Scandals today, and be forewarned: the first deals with sexual assault. If you want to skip over it, the next one starts about nine paragraphs down, with the word TODAY in all caps. Yesterday, a nearly 300-page report from a third-party investigation revealed that the leadership of the Southern Baptists buried sex abuse claims for more than 20 years. They ignored accusations or attacked sex abuse survivors to protect the church from legal liability, describing survivors as “‘opportunistic,’ having a ‘hidden agenda of lawsuits,’ wanting to ‘burn things to the ground,’ and acting as a ‘professional victim.’”
So great that there is some verification of what has been swirling around for decades. Who didn’t know that the church had turned evil, and more than the Southern Baptists. Who didn’t know that the 2016 election was marred from the start with shady dealings, Republican shady dealings. Who didn’t know from the start of the chump administration (and before) that Bannon personified evil. Who didn’t know that billionaire money bought the integrity of Republicans. Who didn’t know that Zuckerberg was/is the Zombie Apocalypse. In fact, I am still dealing with the fallout from a Facebook data breach several years ago, before they banned me for calling chump the traitor that most non-MAGAts now know him to be. Has there ever been a time when so much information is available to us all, yet propaganda rules. May the layers be peeled back and the truth revealed. May there be ears to hear.
More than just ears to hear. Minds to recognize the truth and act in it to hold people to account. The R’s just turned their backs on tRump’s criminality.
Jenn…They (Repugnant Republicans RR’s) didn’t just turn their backs on tRump’s criminality…they have condoned it, endorsed it and fundamentally supported it. What they have turned their backs on is…America and American Democracy. If the political pundits are to be believed about the Midterms and the RR’s regaining control…we are facing some really dark times!!
I love you Ally for good reasons. One of them is you go to the 'back of the bus'. You check the whole line, a principle of yours? You do it on the forum. A few subscriber folks jump the line. Whether or not their messages truly relate to the ideas of the first few comments on top; some subscribers want to be read and or polished by 20 or more likes. We all seem to know that very few are like you, Ally, and willingly go to 'the back of the bus'. That's still true in America and elsewhere. Might it be a metaphor? The gulf between the ultra rich at the rest of us -- how wide is space?
As someone who has probably unwittingly “jumped the line”, I have a question about Substack forum etiquette in general, or LFAA forum etiquette specifically. Is it the custom that the first few people who comment on the author’s post set the topics or direction for the discussion, and the norm is that there is always one big conversation and everyone who comes later is well-advised to read all prior comments on the thread before adding a new comment? Is there a socially approved method or place for going off on a different tangent? I don’t want to offend by not having picked up on the unspoken rules.
Elizabeth, It was thoughtful of you to respond. There is no protocol with reference to comments and replies on the forum, except to behave respectfully toward one another. I observe behavior and patterns...observant by nature. I was expressing my thoughts about a few patterns on the forum, and seeing Ally this late morning reminded me of them. She faithfully looks over comments, I surmise not reading them all, but scrolling for what pricks her interest and what she would like to reply to. I appreciate that practice and try to follow it. Most subscribers who come later, simply post when they arrive and often their comments are not read. One reason for that has to do with subscriber/readers come and go at different times. and many seem to come early. Another reason is that some subscribers just read a few comments at the top. I noticed as well that a small number who do not come early make it a practice to hookup with one of the early commenters. Most often there are good reasons to hook up with a comment, adding info, another perspective, etc. Some may just want to make sure that what they have written is read and or collect a good number of 'likes' - a matter of self-esteem?
I have found jewels in the back of the bus, so try to get there. Most if not all of us don't have the time to stop at most posts. We all have our favorites. I was signaling that there is value back there.
One piece of good news today- Ian Prior of the Fight for Schools group in Loudoun County VA had his group’s demand for the recall of 2 school board members dismissed by a judge for lack of evidence to support the accusations. Sadly, not before these two citizens and their families suffered significant abuse and distress.
Because, as far as Republicans are concerned, the best way (maybe the only way) to gain and maintain control (for their personal benefit) is to cheat, lie, and "create" problems they will rise up to blame on Democrats but never sit down and work to resolve - i.e. the latest examples being the baby formula House Bill where 193 Republicans voted against the solution after raising the hue and cry about the need for the federal government to DO something. Or the Bill Republicans voted against that was to insure the long-term solvency for the care and treatment of U.S. veterans and 9/11 first responders. Then there was the Bill to send more support to Ukraine and, led by Rand Paul, more Republicans votes against it. With the exception of Kinzinger and Liz Cheney (not her father) I can't think of ANY Republican in office voters should trust or believe. Republican voters who automatically vote for any candidate with the "R" brand were perfect sheep just waiting for Trump to come along with his three-ring circus selling sickening "sweet" racist and hateful candy. And their "base" ate it up to the point they can't imagine thinking for themselves or consider how sick the national political health is because of him and their blind trust even when the truth is staring them in the face (unless they are so mesmerized by fake Fox news their mentality prohibits considering anything that doesn't come out of the mouths of Carlson, Hannity, or Ingraham). What a perfect environment the Southern Baptist evangelical faction was for the likes of Trump - to the point of proclaiming he was sent by God (while ignoring the lack of any moral compass or human compassion). There is no colonic strong enough to clean out what the radical right republicans and Trump have created in this country other than to call it anti-American, anti-democracy, white (male) supremacy, racist hate-based preparatory fascism, and evil.
Rusty, you hit the nail on the head. Legislators in my state continue to rail on what they claim 'failed-policies' and problems. The classic deflection, bait-and-switch to draw attention from the great things being accomplished and simply complain. Of course I always respond to them suggesting they do more than find something to complain about and actually go to work representing our state. After all, they work for us, not the other way around. As I posted above, 'wars are about deception', no matter what war or what evil is desired to be accomplished. You do as you want, and to cover your evil, you lie about it, deflect and point the finger at someone else claiming they are at fault for some made up crime. I truly fear for this country and what is happening to the actual ability of people to reason and think.
I do wish ppl would abandon referring to "tRump". It doesn't damage him (I'd be fine with it if it really did damage him), and the derriere is a critical part of the human body, as well as often a beautiful part and a secondary sex characteristic. It evolved into its current form to enable H. sapiens to run (no other primates have it and no other primates run), along with the nuchal ligament (holds the head steady while running) and the achilles tendon, as during hunter-gatherer days people often chased prey animals for hours, which we, unlike the prey, could do, as we also could keep our bodies cool through sweating and lack of hair.
Thanks for letting us know your sense of this. I'm have referred to Donald as tRump because he is an a**, in the worst sense if the word. His physical attributes have nothing to do with it. He is intellectually a socially a third rate boar. Spiritually, we all have to answer to God: I'll let God handle that. Donald's behavior is unforgivable. His niece says she refers to him as Donald because he hates it. She knows him well, so I will follow her example from now on, in hopes of referring to him as clearly and as disrespectfully as I can.
He's a horrible person. (I also read and felt enlightened by Mary Trump's book.) My problem is when words for sexually related body parts take on pejorative connotations, when I'd prefer that they have nothing but good connotations.
Well... it looks like the Republicans themselves are the dreaded lizard people sexually abusing the bodies and souls of children and destroying their innocence.
Yep. I was not in the least surprised by the report. Whenever people have inordinate power over others, this is what happens. And who, for evangelicals, have more power than their pastors. In fact, this sort of set up attracts egoists who love telling others what to do with every aspect of their lives while often sexually using them. Pro-family, my behind. As for Facebook and Zuckerberg, I still get way to much advertising and sometimes ads for Rs. I remove them of course. Faking signatures for political purposes, who knew?? And as aside, on our own little political scandal here in Oregon, the vote counting mess continues in Clackistan County. The clerk does have help from other county workers, and other counties now, but she is stonewalling as much as she can in terms of info and actually put a piece of paper over her face with she saw the local NBC affiliate's camera. She does have this large cross hanging around her neck which maybe has cut off oxygen to her brain. May she be replaced in November although she should resign before that.
Just read an article about the Oregon voting mess. Wow, between that and the signature debacle in Michigan it's as if some Republicans want to prove that our voting systems are flawed.
This particular county clerk has been inept for a long time and it was under her watch that a R election worker marked spots that the voters had left blank. There was an audit earlier and she refused to follow any of the suggestions. Other entities immediately offered help, but she initially refused. The Oregon sec. of state is on her case. I'm sure that the clerk is a R. and of course, she has all kinds of excuses. People can watch and the ones on the news last night were surely Rs, holding flags and blabbing about making sure elections were not fraudulent because as we all know (Rs have told us) there is rampant fraud.
Even worse than I read about! We have to vote for County Clerk here this year and I am scrutinizing the candidates closely. We have never had problems here and it's sad that the people who run our elections whether they are paid or volunteers are having their integrity questioned.
Nor is she is contrite. "What, me worry?" seems to be her attitude. Maybe the real reason Republicans are anti-government is that they're congenitally inept at managing it.
" Faking signatures for political purposes, who knew??" But who's surprised? Not me. Probably easier to do in some states than others. Our local Registrar of Voters (San Diego CA) samples a random 10% of signatures for initiatives and I wouldn't be surprised if they check all signatures on petitions for candidates to be on the ballot here in California. The required number of signatures for candidacy is relatively small depending on whether local or state-level.
It's at the point where, if they make an accusation of any kind I just wait for the news story where they are somehow embroiled in that very thing. Every time Trump speaks I concur, yes, an election was indeed stolen and it was in 2016.
Our recent elections and all these “goings on” appear really familiar to Ukrainians, as much of these ‘shenanigans’ were perpetrated in their elections of the past decade and longer. Who ( Republican Consultant) was there, advising Russian backed Yankovich, and how did very wealthy Conservative Ukrainian Oligarch’s and all Media behave/operate in their politics in the last 20 years? It is weirdly familiar.
I marveled at how the Southern Baptist arrived at their conclusions so add my name to those who didn't know. Begs the question of what else am I missing.
