272 Comments
User's avatar
oraxx's avatar

I doubt very much this cretin is any more qualified to pass judgment on mental health than he is to counsel kids. Religious nut cases always see their particular take on the super-natural as the solution to every problem. Facts and critical thinking need not apply. It isn't as if religious schools do not turn out some massively screwed up kids. Some people spend the rest of their lives trying to overcome the trauma of religious indoctrination.

Expand full comment
SeekingReason's avatar

Some…many. I think previous generations suffered real fear from fire & hell. The concept of telling a child they are sinners! Freakishly mental!

Expand full comment
xenubarb's avatar

And then you see people on social media, seriously distressed about their friends or family who aren't religious and who, according to them, are Going To Hell.

This distress is real, it glares through their posts. They believe in this shit so strongly, they are ruining their lives crying about it. But that's not mental illness, right?

RIGHT???

Expand full comment
oraxx's avatar

I see Christianity as roughly equal parts comfort myth and revenge fantasy. If the promise of heaven doesn't keep people in line, then threaten them with eternal damnation. It's all about controlling people.

Expand full comment
Ty's avatar

It’s all lunacy. As a youngster I was encouraged to lie— to create behavior offenses to report to a priest about myself so I could then do a penance to atone for behavior I never committed. Is anything more insane than having well behaving children make up lies about things they didn’t do so they can be punished and offer up prayers as penance to some fantasy main for stuff they didn’t ever do? No public school student of mine is going to be directed from my class to go meet privately with a predator who encourages them to lie. What next? The second session students are instructed how to steal? Or they get part 2 about how to lie to hurt other students or a teacher? These people ARE mental and should keep their mental problems to themselves instead of spreading it to our children. I guess this is how the RW prepares them to enter our political system or lie to other kids as they get older to keep this lunacy revolving. No surprise that republicans are the leaders in all this. Who needs to manipulate the stupid? Republicans of course. Just another step in total destruction of public schools & society.

Expand full comment
MikeinSonoma's avatar

I think the church would consider that profitable.

Expand full comment
Bill Wilson's avatar

Mentally deluded.

Expand full comment
Sean's avatar

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the lard my soul to keep

If I die before I wake

I pray the lard my soul to take.

Expand full comment
cdbunch's avatar

Piers Anthony's Thanatos got just a little peeved when a little girl wrote him that she was scared to sleep because of that little poem, he told her when he came for her, probably many decades later, he would wake her first.

Expand full comment
Sean's avatar

It's been a long time since I've read anything by Piers Anthony.

Expand full comment
Bill Wilson's avatar

Lard the other white god.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

That jackass got his degree from Dunning & Kruger University. 😝

Expand full comment
Bill Wilson's avatar

Where he earned the achievement of being more of a valid "dick" than a 'torian'.

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Malloy and other chaplain-pushers likely deny that religious trauma is a thing.

Expand full comment
Donrox's avatar

I am the PTSD poster child for religious trauma. I hope to never have to walk into a church or meet a chaplain (which I have been numerous times) ever again in my life. Even here in the MidSouth city in which I reside, we have a synagogue, a mosque, a Hindu temple, an active Unitarian Church, and a hell of a lot of freethinkers like me.

I will probably not live to see it, but I hope my grandsons will live in a post-christian nation.

Expand full comment
John Smith's avatar

I will go even farther not just post christian nation, but post religion nation. I think the world should be post religion. I know it won’t happen, but imagine a world unhindered by religion. The social and scientific advancements we could make.

Expand full comment
Dylan's avatar

Agreed!

Expand full comment
Lucius's avatar

Cheers to that.

The sooner Christianity dies a long overdue death the better.

Expand full comment
Stephen Brady's avatar

I would like to see a good study of mental health diagnoses in kids from rightwing religious families vs. left leaning families. Number of different diagnoses and frequency.

I can't think of an inclusive left-leaning family which has had a kid commit suicide, but I know of a few strict religious that have suffered childhood suicides... one where 2 of 4 kids killed themselves. (They believe JEEZus called them home and they will see them again when they go home to JEEZus).

Expand full comment
Tinker's avatar

My attempted suicide at the tender age of 15 was driven by religion.

Expand full comment
Matri's avatar

We’re glad you failed.

