For more than a week now, I have intended to write a deep dive into the right-wing Moms for Liberty group that held their “Joyful Warriors National Summit” in Philadelphia last week, only to have one thing or another that seemed more important push it off another day.
I am grateful to Heather Cox Richardson for posting about Moms for Liberty. I recently had to defend an LGBTQIA book ("Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe) when it was challenged by them. As a high school librarian I want to ensure that all of my students feel welcome, represented, respected and valued by the library. I live in Vancouver, WA and was surprised when the challenge came about. My school happened to be the only one in the district and in fact in any of the neighboring districts in SW Washington that had "Gender Queer" so I had to defend it by myself. I received over 35 hateful emails sent personally to me asking me to remove it. My superintendent received an email asking that I be fired, arrested and made to make a public apology. I was called a pervert, a pedophile, and a groomer. I was grateful that the district protocol in place was followed and I was able to retain the book in my library. The challenge committee they formed voted 10 to 2 with one abstention to keep it. One thing to note, the book increased in popularity over this action at my library and 2 other schools decided to add it to their high school library collections. In addition one important thing I realized as I read the hateful emails that I received was that this was the kind of hate that my LGBTQIA students and staff receive on a regular basis. This experience increased my empathy for them. I have always supported all of my students, but this helped me better understand what they go through. Although I didn't want this to happen, I feel that it has shown me just how critical it is to ensure that my collection meets the needs of my entire community.
Brava to you, Kate! It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up to this hate and I appreciate and respect that you stood up for your LGBTQIA students. Thank you.
In Fremont, CA, in the 2022 election, a woman billing herself as a candidate from Moms for Liberty (I find it difficult to write that appellation), ran for a seat on one of the school boards. She got trounced. I expect the group will try again in the next election, and the same result.
If you want to call attention to a book, ban it. I'm willing to bet that the bulk of the hateful emails you received were not about the book at all, but sent simply as a way to intimidate you. I have a friend who is a school librarian in VA, who has gone through similar attacks. Unfortunately, his school administration was not as supportive as yours, and books were removed, without following the school district's policies for adding/removing books. However, the town library has made a point of making some, if not all, the books banned from the school library available to students and parents.
Steve, intimidation is a common weapon used to control people and stifle learning, along with inquiry, curiosity and respect for others. In sum, intimidation is part of the far-right's goal to kill democracy and the freedom of human beings here and everywhere. Thank you, Steve Abbott, for calling it to our attention.
Thank you Fern for pointing that out. So much of the population does not understand the mechanics of controlling a group of people. It is first and foremost fear, which in my definition is the absence of love. Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.
It is difficult to understand the mentality of the mass of citizens who is so caught up in the hatred. But arguing will not help. And turning the other cheek will only go so far.
Thank you, Gina, for pointing to the importance of instilling fear as part of intimidating people, key to anti-democracy propaganda.
As to the MAGAs, their spirit differs from how they are frequently categorized. David French's, Opinion, 'The Rage and Joy of MAGA America', which appeared in The NY Times days ago, goes a long way in capturing the feelings of many MAGAs, and why it seems impossible to reach them.
'I live in Tennessee outside Nashville, a very deep-red part of America. According to a New York Times tool that calculates the political composition of a community, only 15 percent of my neighbors are Democrats. I’ve been living here in the heart of MAGA country since Donald Trump came down the escalator. This is the world of my friends, my neighbors and many members of my family. That is perhaps why, when I’m asked what things are like now, eight years into the Trump era, I have a ready answer: Everything is normal until, suddenly, it’s not. And unless we can understand what’s normal and what’s not, we can’t truly understand why Trumpism endures.' (NY Times)
I plan to refer to this article again in a future post. In the meantime, I think that you and other subscribers will understand MAGAs better after reading it, A gifted link is below.
Fern, Thank you for this link. I did read it once today but saving it to read again.
The psychology of the human mind is often baffling. It is good to contemplate in order to develop a greater understanding of why we do what we do and think the way we think.
Right now instead of considering evolution I am thinking more of regression. Seems as if some humans are trying disparately to hang on to some prior place in our development of reasoning.
