#This must be what it feels like knowingly falling for propaganda. i don’t know what kind but I feel it in my bones

[unbrandedpam]

Do you ever just think.

[unclefungusthegoat]

Far Cry 5 Theory: Joseph Knowingly Manipulated His Family To Represent the Four Horsemen... And Knew That They Would Die For It

Hi all! This is LONG- 1977 words plus pictures, but I hope it’s worth the read! This is just my opinion! Also, I would just like to say now that I love Joseph, and I’m sorry.

Watching back the eulogies Joseph delivers after his sibling’s deaths has left me wondering…

How did Joseph know that their deaths were the seals being opened?

Because I can’t get the notion out of my head, that if Joseph indeed engineered the ‘Collapse’, as is one theory, or even if he simply had heard that it was coming, then surely he had an opportunity to orchestrate all of the symbolism that surrounded it?

For example, grooming himself and his siblings to represent the Four Horsemen?

In the Book of Joseph, he writes:

“The Voice did not show me exactly how it would all end.”

And, interestingly:

“I hope the Voice condemned each person to the ending he or she fears most, to know that it would take back what it had given without pity in a final multi-pronged curse. It was inspired by the cruelty of mankind, we who kill, lie, and steal what others hold most sacred. No one is innocent. Each person will experience the end they dread.

Joseph was never told that this event would take the form of the Horsemen from the Book of Revelation, but that is how it comes to pass.

Surely if Joseph believed that God gave him a revelation, then he would turn to the scripture named for such a prophecy to make sense of it? The scripture he would remember his Father ranting about when he was a child?

And he then made a conscious choice for that to be the narrative?

And I believe that he manipulated his siblings into fulfilling the roles of the Horsemen, knowing that it would eventually lead to their deaths, because this was the end he dreaded most.

JOSEPH - CONQUEST

Joseph took the role of Conquest- to conquer those who want to be saved. Conquest is sometimes interpreted as Christ himself, and it’s very likely that Joseph, the ignored middle child, forsaken by the world, would want to be seen as a Christ-like figure- noticed, listened to, worshipped, loved.

He craved what every cult leader desires.

Power over the weak, over people like Jacob, John and Faith.

I do not think he sought Jacob and John with the intention of making them his Horseman, but came to the decision upon the discovery of John’s career and subsequently, Jacob’s military file.

It was a coincidence that John, the lawyer, could be represented by Scales, of Famine or Justice. And Jacob with the Sword of War. But Joseph would see this as proof that his brothers were a vital part of God’s plan- and must then truly be the Horsemen.

It all fit the narrative he chose to believe.

And so he set out to shape his siblings into those roles.

The Herald’s symbols, that correspond with those of the Horsemen, are built  into the Project’s architecture, meaning that they have been part of the cult’s symbolism since long before the game’s events.

Surely Joseph must have asked them to adopt those symbols?

And then he used their assigned Horsemen not only as inspiration for their jobs within the Project, but also for how to manipulate them into performing those roles.

JACOB - WAR

Joseph took advantage of Jacob’s trauma he suffered during WAR, to shape him into the Red Horse.

Jacob knew of Joseph’s role for him and I think he’d known for a very long time- since being reunited with his brothers.

He talks to the Deputy directly in game of how his purpose is to act as Joseph’s sacrifice. He knows exactly how it will end for him, and his words- ‘you did everything he said you would’- just confirms this. Joseph has told him that the Lamb will open the seven seals.

Jacob was a hollow shell of who he once was in the homeless shelter. It was Joseph who nursed him back to health, feeding his broken mind with his propaganda, with the Horseman narrative. It can only be assumed that he convinced Jacob that his death, as well as John’s, would be necessary to wage war on a world of evil, manipulating Jacob’s mindset from the military that sacrifices must be made. Why else would Jacob allow Joseph to manipulate their youngest brother?

The weak ‘have their purpose’. So what if, after everything they went through, the Seeds think of themselves as weak, and their purpose is as Horsemen, as sacrifices to bring about Eden, where the strong will live on?

