Thread by @TheBrometheus

If your approach relies on insulting anyone who doesn’t follow your approach

(“If you don’t agree with me you’re X, Y, and Z”)

you’re using manipulation instead of persuasion. That tells me you’re hunting for short-term gains at the expense of my long-term best interests.

It’s usually couched as moralizing: “If you don’t agree with us you’re evil and you enjoy harming people.”

This sets up the speaker as a super special moral authority. The 3 groups I see use this tactic most are social justice groups, vegan groups, and no-spank parenting groups.

Note that this is MOSTLY a feature of groups. Individual vegans who decide on their own don’t typically treat people this way. But vegan gurus with followings (thus forming a group) who need to build a paying fanbase do. It polarizes their audience and makes them seem important.

This is also a feature of insecure people who make their choice not based on sound reasoning like multiple scientific studies but instead act to make themselves feel like a good person.

If you challenging their view makes you a bad person, that’s a cult of belief. Not science.

So the next time you see someone say “If you don’t act exactly like I do you’re a bad person,” ask yourself:

-How does this belief make the speaker feel good about themselves?
-Where’s the insecurity?
-Where’s the money connection?
-How else do they benefit if I agree?