I am reminded of the play by Tennessee Williams, "Summer and Smoke." I think of these people, such as Moms for Liberty, and how words spoken in the play relate to them. John, a medical student, has Alma in the garden, trying to "put the make on her," yet she refuses. In exasperation, he tells her: "You know what your problem is? You're so full of what's right, you don't know what's good." Laurence Harvey played John and Geraldine Page Alma in the movie.
“Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.”
Fear is what (“so called”) Christians have used throughout millennia to control the masses. There’s a lot of recorded history of this as well as the heinous methods they used to instill that fear.
I bet anything the book spiked in sales on Amazon. Kids are way smarter than these idiotic book banners who don't understand that the best way to get a kid to read a book is to tell them they can't....
A play was banned in the high school in a small rural Oregon town 13 years ago because the religious community did not agree with some of the words used in the play ( and that it was set in a bar in Paris where there was drinking and cigarette smoking”. It was put on at the local college in a much bigger auditorium which was filled all three ( or maybe 4) nights! This was the yearly play that mostly just the parents of the kids and their friends came to because it wasn’t a musical.
Yes and so they use fear. That is how they get them to cooperate. And, sadly they then also teach them how to control people to get what they want. Is it any wonder so many of the children have a warped sense of love and how to treat others ( and others belongings as well)
In my district the high school libraries have a digital partnership with the public library so that all our students have access to all of those resources and can use them at school. One of the digital ebooks they carry is "Gender Queer". Had the book been banned from my library, it still would have been available to students while seated in my library via this digital access. LOL!!
I would think quite a few of these books that fascists want to ban have been in school libraries for years. It's amazing to me how many people respond to hate over that which they don't understand or is different from them. Empathy is key. Without it, one is just filled with everything ugly. Thank you, Kate Burton, for being one of the good guys.
Look at who is the librarian in any school.... and then look at which books have been included or quietly gotten rid of. You might want to look at who the biology teachers are too. I was a little surprised when my daughter came back from at “TAG” camp at Univ of Oregon and said that she took a great course that she didn’t know about..... Evolution! She had already taken AP Biology at her high school and she has a very good memory!
I live in Vancouver, WA and parents of students at my high school asked that we take evolution out of the biology curriculum. Here is a link including some of the landmark cases re teaching evolution in public schools. I sent this list to the district office where they'd been considering eliminating evolution. After I sent this, they quickly changed their minds about it. https://ncse.ngo/ten-major-court-cases-about-evolution-and-creationism
Thank you Kate. That took courage too. I read so often of the anger, hate, rudeness and disrespect from these factions. Their common actions . They want to deny reality and make difference bad through taunting, bullying, shaming, accusing, spewing hatred.
Yet they are the only ones doing it!
Such blatant self incriminations ...and too few see it.
As a former high librarian, I had a few complaints which I managed to ward off, and nothing like this. Our English dept. got in trouble a couple times; both were for revenge. One was because a student was disciplined and interestingly enough the author was visiting at the same time of the objection. The other had to do with suing the principal for harassment, etc. He got one of his buddies on the faculty to have his son object to books in the drama class. The books were in the library at the teacher's request and she always made it clear that students should not choose play excerpts that they found offensive. I was called over to talk to the curriculum coordinator who was out to get them for reasons of her own. The irony of this was that this person was a devote Christian who was supporting the principal who was doing things in real time, but was objecting to words in books about subjects you could read in any newspaper. The books stayed, btw, and the principal moved on despite being absolved by our board who were afraid of being sued by him. Now I thank my lucky stars I am not still working and kudos to librarians like Kate who stand up and most especially to her district for standing up for her. Yesterday the Oregonian had an article about the author of Jarhead, written about 20 years ago and he found a board in Michigan had banned his book. The review committee voted to keep it, but the board had too many of these people who should never be on school boards on it. So, the key here is that all elections matter and people should vote in them all and be aware of agendas like those of Moms for Liberty. Always have these names that disguise their real purpose. Also had an article about them put out by a local group.
As a retired school librarian, I can think of only 1 or 2 books that were challenged in my 28 years in this job, and neither were removed from the library, nor was there intimidation via nasty remarks or death threats. Currently, I am horrified at what school librarians are dealing with. We can't emphasize enough that all elections matter.
