#identifying false prophets

[mindfulldsliving]

Understanding 3 Nephi 14:15-20: A Warning to Beware of False Prophets

Understanding the warning against false prophets in 3 Nephi 14:15-20 can be like standing on the edge of a dense forest, cautious of wolves in sheep's clothing.

Beware of False Prophets: Identifying and Responding to Deception in Faith In 3 Nephi 14:15, we encounter a powerful warning that resonates through time: “Beware of false prophets.” These words aren’t just a cautionary note; they’re a critical reminder of the need for discernment. False prophets often appear as benign or even benevolent figures, cloaked in the guise of truth. But beneath the…

[lususnatura]

🎤 🎤 🎤

a song that i associate with my muse meme!

AHH, hey, ramone!! thank you for sending in this prompt :D since you sent in three of the mic's, i shall now be treating you to three songs that make me think of blamore when i hear them / that i associate with it. an explanation of why i chose them will be in the tags <3

hozier - who we are.

icehouse - crazy.

depeche mode - personal jesus.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Ye Shall Know Them By Their Fruits

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? — Matthew 7:16 | Cambridge Paragraph Bible (CAMB) The Cambridge Paragraph Bible, by Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose, 1813-1891. Published by Cambridge University Press. Cross References: 1 Samuel 24:13; Proverbs 20:11; Matthew 7:20; Matthew 12:33; Luke 6:43-44; Galatians 5:22

[nerdygaymormon]

I liked your post with all the scriptures showing that we are to love trans people. What are your thoughts about the changes made to the church handbook?

The LDS Church used to ban gay students from attending BYU. The church used to put a permanent notation on gay member's records and forbid them from having callings that work with children or youth. The church used to promote conversion therapy even when every major medical and mental health organization denounced such practices. The church forbade the children of gay couples from getting baptized.

Eventually the church reversed all these positions.

I used to speak up behind closed doors for queer youth to get to participate, it's been many years since my local leaders tried to do something like forbid a lesbian from attending girls camp or want her to be isolated at night in a cabin separated from the rest of the young women.

It is sad to me to see these same mistakes being implemented against trans/nb/genderfluid/gender nonconforming/intersex members.

Gay people were not predators, we were not the danger they imagined us to be. The same is true for those whose gender doesn't conform to the imagined binary.

How does preventing an 8-year-old child from getting baptized fit with Jesus' admonition to "suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me"?

How does limiting someone from gender-specific classes and callings fit with the apostle Paul's teaching that in Christ we are one, that "there is neither male nor female"?

Why is forbidding a trans youth from spending the night at FSY acceptable? It will be so stigmatizing.

We're really going to police the restrooms? Even me, an openly gay man, I am allowed to use the facilities with men even though I might be attracted to some of them.

This ban on "social transitioning" (meaning name/pronouns/grooming/clothing) continues the false notion that appearance equals worthiness and is in direct contradiction to God telling the prophet Samuel that "the Lord looketh on the heart." Social norms are not eternal norms and shouldn't determine whether an individual can receive gospel ordinances.

The top LDS leaders prefer the term "same sex attraction" instead of gay, lesbian and bisexual, and I think a similar thing is now happening as the Handbook language has shifted from "transgender individuals" to "individuals who identify as transgender" and "individuals who transition away from their biological sex."

None of these policies are required by doctrine, evidence for this is these restrictions didn't exist 5 years ago or even last week.

It's depressing the church doesn't remember the lessons from its treatment of gay people as it replicates similar policies.

It was already hard to be a gender diverse member of the LDS Church, and it just got more difficult. Everyone should have access to a spiritual home and church community if they want it.

While I can't control what the LDS Church does, I want you to know I embrace and support you. I wish I could sit on the pew with all of you and I wish I had a table large enough to break bread with all of you.

[armyflags]

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎TRANS FALSE PROPHET

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎‎‎When one identifies as being a False Prophet . ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎‎‎For whatever specified / unspecified reasons .

