Monday, June 24, 2013

The Case of Eric Allen Bell

UPDATE - CUT IN BY PASTORIUS (WHO, AFTER ALL, IS STILL THE GUY WHO RUNS THIS BLOG) 

ERIK ALLEN BELL IS, IN MY OPINION, NOT TO BE TRUSTED.

I HAVE BELIEVED THAT, WITHOUT A SOLID REASON FOR QUITE AWHILE. I USED TO POST HIS STUFF HERE, BUT STOPPED QUITE AWHILE BACK, WHEN HE SEEMED TO GO OFF THE DEEP END.

OF LATE, HE HAS BEEN MAKING ANTI-SEMITIC COMMENTS ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE, SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING:
Will there ever be a day when hundreds of millions of women are not suffering under Islamic gender apartheid? Will there ever be a day when hundreds of millions of children are not brainwashed into believing superstitions, for fear of burning in hell when they die? Will there ever be a day when a small but elite group no longer takes from others, under the premise that they are "god's chosen"?
HE HAS ALSO ARGUED THAT JEWISH SUPREMACISTS
... control the IMF, the Federal Reserve, the US Treasury, the media and Goldman Sachs (which owns Obama). They seek to preserve and expand their influence, geographically, monetarily, culturally and every other way possible. To the Jewish Supremacist, "god" gave everything to the Jews and everyone else exists to serve this interest.
BY THE WAY, AN INTERESTING SIDE NOTE IS, THE PERSON ARGUING WITH HIM MOST CLEARLY IN THAT THREAD ("ERIC, THEY ARE GLOBALISTS, NOT ZIONISTS") IS NONE OTHER THAN SUSAN OLSON, OF TV'S THE BRADY BUNCH - YES, SHE'S PRETTY MUCH ON OUR SIDE IN THE ANTI-JIHAD.

EPASEZ: Olson has brains. We'll have to get her an honorary JEWFONE (she can listen in on our planning and then act to enrich herself, but she cannot contribute). I can get her a good price on a new dress.

NOW, GO AHEAD AND ENJOY THE LATEST ARTICLE BY CITIZEN WARRIOR.
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The following article was written by Greg Hamilton on his blog, The Malsi-Tung Social Virus. It articulates an insight we could use at least some of the time when we talk to people unacquainted with Islam.

At the beginning of 2012, Eric Allen Bell (EAB) was a staunch defender of Muslims and Islam in America. He was making a documentary about the resistance of people in Murfreesboro to a mosque with a capacity for 45,000 people being built in their town. EAB was firmly on the side of the Muslims for, as a man with strong liberal views, this was a clear case of reactionary prejudice against a minority culture. By the end of 2012 EAB had become an outspoken critic of Islam and firmly committed to opposing its growth and influence.

What had happened to change his mind? What processes had caused such a reversal of sentiment towards Muslims and Islam?

We can understand a significant amount about EAB by looking at the typical configuration of moral foundations for liberals. As I have shown in a previous article, the liberal character is strongly influenced by the Care foundation. This Care foundation is triggered by perceived threats to vulnerable groups such as minorities, immigrants, gays, etc. The liberal often stands in opposition to what he sees as the dominant culture that he belongs to and stands up for sub-cultures that do not sit easily within the dominant culture. The liberal is uncomfortable with dominance and seeks to compensate by helping and protecting the interests of supposedly weaker elements.

It was this Care foundation that was at work when EAB was supporting the Muslims of Murfreesboro to build their mosque. They were the weaker, non-dominant party in the conflict and a typical beneficiary of liberal goodwill and protectiveness based on the Care foundation.

It is almost impossible to change people’s attitudes when they are aligned with moral foundations in this way. The intuitive part of the mind is extremely quick and powerful and uses the ego to rationalize the emotionally moral position that is habitually adopted by someone. In his book, The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt calls this “the elephant,” the automatic and habitual aspect of the brain which “leans” one way or the other on controversial and emotive issues. We judge according to intuitions, then look for respectable reasons to justify how we feel.

