Four years ago today, I would have logged onto Zoom to "attend" a Winnipeg Pentecostal church service that adherred to pandemic restrictions (thankfully it wasn't more extreme like many NAR Christian nationalist churches in the US). Now I don't know what to believe anymore.
But here's the first thing I discovered after leaving Christianity.
You know how in the Bible in Romans 12:2, it says "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind"? The first question I asked when reading this verse again 20 years later was this "What is the pattern of this world currently?"
I soon realized the pattern pretty much goes something like this:
Obey your parents
Go to school
Get a job
Work 8 hours a day or more
Get married
Pop out tons of babies if you're a woman
Pay your bills
Go to church on Sunday and hang out with church members before going to work on Monday
Buy a car
Buy a house
Watch talking heads on Fox
Listen to "podcasts"
Buy the latest thing because it helps keep the economy going
Watch the latest TV shows but keep it G or PG rated
Listen to music unless it talks about drugs, sex, or has tons of swear words
Start a side hustle if you can't get a job
Help your neighbors if they're nice to you and not trying to shove an "agenda" down your throat
The second question I asked was "How does any of this renew the mind or transform a person?" And I found that all it does is remove their freedom to simply be and exist, while following a social order that "fights for spiritual freedom."
The third and final question I asked, going back to the idea of the pattern of this world, is "What group pushes the pattern of this world on its citizens the most?"
And the answer I came up with is very simple: straight vvhite American Christians.
National Day of Prayer continues to advance Christian Nationalism
Apr 30, 2024 Andrew L. Seidel
From American United for Separation of church and state:
"...You heard that correctly – in a nation where the First Amendment of our Constitution demands that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” Congress established a National Day of Prayer...
The law requires the President of the United States to issue a proclamation recognizing the National Day of Prayer. Some local and state governments similarly recognize the day. Although supporters may claim NDP welcomes all people to participate, it ostracizes nonreligious people, those who don’t pray and many religious minorities. Both the history of NDP and the rhetoric of those who continue to promote it make clear that NDP is mainly for Christians..."
Denying pregnant people emergency abortion care under EMTALA advances Christian Nationalism
By Kalyn Mizelle McDaniel May 01, 2024
"...Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state by imposing one narrow religious viewpoint on everyone. Removing EMTALA protections from pregnant women goes a step further by advancing the Christian Nationalist commitment to relegating women to second-class citizenship. According to complementarianism, which is intrinsically intertwined with Christian Nationalism, cisgender woman have a distinct role. Motherhood and submission to men are key parts of the separate role women play. The incapability of the role is evidence of its second-class nature. Complementarianism is diametrically opposed to the liberation of women, and fittingly, limiting the instances in which their wellbeing can be protected in emergency rooms aligns with that ideology..."
Your soul doesn’t have junk in the trunk - Or, what Catholic apologists and Richard Dawkins agree about
Avatar photo by Adam Lee Oct 10, 2023
"...Are intersex people God’s mistakes?
The heart of Graebe’s argument is his insistence that God doesn’t make mistakes. He says it’s impossible to have a “male soul” in a biologically female body, or vice versa. Therefore, he concludes, anyone who believes themselves to be transgender is self-deluded:
"To deny that essential unity is to say that God made a mistake. …Jesus says, “This is my body,” but we cannot say that of ourselves. Our body belongs not to us, but to God, and he will not be mocked."
Again, there’s an obvious reply: How does this theology account for intersex people?
As I wrote in Christians against pronouns, it’s objectively true that there are human beings who defy simplistic notions of a gender binary..."
Scientific literacy is not a strong point with fundamentalists.
This is how Donald Trump would ban abortion nationally without an abortion ban - Jason Sattler Apr 26, 2024
This is what you're "voting" for if you refuse to vote, or vote third party, in November - the establishment of a white nationalist right wing christian theocracy.
You think what happened to women in Afghanistan can't happen here?
Emboldened by the fascist Ky GOP imposing their religious beliefs on women and LGBTQ folks, now magats are harassing businesses of people who follow different spiritual paths.
This was never going to end with abortion and trans people - you know that, right?
They intend to eliminate anyone and everyone who will not bow to their disgusting cult. Today it's crystals and nature religions. Tomorrow it's Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Sufis, and Judaism.
These nutjobs don't care about constitutional rights and are fine with using police state violence to enforce their cult's backward and barbaric beliefs. And if that doesn't work, they're fine with murder, arson, and assault.
From NCJW:
Yesterday, during the first holy days of Passover, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Idaho v. United States, a case determining whether states can force hospitals to withhold emergency abortion care from people who could die without it.
This case conflicts directly with Judaism, which not only permits such care, but even requires it to save the life of the pregnant person.
Please read my op-ed in USA Today, published yesterday, on the serious implications of this case for all people who want to be pregnant and the infringement of religious freedom.
When you elect magats to congress, whether or not they decide to do anything at all depends on whether or not they think it will further their plans for dominion and armageddon. Literally. Johnson only capitulated on Ukraine because he thinks it will lead to more people converting to his cult and pushing his cult's unpopular policies.
Not because the safety of the free world depends on it. Right wing christians couldn't care less about that.