Jacob is the least religious of the brothers and so whether he truly believes himself a ‘Horseman’ is questionable. He simply views himself as a brother doing his duty, supporting Joseph in this new war against the corrupted world.

And if that means death, so be it.

JOHN - FAMINE

Joseph took advantage of John’s need for love- he starved him of it, created John’s own personal FAMINE, so that John would pursue the path that Joseph laid out for him- becoming the Black Horse.

Joseph directly warns John of his own impending death. There is no indication of when the voicemail was left, but I believe that it’s an old message from before the Reaping, and it was Joseph trying to prevent John from being killed at the incorrect moment. If he antagonised the Fall’s End residents too much, Joseph knows that they would take him out.

He cannot let that happen.

The Lamb must be the one to kill John.

But Joseph warns him of his death again at the river, when he tells John that the Deputy must atone - that the Lamb must stop opening the seals - or the gates will be shut to him. In other words, he must stop the Collapse or he will die. He knows John will not be able to achieve this, but insisting that John continue to interact with the Deputy, promising love and reward if they atone, just ensures that John will die by their hand.

However John, despite his obvious intelligence, seems unaware that he will not live to see Eden. His confident bravado, his triumphant swaggering, his fear of failing Joseph- this is not the behaviour of a man who knows he is doomed.

As he dies, he tells the Deputy that ‘We had a plan’. He says that everyone is ‘already safe’, no doubt including himself in that. Joseph, after all, had already saved him once. Why wouldn’t he save him again?

John is a coward, a man who never gets his hands dirty unless he can fully control the situation. A man so used to speaking empty words, that he probably promised to follow Joseph ‘unto death’ without truly considering what that meant, without believing that he would actually ask that of him. And Joseph could not be sure that John would see it through if he knew the truth. So instead he promises John what he is starved of, love, knowing that he will pursue it to his death.

FAITH - DEATH

Joseph threatened DEATH to Faith if she did not become the Pale Horse- the same fate that had befallen the first Faiths.

Why does the Project need a Faith? In the Book of Joseph, he never actually justifies why the “role” exists. The general feeling is that she is used by Joseph to replace his wife, or his daughter. But, here’s the thing:

Joseph says that the Voice asked him to recruit John and Jacob. But then he goes on to conscientiously seek out a Faith. To me, this reads as Joseph making a definitive decision to begin putting everything in place for his Collapse to be initiated-

By preparing a fourth Horseman.

Rachel presents two versions of her story and she tells them both as the truth.

The Faith who she speaks of first - the ‘saved’ Faith - believes she has been given a ‘purpose’, a new chance at life. She ‘no longer wished to die’. If Rachel knew of her newly found purpose as Horseman and sacrifice from the beginning, then this is contradictory. She would not have willingly agreed to the role if she knew it would end in death.

So I feel both of her stories are true. That she felt ‘saved’ when she joined the cult but was ultimately threatened into becoming Faith.

And I think Rachel only discovered her role as Horseman when it was too late for her to escape. She may have learned from messages left by the previous Faiths, those who had already been killed for refusing to be the Pale Horse. She may have only realised during the game’s events.

But she says to the Deputy ‘It was always going to end this way’. She knew it was an inevitability. And saying those words is a confirmation to herself that Joseph had always intended her to die for his vision.

SO WHY?

I believe that Joseph loves his brothers.

But he believes so fiercely in the Voice that he murdered his own daughter to prove his loyalty. It is not a stretch of the imagination that he would sacrifice his siblings too. They are tools by which God’s word will come to pass. They are his ultimate test of faith.

And yes, he cries over their deaths. But he never truly does anything to prevent them from being harmed. He encourages them to provoke and convert the Deputy, knowing that it is futile, since the dream of reaching Eden relies on those seals being opened.

Including the Fifth seal.

If his Collapse and his new Eden were to come to pass, then the Fifth seal must be broken.

He expected his brothers to swear loyalty unto death to him. He asked the same of Faith, when he made her take the leap.

The Fifth seal is of martyrs before the altar, ‘the souls of them that were slain for the word of God’.

