“Perhaps you’ve come across the term ‘toxic masculinity’ before. If so, you might know this concept describes the ways society’s gender-based expectations for men can breed unhelpful characteristics and behaviors, including aggression, difficulty expressing emotions, and excessive self-reliance. But psychologists and researchers have also started to consider a similar topic, ‘toxic femininity.’ In a nutshell, this term describes the potentially negative impact of society’s standards for women […] The definition of the term can vary slightly, depending on the source. A common anti-feminist misconception suggests it means using ‘feminine’ qualities to manipulate men. Yet most experts agree toxic femininity involves restricting your behavior to fit stereo-typically feminine traits that men supposedly find pleasing. Toxic femininity can affect your health and well-being in many ways by increasing stress levels, sabotaging your sense of identity, contributing to a feeling of powerlessness, and leading to unhealthy relationships… Excerpt from Toxic Femininity, Explained—Plus, Tips to Overcome This Mindset
“When a man cannot introspectively confront his negative thoughts and emotions, he will always be conquered by them, communicating without composure and hurting all those whom he loves.” Quote paraphrased from “Battle Cry”By: Jason Wilson
“Sensuality often hastens the ‘Growth of Love’ so much that the roots remain weak and are easily torn up.” By: Friedrich Nietzsche
“Beware of those who weep with realization, for they have realized nothing.” By: Carlos Casteñeda
“In every encounter, we either give life or we drain it; there is no neutral exchange.” By: Brennan Manning
“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Bible, Proverbs 31:10-13
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14
“And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:18
Commentary: The number one mistake women make, when they begin a romance, is to allow their old failed relationships to have a voice in the courtship—when they do, their new relationship is doomed. Emotionally stable guys on the other hand, don’t suffer from these tendencies. Could that be the reason why there are so many “InCels”—because there are too many damaged women in America? Is there a correlation between the number of loose women—and loser guys in the community? In other words, it’s a losing proposition to start off with, and then the mutual disgust and contempt sets in, leading to cynicism and rejection. The modern cliché: “Only the lonely can play”, basically means that if you’re a player, you’re destined to remain a swinger all of your life.
“Sensuality often hastens the ‘Growth of Love’ so much that the roots remain weak and are easily torn up.” By: Friedrich Nietzsche
“Beware of those who weep with realization, for they have realized nothing.” By: Carlos Casteñeda
“In every encounter, we either give life or we drain it; there is no neutral exchange.” By: Brennan Manning
“When a man cannot introspectively confront his negative thoughts and emotions, he will always be conquered by them, communicating without composure and hurting all those whom he loves.” Quote paraphrased from “Battle Cry”By: Jason Wilson
“And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Bible, Genesis 2:18
“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Proverbs 31:10-13
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14
“For this you know, that no whore-monger, unclean person, nor selfish man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Ephesians 5:5
Commentary: The number one mistake women make, when they begin a romance, is to allow their old failed relationships to have a voice in the courtship—when they do, their new relationship is doomed. Emotionally stable guys on the other hand, don’t suffer from these tendencies. Could that be the reason why there are so many “InCels”—because there are too many damaged women in America? Is there a correlation between the number of loose women—and loser guys in the community? In other words, it’s a losing proposition to start off with, and then the mutual disgust and contempt sets in, leading to cynicism and rejection. The modern cliché: “Only the lonely can play”, basically means that if you’re a player, you’re destined to remain a swinger all of your life.