I knew once I saw Christian leaders backing Trump after the way they treated Bill Clinton that none of this was about moral standards, but power. It's been hard to take. And I concur with Russell Moore that the report reveals much more evil than I had even anticipated (& I really did anticipate). So many lives ruined that should have been protected, and would have been if these narcissistic leaders had just listened to victims like Christa Brown over 15 years ago. There *are* decent SB people & churches, but this is a time to mourn, not to defend anyone but the violated innocents.
Right, it was limited to findings about the SBC Executive Committee related to abuse or response to it since 2000. Pretty incredible under that limited scope.
Some of the information has been around for awhile, and I knew why both Moores left the denomination. Am at the moment reading “Shadow Network” by Anne Nelson laying out the right_wing parties’ involvement in our government. Just finished “White Too Long” by Robert P Jones, giving the history of the SBC.
Hope you’ve also read Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains and Jane Mayer’s Dark Money. Along with Shadow Network, they are almost a trilogy of sorts. They’re important in helping make sense of where we are now.
"The fallacy of begging the question occurs when an argument's premises assume the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. In other words, you assume without proof the stand/position, or a significant part of the stand, that is in question. Begging the question is also called arguing in a circle."
Among several examples, this website gives this one: "Of course smoking causes cancer. The smoke from cigarettes is a carcinogen."
For some reason, I found HRC's brilliant, as usual, essay strangely comforting today. 15 million Southern Baptists (I went to Texas Tech in the early 80s so I know all about the SBC) called for Transparency and Decency and the Righting of Wrongs in unison. They did indeed have the "ears to hear" the truth. If that can happen there is hope.
That's my hope too- the unanimity of the 2021 messengers, and also strong efforts by EC trustees, to fight for a transparent investigation. Maybe truth can turn the tide, force out the scum, or both.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Sir Walter Scott, 1808).
It makes me sick to my stomach when patriarchal power is used to exploit women and children — and men. It takes dreadfully twisted minds to turn the tables on the victims! Russell Moore’s words sear the core of my being.
“[The] report is so damning that Russell Moore’s first reaction was to say: ‘I was wrong to call sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention…a crisis. Crisis is too small a word. It is an apocalypse.’ The investigation, he says, ‘uncovers a reality far more evil and systematic than I imagined it could be.’ ‘How many children were raped, how many people were assaulted, how many screams were silenced,’ he asked, ‘while we boasted that no one could reach the world for Jesus like we could.’
All I can say is HOLY sh_t, TC. This demonstrates how brainwashing and lying are imploding the evangelicals and republicans. Pizzagate is their alt reality distraction whilst they inflict, in the real world, massive abuses and lies. No wonder they do not want women to have any power over their bodies. This is more darkness by "religious" white, privileged males wearing the mask of a minister or the hood of a klan member. or the name of a seditious party. It is all about power, money and sex. Rip the roof off and tear the pages out! We are done with all these lies. America is a democracy that has stage five cancer right now. Its causal origins are white, fascist, privileged males descended from the ancient patriarchy, masked in religion and money, whose real sins deserve no forgiveness or reconciliation but penance and community service for the rest of their lives. Thank you TC for posting the full article. I am sickened again and again what is done in the name of religion and politics, power-over others and narcissism. I was told by my born-again- Christian Godmother when I was nine that Jesus died for MY sins. I did not buy it. I was one of the lucky young ones who did not believe in adult's twisted lies that did not resonate with my knowledge of my Self. She then abandoned me forever. That kind of worship has never been for me without deep questioning and seeing how people live it. Well, there may have been a small exception for something akin to idol worship via my never-ending crush on Paul McCartney, a man who wrote and sang the best love songs ever. Maybe he was my Jesus and resonated with my tween desire to live in a Golden Rule world with no external dogma, but some innate passion that most humans desire: That of giving and receiving pure, untainted LOVE. My heart aches for all those so abused by their spiritual leaders...and political leaders. When they are abused, so are we all, collectively. So are we all.
TC, thank you for the full article. What a searing indictment of a church whose entire leadership, with a few exceptions like Russell Moore, had become a criminal conspiracy to commit rape and sexual abuse. They developed elaborate hypocritical, lying, and cruel strategies to keep the abuse secret and discredit the victims. And they did so in order to perpetuate the white, male SBC leadership and pastors’ ability to continue to abuse. Suddenly everything about today’s Republican party makes sickening sense.
Why do white, male evangelical/Republican leaders tacitly or openly promote the wacko QAnon allegations claiming the Democratic party is a giant ring of pedophiles who even eat children? Because just like Dumpster, they take the focus off their own outrageous crimes by falsely accusing their opponents of doing *exactly* what they--the Republican/Southern Baptist male leadership--have *actually* been doing. Only the bizarre QAnon baby-eating allegations are (we hope) beyond their own actual vile crimes.
Why does it seem like every Republican leader is missing the neurons to perceive their own hypocrisy? Because hypocrisy, false sanctimony, and pants-on-firelies are their consciously chosen, go-to strategies. They know exactly what they’re doing.
Why does it seem like Mark Zuckerberg allowed Facebook to be used by Republicans to turbocharge Republican lies, brainwash voters, pervert the 2016 election, and explosively grow a national movement to overthrow our democracy? Because that’s exactly what he did. Meta isn’t short for the “metaverse”. It’s short for Metastasize.
So here’s the question: How do Democrats weaponize the _truth_ of this SBC investigation to expose and bring down the entire rotten edifice of Republican/evangelical white male supremacy promoters? THAT’S what we who value truth and democracy urgently need to turn into a bold action campaign.
"How do Democrats weaponize the _truth_ of this SBC investigation to expose and bring down the entire rotten edifice of Republican/evangelical white male supremacy promoters?" THERE! Right there. If we have any faith at all in the decency of most people in the USA, simply making sure the public is aware of it ought to do the trick. It should not be that hard. BUT - I have spoken with enough Republican or Libertarian people to know that hatred of the "Democrat Agenda" is so strong that too many will hold their noses and vote the other way anyway. Yes. So perhaps a better question is how can we better publicize the reasons why we think the way we do and have the agendas we have, and not some transmogrification of it all put out there by the right wingers.
Thank goodness millions of Americans recognize the crucial importance of our Free-Press - excellent journalists and reporters (we need a lot more of them, particularly LOCAL NEWs) that historians, including the eminent Timothy Snyder and Heather Cox Richardson turn to for reliable sources. Subscribers, such as our widely admired military historian, TC, don't ignore HCR's 'Notes'. That is where TC found:
… That's just a tiny fraction of links in today's 'Notes'. I won't go on, except to recommend that subscribers check them out and support the growth of the Free-Press in the USA.
Thanks, Fern. We are collecting a library of resources and sources that truly inform, just as Heather provides us with perspective and resources. Truth.
These are the same types of people who are hell-bent on forcing women to give birth, even if they are victims of rape or incest. They think they're doing God's work, but that delusional form of self-righteousness keeps them from seeing the evil they commit.
No, they commit control, oppression and the increase in number of white people. They do not give a hooey once they are born. The women will have to figure that out.
Allen, I suggest you spell out your abbreviations in the future. I went on a brief search. Is this the organization you were referring to?
'The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 2007, the Center is building its reputation through its programs and projects even before there is a building. Beginning with the 2008 groundbreaking for Reconciliation Park, which was Dr. John Hope Franklin’s last public appearance before his death in March 2009, the Center’s Board of Directors created an exciting vision – to transform the bitterness and mistrust caused by years of racial division, even violence, into a hopeful future of reconciliation and cooperation for Tulsa and the nation.'
'John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park was completed in October 2010, and is a public-private partnership, owned by The City of Tulsa and managed by the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Inc. Ultimately, the serious work of reconciliation will occur in the John Hope Franklin Center building, which will house galleries, archives, a digital story-telling booth, documentary projects, conference space, and other facilities appropriate for a historical site of national significance. Through education and community dialogue, the Center's "parlor" will create an atmosphere for healing and reconciliation.'
JHFC, Ha! Wasn't that worth thinking about for a moment or two?
We're at your beck and call, any more 'golden oldies' Allen? I thought my response with 'The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation' was perfect. C'mon, I want to see you take a knee or two.
I was thinking Jesus H. F-ing Christ. But I don't know what the H stands for. Holy? I am not very good at many acronyms. But tfg I know and the F does not stand for former in my mind...
Christianity Today magazine had its own sex abuse scandal. A senior editor couldn’t keep his hands off female staffers and kept blustering into offices to watch new mothers breast feeding. Another senior official who constantly hit on young interns only left when he was arrested for soliciting a teenage prostitute.
Hard to press "like" on your post. But this is pervasive behavior women experience in most levels of life and work. The more attention upon it, the better.
Exactly, Berry. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." There is no religion that does not have abusive leaders among its believers. While all present day religions are male dominant, I'll resist the easy cliche that men misuse women. The truth, I think, is all about power and its tendency to delude those who wield it. HCR's letter today really ties that aspect together. If abusiveness has tentacles in every religion, it's doing fine in the secular world, too. I'm just about physically ill at the pure rampant evil in the Republican party. It has become a caricature of dysfunction whose members seem like they're from a Batman movie, except they are real and very harmful. (I'm sure there are bad actors among the Democrats, too. It's just that so many R's have access to astounding amounts of money, which has given them too much power.)
I like how you think. We just may be the Superheroes! Maybe it is time that the superheroes remove their masks and join us.
I remember that Stan Lee did a Spiderman story on a young man that had been sexually abused who is rescued by Spiderman; in conversation, Spiderman (aka Peter Parker) reveals that he, too, had been the victim of sexual abuse as a young boy.
You are the big boys and girls! Little Donny Johnny puddin and pie grabbed the girls where it made them cry. When the big boys and girls came out to play, little Donny Johnny ran away.
Hope, you speak for so many of us, feeling ill and stressed with the state of the world, and with today's letter, and especially of our country, which seems to be between crumbling and hope. Often well meaning friends and family, counsel that the way to reduce the stress is to not spend so much time reading, watching, immersed in "politics." Writing and reading LFAA is not an addiction, but I can't stop. There is some form of kinship on this site, even virtually.
Yes, sexual abuse of women and children is a feature not a bug of conservative patriarchal religions.
