boycottthechosen

[boycottthechosen]

hey im sorry for asking, but how do we know your fundraiser is reliable? like id love to donate but do we have verification? im sorry for asking & i dont really think it's a scam but this is the internet and tumblr dot com of all places

Completely understandable 💙

The fundraiser is through justgiving, which donates the money directly to your chosen charity. You can see on our profile that the funds go straight to the official medicalaidpalestine justgiving account. There's a little verification tick next to it, and you can click on the name to view their official justgiving page

How does the charity get the money I've raised? – JustGiving Help

Medical Aid for Palestinians - JustGiving

[boycottthechosen]

Boycott Jesus..?

It’s a reference to the chosen’s tagline Binge Jesus 💙

[boycottthechosen]

[boycottthechosen]

hi, so in case you were unaware, The Chosen has recently released a statement that Shahar Isaac, actor of Simon Peter, is serving on the Israeli military. back in October, both Dallas Jenkins and the official account for the show posted support for the state of Israel.

(link to 1), (link to 2), (link to 3)

I know I'm making this post kind of late (it's been around a week since that first post linked), but no one else posted the two posts from October so I wanted to let people know.

The Chosen's entire Instagram page was flooded with comments when they had that pride flag "controversy" but it's completely silent right now when this show is openly supporting a genocide. we got a 19-minute video response out of Jenkins over the pride flag, a 40-minute video on the Mormon controversy, and countless other minor things in the show but manage to completely ignore that a cast member on here is serving on the Israeli military and that the director and his team are zionists.

David Amito (John the Baptist) and Elijah Alexander (Atticus) support Israel, but that's all I know of. no one else in the cast, as far as I know, have spoken up at all. multiple cast members, namely Jordon Ross and Giavani Cairo, spoke up their support during that pride flag incident and now no one says a word. I haven't even seen anyone talk about this besides the few other posts on Tumblr.

guys, I love The Chosen. it's genuinely the best Christian media I've seen in my life, it's an amazing retelling of the gospels; I know it's hard to boycott with all the excitement around season 4. I know how much people love this show & I'm genuinely upset too. but the deaths of real people matter more than the deaths of season 4. The Chosen is supporting an ongoing genocide. I know how much this show means to people but you also have to understand; these are the lives of real people at stake, this is a real genocide that this show is aligning itself with. I'm obviously incredibly disappointed and horrified that this Christ-centered show is supporting the genocide, but you can't let the show matter more than the thousands of real people at stake.

if you care about Palestine, please don't watch season 4 in theatres. I think this is the least you can do; I don't think I can call for a full boycott of season 4 because of how big their audience is. all their episodes have always been free online, but this is the first time they're releasing them all in theatres for money. if you care about Palestine, please cancel your tickets if you can and talk about it on social media. keep an eye on @boycottthechosen for updates, and donate to their fundraiser if you can. please keep spreading the word and talking about this. I don't know what else can be done at the moment, but please spread the word and please don't stop talking about it.

[boycottthechosen]

The good news, we now have an instagram account! The bad news, instagram won't let us post and we don't know why! So we're figuring things out

[boycottthechosen]

Speaking of ableism in the chosen, we’re working on graphics for our post about that. We just haven’t had as much time this week as we did last week 💙

We also wanted to ask if people think we should (as @the-reynolds-pamphlet suggested!) stagger our tweets instead of posting every hour on premiere day as was the original plan

[boycottthechosen]

hey, it's that same anon who talked about moving to instagram. i forgot to mention- there's an active subreddit for the series and i think it's 100% worth it to post there, too, just reusing a couple of the graphics and maybe posting like 4-5 times max. subreddits are good that you can gain enough traction if you posted 1 post at a good time. the subreddit is r/thechosenseries (the other one, called r/thechosentv, has been inactive for years)

Hey anon! Thank you so much for your input over the last few days, it's really appreciated 💙

We'll have a look at the subreddit! We're trying to decide at the moment where it's best to put our time. Instagram is definitely a good idea but none of us use it in our personal lives so we're still learning the ropes of how it works and how to format posts. Reddit will probably be a similar situation, but we've got at least a month between now and season 4 dropping on the chosen app so we'll figure it out 💙

Again thank you very much, if you have any more ideas then you're very welcome to share them with us!

