LogFAQs > #967227726

Kenri posted...

OK sure, but why do things like "Christian family values" and "fear of others" have any appeal to them or power over them to begin with? I guess the idea here they were already conned earlier so now they're easier marks for the second, later con?

People who feel disadvantaged in life want ideas they can cling to to show they are at least equal to others they fear are better off. One of the strategies for this is to decide on a set of morals, or fundamentals, which they are able to hold to, but which others do not. Then they can see themselves as superior to those people who fail to uphold their chosen morals/fundamentals.

Like, suppose someone is jealous of Bill Clinton. They're from a similar background but they didn't go to Oxford. They didn't become attorney general, governor, or president. They didn't come up with observations like "Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line" and didn't preside over excellent economic times.

So, to avoid feeling inferior, they need something they are better than Bill Clinton at. And that thing can be family values. It's really easy to beat him at that. And to convince yourself that you are better than him, you decide that family values are vastly more important than intelligence, success, helping poor people, etc.