Christians try to take credit for all that's good in the world, while dismissing the countless failures of their religion as the work of people who weren't TRUE Christians. History does not begin to support the claim Christianity makes people better.
I live in the same neck of the Bible Belt as Tulsa. Things are changing in the heartland. "Cat people for Harris/Walz signs are popping up in my city. And not one Trump sign, flag, or banner. Walmart, Target and Dillard's are packed on Sunday mornings. Christofascism is making an angry and dangerous last stand to maintain its dominance. But when you have lost Tulsa, you are losing the USA.
The most heartening aspect of your story, and stories like Hemant's post, is that 'Christofascism getting more angry' seems to have turned the corner from winning votes to losing them.
This dip never understood (nor likely WANTED to understand) that the United States is a SECULAR nation with a SECULAR government (at least on paper), and that its exclusion of religion from its charter and function was purposeful in that, by being separate from religion, it was placed in a position where it could treat ALL religions and their practitioners EQUALLY.
And while the Norwegian constitution has the sentences "build on christian and humanist values" and "the regent has to christian", the religion of our politicians are seldom, if ever, talked about. (That was a too long sentence). Exept for 2011 we don't have that much murdered and criminal acts as US do per citizen.
The "requirement" to be a Christian to get elected has only been a thing in places and times where Christians have had the power to 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 Christianity. That has only ever been the case in the US when they have held an iron grip on all the social institutions, never by law. Even in a place like Tulsa, where "where do you go to church" usually precedes "what do you do for a living" when being introduced to new people, they are realizing that fact.
The fact that two Democrats beat a white Christian Nationalist in 𝘛𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘢 is a good sign that even the rank and file fundamentalists can learn that theocracy is not the right path for this country.
Yeah, I could quibble with Hemant on his "belief in God but not Christian" characterization of some colonial codes. That's just incorrect. The 1776 Constitution for Maryland, for example, says "XXXV. That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this State, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this Convention or the Legislature of this State, and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion."
Here's another bit from the same document: "XXXIII. That, as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to him; all persons, professing the Christian religion, are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty"
That's pretty explicit: Christians only in government, and religious protection is for Christians.
So I think it's more accurate to say that some of the colonies did TRY to set up their states as run by Christians, for Christians. But that they ultimately failed. Even the Maryland example was short-lived and might be considered a 'last gasp' very similar to today's dominionists, because they put this together in 1776 and probably knew exactly what Jefferson and other deists were going to angle for in the bigger federal document (which wasn't written yet, but again, the tea leaves were probably pretty easy to read). Ultimately, it was only 13 years before the document they wrote was rendered OBE by the ratification of the Constitution...in part by their own leaders.
OT: I want to share a little. This weekend we got a new kitten, a 5 month old female calico we named Amelia, Mia for shorty just like in the Princess Diaries. Our older cat Greg, he’s 9, has been a bit grumpy over it. We have had to intervene a couple of times when she’s surprised him, but one time I got in his way he bit me a little too hard (I am sure he didn’t intend to bite that hard, he was contrite immediately after) and broke the skin. Later on my hand puffed up and was really painful so I went to the doctor. I’m on antibiotics and it’s healing well. But the clinic was required to report the bite, so now poor Greg is on house arrest for ten days and must visit the vet three times during that time. He’s not rabid, that I’m sure of, but we still have to go through the quarantine. The problem is the first visit the doctor confirmed that he is blind. Before this we hadn’t been sure, we can tell sometimes he can see very well, but then there’s time when his eyes are fully dilated or more dilated than they need to be and he can’t see. This is why the new kitten is surprising him, and why he’s lashing out when we intervene. He just doesn’t know who is touching him.
Anyway, we are over the moon with our new kitten. And we are dealing with police involvement that sucks.
Also yesterday was the annual chalk walk in my village and I drew a really cool picture of Rainbow Brite that turned out well.
I tried to trim my doggo girl’s nails once. Never again. Nicked one. Bled everywhere, I freaked, she didn’t care. By the time I got to the vet’s, it had stopped. Naturally.
That is a possibility. The vet thought it might be hypertension, but his BP was normal. Even in his anxious state.
Greg is an all black cat, a rescue from a humane society when he was a kitten (even younger than Mia is now) 9 years ago.
