“We believe whatever we want to believe”
—Demosthenes
Further to my May 7, 2011 piece “Oh silly truthers…”
In the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks I am becoming increasingly disappointed with the irrational will to believe whatever we want to believe in the nationalist movement.
I’d be delighted that Mossad, the Israeli Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, orchestrated the attacks. That could certainly boost legitimacy to our agenda among non-nationalist whites. But my cognitive processes are not dissociated enough from reality to make such a gigantic leap of faith and dismiss all evidence to the contrary.
My field of expertise is not racialism or politics but deep psychology, especially the trauma model of mental disorders caused by poor parenting. How did I become dragged into that field? It’s a long story. But for the moment let me confess that I am a triple apostate: since my teenage years I gave up Christianity, then a cult, Eschatology, and finally a pseudoscience, parapsychology (for a brief summary see here). The whole spiritual odyssey to give up faith in these beliefs destroyed my life, as many other lives are being destroyed among those who fall in destructive cults as a defense mechanism resulting from a failed intent to escape from the abuse at home.
That’s why I am indebted to Paul Kurtz, Ray Hyman, James Alcock and many other skeptics of the paranormal who taught me how to think critically about extreme claims, whether religious, paranormal or conspiratorial. The last time I saw them, in a 1994 Seattle conference, I had the pleasure to experience a handshake from Carl Sagan, author of The Demon-Haunted World, a book that encourages laypeople to learn critical thinking. During that event I also attended a conference debunking the conspiracy theories about the John F. Kennedy assassination.
Hadn’t all of these skeptics vaccinated my mind against magical thinking I’d still be immersed in it. Unfortunately, only through a dark night of the soul it’s possible to realize that we believe whatever we want to believe, and that those beliefs are not always rational or based on fact. Which means that the truthers in the nationalist movement won’t ever make an honest effort to listen the other side: they are forfeiting their dark night.
I gave up paranormality after more than fifteen years of belief in the paranormal precisely because at one point of my live, from 1990 to 1995, I made a serious effort to listen to those skeptical scholars who held diametrically opposed views of my cherished beliefs. Many white nationalists are not that honest; not even close to a mile. They won’t ever use such amount of time to listen to the other side.
Not all white nationalists are truthers of course (see e.g., this splendid summary by Ted Sallis published yesterday on how America became a madhouse after 9/11). But a substantial segment of the nationalist population believes in nuts like those ridiculed in this video.
Let me recontextualize what I’m trying to say. I admire Hitler and the Nazis. For Third Reich sympathizers like me the big question is, Were Jews slaughtered in World War 2? If Irmin Vinson’s approach to the so-called holocaust represents a quantum leap forward from mere denialism, a denialism almost ubiquitous in white nationalism, I believe it’s high time to apply the same flawless logic to the tragic events of a decade ago.
But most nationalists are no match to Vinson’s honesty…
Postscript of September 14
A featured author is now saying at Majority Rights that because I wrote this entry I must be… a Jew! After days of controversy he clings to his belief. He supports the claim that I am Jewish on the basis… of my criticism of the truth movement!
Well, this is magical thinking to be sure, or the deductive fallacy to use more academic language.
This is how paranoids and paranoiacs reason: If something major happens in the political world (e.g., the assassination of a president; an Islamic terrorist attack) there must be a conspiracy involving someone in the American government. If a critic is skeptical of any of these conspiracy theories, he himself must be part of the conspiracy (e.g., a Jewish blogger pretending to be a non-Jew).
Naturally, since paranoid modes of thought are endemic at Majority Rights I won’t ever comment there again. But I decided to write this postscript to show how this affaire corroborates my view that there is indeed a flaw in the white nationalist psyche.
Fortunately, not every nationalist suffers from paranoid delusions, as proven in the Johnson article that I republished here, and in the comments by Matt in this entry’s thread. It’s a pity though that those who subscribe to Aristotelian modes of thought are a minority in the movement.
24 replies on “9/11: White nationalist paranoia”
I had been following your website for a few weeks, liking in general what you had to say.