‎

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎‎‎If already coined consider as an alt . Designed by me . ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Unsure if person who req wanted to be @ or kepts anon . ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‎‎‎No DNI . Just be nice / civil about it . Free for anyone .

[eroguron0nsense]

I've written before about how Ace's story has so many goddamn biblical allusions/parallels with the New Testament (conceived of by a miracle, survived a state-sanctioned mass infanticide/femicide, handed over for execution by a traitor, biblical resurrection kinda fulfilled through Luffy and Sabo inheriting his will) that I sometimes wonder if it's kind of intentional. That being said, if Ace is a Christ figure, he's a very interesting take on one: he's not dying voluntarily, but because the Navy and the World Government are hoping to set an example, reaffirm their power, and (theoretically, although this is a far less convincing motivation than punitive cruelty for the sake of it) discourage people from participating in the search for Roger's legacy and "end the great pirate era". He's not perfectly wise or selfless or divinely blessed by his parentage, nor does he ever identify with his semi-divine father; he's a twenty-year-old who rejects Roger and spends his whole life trying to find some agency and freedom from that legacy, living with the perpetual excruciating terror of being discovered until it finally happens and he's doomed both by the narrative and by the terrible destiny of being born a D and Roger's child. His execution isn't framed as a predestined moment of divine sacrifice and absolution, it's a frantic nightmare that ends in tragedy, surrounded by constant reminders of the hollow, twisted "justice" and false promises of a new dawn espoused by the oppressor. And when he does end up sacrificing himself, he doesn't do it for a greater purpose, or for the good of mankind: he dies fighting for himself and his family, he dies turning around to confront the tormentors who have taken his and his loved one's lives and freedom and mocked their sacrifice, and, most importantly, he dies for Luffy. He dies in defiance of these grand narratives ascribed to him: not to save the world or bring about a new era but in the name of defending the people he loves and finds his purpose in loving.

TLDR: Oda’s take on the Christ Figure isn’t a prophet or all-knowing son of God, but a young person born with a terrible fate, who tries to live and find love in his friends and brothers and family only to have it stolen from him by the powers that be for a cruel birthright he had no say in, whose execution and its symbolic purposes are forced on him from outside. He's a child who deserves the world and is killed for the "sins" of others, but instead of dying on the cross, instead of being sacrificed on the altar of state control for an ostensible end to an era, he manages to die fighting on his own terms for something that truly matters to him, and the ripple effects caused by his death/sacrifice are slated to eventually bring about the downfall of the system that murdered him.

[thewordfortheday]

Jesus said, "By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:16 NIV) The Saviour knew that many false prophets and teachers would try to deceive us, and that's why He warned us to put people to the test by examining their actions. He told us not to just pay attention to their words, but to look at how they live. He said: "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit." (Matthew 7:15-16 ) Jesus goes on to say: "Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to Me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey My Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

No matter how good or convincing someone sounds, if he is bearing bad fruit, his message should be rejected. Godly teachers will display good “fruit”.

While we can never know anyone else’s heart, we can make wise assessments by observing the fruit of their lives. . We can definitely identify those whose hearts have been redeemed, by the fruit we see in their lives.

[rabidbatboy]

FALSE PROPHET ARCHETROPE ; an alterhuman term for those who identify as the archetype or character trope of a false prophet

🦇 ——— COINED BY ME

[ PT / false prophet archetrope ; an alterhuman term for those who identify as the archetype or character trope of a false prophet

coined by me / END PT ]

[warriorsofgodchannel]

Beware of False Prophets

In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus warns us about false prophets who come in sheep's clothing but are inwardly ravenous wolves. He teaches that we will know them by their fruits—whether their actions align with God's truth or lead people astray. This passage reminds us to be discerning and vigilant in our faith.

If you want to learn more about identifying and guarding against false teachings, watch the video and seek God’s wisdom in truth.

Video

[clocktowerechos]

Factions of the Tyranid Swarms of the Brightest Night AU

"... One would be forgiven for being lulled into a false sense of hope that such foes are merely mindless, ravenous beasts. As the idea they may be something more organized and coordinated is too terrifying to consider..." ~ Unknown Ordo Xenos Inquisitor after first contact report with the Tyranids.