The most faithful.

Who else would he have imagined these martyrs to be?

THE EULOGIES

Joseph may knowingly have sent his siblings to their deaths, but I don’t think he did so without emotion. Just look at the eulogies:

Just like so much of what John says in game, Joseph, in John’s eulogy, could be projecting his own sins onto the Deputy:

‘He was easily preyed upon… those responsible for his death will be punished’- Joseph could be acknowledging his own manipulation of John and pledging his intent to atone for that sin.

Greg Bryk has said that Joseph has empathy:

‘...he was a weapon without a purpose. A warrior without a legacy.... You are his legacy. All of you willing to protect our family from the Collapse… Jacob’s death will not be in vain.’ - Joseph acknowledges Jacob’s purpose to protect (by being a sacrifice), and that he gave him this purpose. Did he believe that an act of mercy, giving Jacob what he truly desired- peace in death?

And for Faith:

‘I put my faith inside her and she became angelic’ - Joseph is admitting to putting his ideology in her head, and that he views her as otherworldly, holy, made that way by his own hand.

SUMMARY

Joseph wanted to see the Day of Judgement incinerate the world that treated him so badly and what better way to enact his revenge than to literally become the Horseman who unleash horrors upon the earth?

But he doesn’t consider himself perfect. The eulogies prove it. He knows he is not innocent and will face judgement from God, along with the rest of mankind.

And so the loss of his brothers? 

They were the price he CHOSE to believe he must pay, the price the Voice demanded of him so that he, always overlooked, ignored, forsaken, may become a God in his new Eden.

Just as he wrote in his sacred book:

“Humanity is incredibly imaginative when it comes to self-destruction”.

And their deaths were, as he had foretold would come to all sinners:

The end that he dreaded most.

[barbecuedphoenix]

Which chick movie do you think the Eldarya guys would (really, really, in a embarrassing way) love?

This was a fun request. ^u^

It’s just a shame that Idon’t know that many chick-flicks, so I included a few male-POV romances toround this out. I tried my best. :(

So, assuming that the guyswere spirited away to the 20th - 21st century humanrealm, and grew up here watching our movies…

Nevra

Are you kidding? He knows all the chick-flicks! Growing up with akid sister, he used to watch at least one romance a week. (Frankly, this started out as a way to keep her out oftrouble on weekends, but it morphed into a routine once she entered her tweens.Now, they still meet up for movie marathons every few weeks. It’s theirguilty pleasure.)

He is definitely not ashamedof watching chick movies. Their stories generally have more character and heartthan, say, testosterone-pumped action flicks that all guys are ‘supposed’ towatch. Not to mention that women’s movies have a much higher proportion of eye candy because of the female lead’sscreen time…

But the biggest real life benefit?Knowing and liking chick-flicks is a boonwhen a guy is picking up a date. You all wonder why Nevra is so popular withwomen? Blame his sister for training him up on their entertainment.

What he enjoys:

Powerful and ambitious,but flawed heroes with initially zero chance of ‘getting the girl’… and gettheir hearts stomped on at least once. Their common Achilles heel:loneliness.    

Plucky, but innocentheroines who unknowingly hold the power to twist their man’s heart. And ifthey’re smoking-hot on the screen, he’s got another good reason to watch themovie.

Power-games, schemes,and corporate backstabbing shenanigans, where there is no clear dividebetween wrong and right.

Snappy dialogue witha cynical touch

(Crazily) balancing life’s priorities: first sacrificing love on the altar for ambition, power,reputation, etc. And then sacrificing more to get it back.

Redemption andforgiveness for the lead(s).

Personaltransformation in order to get ahead in life, and then again to win or save arelationship. (i.e. rags-to-riches Cinderella themes)

High-budget movieswith A-list actors; he likes qualityentertainment, thank you. He’ll also watch anything with Harrison Ford init.

