A Cult

I have no premeditated witticisms for this one. I'm too pissed-off for that, but I'll probably toss some stuff out on the fly just so I don't cry myself to sleep tonight. I can no longer sit idly by and pretend at some facsimile of political correctness or benefit of the doubt. That time has passed, and I must truly speak my mind. I make no apologies to anyone who is offended or thinks that I am too harsh.


The Republican Party is a cult, as sadistic as Charles Manson's family and as fiercely devoted as the residents of Jonestown. They deny science, dehumanize anyone who doesn't conform to their delusions, and call for the deaths of whomever they arbitrarily declare to be the enemy. As I write this all off-the-cuff, I realize that I must give this some structure or I may devolve into the same firebrand death-wishing as those I so despise, so let's do this.

Formation
First off, a cult does not need to be established around a religion; a dogma or philosophy works just as well, as Nazi Germany showed. The National Socialist party was most certainly a cult, and it rejected all religion.

The only true necessity for a cult to form is a dogma strong enough to gather like-minded followers and enough intelligence in the leader to realize that it needs to be kept silent. I cannot point to exactly when the Republican party became wholly infested by their cult, but I know that Conservative dehumanization, death-wishing and regressionist campaigning has existed ever since before the Civil War. My best guess for the firm entrenchment of this cult would be during the McCarthy era, wherein the madmen found that the public was willing to go along with the wildest accusations if driven by fear, and the Other was certainly enough to incite this fear.

The fall of the Soviet Union had to be a crushing blow to this cult, as suddenly there was no looming Other to terrify the proletariat. In the face of this, the cult dug deep and dipped into the collective fears that are nurtured by religious dogma and the willful ignorance that has always been a secondary goal of the Church since its rise to power at the fall of the Roman Empire. Lacking one major Other, they decided to instead sow the seeds of terror and division far and wide, striking at anything they could: homosexuality, women, other races, other religions, other demographics and educational levels; anything that could be painted as Different, Other, and Evil was done so. Fear is the single greatest motivator to make a person act against his or her own best interests.

Dogma
What makes one small group a religion and another group a cult? Well, there are all sorts of reasons, but the number-one thing that separates a religion from a cult is that religion is supposed to be a part of your life, while a cult is intended to BE your life. Nothing can supersede your loyalty to the cult, your subservience and dedication to your leaders. This certainly explains how so many competing Christian religions, who normally despise one another to the point of near-civil war, can work together in the Republican party while still making religion one of their primary stances. The reason, of course, is that their religion is their cult, not whatever denomination they claim. They ally with a church to gain the loyalty of the cattle, following basic talking points while keeping their true intent hidden.

This is another important point in defining a cult: they keep their behavior secret. They do not share their beliefs with others who have not yet been heavily indoctrinated, nor do they share anything about themselves, their lives, friends, activities, or anything else if they can avoid it. Todd Akin's recent verbal atrocity hints at this: we all know that the Republican base believes his words, that the vagina is some magic creature that can slay unwanted sperm, but I don't honestly believe that the cultists in power believe this. This is the dogma they spout to their constituents to get them to fall in lockstep; Akin made the mistake of sharing it with people who would protest, so the rest of the party immediately disavowed him.

In addition, cultists actively reject facts that do not gel with their fantasies. Whether these facts are that their leader is only human and not a god, or that economic deregulation has never worked in the history of modern America, they are ignored and violently shouted down. As with most cults that find their origins in heresy, Republican cultists have no problem with picking apart their holy book - the Bible - and rewriting sections to fit with their own interpretation of the world, to hold up homosexuality as a far greater sin than violating the Ten Commandments or the Two Commandments of Christ's covenant, and to somehow completely negate Jesus' lessons to support the poor and donate their wealth as the rich can never enter Heaven.

Something odd, though, is that most cults don't last very long because they have a single godly figurehead, and with that lost most can no longer cling to their madness, or at least cannot perpetuate it. In this case, scarily enough, I believe that their god-figure is the dollar. Every policy recently offered up that did not strip individuals of their rights was somehow designed to leave more Americans unemployed or stuff even more money in the pockets of the richest Republicans. In this case, the cult's leader will never die as the dollar cannot truly be killed. Instead, we are tasked with the nightmarish challenge of defeating the worshippers rather than executing their leader.

Principles
Cults always stand against human decency, acting in manners directly anathema to the survival of the species. In this case, we know the origin of their actions: fear of the Other keeps their followers quietly in check, following along in abject terror of some evil brown person leaping out to slay them, with the occasional carrot being dangled before them to make them move faster - usually something to do with religion or the stripping of human rights from women or minorities.

However, fear has been working less and less. Americans don't have as much to fear. Fewer and fewer people, though still more than is in any way acceptable, fear others for the color of their skin, their religion or orientation. So, faced with this glaring fact, the cult has changed to incite hatred.

This scares me more than ever, even more than when I first learned about Bush-era renditioning. Tea Party rallies cheer when someone dies from lack of medical care, they call for the deaths of their candidates' political rivals, and plot the demise of our President. All the while their cultist puppet-masters continue to drive them forward, stoking the flames of their rage.

