Witch hunts are back in vogue with Kansas Republicans—literally.
Ty Masterson, the Republican candidate in the Kansas gubernatorial race, accused his Democratic opponent, Cindy Holscher, of being an actual witch capable of “demonic” magic, while speaking at the Praise Chapel in Wichita on Sunday.
Masterson introduced the dubious portion of his pseudo-sermon by suggesting that God wanted him to run for Kansas’s top political office.
“God’s armies are out there in this,” Masterson said. “What we’re fighting right now is a spiritual battle that I’ve never seen before, in [this] state, in this politics.
“Evil is maturing with the brotherhood, and it is rising to a level that is just in your face,” Masterson continued as a pianist played a contemplative melody beside him. “Really, my race and the U.S. Senate race with Roger Marshall versus [Adam] Hamilton. Those are spiritual battles.
“Like I said, my opponent, she didn’t even hide it,” Masterson added. “She talked—they had witch—I mean, they’re doing like witchcraft spells on TikTok so she can win the governorship. I mean, they’re like … it’s like demonic stuff that they’re doing, right? Just in your face that way.”
He’s the one casting Stupefy.
What is Wrong with Kansas?
How much time do you have?
Imagine being a grown-ass man and thinking magic spells work through Tik Tok.
Everyone knows they only work on Instagram Reels.
They only work on Etsy. That’s why they banned witches from selling their services there.
They don’t actually believe most of this stuff though, they are playing the sheep.
Covid did make me realize a lot more of them believe it more than I thought though.
But does she weigh the same as a duck?
Who are thee who is so wise in the ways of science?
Witches are preferable compared to a bunch of Trump supporters.
Masterson added “Then she turned me into a newt! But I got better…”
Why not.
They beleive in a sky fairy that grants wishes.
A demon that they can shift blame to for all their misdeeds.
A magical land they get to go to after being pieces of shit so long as they repent, no matter the damage to people that the victims have to live with long after the PoS dies.
So witchcraft is right up their alley.
Or maybe they don’t actually beleive any of that and they’re just horrible humans that selfishly push their way through life while using fake religion as a shield. No difference, really.
In my experience it’s usually the ones who invoke the name of God at every corner who aren’t to be trusted.
I mean, it’s just other magic.
Amen brotha!
does she float?
What also floats in water?
tiny pebbles
Churches! Churches!
Very small rocks
poopoo
The satanic panic losers always strike me as insincere and performative, but they’ll use it to slander, abuse, and dehumanize.
They made me WANT to listen to “devil music” in the 80s.
That was also probably the goal. By talking about it constantly and making it sound more intense and interesting to everyone, it both scares their people more and intrigues other people. They bring the obedient and impressionable in and compel them to not partake, and they push the rebellious and skeptical into doing the thing they are already demonizing. You freely enjoyed a form of media because they demonized it and thus the hordes of heathens grew, strengthening their influence and control over the in-group.
They be eatin moldy grains.
I know the reference but just fyi, this was not nearly as common as claimed and not responsible for a lot of witch trial stuff. It was more like cops interrogating people until they freak out, then claim “fine I wrote my name in the devil’s book, but Becky did too!!” And then it ended up some prosecutorial bullshit with them wanting a confession out of everyone.
The “funny” thing is, those that confessed and repented often survived and lived normal lives. It’s more people that denied it and had others claim they were witches were executed.
And there are weird instances like a guy who confessed but was still executed… But he legitimately was giving divinations, and telling people how many children they would have. Like a back in the day psychic. The witch trial stuff really, really didn’t like divination. Herbs and midwifery stuff was way less of a big deal, and an honored profession being a “physic”. It was not considered witchcraft to use herbs to heal people unless you did weird rituals.
For grain to give you hallucinations, it has to be rye grain and in a cold and wet climate, which ergot specifically would grow in. Then the rye grain itself would grow big black visible horns, and they would still need to not discard that obvious contaminated grain and grind it into flour. Then that flour was eaten, and they hallucinated. And it fucked up your veins and gave you black limbs often too.
There’s often not great evidence for this phenomenon unless they are in a cold and damp area growing rye, and report the medical issues on top, black limbs.
People act like if you let bread mold it’ll grow it, but that’s not the case. It’s much more rare of a phenomenon, a fungus that attacks rye itself.
And then there’s Agrippa, the chad who successfully defended someone accused of sorcery against the Inquisition. Still had to leave town afterwards.
(Psst. It’ll grow on wheat, barley and oats, too.)
Why do the evil people always point at someone else and say the evil is over there? Actually that’s not my question, my question is why do people fall for it when they do this?
Lack of education, mostly
The professional class is given to believing bullshit too, and they’ve all been educated by societies’ standards.
Even in grade through high school, critical thinking and evaluating sources was drilled into us.
I think the failure is the anti intellectual bent in this country, which I believe was fostered by the rich in the business roundtable of 1971 that made a long game to overthrow liberal democracy.
Not being critical is hardly the only thing to mention, the nihilistic worldview where nothing matters other than money for oneself, that it’s not dishonorable to make obscene profits parasitically feeding on productive companies, killing of History class in any real way and corrupting what is left, and so forth.
Why do the evil people always point at someone else and say the evil is over there?
psychological projection and/or political expediency
Actually that’s not my question, my question is why do people fall for it when they do this?
A subset of the population wants to fall for it. There was a recent essay (can’t find it now) that described public repetition of the dear leader’s bullshit as a way to demonstrate membership in the tribe. A political altar call, if you will. In this scenario the more outrageous the statement the better it functions to show group loyalty. “I am willing to say this galactically stupid and trivially disprovable stuff in public so I must be a true believer, right? Right?”
Brainwashed/indoctrination since childhood.
why do people fall for it when they do this?
stupidity.
I didn’t have the possibility of resurrecting the witch trials on my apocalypse bing-card.
Really? These walnuts are all over the country. And the satanic scare wasn’t exactly centuries ago.
Pink triangles/genocide? Yes.
Them undertaking the effort to host a witch trial first? No. Simply, genocide w/o due process is cheaper and easier.
In a postindustrial society, in the third decade of the 21st century of the common era. A member of the legislative branch believes in witches.
Jesus masturbating on a skateboard, I hate this timeline.
Wow, so do they like travel by carriage and stuff in Kansas or something? Do they even know when century we’re in? 'Cause that’s like the oldest slur that predates calling everyone a communist. FFS
