#Christian education lesson ideas

[useless-catalanfacts]

Who was the last deadly victim of the Spanish Inquisition?

Technically, the last victim sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition was María de los Dolores López, a Sevillian nun killed in 1781 for heresy. However, things didn't stop there.

The Spanish government of the Three Liberal Years (1820-1823) technically abolished the Inquisition, but the Inquisition continued the same now under the name of "Faith Tribunals". The same men who were inquisitors continued to do the same job as members of the Faith Tribunals, and the Inquisition's prisons simply became the Faith Tribunal's prisons. De facto, everything stayed the same until 1834.

Then, who was the last person killed by these fanatic tribunals?

It was this man: Gaietà Ripoll i Pla. A teacher sentenced to death in the city of València in the year 1826.

He was born in Solsona (Catalonia) in 1778. He fought in the Peninsula War against Napoleon's invasion, but in 1810 was captured as a prisoner of war and taken to France. There, he met Quakers and converted to Deism (belief in God that can be observed through empirical means, but not follower of one specific religion or Church). Four years later he came back and became a teacher.

He taught children in Russafa (nowadays, this town has been absorbed by the growing city of València and has become a neighbourhood of València), in a house built by the neighbours and also giving private lessons. Russafa was a very rural town, where most of its inhabitants worked in the fields and did not know how to read nor write.

Writings of the time show that Gaietà was very respected by the neighbours, who praised his integrity and goodness, but the fact that he did not go to mass caught people's attention. When a local woman asked him why he didn't go, he answered that he knew more than the priests. After some time, some neighbours told the Archbishop of València that this teacher was not following Catholicism's rules and wasn't making children pray in school.

He was arrested in October 1824 and jailed for two years in what used to be the Inquisition's prison in València, which was now the Valencian Faith Tribunal's prison. The inquisitor (now president of València's Faith Tribunal) Miguel Toranzo wrote that Gaietà refused to accept the truth of Catholicism and that he told children in his school that they should not say Ave María Purísima and that it's not necessary to hear mass in order to be saved.

To sentence him to death, the tribunal used the Medieval Partidas laws from Castile, which sentenced to death those Christians who had walked away from Catholicism to become heretics or Jewish. He was sentenced to be hanged and burned, but the sentence added that "nowadays no nation in Europe burns or materially sentences men to the flames", thus "the burning can be represented by painting flames on a bucket, which the executioner will place under the scaffold so that the prisoner's suffocated body will fall in it".

And that's how it went. He was hanged in València's Market Square, fell on the fake-flames bucket, and his body was thrown to the Túria river.

During all the centuries that it lasted for, the Inquisition/Faith Tribunals caused unimaginable amounts of suffering and death, not only to the people they were torturing and killing, also to their families, their friends, their neighbourhoods (consider the fear and trauma inflicted on everyone who saw it happen and knew it could happen to anyone), their whole communities (was the mostly-illiterate town of Russafa not better with the work of this kind-hearted teacher who gave its children a formal education?), and even the whole of Humanity (we have lost countless works of art, of science, philosophy, medicine, new ideas that could bring us all better times). Even after the end of the Inquisition/Faith Tribunals, even after the end of the Spanish national-Catholic dictatorship (1939-1978), there is so much that we can never get back that was taken by religious fanaticism / Christian extremism.

Translation of the plaque: València's City Council restores this plaque which was in this square between the years 1906 and 1940, in homage to Gaietà Ripoll i Pla, a freethinker teacher who had his school in Russafa and who was the Inquisition's last victim.

#història #país valencià #history #inquisition #19th century #1800s #gaietà ripoll i pla #russafa #valència #solsona #did you know #interesting facts #fun facts #european history #historical #society #spanish inquisition

[gabessquishytum]

I wanna riff off the Ancient Rome ask with my own, but instead of Rome it's Greek babey!!!!

So the old Byzantine Emperors had a bodyguard group called the Varangian guard. They were foreigners to the Empire and loyal only to the Emperor.

Hob is one such guard. He was kidnapped at an early age when his village was attacked by Norsemen. Since then he's fought his way around Europe before being invited into the guard. He's not big on the whole Christianity thing, but he can at least enjoy serving such a pretty Emperor.

On the flip side, Dream is miserable. As Emperor, his head is constantly in peril of being put on the pike. He's got to keep his neighbors from spilling into his territory, he's got to keep trade lines to the east open for business, even the church threatens to break apart and there will be riots in the streets. There already have been when two factions of chariot fans joined forces and nearly burned down Constantinople.

Fortunately, he has his guard around him. Men who can't and won't be bought off or forced into killing him due to the machinations of the other noble houses or even his own siblings. Hob is one of the few he trusts absolutely with his life.

Hob accompanies him to church, where even he is not permitted a weapon. Hob watches over him when he visits the bathhouse and is the only one allowed in the room when he bares his Imperial person so to speak. He even is the sole guard positioned inside the royal bedchamber to watch over the king as he sleeps. He does his job well enough and speaks so little to the various other nobles and Imperial family members that there is little thought of him. He just does his job really well.

What they don't know is Hob has grown to be more than just a body guard. He's Dream's closest companion. He has been given a thorough education in Latin and Greek, how to read and write, he's even sat in on a few philosophy and poetry lessons to better entertain his employer.

In turn, Dream has allowed himself to be less guarded around Hob. They've talked and chatted about loves lost and won. About Dream's idea of the soul being blind until it's had a true, satisfying love. Hob wants to be that love and as such has also been satisfying his Emperor with not only his company but his body as well. It is a sin in the church, but Dream doesn't care. He's an Emperor after all.

This all changed when a Persian assassin snuck into the palace and attempted to kill the Emperor to provoke a war the Byzantines were sure to lose. The assassin was killed by Hob before he could make his attempt on his Emperor's life, but the damage is done. He locks himself in the imperial apartments, refusing to come out except for the high holy days when he spends all his time in church. He refuses to attend senate meetings. He communicates only through Hob. He is completely isolated from the rest of the world.

Some of the noble families titter and gripe about how close a foreign heathen is to the Emperor. How closely he stands to the throne when Dream does make his scant few public appearances. But the Emperor is safe at least. Just so long as Hob can continue to pay the Persians off that is.

🎸

Oh poor Dream, I don't envy him! Except for the fact that he has Hob protecting him 24/7. That is a pretty enviable position to be in!

I really like the emperor/guard situation. The intimacy of that relationship. And there's something especially intimate in the fact that Hob is a foreigner here with absolutely no loyalty or interest elsewhere. It's like he's totally focused on Dream. At this point he doesn't even really have a home to go back to: Dream is his home, his family, his everything. Maybe that's too much for the members of the court and maybe they don't like how close the emperor has become to this common indentured bodyguard. Frankly, Hob doesn't care. He doesnt care about anything in the world, except for Dream.

As much as he hates to see the love of his life so scared and helpless, locked away in his rooms like a precious jewel... it is admittedly a great convenience for Hob to have him in one place all the time. They spend so much of their time in privacy, they become quite used to expressing their love and living a simpler, more domestic life. Sometimes Dream almost seems to forget his troubles when he's lying in his luxurious bed with his head on Hob’s chest.

It isn't only himself he's keeping safe, of course. If Dream isn't in any danger then neither is Hob. Seeing Hob wrestling with that assassin and finally finishing him off was one of the worst moments of Dream’s life. He was terrified that the one man he loves would be killed, all for his sake.

Hob is safe in the imperial apartments with Dream. No assassins will piece their iron doors. Hob may be paying the Persians off, but Dream is paying for Hob’s safety too. And it's worth it. Every moment of Hob’s safety is worth whatever Dream has to give.

#🎸 anon #the sandman #dreamling #nsft

[bethanydelleman]

Your recent post about Anne Brontë and preachiness makes me want to ask: do you agree with claims that "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" is "the anti-Wuthering Heights"? Some people say this because Arthur Huntingdon's portrayal contrasts with the "romanticized" Heathcliff, while others say it because "Tenant" is both feminist and Christian, while WH is "unconcerned with feminism" (I'm not so sure about that...) and "pagan" in its spirituality. Do you think those two sisters' books are fundamentally against each other?