Expand full comment
Old Man Shadow's avatar

Fundamentalist Christianity took a young man suffering from depression and made me worse by telling me it was my fault, that there was something wrong with me because I didn't have the joy of the Lord. This put me into a guilt-shame cycle that pushed me towards suicide.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Given the opportunity, once you found yourself and your own strength, it would have been justifiable to confront whoever was doing that to you and tell them how badly they fucked up.

More difficult if it were an amalgam of people, but still worth it.

Expand full comment
Robot Bender's avatar

They'd still blame him. Victim blaming is one of their main tactics.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Oh, lovely. Yet another Christian Nationalist, talking out of his ass. He cites ONE SOURCE to corroborate his BS, and that source immediately calls his assertion into question, but of course, he presses on regardless.

Rocky, you got rocks in yer haid. You might look to that.

Expand full comment
xenubarb's avatar

Rocky the Flying Skunk Ape...

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

I grew up with the flying squirrel of the same name (and his pal the moose). Far preferable.

Expand full comment
P Kawake's avatar

Rocket J. Squirrel was his full name, I think.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Indeed ... and Bullwinkle J. Moose was his sidekick. What the "J" stands for in both cases, I have NO idea! 😁

Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

I think the J is a tip of the hat to their creator Jay Ward.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Makes sense ... and I love what Jaw Ward brought to cartoons in the early 60s. Who here remembers Hoppity Hooper?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ws4gsQF45s

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Jan 9
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

"Boris, dahlink!"

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Jan 9
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Mary Ann. 'Nuff said.

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Jan 9
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

I still remember Trump nodding off at the RNC Convention during both Vance and Don Jr.s speeches. His veep and his own son.

I also recall Trump repeatedly falling asleep during his hush money trial...when he wasn't farting in court, that is.

Expand full comment
S Russell's avatar

What you really gotta love is how they truly think that by attacking Democratic politicians they're gonna automatically trigger us. They can't comprehend that there are people who do NOT worship politicians, ANY politicians, regardless of party. Of course, when you're in a cult, it is unbelievably difficult to comprehend how anybody could NOT love Dear Leader...

Expand full comment
S Russell's avatar

This one's yet another gd right-wing troll. His account feed consists of about 90% restacks of memes from other MAGA trolls, and then a couple occasional posts or restacks about nudes, or nude boating posts 🤨. Exactly the kind of intellectually stimulating brain food we've come to expect from these MAGA worshipping trolls...

Expand full comment
Matri's avatar

Did he also fall asleep that one time he was in church?

Expand full comment
Ty's avatar

Bill Clinton was mostly bored out of his mind. I always was.

Expand full comment
User's avatar
Comment deleted
Jan 9
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Stephen Brady's avatar

They don't mean other religions - just theirs.

Expand full comment
Robot Bender's avatar

And only their particular version.

Expand full comment
Sarah Longstaff's avatar

The idea got put on hold in Florida precisely for this reason--because of the good old Satanic Temple applying!

Expand full comment
Bensnewlogin's avatar

‘ But these are the lies conservative Christians are using to get their own chaplains in public schools, and if that means kicking out all the people who have been professionally trained to work with children of all backgrounds on a variety of issues, they don’t care.”

The keywords here are “professionally Trained.” The current Versions of politicized Christianity and Christianized Politics does not want any authority but them. This is why they align so well with Trump and the Christianized Republican party.

You need Christian pastors and Counselorss In the public schools because you can’t trust those educated people. They’re woke.

You have to have conservative Christian everything because you can’t trust those liberal Christians. They’re woke.

Your 30 minute Google search and Facebook post made by your sister‘s hairdresser‘s brother are easily worth Dr. Fauci‘s 50 years of virology experience.

You don’t need to understand that transgender issues have been studied for nearly 100 years. All you need is a Jehovah’s Witness pastor with a chip on his shoulder to tell you all about it.

What do climate change scientists know that conservative scientists like the Koch Brothers Don’t know?

Your Bible believing pastor knows far more about the billions of facts and the dozens of disciplines That support evolution, because he read something in the book that God wrote.

Worried that your kid will get a liberal education? Homeschool them even though don’t know much about anything yourself.

The list just goes on and on and on. And every item on this list Boils down to don’t trust authorities except these authorities, don’t think for yourself because we’ll do that for you, what you prefer To believe is far more important than what might be true.

So give us your power and your money. And whatever you do, Don’t try to understand how tariffs work Before you vote.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

They know what they believe. They don't want to be bothered by inconvenient things ... like FACTS.

Expand full comment
P Kawake's avatar

We don't need no stinking FACTS!

