After 3,000 years of anti-Semitic hatred, pogroms, genocides, and a Holocaust that nearly exterminated the Jews, how can anyone fault Israel and the Jewish people for defending themselves?
I have enjoyed reading you for a long time and find your essays to be thoughtful and well written and argued. However, your defending Israel's actions over the past year is very misguided and highly objectionable.
How can you as a human being be ok with the killing of thousands of children? Does the sight of small body bags on a daily basis not disgust you? Putting this aside, do you not see that all that this achieves is simply to enrage a new generation of Palestinians who have nothing left to lose and will become tomorrow's "terrorists"?
Simply labelling anyone who disagrees with Israel's actions as an anti-Semite (or for Jewish person as a "self-hating Jew") is abhorrent. Israel uses such labels to silence any criticism and for you to do the same is, with all due respect, deserving of contempt. I am not an anti-Semite and have many Jewish friends and respect and admire Jewish culture but I do find Israel's actions to be completely unacceptable and I should be allowed to state this irrespective of the 3000 years of anti-Semitism.
Similarly, why should the Palestinians pay the price for 3,000 years of ant-Semitism? This has nothing to do with them. They were expelled from their homes and ethnically cleansed and have simply been fighting for justice and dignity. The people who did this to them are Jews and so naturally their anger will be directed at Jews rather than Taoists or Mormons! This has nothing to do with anti-Semitism.
Hamas' actions on October 7th were despicable but Hamas does not represent Palestinians and even if they did, the issue did not suddenly start on October 7, 2023. Palestinians have been denied their rights for three quarters of a century! They were being denied their rights since before Hamas' founding. Hamas and its nefarious activities cannot be used as an excuse for continuing to deny Palestinians their right.
You also ignore the reality that Israel helped Hamas in its early days as a counterbalance to Fatah / Palestinian Authority. Hamas and Netanyahu and other extremists in Israel need each other, they can only survive and thrive if the other exists.
You also ignore the settlement activity in the West Bank that continues year after year in contravention of UN resolutions as well as the call of current Israeli ministers to ethically cleanse Palestinians. I could go on but you get the picture.
You really need to educate yourself on this conflict and take a more balanced and unbiased view and stop peddling Israeli government propaganda.
Another example of someone - you - consumed by the D-K effect, ignoring history and woefully uneducated on the facts! For example, the UN, which you seem to hold in such esteem, is the very organization that has set the fox to guard the henhouse with their appointing Iran to be the watchdog for women’s rights!! Only 3 countries opposed - Canada, US amount the 3! So maybe check your facts, dispense with the rhetoric and sensationalism and inflammatory comments, and educate yourself: maybe familiarize yourself with the Abraham Accords, and the number of times Palestine (which is NOT a place) have rejected peace. Couple this with the fact that for umpteen years, Northern Israel has been fired on almost daily, etc., and then reread this wonderful, scholarly article again! Palestinians aren’t wanted anywhere - not by Jordan, Egypt etc, so where you are getting your info from us beyond me, but it’s not accurate or historical fact! The idea that extremists need each other is complete psycho-babble and insults rational thought!
Let me set the record, your record straight: Hamas DOES represent Palestinians: in fact more than 70% of Palestinians support this terrorist organization. You can call it what you like, spin it any way that soothes your emotions, but that will NOT change the facts! Frankly, I’m sick and tired of people spouting their version of history, while woefully ignorant of the facts, unwilling to educate themselves, and so consumed by the D-K effect that all critical thinking skills are a foreign concept!
I am completely with Michael on this issue. When a foreign state (or bad actors allowed within a foreign state) constantly attacks you, it is legitimate for the besieged state to do what is necessary to defend itself.
Honestly, I kind of blame Israel for being too soft. I think if they made it crystal clear that any attack would be met with utter elimination of the belligerent force, that they wouldn’t be harassed so often.
The San Diego example (where I live) is a good analogy and one I have used before. Someone could legitimately argue that San Diego was stolen from Mexico (the final battle took place within sight of my back yard). However, if bad actors in Tijuana were intent on using terrorist acts and bombs upon us, I would expect our government to make it stop. If it continued as it has in the Middle East for years, I would expect (no demand) that TJ be eliminated as a threat. Totally eliminated.
You can disagree with me. You can consider me immoral. But that is what I believe we would do, and what I believe we should do.
It's not a "foreign state". It's an internment camp Israel created to contain the people that Israel thought had less claim to the land for...reasons. They sponsor ever greater encroachment on the territory and view resources like water as theirs to use as they see fit. Israel is the result of a coup d'etat every bit as much as Iraq and Iran. They decided that the land was theirs because it is the main setting of their storybook. I'm not saying they shouldn't have been given land to call their own, but it's beyond established that there were already people there when they decided it belonged to them, and, likely inspired by the largely fictional early books of the Hebrew Bible, they decided that people already living in an area had less claim than they did.
Hamas did or does represent Gazan Palestinians as their elected representative. They may have second thoughts if given a chance. I also have enjoyed and really learned a lot from Mr Shermers books and writings over a long period BUT on this issue he has been rather selective in relevant facts about the history of the issue which cannot be ignored if one wishes to have a serious view of the rights and wrongs. To correct his misunderstandings or knowledge gaps he might profit by reading and studying some of the significant new Israeli historians such as Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Norman Finkelstein, Shlomo Sand, and a few others but also the significant Palestinian authors. The war did not start 7 October 2023.
The only thing you are halfway correct about is that the war didn’t start on 07 October - Israel has been under attack since they became a nation in their OWN homeland! People can spin it any way they like to soothe their feelings and emotions but in the real work feelings don’t trump facts! You may be the one to profit from some education! Maybe familiarize yourself with the D-K Effect!
I suggest you make a trip to the library! This is blatantly untrue! In fact, there is NO such place as palestine! While you take the time to learn about something, of which you are either apparently unknowledgeable about, or willfully spreading lies - familiarize yourself with the Abraham Accords as well!
you are about half right stating there being no such place as Palestine , since the Israelis have done an efficient job since 1947 of eliminating that ancient geographical region of southern Syria from the geography, people and culture of the region: from the minds of the Israeli population: and lately you may have heard of some destruction of Gaza-its Palestinian people and and infrastructures.. BUT there was such a thriving Palestinian place , originally named, I believe by the Romans, the name being used on maps: by politicians and diplomats of many nations in their discourses, diplomacies and negotiations; by travellers; by poets and novelists: in commercial exchanges: by Mandatory Britain: by wartime personnel; and lastly by a multitude of historians of many nationalities but in particular Israelis.
You are less than half correct! Palestinians (a group not a place!) were supposed to be part of Jordan &/or Egypt! Both countries rejected them! Try educating yourself on the Abraham Accords, then international law on the breakdown and legalities of such.
Just go and do a simple Google search for "Palestine". Gold Mier move to the Middle East in 1921, the first passport she held was Palestinian. Palestinian Arab have been living there for thousands of years. You have been conned by Zionist lies.
I have read a great deal about the Israel/Palestine relationship but I must agree with you that this learning needs a continual input of which there is much more to do. It is good to know( true to form of the Israeli narrative) that you cannot , or do not, concede that perhaps the original colonising Jews or Israelis later have done some wrong to Palestinians and continue to this day. In short the great wrong done to the Jews in the pogroms of Poland , Russia and other East Europeans and of course the Holocaust has been rectified by the creation of the State of Israel at the expense, and probably an original lesser wrong ,perpetrated on the indigenous Palestinians which is now extrapolating into Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon as if the Zionist Israelis wish to match the iniquities done to the Jews throughout their turbulent history
of course israelis have jets so mass destruction from these and of course the history of sniping children by israel soldiers is well known.... super racism taught from circumcision on makes them live without a troubled conscience
Rectified?? How has the genocide of over six million people been rectified? You must have some learning impairment If you believe that myth! Why do people like yourself, continue to single out splinter groups and sects and equate it to the whole: do you know anything about scientific principles, rigorous application of critical thought, not to mention plain old common (uncommon it seems) sense?
You are far too dismissive. 'Rectified' may be a poor usage for the outcome of the historical Holocaust- in fact there can be no single word for this . There is no myth implied or intended or being proposed. Your adventure into a word salad of what I am supposed to know or not is simply ridiculous. I do have a degree from long ago in physiology and biochemistry and have studied some very serious thinkers about science and critical thought. One person's common sense may not be an others.
wrongs to jews? only the well behaved... remember they ;ive off their host countries... they are a nation within nations thinking first of their own welfare....their ideology is super racism... they come first and the gentiles be damned when they get a little too greedy they get expelled as has happened over a 100 times
I can judge him as an asshole for that little incident where he threatened to call INS on neighbors for loud music. Swell guy.
More the the point I can judge his intellectually lazy ass for his absolutely cowardice and hypocrisy when it comes to his appearance on the comedy cellar podcast where he went on. Did his interview. Told the host it would be fun if for next time he had a bunch of people with criticisms for him to respond to. And then when the comedy cellar had people on with that exact idea. To criticize Norman. He ran. Not only ran but called the podcast some names and said it was a set up or something. Even though it was his idea. So two data points that says Norman there ain’t much for having a spike and being challenged. No thanks.
Have you a mirror?? Or is that missing along with your ability to learn, to think, to basically be a decent human being! You have evidenced nothing but hate, intolerance and wilful ignorance and stupidity here!
Oh my lord! Are you really this stupid: you don’t think innocent lives are lost in the pursuit of freedom and in war: try selling that to all of the world who lost family members in WW2! What nonsense - a complete Pollyanna illusion!
Innocent lives are lost, yes, but they should not be deliberately targeted. Not journalists, not medics, and especially not children...even if they're throwing stones at your tanks.
Sigh. Would you like to be in Charge of executing a war? I only ask because if more people like you would just rise through the ranks and make it all the way to general then maybe we would all have a chance. Because in your estimation. Well. It’s easy. You make it sound so easy. Just “don’t target civilian?!” Seems easy. And it is. All you have to do as a general is not target civilians. Easy.
Except.
What’s a civilian? I always ask this question. In fact let me put it into terms so I can reverse it. Because I think it’s so important to think about it this way. Is a civilian a wife that isn’t a uniformed combatant? Easy to say yes! So easy right? I mean yeah. They might : hide, feed, lie for, raise, encourage, and generally cover for terrorists. But they’re “civilians”. You know. They’re not part of it. Even if they raise their children to hate Jews. They’re innocent.
Let me ask. And really think about this. If a man burns a cross on a lawn in Alabama. He’s a racist. A vile member of an organization bent on hating and if given the chance killing black people. He goes home after a job well done (burning a cross). His wife hugs him. She’s so proud of him. She loves him for his fight. She wakes their child up to tell them how strong daddy was today. He went out and fought for us whites!! He’s a hero. But you can’t tell anyone. Because it’s a secret. The cops come
By the next day. Of course she lies for her husband “he was here all night officer”. She’s a “shield”. But she’s into it. She loves it. She supports it. She wants it. She keeps it quiet at work. Her coworkers don’t know. And any that do she is careful also agrees with and will
Cover for these actions.
Now tell me. Is that woman uninvolved? Does she do nothing in this scenario? Is she simply a “civilian”.
When a country goes to war. The COUNTRY goes to war. Not the military. Not the government. Everyone. Is it fair? Nope. You want a country? You want a group of leaders that are radical religious wackjobs looking for a fight? You support that? Then you support the actions. You support the war. And you support the killing of
Not seeing a lot of anti war protests in Palestine. Oh wait. That’s because they’d be killed for them. And not by the government. They’d get lynched by all those “innocent civilians” people keep mentioning.
Thank you! People need to speak out against stupid: against platitudes, rhetoric and misinformation and your comments have addressed this most aptly! There is no place for sentimentality in war! It’s ugly, terrible and NECESSARY, to combat terrorism!
Yeah. So easy. lol. Adorable. You really do have a hard time thinking in the abstract.
Hard truth? You support Palestine and hate Israel because it gives you a sense of moral superiority that sets off all kinds of dopamine in your brain and gives you that rush of righteousness that true believers everywhere chase as a high.
As much as the majority of us want to not have civilians injured or killed in wars and conflicts, it is nearly impossible as the countries, run by authoritarian dictatorships and terrorists, do not follow the rules of engagement like democratic nations do. They do not have the same regard for any rules of warfare and do not consider the sanctity of a human life. They purposefully use hospitals, schools, and other necessary civilian infrastructure and neighborhoods to hide in and use as bases. They use those buildings as strongholds and fortresses for their fighters/armies and to secure their munitions and other supplies.
They specifically "hide in plain sight" in active civilian areas and densely populated residential neighborhoods to make it more difficult for the democratic nations to fight "clean", aka, according to the "rules of engagement", as we, the Democratic nations attempt to accurately target the enemy. They fight dirty and have no regard for who gets injured or killed in the process. They use civilian structures to shield themselves, they use actual civilians—live human beings—as shields for their fighters. They use children and people with disabilities as pawns in their war as they outfit them with suicide vests and IEDs. They use schoolchildren and plant explosive devices in their backpacks. They use human beings, their own brothers and sisters, their own children, as pawns, as cannon fodder.
The USA, Canada, Israel, and other democratic nations fighting these terrorist authoritarian dictatorships do a marvelous job with keeping the civilian casualty count very low—especially when you consider they are fighting an enemy specifically using our "kindness" our sense of humanity, against us in these wars. They care not for others, but we do. They know this and they exploit it. They fight dirty and will continue to exploit our "kindness" as a "weakness" and then spread it all over social media and through susceptible/sympathetic news media networks/reporters as they show innocent civilians (and these aren't always "innocent civilians" either) and structural damage due to us fighting back or defending our democracies, and our peoples.
