#anti-Christian bigotry

[wildfeather5002]

Every time a religious conservative says "Preaching about eternal damnation isn't inherently bad, it's only harmful when christians fail to relay the message in a godly way!" I lose a brain cell.

It's like saying eating radioactive waste isn't inherently bad for your health, it's just the way you consume it that's harmful.

You cannot tell someone they're going to suffer in Hell for all eternity if they don't obey a certain religion in a non manipulative way, just like you cannot tell someone they deserve to get their teeth kicked without being a bully.

[contemplatingoutlander]

As The New Republic reports, “Alito is complaining that people who oppose homosexuality were being unfairly branded as bigots, despite that being a dictionary definition of bigotry.” On Tuesday, agreeing the Court should not take a case, Alito wrote he is “concerned” that a lower court’s reasoning “may spread.” He notes that the lower court “reasoned that a person who still holds traditional religious views on questions of sexual morality is presumptively unfit to serve on a jury in a case involving a party who is a lesbian.” In that case, several jurors who acknowledged they held anti-LGBTQ views were released from serving on the trial. “That holding exemplifies the danger that I anticipated in 'Obergefell v. Hodges' … namely, that Americans who do not hide their adherence to traditional religious beliefs about homosexual conduct will be ‘labeled as bigots and treated as such’ by the government.'” Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern writes, “Alito suggests that a trial court violates the free exercise and equal protection clauses when it allows an attorney who represents a gay client to strike potential jurors because they express overt bigotry against gay people.” [...] Attorney Max Kennerly posits, “If we followed Alito’s reasoning that religious beliefs can never serve as a basis to strike a juror, we’d instantly run into a collision with jurors who believe, on religious grounds, the death penalty is wrong. Any guesses how Alito would rule on that? Yeah, exactly.”

Why the condemnation of homosexual behavior by some (NOT all) religious conservatives might legitimately raise questions of bigotry

It seems to me that Alito is acting as if "traditional religious views" about homosexuality are uniform.

Alito doesn't seem to acknowledge (or perhaps is not fully aware) that there are some interpretations of scripture that do not support the condemnation of homosexual behavior or even of same-sex unions. In fact there are some mainstream Christian denominations that allow for blessings of same-sex couples (including recently the very "traditional" Roman Catholic Church). Furthermore, Reconstructionist, Reform and Conservative Jewish sects also allow the blessing of same-sex unions.

Given all of the above, one might reasonably wonder why some (not all) conservative Christians or Jews seem to prefer to accept anti-LGBTQ+ translations/ interpretations of scripture, when other translations/ interpretations that are more sympathetic to homosexual behavior are available.

Of course the primary group of religious people in the U.S. that condemns homosexual behavior consists of some (not all) right-wing "Christians" from various denominations. But one also might wonder why these same right-wing "Christians" DON'T seem to want to pass laws banning divorce, adultery, usury, lying, etc., but they DO want to pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislation? After all, behaviors like divorce, adultery, usury, and lying are clearly condemned in various parts of the Bible.

One might also ask, why do some of these same right-wing "Christians" who think it is okay to condemn the LGBTQ+ community, not also condemn a prominent politician like Trump, who has been divorced multiple times, committed adultery multiple times, and who lies almost every time he opens his mouth?

It is the picking and choosing of what to condemn, and the hyperfocus on using the law to allow those with certain "religious views" to deny the rights of the LGBTQ+ community (while not choosing to deny the rights of other kinds of so-called "sinners"--NOT that I support that either) that suggests it might be legitimate to question whether some on the religious right use religion as an excuse to hold bigoted beliefs about and/or to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.

[edited]

[the-mountain-flower]

Revisited a story that was very important to me as a child, and learned about the author being very vocal about the harm gender roles & stereotypes cause. I thought "oh that's great!" but was afraid. What if she only applied that logic to cis ppl?

I did some searching, and found out that not only does she support trans ppl, but has also spoken multiple times about how important it is to be able to see protagonists outside of the perceived norm. A.K.A., she doesn't see my very existence as wrong.

I let out a deep sigh of relief. I could continue to enjoy this thing that had been so important to me growing up.

But this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Too often I discover a new artist, or even be unsure of one I've enjoyed the work of for a long time up to the present; and I have to desperately search to know if I can enjoy their work. Either I am extremely relieved, or absolutely crushed.

This shouldn't be necessary. I shouldn't be feeling this deep fear that something so important to me, was created by someone who despises my very existence. That I, as a disabled queer femme ex-mormon Pagan witch who was raised like a girl, will be shoved off the emotional cliff of "this person you looked up to hates you for the same reason all bigots do".

I was so terrified that something that meant so much to me as a kid could've shattered me emotionally. Simply because I didn't know if the person who made it hates people like me.

We shouldn't have to live like this.