We have to finish his rabies evaluation visits and will find a specialist for him to figure out why. He’s otherwise healthy though, and still a good hunter, that’s why I think it might be situational blindness. Not that I like that he hunts.
Calico cats, in particular, are at risk for certain diseases due to their unique coat color. For example, calico cats are more likely to develop diabetes than other cats. This is because the white patches of fur on their coats are caused by a mutation in the insulin receptor gene.
* Though I had to run after her twice a week with a tea spoon of honey or jam because she had a tendency to hypoglycemia. It's so fun with a dog who hates anything sweet.
I used to live in Tulsa, for many years in fact. I personally knew Karen Keith. She is a great person, inclusive, and very capable. I wish her much success.
“I hope that my motives are pure in what I’m doing and I’m not doing them for the wrong reason”. Nope and nope. Motive was as pure as yellow snow. The reasons were to enable bigotry and force religion down people’s throats. VanNorman could be much more wrong than that, but it’s a start. 🙄
Good to see Tulsa is not repeating the good christian traditions of division and hatred from one century ago. I wish for Tulsqns to see a lot of rainbow flags next June and red/black/green ones in October.
PS OT : DM felt good enough to attempt a restaurant and a visit to a bakery after her toenails' date with a professional groom... pedicure. And my ankle decided to behave as well.
1. The Right would lose their 💩if a non-Republican candidate would tweet “get out and vote, and bring a friend,” claiming this was an effort to undermine integrity.
2. His words: “I hope that my motives are pure in what I’m doing and I’m not doing them for the wrong reason.”
Whaaat??!!! You’ve entered a mayoral race and you HOPE your motives are pure? Pro-tip for ya, Bub, nothing says “I’m being deceitful” quite like suggesting you aren’t fully clear on your motives.
3. His words: “I care for humanity and … I try to treat people with equality, I try to treat people with love.”
Uhhh, following up by demonizing LGBTQ+ people and the acknowledgement of Pride is neither loving nor an espousal of equality for all.
4. The whole “we gotta get back to…” line of reasoning is a tried and true Evangelical effort to gaslight humanity and congregants alike into thinking their actions and faith practices fall short. It’s a perpetual moving of goal posts that has been a hallmark of conservative Christianity since the first folks landed here in “the New World.”
>>“How many genders are there?” Lahmeyer asked VanNorman.
>>“There are two, and let me give you the scientific definition of a woman, in case you … because there are people that, you know, science is important, right?
Let me give you the scientific definition of shutting the hell right up about things you don't know anything about.
What really makes me angry here is that clowns like this guy spend 99% of their time yelling about how science is wrong about everything. Science is wrong about evolution. Science is wrong about the age of the Earth. Science is wrong about vaccines.
Heck, 200 years ago, science was wrong about electricity, until all the churches burned down from lightning strikes because these morons were the same people back then, and stubbornly refused to put lightning rods on churches. Since they were frequently the tallest buildings in town, they tended to be struck by lightning.
Point is, these people have never been right about anything, but they certainly don't have a problem trying to steal the credibility that science has.
I am pretty sure I am a woman and has been one since my birth too. My childhood friend was a boy in a girlish body. After a rough period he got what he needed and is recognised as male. He is still happier now, 25 years later.
I seem to recall Ben Franklin was the guy who promoted lightning rods.
Refusing to install one because "god will protect us" is a great example of why religious people who hang their entire identity on that should not be elected to office; they're not only ignorant, but superstitiously delusional.
Christians try to take credit for all that's good in the world, while dismissing the countless failures of their religion as the work of people who weren't TRUE Christians. History does not begin to support the claim Christianity makes people better.
Not letting anyone forget that DG tried to claim Christianity “invented” civilization.
Or the Reichskonkordat.
Not even remotely true, and anyone who thinks the world suddenly got beter with the advent of Christianity simply does not know their history.
Obviously.
I’ve had Christians tell me that any morals I have as an atheist are because I live in a society suffused with Christian values.
My sense of morality developed in spite of so-called Christian values.
Just curious, what religion was the mayor and most city officials when that city's famous racial massacre took place?
You know their loophole, "they were not true christians".
Narrator: They were representing the actions of many christians ,throughout history.
No entiendo 😁
https://youtu.be/j8ZF_R_j0OY
Ah ! Quand même !
Exactly.