Because they like to keep records, we’ve seen these types of revelations repeated over and over again. Whether it’s The Southern Baptists, the Catholic Church, Jehovah Witnesses, or who knows how many others the story is depressingly the same. It’s also happens in so called New Age religions as well. Just look at all the scandals surrounding Scientology.
The coverups and the abuse of victims is also always the same. Protecting the organization, it’s so called mission and let’s be honest it’s fundraising is always more important than the crimes and the damage they cause victims.
Remember the story of the Golden Calf...and the money lenders, and so many more. Basic Bible stories that are overshadowed by the greed pure power elicits...as a woman, I wouldn't go anywhere near a Southern Baptist church. And I've known that for many years.
“Holy sh*t” was my first thought, Lynell. Had no idea a religious sect invented the literal and figurative interpretation of that phrase.
And then I thought of the patriarchal web woven over decades…nah, centuries.
I was taken aback at Professor Richardson’s warning at the beginning of the Letter. It made me immediately think of how the truth of history can be so sickening that it demands a warning. I am having a difficult time processing this woven practice of patriarchal deceit. It’s pure evil. And the complicit agreement from the leadership of an entire political party?
To me culminating in a Supreme Court Justice writing an opinion based on this “holy shit”. Not even real. Not truthful. Inhumanely human. Subjugation of fellow humans. And worse, I read this and grasped more of a sickening realization of the omission of any exception for a medical abortion. Including rape and incest. For such a powerful religious cult to consent to procreation through systematic practice of rape and incest? And include it in a legal agenda?
I need a minute after this Letter. Today I rely on others for strength.
Yes, yes, Christine, the abuse and the descriptions and intentions are more than heinous and disgusting. One scandal and abuse after another in The Church. It's almost an "oxymoron of thought" to write Church and think we're writing about a place of worship and peace and hope and love, instead of a den of... I'm not near a Unitarian Universalist, but my friends are and I've attended and that seems to be the exception. Or maybe all are vulnerable and dependent on the mortals who lead.
"It takes dreadfully twisted minds to turn the tables on the victims!"
That happened with, for one example, Anita Hill, and now we have Clarence Thomas and his insurrection-supporting wife. He should never have been confirmed.
“Stop the presses! Breaking news! It turns out that the leadership of the Southern Baptists are bald-faced hypocrites!”
Well, uh, many of us have been aware of that for some time now. It explains why the SBC and the GOP have fit so well together since Saint Reagan’s days. Remember the term, “Moral Majority”? Their current political hero is himself a serial philanderer and an accused sexual predator. The news is that they can no longer hide the fact of rampant sexual predation which raises the question of what, if anything, the members, especially the women, are going to do about it.
An epigraph from one of my poems: "Scientists now calculate that all living humans are related to a single woman who lived roughly 150,000 years ago in Africa, a 'Mitochondrial Eve...' Mitochondrial Eve was soon joined by Y chromosome Adam...' from National Geographic, March 2006 (so it has to be true." We're First! Let's take back our power.
There is such a primitive longing for a daddy who loves you best and will take care of everything for you that people will buy in to anything that abusers serve up
I completely agree with you, becky. We all want someone to save us and protect us in this crazy world that we are willing to give our power over to charlatans without using critical thinking skills.
It's really not surprising about the SBC, aka the State Religion of the Confederate States of America, the church FOUNDED to preach that slavery was"god's will." Turns out "the Righteous Gemstones" is a documentary, not a comedy.
TC, yes, beyond the church preaching slavery was god’s will, the myth that god will protect was fed to slaves who often had to attend church on Sundays. They allowed religion but not freedom. And not good will.
Seems as if they Force fed Christianity via "Mission" work since the church's inception. Destroyed belief systems that didn't align with their own. We knew this on an intellectual level. Perhaps the Missionaries believed in their pursuit of "G-d". Did the church consider this a religious conquest or a Land Grab? Forgive me. I'm trying to rationalize
One more consideration about slaves attending church and a note about Reparations: for some Sunday and church was their social time, since many were mandated to attend, they might be able to be with family or friends in some way. Or plan their escape. Not being allowed to attend could be a punishment. Maybe I'm reading too many books but one thing books and film show, graphically, is the brutality and violence against the slaves even for 'kitchen slaves, cooks, nannies" for transgressions "for their own good." Occasionally there were owners who taught their slaves to read or believed they were "friends." What a complicated and tragic relationship for people kept as chattel, not as living humans with agency for their lives. And how delusional for owners to rationalize that slaves weren't human. When will we truly consider reparations? This website links to a Human Rights Watch video of the Tulsa Massacre and to information about contacting President Biden about establishing a federal Reparations Commission. And about HR Resolution 40 to establish a commission. Here's a statistic that should rattle some cages: "according to a recent Citi Group study, not addressing the racial wealth gap has cost the US economy up to $16 trillion over the past 20 years." Everyone loses in a society that accepts inequality. And Racism. https://www.hrw.org/ReparationsNow
For many Americans, family life is organized around religion. And they’ve taken it to a new level by making it political. But maybe that’s not new. Be sure to read the quote by Carter.
I remember reading about Jimmy Carter leaving the Southern Baptist Church in 2006. . “Jimmy Carter Leaves Southern Baptists” There’s a difference between Baptist and Southern Baptist.
2006 on Jimmy Carter: End of Tradition
“My grandfather, my father and I have always been Southern Baptists, and for 21 years, since the first political division took place in the Southern Baptist Convention, I have maintained that relationship. I feel I can no longer in good conscience do that,” Carter was quoted as telling the Journal-Constitution.
The former president told the paper he will continue as a deacon at Baptist church in his hometown of Plains, Ga., and that he and his wife, Rosalynn, will associate with Baptist groups “who share such beliefs as separation of church and state … a free religious press, and equality of women.” https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/story?id=95311&page=1
I would add Sen. Cassidy 's remarks about maternal mortality rates in Louisiana as a scandal, though there will be ways to justify his reasoning. Black mothers die at higher rates because of racism. That's the short of it. Not scandalous enough to too many Republican voters though.
What makes his remarks particularly terrible is that he's a medical doctor who has done good work in providing health care to under-served populations. Another in a long line of formerly upstanding citizens caught in the swirl of power.
“Sewer of power.” You may have inadvertently coined a new, popular expression, Anne! Helps visualize the political vortex that Republican/white evangelicals are down-spiraling this nation through…
Given the population of Louisiana, I have to assume that many of the patients are Black. His comment reflects the fact that, as one commenter says, he's been caught in the sewer of power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cassidy#Medicine
Does anyone expect anything else, sadly? From big religion? And from Zuckerberg? So far nothing of the sort from us Unitarians, but who knows, anything is possible, although I certainly hope not! Also, even though my brass quintet contains an atheist (the trombone player) and an agnostic (me, the tuba player), we are happily engaged in playing for St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church. So I'm rooting for the right kind of religion (cross culture), even if I'm not a part of it.
My time attending a Universal Unitarian church was wonderful. Inclusive, supportive, and non-judge mental. Otherwise, Christianity has become toxic. Damn, a brief check of history confirms that it’s not a new thing…
Great to hear you had a good experience with the Unitarian Universalists. For me, music is just one of the universal connections we have with each other. There are others, no doubt. We just need to find them all.
Yes, Pam, the forest and the trails are my cathedral. A beautiful reminder that we can find Mother Nature, who is truly a "god" on our planet and it is our responsibility to care for her. Back to the basics.
Tried to "heart" your comment, Matt! I agree - like you, I am in a brass group (horn) that plays in a Presbyterian church - our members range from devout to atheist as well, but we all agree that music is a path of connection almost all can share.
I'm a UU and the community is wonderful. In my time, we've had a 10-year minister who was initially a rabbi, then a 3 year refugee from the Presbyterians, a former Lutheran for a few years, and now a Scotsman from the very Calvin version of Presbyterianism in Scotland. Quite a religious education, great music, and nice people.
Another staunch Unitarian here! Very hard to believe and stomach what’s going on in our country right now. Although I believe it’s good that we’re exposing such horrible truths: both in religion and government; it’s so very hard to fathom it and know how to solve and heal it.
Consequences. We need new kinds of consequences that require something different than sitting in jail or paying money to stay out of it. But it requires work in the social justice arena and there are good programs that should be used for these kinds of crimes against humanity. We do not have jails big enough, they do not really work, and our money should be used in giving back to those you have harmed.
The Unitarians have a great record of lending space to progressive causes. Many a lefty bookstore, singer, movement got its start in their church basements.
The zen center to which I belong rents space from a Unitarian church for weekly meditation and periodic classes. We often have members sign up for the intro to Zen workshops. Wonderful organization, wonderful people, beautiful sanctuary.
Funny comments, thank you! I too had a good experience with Unitarians way too many years ago…and the person who officiated at our wedding was Unitarian (and he looked a lot like John Denver, double positive!)
I used to go to the UU church near me and I remember the discussions about not advocating for particular candidates or propositions from the pulpit. We took it seriously, so when I see video of some ministers outright promoting or condemning particular candidates or parties it blows my mind. Maybe I am too much of a rule follower, though I am playing hooky from work today.
I think part of the UU strict adherence to being non-political is the underlying acceptance and tolerance and respect for everyone. UU churches welcome many "refugees" from other organized religions and from all walks of life.
Yes, it is baked into the church itself at least at the one I attended. There may have been conservatives in the congregation but I never could have pointed to one or identified a small committee/group as conservative. I think Southern Baptists, Catholics and other denominations have a higher chance to have the opposite qualities baked in, due to their view of the world.
My brass quintet has the agnostic (trumpet player) and the non-theist (tuba player, me). The other members of the quintet are all committed church goers, and we have played at all of their churches...
That gave me an equivalent stomachache to Heather's and TCinLA's post this morning. This needs to be stopped and dropped. This is a gerrymandering apocalypse on our country.
Fascist, seditious elephants. And I love real elephants and do not want them mixed up in politics. New symbol needed for republicans...swastika made out of tiki torches?