But, if you state that you believe that Muslims were responsible for 911, and not a false flag type of event like the Israeli attack on the Liberty, you are either really stupid, or a liar. In any case, as I regard a person’s stance on 911 to be a litmus test, I will not be reading your blog anymore, as you have failed that test miserably.
If I am in the mood to have my intelligence insulted, I’ll watch CNN or read the New York Times.
You are the really stupid one. Never come back here. I only deal with intelligent people.
Note the thug-like enforcement of the status quo. If I got into the habit of dismissing every blogger who was ignorant about something, my feed reader would have no feeds for me.
It’s a similar experience, that of being scolded and shunned for being a racialist among the unawakened, and that of being scolded and shunned for not being a Truther or Denier by so many racialists. In the same way that society is filled with closet racialists who remain silent for fear of social shaming, the movement is filled with people who don’t happen to go along with those conspiracy theories but remain silent for fear of social shaming.
A particularly nasty trick is to devalue the holocaust by comparing it to other genocides, in particular ‘genocides’ acknowledged by the Left, like the ‘holocaust’ on “Native” Americans, the ‘holocaust’ of African slavery etc. The most nasty trick is to claim that every year, ten million women worldwide die of unsafe abortions.
At least part of what you are saying is something that needs to be expounded upon further: The Judæo-Liberal Orthodoxy has poisoned the critical thinking skills of generations, including WNs. Worst yet, they aren’t aware of it. They are indoctrinated into critical theory in school, and shamed for considering the sacred or transcendent. The result is WNs that do the bidding of their enemies.
Mocking Christianity is the WN example, par excellence (and, of course, resonates with me). We know that there is nothing the Jews despise greater. This alone should give a shrewd WN pause. But we don’t see that in reality. We see whole-hearted, sophomoric expositions on topics such as “Jesus is a myth,” etc. I could give you links up the wazoo of sincere, dedicated WN’s (many that I otherwise follow) who prioritize their own personal loathing of their father’s religion over their own love for their people.
This flows naturally into the Jewish poison that is Libertarianism – the de facto love of oneself (and personal predilections) greater than anything or any people.
You know me well enough to know that I would invite (and I actually do study) true criticism of my beliefs. The WNs that I am speaking of never seemed to have learned what critical theory is, how real criticism helps an idea to build upon itself, etc. This used to be part of the foundation of education in our civilization. It is now long gone, and not even remembered.
Ask Mangan (and his like) if their is any individual who might know more than him about a particular topic, through years of extensive research, through years of experience, through being taught by the world’s foremost experts. He will deny the possibility. Under critical theory (and conspiracy), we are instantly omniscient on any topic we choose for the day! And so I agree with you, Brother, be very wary of these that have been so poisoned.
How can anything be built when their is no love for the sacred (and I don’t give a fig what it is – race, God, tradition, the Great Pumpkin); that our first impulse is to destroy? Who taught us this Entropy and smiles as we take this beautifully destructive path? This is the opposite direction of those who created the greatest civilization since man has been bipedal. This is the greatest “conspiracy.”
Mike
I don’t consider enemies those who believe in religions that I don’t believe. With the exception of my intromisive parents, the Christians I know don’t push their religion on me. For instance, I only have a single friend in the whole country where I live. She is very Catholic; goes every day to Mass and I respect her. But she never calls me “stupid” or “liar” for not believing in the dogmas of the ancient Councils of Nicene, Chalcedon and Ephesus.
Conspiracy theorists are different. If you don’t believe in, say, the 1947 Roswell UFO incident as being a massive, governmental cover up for an actual extraterrestrial visitation—a cover up involving several republican and democratic presidencies—then you are either lying or stupid or both.
Never argue with such fanatics. As Demosthenes said more than 2,300 years ago, they merely believe whatever they want to believe.