I live in the same neck of the Bible Belt as Tulsa. Things are changing in the heartland. "Cat people for Harris/Walz signs are popping up in my city. And not one Trump sign, flag, or banner. Walmart, Target and Dillard's are packed on Sunday mornings. Christofascism is making an angry and dangerous last stand to maintain its dominance. But when you have lost Tulsa, you are losing the USA.
Just my observation from the Midsouth ...
Wouldn’t you be in the same waist of the Bible Belt? We don’t want folks putting a belt on their necks, even in the Bible Belt.
Sounds like a good time to repost this:
https://www.zentaur.org/memes/Fantasy/Crazy_Cat_Lady_Coalition.jpg
The most heartening aspect of your story, and stories like Hemant's post, is that 'Christofascism getting more angry' seems to have turned the corner from winning votes to losing them.
https://www.amazon.com/Kamala-Harris-2024-Yard-Sign/dp/B0DC18FP4C/
https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/457244714_122119237646383841_6114148797392871793_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_s600x600&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=dwT-MzGwgXIQ7kNvgFRmE22&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&_nc_gid=ALpknrKM9aQ8MWsWpcut6hf&oh=00_AYDFR52_c_5nq6deMh1fS3buqpmsdKj8bYkN2R1Q077YLA&oe=66D677B0
❤️👏👏👏👏👏👏
𝐴𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ, 𝑉𝑎𝑛𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑑, “𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠.”
REALLY? THAT'S a qualification? Maybe someone needs to remind VanNorman of a little something in the Constitution of the United States:
... 𝑛𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑂𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠.
-- US Constitution, Article VI, paragraph 3
This dip never understood (nor likely WANTED to understand) that the United States is a SECULAR nation with a SECULAR government (at least on paper), and that its exclusion of religion from its charter and function was purposeful in that, by being separate from religion, it was placed in a position where it could treat ALL religions and their practitioners EQUALLY.
VanNorman never got that. His loss.
How could we expect him to understand anything? He seems to think that people choose to live on the streets so they can do drugs.
Sounds like he needs his meds balanced.
And while the Norwegian constitution has the sentences "build on christian and humanist values" and "the regent has to christian", the religion of our politicians are seldom, if ever, talked about. (That was a too long sentence). Exept for 2011 we don't have that much murdered and criminal acts as US do per citizen.
I wonder why we do better.
The fact that he is believer in the supernatural, myth, and superstition tells me that he is not fit for public office.
I wrote this before, but this "unashamed follower of Christ" suggests that many of them are actually ashamed of themselves for being gullible twits.
I'm glad he lost, but I have to comment on one thing:
"[I]f she is mayor, throughout the month of June you are going to see some multi-colored flags lining our city streets, and you won’t if I am mayor.”
Dude, if seeing a bunch of pride flags for a month each year negatively impacts you, you are the most fragile snowflake to ever live.
The "requirement" to be a Christian to get elected has only been a thing in places and times where Christians have had the power to 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 Christianity. That has only ever been the case in the US when they have held an iron grip on all the social institutions, never by law. Even in a place like Tulsa, where "where do you go to church" usually precedes "what do you do for a living" when being introduced to new people, they are realizing that fact.
The fact that two Democrats beat a white Christian Nationalist in 𝘛𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘢 is a good sign that even the rank and file fundamentalists can learn that theocracy is not the right path for this country.
Yeah, I could quibble with Hemant on his "belief in God but not Christian" characterization of some colonial codes. That's just incorrect. The 1776 Constitution for Maryland, for example, says "XXXV. That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support and fidelity to this State, and such oath of office, as shall be directed by this Convention or the Legislature of this State, and a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion."
Here's another bit from the same document: "XXXIII. That, as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to him; all persons, professing the Christian religion, are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty"
That's pretty explicit: Christians only in government, and religious protection is for Christians.
So I think it's more accurate to say that some of the colonies did TRY to set up their states as run by Christians, for Christians. But that they ultimately failed. Even the Maryland example was short-lived and might be considered a 'last gasp' very similar to today's dominionists, because they put this together in 1776 and probably knew exactly what Jefferson and other deists were going to angle for in the bigger federal document (which wasn't written yet, but again, the tea leaves were probably pretty easy to read). Ultimately, it was only 13 years before the document they wrote was rendered OBE by the ratification of the Constitution...in part by their own leaders.