It's really, really easy to see the vests marked with the Red Cross/Crescent logo and *not* shoot them. And if someone is a foot shorter than the other people around them, it's probably safe to assume they're a child and not a midget, and not shoot them either.
oct 7 was a false flag event.... orchestrated by israel to justify ethnic cleasning..... Hamas created by israel, not supported by palestinians, to use for this very purpose.
Yup! And that the earth is flat and vaccines kill, and on and on! It’s pathetic- this dumbing down of society. The D-K effect is an epidemic and endemic!
Stephen, how do you block someone here: I can not suffer this ignorance and stupidity any longer. This lunatic would argue on any topic, but especially those they are woefully uneducated in/on. There is a limit to my forbearance in tolerating STUPID!
I highly doubt that. But you know what they say: two wrongs don't make a right. Both sides are acting like subhuman barbarians now, and will probably be treated as such. It's very sad, but it's a reality.
Are you replying to my statement about Hamas’ claims? If so then you clearly don’t follow any news sources or watch any of the videos they posted celebrating their atrocities - that makes you sound a fool! I don’t care what you “believe” - this isn’t religion- this is about facts and recorded record! There is no problem with agreeing to disagree, but there is a BIG problem in denying historical facts substantiated by empirical evidence and tested with scientific rigour! I had thought I was dialoguing with adults - those who could reason and think (in some cases). I’m fast being debased of that assumption!
Do you think you could mange to write in grammatical English instead of the way you do post: if you want to be taken with any degree of legitimacy, you might start with the basics - reading and writing! Most of Western society has the benefit of schooling!
"It does not include (...)" Actually, I think it does. Allied strategic bombing of the axis powers in World War II brought vastly more civilian victims and collateral damage than anything seen in Gaza or Lebanon and, in my view, of course it was justified. Does anyone seriously dispute that? I am not suggesting that one cannot disagree with me on this point, but it seems a bit of a stretch.
The use of the term "civilian targets" in the comment is unfortunate in that - whether intentionally or not - it implies that the IDF attack "civilian targets" without a legitimate reason ("legitimate" as in "legitimate under the laws of war"). If, say, a school doubles as a Hamas facility, is that a reason not to attack it under any circumstances, regardless of the value of taking out the military target? One may certainly hold that view and consider such a prohibition as absolute (even in good faith), but that is not what the laws of war (or what I think of as "common sense") say.
To speak of "murdering thousands of innocent women and children" is another inappropriate formulation, "murder" being something quite different from accepting civilian casualties in the pursuit of military objectives.
It may or may not be a point applicable to this particular comment, but somehow I get the impression that the oft-heard claim that Israel is (too) indiscriminate in its use of force is really a veiled way of saying that Israel only discriminates sufficiently if it loses.
Certainly the firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo, as well as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would be considered barbaric war crimes by today’s standards. (Many considered them barbaric war crimes even then.) Similarly, Israel’s bombing of Gaza and Lebanon, along with its settlements in occupied territories, violate the Geneva Conventions adopted after World War II. The horrific terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, does not justify horrific terrorist acts in response.
You think Israel's right to defend itself includes "defending itself" from children like Hind Rajab, a five year old whose family was killed, and who was waiting for an ambulance to come and save her? The IDF murdered her - yes, murdered her - deliberately, as well as the ambulance crew who came for her. To defend this is beyond my comprehension, no matter which side did the shooting and which side's child was the target.
Question I know I’m annoying with these. But if Palestine and Iran ever got a strategic advantage over Israel and had them in the ropes exactly what is it you think the execution of that war would look like? I assume there would be no indiscriminate Jew killing right? I mean with the moral clarity of those religious extremists i’m sure they would go after Jewish children! Perish the thought.
When you attack. On mass. And kill as many civilians. In cold blood. As they did in October 7. You do that with the intrinsic knowledge that your barbaric knuckle dragging actions will have a reaction that puts everyone at risk.
You want to blame someone for dead children blame the idiot, vile, inhuman, toxic, pieces of human shit that orchestrated Oct 7. And were too fucking stupid (probably because they’re Palestinian and in a literal death cult) to think about the potential outcomes of what they did.
This was one of them. Blame goes to the aggressor.
I agree with Harold. What Hamas did was barbaric but that did not give Israel the justification to exterminate 15,000+ children. Israel is worse than Hamas. But, I know, racists don't see it.
seems the iron dome over israel is easily breeched now so israel is at the mercy oftheir enemies yet 10s ofthousands of missles have not been launched.... sounds like they are fighting froma higher standard than israel
If your opponents are animals and barbarians, then you automatically will become an animal and barbarian as well? It seems so, in your personal philosophy. I will pray for your soul.
No. I would treat them with care. Telling them to leave. And telling them that if they stand between me and a villain I will go through them. If they remain. Then I will make good on my promise. This isn’t complicated. I would math it out for you even if you wanted.
I ask you. Fucking again. If Palestinians began protesting against hamas. And protesting to give the people they kidnapped back what would happen to those people in Palestine? Eh? Seriously. Would they be given lease to speak freely? Or would their neighbors and friends turn them in. Shun them. And more likely stone and lynch them?
Answer me that. One side allows dissent the other doesn’t. The side that allows it is always the good guys.
Netanyahu allows dissent because he is amassing so much autocratic power that anyone who disagrees with him will simply have no way to provide even the slightest check on his actions.
I think you need to revisit the Talmud, the Bible and the library! These are Islamic claims, NEVER Israel nor God’s claim or promise. But then again, you care nothing for the facts, as evidenced by all your erroneous spewing of “information”, better termed misinformation!
What the Jews or Muslims believe is excused by their "god" should not be important. Humanitarian interests, *human* interests, are the only things important in this conflict. And most humans can understand the simple fact that murder a child who doesn't share your religious or political beliefs is a great evil, an act of supreme dishonor, one that should be addressed by a war crimes court.
You didn’t read or understand a word that’s been written, did you! Comprehension, seems to be a stumbling block for you, and your continued regurgitation of emotional diatribe and rhetoric does not serve your position well, at all! It just demonstrates your inability to think and to learn: reread, and reread and reread the posts about “civilians” and innocence again, and perhaps try and exercise your grey cells this time, instead of continually responding with this crap about poor children, poor civilians etc. This is war!! I see you were at least ‘smart” enough to get that your religious arguments against the Jews wasn’t working for you, so now you’ve introduced Islam into the mix!
Perhaps this scenario might elucidate the facts, in a way that even a child could comprehend: Recently, a young man was detained with accusations and charges of terrorism and being a jihadist. All of which he vehemently denied. In the ensuing court proceedings he was asked if he was a good Muslim, to which he responded, passionately and positively - “of course”! He was then asked what made him a good Muslim, and his reply was, “I follow the five pillars of Islam”!! He was then asked to define the five pillars, and in the course of his recounting them, he realized the trap had been sprung and that there was NO way to be a good Muslim, and not be a terrorist! Think about that: don’t react, think. It defines them at their core! You don’t have to throw the bomb to be complicit in the act of terror.
Furthermore, since you want to keep reducing this conversation to the emotional issues by continually making it about children, let us address children: since the earliest recorded stories, words, etc., child sacrifice was and is considered one of the most heinous acts that man can commit. Period, full stop! We still condemn the Aztecs, Inca, etc for their supposed practice of child sacrifice! However, you, and a large part of the world never opens their mouth about the fact that Muslims not only practice child sacrifice they glorify it and brag about it!!! Where are your posts decrying their heinous practices??? No you just want to point the finger and incite emotion over the fact that in war, children die! Terrible, yes, lamentable, of course - but it’s a fact of war! Israel has every right to defend itself, as does the Ukraine or any other nation. I haven’t seen you write a single worry about Russia’s massacre of children and the bombing of hospitals: why?? I can answer the question myself: you are hiding your antisemitism behind emotional topics, like children, and think the rest of us too blind to see through your pitiful and frankly, revolting position of hate and intolerance!
What are you going on about the Old Testament for? It’s not synonymous with the Talmud; not that you’d bother to learn anything about that, when you can just shoot off your mouth, spouting lies!
Please see my previous reply re: writing in grammatically correct English: otherwise you are just so much noise!
But to respond specifically, it can be denied: even a pig will find a “ pearl” if it snuffles long enough. Anyone can find a lone dissenter spouting misinformation and illogical thoughts - just look, we’ve “found” you!! So you writing this “whatever” it is, as evidence of a fact, is just more noise! But you trot right along and continue believing conspiracy theories and scientifically disproven nonsense and the rest of the world will seek a higher plane! Enjoy your snuffling around in the pigpen. Maybe you too will find a pearl of wisdom one day! Or not…..
RabbiSchneerson was considered by many to bethe messiah..... how can you be ignorantof this? conspiract theory merely means a highly probable understanding of facts which unthinking people refuse to consider. Watch this on Hellstorm then tell me how its effected your view of jews as a people https://www.bitchute.com/video/oI9kdwezy03r
Your article astounds me. Nothing, absolutely nothing justifies what Israel is doing. The extermination of 15,000+ children has no justification. Genocide is not justifiable.
I agree with you that what Hamas did was barbaric and not forgivable. But as a historian you will know that Israel stole their land from the Palestinians – Zionist militias supported by the Britain and the US. After all that the Jewish people have gone through one would think that they would be more compassionate for oppressed people. You say “Never Again” but Israel is doing it to the Palestinians again.
Consider how you would feel if a heavily armed militia kicked you out of your home and off your land without compensation. And in the process raped your daughter, killed your parents and thousands of your fellow countrymen. Then forced you to live in a concentration camp under cruel oppression. I know I would probably want to kill the bastards too. I blame Israel for this conflict, and also Britain and the US for making such a mess of the establishment of Israel. If it would have been done right in 1947, everything would have been different, and Hamas would not exist.
This completely changes my opinion of you. You are so very biased.
You said it: the invaded have the right to fight the invaders. " If you don’t want to face the consequences, don’t start a war". The Zionists are the invaders who started the war and Israel is the occupier who for 76 years has been treating the occupied in an atrocious manner (read, please, Gideon Levy and Amira Hass, and please, invite them to your program).
its laid out in the Old Testament as a record...... a genocide of all those on lands Yahweh claimed with frivolous justifications..... Palestinians are descendents of the orginal people whereas jews aren't
its documented in the bible.... since the bible record is used as a land claim the other testimonies about genocide of other groups by jews must be accepted
That is just flat out wrong! You believe whatever you want, but leave those of us, who can read, learn, think and comprehend out of your delusions! I have already explained, that referencing splinter groups, fringe lunatics, and extremists sects is the same as claiming that all Americans are illiterate Clan members, when we know, in fact, that a few are not! Stop with the lies and the generalizations!
But he's referencing stuff that's in the Torah and the Tanakh. Some of what he says does paint with a broad brush and he is a bit antagonistic. But you're cranking it up to 11, and it doesn't come off that you care about Israel. You seem like you've decided the truth of the matter and the merest implication that you might not know everything or even have enough training in ethics to justify your making pronouncements about who's wrong and who's right fills you with outrage. Well, you don't know everything and you don't even seem to want to present facts, you want to give your "take" and you want to uncritically repeat Israeli propaganda and not get challenged on it. You're actually making him seem more reasonable which can't be what you're going for unless you're just a troll.
By the way, I’m not sure what, exactly, you thought that this, run on sentence would convey, “ You seem like you've decided the truth of the matter and the merest implication that you might not know everything or even have enough training in ethics to justify your making pronouncements about who's wrong and who's right fills you with outrage. ” - BUT, it makes NO sense! In fact, it says that my “lack of ethics….fills me with outrage”, a rather strange and peculiar statement at best. Why would I be outraged at what (according to you) are a lack of ethics in myself?
Perhaps proofread or learn some proper written communication skills, IF, you wish to have any credibility!
Frankly, your ignorance is astounding in its breadth, it’s depth its scope and your stupidity knows no limit! Not something most would be proud to proclaim, the way you continue to do!
Really? I’m beginning to think that your reading skills rudimentary at best and comprehension non-existent! First I’m accused of being “you people”, which I infer meant I was Jewish, and now I don’t care about Israel. Between the two of you, you might share a grey cell! I NEVER professed to be all-knowing, and take great delight in learning new things all the time - it means I’m still alive and still in control of my faculties! It also means that I will and do challenge falseness, wherever I encounter it!
As for facts, I don’t think you’d know them if they slapped you up side your head! Did you even bother to read the article I posted, multiple times, to you and others on the law and the history?! Of course not, you don’t want to be confused by the facts, the truth. You just continue to regurgitate propaganda and misinformation- your own flawed options, as fact!
As for ethics - you make me laugh: its a large part of medical practice, and I’d refer you to Alexander McCall Smith, you “might” glean a smattering of education regarding ethics!
By the way, as per usual, you continue to contradict yourself in your posts: an indication of a troubled mind! I don’t care about Israel, but I’m an Israel propagandist?!
My outrage is reserved for STUPIDITY and those so consumed by the D-K effect, that they don’t even know their own limitations (or strengths for that matter)
By the way, you might consult your mirror, while rereading your last response - I present reasoned facts, you - opinions!
NO! It wasn’t invented by anyone, really: it’s simply a term that scientists, philosophers and critical thinkers have used since the 19th century .Once again, you present “facts” not in evidence! In fact it’s a conspiracy theory itself. More evidence of your fringe associations and your limited ability to think! You seem to spend your entire existence living between fantasy and conspiracy theories! Drink more kook-aid!
I’ve been a fan of yours for many years. I’ve read many of your books and also follow your podcast regularly. I enjoy your intelligence and skepticism. However, I’m astonished that you, Sam Harris and others so resolutely take a one-side stance in this conflict. This is a conflict with no good or bad sides, this is a conflict without right or wrongs; surely a skeptic as yourself would see that. You have had authors on your show such as Kevin Dutton on Black-and-White Thinking, and more recently Adam Kirsch on Settler Colonialism which must have had some impact.