I personally feel that all the Brontës were just doing their own thing, not that they were against each other. So no, I don't agree at all.

I have no idea what Emily Brontë was up to with Wuthering Heights, that book is wild! But I don't think a rational human being would read it and say, "Man, Heathcliff is hot stuff, wish I could marry him." He's a horrible husband in the novel. Catherine specifically advises Isabella not to romanticize Heathcliff and Isabella learns her lesson and even runs away from him with her male child, just like Helen Graham. Heathcliff is just as unredeemable as Arthur Huntingdon. Even his big "romance" with Catherine ends up killing her.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is about a young girl learning that the love of a good woman cannot change a man, but that does not happen in Wuthering Heights. Catherine Earnshaw (#1), is semi-civilized by the love of a good man, you could argue that Heathcliff is destroyed by hatred and he cannot be recovered through love, and Cathy (#2) perhaps tries to change Linton but fails/he's dying anyway. Anne Brontë could only have been responding to misinterpretations of Wuthering Heights, not the text itself.

And to add Jane Eyre to the discussion, Jane does not reform Rochester, God half-smites him and he reforms himself. Anne Brontë is likely just opposing pulp fiction of her era, just like Jane Austen did before her.

Side Note: Helen actually holds out hope until the very end that Arthur will at least ask God for forgiveness, if not reform. That is something that does not really happen in Wuthering Heights, Isabella never expects Heathcliff to reform and neither does anyone else really.

As for the morality, Nelly Dean's discussions of death are very Christian so I wouldn't call Wuthering Heights "pagan". Also, it is emphasized a lot that they cannot keep a curate in the parish and Heathcliff is deprived a religious education, so if anything the book is showing the fall into immorality when a community lacks guidance/faith. Which honestly, isn't that different than The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Both books also emphasize upbringing and how it can shape how men act in the future.

Lastly, feminism. I don't know. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall has some very feminist messages, especially when education is discussed. Helen is very outspoken in her opinions, which I know people love. I don't know if Wuthering Heights has any specifically feminist messages, but every novel written by a woman doesn't have to be about feminism. I'm not a feminism scholar though, so I don't know.

#question response #emily brontë #wuthering heights #anne brontë #the tenant of wildfell hall #charlotte brontë #jane eyre

[totowlff]

extra — before everything

➝ a photo. an audio. a voice message. and niki never saw elisabeth the same way again.

➝ word count: 2,7k

➝ warnings: none

➝ author’s note: you've already seen elisabeth and toto's vision of what happened that sunday in august. however, a point of view was missing. precisely the one you are so curious to know. I hope this extra helps situate you in the conflict. or not.

AUGUST, 2016

Niki Lauda sat in one of the chairs on the porch of his home in Ibiza, reading the weekend edition of the Financial Times. He’d bought it on Saturday, when he’d gone into the market district with Marlene. He didn’t really care for going into town, especially with the crowds that the high season brought, but his wife had insisted — there was only one place she would buy fresh shrimp for the paella she’d planned on making the next day.

Who was he to deny Marlene Lauda anything?

The rest of the weekend was quiet. He spent the morning talking to Tilman, his brother-in-law, about horses. He was trying to figure out what the ideal age would be to start Lennon, his grandson, on riding lessons with the pony he’d bought from Tilman when Lenny was born. Inside the mansion, Marlene and Sandra, Tilman's wife, were preparing lunch. Niki’s dogs, Felix and Shivas, were probably underfoot, waiting for stray crumbs to fall to the floor.

After lunch, Niki dispensed with the traditional Spanish siesta and set out for a walk around the grounds, Shivas and Felix close behind him, inspecting every centimeter with curious noses and wagging tails. He only went for a walk when he needed space to think about a problem. The problem he was thinking about now was the conflict between two of his children, Mathias and Elisabeth, and how he could resolve it.

Niki prided himself on being a fair man. Fairness was important to him, and he valued it not only in his professional life, but his personal life as well. When his children were born, he made a point of treating them the same, offering much more than similar toys and education, but dedicating his time equally to each of them. He played with both, including both in his motorcycle and car adventures around Ibiza, and he was willing to learn to ride a horse to accompany both boys on their rides with Tilman.

However, he found his personal capacity tested in 1985, after his last Formula 1 victory, Marlene told him that she was pregnant again. The idea of a third child made Niki re-examine his priorities. After his first free practice session in Austria, two weeks later, he announced his retirement again. This time, it was permanent. Not even Ron Dennis' insistence changed his mind. For him, the future of Formula 1 was in good hands.

Marlene's pregnancy was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a scare that landed her in hospital. Niki, who was in Brands Hatch for a race, rushed to Vienna. It was no use for Marlene to reason with him and tell him that he didn't need to miss the race that weekend, since she was perfectly fine, as was the baby.

— I don't give a fuck about this race. What really matters is you and our baby — he said, running his hand lightly over her belly, a smile on his face.

Their third child was born a little less than three months later, and she was a real surprise for Niki and Marlene. They were sure they would have one more boy, and they were expecting the baby to make their lives even more chaotic than it already was with Lukas and Mathias. Niki even had a name picked out, chosen after a lot of discussion and input from their younger children.

However, it wasn't Christian Tilman Lauda who was in Niki's arms, but a little girl named Elisabeth Renate Lauda, name for Niki’s mother and Marlene’s sister. From the first few hours of her life, Elisabeth was calm and attentive, her big blue eyes staring at her father. Niki was completely enchanted with his daughter immediately.

As the years passed, Niki found himself growing closer to his youngest child. They bonded over more than Niki playing dolls with her, or reading her bedtime stories, but over Elisabeth’s quirky personality. She wasn’t impulsive like Lukas, or rebellious like Mathias. She was quiet, intelligent, and observant, and she had an impressive talent for numbers. Every time she solved a complicated equation that was even confusing for Niki — not that Niki was bad at math by any means — he thought that Elisabeth was “the granddaughter that Old Lauda asked God for”.

The differences between the siblings had never caused major conflicts. Lukas and Elisabeth always got along well, and Mathias had a good relationship with both of them. The three of them helped each other, both in their personal and professional lives, and, above all, they loved each other very much.

However, the apparent harmony between the siblings ended the year before. Their laughter and jokes were replaced with cold looks and deeply personal insults. It even culminated in physical violence when Elisabeth slapped Mathias across the face. Lukas, despite being his brother's manager, sympathized with his younger sister. Niki was completely lost as far as how to deal with the situation as he tried to make the siblings act like adults, and not like the children he had raised under the Balearic sun.

His eyes studied the printed image of Lamberto Frescobaldi, an Italian winemaker with an impressive estate in Florence, and he almost didn't notice his phone vibrating on the chair next to him. He folded up his newspaper and laid it on his lap before picking up his phone and reading the two notifications he’d gotten. Mathias had sent him two messages; a photo and an audio message.

He unlocked his phone and opened the messaging app, clicking on his middle child's name. Then, he opened the image to enlarge it. Niki took a few seconds to absorb it. It was a picture of Elisabeth kissing a man that he immediately recognized as Toto Wolff, his friend and business partner. It was a tender image — her hand was on his face, both of their expressions were soft. They looked every bit the part of two people who were completely in love.

He scrolled down a bit and tapped the audio message to play it, pursing his lips at the first few words.

— Hi dad, I'm sending you this photo because Elisabeth just posted it on Instagram, so I assume she told you all about her affair with Toto — he said, Lenny's laughter in the background — I'm sending you a copy to let you know that I wanted to tell you that I never supported this, from the moment I found out they were together in Spa last year.

Niki took a second to remember what had happened in Belgium. But, the message from his son continued playing. 

— Remember how you told me to look for Elisabeth when she disappeared after the qualifying session? I went to the motorhome, and the caterer said she saw her going up to the second floor, so I assumed she was in Toto's office. I went over there and when I opened the door to ask him if he’d seen her, I found him with his fucking head between her legs.

He raised his eyebrows at the graphic description. He definitely hadn’t expected that from his daughter.