Expand full comment
Ty's avatar

But but but those social workers in the public schools are the WORSE— OMG they’re WOKE! What could be worse than WOKE? More mental hysteria by the right. I don’t want those people anywhere near my children.

Expand full comment
Bensnewlogin's avatar

You know I agree with you.

Expand full comment
xenubarb's avatar

Looking at christianity through a cynical lens, their whole history is a mental illness. Child abuse. Pedophiles. Greed, dishonesty, delusional perceptions of reality, ridiculous crap like this right here.

Apparently, religious schools have no suicides, at least that's what he's implying. No mental health problems? Yeah, I doubt it. Their simplistic "good vs evil" interpretation of reality is childishly simple. And they want these chaplains instead of trained professionals so they can inject their religious nonsense on vulnerable kids? Kids who might be LGBT, or another religion entirely?

Keep it in church, skunk man. Mandatory presence of people's kids in public schools are not a pool of prospective converts for you to proselytize, if people want that for their kids; they can send them to a religious private school. Public schools need to stick to readin' writin' and 'rithmatic. And history, and civics, art, biology, music. Not religious indoctrination, or chaplains telling kids they'll go to Hell if they don't fall into lockstep with christianity.

Religion is mental illness. We just can't have the lunatics running the asylum!

Expand full comment
Stephen Brady's avatar

I like 'skunk man'!

Expand full comment
Lynn Veit's avatar

Pepe Le Pew's evil twin.

Expand full comment
Ty's avatar

Last two schools shootings took place at Christian schools of “abundance.” Apparently the shooters had an overdose cuz both shooters took their own lives.

Expand full comment
xenubarb's avatar

Here's a little something to refute this Skunk Ape Man's assertion that sanity hovers over christians like a weighted security blanket with no suicides or mental illness.

Abundant Life Christian School. 15 year old freshman student, a girl, shoots up the place and then kills herself.

Tell me again how christianity protects one from mental illness and suicide.

Expand full comment
NOGODZ20's avatar

And belief in fairy tale beings and realms for which there is zero evidence is the epitome of mental health, is it?

Your grip on reality is rocky, Rocky.

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

I'm not sure he even has a passing acquaintance with reality.

Expand full comment
Lynn Veit's avatar

He probably did too many of those drugs he used to traffic

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

Hey Malloy! Do you have any 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 that chaplains work, besides cherry picking one sentence from a paper you didn't understand because you could use it for an argument from authority?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Didn't think so.

Expand full comment
Phil Graham's avatar

Religion is a mental disease...

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 94% 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 “𝑤𝑜𝑘𝑒” 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑟-𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠𝑠.

Same place he keeps his definition of "woke".

Expand full comment
Sarah Longstaff's avatar

"Woke" is anything that challenges Christian Nationalist ideology, power, and authority. So: teacher training, public health, critical thinking, equity, inclusion, expertise of any kind, higher education, PhDs. This is all about maintaining control over income flow (via tithing) by teaching cult followers to distrust ALL evidence. When I taught anthropology over a decade ago, I would occasionally get rightwing Christian students. I said that I would welcome their papers arguing for creationism IF THEY PROVIDED SOURCES. Even just a Bible verse! Give me SOMETHING that shows you know how to cite a source. They couldn't do it BECAUSE any evidence whatsoever violates what they are taught about "faith alone." And I'm talking about adult community college students in their 40s and 50s. The brainwashing is extreme.

Expand full comment
ericc's avatar

It's all in how you define it. If ones' definition of "woke" is "does not believe gay people belong in jail or burned at the stake for being gay", then yeah, 94% of mental health professionals are woke. Probably more than that.

Expand full comment
Septuagenarian Contrarian's avatar

"...that is his own ass" and he needs to shove it back up there where it belongs.

Expand full comment
Joe King's avatar

...𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛.

And there's the tell. What do you suppose thes "bad decisions" are in Malloy's mind? Probably the fact that gay peoplle exist, and that if a child is gay, it is just who they are. Does a young girl aspire to true equality? Is a trans student struggling? Has a Muslim student lost their faith? To Malloy, all of those decisions are bad. Gay student? Try to stop being gay. Equality? Nope, you're a girl and must act that way. Trans student? You're deluded and need to pray. Muslim? Instead of leaving faith, join mine. Malloy, those are not bad decisions. Those are things for which professionals can help. I personally know some very conservative Christians who acknowledge that mental illness is a thing and that professional counselors can help.