Favorite ‘chick’ movies:

Sabrina (the1995 remake): This movie embodies everything Nevra loves in a romantic-comedy.He loves the story, the dialogue, and all the actors. But he reallyfeels for the hero Linus (quote from the movie: ‘the world’s only living heartdonor’), who starts off seducing the heroine to save his family’s businessinterests and his brother’s engagement, only to fall in love with her.Then gets the door slammed in his face once the love-of-his-life learns hisreasons and leaves the country. …What? He swears that has never happened to him before.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006): This is more of a laugh-fest for Nevrathan a romance. Keeping your head above water using your wits in NYC, whilescurrying around for an ultra-glamorous, fire-breathing boss with personalissues? Andy isn’t the typical heroine he likes to follow, but he sure wisheshe has an employee like her. But he is nota fire-breathing boss! What are you implying?  

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast(1991): You read that correctly. Whether animated, live-action, or on Broadway,this classic holds a firm place in Nevra’s heart. This is also the one moviehe’s embarrassed to love. He was skeptical first at watching aG-rated movie—Karenn had dragged him to see it when she was a kid–, but he wasthe one who teared up when the Beast released Belle, thus doominghimself to life as a pariah and monster. (His mental dialogue during thatscene: “Of course he had to let her go! He loved her!”. His mental dialoguelater when the lynch mob arrived: “You bastards! Leave him alone! Hasn’t hesuffered enough?!”) Nevra still gets a reaction when Karenn starts humming theBeast’s solo– ‘If I Can’t Love Her’– from the musical.  

Ezarel

Chick-flicks?Ugh! Spare him the torture! There must be other types of brainlessentertainment you can subject him to.

Ezarel won’t be caught deadwatching a romantic-comedy. Not unless it’s a very quirky, nontraditional,indie movie that’s more bittersweet than sentimental, makes fun of its owncharacters, and isn’t exclusively told from the female POV. That way, he’ll sayhe’s watching a screwball comedy instead. (So it has a little romance in it. What movie doesn’t, these days?)    

What he enjoys:

A cast ofcompletely-flawed, borderline obnoxious characters, who rarely get what theydeserve (good or bad).

An underdog leadingman (or woman), who’s the only smart one in the movie and frequently a lonelyoutcast. (He will not tolerate anair-headed protagonist.)

Fast-paced trollingdialogue, non-stop sarcastic humor, and screwball jokes. Pranks are a bonus.  

Realisticrelationships (i.e. with all the ugly baggage, awkwardness, and confusion thathappen in real life).

The constant struggleto overcome distance, misunderstanding, and social obstacles. (i.e. the ideathat people are completely unreliable, and that romance never makes sense.)

Unrequited love andbittersweet endings.  

Breaking movietraditions and the fourth wall. If a movie is serious from start-to-finish, andasks him to suspend disbelief for 90+ minutes, then Ez practically fallsasleep.  

Cult classics. A-Listblockbusters are pretentious, and plain boring.Give him weird animations, weirder stories, and bizarre camera angles anyday. 

Favorite Romantic Comedies:

Annie Hall(1977): Ezarel adores Woody Allen, and this movie is seen as ‘The Romance’ inhis collection. He can watch this film over and again just to catch allthe references and in-jokes. He also turns to this movie for general lessons onhow to cope with relationships. And you all wonder why he’s so salty.

What If (2013):One of the few modern romances with a happy ending that still has Ezarellaughing out of his seat. He knows the friend-zone very well, and how it’seasier (and more dignified) to stay there rather than to try to climb out. He certainly does not hope that what happens to Wallacehappens to him one day. He’ll gladly live life without falling for a friend andgetting punched down the stairs.  

Amelie (2001):He always turns beet-red when someone catches him watching this classic.Because he only watches it for the pranks and the deadpan narration, he swears!All right, so he feels a bit sorry for the quirky outcasts Amelie and Nino too,and he sort of likes the convoluted, pinball-machine way they finally find eachother. It doesn’t mean he enjoys thatlast, sugary scene of them laughing together like idiots on a bike. Tch. You never saw him watch this movie.

