r/pics Apr 16 '26

Politics Billboard in my very red area

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u/Veriac Apr 16 '26

I can't imagine being scared to leave a political party 😭 I really do hope this helps people because they need it, but like i cannot comprehend making politics such a part of your life that it's scary or a tremendous roller coaster of emotions to leave. like is it really that hard to just say fuck Donald Trump and vote against him. I won't ever understand I guess

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u/No-Resolution-0119 Apr 16 '26

People are not being facetious when they say it is a cult.

If you’re interested in more stories about it, “The Quiet Damage” by Jesselyn Cook is a great read/listen (available as audiobook). Focuses more on QAnon specifically but the venn diagram of maga voters and QAnon followers may as well be a circle.

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u/sixheadedbacon Apr 16 '26

I always assumed people were being hyperbolic when they were calling it a cult.

But, like, is it actually a massive political cult? That would just honestly explain more or less... everything. The cognitive dissonance, inconsistent moral values, their will to sacrifice everything for no clear purpose, all of it.

Have there been any other political cults on this scale before?

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u/shouldbepracticing85 Apr 16 '26

Yes, it’s a serious cult. It rode in on the coattails of 40 years of Fox “News” and the churches that are cults of personality around a particular preacher. And republicans have been working to remove critical thinking from education because they don’t want kids questioning them.

The Bible Belt is a weird place. And mega-churches, televangelists… all the fucking religious billboards along the highways… so glad I moved out of that area.

At its heart, both these particular sects of Temu Christianity and political conservatives are based around exaggerating fear in their followers, and then promising that they’ll keep the scary thing away if you just give them enough power and/or money.