This is not a conflict that began on 7 October 2023. You call yourself historian, but seem to ignore the obvious plight of the Arabs living in Palestine at the Jewish settlement. The ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians during the 1940’s has been widely reported by several historians. See for example Ilan Pappe’s book: https://www.audible.com/pd/B077KDZRCX?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=library_overflow. If Israel really wanted to develop a peaceful state in 1948 they shouldn’t have started by ethnic cleansing of the people who lived there. That’s not a recipe for peaceful coexistence. But it’s also understandable why Jews developed such aggressive nationalist behavior after being ostracized for 1000s of years. Not even the US and UK were particularly interested to help Jews escape the holocaust during WW2. From 1947 and onwards it’s like Israel repeats behaviors of the Spanish Conquistadors and Americans conquering the Indians all over again! But the Amerindians did not have powerful neighbors with a totalitarian religion to support them.
Your analogy about Mexico is just ridiculous. A better example would be the Indian Wars triggered by colonialists and settlers. Looking up Indian Wars on Wikipedia you will find
* Sovereignty of various combatants extended or lost
* Massive indigenous population decline
* Deportation and forced assimilation of indigenous tribes
* Many treaties, truces, and armistices made and broken by combatants
* Indian reservationsestablished in the United States
That’s a true analogy.
Unfortunately, I don’t see a solution to this conflict. It’s like humans are completely unable to escape black-and-white thinking. There are only losers as a result.
Well said. If Mexico attacked San Diego one could barely imagine the scale of a U.S. reponse. It would be irresponsible and enormous. And Mexicans are our blood brothers and friends.
Let’s say a Mexican cartel did a terrorist attack in San Diego like October 7th. And then the leaders and cartel members started to hide out among the civilian population of Mexico City, or another smaller city in another Mexican state in which they control. Would the USA government be justified in bombing the sh*t out of Mexico City or another city and killing thousands of civilians in order to kill these cartel members?
How into these cartels would the public be? I mean I imagine if a bunch of cartel members were “holing up” in Mexico City the citizenry would be ratting them the fuck out. Because they’re a real country full of rational people worried about their own self interest and not the unfortunate members of a death cult who don’t hide hamas members out of fear but do so with the tacit understanding that it is gods will that they kill Jews. And they’ll help as much as they can without “putting a uniform” on.
No, randomly bombing Mexico City would be insane, and I did’t suggest it would be proper in my response. I suggested our response would be huge and improper. Our response would be more destructive and improper than Israel’s response in Gaza and now against the assaults of its other neighbors, which is more proportional and understandable. I agree with Shermer’s basic premise.
Shermer is appalled by the criticism of Israel that has dramatically increased since 10/7. What some call antisemitic is really anti-Israel genocide, (as the ICJ and all Human Rights groups have called it)
I might add 42% of young Jewish adults find Israel's carnage "Unacceptable" as do 33% of all Jews.
He doesn't seem to grasp the salient fact that yes, 10/7 was an atrocity that should be condemned and punished it does not justify the killing of 42,000 Palestinians and wounding 95,000 more, mostly women and children. Yes, the canard is that Hamas is using shields etc, that is grossly exaggerated to justify the genocide. How can any rational, moral person accept this holocaust, which has bombed schools, mosques, universities, critical infrastructure, destroyed 65% of all homes and used starvation as a war techniques creating widespread malnourishment and dead children justify these blatant
war crimes and violations of International Law. I suggest anyone that does this has a serious moral
defect.
Rather than bombard us with pictures of World War II atrocities he should be showing pictures of the
atrocities he blithely overlooks, and show us photos of the horrible, horrific grotesque consequences of Israeli bombs and guns in Gaza against innocent civilians.
"Israel's policy was summed up by Dov Weisglass, an adviser to Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, earlier this year. 'The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger,' he said. The hunger pangs are supposed to encourage the Palestinians to force Hamas to change its attitude towards Israel or force Hamas out of government."
Mr. Shermer, one word in the writing on the wall was when the formerly great magazine SA could no longer tolerate your humane reason.
I agree with you and speak and vote accordingly, in a swing state.
My "liberal" friends who think of themselves as good people see no paradox. They also see nothing wrong with celebrating a hope that Donald Trump will be assassinated, as his character successfully has been. This is a more effective strategy than honestly disputing policy positions. It was used by the Nazis against Jews.
One counters the social consensus, one voice at a time.
I have always known most of us would be the Nazis while grandiosely imagining we would not. Most Nazis are likely to have imagined they were good people. This is where the danger has always lain.
One hopes that modeling reason will change people. That is, alas, not my observation.
Post-modernists are correct about one thing. It matters very much what those in power believe. That is the fulcrum. What is a pragmatic response?
I am thankful that Musk has bought X and there is one social media platform not suppressed.
p.s. The thoughtless propaganda among your commenters is horrifying.
Critical thinking can not be taught or successfully modeled, in my observation. One is either capable of it, or not. You have optimistically dedicated your career to modeling critical thinking, and it saddens me to believe it is only to reach those of us who can already see things as you do.
If you have data showing that people can improve their ability to reason if critical thinking is demonstrated, I would be interested.
I think your observations on critical thought being able to be taught ( or not as you claim) requires much greater study! It is a well accepted fact that critical thinking skills can not only be modelled but learned: do you think every doctor, every scientist was “born” to the profession! I can promise you that not only would my parents take umbrage at your “observation”, but so would my preceptors during internship and residency. If it can be both taught and learned in one field, it stands to reason that it’s equally applicable across the spectrum.
When was the last election for Gaza? Why should civilians be condemed for something the government did?
I think the biggest issue I have with the comparison to Germany is that Hamas isn't capable of wiping out Israel. It's not the same comparison. More powerful countries have the responsibility to not murder an inferior force. Germany and Japan had every ability to take over the world at the time.
Hamas should be killed and wiped out, but if Israel doesn't rebuild Gaza and continues to murder innocent people they are just going to have another extremist beliefs attacking them in 20 years.
It also don't understand why people are not saying Israe government l bears responsibility for allowing such an attack to happen.
The sentiment that Palestinian should pay the price for the government they elected then answer this:
How many US cizitzens should be killed for Americans war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan? Families were murder by drone strikes and not for freedom. Those wars were not for safety they were for revenge and personal gain for Dick Cheney and Bush. Who should be harmed and attacked him to killed for the war crimes that the US has committed You willing to volunteer yourself?
More than 70% of Palestinian people support Hamas - a terrorist organization! That’s answer enough - provided you can employ critical thought!
PS: many of the West lost family members in both WW1&2 - you seem to be forgetting that little fact of life: was it “good”, NO, but there is always loss when good people defend freedom and are against tyranny - anywhere - any time!
Well that argument seems not to be mature and reasonable. There are Nazis that live in the US. Republicans exist that want to be dictators including the Republican presidental candidate. Should we be killing them?
It's not necessary for Israel to kill thousands of innocent children and civilians to defend themselves. Hamas isn't 1940 Germany.
If Republicans are successful in becoming dictators of the US they will become the most dangerous organization on the planet. How should we go about stopping them?
I’ll just cite one example of the worth of this article: which is echoed by real scholars everywhere and only endorsed by conspiracy lunatics such as yourself.
Dont forget to read the article on Conspiracy Theory research……
Leeron Kopelman
27 February, 2020
This article is wrong on so many levels. For starters, Israel never funded, trained or armed Hamas. What is true is that in the late 1970s and early 80s Israel supported what started out as bona fide charities. They built orphanages, schools, cared for widows and the elderly. And yes, this was as an alternative to the PLO which at that time was purely a terrorist organization, doing nothing for its people.
Legitimate criticism is that it may have taken a year long than it should have to drop these groups, but that's only easy to say in hindsight. The game changer was the export of the Iranian Revolution. Forty years later we know how that turned out, but in the moment it could have been a passing fad.
The article loses all credibility when it fails to disclose the circumstances of Yassin's release in 1985. It almost sounds like he was released as a personal favor or so he could found Hamas 2 years later. Reality is that at the time he wasn't a particularly valuable prisoner and was one of 1,150 exchanged for 3 Israeli soldiers in Lebanon (lookup the Jibril Agreement).
Never mind the question of why Israel would arrest the founder of Hamas in the first place, 3 years prior to its creation, when he wasn't much more than a nobody.
Those who think there is a transformation here similar to the Mujahideen turning into the Taliban are wrong on both fronts.
Again, Israel never funded, trained or armed Hamas.
You can’t seem to read very well, or at least not comprehend what you are reading! Another article by a fringe segment, which has been soundly and thoroughly debunked, discredited and demonstrated to be fundamentally wrong. Do your homework, before you seek to influence those who are actually able to employ critical thought; or did you think I wouldn’t read the article and research its validity and veracity?! Surprise!
The third principle is partly grounded in a paradox: Conspiracy theories—even blatantly irrational ones—are often supported by a range of elaborate arguments, suggesting that belief in conspiracy theories is based on analytic and deliberative (i.e., System 2) thinking processes. For instance, Moon landing conspiracy theories (assuming that the Moon landings were filmed in a TV studio) often are justified through an extensive analysis of the lack of wind on the moon in conjunction with the apparent movement of the US flag on video recordings. Likewise, many 9/11 conspiracy theories (proposing that these terrorist attacks were an inside job committed by the US government) are based on a range of scientific arguments pertaining to the steel constructions of the former Twin Towers, the maximum temperatures of burning kerosene, and the temperatures at which steel melts. It would therefore be tempting to assume that belief in conspiracy theories is closely associated with an inquisitive mindset that does not take for granted the official readings of impactful events, and that critically analyses evidence in favor of, or against, a conspiracy theory.
Empirical evidence, however, suggests quite the opposite. For example, belief in conspiracy theories is positively associated with intuitive rather than analytic thinking (Swami, Voracek, Stieger, Tran, & Furnham, 2014). Consistently, higher education predicts lower conspiracy beliefs, a finding that is partly mediated by a tendency among the less educated to attribute agency and intentionality where it does not exist (Douglas et al., 2016), and stronger analytic thinking skills among the higher educated (Van Prooijen, 2017). Furthermore, the combination of analytic thinking and the motivation to be rational predicts skepticism of conspiracy theories (Ståhl & Van Prooijen, 2018). It has also been noted that the confirmation bias is central to conspiracy theorizing (Brotherton, 2015), and that conspiracy beliefs are related to the illusion of explanatory depth (Vitriol & Marsh, 2018).
Conspiracy beliefs therefore do not appear to be grounded in controlled, analytic mental processes. Instead, we argue that they are grounded in emotional and intuitive mental (System 1) processes. This insight is based on the argument that aversive emotional experiences increase people's sense‐making motivations (Park, 2010). These sense‐making motivations tend to be sensitive to threats, increasing the likelihood that people attribute suspect events to the covert activities of hostile conspiracies (Hofstadter, 1966). This line of reasoning is consistent with the observation that conspiracy theories gain momentum in the context of anxiety‐provoking societal crisis events such as terrorism, natural disasters, or war (Van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). The negative emotions that constitute the psychological origins of belief in conspiracy theories include anxiety, uncertainty, or the feeling that one lacks control.
Both correlational and experimental studies extensively support the emotional nature of belief in conspiracy theories. For instance, conspiracy beliefs are correlated with trait anxiety (Grzesiak‐Feldman, 2013), and are predicted by the perception that society is under threat (Jolley, Douglas, & Sutton, 2018), and that society's fundamental values are changing (Federico, Williams, & Vitriol, 2018). Experimental studies have found that inducing a lack of control increases people's belief in organizational conspiracy theories (Whitson & Galinsky, 2008) and political conspiracy theories (Van Prooijen & Acker, 2015). Relatedly, a lack of control leads people to exaggerate the influence that they attribute to their enemies, which is part of many conspiracy theories (Sullivan, Landau, & Rothschild, 2010). Finally, experiencing subjective uncertainty—a phenomenological experience closely associated with lacking control—predicts increased conspiracy beliefs, provided that perceivers consider the implicated authorities as immoral (Van Prooijen & Jostmann, 2013; Whitson, Galinsky, & Kay, 2015).
The sense‐making processes underlying the relationship between emotions and conspiracy beliefs consist of at least two basic and automatic cognitive processes. The first process is pattern perception: People automatically search for meaningful and causal relationships between stimuli. Research indeed finds that perceiving patterns in random stimuli predicts belief in conspiracy theories (Van der Wal, Sutton, Lange, & Braga, 2018; Van Prooijen et al., 2018). The second process is agency detection: People tend to perceive events as caused by intentional agents. The tendency to detect agency in inanimate stimuli empirically predicts belief in conspiracy theories (Douglas et al., 2016; Imhoff & Bruder, 2014). These two basic cognitive processes are reliably triggered by the same emotions that trigger conspiracy beliefs. For instance, lacking control not only increases belief in conspiracy theories but also illusory pattern perception more generally (e.g., seeing images in random noise, or perceiving patterns in random stock market information; Whitson & Galinsky, 2008). In a similar vein, feelings of uncertainty not only increase conspiracy beliefs but also other forms of agency detection, such as people's belief in agentic, moralizing gods (Hogg, Adelman, & Blagg, 2010). While the automatic and epistemic mental processes of pattern perception and agency detection are not emotional per se, aversive emotional experiences do activate these cognitive processes, increasing the likelihood of conspiracy thinking. Taken together, the evidence suggests that belief in conspiracy theories is strongly rooted in negative emotions and automatic processes. The cold, non‐emotional states generally associated with analytic thinking appear to decrease people's belief in conspiracy theories.
You throw out inflammatory responses, either no evidence to support a single thing you say!