Kate, you are truly on the front line of this battle royal. Thank you for fighting this trench warfare. It must be frightening and all consuming. Please know that the vast majority of millions of Americans support equal rights and smart education. We are proud of folks like you who want to live in the 21st century. The book banners are the dinosaurs.
Kate, sadly, these well meaning "pro-life" persons are only Pro-life for some of us and only if we are like them in all our choices...."blind guides?"
How are they going to respond to their own child who may hide personal struggles with sexuality for fear of being rejected? They are trying to create a world that does not exist.
I , as a Christian , would like for them to point out where and when Jesus rejected anyone who who came to Him....or treated others with disrespect for who they were.
I don't think they're as much well-meaning as they are lacking in empathy for those who are different. They seem to see those differences as evidence of our not belonging to the human community. And above all, they seem to be afraid. Their fear may be rooted in their ignorance or denial of something they actually feel ashamed of in themselves. I hold their religious leaders culpable, as well, since they seem to be encouraging this kind of belief, that it's okay to "other" people who aren't like them. Religion is often used to justify some of the most heinous behaviors toward others. Unfortunately religion often also encourages absolutist thinking, which is totally inaccurate, but allows people to not think for themselves.
I believe most reactions to race, religion, etc is fear. Black and white thinking. No grey area. You are (or think) different than me... one of us is wrong... IT"S NOT ME!. So they must prove their point. Their actions come from a place of weakness, not strength. It's what they have been taught and they were never taught to think for themselves.
I would respectfully disagree only with the term ‘well-meaning’.
Only because it is an anodyne phrase. People who consider other people fools or idiots, corrupt or morally wrong, and who then take action to protect their own idea of society from the rest of us are all well-intentioned.
Protect me from well-intentioned people. Protect all of us from the well-intentioned.
I’m not a mom( just of a four-legged🐾) or social media user but wanted to share. This is a closed Facebook group ,for obvious reason. The founder of this group is a respected, retired educator in my FL county where Moms For ( Not) Liberty was founded. Looks like they are approaching 10k members !
I just applied to join. Thanks for including the link in your comment. I also posted a link on my Facebook page so friends could consider joining. We need to stop Moms for Liberty.
I just did a "join" request as well. Delighted to support any group against these fascistic women. (I keep thinking of that scene in Field of Dreams where Amy Madigan's character yells something at a mother in a parent meeting, referring to her as a "Nazi cow". :D )
HCR’s Letter today, taking the prism of Moms for Liberty as the far-right’s weaponry against democracy, against learning and books; against equality and respect for others ended with ‘…the Republican marriage of elites to street fighters will crumble, leaving room for the country to rebuild the relationship between citizens and the government. '
That is talking to the people; that’s telling The American Story today through Letters to an American. Thank you Heather Cox Richardson.
What you have done is pure COURAGE. It is what integrity is all about. Doing what is right in the face of hostile opposition. All this ignorant hatred is a disease that has infected too many, what we need is a vaccine of love and understanding. But they are anti vaccine also.
Moms for Liberty. We can all rest assured that if a group has liberty or freedom in its name said group is working hard to take those very things from us.
Yes, they've made no attempt to hide the hypocrisy of their mission. This newsletter scared me to death until I read the last paragraph. It reminded me that in this country democracy has worked with the right people in charge. Joe Biden might not have the charisma of FDR, but he has doggedly worked hard to elevate the rights of every marginalized US citizen at war against the wealthy zealots, the religious hypocrites, and the plain old stupids....
He also surrounded himself with smart passionate honest public servants as appointees. TFG, a criminal himself, just looked for people who would join in the criminality. Took a page from Putin, eh?
I agree and like your name for this. Moms For Klanned Karenhood. That is a good name and description for these insane idiots. I suppose they honor the Hitler salute too.
But what do I do with all t he great women named Karen who keep me on my toes over at That's Another Fine Mess? Not to mention the lady who is the light in my life.
Hmmm, i was once sweet on a lady named Karen too. Rename the whole thing to ''KKK Carens '' for the moms for liberty fascist women. Wish i could find me a good Karen. i have been alone for 7 years now after my wife of 40 years up and left for no reason.
There is always a "reason". But it might not have been about you. Sometimes we just head in different directions. That's been my experience (more than once).
