I also hope your faith in Bennett is well-placed, that whatever mix of vices led him to write vile antisemitic ridicule on an email list called ‘morning hate’ in 2016 bear little relevance to the man he was when with Leverage in ~~2018, or the man he is now.
Perhaps it’d be helpful for Bennett to publish a critique of alt-right ideas in Palladium Magazine?
In Bennett’s statement on Medium, he says now that he’s Catholic, he condemns the views he espoused. If that’s true, he should be glad to publish a piece which reduces their level of support.
Since he used to espouse those views, he has intimate understanding of the psychology of those who hold them. So a piece he edits could help deconvert/deradicalize people more effectively than a piece edited by an outsider. And whatever persuaded him to abandon those views might also work on others.
Bennet might complain that publishing such a piece would put him in an impossible bind, because any attempt to find common ground with alt-righters, and explain what originally drew him to the movement to do effective deconversion, could be spun as “Jonah Bennett doubles down on alt-right ideology” for clicks. Bennet might also complain that publishing such a piece would make him a target for alt-right harassment. However, if Bennett is sincerely sorry for what he said, it seems to me that he should be willing to accept these risks. At least he could offer to publish a critique of the alt-right that’s written by someone else.
If he does publish such a piece, I personally would be inclined to tentatively accept him back into civil society—but if he’s unwilling to publish such a piece, I think it’s reasonable to wonder if he’s “hiding his true power level” and be suspicious/condemnatory.
I do feel we should have some sort of path to forgiveness for those who sincerely wish to leave extremist movements.
Perhaps it’d be helpful for Bennett to publish a critique of alt-right ideas in Palladium Magazine?
In Bennett’s statement on Medium, he says now that he’s Catholic, he condemns the views he espoused. If that’s true, he should be glad to publish a piece which reduces their level of support.
Since he used to espouse those views, he has intimate understanding of the psychology of those who hold them. So a piece he edits could help deconvert/deradicalize people more effectively than a piece edited by an outsider. And whatever persuaded him to abandon those views might also work on others.
Bennet might complain that publishing such a piece would put him in an impossible bind, because any attempt to find common ground with alt-righters, and explain what originally drew him to the movement to do effective deconversion, could be spun as “Jonah Bennett doubles down on alt-right ideology” for clicks. Bennet might also complain that publishing such a piece would make him a target for alt-right harassment. However, if Bennett is sincerely sorry for what he said, it seems to me that he should be willing to accept these risks. At least he could offer to publish a critique of the alt-right that’s written by someone else.
If he does publish such a piece, I personally would be inclined to tentatively accept him back into civil society—but if he’s unwilling to publish such a piece, I think it’s reasonable to wonder if he’s “hiding his true power level” and be suspicious/condemnatory.
I do feel we should have some sort of path to forgiveness for those who sincerely wish to leave extremist movements.