I knew this article would be beyond your ability to comprehend but I choose to aspire to a higher common denominator- not the lowest where you reside! Read again, and again, and reread yet again - maybe, against all odds, something will seep into that vacuum better. Your ears, where only hate and conspiracy theories appear to live!
Please don’t respond with anymore rhetoric until you can authenticate your claims! CIA - you are a fool!
Conspiracy theories are highly implausible in light of logic or scientific knowledge (e.g., chemtrail conspiracy theories or flat-earth conspiracy theory).
Research has developed over the past decade and has distilled four basic principles that characterize belief in conspiracy theories. Specifically, conspiracy theories are consequential as they have a real impact on people's health, relationships, and safety; they are universal in that belief in them is widespread across times, cultures, and social settings; they are emotional given that negative emotions and not rational deliberations cause conspiracy beliefs; and they are social as conspiracy beliefs are closely associated with psychological motivations underlying intergroup conflict. We then discuss future research and possible policy interventions in this growing area of enquiry
Early studies provided two key insights that laid the foundations for current research on conspiracy theories. The first key insight is that although conspiracy theories differ widely in content, subjective beliefs in them are rooted in the same underlying psychology. This insight is suggested by findings that the single best predictor of belief in one conspiracy theory is belief in a different conspiracy theory (Goertzel, 1994; see also Lewandowski, Oberauer, & Gignac, 2013; Swami et al., 2011; Sutton & Douglas, 2014). Even beliefs in mutually incompatible theories are positively correlated.
Conspiracy thinking as a function of demographic variables such as political party affiliation (Wright & Arbuthnot, 1974) or ethnicity (Crocker, Luhtanen, Broadnax, & Blaine, 1999) was correlated .
The potential impact and breadth of conspiracy theories was underscored in 2016, when Donald Trump was elected US President despite propagating a range of highly implausible conspiracy theories throughout his campaign. These theories included allegations that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, that Barack Obama was not born in the US, and that vaccines cause autism. The social sciences have increasingly recognized the importance of understanding conspiracy beliefs, and empirical research on this phenomenon has proliferated in the past decade (for overviews, see Douglas, Sutton, & Cichocka, 2017; Van Prooijen, 2018; Van Prooijen & Van Vugt, in press).
Although scarce and methodologically limited, these early studies provided two key insights that laid the foundations for current research on conspiracy theories. The first key insight is that although conspiracy theories differ widely in content, subjective beliefs in them are rooted in the same underlying psychology. This insight is suggested by findings that the single best predictor of belief in one conspiracy theory is belief in a different conspiracy theory (Goertzel, 1994; see also Lewandowski, Oberauer, & Gignac, 2013; Swami et al., 2011; Sutton & Douglas, 2014). Even beliefs in mutually incompatible conspiracy theories are positively correlated.
The second key insight is that besides individual differences, belief in conspiracy theories is highly sensitive to social context. For instance, ideological motivations influence political conspiracy beliefs depending on election results (e.g., Democrats believe governmental conspiracy theories particularly if there is a Republican in the White House, and vice versa; Wright & Arbuthnot, 1974; see also Golec de Zavala & Federico, 2018; Uscinski & Parent, 2014; Van Bavel & Pereira, 2018). Moreover, throughout history people have believed conspiracy theories particularly in impactful societal crisis situations, such as during fires, floods, earthquakes, rapid societal change, violence, and wars (McCauley & Jacques, 1979; see also Van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). Finally, social structures that shape citizens’ feelings of vulnerability increase belief in conspiracy theories, as reflected in findings that feelings of powerlessness predict conspiracy beliefs (Abalakina‐Paap et al., 1999; Imhoff & Bruder, 2014), and that conspiracy beliefs are high particularly among members of stigmatized minority groups (Crocker et al., 1999; Davis, Wetherell, & Henry, 2018; Van Prooijen, Staman, & Krouwel, in press).
Also ‘underground’ extremist movements (e.g., groups of Neo‐Nazis, violent anti‐globalists, religious fundamentalists, and the like) are characterized by excessive conspiracy beliefs. Bartlett and Miller (2010) argued that conspiracy theories causally contribute to the process of radicalization, and the violent tendencies, of such extremist fringe groups.
The above arguments paint a rather bleak picture of the consequences of conspiracy theories and conspiracy beliefs, and indeed, the current state of affairs in this research domain suggests that the majority of consequences are negative.
And you sound like one from a cartoon or fantasy! I think the distinction is quite evident to all, as to which of the two of us employees their brain and critical thought. Perhaps you belong to a cult - it would be one explanation for your blind devotion to fantasy…..
"When was the last election for Gaza? Why should civilians be condemed for something the government did?" To condemn people for actions their government committed is the reasoning behind 9/11 -- civilians and innocents murdered for the policies of their country's leaders.
Your comment: “ I think the biggest issue I have with the comparison to Germany is that Hamas isn't capable of wiping out Israel. It's not the same comparison.”, could not be more wrong/inaccurate/unknowing! No other place in the Middle East and perhaps the world has such an infrastructure including tunnels and rooms underground, under hospitals, etc, than in Gaza - ALL designed and armed and occupied by Hamas! This is a fact, undisputed! So yes, they are a great threat. That being said, no, I do not think they can or will ever overpower Israel - thank God!, and eventually, they will be dragged, kicking and screaming, yes, to the table and some sort of peace will be enforced. They’ll forever agitate but it seems inevitable that they will be forced to comply for the good of the world. Hopefully sooner than later.
I hear jews are exiting israel now.... its days are numbered.... no doubt Trump will end wars which is very good... then israel will need to rebuild what they destroyedand do reparations
…and I hear there is swampland in Florida for sale - you’d be ripe for that, or maybe land on mars or a bridge in Timbuktu…..people could make a fortune out of your ignorance! Pitiful, just pitiful how anyone can be so gullible and willfully stupid!
The extent to which you are defined by the D-K Effect is staggering!!
There is another problem about Israel besides the Palestinian issue. Even if the Palestinians had never existed, it would still be highly questionable if there should in the modern world be a separate country just for followers of one religion. If there should be a Jewish state, should there also be a Morman state, a Baptist state, a Jehovas Witness state, a Methodist state, or a Scientologist state?
The creation of Israel was a reactionary move, counter to the whole tendency of modern history. It should never have happened, quite aside from the prior existence of a native population on the land selected for it.
One argument in favor of creating a state for Jewish refugees at the time was to insure their safety. That argument has been debunked by history. The safest thing for their descendents would be to live in secular states with strong rules of separation of religion and state and strict constitutional protections for minority religions.
There was never any good reason for the formation of the modern state of Israel and it would be better for the world if it had never happened. And it is still not too late to dis-establish it and disperse the population to other countries where they could live in peace.
Israel is going to self-destruct in one more generation anyway even if all the Palestinians cease to exist. The birth rate for the majority secular Jews is a lot less than that of the hyper-religious Jews who will soon outnumber them. When that happens most of the secular Jews, at least the younger ones, will leave the country. Most of the Jews of European origin have an automatic right to citizenship in the country their parents or grandparents came from. They will also have no cultural problem fitting in to a secular European country.
The ones of Arab or Russian origin will not want to live in the countries their ancestors came from, but thanks to the very high standard of education in Israel and the fact that nearly all Iraelis are fluent in English, they too will be able to find someplace that will take them in as immigrants.
Israel will be left with only the hyper-religious faction and the elderly minority of the secularists who are too conservative to change countries and will eventually die out. And the religious faction will not be able to run a country because they limit their education to Bible studies.
Maybe you should consult a library about the different groups and ethnicities that are full citizens in Israel! It is not a “religious country” any more than the US is - all religions accepted!
Ignorance is not bliss and maintaining a lie, no matter how often you repeat it, is still a lie!
Less than half correct is an interesting calculation! A much better account of the history of Palestine than your partial selections is the 'Four Thousand Year History of Palestine' by Nur Masalha . Therein you will be able to educate yourself about this region and it's people. I suspect it is you who is impervious to facts that correct your skewed view of this matter.
I refuse to dignify your misinformation, your lies, your inaccuracies and your blatant ignorance and stupidity with any more of my time, knowledge and efforts! You are incapable of learning, you do not wish to be educated, and you are “secure” in your stupidity and ignorance. Dialogue with those such as yourself, is akin to trying to teach a pig to dance: a waste of time for me and a frustration for the pig! To lump all Israeli people or all Jews into one category is the same as saying all Americans are illiterate, bigoted Klan Members - when clearly there are a few who are not!
Your generalizations , and cherry picking random, fringe ideas further demonstrates just how little you actually know about the situation and how intolerant and racist you truly are! You care nothing about the topics you “appear” to support, but rather seek attention in any way you can get it - positive or negative: this is the clinical definition of narcissistic behaviour and you should seek a diagnosis and treatment!
Good luck to you and may you enjoy the day you so richly “deserve”.
Someone seems to understand. Thank you, sir.
Michael,
I have enjoyed reading you for a long time and find your essays to be thoughtful and well written and argued. However, your defending Israel's actions over the past year is very misguided and highly objectionable.
How can you as a human being be ok with the killing of thousands of children? Does the sight of small body bags on a daily basis not disgust you? Putting this aside, do you not see that all that this achieves is simply to enrage a new generation of Palestinians who have nothing left to lose and will become tomorrow's "terrorists"?
Simply labelling anyone who disagrees with Israel's actions as an anti-Semite (or for Jewish person as a "self-hating Jew") is abhorrent. Israel uses such labels to silence any criticism and for you to do the same is, with all due respect, deserving of contempt. I am not an anti-Semite and have many Jewish friends and respect and admire Jewish culture but I do find Israel's actions to be completely unacceptable and I should be allowed to state this irrespective of the 3000 years of anti-Semitism.
Similarly, why should the Palestinians pay the price for 3,000 years of ant-Semitism? This has nothing to do with them. They were expelled from their homes and ethnically cleansed and have simply been fighting for justice and dignity. The people who did this to them are Jews and so naturally their anger will be directed at Jews rather than Taoists or Mormons! This has nothing to do with anti-Semitism.
Hamas' actions on October 7th were despicable but Hamas does not represent Palestinians and even if they did, the issue did not suddenly start on October 7, 2023. Palestinians have been denied their rights for three quarters of a century! They were being denied their rights since before Hamas' founding. Hamas and its nefarious activities cannot be used as an excuse for continuing to deny Palestinians their right.
You also ignore the reality that Israel helped Hamas in its early days as a counterbalance to Fatah / Palestinian Authority. Hamas and Netanyahu and other extremists in Israel need each other, they can only survive and thrive if the other exists.
You also ignore the settlement activity in the West Bank that continues year after year in contravention of UN resolutions as well as the call of current Israeli ministers to ethically cleanse Palestinians. I could go on but you get the picture.
You really need to educate yourself on this conflict and take a more balanced and unbiased view and stop peddling Israeli government propaganda.
Another example of someone - you - consumed by the D-K effect, ignoring history and woefully uneducated on the facts! For example, the UN, which you seem to hold in such esteem, is the very organization that has set the fox to guard the henhouse with their appointing Iran to be the watchdog for women’s rights!! Only 3 countries opposed - Canada, US amount the 3! So maybe check your facts, dispense with the rhetoric and sensationalism and inflammatory comments, and educate yourself: maybe familiarize yourself with the Abraham Accords, and the number of times Palestine (which is NOT a place) have rejected peace. Couple this with the fact that for umpteen years, Northern Israel has been fired on almost daily, etc., and then reread this wonderful, scholarly article again! Palestinians aren’t wanted anywhere - not by Jordan, Egypt etc, so where you are getting your info from us beyond me, but it’s not accurate or historical fact! The idea that extremists need each other is complete psycho-babble and insults rational thought!
Let me set the record, your record straight: Hamas DOES represent Palestinians: in fact more than 70% of Palestinians support this terrorist organization. You can call it what you like, spin it any way that soothes your emotions, but that will NOT change the facts! Frankly, I’m sick and tired of people spouting their version of history, while woefully ignorant of the facts, unwilling to educate themselves, and so consumed by the D-K effect that all critical thinking skills are a foreign concept!
I am completely with Michael on this issue. When a foreign state (or bad actors allowed within a foreign state) constantly attacks you, it is legitimate for the besieged state to do what is necessary to defend itself.
Honestly, I kind of blame Israel for being too soft. I think if they made it crystal clear that any attack would be met with utter elimination of the belligerent force, that they wouldn’t be harassed so often.
The San Diego example (where I live) is a good analogy and one I have used before. Someone could legitimately argue that San Diego was stolen from Mexico (the final battle took place within sight of my back yard). However, if bad actors in Tijuana were intent on using terrorist acts and bombs upon us, I would expect our government to make it stop. If it continued as it has in the Middle East for years, I would expect (no demand) that TJ be eliminated as a threat. Totally eliminated.
You can disagree with me. You can consider me immoral. But that is what I believe we would do, and what I believe we should do.
It's not a "foreign state". It's an internment camp Israel created to contain the people that Israel thought had less claim to the land for...reasons. They sponsor ever greater encroachment on the territory and view resources like water as theirs to use as they see fit. Israel is the result of a coup d'etat every bit as much as Iraq and Iran. They decided that the land was theirs because it is the main setting of their storybook. I'm not saying they shouldn't have been given land to call their own, but it's beyond established that there were already people there when they decided it belonged to them, and, likely inspired by the largely fictional early books of the Hebrew Bible, they decided that people already living in an area had less claim than they did.
You need to read about the history here. From the beginning Israel is the aggressor
I think you are the one who needs to brush up on their history lesson!
Hamas did or does represent Gazan Palestinians as their elected representative. They may have second thoughts if given a chance. I also have enjoyed and really learned a lot from Mr Shermers books and writings over a long period BUT on this issue he has been rather selective in relevant facts about the history of the issue which cannot be ignored if one wishes to have a serious view of the rights and wrongs. To correct his misunderstandings or knowledge gaps he might profit by reading and studying some of the significant new Israeli historians such as Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Norman Finkelstein, Shlomo Sand, and a few others but also the significant Palestinian authors. The war did not start 7 October 2023.