It's been my experience more than once also. The first time the reason was obvious, adultry by my first wife. The second time, the reason is still a mystery, at least to me it is...
Yeah, it was a cute name flip. But I agree. I have known several women named Karen and all of them were quite nice - nicer than most, actually. How did a common first name become such a nasty reference?
IMHO, just an easy meme…Kens or Karens….not unlike calling all tissues Kleenex or photocopies Xerox’d. Agree, too, that all of the real Karens I know are wonderful folks….hmmm…don’t know any Kens come to think of it….
I know one. My former screenwriting partner. A fantastic wood sculptor and allaround Good Guy. Good enough he probably makes up for all the ones who aren't.
A very nice cashier where I frequently shop had her name badge turned around when I first met her. I overheard someone ask her why. “If you were named Karen, you’d do the same.” As she held my ID, I commented that everyone named Karen who feels abused by this could form a line behind those of us named John who have dealt with this kind of stupidity for a lot longer. She smiled, and turned her badge around. Solidarity, sister!
My given name is "Karen" and I try to find the humor where it's present (I admit that it's my nature to be silly and find humor nearly everywhere, so it's easy for me to do), and when it's hostile, I joke that now I know how guys named "Dick" have felt all these years. :D
Bottom line: best policy is to not take it personally, if that's a thing you can do.
If you don't fit the stereotype, it's not directed towards you.
As a teacher, I’ve come to believe we can best help our children & families by subsidizing parental education classes. I propose paying parents to attend biweekly classes on parenting. There are some great models out there like the Nurturing Parenting program, from which to build off of. Often, the session starts with a meal, the instructors & families break bread together, helping to form community. Parents talk in small groups with instructors & learn parenting strategies & see how universal so many of our parenting struggles are. During this time the program provides enriching childcare. We have to make it easy & enticing for families to take on this extra responsibility but I’ve seen the effectiveness of programs like this. If we can scale up & make parent education ubiquitous, we can improve the lives of entire families & change communities.
I am grateful to Heather Cox Richardson for posting about Moms for Liberty. I recently had to defend an LGBTQIA book ("Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe) when it was challenged by them. As a high school librarian I want to ensure that all of my students feel welcome, represented, respected and valued by the library. I live in Vancouver, WA and was surprised when the challenge came about. My school happened to be the only one in the district and in fact in any of the neighboring districts in SW Washington that had "Gender Queer" so I had to defend it by myself. I received over 35 hateful emails sent personally to me asking me to remove it. My superintendent received an email asking that I be fired, arrested and made to make a public apology. I was called a pervert, a pedophile, and a groomer. I was grateful that the district protocol in place was followed and I was able to retain the book in my library. The challenge committee they formed voted 10 to 2 with one abstention to keep it. One thing to note, the book increased in popularity over this action at my library and 2 other schools decided to add it to their high school library collections. In addition one important thing I realized as I read the hateful emails that I received was that this was the kind of hate that my LGBTQIA students and staff receive on a regular basis. This experience increased my empathy for them. I have always supported all of my students, but this helped me better understand what they go through. Although I didn't want this to happen, I feel that it has shown me just how critical it is to ensure that my collection meets the needs of my entire community.
Brava to you, Kate! It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up to this hate and I appreciate and respect that you stood up for your LGBTQIA students. Thank you.
In Fremont, CA, in the 2022 election, a woman billing herself as a candidate from Moms for Liberty (I find it difficult to write that appellation), ran for a seat on one of the school boards. She got trounced. I expect the group will try again in the next election, and the same result.
I know it’s petty, but I secretly refer to m4l as klanned karenhood. My inner child can’t resist, but I know they are dangerous!
Assholes with casseroles
Minivan Taliban
Crackpots with crockpots
https://twitter.com/DLDePrille/status/1677989371469758464?s=20
😂😂😂
another one: Twatzies
Genius, Becky!!!
😅
The " m4l as klanned karenhood" -- hey, a three-word slogan I can get behind! Good on ya!
WELL DONE !
Lisa. !!
Hallelujah!
Joanna, besides liking you comment, may I add “Ditto”. And thank you Kate.
Just seeing your comment. Thank you. One can't help but admire a person like Kate.