[boycottthechosen]

maybe it's just me, but I find it odd that some of the audience is outraged? by The Chosen being ableist since the series is derived from the Bible? ableism and misogyny are rather common in its text so I don't know how it's a surprise that's also translated into the show? like it's bad but it's what you're getting if this is something you watch

This is an interesting ask, thank you. For a long time a lot of us waved away elements of the show that made us uncomfortable because of this logic. It's a show made by evangelicals and catholics adapted from the Bible, of course it's going to have elements we don't agree with. That's always the case with almost any form of media. You're never going to perfectly align with what the creators believe or advocate for and that's ok.

The problem with this is that

We shouldn't accept ableism and misogyny just because they're inherent to the source material. It's a difficult line to walk when you're adapting something. It's difficult to decide what to update, what to cut, and what to leave in so you're not fundamentally changing the source. Should lotr adaptations have pippin or legolas played by women so the gender balance is more even? There's pros and cons, it's complicated. But the thing about the chosen is-

The show always set itself up as at least somewhat progressive. There's a lot of emphasis within the show and in the behind the scenes on how developed the female characters are, how important it is that Matthew is autistic, or that Little James has scoliosis and cerebral palsy. The chosen is neither a one to one adaptation, nor has it strayed away from social issues. That's why it's so disappointing. It still wouldn't be ok if from the beginning Dallas had said "This is an adaptation of the bible. It's going to be entirely faithful so there will be misogyny, ableism, homophobia, deal with it" but it's the fact that the show presents itself as better than that.

@leonardoeatscarrots has a wonderful post (it's on our blog so we highly recommend you check it out) about the real world consequences of the chosens ableist rhetoric for disabled people in Christian communities. That specific brand of "God wanted you to be disabled, just trust him" or "its not God's plan to heal you right now" (As Leonardo puts it 💙) cannot be attributed to or excused by the source material, that was a deliberate choice by the chosen's writers.

[boycottthechosen]

I'm just confused, of course I'm also supporting the boycott of The Chosen for the sake of Palestine but why is everyone calling the show ableist and a cult? None of us are any better if we watched the show if that were the case, like why wait for them to show they're zionists and yet support their ableism before?

We can’t speak for other fans, but in our case all of us were uncomfortable with the subtext surrounding disabled characters before the boycott. Specifically, the scene where Jesus talks to little James after giving the disciples the power to heal. However, since none of us are disabled it took someone with a disability to articulate through personal experience exactly why it was so harmful. Not that that excuses supporting it before, but this is the truth. As for the cult stuff, this is a little more complicated. We’re not of the mind that the chosen team is a literal cult, just that certain moments both on screen and behind the scenes (ie the way Jonathan Roumie is depicted) have uncomfortable undertones.

[boycottthechosen]

Not even a hot take. It's just deadass what's going on.

Boycott The Chosen, people!

[boycottthechosen]

"""The Chosen isn't ableist. You're just reading into it too much."""

My brother in christ. I am the disabled one. I literally get to make the calls. Not you. And my verdict is yes, it is.

[boycottthechosen]

Hi again anon, and thank you @the-dance-of-italy , we should have anonymous asks on now 💙

We agree that trying to shift the focus to instagram sounds like a good idea. None of us really use the site so we didn't know the fanbase was so large there, or that there's where the majority of the pride flag backlash came from. With that in mind, although we said before that we didn't really have the time or capacity to create an instagram account, given what you've said and if dance-of-italy is also creating one, it might be worth having multiple accounts. tldr It'll take us time to set up, but yes, I think we will create an account.

It's also worth remembering that there are multiple theatre dates for the remaining episodes, so there might still be time to reach people. February 15th and February 29th, as well as streaming day are good potential targets to try and gain traction around.

hey- it's the same anon who sent that long ask about the chosen lol. the boycott the chosen account does not have their asks on so i'm like.. hoping they see this

i don't personally know about contacting the cast members. i personally think we would gain much more traction on instagram because a majority of the fanbase is active there & they post there very frequently and primarily. all the posts they posted supporting israel were on instagram. i thought once the cause gets enough traction it might pressure the actors involved that i named, i hadn't thought about contacting them directly and i don't really know if that'll work, thoughts on that??

