people face to face, whether at home with your family, or in shared office space, or across a restaurant table, the more tempting it becomes to break off contact with people who disagree with you about questions, often quite trivial questions, that are now commonly seen as in some way central to your sense of identity.
 
I don’t break off with people for disagreeing with me. The vast majority of my friends disagree with me about various important subjects, such as religion/ Catholicism, abortion, Trump, welfare, etc. In 95 percent of the cases we are able to manage our differences tactfully and respect each other. It’s the 5 percent who start screaming at me and calling me names when I suggest that maybe Brett Kavanaugh wasn’t guilty of anything, that I have to hit the block button on.
 
Not all that long ago, people could get along with one another easily enough even though they voted for different parties, rooted for different football teams, or held conflicting views about Israel-Palestine. We lost something there that we ought to have kept.
 
We still can get along, if people are just tactful enough to either not talk about it or stay calm when they do bring it up.

There used to be rules of etiquette that said it was crass to discuss religion or politics or how much money you made. Now obviously if you work for a political organization in DC, politics is your job and you’re going to discuss it all day, but a lot of them, especially at the more senior levels, learn to detach emotionally from it to some degree. James Carville and Mary Matalin are still married last I looked. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia were close friends outside of work.

What I’m seeing is people unable to detach emotionally and set it aside and realize there are other things in life.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
What I’m seeing is people unable to detach emotionally and set it aside and realize there are other things in life.
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On a British website the other day, someone remarked that universities have now become “kindergartens for young adults.”
 
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