Korrigendum Posting: How Should Reasonable Members of US Congress Treat their Fundamentalist Colleagues?

[Florian Galler]

Below you find a corrected version of my posting:

In the Journal of Psychohistory it is argued  that «Donald Trump maintains his presidency against the opposition of more than half of the country «… and that «fundamentalist immersion in a social trance is crucial to maintaining Trump’s political support… It is suggested that fundamentalism is engaged in a purity campaign to cleanse America of non-Christian elements…(Kenneth Alan Adams, «Traumatic Fundamentalist Childhood and Trump», The Journal of Psychohistory, Winter 2019 p. 158)  Cleansing away evil is the definition of fundamentalism’s purity crusade against unwanted sexual expression, unwanted races and unwanted strangers and against anything that obstructs Christian supremacy.» (Kenneth Alan Adams, «Traumatic Fundamentalist Childhood and Trump», The Journal of Psychohistory, Winter 2019 p. 161 f.)

Lloyd DeMause, founder of the «Psychogenic Theory of History» wrote the following on “Crusades”: “Given the central role of the removal of ‘sinful’ feelings in group-delusions, it is no coincidence that they are so often conducted as crusades, for the Crusades of the Middle Ages are a paradigm of violent group actions conducted for the stated purpose of cleansing the soul of all sin – since Crusaders joined the movement with the promise that this would wash their souls of all sinfulness. The group-psychological purpose of group-delusions is in fact identical to that of all scapegoating and sacrifice in primitive and ancient societies: the purging of pollution and impurities (which is to say sexual and hostile wishes) through redirection toward substitute victims, a purification undertaken in order to restore group stability. (Lloyd DeMause, «Foundations of Psychohistory», New York, 1992, p. 186)

After we saw that the motivations of fundamentalist crusaders might stem from an obvious unconscious social trance  within an obvious unconscious group delusion we can proceed to the question of how Republican politicians in the US Congress should be treated by their Democratic colleagues. To answer this we should consider that in the social trance and the group-delusion the personalities are dominated by their severe alter egos and that beside of their cruel alter ego there may exist a reasonable and humane personality.

Now I ask you: Would it be wise and ok to cooperate with the reasonable personality parts of fundamentalist Republican politicians and achieve a success together, as Democratic presidential candidate Biden proposes and is criticized for by his rivals, as we can see below?

Jun. 19, 20919
Biden under fire for talking of ‘civility’ with segregationist senators

The.Hill.com

The 2020 Democratic candidates for president are beginning the most important week of their campaigns with the front-runner looking more vulnerable than ever.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has seen his poll ratings dip amid controversies over hot-button issues such as race and abortion. His responses have left many Democrats dissatisfied, sparking fresh questions about his judgment — and about the durability of his support…