The only thing you are halfway correct about is that the war didn’t start on 07 October - Israel has been under attack since they became a nation in their OWN homeland! People can spin it any way they like to soothe their feelings and emotions but in the real work feelings don’t trump facts! You may be the one to profit from some education! Maybe familiarize yourself with the D-K Effect!
Kendall, Israel stole the land from the Palestinians, it was the Palestinians homeland.
I suggest you make a trip to the library! This is blatantly untrue! In fact, there is NO such place as palestine! While you take the time to learn about something, of which you are either apparently unknowledgeable about, or willfully spreading lies - familiarize yourself with the Abraham Accords as well!
you are about half right stating there being no such place as Palestine , since the Israelis have done an efficient job since 1947 of eliminating that ancient geographical region of southern Syria from the geography, people and culture of the region: from the minds of the Israeli population: and lately you may have heard of some destruction of Gaza-its Palestinian people and and infrastructures.. BUT there was such a thriving Palestinian place , originally named, I believe by the Romans, the name being used on maps: by politicians and diplomats of many nations in their discourses, diplomacies and negotiations; by travellers; by poets and novelists: in commercial exchanges: by Mandatory Britain: by wartime personnel; and lastly by a multitude of historians of many nationalities but in particular Israelis.
You are less than half correct! Palestinians (a group not a place!) were supposed to be part of Jordan &/or Egypt! Both countries rejected them! Try educating yourself on the Abraham Accords, then international law on the breakdown and legalities of such.
Just go and do a simple Google search for "Palestine". Gold Mier move to the Middle East in 1921, the first passport she held was Palestinian. Palestinian Arab have been living there for thousands of years. You have been conned by Zionist lies.
You can google all you like (a tool for stupid and lazy people) - try legitimate research.
I have read a great deal about the israel/P
I have read a great deal about the Israel/Palestine relationship but I must agree with you that this learning needs a continual input of which there is much more to do. It is good to know( true to form of the Israeli narrative) that you cannot , or do not, concede that perhaps the original colonising Jews or Israelis later have done some wrong to Palestinians and continue to this day. In short the great wrong done to the Jews in the pogroms of Poland , Russia and other East Europeans and of course the Holocaust has been rectified by the creation of the State of Israel at the expense, and probably an original lesser wrong ,perpetrated on the indigenous Palestinians which is now extrapolating into Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon as if the Zionist Israelis wish to match the iniquities done to the Jews throughout their turbulent history
Yeah. Or they just get sick of rockets being lobbed at them by a death cult.
Read a little of the history Stephen.
of course israelis have jets so mass destruction from these and of course the history of sniping children by israel soldiers is well known.... super racism taught from circumcision on makes them live without a troubled conscience
Rectified?? How has the genocide of over six million people been rectified? You must have some learning impairment If you believe that myth! Why do people like yourself, continue to single out splinter groups and sects and equate it to the whole: do you know anything about scientific principles, rigorous application of critical thought, not to mention plain old common (uncommon it seems) sense?
You are far too dismissive. 'Rectified' may be a poor usage for the outcome of the historical Holocaust- in fact there can be no single word for this . There is no myth implied or intended or being proposed. Your adventure into a word salad of what I am supposed to know or not is simply ridiculous. I do have a degree from long ago in physiology and biochemistry and have studied some very serious thinkers about science and critical thought. One person's common sense may not be an others.
wrongs to jews? only the well behaved... remember they ;ive off their host countries... they are a nation within nations thinking first of their own welfare....their ideology is super racism... they come first and the gentiles be damned when they get a little too greedy they get expelled as has happened over a 100 times
Better then imbeciles who’s prophet just made shit up on the dessert. lol. Now excuse me while i go draw a picture of Muhammad.
Norman “my neighbors need to be deported” finkelstein? Yeah no bias from him. Totally unbiased source.
Nobody is without bias- that is if they think at all but you cannot with any validity judge Finkelstein with an out of context quote.
I can judge him as an asshole for that little incident where he threatened to call INS on neighbors for loud music. Swell guy.
More the the point I can judge his intellectually lazy ass for his absolutely cowardice and hypocrisy when it comes to his appearance on the comedy cellar podcast where he went on. Did his interview. Told the host it would be fun if for next time he had a bunch of people with criticisms for him to respond to. And then when the comedy cellar had people on with that exact idea. To criticize Norman. He ran. Not only ran but called the podcast some names and said it was a set up or something. Even though it was his idea. So two data points that says Norman there ain’t much for having a spike and being challenged. No thanks.
such atrocities and seeing who defends them is very revealing
I know. How can people defend October 7. Or Bigfoot!
two false narratives clearly
The only false narrative is and continues to be the one you spout in ignorance, racism and stupidity! Once again, you personify the D-K Effect!
FROM A DOGMATIST
Have you a mirror?? Or is that missing along with your ability to learn, to think, to basically be a decent human being! You have evidenced nothing but hate, intolerance and wilful ignorance and stupidity here!
Again, D-K effect!
"Israel right to defend itself" does not include murdering thousands of innocent women and children
It does not include using 2000 lb bombs on civilian targets, phosphorus bombs, cluster bombs, and now, depleted uranium
Sorry Mike, your way off on this issue
Oh my lord! Are you really this stupid: you don’t think innocent lives are lost in the pursuit of freedom and in war: try selling that to all of the world who lost family members in WW2! What nonsense - a complete Pollyanna illusion!
Innocent lives are lost, yes, but they should not be deliberately targeted. Not journalists, not medics, and especially not children...even if they're throwing stones at your tanks.
Sigh. Would you like to be in Charge of executing a war? I only ask because if more people like you would just rise through the ranks and make it all the way to general then maybe we would all have a chance. Because in your estimation. Well. It’s easy. You make it sound so easy. Just “don’t target civilian?!” Seems easy. And it is. All you have to do as a general is not target civilians. Easy.
Except.
What’s a civilian? I always ask this question. In fact let me put it into terms so I can reverse it. Because I think it’s so important to think about it this way. Is a civilian a wife that isn’t a uniformed combatant? Easy to say yes! So easy right? I mean yeah. They might : hide, feed, lie for, raise, encourage, and generally cover for terrorists. But they’re “civilians”. You know. They’re not part of it. Even if they raise their children to hate Jews. They’re innocent.
Let me ask. And really think about this. If a man burns a cross on a lawn in Alabama. He’s a racist. A vile member of an organization bent on hating and if given the chance killing black people. He goes home after a job well done (burning a cross). His wife hugs him. She’s so proud of him. She loves him for his fight. She wakes their child up to tell them how strong daddy was today. He went out and fought for us whites!! He’s a hero. But you can’t tell anyone. Because it’s a secret. The cops come
By the next day. Of course she lies for her husband “he was here all night officer”. She’s a “shield”. But she’s into it. She loves it. She supports it. She wants it. She keeps it quiet at work. Her coworkers don’t know. And any that do she is careful also agrees with and will
Cover for these actions.
Now tell me. Is that woman uninvolved? Does she do nothing in this scenario? Is she simply a “civilian”.
When a country goes to war. The COUNTRY goes to war. Not the military. Not the government. Everyone. Is it fair? Nope. You want a country? You want a group of leaders that are radical religious wackjobs looking for a fight? You support that? Then you support the actions. You support the war. And you support the killing of
Not seeing a lot of anti war protests in Palestine. Oh wait. That’s because they’d be killed for them. And not by the government. They’d get lynched by all those “innocent civilians” people keep mentioning.
Don't target medics, don't target journalists, and don't target kids unless they're waving a gun or a bomb. It's easy.
So. Again I ask though. What’s a “civilian”. Thanks. You could have engaged with anything o said instead of spouting platitudes.
non-combatant might be another term....
Thank you! People need to speak out against stupid: against platitudes, rhetoric and misinformation and your comments have addressed this most aptly! There is no place for sentimentality in war! It’s ugly, terrible and NECESSARY, to combat terrorism!
Yeah. So easy. lol. Adorable. You really do have a hard time thinking in the abstract.
Hard truth? You support Palestine and hate Israel because it gives you a sense of moral superiority that sets off all kinds of dopamine in your brain and gives you that rush of righteousness that true believers everywhere chase as a high.
As much as the majority of us want to not have civilians injured or killed in wars and conflicts, it is nearly impossible as the countries, run by authoritarian dictatorships and terrorists, do not follow the rules of engagement like democratic nations do. They do not have the same regard for any rules of warfare and do not consider the sanctity of a human life. They purposefully use hospitals, schools, and other necessary civilian infrastructure and neighborhoods to hide in and use as bases. They use those buildings as strongholds and fortresses for their fighters/armies and to secure their munitions and other supplies.
They specifically "hide in plain sight" in active civilian areas and densely populated residential neighborhoods to make it more difficult for the democratic nations to fight "clean", aka, according to the "rules of engagement", as we, the Democratic nations attempt to accurately target the enemy. They fight dirty and have no regard for who gets injured or killed in the process. They use civilian structures to shield themselves, they use actual civilians—live human beings—as shields for their fighters. They use children and people with disabilities as pawns in their war as they outfit them with suicide vests and IEDs. They use schoolchildren and plant explosive devices in their backpacks. They use human beings, their own brothers and sisters, their own children, as pawns, as cannon fodder.
The USA, Canada, Israel, and other democratic nations fighting these terrorist authoritarian dictatorships do a marvelous job with keeping the civilian casualty count very low—especially when you consider they are fighting an enemy specifically using our "kindness" our sense of humanity, against us in these wars. They care not for others, but we do. They know this and they exploit it. They fight dirty and will continue to exploit our "kindness" as a "weakness" and then spread it all over social media and through susceptible/sympathetic news media networks/reporters as they show innocent civilians (and these aren't always "innocent civilians" either) and structural damage due to us fighting back or defending our democracies, and our peoples.
https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/2327570-Rules-of-Engagement
It's really, really easy to see the vests marked with the Red Cross/Crescent logo and *not* shoot them. And if someone is a foot shorter than the other people around them, it's probably safe to assume they're a child and not a midget, and not shoot them either.
Wow, you have bought in to Israel's lies. No biases here.
https://youtu.be/qE_pmm51tm4?si=8V___XZlvV7xGXQC I like rap. You like rap?
oct 7 was a false flag event.... orchestrated by israel to justify ethnic cleasning..... Hamas created by israel, not supported by palestinians, to use for this very purpose.
Oh. You’re one of those. Don’t you have a Bigfoot to catch.
And don’t pretend you don’t believe in Bigfoot. This conspiracy nonsense is a package deal.
Yup! And that the earth is flat and vaccines kill, and on and on! It’s pathetic- this dumbing down of society. The D-K effect is an epidemic and endemic!
Stephen, how do you block someone here: I can not suffer this ignorance and stupidity any longer. This lunatic would argue on any topic, but especially those they are woefully uneducated in/on. There is a limit to my forbearance in tolerating STUPID!
most likely bigfoot popularilty has been stoked as a distraction from moreimportant world events.... yes bigfoot and oct 7 need uestioning
Stupid is as stupid does! I guess you missed the part Hamas not only accepted responsibility for this genocide, but bragged about it!
D-K Effect much?!!
Israel created Hamas...
FACT IS oCT 7 WAS A FALSE FLAG... ISRAEL stepped down and even killed someof their own citizens as reported
I can’t believe I’m reading this on a skeptic’s blog. Do you believe in the tooth fairy too?
sad for you...when you listen onlytothe dying propganda media youare deprived
I highly doubt that. But you know what they say: two wrongs don't make a right. Both sides are acting like subhuman barbarians now, and will probably be treated as such. It's very sad, but it's a reality.
Are you replying to my statement about Hamas’ claims? If so then you clearly don’t follow any news sources or watch any of the videos they posted celebrating their atrocities - that makes you sound a fool! I don’t care what you “believe” - this isn’t religion- this is about facts and recorded record! There is no problem with agreeing to disagree, but there is a BIG problem in denying historical facts substantiated by empirical evidence and tested with scientific rigour! I had thought I was dialoguing with adults - those who could reason and think (in some cases). I’m fast being debased of that assumption!
If you weren’t responding to me, then disregard!
Completely disagree.
what are the facts.... its a propaganda event and goal is to genocide a particular ethnic group.... as international bodies have determined
Do you think you could mange to write in grammatical English instead of the way you do post: if you want to be taken with any degree of legitimacy, you might start with the basics - reading and writing! Most of Western society has the benefit of schooling!
Lawl.
So? Just makes you stupid!
Take off Brooks. You do not have the truth about this conflict. You are embarrassing yourself.
They’re not deliberately targeted. Hamas stores weapons amongst their citizens while they hide in tunnels. They’re scum.
Then why have so many journalists and medical personnel been killed by Israel snipers?
acording to Israeli propaganda
What else are they to do? They have no where else to go. They live in a confined concentration camp.
"It does not include (...)" Actually, I think it does. Allied strategic bombing of the axis powers in World War II brought vastly more civilian victims and collateral damage than anything seen in Gaza or Lebanon and, in my view, of course it was justified. Does anyone seriously dispute that? I am not suggesting that one cannot disagree with me on this point, but it seems a bit of a stretch.
The use of the term "civilian targets" in the comment is unfortunate in that - whether intentionally or not - it implies that the IDF attack "civilian targets" without a legitimate reason ("legitimate" as in "legitimate under the laws of war"). If, say, a school doubles as a Hamas facility, is that a reason not to attack it under any circumstances, regardless of the value of taking out the military target? One may certainly hold that view and consider such a prohibition as absolute (even in good faith), but that is not what the laws of war (or what I think of as "common sense") say.
