355 Comments

One of the last things this country and the wider world needs, is the celebration of toxic masculinity. In my experience these men tend to be looking for a way to justify their worst traits, and their deep seated insecurities, such as those exhibited by many members of the audience.

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They're running scared, because their model of "manhood" has been called for its problematic nature. They don't know where to turn, so they double down on their old model, and of course, that doesn't go over well.

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It's all compensation.

Every time I see and hear a giant pickup truck with a loud muffler, or a Mustang doing 60 in a 30 zone, or (seen yesterday) a "superbike" racer streaking through the Kroger's parking lot in order to get maximum "air" going over the speed humps... my first reaction is, "Wow! That guy must have a really tiny dick!" Else why would he have to work so hard to prove to the world--and himself--what a man he is?

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Men don't have to prove they're men. Little boys do.

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While a popular insult from anti-car types, it doesn't get us anywhere.

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Yes.

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“Stronger Men’s Conference”

Presented by the He-Man Women Haters Club.

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I think they might SMELL a bit ripe, but as for being STRONGER? Just WHO do they think THEY'RE kidding?

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Pound for pound, the physically strongest man in the room was almost certainly Magala. And the moment he did a climbing act none of them could do, they knew it. So there's probably some feelings of emasculation mixed in with the feelings of homo-eroticism.

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I just watched the Britain's Got Talent piece, and certainly, Magala has strength that Driscoll can't dream of, never mind training and discipline. As a former gymnast, I admire the hell out of him ... and think that Driscoll is very little more than a wannabe wuss.

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I think watching him got Driscoll wanting Magala's pole.

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Magala has a Polish assistant ? Where was he ?

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He ducked out for kielbasa.

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[mmmmooooaaannnn!!!]

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Naughty naughty... Though kielbasa IS delish...

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😉Yep, thus the storming out because he was probably pitching a pup tent in his pants.

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Is it a men's thing? If I saw a women doing something similar, I'd admire her strength. I wouldn't care about her past real or imagined. And I wouldn't be jealous either. I don't want to climb poles or swallow swords.

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I think most guys (gay or straight) are going to be admiring this guy mainly for his strength, talent, i.e. the act too. Of course there's some sexuality in it; sex sells. This guy is simply using his bare chest etc. the same way a magician uses a sexy assistant. And like that second case, adult males see it and are aware of it, but few of us past the age of 16 think it's worth remarking on. It's just part of the business.

Or at least, not many of us give it more than a passing thought. Obviously, in this case, it totally flipped Driscoll out.

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The magician’s sexy assistant has a purpose, though: to distract you from the prestidigitation he needs to do to make the tricks work.

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They deserve to be admired, tons of practice and dedication, goes into actual pole dancing, and many bruises that make you look like an abuse victim.

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Which at least some in the room will have as their kink, given statistics and all. No shame in that, as long as it is done among consenting adults. Which they seem to have a problem with.

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They certainly do have a problem with consent.

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"With bibles..."

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Otherwise known as incels.

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All this incident tells me is that there are hotshot Christians out there who will get bent out of shape about ANYTHING, and then, as in Driscoll's case, make it all about HIM, about his view of the foolishness which is faith, and why people should listen to HIM and not anyone else. Thankfully (and somewhat unbelievably!), someone called Driscoll on it and he begged off.

Still ... anyone wonder why there are over 40,000 Christian denominations? Here's one reason right here.

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I've long felt the staggering number of Christian tribes should be a bigger problem for believers than it is. It speaks to a God who could will the universe into existence but when it came to the most important message imaginable, couldn't make himself understood. I do not believe the genuine word of God would be subject to endless debate.

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A priest once told me those 40.000 denominations is a wrong way to describe christianity: there are only two denominations, catholics and heretics. And he had also the proof that catholics are right and heretics are wrong: All catholics are united under the leadership of the pope, where heretics don't recognize the authority of the pope and are divided into 39.999 different sects.