“Mrs. Eberstadt has written, with an embarrassing accuracy, how the go-go ’60s planted the seeds of this devilish, soul-killing angst our society is writhing under today. Her book “Adam and Eve after the Pill”. It connects the dots from the tearing down of not just American institutions, but a righteous and wise way of life. “Tearing down” was 14 train stops ago. We are flirting with the suicide of one of the grandest experiments in world history. Like a country of homicidal maniacs, we tear and rip at morality. We lunge for its throat. Rage rules America. The country stumbles about, screaming, cursing, tearing at its own eyes. Murder. Wickedness. Loss of a sense of true self and purpose. What I find simply insane is how a good portion of the alleged grown-up population embraces oppression, the crazy notion that a politician or bureaucrat will have our best interests at heart. We’re awash in intellectual stubbornness, stupidity and phantasmagoria—the belief that the most preposterous falsehood is true. Wisdom is an endangered species. Modern souls we, we laugh at the corniness of holy book-thumping ancestors with their tedious thee’s and thou’s. We long ago stopped scoffing at an ancient word—wicked. Today, “wicked” is something spectacularly yet subtly cool. The origin of “wicked” is unknown, but, first accounts connect it to the Old English term for a witch, a sorcerer, someone or some thing that casts a spell. “Wicked” appeared 119 times in the 1611 version of the King James Bible. Today, in the 2001 English Standard version, it appears just 61 times. And yet, I’d place a small wager that all of us, no matter what our religion, spiritual path or complete indifference, can, at the end of the day, ask themselves a simple question: “What did I do that was wicked today?” It’s a darn squirmy word. Even on my best of days, I can look back at the end to reflect and wince. Yup. I did—something—wicked. Small, perhaps. But, wicked nonetheless. Mrs. Eberstadt tirelessly writes that while we’ve always had our dark side and darker urges, as a society, we’ve pretty much abandoned our acknowledgement of the wicked. In fact, we unknowingly worship—wickedness.” Excerpt from John Boston | The Fatal Social Disease of the Sexual Revolution
“Sensuality often hastens the ‘Growth of Love’ so much that the roots remain weak and are easily torn up.” By: Friedrich Nietzsche
“Beware of those who weep with realization, for they have realized nothing.” By: Carlos Casteñeda
“In every encounter, we either give life or we drain it; there is no neutral exchange.” By: Brennan Manning
“When a man cannot introspectively confront his negative thoughts and emotions, he will always be conquered by them, communicating without composure and hurting all those whom he loves.” Quote paraphrased from “Battle Cry”By: Jason Wilson
“And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Bible, Genesis 2:18
“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” Proverbs 31:10-13
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14
“For this you know, that no whore-monger, unclean person, nor selfish man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Ephesians 5:5
Commentary: When we spend our time pursing earthly pleasures and treasures, we become lost at sea. It’s only when we have our lives anchored on “The Rock Of Ages” that we can withstand the crashing waves that engulf us. So how do you navigate back to safe harbors? Every day you make choices, that determine the direction your heart will travel. Will you seek to know your Savior, or will you become more acquainted with the world? If you decide to read the Bible, you will also choose to look for the good in God’s creations.
“If you are now wondering where to look for consolation, where to seek a new and better God, a new and better faith, you will surely realize, in your present loneliness and despair, that this time you must not look to external, official sources, to Bibles, pulpits, or thrones, for enlightenment. Nor to me. You can find it only in yourself. And there it is, there dwells the God who is higher and more selfless… The sages of all time have proclaimed Him, but He does not come to us from books, He lives within us, and all our knowledge of him is worthless unless He opens our inner eye. This God is in you too. He is most particularly in you, the dejected and despairing… Search where you may, no prophet or teacher can relieve you of the need to look within… Don’t confine yourself… to any other prophet or guide. Our mission is not to instruct you, to make things easier for you, to show you the way. Our mission is solely to remind you that there is a God and only one God; He dwells in your hearts, and it is there that you must seek Him out and speak with Him.” Excerpt from Hermann Hesse on Hope, the Difficult Art of Taking Responsibility, and the Wisdom of the Inner Voice
“Then Jesus said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.’ From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus asked the Twelve, ‘Do you want to leave too?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”’ Bible, John 6:65-68
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself… Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:3-5,17-21
I’m trying to hold on to yesterday. ‘Trying to keep, what matters most. ‘Trying to hold on to those memories. ‘Trying to cling to anything— when I mattered to someone.
Spanish Translation
¿Importa Mi Vida?