Valkyon

He’s quite neutral on romanticcomedies. To him, it’s just another movie genre that doesn’t fall on his listof favorites. Why spend 90+ minutes on a handful of little arguments that can technicallybe resolved in just 15 minutes? He doesn’t get it.

So the only romantic elementthat he can enjoy is if it’s tangled into a greater conflict that heunderstands. Like war, penance, and exile. That’s when it really hits home for him. (This also means that Valkyon is actually the weakest of the three guys for stories about‘true love’, so long as they’re packaged as epic sagas.)  

What he enjoys:

True heroes/heroines,who weather the curve-balls life throws at them without complaining, and try to hold onto their honor despite trying times.

Turbulent, large-scaleconflicts, but where there is still a clear divide between what’s wrong andright on the individual scale. (i.e. war dramas)

Crossing cultures andborders, and adapting to difficult new circumstances.

‘Pure love’ that is more seen and implied than spoken and argued about. And which enduresboth time and distance, despite great forces tearing the couple apart.

Dramatic reunions.

Tragic endings.  

Sweeping landscape shots and vistas. (Really, it’s the best way to immerse the audience in the story.)  

Historical accuracy.The story may be fictional, but it shouldn’t completely abandon reality; otherwise it’s pure fantasy orpropaganda. In the end, the most powerful stories come from real life.

Favorite (romantic) movies:

‘Atonement’ (2007):His favorite romance of all time, hands down. It’s also the most tragic film hehas ever seen. Don’t bother taking him to see the next installment in ‘FiftyShades’; this movie has inoculated Valkyon against all cheery/sexy romanticfilms. Most other romances are just so… pettycompared to what happened between Cecilia and Robbie. Other screen-writers shouldstart putting in more themes of loss in their plots.

‘Zero Motivation’(2014): The only real ‘chick flick’that Valkyon actually likes, because it’s such a spot-on portrayal of the screwylife of military recruits (like the ones he commands). The first time he sawit, he smiled knowingly to himself throughout the whole movie. Because he haspersonally seen all the pranks, the sassing to superior officers, and thebarracks feuds that erupt from boredom, stress, a general refusal to getalong, and well, exactly zero motivation. It’s even funnier to see it up on thesilver screen.    

‘The Last Samurai’(2003): This movie used to be number one on Valkyon’s list… until someone broke it tohim that real samurai are a lot less romantic and used guns by the time theywere disbanded. That’s why he’s embarrassed to admit that he still loves thisfilm. In fact, the ‘armoring’ scene between Capt. Algren and the samurai’swidow he fell for, prior to the suicidal battle, had him squeezing his date’shand very hard in the dark of the movie theater (result: they yelped loudenough to disturb the whole row). Even now, Valkyon firmly believes that thescreenwriter meant for the captain toremain in Japan and find her again after the war.    

Edit: Whoops. Did you just say chick movie? As in, one? Looks like I went overboard again. >_> Nuts.

[weabbynormalblog]

Dear world...

I know its terrible what we are all experiencing on various levels. If your ill or well, we are all feeling the oppression of this.

My heart goes out to everyone. Be kind. We are all still grappling with the reality of what this Pandemic means to us as a species. An "infected" person going around like they are not ill can potentially cause us to be isolated longer, more at risk of being infected and again extending the virus "cycle" well past it's incubation period of 2 weeks. Not all tests are accurate. The teenager that recently died from Covid 19 was tested 7 times before and died of complications of pneumonia. So don't believe everything you hear.

It seems to me that lots of Americans think of this as the Whu Chinese virus and even "bio warfare" because of how Trump talks about this issue,placing blame on others,down playing the risks, misinforming people and continuely lying about everthing.

During this crisis I'm pretty sure we don't need added racially charged radicals now do we? I'm so grateful to be Canadian.

What if what's going on is some plot to enslave humanity like David Icke says? Then what? We must all stand together against the corrupt corporate powers that be. I hope it isn't too late for the American people because of the freedoms lost due to Trumps tear down of all things Obama and now this illness, "imposed" by military faction or by natural selection (virus crossover). Either way the panicked results are not the kind of world I want to live in. Economics falling, share and barter for what you need.