The all-consuming Hive Fleets have made landfall far earlier and with much greater force than in canon. They are not merely vanguards or scouting tendrils, but a vast migration of the Hive Mind's many limbs to sate its voracious apatite. Nobody foresaw their arrival, not the Eldar Farseers, not the Alliance Augurs, not Chaos Prophets, not the Necron and their esoteric, celestial calculus. The Hive Fleets arrived and since then, every angle of the Milky Way has become a vector for their entrance.

It was the Tau who first discovered the division of Swarms within Hive Fleets. Prior to joining the Alliance, they had worked with a team of Eldar on an entirely separate diplomatic research mission before accidently discovering the psycho-pheromonal signals that identify the types of Swarms. From it, scholars across the Alliance have theorized that the Tyranids have formed a super organism-like empire, scouring worlds and "farming" biomass to aid in their endless hunger. It is believed that at the conclusion of their feasting, when the last mortal has been consumed, they will devour their "empire" before moving on to the next, leaving only an empty galaxy and dead space.

Hive Fleets have been identified to possess specialized swarms, each fulfilling a singular role.

Devouring Swarms

They are the frontline of the Hive Mind, insatiable and voracious, they blot out stars with their mass and shower worlds with spores and combat forms. They are what the Tyranids are in canon.

Harvesting Swarms

What might be considered the "civilian economy" of the Tyranids, instead of simply devouring everything in a system, will instead strip all but one planet of life and biomass before dumping it on a singular planet, seeding it with abundant life. They "harvest" at regular intervals, but always leave enough for life to regrow, however twisted or terrified they are.

Survivors rescued from these Harvest or Swarm Worlds are forever scarred with horrific memories of their worlds being converted into bio-mechanical and organic factory farms. Where they were herded by a primordial energy like microbial cattle, and where the sound of chittering teeth and rending claws was always in the back of their minds.

Sprawling Swarms

Fulfilling a sort of logistical or transport role, Sprawling Swarms serve to carry biomass from Harvesting Swarms to Devouring Swarms, ensuring a plentiful stockpile of biomass for new monsters to be birthed from. Since their discovery, it has become a priority for many factions to target these swarms in the hopes of slowing the advance of Devouring Swarms, leading to Sprawling Swarms having the most formidable voidborn organisms of any swarm.

So critical are these Swarm fleets that any naval captain who provide evidence of its destruction can be guaranteed a promotion. And any penitent renegade who provides Alliance authorities with similar proof may be granted forgiveness and redemption should they be willing to join the Imperium and its allies.

Genestealer Cults & Genebloods

The infiltrating vanguard of the Hive Fleets are either formed from Genestealer Patriarchs who gestate in pools of Devouring Swarms, or from the broken individuals on Swarm Worlds. Their minds shattered and twisted by the Hive Mind's suffocating power, they believe the Tyranids to be messengers of a divine truth or star-born saviors. Given over to the profane worship of the Hive Mind, they sometimes form a "clergy" on Swarm Worlds that preach ascension into the light as the Harvesting Swarms come to reap their bounties.

No matter their origin, both Patriarchs and "Ascensionists" are delivered to unvigilant worlds to form cults and secret societies. Sowing the seeds of chaos and unrest with plans generations in the making before plunging the world into anarchy at the eve of the Hive Fleet's arrival. Yet, some manage to break free from the suffocating psychic will of the Hive Mind. Many go mad from the realization of what they are or what they have done, seeing their monstrous kin and children for what they truly are, and remove themselves entirely. However, some may seek to exact vengeance upon the Hive Mind, becoming Unbound Genebloods. Prized for their innate understanding of the Tyranid Hive Mind and ability to detect lurking organisms that stalk the shadows, they are often recruited by the Inquisition to root out their kin.

Just as pyskers must constantly ward off the daemonic whispers in their minds, Genebloods must constantly stave off the predations of the Hive Mind that seeks to enslave them again.

