Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to The only thing that keeps 'em alive is the folks who protest them.

Well....maybe.
Mary Anne — (archived)

Publicity certainly helps recruitment. National attention is as close to glamor as some of them will ever get.

Hatred is a pretty powerful emotion, though. It doesn't go away just because people ignore it. Remember that the Klan operated as a secret society for years. Its numbers tend to shrink when it's been not only vilified, but ridiculed in public.

The people who join these organizations tend to believe they deserve to be more powerful and respected than they are, and that their lowly status is the fault of some other group or groups. To portray them as powerful and dangerous enhances their self-image and draws other people with similar attitudes; to portray them as dangerous whackjobs and oppose them openly as such makes them considerably less attractive. But the biggest bite comes from organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center: portray them as dangerous whackjob criminal organizations and go after their assets in court. Publicity is an important part of this process.

Also, it has been said that all it takes for bad men to triumph is for good men to keep silent. Speaking up can take many forms. It's important to let those attacked by hate-filled individuals or groups be protected by their neighbors' support.

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