— I talked to her, dad. I tried to put some common sense into that head of hers, but she said she loved him, that they were living together, and they were dating, that they loved each other, and that nothing would change that and… Fuck, I was just thinking about your feelings and how sad you’d be to find out Elisabeth was fucking your only friend behind your back — he continued, the tone of his voice sounding more a little frustrated — I know you've always loved Elschen dearly and... She's your golden girl, your pride and your joy. And she repays your trust by doing this to you? I just didn’t think it was fair, and she had to hear it.

Niki pressed his mouth into a thin line, sensing a specific kind of pain in Mathias' tone of voice. Of course, he loved his three children deeply and admired each of them, with all of their differences and similarities. However, it was inevitable for him to be closest to Elisabeth. She was his youngest child, his little princess, his shadow and right-hand in the business world, the perfect companion for his adventures in civil aviation and motorsport. They spent more time together than fathers and daughters their age usually did.

Mathias' heartache — jealousy, maybe, was perfectly justified.

— Well, I just wanted you to know that I'm on your side and that I never agreed to any of this. She had no right to betray your trust like that and I completely condemn her behavior. If you need anything, you can call me and I'll help you solve it, and we can do it the easy way or the hard way. I love you dad. I hope you’re doing alright.

Niki looked at his screen again. The image of Toto and Elisabeth was still pulled up, and he looked at it for a few seconds in silence. The sound of footsteps approaching made him look away. Leaning against the doorframe, Marlene looked at him, with Shivas sitting at her feet.

— Did Mathias call? I heard his voice — she said.

— No, he sent me an audio message.

She sat down in the chair next to Niki.

— What did he say?

— He sent me a picture of Elisabeth…

Marlene raised an eyebrow.

— Is Mathias with Elisabeth now?

— No. It's a picture of her with Toto.

— Ah — she muttered under her breath — Yes…

Niki looked at his wife, who was watching Felix stretch out in a patch of sunlight in front of them.

— Did you know about the two of them… Being together?

There were a few seconds of uneasy silence.

— Yes, I knew. Elschen told me in June.

— What did she say? — Niki asked, his tone serious.

— That she tried to avoid her feelings. That she tried to get away from Toto. But she decided to follow her heart. And… That she loves him.

Niki looked at the cell phone in his hands, the image of her daughter kissing his friend still on the screen. It felt a little surreal to see them like that. It just didn't feel right. Suddenly, he took the newspaper from his lap and stood up from his chair, causing the dogs to lift their heads to look at him.

— Nikolaus — Marlene said, her voice full of warning.

— What?

— What are you going to do?

— I just need to think.

Niki went back inside of the house and walked to his office. He closed the door and turned on the light. He placed the newspaper he'd been reading earlier on the desk and dropped into the black leather chair. With the phone still in his hands, he typed a quick reply to Mathias and returned to the app's main screen, selecting his daughter's name. Then, he typed four words in. He read his message over and over before he pressed the “send” button.

"We need to talk".

Not even two minutes later, his phone vibrated, his daughter's name flashing across the screen. She had a wide smile in her contact picture. Niki tapped the green button to answer the call, and he didn't have time to say a word before she began to speak, between sniffles and sobs.

— Dad, please, I know it's not right, but please let me explain, let me explain! It's not what you're thinking, please let me explain. Please let me tell you what happened. It wasn't supposed to happen, it was a mistake, he took my phone, you weren't supposed to find out like this, I was going to tell you, father, please...

— Elisabeth…

— Please don't be mad at me, dad. I did not want…

— I’m not going to talk about this with you on the phone, Mauslein — he said, his voice serious — I’ll be back in Vienna in two days. Come over and we can talk about it, then.

She sniffled a bit and muttered "okay", and Niki asked Elisabeth to calm down and said goodbye. He set his phone down on top of the newspaper, running a hand down his face. That would be a difficult conversation.

One of the hardest he would ever have.

The next day, Niki, Marlene, and the dogs returned to Vienna. He was completely silent for the entire flight, reflecting on the moments he had spent with Toto and Elisabeth. The achievements, the challenges, the countless meals, the meetings where they both had argued because they didn't agree on something.

When he got home, he just dropped his suitcase in the bedroom before isolating himself in his office again, but this time the office in his apartment. The room was richly decorated with mementos of his life in racing, some miscellaneous honors and certificates, Lenny's drawings, miniatures of his airlines' planes, and photos — lots of photos.

He’d accumulated so many framed photos over the years, images of him racing around the world, celebrating his achievements on podiums and at various award ceremonies. There were pictures of him with his kids in Ibiza and Vienna, and pictures of each of the children separately. Photos of Mathias running in GP2, Lukas playing with Shivas, and Elisabeth holding her Business Administration degree, dressed in her graduation regalia, her blue eyes shining with joy. There were pictures of Lenny sitting in his red mini-Mercedes. There was even one of Niki himself, with Lewis Hamilton, playing with Lewis’ bulldogs, Roscoe and Coco.

He sat down in his office chair, his eyes affixing to one particular photo. It was the only one Niki had sitting on his desk — it was a special memory for him. In the picture, he was standing next to Elisabeth and Toto. They were both drench in champagne and had wide smiles on their faces. His daughter was in the middle, holding the Formula 1 Constructors Trophy from the Russian Grand Prix. It was the race that had consecrated the Mercedes team as World Champions for the first time since the brand’s return to Formula 1.

Before he saw that photo as the realization of his great dream of triumphing in Formula 1 in a managerial position. Now, it looked different. It was as if the two people in the picture with him had completely changed in his mind somehow.

The sound of his phone vibrating snapped Niki out of his thoughts. He glanced at where it was sitting on the table, he raised an eyebrow as he read on the screen that he had a new voicemail message. It had probably not come in until just now because his phone was off during the flight back from Ibiza. He probably received it when he was flying back to Austria. Tapping the screen a few times, he brought the phone to his ear, waiting for the voicemail to play the message. Then the recording of a familiar voice started playing.

— Hi, Niki. It’s Toto. Listen, I know you… Know what’s happening now, and I just wanted to call you and speak to you before you and Elisabeth talk tomorrow when you get back to Vienna. What you are probably thinking is true, but…

The recording stopped for a few seconds, like Toto was trying to find the proper words. Niki's eyes found his face in the picture frame on the table.

— We didn’t hide it deliberately to hurt you. Quite the opposite, actually, because Elisabeth wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it and didn’t want to — he sighed — Break your trust. I know the circumstances haven’t been ideal, but… I can’t regret it, because it gave us a lot of time, you know, away from the spotlight and the pressure. And I… Can’t regret loving your daughter, Niki. She’s the best person I’ve ever met. She’s the love of my life. I would never do anything to hurt her, and I will always be there for her, whether she wants me to be or not.

Toto sighed again.

— Please don’t treat her too harshly, I guess that’s all I am asking. As a friend. I will always do everything I can to make her happy and…

The recording was suddenly cut off and ended with a beep, as if he hadn't had time to say more. Niki pursed his lips and off the screen, setting his phone back on his desk. Then, he reached for the framed photo of himself with Toto and Elisabeth, taking it off of his desk as he stood up from his chair.

His desk was no longer the rightful place for that particular photo.

#toto wolff #niki lauda #lauda #f1 fic #f1 fanfic #formula 1 fic #formula 1 fanfic #wlffog #natsversion #f1 x oc #formula 1 x oc #toto wolff x oc #scwlff

[sapphicbookclub]

Author Spotlight: Hannah Miyamoto

Hannah Miyamoto is on a mission to stop the spread of fascism in the United States by reminding people of the humanistic values that William Shakespeare spread through his plays. We are thrilled to present this essay about her series of novellas about “The New Countess” (written under the pseudonym “Lady Vanessa S.-G.”), based on the characters in Shakespeare’s gender- crossing romp of Twelfth Night; the first book, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia is out now, and second book, If I Should Tell My History, will be released in May. Note: article contains a brief, explicit quote from the book

We do not need to laminate a lesbian presence onto Shakespeare’s texts; once we begin to think historically about desires and practices, we can draw homoerotic meanings out of them… it is less a question of queering the past than of discovering the terms by which the past articulated its own queerness.

