[WARNING] Political rant!

[sparkfrost]

I was going to make an angry post about therightfangirl and how they come off as a bunch of deluded, whiny, privileged brats, but I decided that I just don't care enough.

Actually, that's a lie. I do care enough, and here is why: the members of that community give conservatives a bad name. Comparing Michelle Obama to Sasquatch is not clever. Blaming anyone but Palin on her decision to quit is not "defending your icon" it is disenfranchising a woman who made a (arguably poor and ill-advised) choice to step down from her political position. Insulting Obama's children and then turning around and bashing "the liberal media" for attacking Palin's family is hypocritical. Also showing a double-standard is attacking someone who reasonably and thoughtfully points out different interpretations of Bible-verses based on different translations of Aramaic and Hebrew, but insisting that Umbridge in Harry Potter is a liberal and anyone who disagrees with you is a fucking moron or a stupid liberal idiot. I can and will go on about their despicable behavior:

-Calling yourself a Christian but rejoicing that Dr. Tiller will "rot in hell"
-Being pissy that his murderer was called a religious zealot, then turning around and condemning the entirety of the Islamic religion and culture as murderous, Western-hating infidels
-Rejoicing that Proposition 8 passed and getting pissed off when people call you a bigot
-Saying that your religion trumps people's rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"
-Defending Sanford and saying that his infidelity should have remained a personal matter while insisting that Clinton should have been thrown out of office
-Blaming the "liberal media" for harping on Adam Lambert's sexuality when Bill O'Rielly was the first to bring it up

I could go on, but since those bullet points are just from posts through the end of May, the entire list would take up too many journal entries.

I went to check out that community yesterday because of a secret on fandomsecrets that mentioned it. I was curious, I wanted to see what a "fan community for conservative fangirls" was like. I personally want my fandom space to be friendly, but also full of discussion and hopefully thought provoking as well. That is why I checked out the comm in the first place, I wanted to see how conservative fangirls acted in their own safe space. What I found was a cesspool of hate and misinformation* with one in every 40 entries being remotely fandom-related. Anyone who spoke from a fiscally (not socially) conservative perspective or even someone willing to listen to the other side was either immediately shot down or accused of being a troll. It was bullshit. I wish I had never clicked on the link. It is an angry community full of hatred, bigotry and bile.

I almost didn't write this post because I was worried about the reactions from conservatives on my friends list. The several that I know are conservative are reasonable, well-spoken, and intelligent people, and I respect their opinions while disagreeing with them. I think that is what made me so angry about that community- I'm used to civil discourse with people that hold different opinions from me, and I'm also used to seeing them write about their opinions in well-researched posts. There was none of that reason in the community, and it scares and angers me that people can be so convinced that they are right without putting any effort into researching what they believe in.

I am well aware that some of you may choose to de-friend me over this post. I'd rather you talked to me in the comments or by PM, but I won't be angry if you choose not to.


*One post accused liberals of "ratting out" Sanford, blamed everyone from the liberal media to the South Carolina Democrats, and had about 30 comments agreeing with everything in the post. When one commenter pointed out that the people who had brought Sanford's affair to light were the Republican Lt. Governor and the Republican State's Attorney General, both political rivals, and gave a brief history of Sanford's battle with his own party the OP responded with "Oh, wow, this would have been good to know before I posted, LOL!". It is called research, you ignorant bitch, try it out sometime!

Comments

[mwestbelle.livejournal.com]

It sometimes feels like internet!conservatives are honestly trying to sound as crazy as possible :( Bleh. I don't talk about politics online because I know that 95% of my flist doesn't agree with me, and I honestly don't understand the point of a "conservative" fangirl community. I don't think my politics has a hell of a lot to do with my fandom, and. Idk, it would be nice to have a little more balance (more people being less crazy, preferably), but now that it's not a major political season, it's kind of a nonissue. I disagree with most of my RL friends politically, and that's never been an issue.

...this is long!

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

I just think it sucks that radical "conservatives" ruin the label for rational people.

I can see politics have some impact on fandom, but I don't think it should have a large place in it. Which is what made me so curious about the comm in the first place- what would a fandom community with political influences look like? Apparently "batshit crazy" is the answer.

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

I would have been curious, too. Thank you for doing the research for us! I will stay clear of that community.

[sparkfrost.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome! My boyfriend thinks I'm crazy for reading that comm, considering that it resulted in many hours of rage, but I have to be well-versed in the idiocy before I can rant about it.

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

It's important to rant once in a while and to know what is out there. "Know Thy Enemy" or know the internet's stupidity, and all that. It makes you a more well-informed person. And now we all know what self-described conservative fangirls get up to on the internet!