To speak of "murdering thousands of innocent women and children" is another inappropriate formulation, "murder" being something quite different from accepting civilian casualties in the pursuit of military objectives.
It may or may not be a point applicable to this particular comment, but somehow I get the impression that the oft-heard claim that Israel is (too) indiscriminate in its use of force is really a veiled way of saying that Israel only discriminates sufficiently if it loses.
Certainly the firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo, as well as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would be considered barbaric war crimes by today’s standards. (Many considered them barbaric war crimes even then.) Similarly, Israel’s bombing of Gaza and Lebanon, along with its settlements in occupied territories, violate the Geneva Conventions adopted after World War II. The horrific terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, does not justify horrific terrorist acts in response.
You think Israel's right to defend itself includes "defending itself" from children like Hind Rajab, a five year old whose family was killed, and who was waiting for an ambulance to come and save her? The IDF murdered her - yes, murdered her - deliberately, as well as the ambulance crew who came for her. To defend this is beyond my comprehension, no matter which side did the shooting and which side's child was the target.
Question I know I’m annoying with these. But if Palestine and Iran ever got a strategic advantage over Israel and had them in the ropes exactly what is it you think the execution of that war would look like? I assume there would be no indiscriminate Jew killing right? I mean with the moral clarity of those religious extremists i’m sure they would go after Jewish children! Perish the thought.
When you attack. On mass. And kill as many civilians. In cold blood. As they did in October 7. You do that with the intrinsic knowledge that your barbaric knuckle dragging actions will have a reaction that puts everyone at risk.
You want to blame someone for dead children blame the idiot, vile, inhuman, toxic, pieces of human shit that orchestrated Oct 7. And were too fucking stupid (probably because they’re Palestinian and in a literal death cult) to think about the potential outcomes of what they did.
This was one of them. Blame goes to the aggressor.
Wow, no racism here.
Explain.
I agree with Harold. What Hamas did was barbaric but that did not give Israel the justification to exterminate 15,000+ children. Israel is worse than Hamas. But, I know, racists don't see it.
seems the iron dome over israel is easily breeched now so israel is at the mercy oftheir enemies yet 10s ofthousands of missles have not been launched.... sounds like they are fighting froma higher standard than israel
Except on your part!
If your opponents are animals and barbarians, then you automatically will become an animal and barbarian as well? It seems so, in your personal philosophy. I will pray for your soul.
Soul? I thought this was a skeptic’s blog.
Is it? To be a skeptic seems to imply being skeptical of both sides, not just one or the other.
No. I would treat them with care. Telling them to leave. And telling them that if they stand between me and a villain I will go through them. If they remain. Then I will make good on my promise. This isn’t complicated. I would math it out for you even if you wanted.
I ask you. Fucking again. If Palestinians began protesting against hamas. And protesting to give the people they kidnapped back what would happen to those people in Palestine? Eh? Seriously. Would they be given lease to speak freely? Or would their neighbors and friends turn them in. Shun them. And more likely stone and lynch them?
Answer me that. One side allows dissent the other doesn’t. The side that allows it is always the good guys.
Netanyahu allows dissent because he is amassing so much autocratic power that anyone who disagrees with him will simply have no way to provide even the slightest check on his actions.
this counters your argument https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-XtLKMu0wI
Thoughts?
well said
killing ofcivilians is against international law and always unjustified....the fire bombing was the holocaust
Murder, war crimes and genocide.
Yes, on the part of the terrorists - Hamas!
Hamas deliberately puts weapons stores in residential areas to boost the death count. Take your complaints to Hamas.
generations of their propaganda has been used to leverage their right to do genocide
This is why Israel reacts so intensely.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0902/S00029/paul-levy-israel-outgassing-its-unhealed-trauma.htm
they want the land.... wellthey want the world.... their god promised them the world and all mankind as slaves.... their recenr messiah repeated this promise... https://odysee.com/@Germanic-Heilkunde-Dr-Ryke-Geerd-Hamer:e/icon-of-resistance-part2-lanka:7
I think you need to revisit the Talmud, the Bible and the library! These are Islamic claims, NEVER Israel nor God’s claim or promise. But then again, you care nothing for the facts, as evidenced by all your erroneous spewing of “information”, better termed misinformation!
What the Jews or Muslims believe is excused by their "god" should not be important. Humanitarian interests, *human* interests, are the only things important in this conflict. And most humans can understand the simple fact that murder a child who doesn't share your religious or political beliefs is a great evil, an act of supreme dishonor, one that should be addressed by a war crimes court.
You didn’t read or understand a word that’s been written, did you! Comprehension, seems to be a stumbling block for you, and your continued regurgitation of emotional diatribe and rhetoric does not serve your position well, at all! It just demonstrates your inability to think and to learn: reread, and reread and reread the posts about “civilians” and innocence again, and perhaps try and exercise your grey cells this time, instead of continually responding with this crap about poor children, poor civilians etc. This is war!! I see you were at least ‘smart” enough to get that your religious arguments against the Jews wasn’t working for you, so now you’ve introduced Islam into the mix!
Perhaps this scenario might elucidate the facts, in a way that even a child could comprehend: Recently, a young man was detained with accusations and charges of terrorism and being a jihadist. All of which he vehemently denied. In the ensuing court proceedings he was asked if he was a good Muslim, to which he responded, passionately and positively - “of course”! He was then asked what made him a good Muslim, and his reply was, “I follow the five pillars of Islam”!! He was then asked to define the five pillars, and in the course of his recounting them, he realized the trap had been sprung and that there was NO way to be a good Muslim, and not be a terrorist! Think about that: don’t react, think. It defines them at their core! You don’t have to throw the bomb to be complicit in the act of terror.
Furthermore, since you want to keep reducing this conversation to the emotional issues by continually making it about children, let us address children: since the earliest recorded stories, words, etc., child sacrifice was and is considered one of the most heinous acts that man can commit. Period, full stop! We still condemn the Aztecs, Inca, etc for their supposed practice of child sacrifice! However, you, and a large part of the world never opens their mouth about the fact that Muslims not only practice child sacrifice they glorify it and brag about it!!! Where are your posts decrying their heinous practices??? No you just want to point the finger and incite emotion over the fact that in war, children die! Terrible, yes, lamentable, of course - but it’s a fact of war! Israel has every right to defend itself, as does the Ukraine or any other nation. I haven’t seen you write a single worry about Russia’s massacre of children and the bombing of hospitals: why?? I can answer the question myself: you are hiding your antisemitism behind emotional topics, like children, and think the rest of us too blind to see through your pitiful and frankly, revolting position of hate and intolerance!
Think on this……
I have thought on it. Which is why I cannot support either side. Still, I simply cannot condone the murder of children, journalists, or medics.
talmud jistifies so many crimes against non-jews and basic morality... the old testament is a book about genocide justified by their volcano god
What are you going on about the Old Testament for? It’s not synonymous with the Talmud; not that you’d bother to learn anything about that, when you can just shoot off your mouth, spouting lies!
GASLIGHTING AGAIN…how nice
just listen to the jewish messian... rabbi Schneerson.... shows the jewish supremacits mind..... can;'t be denied
Please see my previous reply re: writing in grammatically correct English: otherwise you are just so much noise!
But to respond specifically, it can be denied: even a pig will find a “ pearl” if it snuffles long enough. Anyone can find a lone dissenter spouting misinformation and illogical thoughts - just look, we’ve “found” you!! So you writing this “whatever” it is, as evidence of a fact, is just more noise! But you trot right along and continue believing conspiracy theories and scientifically disproven nonsense and the rest of the world will seek a higher plane! Enjoy your snuffling around in the pigpen. Maybe you too will find a pearl of wisdom one day! Or not…..
RabbiSchneerson was considered by many to bethe messiah..... how can you be ignorantof this? conspiract theory merely means a highly probable understanding of facts which unthinking people refuse to consider. Watch this on Hellstorm then tell me how its effected your view of jews as a people https://www.bitchute.com/video/oI9kdwezy03r
You brought out the ahistorical anti semites with this one.
Your article astounds me. Nothing, absolutely nothing justifies what Israel is doing. The extermination of 15,000+ children has no justification. Genocide is not justifiable.
I agree with you that what Hamas did was barbaric and not forgivable. But as a historian you will know that Israel stole their land from the Palestinians – Zionist militias supported by the Britain and the US. After all that the Jewish people have gone through one would think that they would be more compassionate for oppressed people. You say “Never Again” but Israel is doing it to the Palestinians again.
Consider how you would feel if a heavily armed militia kicked you out of your home and off your land without compensation. And in the process raped your daughter, killed your parents and thousands of your fellow countrymen. Then forced you to live in a concentration camp under cruel oppression. I know I would probably want to kill the bastards too. I blame Israel for this conflict, and also Britain and the US for making such a mess of the establishment of Israel. If it would have been done right in 1947, everything would have been different, and Hamas would not exist.
This completely changes my opinion of you. You are so very biased.
Hamas inflates the death figures, says they’re all women and children. Israel estimates that they’ve killed some 12,000 terrorists.
Most certainly can't believe what Israel says. It speaks volumes that you call these people terrorists. They are fighting for their homeland.
Israel isn't letting any journalists from outside into Gaza, they're trying to control the narrative.
Hamas, which represents over 70% of palestinians are terrorists!
You really need to visit the library! You are a blatant history revisionist and that is something I cannot and do not tolerate!
You said it: the invaded have the right to fight the invaders. " If you don’t want to face the consequences, don’t start a war". The Zionists are the invaders who started the war and Israel is the occupier who for 76 years has been treating the occupied in an atrocious manner (read, please, Gideon Levy and Amira Hass, and please, invite them to your program).
the traditionstarting from Moses was to invade other's land and genocide them then say they were right because their god told them to do it
Wrong, wrong, wrong! You can try, but you cannot rewrite history! D-K effect, much!?!
its laid out in the Old Testament as a record...... a genocide of all those on lands Yahweh claimed with frivolous justifications..... Palestinians are descendents of the orginal people whereas jews aren't
You are so stupid! Learn some history and stop parroting lunatics and history revisionists!
jews brag abut doing genocide.. even certain holy days celebrate this war like behavior
Muslims brag about sacrificing their families to genocide that they carry out!
much a misstatement… such a generalization that if true would only pertain to .000001 percent ofmuslims
soyou wouldbe part of the sales force selling atrocity https://www.jeremyrhammond.com/2024/10/09/watch-atrocity-inc-how-israel-sells-its-destruction-of-gaza/
youmerelyreveal your nature... watch this... what israel wouldlike to hide... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-XtLKMu0wI
its documented in the bible.... since the bible record is used as a land claim the other testimonies about genocide of other groups by jews must be accepted
That is just flat out wrong! You believe whatever you want, but leave those of us, who can read, learn, think and comprehend out of your delusions! I have already explained, that referencing splinter groups, fringe lunatics, and extremists sects is the same as claiming that all Americans are illiterate Clan members, when we know, in fact, that a few are not! Stop with the lies and the generalizations!
But he's referencing stuff that's in the Torah and the Tanakh. Some of what he says does paint with a broad brush and he is a bit antagonistic. But you're cranking it up to 11, and it doesn't come off that you care about Israel. You seem like you've decided the truth of the matter and the merest implication that you might not know everything or even have enough training in ethics to justify your making pronouncements about who's wrong and who's right fills you with outrage. Well, you don't know everything and you don't even seem to want to present facts, you want to give your "take" and you want to uncritically repeat Israeli propaganda and not get challenged on it. You're actually making him seem more reasonable which can't be what you're going for unless you're just a troll.
By the way, I’m not sure what, exactly, you thought that this, run on sentence would convey, “ You seem like you've decided the truth of the matter and the merest implication that you might not know everything or even have enough training in ethics to justify your making pronouncements about who's wrong and who's right fills you with outrage. ” - BUT, it makes NO sense! In fact, it says that my “lack of ethics….fills me with outrage”, a rather strange and peculiar statement at best. Why would I be outraged at what (according to you) are a lack of ethics in myself?
Perhaps proofread or learn some proper written communication skills, IF, you wish to have any credibility!
Frankly, your ignorance is astounding in its breadth, it’s depth its scope and your stupidity knows no limit! Not something most would be proud to proclaim, the way you continue to do!
Really? I’m beginning to think that your reading skills rudimentary at best and comprehension non-existent! First I’m accused of being “you people”, which I infer meant I was Jewish, and now I don’t care about Israel. Between the two of you, you might share a grey cell! I NEVER professed to be all-knowing, and take great delight in learning new things all the time - it means I’m still alive and still in control of my faculties! It also means that I will and do challenge falseness, wherever I encounter it!
As for facts, I don’t think you’d know them if they slapped you up side your head! Did you even bother to read the article I posted, multiple times, to you and others on the law and the history?! Of course not, you don’t want to be confused by the facts, the truth. You just continue to regurgitate propaganda and misinformation- your own flawed options, as fact!
As for ethics - you make me laugh: its a large part of medical practice, and I’d refer you to Alexander McCall Smith, you “might” glean a smattering of education regarding ethics!
By the way, as per usual, you continue to contradict yourself in your posts: an indication of a troubled mind! I don’t care about Israel, but I’m an Israel propagandist?!
My outrage is reserved for STUPIDITY and those so consumed by the D-K effect, that they don’t even know their own limitations (or strengths for that matter)
By the way, you might consult your mirror, while rereading your last response - I present reasoned facts, you - opinions!
you can't hide from reality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-XtLKMu0wI
You wouldn’t know reality from the rest of your fairytale existence and conspiracy theories and out right bullshit to quote a German Scholar!
you do know the term ‘conspiracy theory’ was invented by the CIA right? using this term shows you are part of the great brainwashed masses
NO! It wasn’t invented by anyone, really: it’s simply a term that scientists, philosophers and critical thinkers have used since the 19th century .Once again, you present “facts” not in evidence! In fact it’s a conspiracy theory itself. More evidence of your fringe associations and your limited ability to think! You seem to spend your entire existence living between fantasy and conspiracy theories! Drink more kook-aid!