Nonetheless, EAB did change his position, so what happened?

Well, it just so happened that EAB took a ride in a taxi driven by an Egyptian Coptic Christian. EAB asked him if he was excited about the removal of Hosni Mubarak, to which the taxi driver replied “no, I am very worried for my family and other Coptic Christians.” EAB inquired further and discovered a little bit more about the plight of non-Muslims in Muslim majority Egypt.

The plight of the Copts triggered Eric’s Care foundation since he is a person who is genuinely concerned about the treatment of vulnerable people. He was able to switch sides emotionally and see Muslims in the role of persecutors rather than the persecuted — which is how he had habitually seen them until then. It is this emotional shift that counterjihadists need to foster in those still blind to Islam’s depredations. Liberals are dominated by their Care foundations and you have to find ways to trigger this foundation to effect a change of perspective. You will get nowhere talking about threats to the dominant culture as liberals frequently see this as paranoia or scaremongering. The “elephant” will be extremely quick in finding ways to defend against a different way of looking at things. But once you have triggered the Care foundation on a different target, the mind becomes receptive to information which confirms the emotional position. Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second.

This is one of the lessons to be drawn from moral foundations as expressed in the liberal mind. Trigger the emotions of the Care foundation in relation to vulnerable groups suffering from Muslim persecution and the liberal mind will become far more receptive to information critical of Islam and Muslims. This is one of the reasons why Raymond Ibrahim's monthly report on Christian persecution and Political Islam's Bulletin of the Oppression of Women are so valuable.

Once this emotional shift has occurred, the way is open to a more honest look at the teachings of Islam and the character of Muhammad. EAB had both the integrity and the courage to do this — even as a high-profile figure with a great deal to lose by doing so.

Liberals have traditionally seen themselves as occupying the moral high ground and tend to treat people with different views in a condescending manner. They have often been the people drawing attention to the hypocrisy of others. But the tables have now turned and it is the counterjihad movement who should be calling liberals out on their hypocrisy: Why do they turn a blind eye to the persecution of minorities in Muslim countries; to the human rights abuses between Muslims; to the status of women in Islam? Why do they claim to be in favor of universal human rights yet give Muslims immunity from their critiques? Why do they lack the courage to ask themselves probing questions about the compatibility of Islam with universal human rights?

But still, until their Care foundation is redirected towards the victims of Islam they will always find ways to avoid dissonant information; to argue (however absurdly) that it's none of their business; to believe the fairy tale accounts of Muhammad's life and character (in books by authors like Karen Armstrong, for example) and the implausible accounts of Muslim multicultural tolerance in the Middle Ages.

Footnote: It is significant that the crucial exchange in the above account took place in the relative intimacy of a taxi and during a non-confrontational conversation. Such encounters open us up to new ways of looking at the world and allow us to experience different emotional reactions to our personal norms. Once we are engaged in a heated or tense debate our animal brains are locked in combat and we are unable to alter our perspective. This is a hopeless position from which to effect change in others. It is also noteworthy that the taxi driver expressed a poignant personal response to the Arab Spring which triggered the opening up to a different view of the situation to the one Bell had previously held. This echoes a quote from Goethe:

What's uttered from the heart alone will draw the hearts of others to your own. 

23 comments:

Always On Watch said...

Pasto,
Bell may well be anti-Semitic.

But it seems to me that he's more anti-religion and anti-religious supremacy than anything else. Or maybe he's a bigot in general.

See THIS about Bell at Loon Watch.

Pastorius said...

He is anti-religion. And that's ok. But his anti-Semitism is not anti-religion. It is just Jew-hatred.

Pastorius said...

Just like his anti-Islam fits in the panoply of his anti-religion attitudes.

I have to wonder if people who are anti-religious are actually just useless to the counter-Jihad.

Unknown said...

I too have found his anti semitism hard to take, being anti corporate or anti brand is one thing but taking it to the next level is not on....im out here.
Islam on the other hand is making a global push as Eric has noted, and Islam is making it in a violent way, and yet its running around with bloody hands saying it innocent.
I dont see jews doing that.....quite the opposite acctualy.