[girlactionfigure]

🇮🇱FRIDAY - events from Israel  

✡️Erev Shabbat (before Shabbat) - Parshat (Torah portion) Ki Teitzei - Deuteronomy 21:10 - Seventy-four of the Torah’s 613 commandments (mitzvot) are in this portion. These include: the laws of the beautiful captive, the inheritance rights of the firstborn, the wayward and rebellious son, burial and dignity of the dead, returning a lost object, sending away the mother bird before taking her young, the duty to erect a safety fence around the roof of one’s home, and the various forms of forbidden plant and animal hybrids.

🔹WAR HINTS.. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar : Yesterday, Hezbollah asked the residents of villages in the south to evacuate their homes for fear of extensive security operations by Israel.

▪️FAKE NEWS - IDF CHIEF OF STAFF TO RETIRE.. fake news going around that the IDF chief announced his retirement.  IDF spox: it’s fake news.

▪️UPDATE CAR BOMB (likely criminal) - RAMLA.. car explodes in front of a store, which catches fire. Update: 4 dead, 8 seriously injured.

▪️TWO TRY TO ENTER GAZA?  IDF surveillance detected two Israeli citizens crossing through a gate in the fence into the area of ​​the barrier between Israel and the Gaza Strip. An IDF force was dispatched to the scene, arrested the citizens and transferred them to the police.

▪️POLICE RAID - LOD.. after the car bomb in Ramla yesterday, a special extensive operation of the central district of the police in the early hours of the morning, as part of which hundreds of police officers, including special units, carried out an extensive raid on the compounds of crime families in the Juarish neighborhood in Ramla and in the city of Lod.  Many arrests, weapons seized.

▪️HEZBOLLAH CLAIMS.. from their (thwarted) attack: The Lebanese Almiadin (identified with the Iranian resistance axis) from "European sources":  In the response action to the assassination of Hezbollah Chief of Staff Fuad Shakar, 22 Israeli soldiers from Unit 8200 were killed and 74 were wounded. (This is a false report for internal propaganda purposes.)

▪️HOUTHIS CLAIM.. Muhammad Ali al-Houthi:  The return of the Roosevelt aircraft carrier to Israel and the completion of its mission confirm:  Yemen's victory in the Eternal Revolution of September.  A new victory comes to the Yemeni people with the arrival of the anniversary of the prophet's birthday.  (As above, internal propaganda message - note they think the carrier returned to Israel? And left because of them, rather than because of reduced threat, resupply and other priorities.)

(The point of these two is: see how the enemy is thinking - when there is no success, create one for the masses.)

▪️JUSTICE SYSTEM.. 274 lawyers demand to disband the current bar (lawyers governance association): "it has become political”.

▪️ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING OF TRAVELING ISRAELIS - NATION OF GEORGIA.. A group of Israeli travelers were subject to surveillance and attempted kidnapping by a group of Arabs and were foiled at the last moment by the intervention of the local police in Georgia (the country). (Ch. 14)

▪️AIR TRAVEL.. FlyDubai increases service to Tel Aviv, 8th daily flight added.  

▪️POLL OF THE WEEK.. Channel 14 (right wing) & Maariv (left wing)

Likud - 29 / 24

National Unity - 18 / 21

Israel our Home - 13 / 14

The Democrats - 11 / 8

Yesh Atid - 10 / 15

Shas - 9 / 9

United Torah Judaism - 8 / 7

Otzma Yehudit - 7 / 9

Ra’am - 6 / 4

Religious Zionism - 5 / 4

Habash Ta’al - 4 / 5

Sa’ar - 1.2% / 1.2%

🔸DEAL NEWS.. Report: Egypt recently received a proposal for the deployment of Arab forces along the Philadelphi border corridor, negotiations are underway with Morocco, Mauritania and Djibouti.  

[twiggy-in-pink]

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

Matthew 7:15-16

[spaceshipsandstarwyrms]

There’s a fun handful of new subclass options for existing classes in the Book of the Bizarre, including the Pact of Ancestors Warlock.

