Gunman Attacks Conservative Christian Group

[Angrboda]

I think I'm going to speak on CliveStaples' behalf in that I think he may have a partial truth. This was stimulated by, but not directly in response to any specific post, so I'll just dump it in and hope it connects.

When we deal with people whose viewpoints, beliefs or arguments are radically different from our own, particularly, I think, on the left, the tendency is to attribute the views to be the results of defect in the person. Either they're deluded, or ignorant, or dumb, or brainwashed — a recognition of radical difference usually results in an appraisal of that person as an individual. And while I don't have any psychological research to back it up, I think I understand why now. When we meet other people in discourse, there's a tacit openness to the other person and their views on the implied understanding that they are likely as intelligent, educated, and moral as we are. However, if my theory is correct, this causes a problem when we find that their views and beliefs are radically different from our own. We our faced with the possibility that our own viewpoint or beliefs are wrong. If the other person is just as able as we are, it's reasonable to assume that either of us might be wrong. But we don't like to be wrong. We don't even like to think we might be wrong. But if we maintain their intellectual and moral equality, the niggling possibility remains, causing anxiety. This is a classic case of cognitive dissonance. Our beliefs about reality — I'm intelligent, they're intelligent, intelligent people will converge on the same solution — do not cohere, there is a threatened inconsistency, and that inconsistency results in insecurity and anxiety. In cognitive dissonance, there are generally two solutions: change my beliefs, or, change the facts. In this instance, we change the facts by changing to the opinion that the person isn't equally intelligent, educated and moral. We start to attribute to them defects of reason or morals in order to account for the difference between our views and beliefs.

Naturally, once you've begun this process, or it has become an entrenched habit in which you view all people possessed of certain views or beliefs as being defective, it's very easy to give their concerns less care than those of people who share our views. Once we demonize others for their viewpoint, and attribute inferiority based on politics, religion or other belief, it's very natural and easy, I suspect, to treat them as inferior, and their concerns of lesser importance.

(Anyway, that's all I've got. If anybody does have references to the scientific literature, that would be appreciated.)

(ETA: I'm sure there's also a measure of hatred involved, too: we like to see people we don't like get hurt, that's an aspect of Schadenfreude in all of us [or perhaps that's just me]. And we legitimately recognize that their loss is our gain. And as tribal animals, we naturally care more about our own than somebody else's. There are several strong processes inclining us to care differently about them than us. So I'm not suggesting it's only cognitive dissonance, but I suggest it plays a role.)