Estoy tratando de aferrarme al ayer. ‘Tratando de mantener lo que más importa. ‘Tratando de aferrarme a los recuerdos. ‘Tratando de quedarme con cualquier cosa, cuando yo—le importaba a alguien.
“Who is good, if he knows not who he is? And who knows what he is, if he forgets that things which have been made are perishable, and that it is not possible for one human being to be with another always?”
Spanish Translation
“¿Quién es bueno, si no sabe quién es? ¿Y quién sabe lo que es, si olvida que las cosas que se han hecho—perecerán, y que no es posible que un ser humano esté siempre con otro?”
“Whenever you feel unloved, unimportant, or insecure, remember to whom you belong.” Bible, Ephesians 2:19-22
“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the fullest.” John 10:10
“The devil will remind you over and over again, of your past. Because he knows, that the day you stop feeling sorry for yourself, he has no future with you. Holding on to old grudges will not remove the pain in your brain. Only Jesus can change your life, if you allow him into your heart.” By: ElRoyPoet, 2021
“Have you found yourself irritable, sad or close to tears when watching the news lately? If so, you are not alone. Experiencing empathy has its benefits, but there are also many downsides to it, which is why we must learn to practice healthy empathy. Empathy is an ability to sync emotionally and cognitively with another person; it is a capacity to perceive a world from their perspective or share their emotional experiences. It is essential for building and maintaining relationships, as it helps us connect with others at a deeper level. It is also associated with higher self-esteem and life purpose. There are broadly two types of empathy: cognitive empathy and emotional empathy. Emotional empathy is about sharing feelings with others to the extent that you may experience pain when watching someone in pain, or experience distress when watching someone in distress. This is what happens to many people when they watch upsetting news on TV, especially when they relate to specific people and their lives. But emotional empathy isn’t just about experiencing negative emotions. Empathetic people may experience an abundance of positivity when watching other people’s joy, happiness, excitement, or serenity and can get more out of music and other daily pleasures. While this emotional contagion is suitable for positive states, having too much empathy when watching people suffer can be very upsetting and even lead to mental health problems. Too much empathy towards others, especially when we prioritize other people’s emotions over our own, may result in experiences of anxiety and depression…” Excerpt from An Excess of Empathy Can Be Bad for Your Mental Health
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Bible, John 16:33
“You’re probably familiar with Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ theory, but did you know he also authored a ‘sympathy hypothesis?’ He observed that it took sympathy—what we now call compassion—to raise children, create flourishing communities and turn the human race into the civilization we know today. Empathy and compassion are both integral parts of the human condition, passed down through evolution to help us survive. Observing suffering activates the parts of our brain associated with threat detection and nurturing. It also affects the vagus nerve, which controls the heart and lungs, and the reward centers of the brain. Performing acts of kindness actually give us ‘hits’ of pleasure chemicals.” Excerpt from: A guide to empathy and compassion
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mathew 11:29-30
“The Christian finds himself today thrown into a strange and difficult world, full of peril and anxiety. He knows Christ, he believes in Him, and he cannot forget what He has done for him in his own life. On the basis of this knowledge and faith he seeks to understand and to adjust to the terrible questions and uncertainties of the times. He knows it is unworthy of him as a Christian to bewail his fate and exaggerate the challenges in the midst of which he is thrown. Dangerous world?—yes. Unprecedented difficulties?—certainly. Tremendous challenges?—of course. But God does not love him less, nor has He singled him out for trial in a special furnace beyond his power to bear or to subdue. He remembers what Paul told the Corinthians and he understands it to be meant exactly for him: ‘God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.’I Corinthians 10:13Every age has its own problems, every age its own burdens and complexities, and throughout man is fundamentally the same, able to know and rest in the truth or to rebel, and the devil precisely the same old adversary, with his sweetness and his wiles, and of course ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.’ Hebrews 13:8 But if man and the devil and Christ are the same in every age, still every man lives in his own age and in no other, and faces his own problems and carries his own cross which no other man can possibly face or carry for him. We have this one life to live which is absolutely unique and absolutely our own. This is not the decaying Athenian world in which Socrates would rather die than adjust to, nor the Roman world at its highest splendor which Paul had to contend with and utilize in the service of the Gospel, nor this same world at its last gasp for which Augustine wrote the epitaph in his magnificent City of God, nor the Hellenistic world at Antioch to which Chrysostom preached his inimitable homilies, nor the rotten world of the eleventh century at the time of the Great Schism between East and West, nor the exuberant world of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when limitless horizons began to beckon the energies of men, nor the world of the nineteenth century when Western Europe held under its sway virtually all mankind. We are not called upon to live in any of these worlds, although our indebtedness to the great scholars who actually live in thought in them and lovingly reproduce them to us is incalculable. But even these our benefactors see and interpret the past from the only vantage point accessible to them, namely, from this one common world to which they and we belong. Every man must work out his own destiny, meet his own fate, carry his own burden, come to terms with himself and with God, from within the one and unique world into which he has been flung. What, then, is the burden of the Christian today, the Christian who, as a man, shares the same humanity with David and Socrates and Paul and Augustine, this very humanity over which the devil and Jesus Christ are engaged in eternal combat, and yet who must carry on this warfare of the soul in this very age, the age of the cold war and the nuclear bomb, the age of the infinite wonders of science, and the age in which every people on earth is demanding as never before the right to some place under the sun? Before I endeavor to answer this question I must first say one word about the essence of the Christian, for we are speaking here, not of the burden of the American or the European or the capitalist or the wage earner, but the burden of the Christian. We are assuming the existence of a distinct being called ‘the Christian’. The Christian is defined by a kind of love: the Christian loves Jesus Christ above everything else. This love is not an ordinary act of the will on his part, as for instance when we decide to read a book or to take a trip abroad or to attend a meeting or to pay a visit to a friend. The dawning of Christ’s love is not something we conjure up ourselves. We love Jesus Christ only when we realize how much He loved us, and indeed loved us without first seeking or receiving our consent. Thus our love of Jesus Christ is a pale reflection of His love for us. Beyond every burden and care, the Christian has his own soul to worry about. Oh yes, he is honest and upright, he works hard, he reads the Bible, he meditates on the saints, he has his times of profound prayer and retreat to the depths, he lives an active Church life, he takes an humble part in the stirring spiritual movements of the day, he is alive to the problems of the world, he is as good and solid a citizen as any other person, and, above all, he develops ulcers, those peculiar stigmata of our age! But, is he the master of his own passions? How much does he know the living power of God in his own life—that power which is much more than the daimon of Socrates which only warns and forbids, that power which also directs and constitutes and provides? Is he at peace with himself? Is he true to himself? Is he true to Christ? How much does Christ come to his rescue exactly in time? In his daily wrestlings with the devil, does he spit in his face and trample his head under foot—not in his own power, but always in the power of the Cross? Has he forgiven his brother— really forgiven him? Is all rancor and resentment washed away by the blood of Christ? How else can he hope for the forgiveness of God of which he stands in such desperate need? Beyond every other care and worry, the Christian carries these questions on his mind all the time, and with them he transcends his turbulent age and becomes one with all ages in which the same ultimate questions tormented the saints. It is reconciliation and peace with God that he craves for more than anything else. It is that life of closeness to God, that intimacy of living with Christ, that mighty infusion of the Holy Ghost, which is absolute light, absolute certainty, absolute power. In this state which he craves for, which he believes in, which he confidently expects, having been promised it by One who does not lie, the Christian attains that divine sophia in which the tongue is untied and from which everything else flows. The Christian has a foretaste of this even in this life. There is then courage, there is communion, there is peace, there is the fellowship of the pure, of those who have seen God. Now our present life is interesting and let no one belittle its duties and challenges and excitements. Moreover, these are great days and what is being decided in them is absolutely historic. But all these things are going to pass, and with them life itself. What, then, is the life that does not pass, what, then, is life eternal? This is the first and last question. And all I know is that I am told and I believe that ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’ John 17:3Excerpt from Christ and Crisis by: Charles Malik
Middle class beware, The union is out to get you. There can’t be A bourgeois society If the elites don’t need you.
