It’s also worth noting that at the time, Samaritans were seen as an enemy. “To the Jews, a Samaritan was more revolting than a Gentile (pagan); Samaritans were half-breeds who defiled the true religion.”

So when it was written that a good Samaritan was an example of a neighbor, it was more impactful than the phrase implies today. Part of the point was to say that even those perceived as “enemies” are ordinary people that should be treated with the same dignity and care given to one’s own tribe.

My friends and I are (almost) all like this. Sometimes we “pin” ideas based on the key words that triggered them. That is, one of us will go, “Oh! You mentioned dogs. I need to put a pin in that idea, because I have a story about dogs when you’re done.” Then we go back to the main story. When it’s over, now (at least) two people knew that there was a “pin” about “dogs.” One of us might forget, both of us might forget, but we’ve found that by mentioning the key word, it’s usually easier for us to find the “lost” thought again.

Your mileage may vary. Some people might prefer to make a note or some other tangible reminder. This is just what works for us, but maybe it can help others too.

At first I lurked on my boyfriend’s account. We had both left Reddit during the API debacle, but I wasn’t ready to rejoin social media yet, so he hopped on Lemmy first.

But as he shared links and news and memes with me, and I scrolled the comments, I started wanting to participate. The first few times I felt drawn to comment (but didn’t yet), I wanted to ask people what the reasoning was behind their thoughts. That stuff is interesting to me.

So when I finally sat down and made an account for myself, it was the first thought in my head. I haven’t found myself asking anybody about their reasoning since then, but I still like the name.

People do wake up from cults. It takes a lot of work on themselves to reach that point, however, and the most transformative moments (i.e. any epiphanies about their behavior or beliefs) will likely happen when they’re alone, outside of the public sphere.

That is to say, you’re unlikely to personally witness somebody break out of a cult. Yet, it still happens.

Does that make it worth helping them “see the light”? I can’t say. What I can say is that there are people who’ve been there, and there are resources available to help those in cult recovery. (Make no mistake, this is absolutely a cult.)

The best hope we’ve got right now is that as more things turn to shit, more people will begin to question things. Instead of reflexively downvoting or attacking someone who admits to having once voted for Trump, we’ve got to listen to what they say happened afterward. I want to hear people share their stories of disenchantment. I want those stories to be spread far and wide, to people who might be questioning Trumpism but who’re surrounded by his supporters and scared to make a move. They’re the people who need to know that it’s okay to change their minds. They’re going to need to know that they’ll be accepted by someone if they “deflect,” and we need to be prepared to welcome them to sanity.

We shouldn’t respond with comments like, “iT’s aBouT tiMe” or “Where have you BEEN the last 8 years?” (Both are paraphrased from comments I read elsewhere on here this morning.) I know it’s tempting to give out some sort of I told you so, but it’s not constructive and can push an ex-cult member away. We want people to turn a new leaf, and that means supporting those who admit to having been wrong.

(I know this took a turn from the original comment. I don’t intend this personally for you, OP. But after seeing how people react so aggressively to everything lately, I felt something like this needed to be said to Lemmy.)