It’s not like a membership badge or anything.
Same shit applies to symbols.
People self select and will display symbols to align with the groups they agree with.
What about vegans?
No one is mistaking this for a “membership badge.” They’re taking it as a signal for what a person believes, and acknowledging that extreme belief formation (even if cynical and “just a joke bro lmao”) is very often part and parcel with group identity.
Yes, Al Qaeda is obviously a real group with actual members, rather than a random meme. Was that a serious question?
They’re not “random” memes, obviously, but I understand you’re trying to spin with rhetoric a bit here :)
> Middle Eastern Muslim culture expert Marvin Zonis notes that Arab societies value the honor and dignity of the individual more than personal liberty. When the principles of honor and dignity confront the devastating failures of many Middle Eastern states to achieve prominence in the world, the result is a profound and omnipresent humiliation and rage that is palpable throughout the region.
They found more pipe bombs in a bedroom inside Mr. Spafford’s house, loosely stuffed in a backpack that bore a patch shaped like a hand grenade and a logo reading “#NoLivesMatter,” prosecutors said.
No Lives Matter is a nihilistic, far-right ideology that largely exists on encrypted online messaging apps like Telegram. The movement’s adherents promote “targeted attacks, mass killings and criminal activity” and have “historically encouraged members to engage in self-harm and animal abuse,” according to a threat assessment released in August by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.