In an authoritarian state, It’s too hard to differentiate, Between all the nationalist drones. You’re either in the in-group, And since you’re not, you’re out.
Religion can’t save you, And academics aren’t allowed, Because syndicates hate media. Democracy is just too difficult, Fascism is so much easier.
Analogy: If your neighbor jake brings his pet rattle snake to your house and turns it loose. You don’t sit down with jake and debate whether or not the snake is poisonous, you don’t discuss politics and ignore it, and hope it doesn’t bite anybody in your family. You must shut down all communications with jake and immediately find a way to cage the snake, so that you can take it out of your house and eradicate it, because you know that it is a deadly threat to your family. That’s how you must respond to the propaganda and incendiary rhetoric coming from a fascist (white supremacist, nazi sympathizer, nationalist bigot). You can’t reform a snake, because it will always come back to bite you!
Commentary: Fascists are opposed to whomever they deem as degenerates (refugees, minorities, addicts, convicts and whomever else, their leader frames as unpatriotic). Fascists do not only seek to hate them, but to dominate them. If fascists believe an out-group serves a purpose, it is permitted but controlled. If fascist believe the out-group serves no purpose, they will try to remove it from the community. Fascist hierarchies reject egalitarianism so completely, that co-existence is impossible. Fascism is not an intellectual ideology but a white supremacist movement based on the dogma of fear, insecurity and misplaced anger. The form of government fascists want the public to assimilate is ultra-nationalism—which is antithetical to a representative democracy. Therefore fascism is illegitimate and should not be tolerated in a pluralistic society, because it is an existential threat to the citizens of America.
Definition: Egalitarianism is the doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. Political egalitarianism posits that each individual has the same social power or influence over politics in work, government and daily life.
“Pundits like to take refuge in the saccharine refrain, “this is not who we are,” but historically, this is exactly who we are. Political violence is an endemic feature of American political history. It was foundational to the overthrow of Reconstruction in the 1870s and the maintenance of Jim Crow for decades after.” Excerpt from Where Will This Political Violence Lead? Look to the 1850s.
“Being good is hard if you live under an authoritarian regime… Dictatorships elevate the nation and the leader as ultimate ends, while mere individuals have no inherent worth outside of their service to the state…Damir Marusic, an Atlantic Council senior fellow, recently wrote, ‘Putin is a wholly authentic Russian phenomenon, and the imperialist policy he’s pursuing in Ukraine is too.’ This is right, but only up to a point. We simply don’t know what individual Russians would choose, want—or become—if they had been socialized in a free, open democracy, rather than a dictatorship where fear is the air one breathes. Like everyone else, they are products of their environment. Authoritarianism corrupts society. Because punishment and reward are made into arbitrary instruments of the state, citizens have little incentive to pool resources, cooperate, or trust others. Survival is paramount, and survival requires putting one’s own interests above everything else, including traditional morality. In such a context, as the historian Timothy Snyder puts it, ‘life is nasty, brutish, and short; the pleasure of life is that it can be made nastier, more brutish, and shorter for others.’ This is the zero-sum mindset that transforms cruelty into virtue. In short, authoritarianism twists the soul and distorts natural moral intuitions. In so doing, it renders its citizens—or, more precisely, its subjects—less morally culpable. To be fully morally culpable is to be free to choose between right and wrong. But that choice becomes much more difficult under conditions of dictatorship. Not everyone can be courageous and sacrifice life and livelihood to do the right thing.” Excerpt from Why the Russian People Go Along With Putin’s War
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power […] We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end […] The object of power is power.” Excerpt from 1984 by: George Orwell
“Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that same liberty. Our Constitution speaks of the ‘general welfare of the people’. Under that phrase all sorts of excesses can be employed by [authoritarian] tyrants—to make us bondsmen.” By: Marcus Tullius Cicero
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between true and false no longer exists.” By: Hannah Arendt
“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” By: Mahatma Gandhi
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” By: Milan Kundera
“You already know enough. So do I. It is not knowledge we lack. What is missing is the courage to understand what we know and to draw conclusions.” By: Sven Lindqvist
