For those who are still unable to see it is literal insanity, at this point.
Show an awake person an apple and they see an apple.
Show a zombie an apple and they will see anything except an apple.
This is insanity; the inability to recognize reality.
The answer, sadly, is something like conversational shock treatment. Make them taste, smell and feel the apple. Let them hear the familiar crunch when they take a bite.
Child trafficking and sexual exploitation is shock treatment. It is reality so impactful that only those who condone it, or those too feeble of mind to process it, can look away. It is a visceral subject, shocking broca, allowing it to pass fully into the mind.
If you want to finally wake the zombies in your life, try discussing Sound of Freedom in a non-threatening way.
My way might be something like this: “The top movie in theaters is a true story about children being kidnapped and sold into slavery and viscously raped and tortured daily. Everyone with a soul, left, right and center, is seeing it. I’m concerned that our government is involved in making these innocent children suffer. It is a problem we can all agree needs to be addressed. Let’s go see what it is all about together.”
Buy them a ticket.
There is no need to attack. Be soft. You are looking for their acceptance of an invite to a film. The film will do the heavy lifting. The film will show them the apple for what it is.
My feeling is that SoF was held back from being released for all these years because it was not time yet for its wide acceptance. Five years ago it probably would have come and gone with a whisper.
It is a powerful tool to help break through the fog. It is the shock treatment we have been waiting for.
(Professor Patriot)
While it might work for some of them, most of them have long ago willingly given up their desire to think for themselves. If FNM tells them the movie is bad, that's what they "think", what they "believe".
I recently met a couple, one of whom was a retired teacher, complaining about Ron DeSantis and the Florida ban of certain books that had been inserted into grade school. I asked if they'd seen the books that were banned (they had not), if they wanted me to send them information on that (emphatic nope), explained that they were outright pornography, that parents were going to school meetings and excoriating the pedophile perpetrators in the education ranks. Immediate ostrich response - didn't want to know anything about the books, but held firm to the belief that banning them was a horrible thing to do and that Florida and RD were horrible for doing so.
They do not care what the truth is, do not want to think for themselves and simply want to be told, repeatedly, by FNM that they're good people, better than patriots, more caring, better informed, etc.
They are good people; that's why it's so easy to brainwash them.
They lack the skepticism that realists have.
They can't believe their leaders would lie to them.
I, on the other hand, don't like people acting like they're my leaders when they're supposed to be my employees.
But I guess I'm just a misanthrope.
But I would take a sterner look and see that they are NOT good people. They are dishonest cowards who are afraid to disown perversion. What does "good" mean? That they like butterflies and pastel colors? No, it means that they are committed to truth and human (i.e., non-predatory) behavior. They cannot avert their eyes and be committed to truth. They cannot be indifferent to child exploitation and be committed to non-predatory behavior. They would be morally grey at best, and pathetic at least.
They may be worth some sharp words. The time has come to decide for or against the truth, and against evil the truth wounds. Will we shrink from speaking the truth? Only we can decide.
I was writing my reply at the same time as you. Amen.
Reminds me of a saying: Nice people tell you what you want to hear. Good people tell you what you need to hear.
They may be good people, but I don't believe for a minute that's why they're so easily manipulated. And I hope you're not implying that realists aren't good people... "Goodness" is not why they're easy to manipulate. Fearfulness, ego, insecurity are all high on my list of suspected culprits here (at least with respect to the jabs, for example). Yes, they obviously have lack of skepticism as well. Maybe they're not even fearful, but are good people who are too trusting. They have not only a lack of discernment, but an unwillingness to seek the truth.
Take an example of a charity, call it X. You discover that X is engaged in shady dealings and has little or nothing to do with the charitable cause they're espousing. You know your friend Joe gives to X so you try to tell Joe what you've discovered. Joe likes the nice ads X runs and can't believe they're not what they claim to be. Joe continues to donate to X. You can call it what you like, but I'm not calling that "good". Joe is now supporting bad people because he's willfully ignorant. He wants to feel good about being generous for a good cause even if he's doing nothing of the sort. He is self-deluding. It's more important for Joe to feel good about himself being generous to people in need than to face the reality he's doing nothing to help needy people and is only enriching deceitful individuals. That is not "good". IMHO.
I'm not at all a misanthrope, just bone tired at seeing what always giving people a pass for bad behavior has gotten the state of the world into. When people refuse to look at the truth, refuse to truly and honestly consider all sides of an argument, refuse to admit that there's a problem and doggedly stick to their false beliefs despite all the evidence available to the contrary, we end up with chaos and worse. Like we're currently experiencing. (Rant over).