i did mention shaan sharma particularly because he's on sag-aftra board of directors and i haven't seen anyone else talk about how sag-aftra is supporting israel too. since he's involved there we could get a lot more attention directing attention to how sag aftra's pro-israel. and like, mention shaan sharma on the list of people remaining silent, and how he's in the chosen too

the thing is, it's my personal opinion that it might actually be worth switching to insta entirely? i said before in the other ask that i was just going to make my own account but i don't have the time or energy to fully run it; i also don't really know how i'd do it. the tumblr fandom for the chosen is very minimal, and stuff that happens on tumblr tends to be really contained. i don't know how many people there are on twitter though. like i strongly recommend that we shift our focus to insta, make like actual posts with the chosen's tags because the insta algorithm is pretty good with showing tagged stuff like that. remember the pride flag controversy? almost all of that was within instagram and it was enough to get that video response out of multiple cast members

also, i could make some infographics if needed/requested. i do realize anyone could theoretically because it's not too hard to design but right now im offering to make infographics for instagram or possibly twitter (i don't know how it works there haha)

i just personally think right now that it's unlikely for that entire cast & crew, every single person, to support israel wholeheartedly alongside dallas jenkins. (especially luke dimyan; he's vocal about arab and yeah, he could support israel too, but still) if there's enough conversation & backlash on the internet, it could be enough to motivate/provoke some of them to speak up. it's also optimal timing tbh because season 4's released in theatres next month, this is the first time they're making money off their episodes, and if enough people cancel tickets it might do something. although im honestly pessimistic that we'll gain enough traction in time for that or that enough people would even care. but still its worth trying i think!!

man i realized this was long and i'm sorry haha, so basically tl;dr i could help with infographics if needed. and i think we should really prioritize spreading posts on instagram.

Seeing as things are going, i too agree that containing ourselves to just tumblr and twitter is limiting us. It may be too late to prevent Season 4, but there's still time for the future seasons, and the less support they have for the last seasons the better.

I can work on the IG account myself ,im always on my phone anyway. Its still the second week and they havent given me any heavy assignments yet haha. If its not too much trouble, i would accept if you (or anyone who see's and wants to do it) could make the infographics / or any other graphics for the account. I would, but my other laptop broke down and the one im usin doesn't have Adobe installed yet 😅.

[boycottthechosen]

In advance of the chosen season 4 premiere we wanted to discuss what we'll be posting. We (the people behind this account) are unequivocally anti-zionist. We believe in a free Palestine which will only be achieved through the dismantling of the Israeli state. We believe in a permanent cease-fire and an end to apartheid, not just a temporary pause in the ongoing genocide. We're also involved in pro-Palestinian activism offline.

We say this, because on the 1st of February our original plan was to target the chosen's primary demographic. We wanted to reach any liberal or uninformed christians who are currently "neutral" or claim to "see both sides" of the issue. We're also going to be reaching out to cast members. Because of this, a lot of our content on that day was going to be generic, liberal pleas for support for a ceasefire. You can see the kind of posts we were planning to make below.

But before we do this we wanted to ask for opinions first. We don't want to stray away from the very real, important issues of zionism, imperialism, Dallas' co-option of Judaism, and Shahar Isaac's role in the IDF. These are core reasons why many of us on tumblr are boycotting the show, and they're unignorable. We don't want to whitewash the reality of what's happening in an effort to make it more palatable. But we also don't want to alienate those who might be reasoned with, or harass the cast.

[boycottthechosen]

lowkey sad my favorite show supports zionism 😓😓

[boycottthechosen]

'The most jewish show in the world' he says...

Uhm. Yeah, no.

I'm at a loss for words. Dallas is fucking delusional.

Jewish people around the world have voiced their support towards Gaza and Palestine and their dislike for Israel as an apartheid genocidal country.

Who does he think he is to say those things?? Did he ask around the jewish communities:

1. If they've even seen his stupid christian series 2. If they think it's the most jewish thing ever made in the history of the world?

What is he on?

[boycottthechosen]

Hey anon! An insta account sounds like a really good idea, we’re too busy to create and run one alongside the Twitter and this account, so we understand if you’re in a similar situation 💙 We might be able to do it in the future (maybe prior to the app release of season 4). But if you do decide to make one you can use any of our images and graphics

We also understand feeling hopeless. It’s so hard to get traction especially when you don’t already have an audience. But every little helps. If you know Christians and catholics offline you can also try talking to them.