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Well, ask any other sect of Christianity and they’ll tell you the same thing, only that Catholics are wrong because they worship the pope and/or saints/the Virgin Mary.

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It's kind of like how so many indigenous tribes describe THEIR tribe as 'the people.'

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10 Q: Why do catholics worship the pope?

20 A: Because the pope represents god on earth.

30 Q: How do we know the pope represents god on earth?

40 A: Because the pope said so.

50 Q: Why should we believe the pope?

60 A: Because the pope is infallible.

70 Q: How do we know the pope is infallible?

80 GOTO 40

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Or,

80 if 'We accept without question' then proceed. Else if "We don't know." then burn at the stake.

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60 A: Because he won the war by using the zouaves...

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Which is a stereotype of Catholics, as Catholics worship none of those.

(I know, on account of I used to be one) :)

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Have you seen the Italians?

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Trying to sort out who was, or was not, a TRUE Christian kept Europe soaked in blood for centuries. Naturally, the big guy couldn't show up to clarify things. That history is why the men who wrote the U.S. Constitution did not give religion any role to play in their new government.

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And the so-called heretics don't consider the cath-a-licks christians

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There's the saying un English about something smelling fishy, in French speaking Québec it's something isn't Catholic. In the 1950's my mom and her eldest sister were looking at people on the street for indications they weren't Catholics.

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This saying exist in France too. Alternative version, "Quelque chose de pas (très) orthodoxe".

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I don't like him lumping those crazy fundamentalists in with my non-theistic hereticism!

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Apr 15
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For THEM, maybe. For us? Not so much ... but you knew that! 😁

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Getting bent out of shape is the new/old virtue signaling. "Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy."

Besides which, how is Driscoll going to sell his me me me brand if the crowd is happily paying attention to something else? Everything, every show, event, etc. is viewed through the lens of 'an opportunity to show people just how bent out of shape you are.'

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And on this day, a new denomination was born…

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Jezebel was not who these misogynists say she was, she was not a harlot or seductress, she was a woman facing death with dignity. She’s an easy mark to paint the villain because women aren’t supposed fight back or stand tall in the face of male oppression, they’re supposed to roll over any take it. Any time a woman acts like anything other than a doormat, she’s called a Jezebel. Well, paint my face and call me Jezzie. All women should be proud to be called a Jezebel.

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Well the 'facing death with dignity' came after her real crime: being a leader and a woman who opposed the state religion, who tried to either get people to switch from, or alter, Yahweh monotheism.

So you're right that the modern conservative 'Jezebel = slut' thing is inaccurate. But 'Jezebel = uppity woman who threatens our religious hegemony' thing is correct.

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That’s why acting in any way other than doormat gets you called Jezebel. And not being modest in appearance is one way women act out. But so many like to focus on the fact that she put makeup on to face death, means that any woman who wears makeup (noticeable makeup because we know that certain folks cannot recognize the difference between clean face and “natural makeup” without insisting the woman is quite ill when not wearing makeup.) is a slutty slut slut.

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So, in other words being called a Jezebel is a compliment.

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Maybe. Or maybe she was a Queen Isabella, happily toppling a repressive religious authority...so she could install her own. We don't really know...in part because as an OT story, most of it's probably fictional or at least massively changed from whatever real event its based on.

So, maybe bloodthirsty authoritarian in her own right. Or maybe fighter for religious freedom and tolerance. Or maybe "just written that way."

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“I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.”

Jessica Rabbit

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She was a powerful female queen in a land where men couldn't stand that status for a woman. And that's why she was killed.

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"If ever the devil was born without a pair of horns

It was you, Jezebel, it was you

If ever an angel fell, Jezebel, it was you

Jezebel, it was you

If ever a pair of eyes promised paradise

Deceiving me, grieving me, leavin' me blue

Jezebel, it was you

If ever the devil's plan was made to torment man

It was you, Jezebel, it was you"

Jezebel - Frankie Laine

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I think this is rather hilarious. If you look at MAGA art of Donald Trump, it's VERY homoerotic.

