[Closed] The Great Turning Part 7

That Bible also includes the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the lyrics to a Lee Greenwood song. So much for separation of church and state.

Donald Trump, Blasphemous Bible Thumper https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/30/opinion/trump-god-religion-easter.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=27138788-78e8-4faa-b1b2-e448a065a5e1

I have no words but Maureen Dowd has words!

@mickiemac I was thinking of all of you yesterday.  I was at Wawa and had an incident.  LOL! I should admit right up front, I consider myself a younger soul. I want peace and understanding but I'm still evolving.  I try desperately to control my rage against shitty humans but alas I'm a work in progress. 

There is a Hispanic family in front of me at the counter. The kids spoke English but Mom did not.  Long story short, because of new EBT rules, her coffee was not covered so she owed 1.25 or something silly.  He's being very condescending. I put my hand up and said STOP here's the money! Let her go I've got it! I said Happy Easter go on.  The cashier proceeds to lecture me about immigrants not speaking English and how they are bringing diseases that transfer between cows and humans and he went on and on until I screamed JUST STOP!!! YOU ARE WASTING MY PRECIOUS TIME WITH YOUR INCOHERENT BULLSHIT! YOURE A VERY SAD LITTLE SNOWFLAKE AND I CAN ONLY HOPE YOU LEARN BETTER COPING SKILLS AND A BE BETTER HUMAN! GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!  It's bad out there around these parts! 

@impassionate It's frightening to think that just about every other person we're passing in public and driving alongside is thinking and contributing to these wild beliefs. I'll take my grandpa's generation of corny phrases and hackneyed stories any day. The other day I was waiting to check out at the doctor's office when the woman in front of me launched into a diatribe about how her local school was forced to accommodate children that identify as animals ("fur-babies") and let them use litter boxes instead of the bathrooms. She was blaming it on the liberals who were passing LGBTQ laws to change bathroom access. I listened for a while, and said, hmmm, I think I heard this on social media and I believe it's a conspiracy story that started when a few schools were concerned in case they were forced to stay locked down in one room and a few of them purchased some litter boxes for emergency situations. She got mad at me, telling me that her daughter had pictures of fur-babies using litter boxes on her cell phone to prove it, on and on. She huffed off and I finally made it up to the check-out desk. The clerk and I had a big laugh over that one, but she said she heard wild conspiracy stories from patients all the time. Yikes, how did we get here?

@lovendures ha ha ha ha HA! Damn, can you ever tell a good story.

@impassionate 

That employee has no business treating someone like that. I would be livid. I don't think I could speak with the employee as you did (you were brilliant by the way and said what many of us surely feel, I am impressed at your retort actually hahaha) but I WOULD probably speak with the manager because I am more comfortable that way personally.                                                                                                                                                                         

I make I make a point of speaking to managers when things go well in their stores or restaurants.  I just did recently in fact.      

But I will also seek out a manager when things go too far south.  I actually sat down with a Macy's store manager in her office once when I had a horrible interaction with a store employee. I was calm, noted what my normal positive experiences are at the store  and  firmly expressed my dismay at what didn't that time.  She even asked if I would point out the employee to her as she was totally shocked  by her actions. She was all ears.

I would likely tell the Wawa manager how embarrassing it was for the mom to be treated with such disrespect, for you to be witness to the upsetting verbal assault  by their employee and how horribly disappointed you are at how customers are treated in the establishment and how it reflects upon the company.   Maybe it will make a difference, you never know. 

I'm glad you didn't just let that slide. I bet you shocked the cashier.  hahaha. That might be a good thing.

@kathleen 

Litter boxes at schools for "fur-babies"!!

The lies that never die...

She likely ordered a certain bible this week.

Happy Rebirth Day!  Good news for you this spring morning: Cleaning up the southern ocean, , falling crime in America, school feeding programs in Africa, women's right in Croatia, the world's newest (and biggest) dark sky sanctuary, and rewilding in Japan and Scotland.

https://fixthenews.com/

If you celebrate Easter, Happy Easter!  He is risen, and you are saved.

