"Anti-Bullying Speaker Curses Christian Teens"

[Tyr]

Your analogy's a bit tricky because pretty much everyone in Germany at the time was a member of the Nazi party. Hell, you practically needed to be a member in order to not only be able to do anything in the country, but also to avoid undue suspicion falling upon you.

Except they weren't, they were the ruling party, but you didn't have to be a member. I used the Nazis and Albert Speer as an example of how there are disseminating opinions in every group. Which is why they couldn't just line up the remaining Nazi leadership and shoot them. You had to take things by a case by case basis.

I'm deliberately trying to avoid naming any groups here because I don't want to drag politics into this, but let me give a clear example that I recently witnessed: if the leader of an organization appears on a news program surrounded by his followers, makes a thinly-veiled death threat against someone, and all of his followers that are present shout their support for the death threat and not a single one raises their voice in protest, I don't think it's unreasonable for me to assume that, at the very least, all of the people present completely share their leader's philosophy.

They're are numerous reasons why you don't want to make your objections known. One of which is people generally like being alive. Also there are dissidents in any fanatical movement, as I understand it, it's one of the CIA's favorite pastimes to flip these kinds of people.

[Lunar Archivist]

Except they weren't, they were the ruling party, but you didn't have to be a member. I used the Nazis and Albert Speer as an example of how there are disseminating opinions in every group. Which is why they couldn't just line up the remaining Nazi leadership and shoot them. You had to take things by a case by case basis.

I'm not suggesting that taking things on a case by case basis is bad. But, while your assertion that no one in World War II Germany had to be a Nazi Party member may technically be true, it doesn't accurately reflect the reality of the situation. First, membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory, and, second, if you weren't a member of the Nazi Party, that would raise a big red flag with the authorities and subject you to scrutiny that you most definitely didn't want. Yes, people had a choice, but there was plenty of incentive pushing them to make a particular one.

They're are numerous reasons why you don't want to make your objections known. One of which is people generally like being alive. Also there are dissidents in any fanatical movement, as I understand it, it's one of the CIA's favorite pastimes to flip these kinds of people.

This was an American group on American soil making what I perceived to be a thinly-veiled death threat on a major national television news show airing in the U.S.A., not some band of fanatics in a far away foreign country.

[zemo]

I'm not suggesting that taking things on a case by case basis is bad. But, while your assertion that no one in World War II Germany had to be a Nazi Party member may technically be true, it doesn't accurately reflect the reality of the situation. First, membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory, and, second, if you weren't a member of the Nazi Party, that would raise a big red flag with the authorities and subject you to scrutiny that you most definitely didn't want. Yes, people had a choice, but there was plenty of incentive pushing them to make a particular one.

Which actually means they didn't have a chance. If you decision is to either be a reluctant and not active member of an organization or endanger everthing you own, your family, your friends, and even people you just know by association, then you don't really have a choice. And there are people that want that system back. Fuck them.

This was an American group on American soil making what I perceived to be a thinly-veiled death threat on a major national television news show airing in the U.S.A., not some band of fanatics in a far away foreign country.

I think the two of you are talking past each other a bit. If you have an organization in which members are forced, for whatever reason, then you can say "Well, not all of them are guilty at the very least for agreeing with the atrocities." If you have an organization where joining is a free choice, such as the Klan, then yeah, I'd say everybody that wears the hood is guily by association, even if they don't hang a black guy.

[Tyr]

I'm not suggesting that taking things on a case by case basis is bad. But, while your assertion that no one in World War II Germany had to be a Nazi Party member may technically be true, it doesn't accurately reflect the reality of the situation. First, membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory, and, second, if you weren't a member of the Nazi Party, that would raise a big red flag with the authorities and subject you to scrutiny that you most definitely didn't want. Yes, people had a choice, but there was plenty of incentive pushing them to make a particular one.

Rommel was not a member of the Nazi Party, nor were many of the higher ranking members of the Wermarcht.

This was an American group on American soil making what I perceived to be a thinly-veiled death threat on a major national television news show airing in the U.S.A., not some band of fanatics in a far away foreign country.

Ok...then the FBI investigates them and tries to cultivate assets. Who are you talking about here?

[Lunar Archivist]

Ok...then the FBI investigates them and tries to cultivate assets. Who are you talking about here?

Sorry, I'm not naming names because I don't want to be slapped with a bigot label myself and am doing my best to avoid politics or trolling. Suffice it to say they've been classified as a hate group and leave it at that.

[Kingsmythe]

And, whenever something like this comes up, I am once again reminded of the fantastic essay by John Scalzi contrasting many so called modern Christians with what they should be called: Leviticans.

I think one of my favorite bumper stickers remains "Jesus: Save me from your followers"

[Tyr]

edit: not related to the westburo, never mind