I have to post this here. So I haven't seen him since like 2020 and even before that we saw each other last time in like 2014-2015 at most so we don't really see or talk that often. He was normal last time in 2020, but now he went nuts.
So let me explain, we saw each other just before a few days after he came here with his sister and gf, he was talking about how shitty the situation in Germany is and about shit in Ukraine, Germany being USA puppet and immense hate towards Russia/Belarus etc in Germany which gave me hope until the next minute which was the exact moment when I was 99% convinced that he's on drugs. He just started randomly rambling about ''''''LGBT propaganda'''''''' in Germany, that it's ''attacking mah family'', randomly talking most incoherent shit about religion and Christianity, I will try to make sense of it: he basically said that Protestant church is not the ''real'' Christian church and talked shit about his Russian friend just because he is Protestant, all of that because Protestant church promotes ''LGBT propaganda'' which is ''satanic'', that every single religion in this world is wrong and satanic and that only Orthodoxy is the ''real way of god'', basically 'everything I don't like is satanic'.
And then, fucking then, he started talking about totally legit stories of priests who saw talking goats and heard voices in mountains and talked with me about it with a dead serious face. And then he went and told me that people who drink, smoke or use drugs are being told to do so by satan and that atheists are doomed in life and you get the point...
I'm completely convinced that he's using drugs for which we don't even have a names for yet and that he reached the point of no return, his entire fucking peronallity is talking about god every other minute, Orthodox christianity,hating on LGBT and rambling about random shit. And that's all he has talked about for 2 straight hours after we didn't see each other for years, I couldn't bare to spend 1 single minute more with him and didn't even try anything because there is no point. After all of that I'm so happy that he lives in Germany his whole life and that we see each other one time in like half a decade...
Wtf did I just witness?
Here in the US, I've noticed the only people who don't support Ukraine and were allowed a platform to promote those views were ultraconservative Trump types. I have a suspicion that's by design, to help further discredit any counter-narrative.
And as others have said, the "alt-right pipeline".
I notice that as well, but the ones I come across seem to me more like classic conservatives (more isolationist and/or anti-atlanticist, strong military for defense but also our country should mind our own business, etc.) While we disagree on many core values, they seem reasonably rationale and factual, and have a solid grasp on international geopolitics. Versus the insane incoherence--well, more like "will say anything outrageous to satisfy a riled up base"--of rightwing populism.
I contribute that less to a deliberately created pipeline, though, than the natural result of the complete suppression of a genuine left in this country. With communism equated to Nazism since elementary school, most people will avoid lefty-sounding talking points and titles and then have only one direction to go when they look for alternatives to the mainstream narrative. And the YouTube algorithm picks that up in its big data.
That's a fair assessment, yeah. I don't think a pipeline needs to be deliberately created, though. I honestly think a lot of the propaganda in this country develops as a byproduct of other stuff, and anticommunists just try to nurture and reinforce it when it happens. Seems like the practical thing to do. Why waste time, money, and energy trying to create a propaganda apparatus from scratch when you can just use a fraction of the resources to give people who already believe the propaganda a platform? Over time it feeds itself.
It isn't drugs, it's the "alt-right pipeline"
essentially, people get drawn into more and more extreme mentalities over time, and becoming increasingly isolated. And as their views grow more intolerant, they can't connect with anyone who is disgusted by their views, so they go further and further towards fascism.
This playlist might be helpful in understanding this sort of thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xGawJIseNY&list=PLJA_jUddXvY7v0VkYRbANnTnzkA_HMFtQ
This so what happens when culturally the leftist solutions are rejected/destroyed by the state/etc. People know that something's wrong and the fascist/crypto fascist solutions end up being the easier outlet to find solutions. Nothing has solidified my beliefs more than understanding Marxist economics and understanding the material reasons for why leftist solutions make sense, and it's sad (but not a coincidence) that it's not explained to taught because it would dispell a lot of this "return to tradition" garbage
Adding to that: defending the Russian invasion can be turned into a criminal offence in Germany. The operation has been given the status as "war of aggression" by the German government and defending a war of aggression is punishable by imprisonment.
The most "extreme" position you can take is saying "Ukraine and Russia equally bad." But even that will brandmark you as some pro Russia lunatic in the eyes of most Germans.
Yet Germany and the EU are “bastions of free speech” even though they do this
Orthodox right wing guy is an archetype I've run into before. I don't know how they come to be but they're surprisingly common.
Its the evolution of the "Dues Vult" Christian.
They love the orthodox iconography, symbology, and surface level belief, but they know absolutely nothing about Orthodoxy.
So... Your cousin is a Nazi?
This isn't your typical alt-right garbage, this is advanced to the degree where it sounds like what he said could pass as the words of an SS officer.
It is also very sad to say, but even those who are brainwashed or are on drugs aren't usually this vitriolic, and there is a very strong likelihood that your cousin is very very mentally unwell and suffering with a mental illness.
So… Your cousin is a Nazi?
Pretty much, he has absolutely 0 control over his rambilng every single time he even hears about someone who is diferent sexual orientation or religion, and except the sane part about Ukraine and situation in Germany, he hasn't spend a single minute not talking about religion.
What is it with christians and hating other christians (no offense to any christians here)
"The first guy should have been the other guy!"
Starts 1,400 year long hatred that has claimed the lives of millions of Muslims
Honestly, it doesn't seem like its anymore more then other religions having similar internal feuds or hating other religions.
Plus you do have to account for it being the largest religion on the planet.
Well the early church schisms were killing eachother more than Rome did so it's nothing new. It's kind of a feature not a bug
claims that people who drink are being told to do so by the devil
orthodox christian
As an American it was a wild fuckin read. it was basically just "oh wow that's what we're doing now"
Is the adderall addiction in US universities a real thing? I've read about it but since i didn't study over there i don't know how close to reality it is. For example in Mexico i didn't have any contact with performance enhancement drugs for studying even on a private university.
drug use in general is rampant but yes come finals like almost a a fifth to a third of everyone is wired.
I'm completely convinced that he's using drugs for which we don't even have a names for yet
If you got into the kind of crowd that uses yet-to-be-named drugs you'd end up with some esoteric woo woo bullshit not like orthodox christian
I know someone through a friend (I don’t know them myself) that did a lot of meth and became a huge Christian all of a sudden, and they didn’t stop doing meth either so you never know, I would hope not but Christianity isn’t exclusively about sobriety for some people
I also do drugs, but I have an entirely different set of conspiracy theories about christian church (fwiw i was raised :catholic:)
My sister used weed and it doesn't have any bad side effects, this guy probably used some serious drugs.
Cannabis is not entirely innofensive, as it is known that its consumption increases the risk of developing schizophrenia. I am however very skeptical of the idea that what you describe is an effect of drugs, and as it has been commented elsewhere your cousin probably just fell down the esoteric fascism rabbit hole.
Sounds to me like your cousin got pilled by ultra-right conspiracy channels. Everything you wrote sounds like someone who might have found QAnon during lockdowns and then veered off into other social groups online when Q went bust.
it seems like he's doped in the "opium of the people", a very dangerous drug...