Valerie Traub, The Renaissance of Lesbianism in Early Modern England (2003) [https://a.co/d/f8hDruz]

With its pretensions of erudition, the “Western Civilization Movement” is the most dangerous and least-dismissible part of the extremist MAGA white supremacist movement. The goal of “Western Civilization” radicals is clear: Establish that all important cultural contributions are the work of Christian men from Western Europe. For example, Bill Lee, Governor of Tennessee has called for altering public education to encourage “informed patriotism” and combat “anti-American thought,” as if open-minded inquiry were itself an enemy of American democratic values. Former President Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, and Tucker Carlson are just some of the other prominent neo-fascists attempting to pervert history education.

Properly written, fiction can achieve what history can never do: Explain the thoughts and describe the actions of people that did not dominate past discourses.

By corollary, critical analysis of so-called “Western Civilization” sources is one of the most effective ways to fight the spread of fascism in America. Right-Wing Extremists can ban every book written by a woman, a racial, ethnic, or religious minority person, an LGBTQ person, a foreigner, a socialist, a liberal, a labor leader, an environmentalist, or any other writer to whom they object, but they cannot attack Shakespeare, because even the least cultured American knows that Shakespeare is the epitome of “Western Culture.”

The great beauty of Shakespeare is the depth of the lessons within them. For example, Merchant of Venice reminds us that “the quality of mercy is not strained” while Othello illustrates the evil of racial prejudice. Henry VI, Part 2 relates the importance of lawyers in preserving human rights. Two Gentlemen of Verona and Othello ridicule male chauvinism, while As You Like It suggests that women know more about love than men. At the end of his career, Shakespeare even left us with the starkly existential The Two Noble Kinsmen, in which a wholly sexless heroine accepts marriage rather than seek it.

Seven Shakespeare plays feature cross-dressing, and some of the sweetest depictions of a woman in love with another woman are by Celia in As You Like It and Olivia in Twelfth Night. One British intellectual has gone so far as to dub The Bard “[t]he biggest Liberal campaigner there ever was!”

Knowing that Shakespeare is inviolable in the United States, I have used his work to advance and defend progressive ideals for nearly 20 years. I began in 2004, by writing a play highlighting the love of a woman for a woman to answer calls for banning same-sex marriage. That play, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, merging ideas from minds as diverse as Virginia Woolf and absurdist playwright Luigi Pirandello, became the basis of my Master’s thesis in Women’s Studies.

Two years ago, I created a three-season story arc (24 episodes) for a limited television series based on the characters of Twelfth Night. Starting this year, I started turning what would have been episodes of this television series into a series of novellas.

The first book in this series, adapted from the pilot screenplay, was published last month as Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia. The second book, If I Should Tell My History, is in production. Overall, the series is entitled “The New Countess.” All these books are written under the pseudonymous “Lady Vanessa S.-G.” to emphasize how recently books like these would have been illegal in Great Britain and the United States, while providing a narrator that can subtly describe events that occurred between the 20th and 16th century, including the writing of William Shakespeare.

Properly written, fiction can achieve what history can never do: Explain the thoughts and describe the actions of people that did not dominate past discourses. For example, “The New Countess” series features an intersexed character named Adriano, one of the first-ever accurate portrayals of an intersexed person in literature. Although intersexed people have always been part of humanity, the earliest account written from the perspective of an intersexed person is the extended suicide note of Herculine Barbin, an intersexed French woman who died in 1868 at age 30. Only fiction can fill this gaping hole in history.

Even the voices of European noblewomen, however richly draped and pampered, have been effectively silenced by being denied access to printing presses. The closet drama writing of Lady Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673), is one of the few documents that reveal how many noblewomen may have felt about how men treated them due to their sex.

Olivia reached down with her right hand to stroke the hairs near Maria’s thighs. Maria shivered and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations that Olivia gave her. Maria pulled away and applied her lips and tongue to Olivia’s pre-maternal breasts as the countess pushed back her head to enjoy the sensations her gentlewoman gave her. Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia

With her parents and only brother dead, Shakespeare’s Olivia enjoys much more freedom than a typical young woman in 16th century Europe. Curiously, the parents of all the other characters in Twelfth Night are also absent. Although Olivia’s uncle “Sir Toby” is a potential parent in Twelfth Night, Shakespeare emphasizes that Toby is drunk too often for Olivia to rely upon him. Indeed, Countess Olivia acts more like Toby’s mother than he her surrogate father.

“The New Countess” series expands on Olivia’s character, focusing on how she negotiates her way around powerful men to achieve her goals, while keeping secret her love for her bed-chambermaid Maria. Later books will show Olivia working with the men around her to improve the military defenses of her region, to guard against invasion from both land and sea. In these ways, Olivia will fulfill her duties as a countess within her obscure little duchy.

As well as Olivia, Maria, and Adriano, the queer characters in “The New Countess” series include two of Olivia’s female servants, Olivia’s husband Sebastiano, and his best friend Antonio. The two male characters are taken from Shakespeare’s play.

By combining fictional narratives with historical research, “The New Countess” helps to literally write queer and disadvantaged people into history. Keeping with Dr. Valerie Traub, “The New Countess” series does not make Shakespeare’s characters gay, but shows how certain aspects of his stories are more logical if we accept that some of his characters have intense desires for others of their sex.

One charming feature of “The New Countess” series is that its characters live in a world where queerness is described in terms that we can still understand, despite their unfamiliarity: “Tribade,” “Fricatrix,” and “Unnatural Girl,” are some of the terms used for 16th century Sapphists. Poor intersexed Adriano, a feminine man, is publicly denounced as a “Catamite!” or a male prostitute. Meanwhile, gays are “men that would fain have the love of others than women.”

More than history ever can, fiction has the potential power to show how “the past articulated its own queerness,” as well as how people in the past confronted issues of race, religion, and politics much like their counterparts today. Through well-crafted historical fiction like Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, we can refute the “Western Civilization” pseudo- intellectuals that would pervert history and literature to accomplish their goals of social repression and cultural destruction. -----

Hannah Miyamoto is a retired attorney managing Pacifico Press, a nonprofit publisher in San Luis Rey, California that produces LGBTQA-focused books and media. Hannah holds a law degree, master’s degrees in Women’s Studies and Sociology, and has been a leading advocate for intersexed people for 25 years. [email protected]

#guest post #wlw books #booklr #lgbt books #sapphic books #diverse books #twelfth night #shakespeare #viola #olivia #intersex #lesbian

[girlactionfigure]

Opinion: I was the most senior Islamic leader to visit Auschwitz. Here’s what I know about peace

Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa

Ours was the most senior Islamic delegation to visit the site during its sorrowful history.

Passing through the infamous gates was a visceral, emotionally-arresting experience that managed to both transport me back in time and sharpen my mind on the future. For it was here that 1.1 million people, the vast majority of them Jews, were murdered during the Holocaust. And it was here that I reaffirmed my commitment to fight intolerance and hate in all its forms.

This visit was our moral obligation and an overdue sign of solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters, with whom we must tackle the many injustices and enmities there are in the world.

Indeed, all the world’s major faiths — Christian, Judaic, Hindu, Buddhist and Hindu — have at their core a commitment to peace and justice that starts with recognition of the struggles of our fellow travelers.

Now, on the cusp of the 78-year anniversary of the liberation of Majdanek (22-23 July, 1944), which was the first of the Nazi camps to be freed by the Allies, we must ask ourselves: does the truth of the Holocaust continue to set hearts and minds, once blinded by ignorance, fear and prejudice, free?

The honest answer is that while Muslim understanding of the Holocaust is important to bringing lasting peace to the Holy Lands, Holocaust ignorance and denial remains a worrisome trend that only worsens with the passage of time.

Trivializing the Holocaust, we know too well, opens pathways to denial and to antisemitism, which still persists in the world, for sure. But it is a cross-cultural, cross-ethnic, cross-national, cross-religion phenomena.

One poll, conducted earlier this year by the American Jewish Committee, found that only 53% of Americans over the age of 18 answered correctly that approximately six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, while 20% explicitly said they were not sure. In the poll, 2% said that less than one million were killed, 13% chose approximately three million, and 11% said more than 12 million.

The truth can set us free. And the truth of the Holocaust must continue to open our eyes to the horrors humankind is capable of inflicting — and help guide us to the truth of our common humanity and our shared destiny.

