New Conservatives Making Same Pop-Culture Mistakes as their Parents

I’ve learned that consistent trait about political “conservatives” is that they never learn how to win.

A tenuous coalition of Conservatives, disaffected-liberals, Libertarians, Independents, gamers, comic book readers, nerds and geeks have spent the greater part of a decade pushing back against this insane cult that has ruined pop-culture with identity politics and out-right perversion. As the culture war churns on, there are signs that the tide against the progressives has finally begun to turn.

And before any victory has even been won, bougie-con talking heads are trying to sabotage those gains.

Satanic Panic  

For those old enough to remember the Satanic Panic in the 80s and 90s, we can already see the warning signs. For those born later, the panic basically saw Satan’s influence on nearly everything concerning pop culture.

Rock and Roll was, of course, evil and in the ’80s, the fear was ramped up by the Backmasking controversy. Backmasking was the theory that satanic bands were putting messages in their records that you could hear playing backwards. Some bands actually did backmasking to antagonize parents and religious groups, which only fed the panic.

There were other worries, such as the Thundercats being based off heathen gods, E.T. coming back to life being a mockery of the Resurrection, Pokémon was all about demon collecting, videogames rotting your brain, and even Rainbow Brite having a hidden message behind the “pentagram” on her cheek.

Of course, there was the Dungeons and Dragons controversy. Parents were up in arms when a mother blamed her son’s suicide on his obsessions with D&D. In came the group she created called BADD (Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons) to push the panic. Even with that slick name, religious groups still said D&D stood for Devils & Demons and fell for the rhetoric. It got so bad that D&D creator Gary Gygax, a conservative Christian, had to hire extra security because of the death threats. You tell me which movement has diminished more since then, Christianity or Dungeons and Dragons? 

The examples of the panic go on and on, and there are endless videos detailing how insane it became.

None of this is to curtail the fact that evil is real. The enemy will absolutely use nerd and popular culture to influence young minds. Just look at what he’s doing to modern comics and games. Christians and Conservatives should be on guard for this influence and call it out – when it’s real. 

You may be wondering what this has to do with the current culture war. Take it from someone whose church warned him that the early PC virus on Pokémon geocities sites that kept you from leaving was the devil attempting to brainwash me – this sort of social panic does nothing but create the cult we see today.

They’re Doing It Again

Conservatives always like to quote the Breitbart Doctrine that states “politics is downstream from culture”, but many of the talking heads don’t seem to know what that means. As I told my parents as a teenager, the more they push the Satanic Panic, the more rebuttal they will get from kids.

I truly believe the current progressive cult is a reprisal against the panic and people banding together against it. This is why so many counter-culture people from that timeframe are raging for the machine today. They weren’t truly counter-culture but counter-Christian. With Christianity and Conservatism inextricably linked, they unintentionally pushed kids into the arms of the enemy who welcomed them with open arms and poisoned their minds with Marxism. And they’ve passed that contagion to the mentally ill we see screeching in the streets today.

This brings me to a recent Niche Gamer article about Glenn Beck of Blaze Media. Glenn told Liz Wheeler, formerly of the conservative news network OANN, in an interview that he forbids his daughters from dating gamers.

He went even further, as quoted in the Niche Gamer article:

“I wouldn’t allow my daughter to date a man who collects figurines either”

Of course, this post on X was ratio’d. There were plenty of gamers who had joined in on the culture war that vowed to stop watching Glenn Beck content in the replies. These were new people open to the Conservative message but have thrown their hands up in frustration by being betrayed again.

See the pattern?

And this is ironic coming from Glenn Beck who often works with Eric July. Eric has one of the most successful independent comic book companies in the U.S. Yet, he would not be ‘man enough’ to date one of Glenn’s daughters because of his picture books and figurines.

Eric has warned that this bougie attitude is why the Conservatives always lose, but they refuse to listen.

Liz Wheeler is no stranger to this type of rhetoric either, as she said this back in August while commenting on a fake article that said 90% of women are not attracted to gamers:

“This is 100% true. Men Playing video games is peak unattractive. Beyond red flag. Like dealbreaker zone. It’s weird that so many dudes don’t get this.”