Anonymous said...

I would have to disagree with Muslims being the persecuted/persecutors. It purely depends on the situation.

Yes, in Egypt they are definitely persecuting Copt Christians. I went to a Coptic Orthodox church in America for a very long time and know all about the situation in Egypt.

At the same time, they are persecuted in America and Palestine.

Things are never as black and white as we'd like to make them.


On a side note, go live in Palestine or try to cross from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on a regular basis, and then reassess your views of the Jewish people. As a religious group, they are fine. As a political force, they are extremely oppressive.

Pastorius said...

Anonymous, those fences are border fences. Israel has a right to defend it's borders against possible suicide bombers.

Question to you: Do countries have a right to defend their borders, or not?

Anonymous said...

They sure do have the right to defend their borders. My issue is with how they defend their borders. Have you lived in Bethlehem? I can give you a great story of my experience crossing a "border" from Bethlehem to Jerusalem if you like. And as an Arab Christian, I'm hardly a suicide bomber threat.

Pastorius said...

How are they supposed to know you are who you say you are?

And what right do you have to be in their country, anyway?

It's like going into someone's house. If someone says, "Don't come in my house," you don't get angry at them for it, do you?

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the green Palestinian ID that I have to carry around all the time would clear that up.

My family has lived here for 250 years. I can go get my family tree and go all the way back, with no issue. It was only when the UN said so that it suddenly became "their country" and it was no longer "my country"

Do you know what a "dirty bag" is? It's one of the reasons I don't hold too much fondness for checkpoints anymore. It's hard to claim that they are for security when bored personnel decide to humiliate Palestinians because they can...

(apologies if this double posts, I don't know if my first one went through)

Anonymous said...

Ahh. Citizen of Israel. That's where we must be diverging here.

As someone who lives here, the checkpoints are doing very little for security. Some mornings, they check every car. Some mornings, they let everyone through from 7-8 during the work rush. If someone was planning on detonating a bomb in Jerusalem, they easily could have by now. It's a flip of a coin whether you will get stopped at the border or not.

Then again, some mornings they detaim Palestinians and rub feces in their face from a paper bag.

I've lived in Jerusalem my entire life. I have family in Bethlehem. I've been a "citizen" of Israel (and the land Israel is on) since before Israel started putting up walls and borders.

So because I am culturally and ethnically Palestinian, I should be able to be humiliated and not trusted?

Question to you: Do you really believe the checkpoints make things safer?

Pastorius said...

I don't live there, and I have never been there. However, from what I understand, during they Second Intifada (the one that featured such atrocities as the Sbarro's Pizza Place bombing) they built the wall and tightened up the checkpoints and there have been very very few suicide bombings since then.

Do you disagree with that?

Anonymous said...

I do disagree. Yassar Arafat died, and that took away a lot of the motivation and driving for the Intifada. Probably one of the only reasons it even lasted more than a year. The Muslim factions focused on power grabbing and fighting among themselves.

Also, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, which cut down a lot of the tension.

The tightening up the checkpoints has, and always will be a joke. It looks good on the outside, but it's all just for show. Two days ago I drove past a part of the wall where the barbed wire had been torn down and there were rugs and a rope ladder leading to the other side. Anyone could have crossed there at night with no checkpoint. And the checkpoints are so inconsistently enforced that there is no way they would be effective against an actual attack.

The Palestinians (even the majority of the Muslim ones) are finally figuring out that political posturing and strategic non-violence are more effective. It's how they recently got recognized in the United Nations.

All that being said, and I will finally be on topic which is the original post. That is definitely some anti-Semitism. And you know what that means coming from me. Like any group of people, there is a wide spectrum. I have met Orthodox Jews that were the most genuine and respectable "religious men" that you could imagine. And I've met Orthodox Jews that acted as though mere mortals were not fit to be in their presence.

And I can say the same for Christians.

And I can say the same for Muslims

Pastorius said...