But we must live, practice, and teach this truth every day, to keep the shadow of lies and ignorance from again overtaking our world.

We can do this primarily through education and interfaith dialogue. There are ever more interfaith clubs and organizations sprouting across communities and college campuses, including the new Interfaith Research Lab at Columbia University, which I helped inaugurate with Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Rabbi Arthur Schneier.

We can also work to build bridges of peace between the diverse peoples of the world, and be a force for a new, faith-driven diplomacy that compliments the traditional efforts of governments to achieve peace.

This idea is already bearing fruit. Last year, The Muslim World League, together with Christian, Jewish, Shinto and other partners, took part in the G20 Summit of Nations in Bali, Indonesia as the “R20” (the Religion 20), an engagement group aiming to leverage the power of world religions to tackle pressing global challenges.

And just last month, we hosted a high-level interfaith summit of religious leaders and diplomats at United Nations Headquarters in New York, aimed at soothing over growing tensions between east and west.

These are not naïve exercises. Two historical facts are worth remembering. First, it was the Soviet Red Army – which was then allied with America and the West – that liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, as well as Majdanek, in the 1940s.

Second, while the overwhelming number of victims of Nazi barbarity were Jews, among the murdered at Auschwitz were dozens of Muslims. The lessons here are clear. The clash of peoples is not inevitable. Good can defeat evil. And hate is an all-consuming pyre.

We all rise or fall together. And as we remember the liberation of Majdanek, that is the truth that shall set us free.

Opinion by Dr. Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa

H/T Imam of Peace

#Auschwitz-Birkenau #Shoah #Arabs #Jews

[henriettasyarn]

The Scientific Method of Turning Thirty: Chapter One - Part Two of Three, by @henriettasyarn

Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, I had the great fortune of well-educated, progressive, Episcopalian parents. In the Episcopal church, doubt is everything. Without doubt and questioning, how can one have a true, authentic, relationship with God? I was taught at a young age that blind faith is not faith at all and that you must forge your own path to the divine. One day after school, I was probably in fourth or fifth grade, I told my dad about a complicated conversation I had with my classmates. After lunch that day, Morgan and her Baptist besties came over to me and asked if I had been “saved.” Clearly, conversion was on their collective mind. This was roughly 2004, prior to the evangelical-manipulation-revolution of the twenty-tens, when they began luring you in with a casual coffee date after class or maybe even a pre-game in their dorm room, only to reveal their true mission on the second or third date: eternal salvation. No, in suburban Alabama, the evangelicals of the early 2000s were fueled by fire and brimstones. The method to their witness was to place two choices before their subjects: altar call salvation at their upcoming Sunday morning concert or eternal damnation in a fiery hell with Hitler and Dahmer. This was also around the time that the Bathodists and the Babbel-ers discovered projectors, powerpoint presentations and electric guitars.

            Anyways, Morgan needed to know if I had been saved. I asked, “I don’t know, what does that mean?” One of the Baptist besties said, “if you have to ask, then you for sure have not been saved.” Naturally, I became defensive. When I’m on the defense, my instinct is, and always has been, to reason with the aggressor. It didn’t work at ten and it rarely works at thirty. I dove deep into an explanation of the history of the Anglican Church. I explained communal prayer, infant baptism and confirmation. I explained the liturgy and communion. I felt great afterward — I distinctly remember feeling so proud for having shared what a real church is like to these simpletons whose idea of peak Christianity was a mission trip to Gatlinburg or Gulf Shores. Morgan deflated my giant head in one instant, “Oh wow, since you drink wine at church, that means your entire family is going to H-E-double hockey sticks. I don’t think we can be friends with you anymore.”

            How was that her only takeaway from my monologue of self-righteousness? I was baffled and annoyed and jealous. They pranced away in their two-tone north-face jackets and left me alone to contemplate the eternal damnation of every member at my rather large, and extremely well-funded, Episcopal church on the other side of town. That evening, I gave my dad every detail of the interaction. I likely included my in-depth analysis of their body language and their outfits as well. This was one of my earlier lessons on humility. Instead of telling me they were wrong, he told me that, just like me, they go to their parents’ church. He said that there are many different ways to find God and our way is not the right way and it doesn’t work for everyone. We talked about my Catholic cousins and my Baptist cousins, all older than me and all iconic role models of my burgeoning adolescence. He reminded me that we aren’t prejudiced toward them for following a different belief system than our own, so we shouldn’t judge or belittle our classmates either. My cousins, though, never made me feel outside; when we were together, we were the same. The confrontation from Morgan and her Baptist besties made me feel “other.” I embrace feeling different, but the feeling of otherness was not the same feeling as having pride in my differences. When someone’s actions cause you to feel less-than, you develop a pain and a sadness that doesn’t easily go away.

            Sprinkles’s god is not a false god. Whatever path you choose for yourself to the divine is right because you chose it of your own free-will and, hopefully, it brings joy, peace and harmony to your life. Two stories come to mind when I think about Adam and his pentecostal upbringing. The first is about gothic architecture and his ignorant Sunday school teacher, Miss Jan. During his elementary and middle school years Adam changed schools nearly every year; in third grade, Adam saw three or four different elementary schools. His parents weren’t settled, made some financial mistakes, and didn’t get their shit together in time for their first born, resulting in little Adam having to make new friends all the time. He got really good at this. He learned how to spot the kinder kids in the lunchroom and found ways to adapt his personality to maintain  a satisfactory level of comfort wherever he was. One morning in Sunday school, Miss Jan was telling Adam and his fellow elementary attendees that goths were demonic. I can’t remember the exact details, but all you need to know is that a grown woman was telling young people to go about their lives hating other kids in the name of god because they were inherently evil. As a young guy who moved a lot, Adam found the alternative, punk, goth, nerdy crowd to always be the most welcoming to the new kid. These were his people. They weren’t evil. Adam is also very smart. He began reading at really young age and was already familiar with the Gothic era of architecture and literature. He, poignantly I’m sure, asked his Sunday school teacher, “How can a building be evil? Gothic is a type of architecture.” In response, he got slapped.

            The second story is about a guy named Chad Brown. Chad Brown was Adam’s youth pastor in high school. Teenage Adam respected Chad. Teenage Adam found comfort in Chad’s disdain for the over-the-top shama-lama-C-O-L-C-O-As (for those of you unfamiliar with southern pentecostal churches, that is the noise that a pentecostal makes when they want some extra attention from the preacher). I think Adam’s time with Chad was very healing for him. He found someone who could simultaneously laugh at the fuss and affirm their shared upbringing. One day, Chad gave Adam some advice. He told him that we’re never fully ourselves all the time and that it’s okay, and even necessary, to be different versions of ourselves when we’re around different people. He told teenage Adam to get some metaphorical masks and get on with his life. So, that’s what Adam did and I think that was liberating for him. It makes me really sad. I like to think that I know the real Adam and that Adam knows the real me: the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between. I love the real Adam, unconditionally. He is so fun, so kind, SO smart, so loving and hearing his unaltered thoughts and unrestrained opinions on the goings on of the world make him even more lovable and intriguing. I love knowing him and my heart breaks for his family who don’t know him like my family and I do.

#henriettasyarn #original post #original work #author #writer #writerscommunity #writers and poets #female writers #creative writing #writing #chapteroneparttwo #evangelism #toxic christianity #christianity #episcopalian #alabama #deep south #millenials

[cheshire-castle-library]

Long personal post but TLDR:

happiness is stored in the neon gay pyromaniac, and I have yet to unlearn the "Good Little Girls Are Disciplined and Helpful, Regardless of Their Opinions, Needs, or Pains" Southern Christian mentality and I'd really like to.

This really is so dumb!! I've been in like a multiple day depression, brought on by school and I couldn't get out of it. I couldn't even bring myself to post "semester started" studyblr stuff, I mean I took a picture and then decided "yeah this isn't worth it" and was like getting to a point that nothing was worth the effort. Which is, you know, really really bad when you are in higher education, where everything takes effort - and especially being neurodivergent, which makes things take extra effort because the world is not made for us.