Dear Michael,
I’ve been a fan of yours for many years. I’ve read many of your books and also follow your podcast regularly. I enjoy your intelligence and skepticism. However, I’m astonished that you, Sam Harris and others so resolutely take a one-side stance in this conflict. This is a conflict with no good or bad sides, this is a conflict without right or wrongs; surely a skeptic as yourself would see that. You have had authors on your show such as Kevin Dutton on Black-and-White Thinking, and more recently Adam Kirsch on Settler Colonialism which must have had some impact.
This is not a conflict that began on 7 October 2023. You call yourself historian, but seem to ignore the obvious plight of the Arabs living in Palestine at the Jewish settlement. The ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians during the 1940’s has been widely reported by several historians. See for example Ilan Pappe’s book: https://www.audible.com/pd/B077KDZRCX?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=library_overflow. If Israel really wanted to develop a peaceful state in 1948 they shouldn’t have started by ethnic cleansing of the people who lived there. That’s not a recipe for peaceful coexistence. But it’s also understandable why Jews developed such aggressive nationalist behavior after being ostracized for 1000s of years. Not even the US and UK were particularly interested to help Jews escape the holocaust during WW2. From 1947 and onwards it’s like Israel repeats behaviors of the Spanish Conquistadors and Americans conquering the Indians all over again! But the Amerindians did not have powerful neighbors with a totalitarian religion to support them.
Your analogy about Mexico is just ridiculous. A better example would be the Indian Wars triggered by colonialists and settlers. Looking up Indian Wars on Wikipedia you will find
* Sovereignty of various combatants extended or lost
* Massive indigenous population decline
* Deportation and forced assimilation of indigenous tribes
* Many treaties, truces, and armistices made and broken by combatants
* Indian reservationsestablished in the United States
That’s a true analogy.
Unfortunately, I don’t see a solution to this conflict. It’s like humans are completely unable to escape black-and-white thinking. There are only losers as a result.
Greetings from Norway.
Well said. If Mexico attacked San Diego one could barely imagine the scale of a U.S. reponse. It would be irresponsible and enormous. And Mexicans are our blood brothers and friends.
Let’s say a Mexican cartel did a terrorist attack in San Diego like October 7th. And then the leaders and cartel members started to hide out among the civilian population of Mexico City, or another smaller city in another Mexican state in which they control. Would the USA government be justified in bombing the sh*t out of Mexico City or another city and killing thousands of civilians in order to kill these cartel members?
How into these cartels would the public be? I mean I imagine if a bunch of cartel members were “holing up” in Mexico City the citizenry would be ratting them the fuck out. Because they’re a real country full of rational people worried about their own self interest and not the unfortunate members of a death cult who don’t hide hamas members out of fear but do so with the tacit understanding that it is gods will that they kill Jews. And they’ll help as much as they can without “putting a uniform” on.
No, randomly bombing Mexico City would be insane, and I did’t suggest it would be proper in my response. I suggested our response would be huge and improper. Our response would be more destructive and improper than Israel’s response in Gaza and now against the assaults of its other neighbors, which is more proportional and understandable. I agree with Shermer’s basic premise.
Shermer is appalled by the criticism of Israel that has dramatically increased since 10/7. What some call antisemitic is really anti-Israel genocide, (as the ICJ and all Human Rights groups have called it)
I might add 42% of young Jewish adults find Israel's carnage "Unacceptable" as do 33% of all Jews.
He doesn't seem to grasp the salient fact that yes, 10/7 was an atrocity that should be condemned and punished it does not justify the killing of 42,000 Palestinians and wounding 95,000 more, mostly women and children. Yes, the canard is that Hamas is using shields etc, that is grossly exaggerated to justify the genocide. How can any rational, moral person accept this holocaust, which has bombed schools, mosques, universities, critical infrastructure, destroyed 65% of all homes and used starvation as a war techniques creating widespread malnourishment and dead children justify these blatant
war crimes and violations of International Law. I suggest anyone that does this has a serious moral
defect.
Rather than bombard us with pictures of World War II atrocities he should be showing pictures of the
atrocities he blithely overlooks, and show us photos of the horrible, horrific grotesque consequences of Israeli bombs and guns in Gaza against innocent civilians.
Your facts are distorted. There’s no starvation (unless it’s caused by Hamas stealing food shipped from Israel).
Israel started limiting food to Gaza years ago, as you can see here.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/16/israel
"Israel's policy was summed up by Dov Weisglass, an adviser to Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, earlier this year. 'The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger,' he said. The hunger pangs are supposed to encourage the Palestinians to force Hamas to change its attitude towards Israel or force Hamas out of government."
Mr. Shermer, one word in the writing on the wall was when the formerly great magazine SA could no longer tolerate your humane reason.
I agree with you and speak and vote accordingly, in a swing state.
My "liberal" friends who think of themselves as good people see no paradox. They also see nothing wrong with celebrating a hope that Donald Trump will be assassinated, as his character successfully has been. This is a more effective strategy than honestly disputing policy positions. It was used by the Nazis against Jews.
One counters the social consensus, one voice at a time.
I have always known most of us would be the Nazis while grandiosely imagining we would not. Most Nazis are likely to have imagined they were good people. This is where the danger has always lain.
One hopes that modeling reason will change people. That is, alas, not my observation.
Post-modernists are correct about one thing. It matters very much what those in power believe. That is the fulcrum. What is a pragmatic response?
I am thankful that Musk has bought X and there is one social media platform not suppressed.
p.s. The thoughtless propaganda among your commenters is horrifying.
Critical thinking can not be taught or successfully modeled, in my observation. One is either capable of it, or not. You have optimistically dedicated your career to modeling critical thinking, and it saddens me to believe it is only to reach those of us who can already see things as you do.
If you have data showing that people can improve their ability to reason if critical thinking is demonstrated, I would be interested.
I think your observations on critical thought being able to be taught ( or not as you claim) requires much greater study! It is a well accepted fact that critical thinking skills can not only be modelled but learned: do you think every doctor, every scientist was “born” to the profession! I can promise you that not only would my parents take umbrage at your “observation”, but so would my preceptors during internship and residency. If it can be both taught and learned in one field, it stands to reason that it’s equally applicable across the spectrum.
When was the last election for Gaza? Why should civilians be condemed for something the government did?
I think the biggest issue I have with the comparison to Germany is that Hamas isn't capable of wiping out Israel. It's not the same comparison. More powerful countries have the responsibility to not murder an inferior force. Germany and Japan had every ability to take over the world at the time.
Hamas should be killed and wiped out, but if Israel doesn't rebuild Gaza and continues to murder innocent people they are just going to have another extremist beliefs attacking them in 20 years.
It also don't understand why people are not saying Israe government l bears responsibility for allowing such an attack to happen.
The sentiment that Palestinian should pay the price for the government they elected then answer this:
How many US cizitzens should be killed for Americans war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan? Families were murder by drone strikes and not for freedom. Those wars were not for safety they were for revenge and personal gain for Dick Cheney and Bush. Who should be harmed and attacked him to killed for the war crimes that the US has committed You willing to volunteer yourself?
More than 70% of Palestinian people support Hamas - a terrorist organization! That’s answer enough - provided you can employ critical thought!
PS: many of the West lost family members in both WW1&2 - you seem to be forgetting that little fact of life: was it “good”, NO, but there is always loss when good people defend freedom and are against tyranny - anywhere - any time!
Well that argument seems not to be mature and reasonable. There are Nazis that live in the US. Republicans exist that want to be dictators including the Republican presidental candidate. Should we be killing them?
It's not necessary for Israel to kill thousands of innocent children and civilians to defend themselves. Hamas isn't 1940 Germany.
If Republicans are successful in becoming dictators of the US they will become the most dangerous organization on the planet. How should we go about stopping them?
I guess by speaking up, and voting for a different party! Not rocket science!
I... I think .... I think therefore... I am
It followed the logic of the comment I was responding to
Israel created HAMAS..... Times Of Israel https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/hamas-israels-own-creation/
I’ll just cite one example of the worth of this article: which is echoed by real scholars everywhere and only endorsed by conspiracy lunatics such as yourself.
Dont forget to read the article on Conspiracy Theory research……
Leeron Kopelman
27 February, 2020
This article is wrong on so many levels. For starters, Israel never funded, trained or armed Hamas. What is true is that in the late 1970s and early 80s Israel supported what started out as bona fide charities. They built orphanages, schools, cared for widows and the elderly. And yes, this was as an alternative to the PLO which at that time was purely a terrorist organization, doing nothing for its people.
Legitimate criticism is that it may have taken a year long than it should have to drop these groups, but that's only easy to say in hindsight. The game changer was the export of the Iranian Revolution. Forty years later we know how that turned out, but in the moment it could have been a passing fad.
The article loses all credibility when it fails to disclose the circumstances of Yassin's release in 1985. It almost sounds like he was released as a personal favor or so he could found Hamas 2 years later. Reality is that at the time he wasn't a particularly valuable prisoner and was one of 1,150 exchanged for 3 Israeli soldiers in Lebanon (lookup the Jibril Agreement).
Never mind the question of why Israel would arrest the founder of Hamas in the first place, 3 years prior to its creation, when he wasn't much more than a nobody.
Those who think there is a transformation here similar to the Mujahideen turning into the Taliban are wrong on both fronts.
Again, Israel never funded, trained or armed Hamas.
It did not create Hamas.
ITS OBVIOUS YOU GASLIGHTER
Check the mirror, dear!
NO YOU
You can’t seem to read very well, or at least not comprehend what you are reading! Another article by a fringe segment, which has been soundly and thoroughly debunked, discredited and demonstrated to be fundamentally wrong. Do your homework, before you seek to influence those who are actually able to employ critical thought; or did you think I wouldn’t read the article and research its validity and veracity?! Surprise!
your progenocide strategy is despicable
What is “ progenocide”, are you adding words to the dictionary along with the other examples of your inferior intelligence!
Your hate and blind adherence to stupidity is not only despicable, it’s wrong, and dangerous and beneath contempt!
Can you even read, I’m beginning to wonder…?
you support genocide likein the OT where the volcano god said kill them all and steal all their stuff.... what a nice person you are
Part 2:
Conspiracy Beliefs are Emotional
The third principle is partly grounded in a paradox: Conspiracy theories—even blatantly irrational ones—are often supported by a range of elaborate arguments, suggesting that belief in conspiracy theories is based on analytic and deliberative (i.e., System 2) thinking processes. For instance, Moon landing conspiracy theories (assuming that the Moon landings were filmed in a TV studio) often are justified through an extensive analysis of the lack of wind on the moon in conjunction with the apparent movement of the US flag on video recordings. Likewise, many 9/11 conspiracy theories (proposing that these terrorist attacks were an inside job committed by the US government) are based on a range of scientific arguments pertaining to the steel constructions of the former Twin Towers, the maximum temperatures of burning kerosene, and the temperatures at which steel melts. It would therefore be tempting to assume that belief in conspiracy theories is closely associated with an inquisitive mindset that does not take for granted the official readings of impactful events, and that critically analyses evidence in favor of, or against, a conspiracy theory.
Empirical evidence, however, suggests quite the opposite. For example, belief in conspiracy theories is positively associated with intuitive rather than analytic thinking (Swami, Voracek, Stieger, Tran, & Furnham, 2014). Consistently, higher education predicts lower conspiracy beliefs, a finding that is partly mediated by a tendency among the less educated to attribute agency and intentionality where it does not exist (Douglas et al., 2016), and stronger analytic thinking skills among the higher educated (Van Prooijen, 2017). Furthermore, the combination of analytic thinking and the motivation to be rational predicts skepticism of conspiracy theories (Ståhl & Van Prooijen, 2018). It has also been noted that the confirmation bias is central to conspiracy theorizing (Brotherton, 2015), and that conspiracy beliefs are related to the illusion of explanatory depth (Vitriol & Marsh, 2018).
Conspiracy beliefs therefore do not appear to be grounded in controlled, analytic mental processes. Instead, we argue that they are grounded in emotional and intuitive mental (System 1) processes. This insight is based on the argument that aversive emotional experiences increase people's sense‐making motivations (Park, 2010). These sense‐making motivations tend to be sensitive to threats, increasing the likelihood that people attribute suspect events to the covert activities of hostile conspiracies (Hofstadter, 1966). This line of reasoning is consistent with the observation that conspiracy theories gain momentum in the context of anxiety‐provoking societal crisis events such as terrorism, natural disasters, or war (Van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). The negative emotions that constitute the psychological origins of belief in conspiracy theories include anxiety, uncertainty, or the feeling that one lacks control.
Both correlational and experimental studies extensively support the emotional nature of belief in conspiracy theories. For instance, conspiracy beliefs are correlated with trait anxiety (Grzesiak‐Feldman, 2013), and are predicted by the perception that society is under threat (Jolley, Douglas, & Sutton, 2018), and that society's fundamental values are changing (Federico, Williams, & Vitriol, 2018). Experimental studies have found that inducing a lack of control increases people's belief in organizational conspiracy theories (Whitson & Galinsky, 2008) and political conspiracy theories (Van Prooijen & Acker, 2015). Relatedly, a lack of control leads people to exaggerate the influence that they attribute to their enemies, which is part of many conspiracy theories (Sullivan, Landau, & Rothschild, 2010). Finally, experiencing subjective uncertainty—a phenomenological experience closely associated with lacking control—predicts increased conspiracy beliefs, provided that perceivers consider the implicated authorities as immoral (Van Prooijen & Jostmann, 2013; Whitson, Galinsky, & Kay, 2015).
