[para transit fellow]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

What astounds me more than the amount of vitriol spewed from the mouth of Freddy Phelps is the way his followers can obsessively follow a man like that, free of questioning, free of their own perspective on what they're doing. They are basically empty vessels for Phelps to channel his message through. How can someone live like that, let alone thousands? It's the same question I had for the followers of Harold Camping and his whole doomsday predictions. He was wrong multiple times, but people still waited with baited breath on every word he spoke. One lunatic isn't all that strange. Thousands of people that buy into that lunatic's every word -- now that's something special.

I suggest you read " The Authoritarians"

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

"OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what’s happened to the American government lately. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government has made. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country. It’s about the United States standing at the crossroads as the next federal election approaches.

“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t believe any of this is true.” Or maybe, you’re thinking, “What else is new? I’ve believed this for years.” Why should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the “Whole Book” link on this page?

Because if you do, you’ll begin an easy-ride journey through some very relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look at the research."