I rejected Christianity based on my own reading and my own thinking. There was a girl I loved in high school, if I was capable of being a Christian I would have done it for her. But I can’t live by statements I believe to be lies. I make a point of reading Christian bloggers – Vox Day is the only one I stop by regularly but I want to make sure I understand their arguments; that’s the only way I can identify the flaws that I perceive in said arguments specifically enough to convince myself that they are incorrect.
Libertarianism is a good general-purpose principle within a society of Western European nature. It is not a final organizing principle, but it is not poison. Water also can kill if one is exposed to too much of it.
I should also add that my personal experience with Christian friends is similar to Chechar’s. They’re very willing to listen and discuss ideas with specificity, and to consider things I have to say.
Excuse me, but have you ever listened to Christian talk radio? The people on those stations all have massive boners for Israel. Christianity is a universal religion TOTALLY INCOMPATIBLE with any racialist thinking. Ask Matt Heimbach who was excommunicated for recognizing the obvious reality of white racial superiority. As for respecting tradition, all I can say is that I can’t help it that Christianity was something forced on my ancestors. The Ancient Greeks managed to invent science, philosophy, and mathematics without it, I think we can manage.
“…they do the bidding of their enemies ” and the rest of what FWM said.
Just because the writer had certain experiences in life does not mean therefore that if we think jews and israel are behind 9-11 that we’re conspiracy nuts.
Suppose that the conspiracy nuts are the ones who claim Muslims committed 9-11 and their proof is driver’s licenses found on the street that somehow survived the towing inferno?
I think there should be an examination of what happened and I’m eager to learn the truth. But we certainly know who had everything to gain by 9-11, they had already told us they needed another Pearl Harbor, then after 9-11 we somehow ended up in Iraq. And now its on to Iran.
Cuba wouldn’t attack the United States and I don’t think any Arab nation would either. They confine themselves to blowing up israelis in grocery stores or cafes.
The ones blamed for 9-11 were on terrorist watch lists and were allowed into the USA so they could be scapegoated for the crime. Perhaps they were even on the CIA payroll for all we know. We also know that our air defense system failed to respond to hi jacked planes.
I believe jews and israel are behind 9-11 and I believe the jews have their big noses in everything to the point that the world would be a better place without them.
How can you sneer at CT but behave as though you know everything and everyone else must see things your way? What a rude way to act. Others are as entitled to their opinions as you are yours.
My goodness if you can’t take an insult from a commenter when insults on the internet are common as dirt then I think you need to do some deep psychological thinking on your own behavior. If you demand that everyone bow to you like you’re god or something count me out. I won’t bow to anyone and I won’t walk on eggshells. Your ego is way out of control.
Barbara,
Please take a good look at the many articles on 9/11 being published this instant at Counter-Currents, which is a WN site. You will like some of them; you will dislike others. Click on my previous article on 9/11 and scroll down until you hit the comment by another woman, Laura. Laura’s comment pretty much summarizes what I believe about September 11.
In a nutshell, there’s something I call “intuitive Occamism”, which means that the majority of sane westerners have an inbuilt Occam’s Razor without any need to study philosophy of science. It’s sheer intuition.
Such intuition works marvelously with conspiracy theories. Most reasonable people reject aprioristically the claims which advance a multiplicity of entities unnecessarily: for instance, the conspiracy theories about the UFO Roswell incident, the “faked” moon landings of the 1960s, etc. The right hemisphere of their brains intuitively tells them that all of these theories are grossly violating Occam’s razor, yes even 9/11 theories that strain our credulity way beyond its breaking point.
The problem is that many other westerners lack this in-built intuitive Occamism in their cognitive process (something I call humoristically “antediluvian regression” or a regression to paleologic modes of thinking—cf. the first part my online book). That’s why I advice those WN truthers who are really honest to forget 9/11 for a while and study Bugliosi’s enormous study debunking the JFK conspiracy theories. The process of thoroughly refuting the other conspiracy theory that duped millions of Americans in the previous decades is good school to understand the Principle of Parsimony for those that, for one reason or another, lack intuitive Occamism.