“Rejecting ideals is a fair first amendment right, but purposely using language that is seen as outdated and offensive towards already marginalized groups is socially not appropriate. Professionalism is important and standards exist equally amongst all sides, and these standards exist for a reason. Political correctness, when referring to everyday language, is expected because it ties in, at its root, with maturity. What makes it so difficult for people to refuse adhering to basic respect, which is now categorized as political correctness? If the majority of one’s environment is not using racial slurs, ableist language and generally offensive language, that speaks volumes about the extent of maturity one may obtain.” Excerpt from Opinion: Don’t engage in anti-PC culture
Commentary: The only people who are afraid of free speech are those who are living in denial, such as absolutists who claim that free speech should be free range rhetoric. There are only two ways to cancel free speech: Shut the spigot off, or open it full blast. If maga republicans can’t shut it down, via democratic means, they will use reverse psychology tricks to demand a no holds barred speech. Consequently, the public square will get out of control (anarchy), and then they will claim that the patriots can’t handle the truth, and cancel free speech and the rest of the first amendment all together, with the lie that they will soon legislate a better amendment to replace it (don’t hold your breath). Practicing politically correct speech has never been an option for the neo-fascists politicians, because their real agenda is to repeal the first amendment.
“Obviously, if politicians believe that voters cannot be trusted with the truth, democracy is seriously at risk. For a democracy to function it is essential that a government respects the people and takes them seriously, not only those that have voted for that government, but all people. Furthermore, in order to exercise their democratic rights properly, people should be informed as fully as possible. Democracy is a form of conflict management within states, just as diplomacy is a form of conflict management between states. Both therefore usually lead to a compromise between different views and different perceived interests. That is certainly the case when a decision requires both agreement between and within states.” Excerpt from Government of the people, by the people, for the people
“I plead with you to control your tempers, to put a smile upon your faces, which will erase anger; speak out with words of love and peace, appreciation, and respect. If you will do this, your lives will be without regret. Your marriages and family relationships will be preserved. You will be much happier. You will do greater good. You will feel a sense of peace that will be wonderful.” By: Gordon B. Hinckley
Taboo definition: A social custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing. A taboo is an action that is frowned upon and considered inappropriate to practice or even talk about within a cultural group.
Cancel Culture definition: A way of behaving in society or a group, especially on social media, in which it is common to completely reject and stop supporting someone because they have said or done something that offends you. Cancel culture has its place—it helps to call out and remove problematic people from mainstream culture. Let’s call cancel culture what it really is: It is our way to exert some control over a world that is increasingly becoming more dangerous and less tolerant. In cancel culture, we appoint ourselves the arbiters of truth or right and wrong and also the judge and jury, because thanks to social media, we get to dole out punishment. The main argument against cancel culture is that it doesn’t enable people who have wronged society the opportunity to apologize and learn from their mistakes. There is zero tolerance for bullying, bigotry and racism.
“Since it’s often impossible to get a reasonable sense of what will happen in the future, it’s unfair to blame people with good intentions who end up worse off as a result of unforeseen circumstances. This leads to the conclusion that compassion, not blame, is the appropriate attitude towards those who act in good faith but whose bets in life don’t pay off […] Despair thrives where empathy is missing; right now, our lack of compassion for one another is killing us…No matter how smart we think we are, there’s a hard limit on what we can know, and we could easily end up on the losing end of a big bet. We owe it to ourselves, and others, to build a more compassionate world.” Excerpt from The mathematical case against blaming people for their misfortune
“The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.” By: James Baldwin
“I would rather die standing than live on my knees.” By: Emilio Zapata
“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.” By: Martin Luther King, Jr.
“You already know enough. So do I. It is not knowledge we lack. What is missing is the courage to understand what we know and to draw conclusions.” By: Sven Lindqvist
“Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.” Bible, Romans 12:2
Why do we keep having culture wars? Why do bullies keep getting away with it, and why do patriots remain neutral?
