Filmmaker spent months interviewing neo-Nazis and jihadists

Debra

Dagobah Resident
I found this article interesting and informative.
This has come up in different conversations, that I have had with family members and friends, and as the Darwinian Revolution spawned the "There is no God" and"You Only Live Once" stuff, it seems that having a foundational belief in SOMETHING has permeated the collective unconscious in the world with a weird kind of need to belong....

Here is a quote from the article:

Deeyah Khan-
Much of it doesn’t come from hate. It comes from a lot of other basic human needs that are not being met. To be sure, there are political and social and economic factors involved on both sides, but if you dig deep, you find that it’s about much more than that.

I tried to understand the core psychological draw of these movements. I found that a sense of belonging or purpose was a major factor. These people join these groups and suddenly they have a sense of meaning in life, a belief that they matter, that their voice matters. It’s as though they were once invisible and now they’re seen.

Most of these men get so much attention once they do something horrible, or once they say something horrible. Before that, they’re invisible. And I think there is something really powerful in that, and perhaps that says more about us as a society than it does about them. But it ought to give us pause when we shower extremist groups with constant media attention.

Deeyah Khan, a Muslim woman, met her enemies — and came away more hopeful than ever.

 
Brings to mind survival connection trauma as per Healing Developmental Trauma. It almost seems that core preverbal needs of deep connection and belonging are not being met. Add to that other sociocultural, political, and familial dysfunctionalities and you have people who are disenfranchised and vulnerable (to many things, especially ideology & group think).
 
I tried to understand the core psychological draw of these movements. I found that a sense of belonging or purpose was a major factor. These people join these groups and suddenly they have a sense of meaning in life, a belief that they matter, that their voice matters. It’s as though they were once invisible and now they’re seen.

Joker came to mind. He's talking with the social worker after turning his bullies into corpses and seeing it on the news:

J: But until a while ago it was like nobody ever saw me. Even I didn't know if I really existed.

SW: Arthur, I have some bad news for you.

J: You don't listen, do you? I don't think you ever really hear me. You just ask the same questions every week: "How was your job?" "Are you having any negative thoughts?" All I have are negative thoughts. But you don't listen. Anyway, I said, for my whole life I didn't know if I even really existed. But I do. And people are starting to notice.
 
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