I remember during the outbreak of HIV and Aids also led to some people being jailed for knowingly infecting others. That was a global thing too. How soon we forget. Here we are 40 years later almost same sort of health issues but way worst. Listen and wake up Humanity, we have to stop making the same mistakes. Clearly we are out of balanced with nature.

We can choose how we go on from here.

It's a normal reaction to feel depressed, angry, sad and scared. These are truly hard times for us and the planet. Those Italians and Israelies are doing a great job at staying positive. Was it too late for the population? Some say yes, some say no. I'm shooting for the middle ground. Ask yourself what good is the top 1% without us to crack the whip at? We can choose to be at peace with this or we can run around in circles till we collapse.

Moment by moment is the approach here, with a grain a of salt for all this information. Follow trusted resources.

In response to the fear of the unknown, I say prepare. Be sensible. What is a priority? Set some ground rules. This is for your health, your family's and neighbours. I say befriend your local fripery(second hand store), farmer, butcher, bread maker, and caregiver and ultimately be responsible for your own actions! Choose not to be fearful by planing your days, choose to take steps to feel more at peace. Watch Rusell Brand and get involved in an online movement. He made a lot of sense and picked my curiosity. Listen to music, write that novel or book and meditate. Break up your day with a walk outside, wave to those out and about so you don't feel too isolated.

Be responsible for all your actions, otherwise you're giving permission to the police/army to take any physical action on anyone who is deemed "possibly ill" or behaving in a "panicked" way. These memes and over flooding of "information" online only lead to more misinformation and propaganda. For our children and offsprings sake we also need to be responsible about our posts too. World I know your watching. Please don't incite more panic with continually posting about all this negative stuff. What you might think is informative or funny might not be to someone else. Due to the mass amount of information we are unable to clear all the bullshit and fear surrounding the actual truth. Thus Making the "Infected" sound more like a bad zombie movie as time goes on. Then "us" good healthy people will be also be at risk of additional isolation due to the continued incubation time of this virus because of a few bad apples.

Post responsibility. Be a good example by choosing to be calm, pro active and helpful.

This is a good time to spend with your cohabitants, play some board games, read, exercises, cook and bake. Enjoy the down time as best as we can. It's a good time to envision the type of World you want it to be and take step so it will be.

💕💕💕

[automatismoateo]

I am living proof that the grass is greener once you abandon your toxic family members. via /r/atheism

Submitted July 30, 2019 at 02:03AM by ifunnycadetbonespurs (Via reddit https://ift.tt/2GAEbDm) I am living proof that the grass is greener once you abandon your toxic family members.

Looking back on my life I was extremely lucky. I (31 M) was raised by a single mom who, although was religious, never set the stipulation of belief on me. She always left it up to me and made it clear that I had a choice (despite my current beliefs that we likely do not have a choice when it comes to beliefs). She couldn’t answer most of my questions but never discouraged me from asking them. Nonetheless I did end up believing heavily that Jesus Christ was my “personal Lord and Savior”. Whenever I was 16 years old I got into a bunch of trouble, mostly underage drinking, marijuana possession and then vehicular theft which landed me in jail. I ended up doing a little over year altogether before I reached 18 but while I was in there I read the Bible. I read it twice. It did in fact reinforce a lot of my beliefs and I remember feeling “a presence” so I went with it. Once I got out of jail I wanted, classically, to prove my religion to others. I wanted to save as many souls as I could. I started reading from all angles as I’ve always done. I’m not so much of a centrist politically, but I’m not ever going to fall into the trap of intellectually isolating myself. I read from all sides very regularly. So, naturally I wanted to read about external sources regarding the Bible. I wanted to read about the historicity of the Bible. As you can imagine that journey led me to the truth, which is that the book is proof of nothing; certainly nothing supernatural. I learned about all of these denominations, there’s different religions, even cults in which people clearly felt the same “presence”. The more and more I learned about history and science, the less I believed. I think having experiences with LSD and mushrooms really helped my critical thought process during this time. Then I went from one end to the other, wanting to prove as many Christians wrong as I could. These were dark times as I seem to have learned nothing from the first round of believing Christianity. I found myself evangelizing for atheism which sickened me. I came to understand that I can be a living example rather than trying to provide examples for everybody to not believe this or that. I kept doing me, kept researching, stopped putting my opinions out there; and it was great.

