Not Silent

Dear Social Media Family,

We need to have a talk.

What I’m about to say will likely offend some of you, but we need to talk about some hard truths. I see you out here posting threads and memes and disproven articles that you may think lends credence to your opinions, but shows dangerous steps toward an authoritarian, white nationalist, cristofascist system of government.

I know what I’ve written here will cause some of you to write me off as a brainwashed, indoctrinated liberal. Others will say I’ve wandered from god, lost my salvation, or embraced heresy. Still others will think I am destined for hell. I know you will think and say these things because I have heard you say them about others, and I do not expect I have engendered enough good will to be the exception.

Let’s start with the Twitter thread that initiated this venting. You need to see this in their own words.

The author is the one who successfully convinced ignorant conservatives everything they don’t like is Critical Race Theory.

Now, he intends another revisionist shift so that drag queens will be called (according to him) “trans strippers” in order to purposefully sexualize the issue and force a debate on his rewritten definitions. He hints at an additional shift to intentionally call transgender people “transvestites” with the purpose – again – of showing videos that supposedly back his insidious narrative.

With the anti-trans, anti-LGBTQIA+, anti-woman, anti-child legislation that has been passed just this year, rhetoric like this will only increase, and people will die because of this. I have already lost two good acquaintances since January to SH as a direct result of legislation passed against their right to even exist. We have seen rising attacks against LGBTQIA+ people and events.

Don’t believe me? Look around you.

Look at South Carolina, where a Republican nominee for the House of Representatives is running on a platform that includes charging all LGBTQIA+ folks and their allies with treason against the United States and then broadcasting their executions.

Look at the numerous bills proposed or passed limiting resources for LGBTQIA+ children. Already we are seeing a rise in mental health crises and SH, and the politicians are using the rise – a rise they caused – as proof LGBTQIA+ people (both children and adults) should be legally discriminated against.

[Please remember: if you need help, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 800-273-8255. I’ve both used and recommended this number.]

Look at Congresswoman Boebert, who claimed that we need AR-15s because Jesus didn’t have enough of them to stop his death.

Look at Congresswoman Greene, who claims Christian nationalism is nothing to fear because it will stop school shootings, crime, and sexual immorality – and that anyone who opposes it is a domestic terrorist.

Look at the now dozens of bills introduced in school boards and state legislatures that would make it illegal to acknowledge the existence of LGBTQIA+ people. Look, too, at the bills prohibiting transgender athletes from playing sports, some of which apply to only one student in the entire state. And this is supposed to be just, right, and equitable.

Look at the so-called “pro-life” laws that in reality enslave people capable of becoming pregnant first to anyone who can impregnate them and then the carceral system.

Look at pastors advocating that all of the above are right Christian responses.

And then, to quote Les Miserables:

Look down and show some mercy if you can / look down, look down, upon your fellow man!

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In the name of freedom of religion, they establish a fundamentalist Christian theocracy.

In the name of protecting the children, they are willing to see children die rather than be who they are.

In the name of family values, they tear families apart.

In the name of protecting women, they treat pregnant or potentially pregnant people as potential criminals to be investigated, allowing them to die from medical negligence and, if they survive, incarcerating them.

In the name of feeedom and liberty, they advance a totalitarian dictatorship.

Don’t believe me? Read or watch their own words. Practically any news site will cary them.

[But remember that Fox News has successfully argued in court that they and many of their programs/hosts- notably Tucker Carlson – cannot be sued for slander and/or defamation, because no reasonable person would take their words as fact as they are, in essence, entertainers.]

Because what is comes down to is this:

To vote for anyone promoting these policies is to vote for death: the death of morality, the death of American values, and the death of your family, friends, and loved ones.

Choose.

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I would like to thank my brother Charlie for reading the rant that became this post, pointing out spelling errors and helping eliminate broad-brush terminology. I do this on a phone, I have fat fingers, and I tend to switch to German when I get very worked up.

Art seen in this post is by mavis_prplx on Twitter

This article was edited on 6.18.22 to include links to my claims.