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“Demonic Stuff”: Kansas GOP Accuses Democrat of Being a Witch (newrepublic.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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“Like I said, my opponent, she didn’t even hide it,” Masterson added. “She talked—they had witch—I mean, they’re doing like witchcraft spells on TikTok so she can win the governorship. I mean, they’re like … it’s like demonic stuff that they’re doing, right? Just in your face that way.”

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[–] 81 points 3 weeks ago (16 children)

Question from another part of the world: do they believe this nonsense, or do they just think their voter base believe it, or is it just a shared excuse for misogyny? I’m so lost.

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  • [–] 35 points 3 weeks ago

    Kansan here, Masterson probably doesn't believe it, but I also bet he's not entirely sure. There will be a small subset of voters who actually believe it because the American Heresy is strong. The vast majority of his voters/Kansans will literally never hear about this. And if they did, my guess is that most wouldn't believe it and most wouldn't change their vote if they heard about it.

    Party loyalty is dumb.

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  • [–] 29 points 3 weeks ago*

    It's dehumanization language, make the enemy an "other".

    Some are true believers, but most seem to treat it like a football game or something mentally where as long as their team or the one issue they vote (usually abortion, bigotry or guns) is satisfied they don't care about all the other performative crap.

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  • [–] 25 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

    Unfortunately, a large percentage of the Christian population in North America actually believes that witchcraft is A Real Thing that needs to be fought against tooth and nail. I was raised by people like this, who believe to this day that Harry Potter is evil because "spells" and "magic" are evil, as though they're some kind of insidious gateway to hell itself. It's madness. :)

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  • [–] 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    Exactly how is a 'spell' any different from a 'prayer'?

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  • [–] 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

    That’s literally their issue with it. The thinking goes, if you’re essentially praying, but not praying to god, then you must be working with the devil.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 weeks ago

    The endorsement from God is also entirely arbitrary and conditional too, of course. Tallarico might say he's a Christian, but he advocates for a world where the first become the last, and the least become the greatest. To his opponents it's the worst kind of heresy

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  • [–] 3 points 3 weeks ago

    As an American, some do, others see it as explicit rejection of the in group/Christianity and hate it for that reason, still others just see it as a means of dehumanization that'll get the dumbfucks on their side riled up. The politicians though, most of them ain't believe in squat beyond what makes them more powerful. If the politicians believed in witchcraft that can overpower prayers you'd best believe they're secretly doing spells for their benefit.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

    They like the benefits of being in the in-group and protect their privilege all they can, even with incantations against witches, goblins and other supernatural forms lol! This goes way back to Europe and the Cautio Criminalis!

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