These whackadoodles have no business being in Congress or any government position. They're insane. They are letting bronze age fairy tales decide 21st century issues. It's deranged.
An army of Jesus”: Inside Mike Johnson’s come-to-Jesus moment ahead of Ukraine reversal - Johnson met evangelical leader of Ukraine’s National Prayer Breakfast before last week's press conference
By Jonathan Larsen, Published April 22, 2024
6 Badass Librarians Who Changed History
They will not be shushed.
by April White April 5, 2024
"Librarians have never been a quiet bunch: Information, after all, is power. To mark National Library Week—typically celebrated the second full week of April—Atlas Obscura, fittingly, went into the archives to find our favorite stories of librarians who have fostered cultural movements, protected national secrets, and fought criminals..."
Anybody want to bet on which social services get cut to pay for this new #Kentucky bill? I'm willing to bet housing funds is one of them. This is just a way for the Ky GOP to line their private prison buddy's pockets, without addressing any actual societal need leading to homelessness.
Because, of course, the poor deserve to be punished for being poor. Their evil god hates the poor. And so do they.
From Americans United for Separation of Church and State:
Congress needs to hear from you!
Urge your legislators to co-sponsor the Do No Harm Act today.
The Do No Harm Act will help ensure that our laws are a shield to protect religious freedom and not used as a sword to harm others by undermining civil rights laws and denying access to health care.
If you do the chat thing in substack, there's one starting up now about the heinous removal of parents & lgbtq kids rights to freedom of religious practice in Idaho.
If you aren't sure whether or not right wing maga christians are vile and disgusting control freaks intending to force their unscientific and false bronze age nonsense beliefs down your throat, this supreme court says yes.
And it won't stop here, class. If a parent doesn't have the right to decide what kind of medical care their child receives, they can now not just prosecute you and take your children for arranging appropriate gender affirming care, they can do the same for ANY treatment you authorize, such as vaccines they don't like, or ADHD medications (they prefer beating kids), or anything their backward cult doesn't want.
Their goal of imposing a religious theocracy on america will have to be dealt with, one way or other. The courts will not protect your rights.
This is one of the many sessions you’ll find at SRF – the hub for our fight to protect church-state separation and inclusive religious freedom and to stop Christian Nationalism. I encourage you to sign up to attend SRF virtually for this breakout session and so many other essential discussions.
Please keep an eye out for more information on Project 2025 in the coming months, and I hope you can join us on Monday, April 15, at 11:15 a.m. ET!
With hope and resolve,
Rachel K. Laser
President and CEO
A record number of titles face calls for censorship, by Millie Giles, David Crowther
"...Although the number of affected titles has grown dramatically, as groups increasingly target multiple books at once, overall censorship demands dropped slightly, down 2% to 1,247. Literature concerning race and gender was particularly contested, with autobiographical graphic novel Gender Queer named the most challenged library book of the year.
Public libraries are now the primary battleground for proposed bans: the number of titles targeted for censorship at libraries rose by 92%, compared with 11% at schools. Moreover, librarians now face harsh penalties, including potential fines and imprisonment in several states, for distributing books that are deemed inappropriate..."
Of course by "inappropriate" they mean accurate history about people of color, other faiths, and lgbtq folks. Christianity can't compete.
Forty percent of women live in countries where abortion is banned or restricted. In some cases, women can be prosecuted and imprisoned for having an abortion. Without access to safe care, 35 million people every year resort to unsafe abortions and as a result, an estimated 22,800 will die.
MSI Reproductive Choices is a world leader in reproductive healthcare, working in 36 countries to provide the comprehensive sexuality education, contraception and safe abortion services that save and transform lives. Last year, our supporters helped us serve more than 23 million women, preventing almost 9 million unsafe abortions...
From The Workers Circle
Jewish Culture for a Just World:
Minority Rule: A Conversation with Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot
A Virtual Event, ALS Provided
Tuesday, April 30, 7:00 – 8:00 PM ET
The mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, represented an extreme form of the central danger facing American democracy today: a blatant disregard for the will of the majority...Through voter suppression, election subversion, gerrymandering, dark money, the takeover of the courts, and the whitewashing of history, reactionary white conservatives have strategically entrenched power in the face of massive demographic and political shifts.
All attendees will be automatically entered into a raffle to receive a free copy of Ari’s book. You must be present to claim your book.
Fact Check: No, A New Study Does Not Show "Being Trans Is Just A Phase"
Erin Reed Apr 05, 2024
"...There are immediate issues with both the study and the Daily Mail’s interpretation of it. The most evident issue with the study is that it is not a study of transgender individuals; this should be apparent considering that a full 19% of participants indicated "sometimes" or "often" in response to wanting to be the opposite sex at some point in their lives, with the majority selecting "sometimes."
Even the most generous estimates suggest that approximately 0.5% of Americans identify as transgender. It is clear that the authors are measuring an entirely different population by analyzing responses to this single question..."
If #Trump gets back into the White House, America will see the "bloodbath" he's promised. This murder-curious dictator is who #Republicans have chosen to lead them -- and his disciples like #KristiNoem are proudly expressing their willingness to kill.