Fear monkeys

[Crunchy]

Orochi Wrote:
I feel it comes with the idea I hate to say it of religion .If you believe the world is filled with dark demonic forces that are conspiring to destroy you  will tend to project those "demonic" influences on the "other" . I have noted that more liberal Christians are far less likely to buy into satanic conspiracy (on average ) then there more conservative counterparts .

Please note I'm not just bashing religion and conservatives . As I note that all to often liberals have tendency toward a paranoid mistrust of tradition and a recklessness  notion of futurism . While ignoring the consequences.

It's a fair point. It should come as no surprise that those who literally believe in demons would be more capable of demonizing their opponents. I also don't think liberals are immune to being manipulated, it would just require a different type of manipulation more attuned to their idiosyncrasies. Of course, these are generalizations but I believe that is the point. Manipulation like this only requires the exploitation of tendencies. The thing that Fox news, Infowars, Rush Limbaugh, etc... have done is beat the drums of fear. It doesn't take in depth analysis to see the daily ongoing fear mongering. Repeat this for a few decades and here we are. Americans despising their fellow Americans more than their actual enemies.

Alex K Wrote:
Interesting. It then comes down to the oft repeated idea in skeptical circles that people can hardly be reasoned out of positions they haven't reasoned themselves into. I see two solutions, first of all normalize liberals again simply on an emotional basis by setting good examples and being out there talking to "Trump supporters" instead of shunning them. Second, the US urgently needs a sane conservative party to give people who don't want to vote D an alternative that isn't as batshit radical.

I think that is an accurate interpretation as to why it is impossible to reason with creationists for example. It was not a reasoned analysis that led them to their belief therefore a reasoned rebuttal has zero chance of having any effect.
I have no idea as to a solution. I recall early discussions about the internet where people thought that a repository of all this information would surely lead to a new type of enlightenment and it appears the opposite is actually happening. The bad information has just as much of a voice as the good information and average humans are bad at differentiating. 

Go to the comment sections of any news site, not just the conservative ones, and you will see post after post of pure hatred towards liberals. I see liberals sometimes behaving the same but it appears to be quantitatively different. This is just my observations though and I think it would be an interesting subject to be studied in detail.