twitter limiting the amount of tweets you get to read per day is ridiculous but if tiktok limited the amount of videos people got to see per day it would be the biggest win for mental health since ssris
September 28, 2006 at 10:41 A.M. in case anyone is looking to celebrate the anniversary of John Winchester’s death
Charlie Squire, “Mattel, Malibu Stacy, and the Dialectics of the Barbie Polemic,” evil female (Substack), 2023.
Christ alive
i love how only a FRACTION of these have any recognizable gendered cultural meaning and yet she has built that meaning in herself and keeps them completely separated
This post haunts me because some of these names are, like, fine?? But some of them are HEINOUS. And it makes me think this woman actually has no idea what makes a name cool or not, and just had a dictionary open when she was filling out the birth certificate. Like Fern? Fine, already a name. Oak? Totally fine, I wouldn’t blink. But if you name a fucking girl fucking Vessel, that is a hate crime
Which is why it’s important to not be mean.
Their cult teaches them that the world is full of scary monster people who hate them for being so good and loved by god. If you swear at them and call them names or get in their face you’re just doing the cults work for it.
I’m not saying you have to listen to their presentation or try to debate them (and really getting into a debate without thoroughly understanding what they’re being taught will just make things worse)… I am just saying to be polite and say no thank you like if they were trying to hand you a flyer for something you don’t care about.
It’s easier for them to see the world outside their bubble as less scary if they see everyday people just going about their business and being as nice to them as you are to everyone else. This goes doubly for anyone who happens to dress modestly, not swear, and not drink or smoke because whatever you believe, they’ll see you as a “good” person who happens to strangely have no interest in their “message”, and that might be enough to get some curious about the possibility of themselves living in the real world.
It’s sometimes hard to be nice to people who seem to represent something you dislike. Just remember these “elders” are sheltered young men, some of which are getting their first real contact with people of other/no faiths.
They are not your enemy. They are victims.
They aren't being sent out to actually convert people, they are being sent out hoping that they will be harassed and treated poorly so they view those outside the cult as dangerous and evil and stick to the safety of the familiar group.
You being mean to some teenager isn't sticking it to anyone, you're doing exactly what their church elders want to happen.
PLEASE READ THIS.
Please read this.
Don't do the church's work for them.
If you're kind to enough of them, they put you on a block list.
They were such sweet kids, they'd turn up at my door with the thatch of raspberries out front and try to share their word with me, and I'm me, so, I fed them.
Then it was one of the wee 'elder's' birthday, so I made him a cake, and all the little lads came, and they asked about my books and board games and CCGs, I was just a nice frumpy middle aged Jewish lady, I was no threat, so I fed them and made them cakes and took them to the local gaming store and listened when they talked.
One loved yu-gi-oh cards, and it turns out, one of the other wee lads, we'll he loved him back, so I got them in touch with some resources so they had support and a different way to pay for college, they're still together 15 years later, they have dogs, they send me ecards on their birthday. No-one figured out I'd.helped them, I was just the nice lady who made them tea and listened when people were slamming doors.
The next one really wanted to be an artist, so I left out art books and resources, my eldest shared their coptic markers, they draw comic books now, no idea why his folks were insisting he needed to be a dentist, but, he's not a Mormon anymore, (not a Jew either before anyone makes any counter conversion claims).
The first 2 lads were the only dramatic ones, the rest went back into the network but, like Hugh of Borg, they spread the word, sometimes I'd get Mormons from other cities come and make the journey to break bread at my Sabbath table and be seen.
I still think very fondly of that time.
Many of those boys still email me now and then.
Most of them aren't Mormons anymore.
Someone higher up spotted the pattern and suddenly no more Mormons at my door.
I was blacklisted, for kindness.
So there you go, if you don't want Mormons at your door, just love those kids for a couple of years, feed them, help them, and eventually, no more will be allowed to visit
As an ex-Mormon myself, I agree with everything posted above. At church every week, I would hear story after story about people being persecuted for being Mormon, about how it’s such a trial and burden to be a member of the “one true church”. I would hear over and over how the original Mormons were forced to move across the US to Utah (so they could practice polygamy in peace, but they don’t tell you that part).
They form martyr complexes about being special but constantly persecuted by anyone not-Mormon. If your family is all Mormon, leaving is a HUGE deal and they will talk about it constantly and how they “hope you will return one day”.
Showing these kids kindness, ESPECIALLY if you are not Mormon yourself, will open their eyes to the fact that the world is not a terrible place outside the church. Many have doubts, but are scared that they will never be happy if they leave. By showing them that they can, it makes staying seem less like their only chance at happiness.
For that matter, this helps with every type of cult.
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ALTSince July is Disability Pride Month
(as opposed to every other month when we're all demure about disability rights /gentle sarcasm)
I wanted to highlight one of my favorite artists: Liberal Jane.
I’m getting ready to post something on my university’s GSA Instagram and quickly realised that in almost every photo I’m in on that page I’m wearing the same dress 😂
It's midnight here, so happy disability pride month to my fellow disableds, the chronically ill, and also to the temporarily abled.
If your activism doesn't include disability, you're sure as fuck going to wish it did.
Nothing about us without us ♿👊
Stories where your life being ruined saves someone else’s life. Stories where you are happier, but so much worse after the story ends. Stories that are full of turning points, places in the story where everything could have been different, better, if only you had said something else, and you have to see how that one misspeak ripples out and effects everything. Stories where bad things happen, and you know it’s your fault, but you know you couldn’t change a thing, even if you wanted to, because that would mean fundamentally changing yourself.
who is essek thelyss