South Park, WSJ, and Stephen Colbert are Breaking the Cult Spell. Why Couldn't the Women?
The stories matter. They just aren't what breaks cult spells
I think those saying “we know who’s on the list because we know the women, and that should be enough” may not realize how normalized SA is in the MAGA evangelical patriarchy.
Trump supporters, especially those from evangelical backgrounds, are jaded by how common rape and pedophilia are in their segment of society. It’s so common and normal that they don’t report it, don’t counsel it, and are used to pretending it doesn’t exist.
They like to warn and fearmonger about SA by “outsiders”—drag queens, trans athletes, teachers, doctors, etc—but statistics show that 90% of abuse comes from a family member or someone the child knows and trusts. For a kid who spends the majority of time at church, in families and congregations that don’t hold abusers accountable, that means churches aren’t safe for children.
It’s not that Christian MAGA doesn’t care about SA victims. It’s that they assume everyone is one, and that abusers are never held accountable. Expecting a higher standard is pointless for them, and they likely gave up on that hope years ago, maybe even as children.
Can you imagine what it feels like to be an Epstein victim seeing MAGA choose Trump? Any rape or SA victim who has fought for accountability and recovery can. It feels shitty. It feels like a deep betrayal by those who promise purity and protection, because it is.
For those SA victims who gave up on accountability and recovery, they lean into dissociation. Or did, until Trump came and promised transparency. I think MAGA abuse survivors thought he was going to finally vindicate them and their pain.
Evangelical MAGA is deeply accustomed to
Forgiving a man who says he’s sorry
Forgiving a man who diminishes his behavior
Believing a male authority who instructs them to trust him
To Christian MAGA, more important than abuse that they can’t change is believing Daddy/Father/God when he promises them action.
This promise to act is different than an average Trump lie or exaggerated brag.
Action that would expose abusers was mission-critical for MAGA. They want transparency, and perhaps, psychologically, they need it to vindicate their own wounds. Trump offered redemption and revenge. They trusted him.
So, as much as the rest of us would like the women’s testimony or his prior convictions to be enough, they’re not. Transparency was the promise they were willing to compromise for, and his defrauding that promise is what makes him “just like veryone else.”
Without releasing the files, he’s like any other politician (or pastor/leader/father) to them: an abuser, and this is a shock to their system.
There’s an aftermath to shock; a season of processing and unraveling, and the duration is longer than anyone suspects. As much as our culture would like cult and abuse survivors to hop right into recovery and rebuilding after shocking revelations and escape, in reality, it doesn’t work that way. Shock victims are experiencing physical symptoms, trauma responses, waves of horror, and fear of what’s next, who is safe to talk to, and what this means for their lives. There are ripples of shame, and in this case, a trail of receipts on their own Facebook walls and families to contend with. The aftermath of shock is daunting.
The next connection is realizing that his abuse has victims, who they should believe over what he told them. That’s when the stories will matter to them.
That’s when we show them there’s true vindication, freedom, and healing from SA out here.
It may feel obvious to the rest of us, but that’s because we live outside, where women are believed, actions should have consequences, and pedos go to jail.
The more he doubles down, deflects and distracts, the more he reveals about himself to them, defrauding their trusted mission, and that crack is more powerful than anything anyone outside of MAGA could say to them.
The takedown must come from him letting them down, not outside accusations. They need to feel disappointed directly by him. They need to feel he’s let them down. And, he demonstrates that quite well right now. He’s off his chain.
How?
Well, Stephen Colbert, the Wall Street Journal, and South Park are great examples of pushback that makes Trump panic. The more he panics, the more he throws at the wall, desperate to deny to the death that he had any involvement in Epstein. Our focus and our laughter are intolerable to him, and round and round it goes.
It’s hard to wait for cult spells to break, but we’re on the right path.
Unsustainable situations don’t sustain.
“Breaking news” isn’t breaking us anymore.
We’re not surprised or distracted.
Our focus is driving him nuts, releasing his telling reactions. The more he behaves this way, the more his former followers see him for who he truly is. He’s exposing abusers after all. It just turns out to be him.
Shiny Happy People season 2 released this week. Here’s what I wrote about griefwork after appearing on season 1.
Read more of my personal experiences as a trad wife here.
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