The driver behind Eastern’s down-to-earth approach to social justice could be called simply “the Campolo effect.” Tony Campolo, a seemingly indefatigable whirlwind of canny idealism, came back to his alma mater in 1964 as a professor of sociology. He was soon appointed chaplain as well. Campolo rallied undergraduates at Eastern and before long, from across the country to venture outside their classrooms and into the most economically disadvantaged areas of America’s cities.
“What I was able to do was to recognize young men and women who had entrepreneurial gifts, who knew how to create organizations,” recalled Campolo, who used the term
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Adam Crigler used to feed his YouTube following a politics-free diet of chatter about aliens, movies, skateboarding and video games. Then came the pandemic. Now, he devotes much of his talk show to his assertion that mask mandates are an assault on personal freedom and that Democrats somehow stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump. Result: a much bigger audience.
“The pandemic has made more people want to blame someone else because they’ve lost their jobs or they’re lonely,” Crigler said.
Ian Bayne, for years a campaign professional, had sworn off politics and launched a career in real estate. Then covid hit, and he helped launch No Mask Nevada, organizing a dozen rallies against masking because he said the government was inflating the danger of the coronavirus.
From medieval times to our current crisis, plagues often accelerate extremist movements
Marc Fisher, The Washington Post
Feb. 15, 2021
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1of8Supporters of the extremist ideology QAnon wait for a Fourth of July military flyover at the World War II Memorial in D.C. last year.photo for The Washington Post by Evelyn Hockstein.Show MoreShow Less
2of8A May protest against coronavirus restrictions in Annapolis, Md.Washington Post photo by Jonathan Newton.Show MoreShow Less
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4of8Supporters of Reopen Maryland recite the Pledge of Allegiance during a protest of state coronavirus restrictions in Annapolis, Md., in May.Washington Post photo by Jonathan Newton./The Washington Post)Show MoreShow Less