The sense‐making processes underlying the relationship between emotions and conspiracy beliefs consist of at least two basic and automatic cognitive processes. The first process is pattern perception: People automatically search for meaningful and causal relationships between stimuli. Research indeed finds that perceiving patterns in random stimuli predicts belief in conspiracy theories (Van der Wal, Sutton, Lange, & Braga, 2018; Van Prooijen et al., 2018). The second process is agency detection: People tend to perceive events as caused by intentional agents. The tendency to detect agency in inanimate stimuli empirically predicts belief in conspiracy theories (Douglas et al., 2016; Imhoff & Bruder, 2014). These two basic cognitive processes are reliably triggered by the same emotions that trigger conspiracy beliefs. For instance, lacking control not only increases belief in conspiracy theories but also illusory pattern perception more generally (e.g., seeing images in random noise, or perceiving patterns in random stock market information; Whitson & Galinsky, 2008). In a similar vein, feelings of uncertainty not only increase conspiracy beliefs but also other forms of agency detection, such as people's belief in agentic, moralizing gods (Hogg, Adelman, & Blagg, 2010). While the automatic and epistemic mental processes of pattern perception and agency detection are not emotional per se, aversive emotional experiences do activate these cognitive processes, increasing the likelihood of conspiracy thinking. Taken together, the evidence suggests that belief in conspiracy theories is strongly rooted in negative emotions and automatic processes. The cold, non‐emotional states generally associated with analytic thinking appear to decrease people's belief in conspiracy theories.
CIA developed term .....for psyop purposes,... nice alignment you make
You throw out inflammatory responses, either no evidence to support a single thing you say!
I knew this article would be beyond your ability to comprehend but I choose to aspire to a higher common denominator- not the lowest where you reside! Read again, and again, and reread yet again - maybe, against all odds, something will seep into that vacuum better. Your ears, where only hate and conspiracy theories appear to live!
Please don’t respond with anymore rhetoric until you can authenticate your claims! CIA - you are a fool!
its wwell know... denial isjust gaslighting
Conspiracy theories are highly implausible in light of logic or scientific knowledge (e.g., chemtrail conspiracy theories or flat-earth conspiracy theory).
Research has developed over the past decade and has distilled four basic principles that characterize belief in conspiracy theories. Specifically, conspiracy theories are consequential as they have a real impact on people's health, relationships, and safety; they are universal in that belief in them is widespread across times, cultures, and social settings; they are emotional given that negative emotions and not rational deliberations cause conspiracy beliefs; and they are social as conspiracy beliefs are closely associated with psychological motivations underlying intergroup conflict. We then discuss future research and possible policy interventions in this growing area of enquiry
Early studies provided two key insights that laid the foundations for current research on conspiracy theories. The first key insight is that although conspiracy theories differ widely in content, subjective beliefs in them are rooted in the same underlying psychology. This insight is suggested by findings that the single best predictor of belief in one conspiracy theory is belief in a different conspiracy theory (Goertzel, 1994; see also Lewandowski, Oberauer, & Gignac, 2013; Swami et al., 2011; Sutton & Douglas, 2014). Even beliefs in mutually incompatible theories are positively correlated.
Conspiracy thinking as a function of demographic variables such as political party affiliation (Wright & Arbuthnot, 1974) or ethnicity (Crocker, Luhtanen, Broadnax, & Blaine, 1999) was correlated .
The potential impact and breadth of conspiracy theories was underscored in 2016, when Donald Trump was elected US President despite propagating a range of highly implausible conspiracy theories throughout his campaign. These theories included allegations that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, that Barack Obama was not born in the US, and that vaccines cause autism. The social sciences have increasingly recognized the importance of understanding conspiracy beliefs, and empirical research on this phenomenon has proliferated in the past decade (for overviews, see Douglas, Sutton, & Cichocka, 2017; Van Prooijen, 2018; Van Prooijen & Van Vugt, in press).
Although scarce and methodologically limited, these early studies provided two key insights that laid the foundations for current research on conspiracy theories. The first key insight is that although conspiracy theories differ widely in content, subjective beliefs in them are rooted in the same underlying psychology. This insight is suggested by findings that the single best predictor of belief in one conspiracy theory is belief in a different conspiracy theory (Goertzel, 1994; see also Lewandowski, Oberauer, & Gignac, 2013; Swami et al., 2011; Sutton & Douglas, 2014). Even beliefs in mutually incompatible conspiracy theories are positively correlated.
The second key insight is that besides individual differences, belief in conspiracy theories is highly sensitive to social context. For instance, ideological motivations influence political conspiracy beliefs depending on election results (e.g., Democrats believe governmental conspiracy theories particularly if there is a Republican in the White House, and vice versa; Wright & Arbuthnot, 1974; see also Golec de Zavala & Federico, 2018; Uscinski & Parent, 2014; Van Bavel & Pereira, 2018). Moreover, throughout history people have believed conspiracy theories particularly in impactful societal crisis situations, such as during fires, floods, earthquakes, rapid societal change, violence, and wars (McCauley & Jacques, 1979; see also Van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). Finally, social structures that shape citizens’ feelings of vulnerability increase belief in conspiracy theories, as reflected in findings that feelings of powerlessness predict conspiracy beliefs (Abalakina‐Paap et al., 1999; Imhoff & Bruder, 2014), and that conspiracy beliefs are high particularly among members of stigmatized minority groups (Crocker et al., 1999; Davis, Wetherell, & Henry, 2018; Van Prooijen, Staman, & Krouwel, in press).
Also ‘underground’ extremist movements (e.g., groups of Neo‐Nazis, violent anti‐globalists, religious fundamentalists, and the like) are characterized by excessive conspiracy beliefs. Bartlett and Miller (2010) argued that conspiracy theories causally contribute to the process of radicalization, and the violent tendencies, of such extremist fringe groups.
The above arguments paint a rather bleak picture of the consequences of conspiracy theories and conspiracy beliefs, and indeed, the current state of affairs in this research domain suggests that the majority of consequences are negative.
TBC…
you sound like a character out of a DeNiro movie.....
And you sound like one from a cartoon or fantasy! I think the distinction is quite evident to all, as to which of the two of us employees their brain and critical thought. Perhaps you belong to a cult - it would be one explanation for your blind devotion to fantasy…..
greater Israel project requires genocide andthen theft of the land... be honest... https://gregreese.substack.com/p/greater-israel-and-americas-holy?publication_id=706779&post_id=150069649&r=1r71yd&triedRedirect=true
How do you know this? And how many US citizens should be killed in the US because of the Iraq war?
"When was the last election for Gaza? Why should civilians be condemed for something the government did?" To condemn people for actions their government committed is the reasoning behind 9/11 -- civilians and innocents murdered for the policies of their country's leaders.
Your comment: “ I think the biggest issue I have with the comparison to Germany is that Hamas isn't capable of wiping out Israel. It's not the same comparison.”, could not be more wrong/inaccurate/unknowing! No other place in the Middle East and perhaps the world has such an infrastructure including tunnels and rooms underground, under hospitals, etc, than in Gaza - ALL designed and armed and occupied by Hamas! This is a fact, undisputed! So yes, they are a great threat. That being said, no, I do not think they can or will ever overpower Israel - thank God!, and eventually, they will be dragged, kicking and screaming, yes, to the table and some sort of peace will be enforced. They’ll forever agitate but it seems inevitable that they will be forced to comply for the good of the world. Hopefully sooner than later.
I hear jews are exiting israel now.... its days are numbered.... no doubt Trump will end wars which is very good... then israel will need to rebuild what they destroyedand do reparations
…and I hear there is swampland in Florida for sale - you’d be ripe for that, or maybe land on mars or a bridge in Timbuktu…..people could make a fortune out of your ignorance! Pitiful, just pitiful how anyone can be so gullible and willfully stupid!
The extent to which you are defined by the D-K Effect is staggering!!
SPECIAL EFFECTS
I’m used to watching carnage on TV programs,
I’m always impressed with the special effects,
which seem so realistic and difficult to create::
guns, bombs, blasted bodies, pools of blood.
Its okay. Whenever I’ve had enough of it,
I finish my popcorn and change the channel.
None the worst for my experience, after all its not real.
But now its real: guns, bodies, the bombs, the blood
are there on the news screen in vivid shocking color,
the dead, disabled women and children are stark images.
The destruction of the infrastructure is Heroshima like.
I see corpses everywhere in the rubble and on roads
and changing the program and channel doesn’t end it.
The scenes stay in the mind like an unending nightmare.
The little girl with the missing leg and crutch,
somehow still able to move among the rubble,
the boys lying lifeless under howling mothers,
who beat their breasts and cry out Why? Why? Why?
There is no answer only more guns, bombs and death.
They wrap their dead in white sheets, cry, stand and pray.
Their hospitals, schools, mosques, are groesquely destroyed.
The statistics change and grow by day:
Now 42,000 dead, 97,000 wounded
52% are women and children, are they the enemy?
11,000 children dead, 2000 have lost limbs.
Israel claims it is precise as it drops 2000 bombs on refugee camps.
They kill 70 people to kill one Hamas officer. Proportionality?
International Law is trampled like dirt every day in Gaza.
I have never seen, in my long life, this kind of human slaughter.,
I find it hard to believe it is taking place, is it a lucid dream?
It transcends any scenes of destruction I have ever seen,
not a war, a mass massacre, a calculated killing machine
whom aim is vicious vengeance and absolute annihilation.
We watch an entire civilization being systematically decimated..
Their citiens wandering the streets with no safe place to go.
Where is the International community who cried “Never Again.”
They mouth meaningless criticism but do nothing to stop it.
And then they go through the motions of faux negotiations.
Meanwhile, malnutrition and starvation, bone raw skeletons, death.
We see the people begging, clamoring for food at aid stations,
while hundreds of aid trucks with food, water, energy are impeded.
They stop fuel and electricity in hospital dies with incubated babies.
A primitive barbarism fed by a hatred one can only call evil,
and which the International Justice Court calls genocide.
The ancestors of a holocaust, now ironically, committing one.
They kill terrorists creating many new terrorists by being one.
History should remember and record this new holocaust.
And the leaders who provided arms and bombs to create it
The United States supplying guns to Israel to kill innocents.
I wonder why or how an accident of birth saves me the same faith.
What did I do to deserve this and what did they do to deserve that?
There is another problem about Israel besides the Palestinian issue. Even if the Palestinians had never existed, it would still be highly questionable if there should in the modern world be a separate country just for followers of one religion. If there should be a Jewish state, should there also be a Morman state, a Baptist state, a Jehovas Witness state, a Methodist state, or a Scientologist state?
The creation of Israel was a reactionary move, counter to the whole tendency of modern history. It should never have happened, quite aside from the prior existence of a native population on the land selected for it.
One argument in favor of creating a state for Jewish refugees at the time was to insure their safety. That argument has been debunked by history. The safest thing for their descendents would be to live in secular states with strong rules of separation of religion and state and strict constitutional protections for minority religions.
There was never any good reason for the formation of the modern state of Israel and it would be better for the world if it had never happened. And it is still not too late to dis-establish it and disperse the population to other countries where they could live in peace.
Israel is going to self-destruct in one more generation anyway even if all the Palestinians cease to exist. The birth rate for the majority secular Jews is a lot less than that of the hyper-religious Jews who will soon outnumber them. When that happens most of the secular Jews, at least the younger ones, will leave the country. Most of the Jews of European origin have an automatic right to citizenship in the country their parents or grandparents came from. They will also have no cultural problem fitting in to a secular European country.
The ones of Arab or Russian origin will not want to live in the countries their ancestors came from, but thanks to the very high standard of education in Israel and the fact that nearly all Iraelis are fluent in English, they too will be able to find someplace that will take them in as immigrants.
Israel will be left with only the hyper-religious faction and the elderly minority of the secularists who are too conservative to change countries and will eventually die out. And the religious faction will not be able to run a country because they limit their education to Bible studies.
About 20% of the population are non-Jews: Muslims, Christians, Druze.
Maybe you should consult a library about the different groups and ethnicities that are full citizens in Israel! It is not a “religious country” any more than the US is - all religions accepted!
Ignorance is not bliss and maintaining a lie, no matter how often you repeat it, is still a lie!
Disagree, it is a Jewish state.
You can disagree all you like - you are still wrong! Educate yourself!
And you are the one that keeps bringing up Dunning Kruger.
Yes! It applies to people like yourself! Why would I not call it as it is!
I would like to know your opinion on Netanyahu saying Holocaust was mufti’s idea, not Hitler’s. Isn’t this revisionism?
Less than half correct is an interesting calculation! A much better account of the history of Palestine than your partial selections is the 'Four Thousand Year History of Palestine' by Nur Masalha . Therein you will be able to educate yourself about this region and it's people. I suspect it is you who is impervious to facts that correct your skewed view of this matter.
I refuse to dignify your misinformation, your lies, your inaccuracies and your blatant ignorance and stupidity with any more of my time, knowledge and efforts! You are incapable of learning, you do not wish to be educated, and you are “secure” in your stupidity and ignorance. Dialogue with those such as yourself, is akin to trying to teach a pig to dance: a waste of time for me and a frustration for the pig! To lump all Israeli people or all Jews into one category is the same as saying all Americans are illiterate, bigoted Klan Members - when clearly there are a few who are not!
Your generalizations , and cherry picking random, fringe ideas further demonstrates just how little you actually know about the situation and how intolerant and racist you truly are! You care nothing about the topics you “appear” to support, but rather seek attention in any way you can get it - positive or negative: this is the clinical definition of narcissistic behaviour and you should seek a diagnosis and treatment!
Good luck to you and may you enjoy the day you so richly “deserve”.