I want children to be helped. Malloy wants children indoctrinated.

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

“lobbying efforts by the National School Chaplain Association,“

An organization whose purpose is completely unconstitutional and therefore should not even exist. But don’t let that stop you.

Expand full comment
JerryBier's avatar

In my estimation, all religions create mental illness because they convince people to believe in things that aren’t true. We should base laws in our society on facts and reason, not religious dogma about a God that doesn’t exist.

Expand full comment
ericc's avatar

𝐷𝑟. 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝐽𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑦, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒.

I'm all for fundie evangelical Christian students being counseled by Jewish women Rabbis. I mean, that's the implied point here, right?

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Alongside the fact that she challenged what Malloy alleged that she said!

Expand full comment
Stephen Beck Marcotte's avatar

Chaplain, aka street priest, aka warrior monk

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

AKA bullshit artist, AKA wannabe authority ... who very likely will wet his pants when confronted by people with actual experience in the field.

Expand full comment
Stephen Brady's avatar

Maybe not. Authoritarians believe they, alone, are possessed of right opinion. That is how they can discount true expertise. Plato was lambasting these people 2400 years ago. Ecclesiastes put it best: "There is no new thing under the sun". Not when it comes to people.

Expand full comment
Troublesh00ter's avatar

Too many authoritarians have yet to be introduced to Drs. Dunning and Kruger, not that they'd pay any attention.

Expand full comment
Stephen Beck Marcotte's avatar

Why did I come back to the table to say what I am about to say about something I believe is totally unrelated to what I just said?

Choices of what to say:

1. Nothing (null)

2. Jeez you’re icky. Why you say? Well because Gaslighters are perceived (italics) to be glass half empty squeaky wheels. Maybe if I talk more about this problem and other problems we have in common, this problem will go away. (Funny face then compromise table)

3. (Verbal karate)

4. (Verbal judo)

5. (More gaslighting)

Note: all of the above are forms of diplomatic speech.

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

“which, according to national data I have, 94% of them are woke“

Woke meaning aware of the realities of the world and the variety of people who exist in it, also being tolerant of different ideas and people, or in other words not asleep. So, a woke professional is far better than a chaplain who is unconscious.

I think he’s confusing learning about the struggles of all the students, finding the root causes, and addressing the cause, with creating mental disease. These issues have always existed, in the past we punished students for having them exacerbating their problems, or ignored them altogether allowing the student to fail because it’s a behavior issue they need to fly right. Neither option is effective, but both are what the chaplain program is going to use, because actually addressing mental health is too woke. Well, that’s the diplomatic assessment.

Then the idea that a chaplain will solve the suicide problem is so ridiculous it hardly merits criticism. If a religious leader could solve suicides, we wouldn’t have an issue with it by now. No church would ever have a single member die from suicide, everyone would see the results and be flocking to churches to be cured of their depression. But that isn’t happening. And there have been enough folks that report getting worse when they sought help within the church to dismiss the idea altogether.

The chaplain programs are seriously unconstitutional and completely unhelpful while being a blatant power grab by Christian nationalists.

Expand full comment
ericc's avatar

𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝

A counselor doesn't even have to be tolerant in their personal life, so long as they are competent and professional on the job. Don't want to hang out with gay pepole after you leave the office? I don't care. So long as the gay student gets treated equally with other students and according to psychological professional counseling standards and best practices. .

But I'm guessing that for this guy, if a counselor is *listening* to the student rather than Christsplaining *at* her, he'd consider that woke.

Expand full comment
Robot Bender's avatar

What "national data"? Source, please.

Expand full comment
Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Val is quoting Rocky Malloy.

Expand full comment
Whitney Blankenship's avatar

The key belief is that only Christianity can solve these problems. And that is the problem, of course. Christians who think this way will never back off—-even when you tell them you aren’t interested and explain why, they will just continue to hit you over the head with their “come to Jesus” (or in my case, come back to Jesus) talking points. They don’t want to hear your point of view; your refusal to accept what they are offering is (a) the devil talking and (b) just another test of their faith. It is reflexive reaction and lends itself to the persecution complex these folks have.

Expand full comment
Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

There was a beautiful take down of the whole proselytizing process on Reddit a while back. It helps to understand why they push without consideration of others.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/vcwudm/proselytizing_mind_trick_busted_aka_an_argument/?rdt=40635#lightbox

Expand full comment