Republicans have made more unfounded claims regarding fellow Americans than we have seen since the age of McCarthy, and now the motivation of these accusations are not fear but hate. We have seen a total of eight mass killings in one month, and the month isn't even over yet.

We need to declare this Republican cult to be the religious terrorists they are before they amass and strike against peaceful Americans. Human compassion from the Right is at an all-time law, and they believe murder to be justified in idealistic disagreements. I do not normally stand as an advocate of fear or direct negative action against fellow human beings, but I can no longer sit quietly and watch as the raving masses continue to build power and create a feedback loop of rage amongst themselves. This bubble of hatred is soon to burst, and I fear for all those who believe in self-determination and human moral responsibility. The most outspoken of them will likely be the first casualties.

Reviews: Darksiders II

Anyone who talks favorite video games with me knows that the first Darksiders ranks high up on the list. The storyline was engaging, the main character a delightfully honorable and diplomatic breakaway from similar games' emo pretty-boys or angry no-necked killing machines, and the gameplay the perfect combination of brutal bloodshed, fast-and-furious strategizing, and mind-bending puzzles.

The sequel does not disappoint.

The second game is not a sequel as much as a "simulquel," occurring during the same time period as the first game but following an entirely different storyline. On Earth, the noble War works to end the fighting, free the earth from demonic tyranny, and clear his name by exposing the originators of the apocalypse. In other dimensions, however, the more cunning and acid-tongued Death fights to restore humanity and end the threat of Corruption, a sort of spiritual virus loosed into the realms that has been infesting everything.

First off, the game looks excellent. The characters are wonderfully stylized by masterful artists and give the entire universe its own feel. The architecture is amazing, much of it looking as though it could be from snapshots of ancient ruins, and the environments feel rich and inviting. Much like in the previous Darksiders, there is more to see than to explore, but that's forgivable. In a dungeon-crawling action series like this, a bit of linearity is expected. However, the first two worlds are vast and offer many opportunities for exploration to discover their secrets.

Second, the sound is amazing. From sound effects such as metal on stone to the ultra-realistic sounds of Death's horse Despair galloping through forests, all are top-notch. The music ranges from "fuck yeah!" awesome to heartbreakingly beautiful. To stand above a waterfall and listen to the music intermingle with the rush of the water, or to crest a cliff and stare into the misty abyss with the haunting score in the background, is a breathtaking experience.

Third, the gameplay remains top-notch. When the first Darksiders came out, I happily proclaimed it to be better than the God of War series, and the sequel has maintained that lofty standard of a carnage-based series. One of the things that struck me as brilliant in the first game was the seamless merging of God of War's rampant slaughter with Devil May Cry's flow-based gameplay. War could move like water through legions of enemies, cutting them down with an ease that would make Kratos blush and a fury that would turn Dante green with envy.
Darksiders II has Death, faster than War but also weaker, who fights with more acrobatics. He doesn't have as much reach as his big brother, but he can close distance more easily. If War moved like water, then Death moves like a dancer.

The second game has adopted a more RPG-style bent than its predecessor, adding in item merchants, potions, equipment management, fast travel and a hub area. The shift was risky but pays off for the most part, though it does lead to a couple of downgrades.

First off, it makes the game more about item management than I believe it needed to be, particularly in regards to health potions. You can recover Wrath, the power for your special attacks, by utilizing your scythes instead of secondary weapons, but you either need special weapons to recover health bit by bit or you need to keep a full stock of health potions. It just feels a bit like a crutch added in to boss battles as well as a detriment to make fights with normal enemies a bit more threatening. Artificial difficulty adjustment, is what I'm getting at.

Second, making the game more RPG-based seems to have sacrificed some of the amazingly creative set ideas that the developers implemented in the first game. One could argue that it's simply because the special abilities aren't as blatantly exploited as in the first game, but that exploitation was still fun. I miss the spider queen's boxlike chambers where you could see through the floors and ceilings to peep at other nasty critters you'd eventually have to fight. The portal puzzles in the Destroyer's massive spire are some of my favorite memories, even though they could be hair-pullingly frustrating.

That's the final downgrade: the puzzles aren't as difficult as they were in the first game. Now, I understand the reason for toning down the insanity. Puzzles of the caliber of Portal, especially in an action game, can lead to a full-stop in the gameplay and that's bad. I experienced that myself in the first Darksiders with many of the portal puzzles.

Despite its deviating from the original game and taking many risks, a few of which failed in my opinion, I would never call Darksiders II a disappointment. It held me engaged every step of the way and, as a continuity nut, I was on the edge of my seat to see how the vast conspiracy would further unfold. I was not disappointed. Darksiders fans, don't skip the credit roll at the end of the game. It includes a stinger that furthers the plot and confirms my suspicions from the end of the first installment.

So, with plenty that's good and nothing that's truly bad, Darksiders II comes with my seal of approval!