Perfectly stated! I second this comment!
If you want to call attention to a book, ban it. I'm willing to bet that the bulk of the hateful emails you received were not about the book at all, but sent simply as a way to intimidate you. I have a friend who is a school librarian in VA, who has gone through similar attacks. Unfortunately, his school administration was not as supportive as yours, and books were removed, without following the school district's policies for adding/removing books. However, the town library has made a point of making some, if not all, the books banned from the school library available to students and parents.
Steve, intimidation is a common weapon used to control people and stifle learning, along with inquiry, curiosity and respect for others. In sum, intimidation is part of the far-right's goal to kill democracy and the freedom of human beings here and everywhere. Thank you, Steve Abbott, for calling it to our attention.
Thank you Fern for pointing that out. So much of the population does not understand the mechanics of controlling a group of people. It is first and foremost fear, which in my definition is the absence of love. Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.
It is difficult to understand the mentality of the mass of citizens who is so caught up in the hatred. But arguing will not help. And turning the other cheek will only go so far.
Thank you, Gina, for pointing to the importance of instilling fear as part of intimidating people, key to anti-democracy propaganda.
As to the MAGAs, their spirit differs from how they are frequently categorized. David French's, Opinion, 'The Rage and Joy of MAGA America', which appeared in The NY Times days ago, goes a long way in capturing the feelings of many MAGAs, and why it seems impossible to reach them.
'I live in Tennessee outside Nashville, a very deep-red part of America. According to a New York Times tool that calculates the political composition of a community, only 15 percent of my neighbors are Democrats. I’ve been living here in the heart of MAGA country since Donald Trump came down the escalator. This is the world of my friends, my neighbors and many members of my family. That is perhaps why, when I’m asked what things are like now, eight years into the Trump era, I have a ready answer: Everything is normal until, suddenly, it’s not. And unless we can understand what’s normal and what’s not, we can’t truly understand why Trumpism endures.' (NY Times)
I plan to refer to this article again in a future post. In the meantime, I think that you and other subscribers will understand MAGAs better after reading it, A gifted link is below.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/opinion/maga-america-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=taYEv02XVutuy0pN7wv3pvgwDcj2pPBw-LuLNFepzu92qEJaamiriSxSTltC5s3sdfWq9WSWSvRMSdl7r6CT5RAG3sXr-2-k_mK5a9KQ96jl6egOHiOKuN0CQsmQa-gmsy09zWy7MXuQQdqwBlNzrwOUmQbWIc81mLPGMn95CyWdUfpGvJVMuHN12mogGfZ1YFPmGHL-TKyW-02wznZzPUYP8xFHdW51uQem9G58z9ubifTqbdbJ3LYmEjeWKb7ajz2JIUKq0GI1Opi-YwWseXrcVLszhpf21IvhkCInxOMO-aoTzH6yPHD3OmlcrgXVAgFi3ztkPwridN4l&smid=url-share
Fern, Thank you for this link. I did read it once today but saving it to read again.
The psychology of the human mind is often baffling. It is good to contemplate in order to develop a greater understanding of why we do what we do and think the way we think.
Right now instead of considering evolution I am thinking more of regression. Seems as if some humans are trying disparately to hang on to some prior place in our development of reasoning.
I am reminded of the play by Tennessee Williams, "Summer and Smoke." I think of these people, such as Moms for Liberty, and how words spoken in the play relate to them. John, a medical student, has Alma in the garden, trying to "put the make on her," yet she refuses. In exasperation, he tells her: "You know what your problem is? You're so full of what's right, you don't know what's good." Laurence Harvey played John and Geraldine Page Alma in the movie.
Control issues anyone? ( John not Alma)
“Once you instill fear you stand a good chance of controlling that population. And that of course is how these so called Christians are dealing with our rapidly changing world and country caught in all of that change.”
Fear is what (“so called”) Christians have used throughout millennia to control the masses. There’s a lot of recorded history of this as well as the heinous methods they used to instill that fear.
I bet anything the book spiked in sales on Amazon. Kids are way smarter than these idiotic book banners who don't understand that the best way to get a kid to read a book is to tell them they can't....