Maybe Mark felt a little twinge down there and got mad ("I thought Daddy beat that out of me!)?

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Exactly, that's what I was thinking.

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I have to pack for a trip, so I can't really spend a lot of time on this. But..

As a gay man, who studied this garbage for more than 50 years, this is what I see .

There is such an ongoing homoerotic subtext going on that it is amazingly funny. And I could see why it would cause so much conflict. Here you have a man who is going to swallow a sword--NO HOMO!-- who for no discernible reason is going to rip off his shirt--NO HOMO! and show his fine, well muscled body--NO HOMO!--and slide down a long long long pole --NO HOMO!--at a men only conference--NO HOMO!-- where the major topic of conversation is how hard--NO HOMO!-- it is to be a man in a world that seems intent on robbing them of their masculinity. DOUBLE EXTRA NO HOMO!

The funniest part of this is that it's also obvious. Of course Mark Driscoll has to say something, because only an idiot doesn't see the covert Homo erotic subtext running with all jets going full blast. Driscoll can see it, but he can't actually point to it because:

1) homosexuality does not exist among all these very very very very straight men who are very very very very concerned about their very very very very fragile masculinity.

2) saying that he sees it is a tacit admission that he IS it, because very very very straight men don't see this sort of thing. Only a homo would see it, and NO HOMO!!!!

3) Telling them to see it would be bringing up a great deal that is simply a subtext now, and they only see what they want to see because NO HOMO! You simply cannot bring up that subtext and make it explicit because you will get a lot of people very angry because NO HOMO!

I can't remember whether it's Harold and Maud, or Dr. Strangelove, but I can just hear that priest in the movie going on and on and on about precious bodily fluids.

So, Driscoll Did the very best he could do under the situation to preserve both his own fragile masculinity and the fragile masculinity of those very very very very straight men who are very very very very concerned about their very very endangered masculinity.

Such a fragile flower is masculinity. It must be preserved at all cost.

I'm running out of time, but this remind me of the "men going their own way" movement. Poor men are always the victims of those evil nasty women, and they are much better off without them. Those women were supposed to solve all of their problems, and instead, they made those men feel less like men. So it must be all the women's fault, because they are men and the fragile bloom or the delicate snowflake of their endangered masculinity must be protected.

Added well after: Jezebel jezebel jezebel=bad wimmens. Save us poor men from bad wimmens. NO HOMO!

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Well put! I see a lot of the same things. A bunch of insecure men saying "I'm not gay! Really! Watch me leap through this burning obstacle! See! I'm not gay! No, really! Etc!"

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Thanks/

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For someone who didn't have the time, you sure packed a wallop. 😃

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He did say he was packing for a trip.

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I had just enough room left in my suitcase for a wallop.

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The portable ones take up less space.

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That was the reference I was making. 😎

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Damned fine observation. Safe journey! 👍

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Thanks/

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Your answer lacks a few very. Lol

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Thanks.

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I was going to say this but you said it so much better.

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Thanks

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It was not a priest. It was General Jack Ripper.

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👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😉🎯

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I imagine there's a lot more sword swallowing at these conferences than they are letting on.

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🎯😁🤣😂🤣

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"Stronger Men's Conference" is a suspect name for a gathering of misogynistic snowflakes.

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I'd love to see Driscoll get into a match with Ronda Rousey. She'd have him screaming for his mommy.

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He'd claim she's really a man or a Jezebel on steroids. No way he lost to a *real* woman.

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I've seen her nudes, she is most definitely a cis woman.

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I'll be in my bunk.

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Don't forget the Kleenex.

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"Instead, he went with homo-erotic imagery that resembles lady strippers."

Not to mention sword swallowing. What kind of "sword" was Driscoll thinking of, do you suppose?

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Kielbasa if course!

