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(thread) To take a step back for a second, the way that low-level Church of Satan followers are at the point of Truthering literally their own leadership's pro-Nazi literature and and videoed words is a very good lesson in how organizational white supremacy indoctrination works.
Optics-oriented fascist orgs don't tell you at the outset that they're nazis. They'll flaunt their "un-PC" edgelordery, they'll be explicitly racist, but the minute you call them on it, they insist it was "ironic." Disingenuous irony is a hallmark of contemporary fascism.pic.twitter.com/ubi0Tq8W6X
That claim of disingenuous irony isn't just pointed outwards. It's pointed inwards, at new recruits. New recruits and casual supporters are constantly told that the fascist org's racism is an in-joke, a "Lenny Bruce" riff, a prank to trigger the libs and shock the normies.
As this stream of edgelordism exhausts recruits' ability to feel outrage or shock (and convinces them this is a sign of superior, objective intellect rather than conscience-exhaustion), the organization drums in a fascist-friendly system of thought designed to eliminate empathy.pic.twitter.com/t04JT6DUiW
That introductory system of thought is always fascist-adjacent-- and steeped in white supremacist dog whistles-- but also always vague enough to maintain plausible deniability.
For example, "Death to the weak, wealth to the strong" isn't on the surface racist, but it's a philosophy LaVey self-admittedly lifted wholesale from "Might is Right," a white supremacist screed that made it very clear that "the weak" are racial minorities and women.pic.twitter.com/iQaQdhWqz6
Organizations structured around progressive initiation into esoteric or secret knowledge (e.g., fraternities and many occult traditions) aren't universally racist, but they're ideally structured for covert, progressive transmission of encrypted fascism and white supremacy.
Only a very few and loyal high-level initiates can claim knowledge of the full internal group philosophy, and their organization authority depends on that knowledge remaining secret.
It's an authoritarian model that teaches fascism in its very form, and a perfect model for maintaining plausible deniability. Leaders can deny, deny, deny that fascism is intrinsic to the "true" philosophy of the organization, and no one can positively prove them wrong.
As recruits make their way up that esoteric ladder (often for a hefty price: introductory level Church of Satan membership is $250), they're inducted into more and more explicitly fascist thinking, & assured any concerns they have will be addressed at higher levels of initiation.
Of course, it's impossible to *prove* any of this, because that knowledge is kept secret. So to contextualize their public-facing beliefs, you have to look to who they cite, what dog whistles they use, who they endorse, who their leaders associate with.pic.twitter.com/3EfQ2FYIZz
Present compelling evidence, and their first tactic will be to sealion, to incessantly demand you debate them without ever presenting any meaningful counter-evidence.pic.twitter.com/M8WSKqn7Os
If you agree to engage, they swing into full Gish gallop mode, attempting to overwhelm you and any other critics with a deluge of tangential arguments that have no real bearing on the point at hand. The Gish galloper's goal is to exhaust you into silence, then claim to have won.pic.twitter.com/pwgq8ucZvL
Call out a Gish galloper and refuse to engage further, and they'll declare victory and portray that refusal as a "temper tantrum," especially if you're a woman and they can play to the sexist trope of hysteria.pic.twitter.com/XhWrNj4MpS
No matter what you do, they'll flood you with ad hominem attacks re: your intelligence and motivation. Smug confidence that your doctrine of selfishness and willful evasion of conscience and empathy is a sign of your superior intellect has *always* been a core trait of fascists.pic.twitter.com/mdXg8opecV
And if you find a smoking gun, an incontrovertible piece of evidence, like that official organizational video of Church of Satan's founder spewing hate speech? Even before they try the "he's just Lenny Bruce-ing" disingenuous irony, they'll ignore it like your other evidence.pic.twitter.com/wgimFOrrBb
When they can no longer ignore it or deny it, the'll pull out the diversity card in desperation, pointing to any token member they can find, as if collaborators haven't always existed. "We have Jews. Sammy Davis, Jr. was LaVey's friend. We tolerate gay people."pic.twitter.com/VmHpO4vTbL
"Jews, gays, women, blacks, nazis-- we're a beautiful rainbow." By the time we get to tokenism, there's almost always a well-meaning supporter who will let it slip that indeed, nazis are openly accepted by the organization, that their presence is common knowledge.pic.twitter.com/IvwtIjugaS
When sealioning, willfully ignoring evidence, Gish galloping, ad hominem, gaslighting, disingenuous irony, and tokenism have failed? Well, the last refuges for these rugged, ubermensch intellectuals are playing victim, conspiracy theories, and baseless trutherism.pic.twitter.com/kY2jryplja
I've tolerated CoS nazi apologists in my mentions all week because they're such good object lessons in the tactics that racist, fascist organizations use to disingenuously obscure their true political leanings. Proud Boys & American Identity Movement do the same stuff.
And while mainstream right wing organizations like the GOP are hardly esoteric brotherhoods, they function on an authoritarian basis and use many of the same tactics to obscure and disguise their increasingly obvious efforts to ally with the far right.
Ted Cruz gaslights and Gish gallops about imaginary antifa terrorism even as he willfully ignores the evidence that he associates with and courts members of explicit white supremacist groups. Tucker Carlson built a whole career around alternating sealioning with the victim card.
Fascists are predictable. Ted Cruz and Church of Satan may have very different branding, but you'll find the same crypto-fash cornflakes in both boxes. A core part of the work of antifascism is learning to check the cereal inside.
As we watch most of these Church of Satan folks skulk out the back, and the rest stick around to have very public meltdowns, here's my ask. Remember these aren't just Church of Satan patterns. These are fascist patterns. And to survive, we have to learn to see them. (/thread)
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