Other options include:

The Chop Shop Fighter

The College of Mesmerism Bard

The False Prophet Cleric

The Shade Cleric

The Book of the Bizarre is available to purchase on February 2!

Plain Text under the cut.

[Plain Text

This warlock draws its power from a pact made with its collective lineage. Magic and knowledge is gifted by family from the underworld, though not without cost. They are now bound to carry out the wishes and aims of their family, and to continue the generations-long work. These warlocks often eventually become members of the collective, lending aid to the next generation as they bind them to carry on the family goals.

Expanded Spell List The Ancestors let you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Spell Level   |   Spells

1st   |   bless, identify 2nd   |   augury, spiritual weapon 3rd   |   speak with dead, spirit guardians 4th   |   death ward, locate creature 5th   |   legend lore, reincarnate

Wisdom of the Ages Starting at 1st level, you gain the ability to connect with your patrons and draw upon your family’s wealth of experience and knowledge. As an action, you can gain proficiency in one skill or tool of your choice, or you can understand and speak one language of your choice. This ability lasts for one hour. You can use this ability any number of times, but only one choice can be active at a time.

Strength of the Forebears Starting at 6th level, your connection to your ancestors gives you the strength to fight on, even when your body is about to break. When you would be reduced to 0 hp, you may instead go to 1 hp, and you are immune to the first damage you would take before the start of your turn. On your next turn, you add your proficiency bonus to all damage you would deal, but at the end of your turn, you go to 0hp and immediately fail 1 death saving throw.

Once you have used this ability, you may not use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Of One Mind Starting at 10th level, the presence of your ancestors in your mind can protect you from mental harm. You have advantage on saving throws versus being charmed or frightened, and you gain resistance to psychic damage.

Spiritual Ally Starting at 14th level, you gain the ability to conjure those that went before you into battle. As an action, you may summon the spirit of one of your ancestors. Use the statistics for a Ghost. The summoned creature is friendly to you and your companions. Roll initiative for the summoned creature, which has their own turn. They obey any verbal commands that you issue to them (no action required by you). If you don't issue any commands to them, they defend themselves from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions. This ability lasts for one minute, though it ends early if you were to die or be unconscious.

Once you have used this ability, you may not use it again until you complete a long rest.

Perhaps by looking baCkwards, one might avoid the mistakes going forwards. Maybe you can learn from the past and tread not upon the same fraught ground that those before you did.

[beardedmrbean]

Eight people went on trial in Paris on terrorism charges on Monday over the gruesome 2020 murder of the French teacher who had shown his pupils a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed as part of a class on freedom of expression. The trial comes a year after six teenagers were found guilty of helping the assailant identify Samuel Paty.

Eight people went on trial in Paris on terrorism charges Monday over the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, who was killed by an Islamic extremist after showing caricatures of Islam's prophet to his middle school students for a lesson on freedom of expression.

Paty's shocking death left an imprint on France, and several schools are now named after him. Paty was killed outside his school near Paris on Oct. 16, 2020, by an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, who was shot to death by police.

Those on trial include friends of assailant Abdoullakh Anzorov who allegedly helped purchase weapons for the attack, as well as people who are accused of spreading false information online about the teacher and his class.

The attack occurred against a backdrop of protests in many Muslim countries and calls online for violence targeting France and the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper had republished its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad a few weeks before Paty's death to mark the opening of the trial over deadly 2015 attacks on its newsroom by Islamic extremists.

The cartoon images deeply offended many Muslims, who saw them as sacrilegious. But the fallout from Paty’s killing reinforced the French state’s commitment to freedom of expression and its firm attachment to secularism in public life.

Much attention at the trial will focus on Brahim Chnina, the Muslim father of a 13-year-old girl who claimed that she had been excluded from Paty’s class when he showed the caricatures on Oct. 5, 2020.

Chnina sent a series of messages to his contacts denouncing Paty, saying that “this sick man” needed to be fired, along with the address of the school in the Paris suburb of Conflans Saint-Honorine.

In reality, Chnina’s daughter had lied to him and had never attended the lesson in question.