But you know its friday night, and I took the time to make my dad a margarita because he's had a hell of a couple weeks and he needed the care, and while I was at it I took the time to make myself boba, because a friend was showing off her boba and boba sounded really good - but since its flooding out here, i can't really go out and i really hope the boba shop is closed and the family that runs it is not running it in the flood - so I pulled out the little sauce crock pot we use on thanksgiving and decided "yeah, boba takes time any way, so this will be a really nice treat for the end of the work day", and somewhere along the way something reminded me of Promare, and Promare sounded like a good idea to watch and Promare is one of the 2 main things I ever have brain worms about, so I sat working on something I needed to do that would take time and I'd lose focus on if I didn't have something to watch.

And wouldn't you know it, I had enough spoons by the end to actually wash my face! Which is like the number 1 (one) thing I skip when the spoons are running out. (Face won't rot out of my mouth if I neglect it, so if its between teeth and face on spoons, teeth win; not because the executive functions are working, but because the "failure" of "getting a cavity" and more importantly the autistic "losing something that's mine" hits and I get anxious about my teeth, so there's a little overshare for you.) But like!! It feels like a whole new world right now!!

One of my best friends was like "sometimes you just need to watch the thing that makes the most good brain chemical", and have i just been starving myself of the good brain chemical all week??

So yeah in conclusion, happiness is stored in the neon gay pyromaniac, and I have yet to unlearn the "Good Little Girls Are Disciplined, Helpful and Do The Right Thing (That's Most Productive For Every One Else Around You)" southern christian lesson and I'm not sure how to fix that.

#my big mouth #personal #tmi #promare #neurodivergent #adhd #autism #health #self care #also please note that in NO LOGICAL PART OF MY BRAIN do i believe that tooth decay is a failing #like #we don't really have a ton of control over it #even people who floss and brush every 2 hours have tooth problems #its not a failing #its just a fact of life #but there's a lot of things you internal as a wee baby child that are just Not True #and then your core brain is Like That(TM) forever

[priestessofcreation]

But yes, new age spirituality is messy, out-of-context, and potentially dangerous. Don’t get me wrong, the new age movement can be a gateway to alternative spiritualities outside of Christianity, but it is also simultaneously white-washed and influenced by Christian ideals.

The whole point of the spiritual path, whatever yours may be, is to find your way. To figure out what works for you. My path is the path of magic and how that works into my understanding of the world, my ancestry, and my own inner beliefs.

However, the new age movement takes a lot of “spiritual truths” out of context. Especially out of eastern traditions - ESPECIALLY Buddhism. And it can be dangerous because there are actual traditions, processes, and years of study done to understand these ideas (ex: ego death, oneness, saint/spirit/deity work).

When it comes to magic, you will fall flat on your face. That is how you learn. Sometimes the mistakes made can be horrifying (I know personally). Sometimes you quit. Sometimes you persist. But you will always learn.

But with the new age stuff:

Every time I congregate to new age-influenced groups, the population is overwhelmingly white

There ain’t gurus. There aren’t. They don’t know more than you. Learn from others, please, but DO NOT put all your reliance on someone who read Eckart Tole once and decided they were an expert.

Vibration theory is real. “Focusing on the positive” is not because that is not healthy thinking, that is repression. In fact, if you ignore your pain, your vibration will go down anyway.

It is not all love and light. Life is not all love and light, so why would spirituality or the other side be any different? There are malicious entities, non-consensual possession, and tricksters spirits.

Not everything is a lesson. Or maybe it is. That is UP TO YOU to decide. Sometimes, something will be beautifully educational. Sometimes, you will have to step away to understand it. Sometimes, enough is ENOUGH and you can be done with all the shit. It is UP TO YOU.

Look, there is so much more. So so much more. But please take care of yourself. What you have to say is just as important as the teacher in front of you.

Please, please. If you can take anything from this, at least take that. YOU. YOUR VOICE. IT ALL MATTERS.

#spirituality #new age spirituality

[lunarsilkscreen]

Comedian, Philosopher, Prophet

[Wisecrack]{Michael Burns} asked the question that has been asked for at least a hundred years; "Are comedians the new philosophers?" And on YouTube at least; you can see videos dating back at least 15 years also asking this same question.

Something that people are wary about doing, however; is equating philosophers and prophets.... In case we accidentally cause a new Christian Jihad ...

We must first ask ourselves; did the ancient Philosophers actually see themselves as philosophers? Or, were they more akin to YouTubers? People who suddenly found themselves with a platform with which to put their ideas out into the world; and have people listen to them?

What's the connection between them and educators? Ministers? Mathematicians?

Often have people convened, and talked about how they performed their craft. Carpenters, farmers, potters, millers, etc ... It's a modern invention that we look at knowledge as something to be kept secret; dangerous secrets could hurt people, but mostly; secret knowledge is how we maintain our profit margins. (*Cough*Coca-Cola*Cough*)

Those secrets formed the basis of copyrights, patents, and paved the way for the tools of industry to be placed in the hands of the few instead of the many.

And created the modern feude we know as Capitalism vs Socialism.

But what is a prophet?

On the surface, a prophet is a fortune-teller. Somebody who is able to discern the future through divine means. Somebody who says "This is what's gonna happen if we stay on this path" and then later says "See; I told you that would happen. Remember when I said that happened? I called that s*."

But we have modern day prophets and fortune-teller and diviners today. And not just two-bit carni-folk performing a mysticsm show (no offense to carni-folk.) We have people in very important positions whose sole job is to discern what course of action should be taken in order to avoid catastrophy.

Joseph, Jesus, and more perform roles that we now see as "consultants", "comedians", "philosophers", "educators", "medical doctors", "engineers", "politicians", and so much more.

Hell, we even have near accurate weather forecasts these days. Down to the exact area, and second.

Philosophers, like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and Pythagoras. they did more than establish thought experiments like "the cave" and create very comedic and enjoyable stories that also teach life lessons.

They taught about language, mathematics, and all but laid the ground work for many of our modern educational systems. K through C.

Today; Comedians also fill roles in politics as advisors and consultants. I'm not gonna name names; they know who they are and some of them will even tell you. (And do so in their routines)

The question we should be asking; is "philosopher" just the title we bestow onto Comedians who have long since died and are remembered for something more than fart jokes and being "edgy"?

We certainly know that the title "Prophet" can only be bestowed by the church, so there must be something similar to being a "Philosopher". Separation of church and state maybe? Or state and populace?

Whatever it is; A philosopher is somebody who is long remembered for the ideals they helped instigate, long past their own earthly demise.

[queerprayers]

hello! i was wondering if you could expand on what you said about “evangelical christian homeschool survivors”. i found it interesting, since i’m close with quite a few people who fit that description, but never thought of it as something that harmful to someone

(i understand that you aren’t a professional source, for lack of a better term, but i would appreciate your thoughts! i hope you have a blessed and lovely day <3)

(re: this post)

Yes I can, beloved! And yep, I'm not a psychologist/researcher/etc., and also have not personally experienced this, but I've been close to people who have, and have heard a lot about it, so I'll give you what I have. This is USA-centric, as usual, because that's where my experience/knowledge comes from.

I do want to make clear that homeschooling is not in itself a bad thing, and there are many people, especially neurodivergent/disabled people, who have benefited immensely from being able to partially or fully have more freedom over their environment. Especially considering the state of the school system in some places, I don't blame any parent for wanting their kid to have a different experience. And looking at recent events like the "Don't Say Gay" bill in Florida, the importance of having a legal way to not send your child to a public school is, I think, important. Autonomy is a human right, and the origins of modern homeschooling were full of liberating ideas.

My sister was homeschooled for a year in elementary school, and it gave her a much needed break and an opportunity to explore learning techniques that worked better for her neurodivergences. When I dropped out of high school, we did consider finishing through homeschooling instead, and even though it didn't work out, if I was in a different situation it would have been a great opportunity. One of the girls I babysit is trans, and her identity is one of the reasons her parents don't feel comfortable sending her to a public school here.

Obviously if a family is religious and homeschooling, religion may play a part in education, just like if a student attended a religious private school. This also in itself is not a bad thing, in my opinion. Passing on tradition and morals to kids and educating your kid about your heritage and beliefs can be a really positive thing. I can totally see incorporating Christian ideas in an education without disrupting the education—for instance, a science lesson about the environment which includes the belief that God made the world and we have a duty to take care of it. It becomes a problem when the belief eclipses the science, I suppose (like creationism)—or when children aren't exposed to diverse ideas.

