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Sunday 15 March 2015

On Trolls

A highly intelligent military friend of mine told me yesterday that he did not understand "trolls". I thought about his comment and came to an astounding conclusion. Trolls reveal the same characteristics of abusers and demons.

Let me explain. Abusers, either sexual or emotional or psychological, desire to make the abused person into a victim, wanting to place negative feelings onto that victim through the abuse. Abusers create false guilt and false turmoil in their victims by making those persons "own" the abusers' sins.

Demons do the same thing. They make a person own their nasty characteristics, creating stress in an attempt to bring down the person, or, as Father Chad Ripperger states in one of his best talks on line, to grind the person down by wearing them out with lies. His talks on spiritual warfare helped me piece together these thoughts. Father points out the abuse relationship of the demons and those trying to live a life of virtue.

Demons lie and harangue one and make one distracted from one's real vices by laying guilt trips about false vices on a person.

Demons and abusers delight in making others more than uncomfortable. They want to inflict pain.

So do trolls. They all share the same vice of  "malice". Malice in normal defintion covers these ideas. I share that below. But, the vice of malice is even more serious.

Garrigou-Lagrange notes that malice is the first sin of the devil, "a sin of ill will, of the intoxication of pride." Strong words. He also notes that the sin of malice is always voluntary, not a sin of ignorance or fraility, thus making it much more serious.

Malice according to Fr. Ripperger in one of his talks on his website, is hatred of God and hatred of humans, because we are made in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, the person who is malicious not only hates God, but hates His human creations.

A serious sin on two accounts...In addition, the intellect and the will are involved in sins of malice, not the passions. Therefore, the higher faculties become polluted as well as the lower.

Garrigou-Lagrange quotes Thomas Aquinas on this point in a footnote: "Spiritual sins are of greater guilt than carnal sins. . . .Spiritual sin denotes more a turning from something. . . . Sins of intemperance are most worthy of reproach. . . because by these sins man is, so to speak, brutalized.

That Internet slang calls people of malice who make nasty comments on purpose, "trolls", indicates that those who invented the word realized the brutalization, the inhumanity of those who are trolls.

Interesting.

Trolls, therefore, commit spiritual rather than carnal sins, turning from God to attack His image and likeness by being full of ill-will and pride. 

Four of the regular trolls who have attacked this blog have attacked other blogs. One recognizes the same wording, the same type of nastiness, and the same quirks of expression. Two are male and two are female. One of the males uses two identities. One of the females uses at least four identities. That they are malicious has been noted by other bloggers who have been on the receiving end of their abuse. And, that is why they comment--in order to abuse and get some type of horrible, evil thrill out of disturbing the bloggers they attack.

Malice aforethought...

I hope these meditations help my soldier friend understand trolls better. They are, simply, abusers. Trolls who are ignored finally give up, but one should pray for trolls on religious blogs, as these people of malice are lost souls. 

I have discerned that some trolls work not only out of sadism, the mark of the abuser, but out of envy. One of my dear blogger friends has been severely hit by envious trolls and has stopped blogging.

That is a goal of a true troll..to stop the real discussion and oppress the blogger. I guess we could say that Satan was the first troll. 


mal·ice
ˈmaləs/
noun
  1. the intention or desire to do evil; ill will.
    "I bear no malice toward anybody"
    synonyms:spitemalevolenceill will, vindictiveness, vengefulness, revenge,malignity, evil intentions, animusenmityrancorMore
    • LAW
      wrongful intention, especially as increasing the guilt of certain offenses.