Let’s not forget when then House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy blamed violent videogames for gun violence after a mass shooting and wanted to ban them. Donald Trump did the same thing.  Even more recently, Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire tried to insert himself into Gamergate 2.

This was after years of bashing gamers as weak, pathetic and a danger.

What is the point of this rhetoric? Who does it serve? The progressives are far from beaten, and when we finally have them on a back heel, here come Conservatives to alienate the very people winning this culture war. They still haven’t learned how to win. 

Conservatives seem to think this conglomerate of geeks and nerds are useful for a time until the left are defeated and they ‘regain power’. Then they can go back to bashing those basement-dwellers who live with their parents again.

But I beg to differ.

This Won’t End the Way They Think

 If anything, this culture war has made geeks and nerds battle-hardened. We have learned that we should have gate-kept our hobbies with greater intensity. We also learned how to stand against the slings and arrows.

Watch this video from Clownfish TV, a moderate voice in the culture war that often calls out the left. You can practically feel the anger in Kneon’s voice as he anticipates the coming Conservative betrayal. And trust that the progressives can’t wait to say I told you so when it happens. 

Conservatives seem to think that geeks and nerds are their pawns to be used, but I believe it’s the other way around. In this coalition against the Marxist progressives, the Conservatives have very little power. Yes, films like Am I racist, and the numerous podcasts from Conservatives help, but they are basically preaching to the choir and not changing the culture.

Nerdrotic is changing culture. YoungRippa is creating culture. Geeks and Gamers, The Quartering, Az, Yellowflash, Its a Gundam, Razorfist, WCBS, and Melonie Mac all have their fingers on the pulse of nerd culture. Vara Dark is calling out videogame censorship. Critical Drinker is shaming the Hollywood movie industry. Jon Del Arroz is stirring up culture from board games to novels, to comic books, while also creating culture. I know this is a short list, and there are many more, but we all have our favorite content creators who are actively affecting culture. If politics is downstream from culture then you need people like this on your team. 

Geeks and nerds have been kind enough to allow Conservatives to tag along, but they won’t take another betrayal. The Daily Wire and Blaze media can easily go the way of other websites and defunct media companies if they continue down this path. Gamers are bringing massive AAA videogame companies to their knees just by voting with their wallets and raising awareness.

What do you think they will do to the Daily Wire or Blaze?

Just a Warning

I know this might ruffle some Conservative feathers, but I truly do not care. This isn’t a threat, but a warning to these bougie-cons who think they are too good for geeks and nerds. I was hoping I was years away from even writing this and prayed I would never have to, but Conservatives never seem to learn how to win.

No one wants the progressive left ruining their culture, nor do we want the stuck-up right either. This article isn’t to try and convince Conservatives about the merits of Dungeons & Dragons, or how videogames are just a few hours’ release from a stressful world. If you do not like such things, good. Don’t be a part of the geek and nerd culture. We got it over here. Stay in your lane.

If not, I look forward to Gary’s video tearing you down because, let’s face it, if I saw a Matt Walsh in an alley, I’m not going to run screaming in fear. Nor does Glenn Beck come to mind when I want to raise a deck or lay foundation. Last I looked, neither of these guys had served in the military yet, all my military pals collected figures and read the funny mags made for kids. The point being, these are hardly the people who are the arbiters of what it takes to be a Conservative man.  Yes, Liz Wheeler is hot, but so is Melonie Mac, an avid female gamer. And she is one of many. 

We’ll be okay without these Conservatives in our nerd culture. In fact, we’re well-equipped to keep them out of it after enduring this culture war.

Spiritual Warfare 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that if many of these Conservatives consider themselves Christians then their mistakes are doubled and far more dire. Most of the people aiding in the culture war are not of the faith. As Christians, our job is to share the good news of the kingdom and Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. We cannot spread the word by revisiting the Satanic Panic again. It didn’t work then and won’t work now.

Take this warning Conservatives to not bite the hand that helped you turn the tide. The culture war against the Marxists is far from over. They will not go down without a fight. Keep turning on geeks and nerds and watch as the enemy uses you to push them back into his progressive camp once again.

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