I don't think people realize how lax a lot of homeschooling laws are in the US. It's completely state-based, so I don't know how it is everywhere, but where I am it was insanely easy to take my sister out of school and, because my parents have high school degrees, basically say, "Trust me, we got this" and proceed to teach her whatever. Because my parents are generally sensible, intelligent people, and have experience in education, it went fine and she was prepared to go to the next grade, but I can't help wondering what would have happened if they weren't.

Because of that freedom, there are a lot of evangelicals/conservatives in the US who have taken their kids out of public schools (sometimes citing "evil secular gay agendas" and the like) and proceeded to teach their kids whatever—"whatever," in this case, being conspiracy theories, fundamentalism instead of science, patriarchal/racist/etc. social norms, and censorship/limited access to diversity of identity/opinion and actual history. You can find endless Christian homeschool resources online that are full of truly limiting and just plain wrong teachings, especially in regards to history and science.

There are numerous examples of going even further than this—someone I knew never went into too much detail (I gathered it was too traumatic to discuss), but did share experiences with me of an evangelical homeschool co-op (multiple families cooperating to homeschool their children together) that used emotionally and physically abusive punishments as well as all the normal brainwashing and manipulation, with zero supervision or consequences. There are so many examples of abused children not receiving help for so long because they were completely isolated from their peers and other adults, partially through homeschooling, and so were not noticed and weren't able to seek help.

It's a complicated situation, because I don't think homeschooling is ultimately the issue here. Lack of supervision is an issue, but ultimately the fault lies with the belief systems themselves. Obviously we can't stop people from believing things—public education and exposure to different beliefs is in my opinion one of the best tools we have to help kids get out these communities and become better people, and when that's taken away, of course these kids grow up either believing exactly what their parents believe, or completely traumatized and spending the rest of their lives deconstructing and undoing the damage.

Again, the idea of homeschooling a child and incorporating Christianity into that isn't inherently bad/traumatic, and while I think lack of exposure to diverse beliefs is harmful, Christian homeschooling can include that exposure and I'm sure it can be done very well. But there's so much abuse, neglect, radicalism, excessive control, and grooming that goes under the radar in these families/communities, and we have to talk about it! I don't know if I'm the best person to do that, but maybe I can help start a conversation or make people aware of the issue.

Some relevant articles/resources: (Content warnings for descriptions of abuse and related issues)

How Christian Schools and Homeschooling Teach Supremacist Conspiracies by Audrey Clare Farley (Ms. Magazine)

The Homeschool Apostates by Kathryn Joyce (The American Prospect)

Former homeschooler on the Duggar family's horrifying fundamentalist "education": "It's literal rape culture" by Jenny Kutner (Salon)

Traumatic Homeschooling: How Evangelicals Use Education to Totalize by R.K. Stollar

"I broke away from a strict homeschooling community cult" (BBC)

A warning on homeschooling by Elizabeth Bartholet (The Harvard Gazette)

Coalition for Responsible Home Education

Kitchen Table Cult (podcast)

Homeschooling: Indoctrination or Liberation? by Andrewism (YouTube)

Homeschooling by Ex-Fundie Diaries (YouTube playlist)

r/Homeschool Recovery (has a ton of discussions and testimonials)

<3 Johanna

#asks #abuse mention #edit: yes feel free to put your own experiences in the notes!

[softer-ua]

Periodic reminder that this is a pro ship account, I genuinely don’t give af what y’all do with your imaginations

I care too much about what happens to real people to even try to find the time or energy to pretend to assign morality to make believe, frankly I think it’s kinda neat that some people can take horrible dark things and splash enough fantasy on them to make it not so

We know that video games don’t make kids violent, kids being ignored, neglected, and never taught healthy emotional processing makes them violent. The idea that video games were the problem is fear mongering propaganda

The idea that porn addictions exists or that consuming it can desensitize an individual is of the same vain, it takes blame off the individuals who do horrible things and assigns it to some abstract concept that has no bases in reality

Of course people can become addicted to anything technically, even eating couch cushions, anything that acts as a stress reliever for any reason can become a compulsion. But like with couch cushions, there’s a different problem at hand

And someone can become desensitized in the idea that the shock and urgency lesson with exposure, but core values and your morals do not change without extensive personal work

These things are even less when not attached to irl human faces. Humans are very capable of distinguishing fiction from reality, even when we get really involved with them

The myth that we can’t comes from misunderstood and misconstrued findings that when we imagine something it lights up the same areas of the brain as actually doing the action

Which is true, but how we interpret those sensations is different, most people can sense something and still objectively know it isn’t real and will therefore act on that. Someone of sound mind can and does cry at a sad movie, but they will leave the theater aware that while they may still feel sad the character died no real person is actually dead

Porn is similar, it can invoke physical and emotional responses but people are aware it’s not real.

There is of course some nuances to that because of the fat cats in the industry trying convince viewers that the people in the videos aren’t actors performing bits

That has been dangerous for young people who were unfortunately getting their sex education from them because no one in their lives took the time to actually teach them about their bodies and relationships involving other bodies but as awareness of that issue rises the number of victims to that propaganda falls

So the rich try to profit off ignorance and shift blame from themselves while their worst consumers use them as excuses, that’s nothing new. Violent depraved people are like that for their own personal reasons, no media consomption or mental illness makes them like that, it’s all on individuals and their personal failure of morals

Fan creations has the smallest hat in the media ring, from every angle it’s near impossible to have it confused with reality without choosing to do so(like for escapism, which within limits is normal and fine)

Whatever fan creation you’re outraged about, it could be the most deaddove thing ever, like the most rottingest zombie of dead doves, and it still starts with acknowledging that it’s being modeled after a fictitious source like a book or a parasocial relationship with a celebrity

And when I consider that vs the physical irl actions people are taking against irl people I simply can’t bring myself to give a flying rats ass about fiction^2

Like Canada is still finding unmarked graves for native children who were taken from their homes by the church to be forced into dying at residential schools, and I don’t think enough people are taking into account that the indifference shown to these children’s deaths by the church is cruel by Christian standards

Seriously we aren’t even acknowledging that had these children been home with their loved ones the practices around their death would have been vastly different, some cultures don’t practice burials and to put anyone let alone their child in the ground without ceremony would have been the most vial act their community could ever enact

So yeah idgf if you’re blorbo commits a war crime and gets sexy with it, there’s very real war crimes being committed today and very real war crimes of the past going unacknowledged that are vastly more worth of my outrage

[missbaphomet]

Yeeeeaaaaahhhh that's why i'm a fierce defender of french secularism.

We get shit from foreigners being like "BUT YOU PUT UP CHRISTMAS TREES IN SCHOOLS/YOU ALLOW NUN HABITS BUT NOT HEADSCARVES/WAAAH GARBLE", none of which is true. At all. Genuinely don't know where this idea that french secularity is lenient on christianity and not others, when A L L religious symbolism and acts are banned from government and public facilities. All of them. No, we do not have christmas trees in our schools. No, we don't allow students to wear christian crosses but ban niqabs. My god. Anyway i'm going off topic.

Essentially secularity in schools means N O religious talk or even alluding to religious concepts in sex ed. People invited to come give classes on sex ed get fired and heavily fined if they try that shit (one of the ones who came to my school talked to us about adam and eve and sex after marriage and she was fired the n e x t d a y)

One thing i remember very fondly was an internet safety special lesson where they taught us how to recognise dangerous content (specifically porn and ESPECIALLY pro-anorexia websites.)

They were like we know we can't stop you from browsing the net and kids are curious. But if you feel in danger or see something that makes you upset, you can talk to your guardians or a teacher. The warnings about pro-anorexia websites really left a mark on me, because they showed examples that kids our age we see as normal tips to lose weight, when in reality it was championing eating disorders.

I wrote this hours ago, forgot abt it bc i went to play pool and now i forgot what the point was

Honestly goals. This is one of the many reasons I also consider myself antitheist. I am all for personal religious expression but church and state should always be separate.