Only after that process I’d recommend the truly honest WN truther to take a good look at the magazines I advertise at the top of this entry. (Remember: originally I was a believer. After literally years of study, the skeptics cured me.)
My comments may not get published but I think its important to remember that even if Arabs did the bombing, which I don’t think they did, but if they did the fact is they would not be our enemies if not for jewish money and power and the podunk hellhold israel.
See another of my recent entries, where I start quoting myself, “Jihadist Muslims in Europe are the invading Orcs. But the real enemy is Sauron (the subversive Jew).”
Chechar: You wrote “During that event I also attended a conference debunking the conspiracy theories about the John F. Kennedy assassination.” Please take a look at the following video which has recently emerged (here).
The two secret service agents running at the back of the presidential limousine are recalled. They are shocked by this break in protocol. The movie clearly shows that.
In believe that you are mistaken in your views about about 9/11 and the Kennedy assassination. I don’t expect to convince you, and I don’t really care. We’re all entitled to our opinions.
I am aware of the crazy conspiracy nuts. I’d like to see the Skeptical Inquirer and Architects and Engineers for 9/11 in an open debate. I am basing my views on my observations and reflections and, in the case of 9/11, my experience as a builder. Something stinks. The official explanations don’t add up.
“Of all the things I have said—and believe me: I have said a lot of things that you all know that could get my head on a block—the one that protested about here is the people who think that the World Trade Center was a controlled explosion.” —Bill Maher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3F5duZvjvg
I believe that my ‘intuitive Occamism’ , my own b.s. detector, tells me something is not right with the official explanation. I trust my gut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6GWIyMx_D4&feature=player_embedded
Just for the record, about the—:
1) Failure to intercept the hijacked planes…
Conspiracy theorists say: The US Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the military to stand down and not to intercept the planes.
2) Collapse of the Twin Towers
Conspiracy theorists say: The Twin Towers were destroyed by controlled demolitions.
Official reports say: The planes severed and damaged support columns and dislodged fire-proofing since about 10,000 gallons of jet fuel were spewed over many floors starting widespread fires.
3) Attack on the Pentagon & the fourth plane (United Airlines flight 93)
Conspiracy theorists say: A commercial Boeing 757 did not hit the building but instead a missile & United Airlines flight 93 was shot down by another missile.
Some conspiracy theorists make wild claims about there not being any real airplanes involved. That’s bunk when it comes to the Twin Towers. They were obviously hit by two planes. They were also engineered to withstand such an event.
Here’s what real pilots have to say:
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/core.html
But your mind is already made up.
Chechar are you also opposed to 9/11 skeptics?
I personally am not a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, but I am skeptical of the ‘official version’ and do think that it warrants further investigation.
Isn’t that a pretty reasonable stance?
I am not a believer of the “official version”. I am a skeptic of extreme claims that violate Occam’s Razor intuitively.
Why I cannot be blamed that I am a believer of the official version? Because exactly ten years ago I listened a radio program in Mexico City. A commentator explained with vivid detail (in Spanish of course) that he was sure that Osama bin Laden orchestrated the attacks.
Take note that the US government had not made any official pronouncement yet when I listened to the program. The Mexican commentator was so convincing that I’ve not changed my views since then. Which means that I didn’t get my POV from the US government, but from a known reporter outside the US with zero connections to the US establishment.
If you missed that radio program 🙂 I’d recommend a book in English, Debunking 9/11 Conspiracy Theories.
‘I am not a believer of the “official version”. I am a skeptic of extreme claims that violate Occam’s Razor intuitively.’
O.K. now I understand the perspective you are coming from!
Do you happen to have any posts on your blog out-lining what you yourself think happened on 9/11??
The 10th anniversary has gotten me a little bit interested in this stuff so it is something I would like to read!
This article reminds me of the sadistic side of Matt Parrott. It jumps crazily from one inane claim to another, comparing 9-11 to the nuts who believe we never landed on the moon. So ok you’ve had your fun.
I’ve just added a P.S. to this entry within the text.