If you're Trans, know you are seen, you are loved, and you valued.  You'll always find shelter and safe harbor inside the walls of Dannyboy's house.

If you're part or fully Indigenous, happy Indigenous Language Day to you!  We owe you much in the way of respect and reparation.  

If you've ever had Scurvy, a happy Oranges and Lemons day to you.  May you receive love, blessings, and all the vitamin C you need to never face this condition again.

For the tuber addicted, a bountiful National Tater Day to all.  I for one look forward to the day when I can reunite with my first love - french fried potatoes.

For the artistic amongst us, happy National Crayon day - please keep coloring both inside and outside of those lines.  You make the world a better place with your unique vision and talents.

For those of you with a sweet tooth, a joyous and smooth National Cream Cheese Frosting day awaits.

As I've pointed out to chuckleheads on Twitter all morning, the universe gave us the amazing ability to focus on and identify with more than one thing at a time, 

To anyone who celebrates anything listed above, or one of the hundreds of things I didn't list, have a blessed day.

https://images.app.goo.gl/68DhysRQTy7LgLfP9

From our church marquis. Hoppy Easter! 🐰

Not sure where to post this. After my utter disgust over the troll's craven behavior and the media's  doomsday analyses on Biden's, this interview with Simon Rosenberg on the front page of the NYT today gives me hope. Finally, a pragmatic perspective on our upcoming election that is optimistic. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/us/politics/simon-rosenberg-trump-biden.html  

@cindy, thank you for attaching the Treaty of Tripoli to your post.  I could have used that ammunition 35 years ago with a friend of mine.  I met Connie in a women's therapy group.  She was quite conservative and we had nothing in common politically, but we shared a love of movies and the arts, frequenting museums and crafts fairs together.  One time we were sitting in my driveway discussing spirituality and she questioned mine, demanding to know "don't you believe in God!?"   I was raised a Christian (Catholic) and although I loved some of the rituals of that church, I had a very loving view of God (i.e. not fear-based and that I didn't need to earn forgiveness) and a very different idea of who Jesus was and what he was here to teach us.  I held those beliefs even as a small child, but kept them to myself as a means of self-preservation!

I remember elaborating a bit more on my beliefs with Connie, which really set her off.  Her anxiety and anger were palpable.  I still have this strong memory of Connie slamming her fists on the steering wheel and repeatedly shouting "This is a Christian nation!"  After I recovered from her outburst, I think we agreed to disagree and I quickly exited from her car.

As I mentioned, this was 35 years ago.  Connie moved away and I lost touch with her.  I sometimes wonder where she is now in her spiritual journey.  I hope she has found peace.

https://apple.news/A-Wgi0LaQTJ-JRnGBnNpBVA

I was reading this article about gun violence in America. Apparently over the Easter weekend the GVA recorded 248 shootings at least 90 killed and 228 more wounded.

In the article was this quote from an Australian Professor which helped me to understand better why it is so hard to bring in gun control in USA.

University of Melbourne Professor of American Politics, Timothy J Lynch, says for Americans, gun control is more than just an issue with the US government or the legal system.

"I think Australians look at it as a technocratic [government] issue," he says.

"If there's a massacre, how do you stop it? You illegalise guns. We did it after the Tasmanian massacre.

"There just seems to be a logic to it, but we don't have a connection to guns that's rooted in our culture and history and that's a very powerful part of our political identity.

"[In the] US gun rights stand not just for a right to self protection … but the whole concept of one's identity. It's a tradition, it's a lifestyle.

"And getting the government to change that, to change your connection to notions of identity itself and where you sit in the culture is really extraordinarily difficult."

I guess nothing will really change for you as a country with meaningful gun control until a new generation no longer identifies with that concept.

Regards to all

Matildagirl

@matildagirl Yes, Professor Lynch is exactly right. Our relatively young country has been dominated by the fear of the "other" throughout its history, even though we've been entirely settled by immigrants. That paranoia has been translated into having widespread access to more guns. Having the right to bear arms is enshrined in our Constitution, and our Supreme Court is dominated by "originalist" justices that have interpreted these laws based on an old society that no longer exists. 