For anyone in the US who has similar views please look into the Freedom From Religion Foundation (linked below). Right now I do believe this is only for US legislation, but I would love to see something like this eventually go international, especially in regards to what is happening in Iran and other countries with similar oppressive religious doctrine

#baph bleats #asks #freedom from religion foundation #iran protests

[excelsiorclasses]

The Rise of Christian Homeschooling: Navigating the Online Education Landscape

In recent years, Christian homeschooling has seen a significant rise in popularity, with families seeking alternative education options that align with their faith and values. This trend has been further accelerated by the availability of online education platforms tailored specifically for Christian students. In this article, christian homeschool online we'll explore the growth of Christian homeschooling and how online education is shaping the landscape for these families.

The Shift to Christian Homeschooling

Christian homeschooling has emerged as a viable choice for parents who want to provide their children with a religiously grounded education. This approach allows families to integrate faith-based teachings into their academic curriculum, fostering a holistic learning experience that nurtures spiritual growth alongside intellectual development.

One of the key factors driving the shift to Christian homeschooling is the desire for a personalized educational experience. Many parents feel that traditional schooling may not adequately address their children's individual needs or provide the level of spiritual guidance they seek. By homeschooling, families can tailor lessons to suit each child's learning style and pace while instilling biblical principles and values.

The Role of Online Education

The advent of online education has revolutionized the homeschooling landscape, offering a wide range of resources and tools specifically designed for Christian families. Platforms like Excelsior Classes provide comprehensive online courses taught by experienced Christian educators, covering subjects from math and science to history and literature.

Online education brings flexibility and accessibility to Christian homeschooling. Families can access high-quality curriculum materials, interactive lessons, and expert instruction from anywhere, making learning more convenient and adaptable to individual schedules. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for families with busy lifestyles or those residing in remote areas with limited access to traditional educational resources.

Benefits of Christian Homeschooling Online

There are several notable benefits to pursuing Christian homeschooling through online platforms:

Faith-Based Curriculum: Online courses often incorporate Christian worldview perspectives into their curriculum, allowing students to explore academic subjects through a lens of faith.

Flexibility: Families have the flexibility to create customized schedules that accommodate other activities, such as church involvement, extracurricular pursuits, and family time.

Individualized Learning: Online education enables personalized learning experiences, catering to each student's unique strengths, interests, and academic goals.

Parental Involvement: Parents play a central role in their children's education, actively engaging in the learning process and providing guidance and support along the way.

Community Engagement: Online platforms foster a sense of community among Christian homeschooling families, facilitating peer interaction, collaborative projects, and shared resources.

Navigating the Online Education Landscape

For parents considering Christian homeschooling online, it's essential to research and evaluate different platforms to find the best fit for their family's needs. christian homeschool online Factors to consider include curriculum content, teaching approach, technological requirements, support services, and cost.

Additionally, staying connected with other homeschooling families and seeking guidance from experienced educators can provide valuable insights and support throughout the homeschooling journey. Online forums, social media groups, and local homeschooling networks are excellent resources for building community and exchanging ideas.

In conclusion, the rise of Christian homeschooling, coupled with the availability of online education options, offers families a compelling alternative to traditional schooling. With a focus on faith-based learning, flexibility, and personalized instruction, Christian homeschooling online is empowering parents to take an active role in their children's education while nurturing their spiritual growth and academic success.

[radiobob214]

I think I may have just lowkey fucked up a Martin Luther King day lesson.

I do religious education at the local Unitarian Universalist church. If you don't know, Unitarian Universalism is like, hippie Christianity. I once heard it described as "Church for agnostics." When I was little, our church had a Wiccan group that met in the basement.

Anyway. My boss usually leads the Sunday School classes, but she had lost her voice and couldn't speak above a whisper. So I had to lead the lesson.

Had I known I would be leading, I would have spent a few hours thinking about how to address such a nuanced topic with children. For the record, today we had eight kids, ages between four and twelve.

I gave the standard brief summary of Dr. King's life. He was a minister at a Black church. He studied nonviolence. He was influenced by Ghandi.

I explained what segregation was. Some of the kids didn't know, and that surprised me. I was really not prepared for this.

Then, I began to fuck up.

My sentences got harder and harder to follow as I floundered.

"Um, so, Dr. King was like, a leader in the Black community? He, um, one of his big ideas was that if someone is doing violence towards you, you can stop it without having to do violence back, you know? So he taught, um, he taught classes on how to do nonviolence effectively..."

And so on.

I waffled about the safe parts of King's activism until my boss suggested we play another video about Dr. King's life.

I tried to end on a useful note.

"So, the dream speech, right? But, like, one of the things I want to stress about this is, he didn't live to see his dream happen. Like, even after the Civil Rights Act, he was really clear that his work wasn't done."

I had an opportunity to educate kids about one of my country's most whitewashed historical figures, and I blew it.

Here are some things I wish I had said.

MLK practiced nonviolence, but people still said that his methods were 'going too far.' People thought that any change to the status quo would be dangerous.

He broke laws. Sometimes laws are wrong.

Most of all, I wish I had given examples of things that he advocated for, other than the end of segregation.

[bllsbailey]

Woke Retreats: Johns Hopkins DEI Office Apologizes, Retracts 'Privilege List'

On Thursday, Johns Hopkins' Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Office retracted a "privilege list" after that list went viral and provoked a firestorm of comments.

The DEI (Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity) Office at Johns Hopkins Medicine has retracted and disavowed a definition of the term “privilege” provided to employees yesterday. The definition appeared in a monthly newsletter sent out to staff members by Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Sherita Hill Golden, M.D.  “Privilege,” selected as the “Diversity Word of the Month,” was defined as “a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group” in the Jan. 10 newsletter. “Privilege operates on personal, interpersonal, cultural and institutional levels, and it provides advantages and favors to members of dominant groups at the expense of members of other groups,” the definition reads.  According to Golden, privilege is given to anyone in the United States who has membership in one or more of the following groups: white people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males, Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people, and English-speaking people.  “Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it,” Golden added.

Well, that last bit is certainly accurate. Privilege is so invisible that it's as though it doesn't exist. One would suppose that I have some of this "privilege," being a white male Boomer; that's funny because I've worked since I was 12, my Dad farmed most of his life, I went to college on the New GI Bill, and in my 62 years, I've worked my melanin-deprived butt off for everything I have, and there are millions like me out there who object strenuously to the whole idea of "privilege."

The reason this list was retracted, of course, was because the list was leaked to X/Twitter, went viral, and provoked a firestorm of comments, few of them supporting Johns Hopkins' DEI office.

This corporate poison, this idea of "privilege," has infiltrated not only health care and corporations, but even our military in recent years.

See Related: Army Recruitment of White Soldiers Plummets, Take a Wild Guess Why

CBS News Leaves Out a Rather Important Detail in 'Report' on All-Female City Council in Minnesota

Why do corporate, government, and university heads give in to this nonsense? It's certain that a number of them honestly believe in these horse leavings; it's more likely that many of them give in to the "woke" because it's easier than resisting them. And here, in this instance with Johns Hopkins, we have an object lesson. In this case, it was the nefarious prospect of "privilege," the idea that some people are advantaged by accident of birth; it entails, as I said the other day, the idea that a white coal miner in Appalachia somehow has advantages denied to a black, Harvard-educated attorney who lives in a Manhattan penthouse. Johns Hopkins has not given up on this idea, but they have backed down some. That's a good start.

The "woke" will continue to hold sway — in government, academia, corporations, and even in the military — until maintaining "woke" nonsense like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion becomes more troublesome than doing away with it. In the case of Johns Hopkins, all it took was an X/Twitter exposure going viral. And in dealing with the "woke" when they are pushing this nonsense, there's a key point that the non-woke must remember every day, take to heart, and put into practice: Never apologize. 

No one should apologize for someone else’s ignorance. No one should apologize for someone else’s intolerance. No one should apologize for voicing their own opinion. Never apologize to the “woke” for voicing an honest opinion honestly arrived at. Never apologize.

This is a culture war.  If we’re going to win it, there are going to be times to set our polite impulses aside. And, as we have learned from this incident, sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant.