Something Has to Change

I’m tired. I’m so damn tired of watching a nation of knuckle draggers defend unfettered access to firearms and not the kids being killed by firearms legally obtained by those who ought not have access to them. The fourteen year old who killed four and injured at least 30 others used an AR-15 given to him by his father. The gift came shortly after the student was investigated for threats made against his school the year prior.

The moment we talk about common sense gun regulations similar to those required to drive a car—such as licensing and registration, health evaluations, etc.—the same knuckle draggers who demand extensive identification for those trying to exercise their right to vote cry out: “bUt ThE sEcOnD aMeNdMeNt!” Yet these same intentionally ignorant, peaked in high school stable geniuses piss on our right to free expression and our right to religious freedom (including freedom from religion). Many of them pose the solution that we “aRm ThE tEaChErS” when we can’t even find the money to keep school supplies in stock or pay our teachers a competitive salary.

While we are all guilty of hypocrisy in one form or another, the hypocrisy of this mouth breathing mass is literally killing our children. They’re worried that a student might read a book that exposes them to a world of ideas that might contradict the act of indoctrination they engage in with their kids. They are terrified of seeing queer youth being treated with dignity and respect. They are scared that students might see how many of our social, political, and societal systems are rigged against certain people groups—like women, the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities, and the poor. Ideas scare them more than the inevitability of another school shooting.

Things must change.

And before anyone says this is “jUsT a FaCt Of LiFe,” we are the only country where this is a regularly occurring problem.

Things must change.

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

This is but one of many images that should alarm us about the movement and motivation of the MAGA cult. Even if you hate the current president, consider what the next president means in terms of the Supreme Court of the United States and the rights of every American. The image itself presents an army of white saviors who come to rescue America from non-white, non-heteronormative, and non-Christian peoples and values, paving the way for their ‘superior’ vision to be made manifest. This image tells us who is to be empowered, who is to dictate the way in which people may (or may not) live, and with whom they have aligned themselves to force their will on the rest of us.

This image is reflective of the whiteness permeating throughout MAGA culture. It reflects the rhetoric of hate groups like Christian Identity, what’s philosophy has further poisoned and co-opted Christianity to justify and perpetuate white supremacy. Consider what is said, implied, and left unspoken in the phrases “Take America Back” and “Make America Great Again.” Economic and border security, which they often argue, resonates with the same spirit as “States Rights” being touted as the ‘reason’ for the Civil War and the secession of the South. In truth, however, just like the ‘States Rights’ argument, the presented reasoning is bullshit. It is about maintaining white Western ‘Christian’ dominance and the power to oppress, marginalize, and harm others for their personal gain.

This image likewise reflects the current move to seize control of America (Project 2025) and is reminiscent of the white Christian response to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s that led to the rise of the “Moral Majority” and the election of both Ronald Reagan (whose neoliberal policies have destroyed our economy) and George Bush, Sr.

It is a call to action that leverages Christian Nationalism and Christofascism as justification for the means used to achieve their ends. This is, in part, indoctrination for the younger generation suffering under these knuckle draggers and a marker of the zealous fervor present in the far-right extremist movement.

This image, and those like it circulating the internet, should be a reminder of the importance of talking with our friends and family about what’s at stake in the upcoming election. They don’t have to like Biden, but they should consider the Supreme Court appointments that will inevitably happen under the next President and what that means for the rights and liberties of all Americans.

Whatever your thoughts on the above image, remember to get out and vote this November! Our democracy is at stake.

They Said ‘No’ to Our Voice

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to ban TikTok yesterday. An 81% consensus, 81%! POTUS has said that he would sign the bill into law should it get through the Senate.

Our political representatives can’t come together to tackle healthcare, corporate price gouging, the housing crisis, poverty level wages, college loan debt, the border question, food insecurity, or work toward investing in our nation, its people, or its future. The moment 170 million Americans began talking to each other, however, realizing we weren’t alone and that we could change things, then they acted—to divide our voices.

They said ‘no’ to our voice.

A Response to those Angry with California AB665

I was 13 the first time I tried to take my life. I was a good Christian boy in a good Christian home trying my damnedest to live a good Christian life. From the age of (at least) 10 years old, I suffered from an undiagnosed depression.

At 16, I went to my sperm-donor and told him I thought I needed help because I wanted to kill myself. He suggested I see our pastor–an inept, biblically illiterate man with non-existent counseling skills (so bad that he has since handed counseling responsibilities to other members of his cult). I had seen this man, sat with him. It didn’t help.

When I told my sperm-donor that I thought I needed to see a professional, he screamed:

“IF THE CHURCH CAN’T FIX YOUR PROBLEM, THEN YOU DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM! NO SON OF MINE IS GOING TO SEE A SHRINK!”

Those words are etched in my memory, and I never opened up to he or my mother again after that. I began cutting the hell out of myself because I believed I deserved to suffer—after all the depression wasn’t real, I just wasn’t praying enough.¹

After a few close calls, I was diagnosed as an adult with PTSD, bipolar type 1—rapid cycling, among other health concerns. Some of these diagnoses could have been prevented had I received help and treatment when I asked for it. At the very least, I probably wouldn’t have tried to hurt myself so many times. The adults in my life prevented me from getting help—largely because they worried how it would look to have a kid receiving treatment for mental illness.

I share this story because I almost died without the help I needed. My parents were the hurdle I could not overcome. I was lucky, I lived. Not every story turns out like mine.

To those who appear to hold the idea that bills like California AB665² are infringing on parental rights, respectfully, no one should care or value that position. It is a disingenuous stance that serves to reinforce limited understandings of the world in which our kids are growing up.

It isn’t the 1970s or the 1980s anymore. The world, our country, has drastically changed. For example, how many active shooter drills did kids in the 70s and 80s participate in when they were in kindergarten?³

These bills do exactly what certain theatrical positions and ideologies falsely claim to do—they protect kids. That’s what we all want, right?

Anyhow, that’s it. That’s my soapbox.

__________

_{^{1. In an ironic twist of fate, one of the cultists who used to push this narrative of “not praying enough” would die years later from cancer. It is unkind, but I can’t help but wonder if they weren’t praying enough.}}
^{_{2. “An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 6924 of the Family Code, relating to minors.” AB-665 Minors: consent to mental health services. Introduced by Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo. September 11, 2023. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB665.}}
_{^{3. The answer is largely zero.}}