A play was banned in the high school in a small rural Oregon town 13 years ago because the religious community did not agree with some of the words used in the play ( and that it was set in a bar in Paris where there was drinking and cigarette smoking”. It was put on at the local college in a much bigger auditorium which was filled all three ( or maybe 4) nights! This was the yearly play that mostly just the parents of the kids and their friends came to because it wasn’t a musical.
Linda, that's a textbook demonstration of how we have to be fighting this atrocity! Thanks for posting!
Yes and so they use fear. That is how they get them to cooperate. And, sadly they then also teach them how to control people to get what they want. Is it any wonder so many of the children have a warped sense of love and how to treat others ( and others belongings as well)
In my district the high school libraries have a digital partnership with the public library so that all our students have access to all of those resources and can use them at school. One of the digital ebooks they carry is "Gender Queer". Had the book been banned from my library, it still would have been available to students while seated in my library via this digital access. LOL!!
I would think quite a few of these books that fascists want to ban have been in school libraries for years. It's amazing to me how many people respond to hate over that which they don't understand or is different from them. Empathy is key. Without it, one is just filled with everything ugly. Thank you, Kate Burton, for being one of the good guys.
Look at who is the librarian in any school.... and then look at which books have been included or quietly gotten rid of. You might want to look at who the biology teachers are too. I was a little surprised when my daughter came back from at “TAG” camp at Univ of Oregon and said that she took a great course that she didn’t know about..... Evolution! She had already taken AP Biology at her high school and she has a very good memory!
I live in Vancouver, WA and parents of students at my high school asked that we take evolution out of the biology curriculum. Here is a link including some of the landmark cases re teaching evolution in public schools. I sent this list to the district office where they'd been considering eliminating evolution. After I sent this, they quickly changed their minds about it. https://ncse.ngo/ten-major-court-cases-about-evolution-and-creationism
It takes courage to stand up to bullies. May your example be an inspiration for all of us who subscribe to Letters from an American.
Thanks for fighting the good fight, Kate.
Thank you Kate. That took courage too. I read so often of the anger, hate, rudeness and disrespect from these factions. Their common actions . They want to deny reality and make difference bad through taunting, bullying, shaming, accusing, spewing hatred.
Yet they are the only ones doing it!
Such blatant self incriminations ...and too few see it.
As a former high librarian, I had a few complaints which I managed to ward off, and nothing like this. Our English dept. got in trouble a couple times; both were for revenge. One was because a student was disciplined and interestingly enough the author was visiting at the same time of the objection. The other had to do with suing the principal for harassment, etc. He got one of his buddies on the faculty to have his son object to books in the drama class. The books were in the library at the teacher's request and she always made it clear that students should not choose play excerpts that they found offensive. I was called over to talk to the curriculum coordinator who was out to get them for reasons of her own. The irony of this was that this person was a devote Christian who was supporting the principal who was doing things in real time, but was objecting to words in books about subjects you could read in any newspaper. The books stayed, btw, and the principal moved on despite being absolved by our board who were afraid of being sued by him. Now I thank my lucky stars I am not still working and kudos to librarians like Kate who stand up and most especially to her district for standing up for her. Yesterday the Oregonian had an article about the author of Jarhead, written about 20 years ago and he found a board in Michigan had banned his book. The review committee voted to keep it, but the board had too many of these people who should never be on school boards on it. So, the key here is that all elections matter and people should vote in them all and be aware of agendas like those of Moms for Liberty. Always have these names that disguise their real purpose. Also had an article about them put out by a local group.
As a retired school librarian, I can think of only 1 or 2 books that were challenged in my 28 years in this job, and neither were removed from the library, nor was there intimidation via nasty remarks or death threats. Currently, I am horrified at what school librarians are dealing with. We can't emphasize enough that all elections matter.
Amen, Sister.
Kate, you are truly on the front line of this battle royal. Thank you for fighting this trench warfare. It must be frightening and all consuming. Please know that the vast majority of millions of Americans support equal rights and smart education. We are proud of folks like you who want to live in the 21st century. The book banners are the dinosaurs.
HOpe those millions of Americans turn out to vote accordingly!
Let’s all work to make it happen!
Kate, sadly, these well meaning "pro-life" persons are only Pro-life for some of us and only if we are like them in all our choices...."blind guides?"