In the course of about a week I slowly came to the conclusion that I no longer would remain apathetic around false beliefs and fallacious claims. I vowed that I would now call them out, respectively. This began another dark time in my life. I found no matter how polite I was that the more I spread the truth and the value of critical thought, the more people thought I hated them and or their beliefs. I had relationships dropping left and right and I would be left asking myself afterwards, “Is this worth it?”. Before I get into the specific details on each family member, I want to clarify that Donald Trump aided this process greatly. I, in fact, had no clue that most of my family are scumbags. As you will see, it turns out many of them were and still are.

First it was my uncle. He is an evangelical Christian and a republican Trump supporter, something I never really noticed while I was a believer and even when I was de-converting back to atheism. One day my wife got a message from him on social media, it was a piece of garbage; Trumpian Christian evangelical fear mongering nationalist propaganda. Not having the social media app myself, I quickly downloaded it under the pretense that those were the rules now. We can share propaganda now with each other and our loved ones, great. So I started sending him Carlin quotes, Ricky Gervais quotes, small speeches by Sam Harris about Christianity and the like. As it should, this sparked many debates. I learned that my uncle thinks Hillary Clinton is knowingly working directly for Satan, liberals are trying to make everyone gay and/or trans, and 12-year-old rape victims should be forced to carry out the pregnancy and give birth to the rapist’s child. Honestly, he even alluded to his belief that the dad, the rapist, should be able to visit the child down the road. That’s what did it for me. Goodbye, Uncle. To be honest, that was when I deleted the app as well because his page was a cesspool that I became way too familiar with, and it caused me a great deal of worry while diminishing much of my already dwindling hope for future society.

Next it was my dad. This one was much shorter because my dad never gave a shit about me and stopped regularly reaching out when I was 6 so we never had a real relationship to terminate. It turned out to be a good thing though because he was insanely violent, alcoholic, and you guessed it—religious. Years after he left when I was 18, I was questioning my mom yet again as to why she would have babies with this obviously bad man and she admitted to me that he raped her and that’s how I was conceived. I had contact with my dad, however minimal, but that ended immediately upon learning this information. The sliver of a relationship we had was shit and toxic. The only real reason I continue to have any relationship with him is because of the societal view of “he’s still your dad.“ Still, it was my dad who used to abuse my mom in front of us regularly, he abused us kids as well and if you met my sister you would be able to see plainly how destructive that abuse turned out to be. My sister used to beat her dogs, and one time my dad came over and said, “what’s wrong with this dog?” because the dog was head shy when he went to pet it. I said to him, “She beat the dog so much that it’s head shy now.” He replied, “can she find me a girlfriend?” Think about how big of a piece of shit you must have to be to abuse your whole family, leave them and then come back years later to make jokes about enjoying how timid that abuse makes women. A separate time he came over when my kids were watching Mr. Rogers. He told me in front of my kids, “I never used to let you guys watch Mr. Rogers because I thought he was gay.” Again, he was a total piece of shit and still is today. Also I’d like to mention he’s an avid Trump supporter. Shocking. I cut him the fuck out and it’s been amazing. I made sure to mention to him and his new wife (who told us that she had been in abusive relationships before) that he broke his previous girlfriends ribs, raped my mom, and abused us all. She is still with him today.