[bluemoontarot]

I want a law in the US that bans religion in law making.

If you're debating a law...you cannot use religion to justify your side of the debate. If you do, your vote is invalid. It's gotten to that point.

Religion does not belong in discussion about medical practice and facts.

I am so tired of seeing senators respond to abortion or LGBT laws with a fucking Bible quote.

Idc how devout you are that is your business, but the second you start trying to justify laws that hurt ppl with your faith I will no longer respect it.

Your faith has no place in my body.

Your faith has no place in my love life.

Your faith cannot determine who gets and who does not get rights.

Ban. Religion. In. Lawmaking.

[demonic-ninja-cat]

call me crazy or a bigot, but I think that the phrases/ideas "islamophobia is bad, and it's wrong and fucked-up for people to attack muslims, and pull off their headscarves, and other forms of bigotry against them, and plenty of muslims are perfectly nice normal people who aren't bigots" AND "islam can be toxic for some people, it can and has been used to hurt some people, it can have the same sorts of toxic bigotry found in christianity, and ex-muslims are valid to leave the religion and critique it" can and should co-exist!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Within the patriarchal, Christian, white supremacist structure that has perennially held power in the United States since colonial times, the issues that hold the highest sway among dominant group members in the 2024 election – even more than “it’s the economy stupid” – center on the so-called “cultural war” issues of God, Gays, Gates, and Guns (all connected to fears of invasion). [...] Male dominance is maintained by its relative invisibility (though for many of us, it stands as blatantly obvious), and with this relative invisibility, privilege and power escape analysis, scrutiny, interrogation, and confrontation by many. Cisgender, heterosexual, Christian, white male dominance is perceived as unremarkable or “normal,” and when anyone poses a challenge or attempts to reveal its true impact and significance, those in the dominant group brand them as “subversive” or even “accuse” them of “reverse discrimination.” White cisgender heterosexual Christians are claiming they are the objects of oppression, an argument used by members of the dominant class to reverse civil rights gains from past decades, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in educational and business institutions.

Dr. Warren J. Blumenfield for LGBTQ Nation on Donald Trump using the 4Gs strategy to fuel right-wing culture war panic (04.28.2024).

Donald Trump is fueling a right-wing culture war using the 4Gs to get him back into the White House by stoking panic about God, Gays, Gates, and Guns.

God: Christians as “Innocent” and “Pure”

The increasing numbers of school districts clamping down on students’ access to books and other resources on sexuality, gender identity, race, and the “hard” history of the United States conforms directly with major foundational principles of patriarchal Christian white supremacy. [...]

Gays (Standing for all LGBTQ+ Folks)

What is patriarchy?

According to social scientist, Allan Johnson, “a society is patriarchal to the degree that it is male-dominated, male-identified, and male-centered. It also involves as one of its key aspects the oppression of women. Patriarchy is male-dominated in that positions of authority – political, economic, legal, religious, educational, military, domestic – are generally reserved for men.” Cisgender, white, heterosexual, Christian males grow up in the United States with the understanding – consciously or not – that they hold the power and that they are entitled to maintain and restrict this power from others. Atop this hierarchy we find the so-called “Alpha” male: the assumed “leader of the pack,” the dominant male, the independent self-sustaining male. Below the Alpha sits the “Beta” male, seen as weaker in courage and independence, unremarkable, and careful to avoid risk and confrontation. Beta males lack the physical presence, charisma, and confidence of the Alpha male. They are seen as the followers. “Omega” males are often loners who do not fit into the Alpha/Beta typology. They may be more introverted, shy, or socially uncomfortable. [...]

Gates: Closed to Immigrants

From the time he first descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower to announce his presidential run in 2015, Donald Trump continually demeaned, stereotyped, and scapegoated immigrants, especially Muslims and Latinx people. He initially stated: “The US has become a dumping ground for everyone else’s problems. [Mexico is] sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and they’re rapists.” Not soon after his election, Trump ordered children of undocumented immigrants to be taken from their parents and placed into dehumanizing and horrifying cages. [...]

Guns

I understand why many people oppose and resist common sense firearms regulations. Regulations on firearms challenge the hegemonic promises of a patriarchal system based on notions of Alpha male hypermasculinity with the qualities taken to the extreme of control, domination over others and the environment, competitiveness, autonomy, rugged individualism, strength, toughness, forcefulness, and decisiveness, and, of course, never having to ask for help or assistance.

[heyftinally]

THINGS THAT SHOULDN'T NEED TO BE SAID BUT APPARENTLY DO

This organization CLAIMS to donate christmas boxes to poor children.

What they ACTUALLY do is, as usual, shove christianity down the throats of needy children who are just hoping christmas doesn't suck this year.