How are they going to respond to their own child who may hide personal struggles with sexuality for fear of being rejected? They are trying to create a world that does not exist.
I , as a Christian , would like for them to point out where and when Jesus rejected anyone who who came to Him....or treated others with disrespect for who they were.
I don't think they're as much well-meaning as they are lacking in empathy for those who are different. They seem to see those differences as evidence of our not belonging to the human community. And above all, they seem to be afraid. Their fear may be rooted in their ignorance or denial of something they actually feel ashamed of in themselves. I hold their religious leaders culpable, as well, since they seem to be encouraging this kind of belief, that it's okay to "other" people who aren't like them. Religion is often used to justify some of the most heinous behaviors toward others. Unfortunately religion often also encourages absolutist thinking, which is totally inaccurate, but allows people to not think for themselves.
I believe most reactions to race, religion, etc is fear. Black and white thinking. No grey area. You are (or think) different than me... one of us is wrong... IT"S NOT ME!. So they must prove their point. Their actions come from a place of weakness, not strength. It's what they have been taught and they were never taught to think for themselves.
Perhaps a little more time with their Bibles would help: "Even as you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me." Matthew 25: 34-46.
I would respectfully disagree only with the term ‘well-meaning’.
Only because it is an anodyne phrase. People who consider other people fools or idiots, corrupt or morally wrong, and who then take action to protect their own idea of society from the rest of us are all well-intentioned.
Protect me from well-intentioned people. Protect all of us from the well-intentioned.
What do they say that the 'road to hell' is paved with?
They have no idea what the first three Gospels say and love books like Revelations. In my mind they are not Christians or even decent people.
They are not well meaning.
Thankyou for your brave stance & trust in your self in the face of so much adversity! It is great that your superintendent & staff supported you.
Such important story to read. Thank you, Kate.
You rock.
Also, what's with the hue and cry over "Gender Queer"? It's pretty tame stuff (tho it's great)
You are a hero! Bless you!
StopMomsForLiberty
I’m not a mom( just of a four-legged🐾) or social media user but wanted to share. This is a closed Facebook group ,for obvious reason. The founder of this group is a respected, retired educator in my FL county where Moms For ( Not) Liberty was founded. Looks like they are approaching 10k members !
https://m.facebook.com/groups/stopmomsforliberty/?ref=share
I just applied to join. Thanks for including the link in your comment. I also posted a link on my Facebook page so friends could consider joining. We need to stop Moms for Liberty.
Yup. I joined last week.
I just did a "join" request as well. Delighted to support any group against these fascistic women. (I keep thinking of that scene in Field of Dreams where Amy Madigan's character yells something at a mother in a parent meeting, referring to her as a "Nazi cow". :D )
"street warfare" the FB way! Meet them and up them.
Yes!!
Done
Thank you for posting this. Just sent a request to join.
Thanks, Kathy! Just requested to join.
Just joined!
Thank you for what you're doing for your students. Keep on keeping on. The majority is with you.
HCR’s Letter today, taking the prism of Moms for Liberty as the far-right’s weaponry against democracy, against learning and books; against equality and respect for others ended with ‘…the Republican marriage of elites to street fighters will crumble, leaving room for the country to rebuild the relationship between citizens and the government. '
That is talking to the people; that’s telling The American Story today through Letters to an American. Thank you Heather Cox Richardson.
What you have done is pure COURAGE. It is what integrity is all about. Doing what is right in the face of hostile opposition. All this ignorant hatred is a disease that has infected too many, what we need is a vaccine of love and understanding. But they are anti vaccine also.
Thank you!
Moms for Liberty. We can all rest assured that if a group has liberty or freedom in its name said group is working hard to take those very things from us.
Moms For Klanned Karenhood is more like it.
I laughed out loud at "Moms For Klanned Karenhood" —but I agree with those who worry about innocent Karens.
I think Jean-Pierre Garau nailed it : Moms for Liberty = White Women of the KKK
Yes, they've made no attempt to hide the hypocrisy of their mission. This newsletter scared me to death until I read the last paragraph. It reminded me that in this country democracy has worked with the right people in charge. Joe Biden might not have the charisma of FDR, but he has doggedly worked hard to elevate the rights of every marginalized US citizen at war against the wealthy zealots, the religious hypocrites, and the plain old stupids....
"....the Republican marriage of elites to street fighters will crumble..."
Best line of the letter.
I agree, Sophia. President Biden has just nailed a near impossible job.
He also surrounded himself with smart passionate honest public servants as appointees. TFG, a criminal himself, just looked for people who would join in the criminality. Took a page from Putin, eh?
You are correct! They started in Florida, where I live, and are wreaking havoc in our schools. They are awful!
I agree and like your name for this. Moms For Klanned Karenhood. That is a good name and description for these insane idiots. I suppose they honor the Hitler salute too.
But what do I do with all t he great women named Karen who keep me on my toes over at That's Another Fine Mess? Not to mention the lady who is the light in my life.
Not to mention all the women of color, like my former colleague at UCLA, who happen to be named Karen. Very nice person.
Hmmm, i was once sweet on a lady named Karen too. Rename the whole thing to ''KKK Carens '' for the moms for liberty fascist women. Wish i could find me a good Karen. i have been alone for 7 years now after my wife of 40 years up and left for no reason.
There is always a "reason". But it might not have been about you. Sometimes we just head in different directions. That's been my experience (more than once).
It's been my experience more than once also. The first time the reason was obvious, adultry by my first wife. The second time, the reason is still a mystery, at least to me it is...
Yeah, it was a cute name flip. But I agree. I have known several women named Karen and all of them were quite nice - nicer than most, actually. How did a common first name become such a nasty reference?
IMHO, just an easy meme…Kens or Karens….not unlike calling all tissues Kleenex or photocopies Xerox’d. Agree, too, that all of the real Karens I know are wonderful folks….hmmm…don’t know any Kens come to think of it….
I know a couple Ken’s. Even split on good vs. not so good.
My wife is named Karyn. ‘Nuf said.
I know one. My former screenwriting partner. A fantastic wood sculptor and allaround Good Guy. Good enough he probably makes up for all the ones who aren't.
TC, come up with a better insult for this hate group. Surely you can.
A very nice cashier where I frequently shop had her name badge turned around when I first met her. I overheard someone ask her why. “If you were named Karen, you’d do the same.” As she held my ID, I commented that everyone named Karen who feels abused by this could form a line behind those of us named John who have dealt with this kind of stupidity for a lot longer. She smiled, and turned her badge around. Solidarity, sister!
My given name is "Karen" and I try to find the humor where it's present (I admit that it's my nature to be silly and find humor nearly everywhere, so it's easy for me to do), and when it's hostile, I joke that now I know how guys named "Dick" have felt all these years. :D
Bottom line: best policy is to not take it personally, if that's a thing you can do.
If you don't fit the stereotype, it's not directed towards you.
Thank you. I read Klanned Karenhood a few days ago and shamelessly stole it
Cretins always use the names of what they don’t espouse. Thank Frank Luntz for that.
The Minivan Taliban
I am stealing this!
So sad, this 'name calling'...I have a sister and dear friends named Karen to whom this is humiliating and unwarranted 😥
Perhaps the more accurate name is KKKaren?
Perhaps KKK is enough - yes women are affiliated with the KKK. Do we say KKKEN, KEVIN, KURT etc???
Same goes for the derogatory use of the name Brandon!
As a woman I prefer no name calling...we can all do better💛
Humiliating? Really? If this is your big worry you have a very charmed life.
Funny... and clever!
Moms for Liberty is proof that instead of marriage licenses, we need procreation licenses.
As a teacher, I’ve come to believe we can best help our children & families by subsidizing parental education classes. I propose paying parents to attend biweekly classes on parenting. There are some great models out there like the Nurturing Parenting program, from which to build off of. Often, the session starts with a meal, the instructors & families break bread together, helping to form community. Parents talk in small groups with instructors & learn parenting strategies & see how universal so many of our parenting struggles are. During this time the program provides enriching childcare. We have to make it easy & enticing for families to take on this extra responsibility but I’ve seen the effectiveness of programs like this. If we can scale up & make parent education ubiquitous, we can improve the lives of entire families & change communities.
I agree with every word you just said, Gina.