OT: I want to share a little. This weekend we got a new kitten, a 5 month old female calico we named Amelia, Mia for shorty just like in the Princess Diaries. Our older cat Greg, he’s 9, has been a bit grumpy over it. We have had to intervene a couple of times when she’s surprised him, but one time I got in his way he bit me a little too hard (I am sure he didn’t intend to bite that hard, he was contrite immediately after) and broke the skin. Later on my hand puffed up and was really painful so I went to the doctor. I’m on antibiotics and it’s healing well. But the clinic was required to report the bite, so now poor Greg is on house arrest for ten days and must visit the vet three times during that time. He’s not rabid, that I’m sure of, but we still have to go through the quarantine. The problem is the first visit the doctor confirmed that he is blind. Before this we hadn’t been sure, we can tell sometimes he can see very well, but then there’s time when his eyes are fully dilated or more dilated than they need to be and he can’t see. This is why the new kitten is surprising him, and why he’s lashing out when we intervene. He just doesn’t know who is touching him.
Anyway, we are over the moon with our new kitten. And we are dealing with police involvement that sucks.
Also yesterday was the annual chalk walk in my village and I drew a really cool picture of Rainbow Brite that turned out well.
My sympathies to Greg.
Congrats on the artistry.
Could he have diabetes ? It's not uncommon with older pets.
I was lucky, my dogesses never bit me, but Aria's thumb claws* and Rhapsodie's tail were dangerous by themselves.
* Sharp as fuck and impossible to cut due to her veins going all the way...
I tried to trim my doggo girl’s nails once. Never again. Nicked one. Bled everywhere, I freaked, she didn’t care. By the time I got to the vet’s, it had stopped. Naturally.
I could do Rhapsodie's, you could see where her veins stopped.
Imagine a four long inches wound on the head. Rhapsodie didn't freak out, Aria did and she was the (accidental) perpetrator.
That is a possibility. The vet thought it might be hypertension, but his BP was normal. Even in his anxious state.
Greg is an all black cat, a rescue from a humane society when he was a kitten (even younger than Mia is now) 9 years ago.
We have to finish his rabies evaluation visits and will find a specialist for him to figure out why. He’s otherwise healthy though, and still a good hunter, that’s why I think it might be situational blindness. Not that I like that he hunts.
My calico was diabetic.
More likely to develop diabetes
Calico cats, in particular, are at risk for certain diseases due to their unique coat color. For example, calico cats are more likely to develop diabetes than other cats. This is because the white patches of fur on their coats are caused by a mutation in the insulin receptor gene.
https://sprayingcats.com/are-calico-cats-prone-to-disease-you-will-be-surprised/#:~:text=Calico%20cats%2C%20in%20particular%2C%20are%20at%20risk%20for,by%20a%20mutation%20in%20the%20insulin%20receptor%20gene.
My calico developed kidney disease. I was able to control it with special food for a year, until I couldn’t. She’d had a long life though. 😢
So sad to hear that.
Condolences.
Selective breeding for superficial criteria has developed a lot of inbreeding issues in cats and dogs and probably other domesticated animals.
All mine are rescues. I never understood the need for special breeds.
All mine were mixed breeds.
Every pet of mine has been a rescue. Including the goldfish the kids won at a fair 😂
In a way Fidèle and Aria were, even if they never ended in a shelter.
* Fidèle was the product of an undesired pregnancy, her mother was small and unable to correctly feed all her puppies, and Aria's first human died.
Fidele was, Aria* and Rhaps weren't.
* Though I had to run after her twice a week with a tea spoon of honey or jam because she had a tendency to hypoglycemia. It's so fun with a dog who hates anything sweet.
Calicos are also prone to deafness.
WHAT?
I used to live in Tulsa, for many years in fact. I personally knew Karen Keith. She is a great person, inclusive, and very capable. I wish her much success.
“I hope that my motives are pure in what I’m doing and I’m not doing them for the wrong reason”. Nope and nope. Motive was as pure as yellow snow. The reasons were to enable bigotry and force religion down people’s throats. VanNorman could be much more wrong than that, but it’s a start. 🙄
Good to see Tulsa is not repeating the good christian traditions of division and hatred from one century ago. I wish for Tulsqns to see a lot of rainbow flags next June and red/black/green ones in October.
