I write this with a bit of a heavy heart. I've seen our society devolve into a babbling, mindless dolt of its former self. I've seen friends and family torn against each other over politics. The internet has brought us all closer together, but it offers so many avenues for self indoctrination that I don't think even the most rational of minds would be able to hold up against it. With that in mind, I'd like to extoll on the crazie-fication of a lot of my friends.
One girl I knew from high school was pretty average. She had a unique personality, was highly intelligent, and she had a rebellious streak. She read books on Wiccans and witchcraft, but never actually did any of it and mostly just read the books to spite her parents. Sort of like dyeing your hair blue. She is free spirited, lively, and intelligent. Fast forward a few years. She gets married, and now she is a fundamentalist christian and thinks Ron Paul is the second coming. She is the hardcore "I am not worthy, all humans are seeped in sin, everything I have I don't deserve, it's all God's grace" type of Christian. I don't mean to be insulting if you subscribe to that value. My point is, it's a 180 from the way she used to be.
Another friend of mine is a nurse. She used to be an okay student in high school, taught piano lessons, and volunteered. I knew her for years. We used to trade comic books and talk about inane, silly things. Now? Married a super-catholic and became a devout Glenn Beck fan. She loathes political correctness and fears muslims are being taken in by the boatload to vote for Obama. I shit thee not.
Wtf happened? It seems that marrying an authoritarian person markedly changes someone. Maybe I missed big events in their life that put them down these paths. Then, I started checking out some websites. These places are parallel universes where the government or Satan, or both, is out to get you. I read some of the most hypocritical arguments by Christians, saying they were tired of being persecuted by 'Christophobes' who just don't understand that Christians are giving, selfless, loving people that rant about the evils of atheist liberals and think the OWS protesters are un-showered morons. The love doesn't last long when these people begin to rant.
What happened? These are intelligent people. I know they are. I know that in their mind they have to have considered their beliefs and asked themselves "Is this at all reality?" I'm not against Christianity, but this End Times madness cannot be what your faith tells you to spend most of your life on! Seeing magical influences in national politics as a sign your god will come back and destroy the nonbelievers has to give you pause and say: "Really? Is that really what I'm going to believe?" I guess I can't grapple with having lost friends, now that I'm an "Obama-lover" and a "hater of freedom." Once the epithets started flying, I knew it was time to go.