You've articulated it well when you say that "nothing will really change for you as a country with meaningful gun control until a new generation no longer identifies with that concept [of identity]". Hopefully, when our younger generations take the reins of legislative power this will change. They're the ones that have grown up with the constant threat of school shootings and they understand that we live in different times.

@deetoo Your words  "I had a very loving view of God (i.e. not fear-based and that I didn't need to earn forgiveness) and a very different idea of who Jesus was and what he was here to teach us.  I held those beliefs even as a small child, but kept them to myself as a means of self-preservation!" was exactly like my early problems with religion.  

I got in "trouble" when I was about 7 or 8 for telling my Sunday school teacher she was wrong by telling us that God killed his "enemies" in maybe the battle of Jerico stories??? I remember telling her God didn't have enemies and that he loved everyone and only bad men killed people not God. She told my parents and the preacher gave me a "talking to" and basically told me to listen to my teacher.  And I always thought Jesus was here to teach love...and they killed him for it. I've never believed in hell or that I needed "saving" because I was never lost from God.  I soon learned I was very alone in my beliefs...and to keep my mouth shut. I know now there are many of us with similar beliefs.

 Your words just really touched me.

And I am also an INFJ

@pegesus I appreciate this post. Catholicism made me the atheist I am today. My parents forced it on me and sent me to Catholic school.  I argued probably every Bible story ever with the priests and nuns.  None of it made any sense to me and it made me think, still do, this is no different than a cult.  Never question bible stories with a  theist. They don't like to have discussions or explanations.   Anyway, my point is, any God I would have believed in would have been a loving, caring God.  Not one that would have you split your baby, kill others in your name.  The whole wrathful, vengeful God stories literally make me chuckle to myself.   That never connected with me, never will.

@impassionate I'm not a church-goer, nor do I consider myself religious, but I was fortunate in that my mother took us to a small church in which we experienced a meaningful community. Most members had differing religious views, but in times of tragedy they came together to provide support to each other. We kids had opportunities for leadership and the development of our talents and skills. This was important, because most of us were just trying to survive (not thrive) in public school. Our minister was accessible and transparent. I remember a fragile woman who struggled with mental illness. She quoted obsessively from the Bible. Some said that she should not be allowed to impose her beliefs on others, but our minister said that she needed to be heard and accepted. The only real stumble the church ever had was when an evangelistic "lay witness" movement swept through the denomination. We had visiting ministers that influenced many  members into the conviction that they needed to impose prescribed beliefs on others and convert them in order to be "saved". The movement lasted about 2 years. After many left, the remaining members reinstated the same community-based church that worked before. Having had those experiences, I could more easily spot and reject religious bullies and cults in college and later in my life. What this unassuming church did for many of us was to simply provide an example of how life could flourish, not what to believe. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm advocating for churches -- too many of them are so far away from being the compassionate communities they claim to be. Just that, as in families, we thrive in a caring environment that sees and supports us.

My father was a protestant minister in one of the most conservative denominations in the country at the time. I won't bother going into detail as to what that meant for us, his children, but I will say that I am - fortunately - recovering nicely. :-)

My mother (with whom I live) and my sister (who lives 8 houses away), converted to Catholicism after my father passed and have become what I would call "toxically Catholic". I generally ignore their rants, but it can still be difficult at times.

@pegasus, thank you for sharing your experiences.  I'm glad that my words were helpful.  So many of us have had such similar stories that we could probably do an entire thread on this topic. 

@kathleen, I enjoyed reading your story and how you found a meaningful community in your small church.  I loved when you said:

What this unassuming church did for many of us was to simply provide an example of how life could flourish, not what to believe.

Wow!  How blessed you were to experience that kind of compassionate spiritual community as a small child.

@tgraf66 I'm sorry for your experiences with Protestantism -- I've heard many other stories about evangelical, toxic churches. Although my childhood church was United Methodist (in the South, no less), no one paid much attention to doctrine -- they were way too busy with Wednesday night suppers, ladies' circles, choir practice, men's pancake breakfasts and meeting the ordinary needs of the members. Catholicism is it's self-serving dark cult, don't even get me started :)