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I would say that once sword swallowing comes up, they've hit the Euphemism City limits and it's probably time to either plan a different sort of event or reconsider the entertainment.

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From the song, Trump in a Jumpsuit, from the forthcoming MAGA Musical for the Masses, Dictator for a Day, THIS kind of sword:

"Gonna take it in the rear with an inmate's salami.

When they're done with you they're gonna start on Giuliani."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNNoqeAlnrM

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Driscoll’s little brain was excited over the performance and he didn’t know how to deal with his self loathing. So he lashed out at the half of the population he hates the most because they’re incapable of giving him pleasure since he’s not allowed the type of pleasure he desires.

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He likely said “oof” to himself when shirt came off. Like he said to himself when a young Colin Farrell hosted SNL. Like he says nonstop through his repeated viewing of Roadhouse, Fight Club, 300, and others.

Guy’s a fucking clown but somehow figured out how to make bank on it.

I got a conjecture that once his likely financial impropriety comes to light, so will his homoerotic activities, and he’ll take his own life. Sad!

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I’d never celebrate or encourage suicide…but in this case 🤔…humanity would be better off.

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I wouldn't say that. I think the entire planet would be instantly better off if every one of these cockroaches gave a beretta a blow job.

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It's pretty obvious though, these guys WANT the pole, if you know what I mean. That's cool and all, but you should do that privately...

I'm no psychologist nor psychiatrist nor even a counselor, but I agree with the author here - there's something very strange going on. This is not the Christianity that I was indoctrinated in and then threw off. But hey evolution is a natural process. I wonder how long it will take them to actually get to human sacrifice...

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Christians practice ritual cannibalism now. How long before they get into the real thing?

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It is the real thing if you say the right magic words.

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Klaatu Barada...Necktie?

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Don't open the book, Ash.

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As shocking as this sounds, it certainly seems plausible.

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Sounds like ol' Driscoll got hot and bothered, over the performance. Methinks he dost protest too much! Someday we will hear about him getting caught with someone who looks just like the sword swallower, swallowing 'his' sword.

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Truly, it seems like he’s stretching, desperately, hoping. Then he realized he has no chance, now the object of desire is eeevil.

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That seems to be the Christian MO. Just look at Frollo!

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Or picking up the soap.

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Indeed!

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The problem with having massive numbers of wannabe-Alpha males in the same room is that then you've got wannabe-Alpha males in one room. Why anyone is surprised they then turn on each other and attempt various one upsmanship attacks I will never understand.

Truth be told, I've been somewhat surprised that this hasn't happened quite yet with the MAGA crowd, I figure they've just been a bit slow to get to the right point just yet. Here's hoping that implosion happens before November.

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aka "Testosterone Poisoning."

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Gotta be a real wuss to be poisoned by such a minuscule amount.

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The most hilarious thing about that statement is that there is a whole roomful of wannabe-Alpha males who are there to take direction from someone else, when the keystone of Alpha males is that they never listen to anyone.

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All these people who call themselves 'Alpha males' don't understand what it means to be a leader. All they know is bully.

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That did happen in The Texas border town Eagle Pass, there were no immigrants "pouring across the border" for them to fight, so they prowled around the town, scaring the residents until some group of Magats challenged another.

https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/dipshit-maga-truckers-are-now-a-huge

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"Here’s the simplest solution to all of this: Avoid any church that hosts a men’s event."

Here’s the simplest solution to all of this: Avoid any church.

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🎯🎯🎯🎯👏👏👏👏👏👏

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What's remarkable to me is that Mark Driscoll finally managed to say/do something that some of his fellow misogynistic Christians felt out of line.

Then again, Driscoll was trying to hold another megachurch passtor accountable (regardless of whether you agree with his criticisms/reasons for calling for accountability) and that just couldn't be allowed to stand. This is why various authoritarian leaders will always eat one another. In their minds, they're like the immortals of the Highlander universe: In the end, there can be only one.

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I don't think the other pastor is who Driscoll wanted to eat that day.

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