Finally the most recent one which is my wife’s grandma. I know, I know, it sounds like it’s going to be cruel. Well the only cruel thing about this one was her. My 4 1/2-year-old daughter came to her house and was playing with dolls and Grandma asked her what she was doing. My daughter replied, “They are getting married.” But the problem was that they were two girl dolls. Then, apparently my grandma raised the issue and pushed back, telling my daughter that marriage is not for those couples. Thankfully my daughter also pushed back saying, “ I don't want to marry a boy, I want to marry a girl. My daddy showed me a video about it.” Now, I don’t think I need to say this but I’m not raising my daughter to believe that same sex marriage isn’t a reality. The fact is it exists, what’s more, I approve of it and when my daughter is an adult she can decide for herself. Whatever she decides has no significance to me or my love for her. As to the video, I don’t know specifically what she’s talking about but it’s likely that she may have been looking over my shoulder while I was watching wedding videos online of our many gay friends who have gotten married. Anyways, Grandma gets really mad and sends my wife and I a text message saying,

“I hope both of you are happy and proud of yourselves for working intensely to indoctrinate your precious, formerly innocent 4 1/2 year old daughter. How immature r you 2 feel u have to tell ___________ that you don't need to marry a man when u grow up and I quote her " I don't want 2 marry a boy; I want 2 marry a girl... my Daddy showed me a video about it". ( this came after she saw ___________ and my wedding photo.)

I felt sick to my stomach and it absolutely breaks my heart 2 see how you 2 r no different than parents who tell their kids 2 hate black people or " that brown church is bad they say bad things in there".

So immature, so hateful!!!

A little child can be taught to go w their parents 2 feed the needy or help / visit the elderly in a nursing home.. o, so many good honorable things.

Your beautiful children are being taught things that children r entirely too young 2 think about now. When they're older they can decide who they want 2 marry ... You two are so focused on telling her ( eventually ________) that gays r so wonderful and so mistreated... did u ever consider telling them that there r many other people who need love help encouragement and hugs... yes, hugs, ________.

What is your over zealous fascination with defending gays ? How about defending your Christian Grandma who has only ever tried to be kind loving 2 people.

I wanted planned 2 talk 2 You Both a week ago but you said you've been so stressed and _______ went 2 ER... yes, I prayed for him will continue to, whether I have your approval or not.

I won't be silent anymore as heartbreakingly sad this is for me 2 say, but if you want me to be a part of your family, you will have to immediately stop this hateful indoctrination, or I'll just bow out... with the greatest sadness I'll probably ever feel, except when ___________ died.

It hurts me so deeply that you are willing with strong determination, to indoctrinate your beautiful children with this Hateful diatribe!!! I can't hear it! the stress heartbreak is too much for me to take anymore.

Since my car's not working, I can't talk to you both, in person, unfortunately... hard when the kids are around... and they DEFINITELY DON'T NEED ANYMORE GRIEF PUT INTO THEIR INNOCENT SOULS!!

PLEASE DON'T TAKE AWAY ANY MORE OF THEIR INNOCENCE!

Your Heartbroken Grandma

( I know you won't chastise ___________ for the remark since she's only repeating what's she's been told).”

— END

So to clear up some things, I never said brown churches are bad, I never told my daughter to be gay, all I’ve done is explain to her that gay people exist and when you are older you get to choose whether or not you want to marry a boy, girl, or neither. Let’s say hypothetically I did try and indoctrinate her to be gay, that still wouldn’t equate me with white supremacists who are known for outright murder and violent racism. My response was brief, needless to say I ended that relationship as well. She isn’t my grandma to begin with, she’s my wife’s grandma. This one is probably the most satisfying toxic relationship to walk away from for me.

I’m writing just to explain to other people who may wonder if it’s worth it to cut out toxic, in this case religious, family members. It is worth it, I’ve never been happier. The lesson I have learned from all of this is; speak the truth and stand up to unfounded beliefs when you are around them. Don’t compromise that for anyone. There are some cases in which yes, maybe you have a 95-year-old grandma who is going to die any day now who believes gay people will burn forever in hell... do spare her. My wife’s grandma is 75 and sharp, she has no business threatening the very relationship with my daughter over her fear mongered beliefs that continue to poison her brain every night while watching Fox News.

EDIT: If you are a college student or are for one reason or another financially dependent on your parents, there’s no shame in waiting to “come out”. If you’re not being abused you should likely avoid contact and become financially independent before going all fallacy vigilante during thanksgiving.