PS OT : DM felt good enough to attempt a restaurant and a visit to a bakery after her toenails' date with a professional groom... pedicure. And my ankle decided to behave as well.
Only a mere two genders, VanNorman? Au contraire...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gender_identities
Guess we can't blame you for being confused. You can't even figure out if your god is all one thing or three different entities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XX_male_syndrome
Pour faire la paire
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_lactation
Ooops, so much for two biological sex neatly defined 😁
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/a29bcdb6-12c8-4920-a816-d73febd5b01a/gif
Caption, but no image.
Try this:
https://y.yarn.co/a29bcdb6-12c8-4920-a816-d73febd5b01a_text.gif
Thanks Zorg!
Right click, then Open I̲mage in New Tab.
THERE'S Bobby. Thanks. :)
Are you able to make out who the others are?
😢
3 =1!
1 = 3!
Was the supposedly singular god referring to itself as "we" in a royal way in Genesis?
So, with that math there are at least 6 genders. If 1=3 and 1+1=2, then 2 genders is the same as 1(3)+1(3)=6.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐮𝐝
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-eight-genders-in-the-talmud/
Oy!
VanNorman would cringe in terror and utter "Gevalt!"
No, he would mumble something about Judeo-Christian something or other and pretend that he hadn’t seen what he had seen.
In Asian omegaverses stories there are 6 genders.
Very, very happy to hear Brent VanNorman lost. Yay! Oklahoma alright!!!!
So much to unpack here…working backwards…
1. The Right would lose their 💩if a non-Republican candidate would tweet “get out and vote, and bring a friend,” claiming this was an effort to undermine integrity.
2. His words: “I hope that my motives are pure in what I’m doing and I’m not doing them for the wrong reason.”
Whaaat??!!! You’ve entered a mayoral race and you HOPE your motives are pure? Pro-tip for ya, Bub, nothing says “I’m being deceitful” quite like suggesting you aren’t fully clear on your motives.
3. His words: “I care for humanity and … I try to treat people with equality, I try to treat people with love.”
Uhhh, following up by demonizing LGBTQ+ people and the acknowledgement of Pride is neither loving nor an espousal of equality for all.
4. The whole “we gotta get back to…” line of reasoning is a tried and true Evangelical effort to gaslight humanity and congregants alike into thinking their actions and faith practices fall short. It’s a perpetual moving of goal posts that has been a hallmark of conservative Christianity since the first folks landed here in “the New World.”
His definition of humanity* is narrower than for most of us.
* White cis straight christian bigots men, women are included when there are chores to do.
This right here
>>“How many genders are there?” Lahmeyer asked VanNorman.
>>“There are two, and let me give you the scientific definition of a woman, in case you … because there are people that, you know, science is important, right?
Let me give you the scientific definition of shutting the hell right up about things you don't know anything about.
What really makes me angry here is that clowns like this guy spend 99% of their time yelling about how science is wrong about everything. Science is wrong about evolution. Science is wrong about the age of the Earth. Science is wrong about vaccines.
Heck, 200 years ago, science was wrong about electricity, until all the churches burned down from lightning strikes because these morons were the same people back then, and stubbornly refused to put lightning rods on churches. Since they were frequently the tallest buildings in town, they tended to be struck by lightning.
Point is, these people have never been right about anything, but they certainly don't have a problem trying to steal the credibility that science has.
Like I said on anoter post about bent pasnormal, I can't tell what a woman is and I am one since my birth.
I am pretty sure I am a woman and has been one since my birth too. My childhood friend was a boy in a girlish body. After a rough period he got what he needed and is recognised as male. He is still happier now, 25 years later.
I seem to recall Ben Franklin was the guy who promoted lightning rods.
Refusing to install one because "god will protect us" is a great example of why religious people who hang their entire identity on that should not be elected to office; they're not only ignorant, but superstitiously delusional.
Is he going to complain the election was rigged and how the only reason why he lost was because "those people who shouldn't be allowed to vote" voted?
VanNorman conceded the election (shock and amazement, right?) and congratulated his opponents and didn't even mention his deity when he did so.
Maybe he didn't have his Wheaties that morning... 😝
The lord works in mysterious ways.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d50073d281c04dd5f37a433b4abf294316af928f4929a52fa2f9a1d7c83c1694.gif