We’ll think about reaching out to the cast!

i don't know who's running the boycott the chosen account, but i know they have a twitter also & i thought it would be really helpful to make an instagram as well. that's where the official accounts for it and most of the actors are mainly active, and where they're most likely to gain traction. i was actually originally planning on making one before i saw that account haha, sending this to you because you've been posting a lot about boycotting too and hopefully they see this as well

also, id like to point out that shaan sharma (actor of shmuel) is on the sag-aftra board of directors. we could get more traction if it's known about him that he's in the show that supports zionism, he's the most famous (besides nick avari as nicodemus, but he was only season 1). i know sag-aftra itself has shown support for israel too, it could tie in with protesting against them.

and luke dimyan (judas) & alaa safi (simon zee) are arab and muslim, respectively. absolutely not placing more blame or responsibility on those two but they are part of those groups. i don't personally think a season 4 boycott at this stage would make a big difference but the main thing is about gaining bigger traction where the fanbase is mainly active. i guess if enough traction is gained we could pressure them, luke's been especially vocal about being arab

i'm basically asking/telling you because i would absolutely like to help out right now but it feels hopeless, besides boycotting s4 (and there are so few of us) and donating to the fundraiser. is there anything else that can be done? i really suggest going on instagram to properly gain attention tbh, that's my main method, but i personally am too busy and don't know enough to get involved directly (like run the account myself). sorry if this is very out of left field

I understand and also agree that boycotting at this stage may seem hopeless. The best thing we could do is just try and reach out to more people to drop the show and to not give those people more money for the future last 3 seasons they have planned.

Also reach out to some of the cast with a well written explanation + evidence should it be needed, about our concerns of them staying in the production. Instagram would be a good platform to reach out more people as you say, but I'm not very active there and i have little knowledge as to how the algorithm works there. TikTok would work too, since they have attention there thanks to the silly BTS videos they make sometimes. I already made a video on it and i plan to do more, but since i returned to college this week, im a bit limited on time...

If anyone who sees this and is willing to help out to make noise on those platforms, feel free to let me or @boycottthechosen so we can help spread the word!

[boycottthechosen]

Even with my knowledge about cults I should've been more careful when watching the show.

Whenever I saw certain scenes with Jonathan's Jesus, it looked like I was watching a cult leader forcing himself unto others rather than optionally inviting. Those scenes didn't sit right with me, even with the soft, funny Jesus he portrayed, the cultish side was still there.

I cannot assume that everyone in the production team is a zionist or racist or is involved in whatever Angel Studios' agenda is, but it is worrysome that so many people are involved and could potentially be brainwashed by these assholes.

A few of the actors don't seem so bad, George, Giovanni, Luke, Paras and some seem like genuinely good hearted human beings. They spoke up in favor of some staff with pride flags when conservative christians tried to get the show cancelled. Then they also helped do a fundraiser for a fan who had a terminal illness.

Luke even mentioned being pro Ukraine in a video on TikTok. (Lightly mentioning of course). So it's baffling to me that he's not speaking up about Palestine. He's Arabic and a very proud one, always speaking up about how Arab representation matters, his parents are from Egypt, which I believe was also being bombarded by Israel a few weeks ago too (probably still is and will continue to be). Paras I believe is Indian and he's also on the same track.

I can't speak up against the rest of the cast who haven't made any statements because I don't know what's going on behind countians. Luke had been struggling a bit with his starting career, so I fear they're twisting his arm on the topic. Maybe the others too.

In Luke's specific case, I know damn well that if he realized the mistake he's making and went to make his own things, he'd be incredibly successful! He's incredibly funny! If anyone who was a Markiplier fan, or a Game Grumps fan or Unus Annus fan who's reading this, know he's a fan of those people too and his sense of humor is right up there with them. He has SO much potential that it's baffling he's even working for Angel Studios right now.

And this is something seen in cults a lot. Good intentioned people being manipulated without them even noticing because of people in power, integrating them in activities, situations, jobs,etc that could help them or other people on large scales, but ultimately it just benefits whoever's in charge.

A lot of the cast members come from different backgrounds, religions, etc, but If I found out most of them turned to Christianity during or after this is over I'm going to be incredibly heartbroken...