Yep.

I agree.

Euro Dude said...

Eric Allen Bell has openly stated on his Facebook page that he will save the Counter Jihad movement by trashing and forcing Christians out of the movement. He justifies this by claiming that the media and academia will shun the movement as long as devout Christians are associated with it.

If Eric Allen Bell used reason and not his vile hatred against Christianity and Christians to reach his conclusion, he would have seen that in Europe with NO significant group of conservative Christians, the so-called anti-fascists, feminists, gays, liberal media and academia have NOT joined our efforts to stop the future Islamic take-over of Europe. On the contrary, they actively support the process and hunt down any opposition. Clearly Mr Bell's "analysis" is utterly delusional and solely based on his own hate-filled prejudice against anyone who is not a fanatic atheist or occultist like himself.

He started his campaign against Christians around December last year on his Facebook page, for everyone to see.

If you look at his youtube channel GlobalOneTV, you will see that he is manipulating his view count. First there is virtually no activity, then suddenly he gets around 300 000 views within a day or so, with more than 1 000 thumbs up and only a handful thumbs down and humans who actually comment on these videos.

Mr. Bell's paid data manipulation is discrediting the whole Counter Jihad movement. How long will it take before Pat Condell will be accused of not representing ordinary European citizens but is artificial inflated, with reference to the narcissistic practice of Mr. Bell. If that happens I wall blame not only Mr. Bell but also his supporters.

Eric Allen Bell is a sociopath and mystical hedonist. Do not trust him.

Pastorius said...

Well put.

I do not know about the data manipulation. I have no evidence of that. You watch it, so you feel you have evidence.

HIs secular Jihad against Christians is ridiculous, childish.

I don't know that he is a sociopath, but his obsessions seem monomaniacal. He reminds me of Captain Ahab.

Euro Dude said...

YouTube videos follow the statistical properties of organic growth. You don't find geometrical figures in nature.

If you look at the statistics to this video:

Eric Allen Bell - "#Islamophobia or Islamo-Reality?"

/watch?v=ZxBLJP0t03w

Nice 90 degrees angle. Combine that with no correlation to the comments and you have a sure manipulation with artificial data.

I don't care if Rihanna uses these kind of methods in her marketing mix, but for us under total scrutiny by the liberal media and academia, this is not good for our reputation. This could potentially harm Pat Condell, acts17apologetics et al.

All this time, money, energy and potential danger, just to artificially inflate the super-ego of the narcissist Eric Allen Bell. No wonder this hedonist hates God and Christianity. Shame on him and his selfishness.

Unknown said...

This is ridiculous. I stand with Israel. I disagree with Jewish THEOLOGY but more than half my friends and business associates are Jewish. This is simply an uninformed smear piece. You should take it down. Infighting within Counter Jihad is poison. Who cares if I believe in Jesus or not and how much longer will I be punished for not being a Christian?

Pastorius said...

I don't care if you are a Christian, Eric. but saying "Jewish Supremacists" control the IMF, Federal Reserve and the U.S Treasury is a Nazi Trope.

Are you aware of that?

Do you have evidence to provide on these Jews who, if you are to be believe, are essentially controlling everything in America?

midnight rider said...

How did he manage to stumble in here 2 years later?

The Last English Prince said...

Hey Eric,

If one piece knocks your chess piece off the board, so be it.

Just enjoy the freedom of expression. Unless of course, you do not believe in it.

Pastorius said...

Heh, MR, are you asking me to make sense of the guy who thinks "I have many Jews as friends" suffices to clear him of anti-Semitism when he claims Jews control all the major governmental financial institutions in the United States?

I really can't imagine what's going on in his mind.

I assume he is intelligent.

So something's wrong. I don't know what it is. But something is very wrong.

Pastorius said...

Hey, by the way, Eric Allen Bell, did you do, as "Euro Dude" says, and promise to force Christians out of the anti-Jihad movement?

Did you do that?

livingengine said...

Eric Allen Bell vs the Counter Jihad Movement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Jai6gr09g