So why do we keep accommodating zealots, if the devil takes no prisoners? Haven’t we learned already— to not be defending cowards and traitors? They’re going to betray democracy, anyway!
Codependent
Fool me once, shame on the repblicans. Fool me twice, shame on the democrats. Fool me three times, shame on the patriots.
Wait a minute, fools have no shame, and you know what else royal jesters don’t have: civil liberties.
Commentary: The reason that conservatives and prosperity-religion evangelicals go along with neofascism, is that they are in collusion with the republicans who want to overthrow democracy, because trump has triggered their reflex sensitivities, and as a result has awoken and vindicated their inherent disgust for democracy and its supporters. If these MAGA politicians are willing to acquiesce to the demands of the MAGA patriots in order to win elections. What makes you think that they won’t continue to be beholden to their cult leader in order to maintain their political power.
“…that government of the people by the people for the people should not perish from the Earth.” By: Abraham Lincoln
“But condemning Trump’s behavior is in no way sufficient to defeat him and the neofascist threat he represents. You can’t shame those who have no shame. Trump and the current Republican Party have repeatedly shown that they do not care about human decency or virtue; they worship power above everything else, and delight in provoking outrage and disgust among their political opponents. Democrats all too eagerly walk into this trap, and then wonder why they are losing the battle to save American democracy. Rick Wilson, the prominent Republican strategist turned ‘Never Trumper,’ explained this to me in our recent Salon interview: ‘We’re in a post-shame world, a post-hypocrisy environment. You can’t shame Republicans anymore.'” Excerpt from “We regret to inform you” that Donald Trump is cashing in on white America’s death wish
“The reason the maga republican keep repeating the big lie, even though they know that the elections weren’t stolen, is because it’s a big joke to them—they do it to own the liberals and disparage the voters. Ironically trump has ignited their “disgust for democracy reflex” with his constant barrage of grievance rhetoric bombs.” By: B. Bondsman
“Obviously, if politicians believe that voters cannot be trusted with the truth, democracy is seriously at risk. For a democracy to function it is essential that a government respects the people and takes them seriously, not only those that have voted for that government, but all people. Furthermore, in order to exercise their democratic rights properly, people should be informed as fully as possible. Democracy is a form of conflict management within states, just as diplomacy is a form of conflict management between states. Both therefore usually lead to a compromise between different views and different perceived interests. That is certainly the case when a decision requires both agreement between and within states.” Excerpt from Government of the people, by the people, for the people
“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” By: Mahatma Gandhi
“Ignorance breeds fear. We fear those things we don’t understand. If we don’t put a lid on that fear and keep that fear in check, that fear in turn will breed hatred because we hate those things that frighten us. “If we don’t keep that hatred in check, that hatred in turn will breed destruction.” By: Daryl Davis
“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” By: Benjamin Franklin
“The exercise of freedom will always create rebels, because that’s the origin of revolutions. We can’t have a sedentary society, just like we can’t have a perfect union. If you don’t want conflict in your family, church and state, you want fascism, and if that’s what you want, you don’t want democracy.” By: A. Freeman
“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.” By: Henry David Thoreau
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power […] We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end […] The object of power is power.” Excerpt from 1984 by: George Orwell
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.” By: John Dalberg-Acton
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” By: Martin Luther King
“Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that same liberty. Our Constitution speaks of the ‘general welfare of the people’. Under that phrase all sorts of excesses can be employed by [authoritarian] tyrants—to make us bondsmen.” By: Marcus Tullius Cicero
“And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” By: Thomas Jefferson
“Pundits like to take refuge in the saccharine refrain, “this is not who we are,” but historically, this is exactly who we are. Political violence is an endemic feature of American political history. It was foundational to the overthrow of Reconstruction in the 1870s and the maintenance of Jim Crow for decades after.” Excerpt from Where Will This Political Violence Lead? Look to the 1850s.
Freeman Poet 