Symbols should be easy to recognize. Yes, Elephants are honest and trustworthy. And have memories of family. Show love. The repugs could hold a bogus contest for a new icon. Skunk, hyena, snake?
Interesting, last evening just at dusk, I was walking in the meadow towards the beaver pond and saw a strange dark thing in the tall grass ahead. I paused and asked it what it was. It stuck up the biggest tail with white tips I have ever seen here. I started to walk forward a little and it moved and stuck its tail up further making it out to be a rather large skunk. It was so big, I did not mess with it. I backed up and it started moving towards me so I turned and walked quickly away. It then crossed the path I had mown a few days before and stopped and looked at me as I turned around to see where it was. It was a magnificent creature. But a creature to be very wary of when on your path. Same way I feel about republicans, minus the magnificence, except as a$$holes. To think I used to be a Montessori teacher and great role model. Now I feel like a seething, swearing Medusa in black leather wanting to exact revenge for our world. Geeze...I will channel all this rage, never fear.
Let's leave the animals out of all this; they've done nothing to warrant being associated with such a vile bunch of homo sapiens. I vote for the above suggestion of the tiki torch swastika.
I see Allen Hingston of Ukraine is here! Allen how are you and your family? Where are you now? There are no words for the evil Putin and his supporters are doing to your beautiful country and the bread basket of that area. He does not deserve to live another day.
Thank you Dr. Richardson! One question from today’s coverage leaps out at me. What gives the FTC the authority to indemnify Facebook for “any and all claims prior to June 12, 2019.” By what authority does the FTC have the power to shield a company from the courts? They are different branches of government. This would be akin to the FDA shielding Perdue Pharma from opioid lawsuits by giving them a paltry administrative fine. I don’t see where the FTC has that authority.
Mark Zuckerberg began his climb to extreme wealth as a sexist, socially frustrated, thief (of Harvard student pictures). With Facebook, he has dishonestly violated all norms of privacy and destroyed “friend” as a meaningful description of a close relationship. A despicable human being whose damage to social relationships is incalculable and irreversible.
Well said. It is my opinion that Facebook has engineered the social divide that we are seeing in this country today, at least among folks of my generation.
Complete agreement! I have deleted my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, leaving only YouTube guiltily for music videos. Someone responded to my earlier suggestion that a renewed draft of young men and women for service to country (military or otherwise) would be a unifying force culturally and politically, by adding that the service should be performed far from home. Face-to-face discussion is essential, without algorithms!!
You're beating my drum!! I would love to see a mandatory service commitment (military/peace corps/conservation corps) of 2-3 years post high school. That would help our country immensely.
I think what we are seeing is the Great Unfolding of all the trash the patriarchy has heaped upon us being revealed all at once thanks to the belligerence and blatancy of their puffed up power. We are so lucky that they chose such idiots to reveal their darkness. It is up to the good people of America to stop these bullies and terrorists.
That, or maybe they knew it'd be impossible to keep hidden and they didn't want the news to come out during the Midterms. They might be trying to get ahead of the stories.
I fear it's going to be a long hot summer (like in the early '70's), leading up to the elections in the fall. If the dems have any sense about them, they will use this report on the SBC to their advantage. Them's that cloak themselves in the Constitution, and all that is red, white and blue and motherhood are abusing women and girls and I suspect boys. Did they learn nothing from the Catholic church???? Yup...it's the patriarchy! Somewhere in the '90's I bought a refridgerator magnet that says "I will be a post feminist in the post patriarchy"..... looks like we are still here. Thanks HCR!
“Members also called for an investigation of the escalating sex scandals, which had become so toxic after Trump’s election that In setting up an investigation, church members were leery enough of the leaders investigating themselves that they set up a task force to manage a third-party investigation.” We have a chance to vote out the party of evangelicals and TFG in the coming elections. Including tomorrow. The history of how evangelism infiltrated our politics and government is “damning.”
The Loudoun County Democratic Committee's take on this was a bit more partisan😉:
"From the start, everyone – Democrats, Independents, and even some Republicans – knew it was nothing more than a stunt: a right-wing charade to win national headlines by harassing the duly elected Loudoun County School Board members who didn’t embrace the regressive vision of education dictated by Ian Prior and Fight for Schools.
"Well, in the end, they lost. And lost badly.
"Before the hearings could even get underway this morning, the presiding judge dismissed the cases saying there was insufficient evidence to support the offenses Prior and his fellow cultural warriors alleged School Board members Brenda Sheridan and Altoosa Reaser committed or found the allegations insufficient to require any discipline.
"After nearly a year of unwarranted lies, accusations, and national headlines, the court found the Fight for Schools recall petitions to be built upon a tissue of imagined slights.
“'I will never be able to put into words the toll this process took on my family, and on the families I serve,' said Reaser. 'What I can tell you is that this type of malicious court filing has a chilling effect on democracy.'
"There’s the temptation to call their misbehavior a cheap stunt; but, it wasn’t cheap. It cost Sheridan and Reaser public ridicule; it cost Loudoun County derision in Richmond and nationally; it cost the taxpayers’ resources to process these unfounded allegations; and, perhaps most importantly, it cost the time and energy of School Board members who should have been focusing on educating our children."
Next up on Ian Prior's agenda is his quest to take down my U.S. Representative, Jennifer Wexton, this November. If anyone is interested, here's a link that describes who Ian Prior is. You can click on a "Continue without subscribing" button that's hard to find but can be found!
These frivolous, defamation cases should have financial payback on those who have been wrongfully sued. These people need to be brought before a Social Reparation Board and made to pay court and emotional costs, and work to clean up their messes in the community .
I don't think it's a coincidence that so many cases of sexual misconduct, both actual and alleged, involve high-ranking members of both political and religious organisations. Such behaviour is normal for high-status males in a number of primate species other than our own. Ask any female baboon!
I am not the least bit surprised, having been raised in a southern town, where there was a Baptist church on every corner. The audacity and the hypocrisy is deafening. Dogs are better treated than women or children by these harmful jerks!
Not that I am recommending this, but maybe visit an inner city church? In my experience that will make all of the difference. I can believe in the message there even if I don't believe in the theology. And playing music makes it all worth it.
So great that there is some verification of what has been swirling around for decades. Who didn’t know that the church had turned evil, and more than the Southern Baptists. Who didn’t know that the 2016 election was marred from the start with shady dealings, Republican shady dealings. Who didn’t know from the start of the chump administration (and before) that Bannon personified evil. Who didn’t know that billionaire money bought the integrity of Republicans. Who didn’t know that Zuckerberg was/is the Zombie Apocalypse. In fact, I am still dealing with the fallout from a Facebook data breach several years ago, before they banned me for calling chump the traitor that most non-MAGAts now know him to be. Has there ever been a time when so much information is available to us all, yet propaganda rules. May the layers be peeled back and the truth revealed. May there be ears to hear.
More than just ears to hear. Minds to recognize the truth and act in it to hold people to account. The R’s just turned their backs on tRump’s criminality.
Jenn…They (Repugnant Republicans RR’s) didn’t just turn their backs on tRump’s criminality…they have condoned it, endorsed it and fundamentally supported it. What they have turned their backs on is…America and American Democracy. If the political pundits are to be believed about the Midterms and the RR’s regaining control…we are facing some really dark times!!
Embraced it as well. Kind of like it has given them license to go forward in all the worst ways.
I love you Ally for good reasons. One of them is you go to the 'back of the bus'. You check the whole line, a principle of yours? You do it on the forum. A few subscriber folks jump the line. Whether or not their messages truly relate to the ideas of the first few comments on top; some subscribers want to be read and or polished by 20 or more likes. We all seem to know that very few are like you, Ally, and willingly go to 'the back of the bus'. That's still true in America and elsewhere. Might it be a metaphor? The gulf between the ultra rich at the rest of us -- how wide is space?
As someone who has probably unwittingly “jumped the line”, I have a question about Substack forum etiquette in general, or LFAA forum etiquette specifically. Is it the custom that the first few people who comment on the author’s post set the topics or direction for the discussion, and the norm is that there is always one big conversation and everyone who comes later is well-advised to read all prior comments on the thread before adding a new comment? Is there a socially approved method or place for going off on a different tangent? I don’t want to offend by not having picked up on the unspoken rules.
Thanks.
Elizabeth, It was thoughtful of you to respond. There is no protocol with reference to comments and replies on the forum, except to behave respectfully toward one another. I observe behavior and patterns...observant by nature. I was expressing my thoughts about a few patterns on the forum, and seeing Ally this late morning reminded me of them. She faithfully looks over comments, I surmise not reading them all, but scrolling for what pricks her interest and what she would like to reply to. I appreciate that practice and try to follow it. Most subscribers who come later, simply post when they arrive and often their comments are not read. One reason for that has to do with subscriber/readers come and go at different times. and many seem to come early. Another reason is that some subscribers just read a few comments at the top. I noticed as well that a small number who do not come early make it a practice to hookup with one of the early commenters. Most often there are good reasons to hook up with a comment, adding info, another perspective, etc. Some may just want to make sure that what they have written is read and or collect a good number of 'likes' - a matter of self-esteem?
I have found jewels in the back of the bus, so try to get there. Most if not all of us don't have the time to stop at most posts. We all have our favorites. I was signaling that there is value back there.
Yes, as someone close to me likes to say, they go on about liberty but what they really want is license.
One piece of good news today- Ian Prior of the Fight for Schools group in Loudoun County VA had his group’s demand for the recall of 2 school board members dismissed by a judge for lack of evidence to support the accusations. Sadly, not before these two citizens and their families suffered significant abuse and distress.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/
Ally, yes they have. They are his match to the flame.
Because, as far as Republicans are concerned, the best way (maybe the only way) to gain and maintain control (for their personal benefit) is to cheat, lie, and "create" problems they will rise up to blame on Democrats but never sit down and work to resolve - i.e. the latest examples being the baby formula House Bill where 193 Republicans voted against the solution after raising the hue and cry about the need for the federal government to DO something. Or the Bill Republicans voted against that was to insure the long-term solvency for the care and treatment of U.S. veterans and 9/11 first responders. Then there was the Bill to send more support to Ukraine and, led by Rand Paul, more Republicans votes against it. With the exception of Kinzinger and Liz Cheney (not her father) I can't think of ANY Republican in office voters should trust or believe. Republican voters who automatically vote for any candidate with the "R" brand were perfect sheep just waiting for Trump to come along with his three-ring circus selling sickening "sweet" racist and hateful candy. And their "base" ate it up to the point they can't imagine thinking for themselves or consider how sick the national political health is because of him and their blind trust even when the truth is staring them in the face (unless they are so mesmerized by fake Fox news their mentality prohibits considering anything that doesn't come out of the mouths of Carlson, Hannity, or Ingraham). What a perfect environment the Southern Baptist evangelical faction was for the likes of Trump - to the point of proclaiming he was sent by God (while ignoring the lack of any moral compass or human compassion). There is no colonic strong enough to clean out what the radical right republicans and Trump have created in this country other than to call it anti-American, anti-democracy, white (male) supremacy, racist hate-based preparatory fascism, and evil.
Rusty, you hit the nail on the head. Legislators in my state continue to rail on what they claim 'failed-policies' and problems. The classic deflection, bait-and-switch to draw attention from the great things being accomplished and simply complain. Of course I always respond to them suggesting they do more than find something to complain about and actually go to work representing our state. After all, they work for us, not the other way around. As I posted above, 'wars are about deception', no matter what war or what evil is desired to be accomplished. You do as you want, and to cover your evil, you lie about it, deflect and point the finger at someone else claiming they are at fault for some made up crime. I truly fear for this country and what is happening to the actual ability of people to reason and think.
Perfect!!!!
I do wish ppl would abandon referring to "tRump". It doesn't damage him (I'd be fine with it if it really did damage him), and the derriere is a critical part of the human body, as well as often a beautiful part and a secondary sex characteristic. It evolved into its current form to enable H. sapiens to run (no other primates have it and no other primates run), along with the nuchal ligament (holds the head steady while running) and the achilles tendon, as during hunter-gatherer days people often chased prey animals for hours, which we, unlike the prey, could do, as we also could keep our bodies cool through sweating and lack of hair.
Here's more for anyone who's interested:
https://www.nature.com/articles/news041115-9#:~:text=Long%2Ddistance%20running%20was%20crucial,right%20up%20to%20our%20heads.
Amazing comment! Never-ending enlightenment in this crowd!
Thanks for letting us know your sense of this. I'm have referred to Donald as tRump because he is an a**, in the worst sense if the word. His physical attributes have nothing to do with it. He is intellectually a socially a third rate boar. Spiritually, we all have to answer to God: I'll let God handle that. Donald's behavior is unforgivable. His niece says she refers to him as Donald because he hates it. She knows him well, so I will follow her example from now on, in hopes of referring to him as clearly and as disrespectfully as I can.
He's a horrible person. (I also read and felt enlightened by Mary Trump's book.) My problem is when words for sexually related body parts take on pejorative connotations, when I'd prefer that they have nothing but good connotations.
I absolutely refuse to say/type his name. I refer to him at No. 45.
the cheeto is my refrain
I agree that the cutesy terms add nothing to the writers’ arguments.
But owe, no pun intended until I noticed it, how we loathe the insipid one.
Great comment!
I have always called him the Orange Sadist.
Well... it looks like the Republicans themselves are the dreaded lizard people sexually abusing the bodies and souls of children and destroying their innocence.
Yep. I was not in the least surprised by the report. Whenever people have inordinate power over others, this is what happens. And who, for evangelicals, have more power than their pastors. In fact, this sort of set up attracts egoists who love telling others what to do with every aspect of their lives while often sexually using them. Pro-family, my behind. As for Facebook and Zuckerberg, I still get way to much advertising and sometimes ads for Rs. I remove them of course. Faking signatures for political purposes, who knew?? And as aside, on our own little political scandal here in Oregon, the vote counting mess continues in Clackistan County. The clerk does have help from other county workers, and other counties now, but she is stonewalling as much as she can in terms of info and actually put a piece of paper over her face with she saw the local NBC affiliate's camera. She does have this large cross hanging around her neck which maybe has cut off oxygen to her brain. May she be replaced in November although she should resign before that.
Just read an article about the Oregon voting mess. Wow, between that and the signature debacle in Michigan it's as if some Republicans want to prove that our voting systems are flawed.
This particular county clerk has been inept for a long time and it was under her watch that a R election worker marked spots that the voters had left blank. There was an audit earlier and she refused to follow any of the suggestions. Other entities immediately offered help, but she initially refused. The Oregon sec. of state is on her case. I'm sure that the clerk is a R. and of course, she has all kinds of excuses. People can watch and the ones on the news last night were surely Rs, holding flags and blabbing about making sure elections were not fraudulent because as we all know (Rs have told us) there is rampant fraud.
Even worse than I read about! We have to vote for County Clerk here this year and I am scrutinizing the candidates closely. We have never had problems here and it's sad that the people who run our elections whether they are paid or volunteers are having their integrity questioned.
This one should have her integrity questioned.
Nor is she is contrite. "What, me worry?" seems to be her attitude. Maybe the real reason Republicans are anti-government is that they're congenitally inept at managing it.
Exactly.
Sigh.
Yes, sigh. She is really unrepentant.
" Faking signatures for political purposes, who knew??" But who's surprised? Not me. Probably easier to do in some states than others. Our local Registrar of Voters (San Diego CA) samples a random 10% of signatures for initiatives and I wouldn't be surprised if they check all signatures on petitions for candidates to be on the ballot here in California. The required number of signatures for candidacy is relatively small depending on whether local or state-level.
LOL!
Again: any right wing accusation is a confession
So true!
It's at the point where, if they make an accusation of any kind I just wait for the news story where they are somehow embroiled in that very thing. Every time Trump speaks I concur, yes, an election was indeed stolen and it was in 2016.
👌🏼
From Blowin’ In The Wind. Bob Dylan.
“Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?“
Perfect, H. H.
Our recent elections and all these “goings on” appear really familiar to Ukrainians, as much of these ‘shenanigans’ were perpetrated in their elections of the past decade and longer. Who ( Republican Consultant) was there, advising Russian backed Yankovich, and how did very wealthy Conservative Ukrainian Oligarch’s and all Media behave/operate in their politics in the last 20 years? It is weirdly familiar.
The Trial Run, :)
East meets West. 100% sharing best ( sneaky dirty tricks) practices.
I marveled at how the Southern Baptist arrived at their conclusions so add my name to those who didn't know. Begs the question of what else am I missing.
I knew once I saw Christian leaders backing Trump after the way they treated Bill Clinton that none of this was about moral standards, but power. It's been hard to take. And I concur with Russell Moore that the report reveals much more evil than I had even anticipated (& I really did anticipate). So many lives ruined that should have been protected, and would have been if these narcissistic leaders had just listened to victims like Christa Brown over 15 years ago. There *are* decent SB people & churches, but this is a time to mourn, not to defend anyone but the violated innocents.
And this report does not even include the many years of sexual abuse at the Evangelical & Christian youth camp called Kanakuk Camp.
Right, it was limited to findings about the SBC Executive Committee related to abuse or response to it since 2000. Pretty incredible under that limited scope.
Some of the information has been around for awhile, and I knew why both Moores left the denomination. Am at the moment reading “Shadow Network” by Anne Nelson laying out the right_wing parties’ involvement in our government. Just finished “White Too Long” by Robert P Jones, giving the history of the SBC.
Hope you’ve also read Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains and Jane Mayer’s Dark Money. Along with Shadow Network, they are almost a trilogy of sorts. They’re important in helping make sense of where we are now.
Ms Rauth: having read the first two, I say (today, of course) Amen to your recommendation. Shadow Network goes on my reading list.
We owe these authors, especially Jane Mayer (Ginni Thomas). After these books, continue on with Whiteshift, for background on rascism.
Yes, I have already read those.
I was surprised to learn, some time ago, that this is an incorrect use of "beg the question". Here is an explanation:
https://www.txstate.edu/philosophy/resources/fallacy-definitions/Begging-the-Question.html
"The fallacy of begging the question occurs when an argument's premises assume the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. In other words, you assume without proof the stand/position, or a significant part of the stand, that is in question. Begging the question is also called arguing in a circle."
Among several examples, this website gives this one: "Of course smoking causes cancer. The smoke from cigarettes is a carcinogen."
Better to say, "raises the question".
(Courtesy of your local nitpicker.)
Follow me and you will stay very busy. :)
Isn't religion autocratic by definition?
For some reason, I found HRC's brilliant, as usual, essay strangely comforting today. 15 million Southern Baptists (I went to Texas Tech in the early 80s so I know all about the SBC) called for Transparency and Decency and the Righting of Wrongs in unison. They did indeed have the "ears to hear" the truth. If that can happen there is hope.
That's my hope too- the unanimity of the 2021 messengers, and also strong efforts by EC trustees, to fight for a transparent investigation. Maybe truth can turn the tide, force out the scum, or both.
The chump administration. I am SO stealing that.
Getting banned for calling Chump the loser a traitor is a badge of honor which I am bestowing on you today.
👌
Your last two sentences remind me of the publication The Onion and its many, many dedicated readers.
Salud, Jeri. Your commentary is in the sizzlin’ category.
@Jeri Chulcutt. May the ears be many and the words echo as written
Jeri! "MAGAts" !!! Thank you!
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" (Sir Walter Scott, 1808).
It makes me sick to my stomach when patriarchal power is used to exploit women and children — and men. It takes dreadfully twisted minds to turn the tables on the victims! Russell Moore’s words sear the core of my being.
“[The] report is so damning that Russell Moore’s first reaction was to say: ‘I was wrong to call sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention…a crisis. Crisis is too small a word. It is an apocalypse.’ The investigation, he says, ‘uncovers a reality far more evil and systematic than I imagined it could be.’ ‘How many children were raped, how many people were assaulted, how many screams were silenced,’ he asked, ‘while we boasted that no one could reach the world for Jesus like we could.’
Read his whole article.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/may-web-only/southern-baptist-abuse-apocalypse-russell-moore.html
All I can say is HOLY sh_t, TC. This demonstrates how brainwashing and lying are imploding the evangelicals and republicans. Pizzagate is their alt reality distraction whilst they inflict, in the real world, massive abuses and lies. No wonder they do not want women to have any power over their bodies. This is more darkness by "religious" white, privileged males wearing the mask of a minister or the hood of a klan member. or the name of a seditious party. It is all about power, money and sex. Rip the roof off and tear the pages out! We are done with all these lies. America is a democracy that has stage five cancer right now. Its causal origins are white, fascist, privileged males descended from the ancient patriarchy, masked in religion and money, whose real sins deserve no forgiveness or reconciliation but penance and community service for the rest of their lives. Thank you TC for posting the full article. I am sickened again and again what is done in the name of religion and politics, power-over others and narcissism. I was told by my born-again- Christian Godmother when I was nine that Jesus died for MY sins. I did not buy it. I was one of the lucky young ones who did not believe in adult's twisted lies that did not resonate with my knowledge of my Self. She then abandoned me forever. That kind of worship has never been for me without deep questioning and seeing how people live it. Well, there may have been a small exception for something akin to idol worship via my never-ending crush on Paul McCartney, a man who wrote and sang the best love songs ever. Maybe he was my Jesus and resonated with my tween desire to live in a Golden Rule world with no external dogma, but some innate passion that most humans desire: That of giving and receiving pure, untainted LOVE. My heart aches for all those so abused by their spiritual leaders...and political leaders. When they are abused, so are we all, collectively. So are we all.
TC, thank you for the full article. What a searing indictment of a church whose entire leadership, with a few exceptions like Russell Moore, had become a criminal conspiracy to commit rape and sexual abuse. They developed elaborate hypocritical, lying, and cruel strategies to keep the abuse secret and discredit the victims. And they did so in order to perpetuate the white, male SBC leadership and pastors’ ability to continue to abuse. Suddenly everything about today’s Republican party makes sickening sense.
Why do white, male evangelical/Republican leaders tacitly or openly promote the wacko QAnon allegations claiming the Democratic party is a giant ring of pedophiles who even eat children? Because just like Dumpster, they take the focus off their own outrageous crimes by falsely accusing their opponents of doing *exactly* what they--the Republican/Southern Baptist male leadership--have *actually* been doing. Only the bizarre QAnon baby-eating allegations are (we hope) beyond their own actual vile crimes.
Why does it seem like every Republican leader is missing the neurons to perceive their own hypocrisy? Because hypocrisy, false sanctimony, and pants-on-firelies are their consciously chosen, go-to strategies. They know exactly what they’re doing.
Why does it seem like Mark Zuckerberg allowed Facebook to be used by Republicans to turbocharge Republican lies, brainwash voters, pervert the 2016 election, and explosively grow a national movement to overthrow our democracy? Because that’s exactly what he did. Meta isn’t short for the “metaverse”. It’s short for Metastasize.
So here’s the question: How do Democrats weaponize the _truth_ of this SBC investigation to expose and bring down the entire rotten edifice of Republican/evangelical white male supremacy promoters? THAT’S what we who value truth and democracy urgently need to turn into a bold action campaign.
"How do Democrats weaponize the _truth_ of this SBC investigation to expose and bring down the entire rotten edifice of Republican/evangelical white male supremacy promoters?" THERE! Right there. If we have any faith at all in the decency of most people in the USA, simply making sure the public is aware of it ought to do the trick. It should not be that hard. BUT - I have spoken with enough Republican or Libertarian people to know that hatred of the "Democrat Agenda" is so strong that too many will hold their noses and vote the other way anyway. Yes. So perhaps a better question is how can we better publicize the reasons why we think the way we do and have the agendas we have, and not some transmogrification of it all put out there by the right wingers.
Just keep telling the truth. How can anyone hate the truth? Sooner or later they have to admit it.
Thank goodness millions of Americans recognize the crucial importance of our Free-Press - excellent journalists and reporters (we need a lot more of them, particularly LOCAL NEWs) that historians, including the eminent Timothy Snyder and Heather Cox Richardson turn to for reliable sources. Subscribers, such as our widely admired military historian, TC, don't ignore HCR's 'Notes'. That is where TC found:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/may-web-only/southern-baptist-abuse-apocalypse-russell-moore.html
That link, along with a lot more are in Heather's treasure trove of, Notes:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/06/05/russell-moore-southern-baptist-sex-abuse-allegations/
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6108172d83d55d3c9db4dd67/t/628bfccb599a375bece1f66c/1653341391218/Guidepost+Solutions+Independent+Investigation+Report_.pdf
https://religionnews.com/2019/04/11/shadows-in-the-stained-glass-patterson-and-pressler-chapel-windows-come-down/
… That's just a tiny fraction of links in today's 'Notes'. I won't go on, except to recommend that subscribers check them out and support the growth of the Free-Press in the USA.
Thanks, Fern. Heather's Notes are always a treasure trove of valuable information.
Thanks, Fern. We are collecting a library of resources and sources that truly inform, just as Heather provides us with perspective and resources. Truth.
Thank you TC - it is a passionate indictment.
Again white men in power over the lives of others abuse their power to harm those they are supposed to protect.
Thank you, TC. I will.
These are the same types of people who are hell-bent on forcing women to give birth, even if they are victims of rape or incest. They think they're doing God's work, but that delusional form of self-righteousness keeps them from seeing the evil they commit.
No, they commit control, oppression and the increase in number of white people. They do not give a hooey once they are born. The women will have to figure that out.
JHFC
I thought it was HFJC.
West Coast version?
My mother would t know.
I will now use both versions
Allen, I suggest you spell out your abbreviations in the future. I went on a brief search. Is this the organization you were referring to?
'The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 2007, the Center is building its reputation through its programs and projects even before there is a building. Beginning with the 2008 groundbreaking for Reconciliation Park, which was Dr. John Hope Franklin’s last public appearance before his death in March 2009, the Center’s Board of Directors created an exciting vision – to transform the bitterness and mistrust caused by years of racial division, even violence, into a hopeful future of reconciliation and cooperation for Tulsa and the nation.'
'John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park was completed in October 2010, and is a public-private partnership, owned by The City of Tulsa and managed by the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Inc. Ultimately, the serious work of reconciliation will occur in the John Hope Franklin Center building, which will house galleries, archives, a digital story-telling booth, documentary projects, conference space, and other facilities appropriate for a historical site of national significance. Through education and community dialogue, the Center's "parlor" will create an atmosphere for healing and reconciliation.'
https://www.jhfcenter.org/
I can only hope you are making a joke. If you don't know what it means, ask your mother
JHFC, Ha! Wasn't that worth thinking about for a moment or two?
We're at your beck and call, any more 'golden oldies' Allen? I thought my response with 'The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation' was perfect. C'mon, I want to see you take a knee or two.
You had to work at that one, didn't you?
Please be my mother for a moment!
I was thinking Jesus H. F-ing Christ. But I don't know what the H stands for. Holy? I am not very good at many acronyms. But tfg I know and the F does not stand for former in my mind...
the H is a stand alone
Ah, yes. Some things do need to stand alone! How are you faring, Allen?
AMEN!
So, I read the article (thank you, TCinLA) as well as another one linked https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/may/southern-baptist-abuse-investigation-sbc-ec-legal-survivors.html
I clicked on the link to the actual report
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/may/southern-baptist-abuse-investigation-sbc-ec-legal-survivors.html but that's for another day....if ever. Yikes! Wow! Appalling! Disgusting! What is it with men and power
Christianity Today magazine had its own sex abuse scandal. A senior editor couldn’t keep his hands off female staffers and kept blustering into offices to watch new mothers breast feeding. Another senior official who constantly hit on young interns only left when he was arrested for soliciting a teenage prostitute.
I'm sooooo surprised!
Hard to press "like" on your post. But this is pervasive behavior women experience in most levels of life and work. The more attention upon it, the better.
Wow! Just....WOW!
During the High Renaissance 40,000-50,000 people, presumed threat to the church’s beliefs, were burned as witches. The majority being women.
Power becomes its own evil.
Exactly, Berry. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." There is no religion that does not have abusive leaders among its believers. While all present day religions are male dominant, I'll resist the easy cliche that men misuse women. The truth, I think, is all about power and its tendency to delude those who wield it. HCR's letter today really ties that aspect together. If abusiveness has tentacles in every religion, it's doing fine in the secular world, too. I'm just about physically ill at the pure rampant evil in the Republican party. It has become a caricature of dysfunction whose members seem like they're from a Batman movie, except they are real and very harmful. (I'm sure there are bad actors among the Democrats, too. It's just that so many R's have access to astounding amounts of money, which has given them too much power.)
I have felt we were in a batman movie since 2016, or earlier, and not there are any superheroes to save Gotham City. Maybe WE are the superheroes?
I like how you think. We just may be the Superheroes! Maybe it is time that the superheroes remove their masks and join us.
I remember that Stan Lee did a Spiderman story on a young man that had been sexually abused who is rescued by Spiderman; in conversation, Spiderman (aka Peter Parker) reveals that he, too, had been the victim of sexual abuse as a young boy.
There's a decent Chicago Times article on this: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-02-10-8501080651-story.html
Also a Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries rundown of it: https://images.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/items/show/368
Wowee! Thanks for this, Ally!
Someone has to be.
You are the big boys and girls! Little Donny Johnny puddin and pie grabbed the girls where it made them cry. When the big boys and girls came out to play, little Donny Johnny ran away.
Hope, you speak for so many of us, feeling ill and stressed with the state of the world, and with today's letter, and especially of our country, which seems to be between crumbling and hope. Often well meaning friends and family, counsel that the way to reduce the stress is to not spend so much time reading, watching, immersed in "politics." Writing and reading LFAA is not an addiction, but I can't stop. There is some form of kinship on this site, even virtually.
My heart is with you, Irenie. We will all prevail, here.
Church is about power. Control over people’s lives. It would be surprising if the men who wield this power were not exploiting women and children.
Sadly it seems to become part of every religious institution. I left my "Religion" and never looked back
Me too.
Yes, sexual abuse of women and children is a feature not a bug of conservative patriarchal religions.
Because they like to keep records, we’ve seen these types of revelations repeated over and over again. Whether it’s The Southern Baptists, the Catholic Church, Jehovah Witnesses, or who knows how many others the story is depressingly the same. It’s also happens in so called New Age religions as well. Just look at all the scandals surrounding Scientology.
The coverups and the abuse of victims is also always the same. Protecting the organization, it’s so called mission and let’s be honest it’s fundraising is always more important than the crimes and the damage they cause victims.
Russell Moore may need a new identity. Evil runs deep in the “church.”
He left the SBC last year or so.
Remember the story of the Golden Calf...and the money lenders, and so many more. Basic Bible stories that are overshadowed by the greed pure power elicits...as a woman, I wouldn't go anywhere near a Southern Baptist church. And I've known that for many years.
Morning, Rowshan! Your opening quote is exactly what I was thinking when I started reading today's Letter...great minds!
“Holy sh*t” was my first thought, Lynell. Had no idea a religious sect invented the literal and figurative interpretation of that phrase.
And then I thought of the patriarchal web woven over decades…nah, centuries.
I was taken aback at Professor Richardson’s warning at the beginning of the Letter. It made me immediately think of how the truth of history can be so sickening that it demands a warning. I am having a difficult time processing this woven practice of patriarchal deceit. It’s pure evil. And the complicit agreement from the leadership of an entire political party?
To me culminating in a Supreme Court Justice writing an opinion based on this “holy shit”. Not even real. Not truthful. Inhumanely human. Subjugation of fellow humans. And worse, I read this and grasped more of a sickening realization of the omission of any exception for a medical abortion. Including rape and incest. For such a powerful religious cult to consent to procreation through systematic practice of rape and incest? And include it in a legal agenda?
I need a minute after this Letter. Today I rely on others for strength.
Salud, Lynell. And all I count on as compatriots.
May there be a way forward. 🗽
Exactly so, Christine. My reaction was more of a blasphemy than a vulgarity, but of a similar vein.
And this happened. I’m not sure how this all ends but it seems to me the 💩 is hitting the effing fan. The lid has come off.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/indiana-pastor-adultery-teen-woman-b2086334.html?amp
Yes, yes, Christine, the abuse and the descriptions and intentions are more than heinous and disgusting. One scandal and abuse after another in The Church. It's almost an "oxymoron of thought" to write Church and think we're writing about a place of worship and peace and hope and love, instead of a den of... I'm not near a Unitarian Universalist, but my friends are and I've attended and that seems to be the exception. Or maybe all are vulnerable and dependent on the mortals who lead.
Morning, Lynell! Definitely, “great minds!”
"It takes dreadfully twisted minds to turn the tables on the victims!"
That happened with, for one example, Anita Hill, and now we have Clarence Thomas and his insurrection-supporting wife. He should never have been confirmed.
Ginni Thomas asked Anita Hill to apologize to poor Clarence. Imagine!
Thank you. Your 1st line was my 1st thought while reading this article.
“Stop the presses! Breaking news! It turns out that the leadership of the Southern Baptists are bald-faced hypocrites!”
Well, uh, many of us have been aware of that for some time now. It explains why the SBC and the GOP have fit so well together since Saint Reagan’s days. Remember the term, “Moral Majority”? Their current political hero is himself a serial philanderer and an accused sexual predator. The news is that they can no longer hide the fact of rampant sexual predation which raises the question of what, if anything, the members, especially the women, are going to do about it.
The goal of much of this is to make women powerless “ribs.”
Oy Vey
An epigraph from one of my poems: "Scientists now calculate that all living humans are related to a single woman who lived roughly 150,000 years ago in Africa, a 'Mitochondrial Eve...' Mitochondrial Eve was soon joined by Y chromosome Adam...' from National Geographic, March 2006 (so it has to be true." We're First! Let's take back our power.
There is such a primitive longing for a daddy who loves you best and will take care of everything for you that people will buy in to anything that abusers serve up
I completely agree with you, becky. We all want someone to save us and protect us in this crazy world that we are willing to give our power over to charlatans without using critical thinking skills.
Excellent synopsis, Ralph!
It's really not surprising about the SBC, aka the State Religion of the Confederate States of America, the church FOUNDED to preach that slavery was"god's will." Turns out "the Righteous Gemstones" is a documentary, not a comedy.
TC, yes, beyond the church preaching slavery was god’s will, the myth that god will protect was fed to slaves who often had to attend church on Sundays. They allowed religion but not freedom. And not good will.
Seems as if they Force fed Christianity via "Mission" work since the church's inception. Destroyed belief systems that didn't align with their own. We knew this on an intellectual level. Perhaps the Missionaries believed in their pursuit of "G-d". Did the church consider this a religious conquest or a Land Grab? Forgive me. I'm trying to rationalize
Missionaries keep the people quiet, soften them up so exploiters can rob natural resources.
One more consideration about slaves attending church and a note about Reparations: for some Sunday and church was their social time, since many were mandated to attend, they might be able to be with family or friends in some way. Or plan their escape. Not being allowed to attend could be a punishment. Maybe I'm reading too many books but one thing books and film show, graphically, is the brutality and violence against the slaves even for 'kitchen slaves, cooks, nannies" for transgressions "for their own good." Occasionally there were owners who taught their slaves to read or believed they were "friends." What a complicated and tragic relationship for people kept as chattel, not as living humans with agency for their lives. And how delusional for owners to rationalize that slaves weren't human. When will we truly consider reparations? This website links to a Human Rights Watch video of the Tulsa Massacre and to information about contacting President Biden about establishing a federal Reparations Commission. And about HR Resolution 40 to establish a commission. Here's a statistic that should rattle some cages: "according to a recent Citi Group study, not addressing the racial wealth gap has cost the US economy up to $16 trillion over the past 20 years." Everyone loses in a society that accepts inequality. And Racism. https://www.hrw.org/ReparationsNow
“White Too Long” by Robert P Jones is an interesting history.
Another book added to my book list.
Will check it out
👌
For many Americans, family life is organized around religion. And they’ve taken it to a new level by making it political. But maybe that’s not new. Be sure to read the quote by Carter.
I remember reading about Jimmy Carter leaving the Southern Baptist Church in 2006. . “Jimmy Carter Leaves Southern Baptists” There’s a difference between Baptist and Southern Baptist.
2006 on Jimmy Carter: End of Tradition
“My grandfather, my father and I have always been Southern Baptists, and for 21 years, since the first political division took place in the Southern Baptist Convention, I have maintained that relationship. I feel I can no longer in good conscience do that,” Carter was quoted as telling the Journal-Constitution.
The former president told the paper he will continue as a deacon at Baptist church in his hometown of Plains, Ga., and that he and his wife, Rosalynn, will associate with Baptist groups “who share such beliefs as separation of church and state … a free religious press, and equality of women.” https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/story?id=95311&page=1
There must be one of those.
I would add Sen. Cassidy 's remarks about maternal mortality rates in Louisiana as a scandal, though there will be ways to justify his reasoning. Black mothers die at higher rates because of racism. That's the short of it. Not scandalous enough to too many Republican voters though.
What makes his remarks particularly terrible is that he's a medical doctor who has done good work in providing health care to under-served populations. Another in a long line of formerly upstanding citizens caught in the swirl of power.
I mis-read "swirl of power" as "sewer of power"--- not an inapt mis-read.
“Sewer of power.” You may have inadvertently coined a new, popular expression, Anne! Helps visualize the political vortex that Republican/white evangelicals are down-spiraling this nation through…
Swirling sewer of power
😄
Your last sentence is one I will repeat ad nauseam
He’s a physician? That makes his comment that much worse.
If Dr. Cassidy can make this kind of comment about Black women in Louisiana, what underserved populations was he serving?
Given the population of Louisiana, I have to assume that many of the patients are Black. His comment reflects the fact that, as one commenter says, he's been caught in the sewer of power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cassidy#Medicine
The doctor and most white Americans apparently think that a higher death rate for bkack mothers is a feature, not a bug.
Does anyone expect anything else, sadly? From big religion? And from Zuckerberg? So far nothing of the sort from us Unitarians, but who knows, anything is possible, although I certainly hope not! Also, even though my brass quintet contains an atheist (the trombone player) and an agnostic (me, the tuba player), we are happily engaged in playing for St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church. So I'm rooting for the right kind of religion (cross culture), even if I'm not a part of it.
My time attending a Universal Unitarian church was wonderful. Inclusive, supportive, and non-judge mental. Otherwise, Christianity has become toxic. Damn, a brief check of history confirms that it’s not a new thing…
Great to hear you had a good experience with the Unitarian Universalists. For me, music is just one of the universal connections we have with each other. There are others, no doubt. We just need to find them all.
Matt, I would include nature as one of the "universal connections."
Yes, Pam, the forest and the trails are my cathedral. A beautiful reminder that we can find Mother Nature, who is truly a "god" on our planet and it is our responsibility to care for her. Back to the basics.
Irenie, you're my kind of nature person. The forests/mountains/lakes/rivers/ocean speak more to me than any person professing to represent "god".
Pam, let’s walk together in spirit. ❤️👣
My favorite activity during my stint as a Unitarian was the Create Your Own Theology/Thealogy course.
Love that promotion of critical thinking skills!
Tried to "heart" your comment, Matt! I agree - like you, I am in a brass group (horn) that plays in a Presbyterian church - our members range from devout to atheist as well, but we all agree that music is a path of connection almost all can share.
I'm a UU and the community is wonderful. In my time, we've had a 10-year minister who was initially a rabbi, then a 3 year refugee from the Presbyterians, a former Lutheran for a few years, and now a Scotsman from the very Calvin version of Presbyterianism in Scotland. Quite a religious education, great music, and nice people.
As a child and young adult I loved Synagogue. Supportive community... Until I saw hypocrisy.
Another staunch Unitarian here! Very hard to believe and stomach what’s going on in our country right now. Although I believe it’s good that we’re exposing such horrible truths: both in religion and government; it’s so very hard to fathom it and know how to solve and heal it.
Consequences. We need new kinds of consequences that require something different than sitting in jail or paying money to stay out of it. But it requires work in the social justice arena and there are good programs that should be used for these kinds of crimes against humanity. We do not have jails big enough, they do not really work, and our money should be used in giving back to those you have harmed.
The Unitarians have a great record of lending space to progressive causes. Many a lefty bookstore, singer, movement got its start in their church basements.
The zen center to which I belong rents space from a Unitarian church for weekly meditation and periodic classes. We often have members sign up for the intro to Zen workshops. Wonderful organization, wonderful people, beautiful sanctuary.
Another Unitarian echoing the sad drumbeat...
Well it is not all sad, fortunately. For example, we have the annual canoe trip coming up!
Funny comments, thank you! I too had a good experience with Unitarians way too many years ago…and the person who officiated at our wedding was Unitarian (and he looked a lot like John Denver, double positive!)
Be careful not to go down the river of no return.
I wish I could join you... I think I'm the last person in my family who loves canoing
I used to go to the UU church near me and I remember the discussions about not advocating for particular candidates or propositions from the pulpit. We took it seriously, so when I see video of some ministers outright promoting or condemning particular candidates or parties it blows my mind. Maybe I am too much of a rule follower, though I am playing hooky from work today.
I think part of the UU strict adherence to being non-political is the underlying acceptance and tolerance and respect for everyone. UU churches welcome many "refugees" from other organized religions and from all walks of life.
Yes, it is baked into the church itself at least at the one I attended. There may have been conservatives in the congregation but I never could have pointed to one or identified a small committee/group as conservative. I think Southern Baptists, Catholics and other denominations have a higher chance to have the opposite qualities baked in, due to their view of the world.
UUs definitely are not patriarchal or hierarchal. We "committee" very well.
Greetings, back row brother!
My brass quintet has the agnostic (trumpet player) and the non-theist (tuba player, me). The other members of the quintet are all committed church goers, and we have played at all of their churches...
All women, FWIW.
Wonderful Matt!
I thought your readers might like to check the redistricting map in their state: great resource: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-2022-maps/
Thanks for this, Alice. Easy to follow this map!
That gave me an equivalent stomachache to Heather's and TCinLA's post this morning. This needs to be stopped and dropped. This is a gerrymandering apocalypse on our country.
Alice, thank you for sharing the map. I don’t like it at all. Way too much red. Too many poor elephants roaming the land, from sea to shining sea.
Fascist, seditious elephants. And I love real elephants and do not want them mixed up in politics. New symbol needed for republicans...swastika made out of tiki torches?
Symbols should be easy to recognize. Yes, Elephants are honest and trustworthy. And have memories of family. Show love. The repugs could hold a bogus contest for a new icon. Skunk, hyena, snake?
Interesting, last evening just at dusk, I was walking in the meadow towards the beaver pond and saw a strange dark thing in the tall grass ahead. I paused and asked it what it was. It stuck up the biggest tail with white tips I have ever seen here. I started to walk forward a little and it moved and stuck its tail up further making it out to be a rather large skunk. It was so big, I did not mess with it. I backed up and it started moving towards me so I turned and walked quickly away. It then crossed the path I had mown a few days before and stopped and looked at me as I turned around to see where it was. It was a magnificent creature. But a creature to be very wary of when on your path. Same way I feel about republicans, minus the magnificence, except as a$$holes. To think I used to be a Montessori teacher and great role model. Now I feel like a seething, swearing Medusa in black leather wanting to exact revenge for our world. Geeze...I will channel all this rage, never fear.
Let's leave the animals out of all this; they've done nothing to warrant being associated with such a vile bunch of homo sapiens. I vote for the above suggestion of the tiki torch swastika.
I see Allen Hingston of Ukraine is here! Allen how are you and your family? Where are you now? There are no words for the evil Putin and his supporters are doing to your beautiful country and the bread basket of that area. He does not deserve to live another day.
Ostrich?
That's a good idea, Carol.
Thank you Dr. Richardson! One question from today’s coverage leaps out at me. What gives the FTC the authority to indemnify Facebook for “any and all claims prior to June 12, 2019.” By what authority does the FTC have the power to shield a company from the courts? They are different branches of government. This would be akin to the FDA shielding Perdue Pharma from opioid lawsuits by giving them a paltry administrative fine. I don’t see where the FTC has that authority.
👌
A good point!
Mark Zuckerberg began his climb to extreme wealth as a sexist, socially frustrated, thief (of Harvard student pictures). With Facebook, he has dishonestly violated all norms of privacy and destroyed “friend” as a meaningful description of a close relationship. A despicable human being whose damage to social relationships is incalculable and irreversible.
Well said. It is my opinion that Facebook has engineered the social divide that we are seeing in this country today, at least among folks of my generation.
Complete agreement! I have deleted my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, leaving only YouTube guiltily for music videos. Someone responded to my earlier suggestion that a renewed draft of young men and women for service to country (military or otherwise) would be a unifying force culturally and politically, by adding that the service should be performed far from home. Face-to-face discussion is essential, without algorithms!!
You're beating my drum!! I would love to see a mandatory service commitment (military/peace corps/conservation corps) of 2-3 years post high school. That would help our country immensely.
Maybe that's why the Mormons are the nicest people I know.
What a SHAME that all this accountability wasn't taking place 5 years ago...
Justice delayed truly is justice denied.
I think what we are seeing is the Great Unfolding of all the trash the patriarchy has heaped upon us being revealed all at once thanks to the belligerence and blatancy of their puffed up power. We are so lucky that they chose such idiots to reveal their darkness. It is up to the good people of America to stop these bullies and terrorists.
That, or maybe they knew it'd be impossible to keep hidden and they didn't want the news to come out during the Midterms. They might be trying to get ahead of the stories.
Have long wondered where the line in the sand is for these disgusting ogres, with 14 more murdered children on our backs today, my back 💔 years ago.
Excuse me, the body count is up to 18 children and one teacher. So hard to focus the anger constructively
I fear it's going to be a long hot summer (like in the early '70's), leading up to the elections in the fall. If the dems have any sense about them, they will use this report on the SBC to their advantage. Them's that cloak themselves in the Constitution, and all that is red, white and blue and motherhood are abusing women and girls and I suspect boys. Did they learn nothing from the Catholic church???? Yup...it's the patriarchy! Somewhere in the '90's I bought a refridgerator magnet that says "I will be a post feminist in the post patriarchy"..... looks like we are still here. Thanks HCR!
The Catholic Church hasn’t learned anything from the Catholic Church.
Sure they have…..
They learned how to sucker more people out of more $$ to pay off more coverups.
“Members also called for an investigation of the escalating sex scandals, which had become so toxic after Trump’s election that In setting up an investigation, church members were leery enough of the leaders investigating themselves that they set up a task force to manage a third-party investigation.” We have a chance to vote out the party of evangelicals and TFG in the coming elections. Including tomorrow. The history of how evangelism infiltrated our politics and government is “damning.”
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! In keeping with today's Letter (I hope) here is the latest ruling on the Loudoun County School Board case. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/attempt-to-remove-2-loudoun-school-board-members-fails/3059249/
The Loudoun County Democratic Committee's take on this was a bit more partisan😉:
"From the start, everyone – Democrats, Independents, and even some Republicans – knew it was nothing more than a stunt: a right-wing charade to win national headlines by harassing the duly elected Loudoun County School Board members who didn’t embrace the regressive vision of education dictated by Ian Prior and Fight for Schools.
"Well, in the end, they lost. And lost badly.
"Before the hearings could even get underway this morning, the presiding judge dismissed the cases saying there was insufficient evidence to support the offenses Prior and his fellow cultural warriors alleged School Board members Brenda Sheridan and Altoosa Reaser committed or found the allegations insufficient to require any discipline.
"After nearly a year of unwarranted lies, accusations, and national headlines, the court found the Fight for Schools recall petitions to be built upon a tissue of imagined slights.
“'I will never be able to put into words the toll this process took on my family, and on the families I serve,' said Reaser. 'What I can tell you is that this type of malicious court filing has a chilling effect on democracy.'
"There’s the temptation to call their misbehavior a cheap stunt; but, it wasn’t cheap. It cost Sheridan and Reaser public ridicule; it cost Loudoun County derision in Richmond and nationally; it cost the taxpayers’ resources to process these unfounded allegations; and, perhaps most importantly, it cost the time and energy of School Board members who should have been focusing on educating our children."
Next up on Ian Prior's agenda is his quest to take down my U.S. Representative, Jennifer Wexton, this November. If anyone is interested, here's a link that describes who Ian Prior is. You can click on a "Continue without subscribing" button that's hard to find but can be found!
https://crooksandliars.com/2021/08/meet-regular-dad-ian-prior-goper-waging
These frivolous, defamation cases should have financial payback on those who have been wrongfully sued. These people need to be brought before a Social Reparation Board and made to pay court and emotional costs, and work to clean up their messes in the community .
100%, Pensa.
What an awful manipulation. Spotsylvania isn't far behind.
I don't think it's a coincidence that so many cases of sexual misconduct, both actual and alleged, involve high-ranking members of both political and religious organisations. Such behaviour is normal for high-status males in a number of primate species other than our own. Ask any female baboon!
Let's not malign baboons. They don't deserve to be spoken of in the same breath as these wretched creatures.
At the same time, Talia's right about all we can learn about politics from baboons. Except they're wiser...
Consider the irony of Talia's comment, Peter. Females here as well as female baboons understand her well.
I am not the least bit surprised, having been raised in a southern town, where there was a Baptist church on every corner. The audacity and the hypocrisy is deafening. Dogs are better treated than women or children by these harmful jerks!
Not that I am recommending this, but maybe visit an inner city church? In my experience that will make all of the difference. I can believe in the message there even if I don't believe in the theology. And playing music makes it all worth it.
I regularly will visit a gospel church. The celebration of the creator, the Holy Spirit, the human spirit…. Uplifting.
Salud, Mike.