ON TOP OF THAT their own website proudly declares them as homophobic, transphobic, and as holding the christofascist idea that christianity is better than every other religion.

CHRISTIANS - THIS IS WHY NOBODY LIKES YOU.

If you want people to stop hating you, stop being a bunch of manipulative, disrespectful, bigoted piles of shit.

You "god" would be fucking embarrassed by this bullshit, and I can't wait to see you all in hell - too bad I'll be the only one on the throne.

[calvincell]

I genuinely think it’s absolutely vile how antichoice conservatives have pushed the deluded notion that being pregnant is some simple feat in order to frame abortion as just some sick hobby liberals do for fun. Pregnancy is an absolutely taxing ordeal even with zero complications. It comes with months of insane hormone alterations, perpetual bouts of nausea & outright vomiting, significant fatigue, a complete restructuring of one’s body and all of that is before even getting to the act of birth which throughout the entirety of human history has been explicitly understood as amongst the most painful natural physical events a human can experience/endure such that killing the pain chemically is almost a default requirement during it. Yet republicans really want to pretend that there are people who endure such an intense emotional & physical process, a process that a medically compromised patient could potentially die from (and explicitly have died from considering dying during childbirth is an outcome that still happens in the modern world), all so they can supposedly get of on “killing infants”. That’s without even going into how an abortion isn’t some fun activity. It is a medical procedure at the end of the day which is also insanely invasive and financially taxing. Ignoring that to frame abortion as something people do on a lark is like claiming that there’s an epidemic of people deliberately shattering the bones of their arm just so they get to enjoy the experience of getting it surgically repaired. It’s absolute nonsense.

The right wing narrative that abortion advocates want to “commit infanticide/post-birth abortion” is one that is also extremely harmful and dangerous & doesn’t get pushed back on nearly enough and requires erasing the very concept of miscarriages & birth defects to demonize the abortion process. There is literally no end to the stories of infants who are born and yet due to a multitude of possible defects may only live for a few hours to days of abject pain & suffering before dying. Choosing to spare an infant from such a fate before or after birth isn’t something people treat lightly. The parents and families who make that decision don’t do it on a whim because it’s a heavily traumatizing situation to live through. But of course conservatives have to ignore those explicit medical realities because they get in the way of their bs conspiratorial narratives of patients, nurses & doctors all sitting around cackling evily at ultrasounds and/or newborns in the neonatal ward eager to slaughter them for entertainment or ritual sacrifices I guess; because of course antichoice conservatives don’t actually have a reasoned & rational argument for what they believe abortion seekers & medical providers gain from abortion access outside the already established & frequently expressed facts that: people get to choose if and/or when they want to be parents with the resources & stability to support a child, avoid severe (potentially fatal) medical issues during pregnancy or birth for the patient & fetus alike, and erase the permanent traumatic consequences of sexual assault.

[bogunicorn]

i'm not a world politics expert by any means but it kinda feels like if you know that hamas' violence against civilians is unacceptable and horrific and needs to be stopped, it should be a quick mental jump from that to admitting that israel "fighting back" by doing worse to palestinian civilians is also unacceptable and horrific and needs to be stopped.

genocide is always wrong, violence against civilians is always wrong. but doing this "israel is fighting back against hamas, that's why it's okay that they're cracking down on gaza" song and dance is a disgusting reaction. if you can understand that american imperialism is wrong and often nurtures the very terrorists the US was supposedly there to stop by visiting horrors upon the civilians of the countries it invades and radicalizing them, then you also fundamentally understand why israel is responsible for hamas.

no reblogs and shit on this one, i'm not opening the floor for debate on whether or not it's proportional "retribution" to commit genocide, you can just block me. i have no delusions that this will meaningfully help anyone or anything, i just won't be considered a "safe" person for zionists.

[helpmeimblorboing]

Christian bigots are so funny, like -

There are NINETY BILLION LIGHT YEARS in the knowable universe.

That universe houses TRILLIONS of galaxies, each GALAXY houses BILLIONS of star systems.

Each one of THOSE houses dozens of planets, a habitable planet capable of housing thousands of cities. Each one of THOSE capable of housing millions of people

And that’s the knowable universe. We don’t really know how far the universal filament stretches

And you think a being that can hypothetically preside over ALL of that gives one single solitary shit about ONE person’s sexuality ? Or gender ? Or race ? Or anything ?

Be so for fucking real rn

[number1spongebobfan]

This is just a reminder that, while I am Catholic, I will never condemn anyone in the LGBTQ community. Or anyone who is not a virgin.

I will never condemn Atheists, Protestants, Jewish, Muslims, or people of any other religions.

I will never condemn people who get body modifications.

I will never condemn people who swear.

I will never condemn people who wear revealing clothing.

It is none of my business. What right do I have to judge, when I am a sinner myself? I strive to be on the path to sainthood, and it's hard, but I'm working on it.

Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

As long as you follow my blog rules, anyone of any background or lifestyle can interact with me. God wants us to love, and to see others in his image.

[wildfeather5002]

Hey ex-religious people of Tumblr!

What do you think, should the concept of eternal damnation be abolished entirely from all religions? If yes, how should it happen?

Religious people can weigh in as well, conservatives & assholes DNI!

[dirt-apple-productions]

For certain, there exist Christians who are hateful people, but I don’t think non-Christians will ever understand how offensive it is to a Christian to be falsely accused of being hateful. Like, you may not take it seriously when you falsely accuse a Christian of being a bigot, because you likely use the word “bigot” to mean “heretic to my very specific belief system about what makes a good person,” but we see it as a much bigger deal than that.

Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. (1 John 3:15)

You have heard that it was said to those [d]of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother [e]without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’[f] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, [g]‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of [h]hell fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)

So using “hatred,” which is tantamount to murder, to mean “you disapprove of certain freewill actions I have chosen to take” sounds to a well-meaning Christian like you’re accusing them of wanting you dead. Communication is a two-way street, and how a sentence is received matters just as much as how it was intended.

Oh, and to the Christians who are genuinely hateful toward anyone and won’t take correction? Enjoy that label of murderer. :)

[goldenthyme]

As someone from a non-Christian religious background, I've been growing more and more annoyed at certain analyses that look at media written with obviously Christian themes and mostly only comment from the perspective of a non-religious/atheist person who grew up surrounded by Christianity. And not as a person who has unlearned a lot of the propaganda and bigotry surrounding other religions that are not Christian.

You have to unlearn Christian supersessionism. You have to unlearn the idea that all religions work like Christianity. You have to and need to unlearn Christian supremacy. Especially as a non-religious or agnostic or atheist person, but even and especially as a Christian who identifies as progressive.

[its-lick-the-lollipop]

Hello tumblr! It’s been a while. I have another post in drafts that I will be publishing later! But let’s talk about @thewiletouhoubro aka @raymoo2hu on twitter!

Now we were discussing AI art and I don’t actually defend it. But I said Marshie’s art is probably less likely going to be used for machine learning and teasingly called it “special”

What followed was me being called an extremely offensive term

"Degenerate" is a buzzword used by neo-Nazis and the alt-right to refer to all kinds of people that they consider to be sexually or otherwise immoral or deviant.

That includes a lot of different kinds of people: sex workers, women who have sex outside of marriage, people in interracial relationships, drug users, anyone with an STD, anyone with any sort of paraphilia fetish or kink, Jewish people, political progressives, and of course, all LGBTQ+ individuals.

It's extremely sexist, homophobic and bigoted.

"Degenerate" is also a eugenics term. It expresses an opinion that someone is subhuman, literally less evolved than normal humans, in a biological sense. It's an insult to someone's DNA.

It's the kind of word that there's never really a very good reason for using to refer to anyone. Everyone human is actually human, not literally subhuman, no matter how much we might dislike them.

Also they were told to do this as seen via curiouscat.

I didn’t send the ask but why would I deny that you used right wing buzzwords on a queer person?

Or that you are ableist?

Remember that it’s autistic and disabled people who are called a freak the most?

[tomorrowusa]

Uganda’s parliament has just passed an anti-LGBTQ law which would make Russia look like a haven of tolerance.

You could get ten years in prison just for being LGBTQ+. Friends and family are obliged to report those they suspect of being LGBTQ+.

This is a criminalization of identity.

Uganda’s authoritarian President Yoweri Museveni has been in office since January of 1986. I think Halley’s Comet in the inner Solar System early that year and is now just beginning to head back again after reaching aphelion. You know somebody has been in office way too long if their term can be measured by half an orbit of our most famous comet.

Uganda has been targeted by homophobic foreign fundamentalist Christians, especially from the US, who see Africa as fertile ground for spreading anti-LGBTQ hatred.

How Uganda was seduced by anti-gay conservative evangelicals

An American named Scott Lively who the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as the co-founder of “the virulently anti-gay Watchmen on the Walls” has been particularly active in promoting bigotry in Uganda.

Of course the influence of US homophobes is no excuse for the Ugandan government’s steady lurch to intolerance. Anti-gay laws were originally put on the books in Africa by colonial powers. The process of decolonization will never be complete as long as the Ugandan government persecutes its citizens for being who they are. And as the late Pierre Elliot Trudeau.told Canadians in the 1960s, the government has no business in the nation’s bedrooms.

I hope the US government will make clear to the government of Uganda that  far right Christian fundamentalists like Scott Lively do not speak for the majority of Americans.

President Biden should make a point by appointing an LGBTQ ambassador to Uganda. Personally, I’d like to see Ambassador Ru Paul.