Paty was giving a Moral and Civic Education lesson mandated by the National Education Ministry on freedom of expression. He discussed the caricatures in this context, saying students who did not wish to see them could temporarily leave the classroom.

An online campaign against Paty snowballed, and 11 days after the lesson, Anzorov attacked the teacher with a knife as he walked home, and displayed the teacher’s head on social media. Police later shot Anzorov as he advanced towards them armed.

Chnina will be tried for alleged association with a terrorist enterprise for targeting the 47-year-old teacher through false information.

His daughter was tried last year in a juvenile court and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Four other students at Paty's school were found guilty of involvement and given suspended sentences; a fifth, who pointed out Paty to Anzorov in exchange for money, was given a 6-month term with an electronic bracelet. 

French teens convicted for identifying Samuel Paty to his attacker before 2020 murder

Abdelhakim Sefrioui is another key figure in the trial opening Monday for the adult suspects. He presented himself as a spokesperson for Imams of France, although he had been dismissed from that role. He filmed a video in front of the school with the father of the student. He referred to the teacher as a “thug” multiple times and sought to pressure the school administration via social media.

Sefrioui founded the pro-Hamas Cheikh Yassine Collective in 2004, which was dissolved a few days after Paty's killing. Sefrioui had long criticized and threatened Muslims who advocate friendship with Jews, including the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris.

Sefrioui and Chnina face 30 years in prison if convicted.

Chnina denied any incitement to “kill” in his messages and video, claiming he did not intend to incite hatred and violence, according to judicial documents. 

Sefrioui’s lawyers have said they would seek his acquittal, and that the video filmed by Sefrioui in front of the school was not seen by the terrorist.

Anzorov, who had wanted to go to Syria to fight with Islamic extremists there, discovered Paty’s name on jihadist social media channels, according to investigators. Anzorov lived 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Paty's school and did not know the teacher.

Two of Anzorov’s friends face life imprisonment if convicted on charges of complicity in murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov are accused of helping Anzorov buy a knife and a pellet gun. Boudaoud also drove Anzorov to Paty’s school. They turned themselves in at the police station, and deny being aware of the attacker’s intentions. 

The other four individuals are charged with criminal terrorist conspiracy for communicating with the killer on pro-jihad Snapchat groups. They all deny being aware of the intent to kill Samuel Paty. One of them sent smiling emojis after the decapitated teacher’s head was shared.

On Oct. 13, 2023, another teacher in France was killed by a radical Islamist from Russia, originally from Ingushetia, a region bordering Chechnya.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Kaplan at MMFA:

During July and August media appearances, the leadership of the election denier organization True the Vote revealed that it is trying to partner with local sheriffs to monitor ballot drop boxes for supposed voter fraud during the 2024 election, particularly in swing states like Wisconsin, where the organization’s founder claimed to “have three very influential sheriffs.” True the Vote was founded in 2009 — following the election of former President Barack Obama — by then-tea party activist Catherine Engelbrecht with the goal of pushing for voter ID laws and purging voter rolls. Engelbrecht, whom “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander has called “the godmother of the election integrity movement,” and her business partner, Gregg Phillips, a Republican operative and former Mississippi official, have repeatedly pushed false election-related claims since at least 2016. Phillips claimed without evidence that millions of illegal votes had been cast in the 2016 presidential election, and both Engelbrecht and Phillips were listed as executive producers for and starred in 2000 Mules, a widely debunked 2022 film that claims to show evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. (Salem Media, which distributed the film, has since retracted it and removed it from its platforms.) Engelbrecht has admitted that former President Donald Trump is a “natural beneficiary of the majority of what we [True the Vote] do.”

Engelbrecht and Phillips also cultivated a close relationship with influencers in the QAnon community, turning over supposedly “devastating” evidence of 2020 election fraud and asking the QAnon community to “start connecting dots” and look further into election software company Konnech. As a result, those figures targeted the company, and the Los Angeles County, California, district attorney later indicted Konnech CEO Eugene Yu, apparently spurred at least in part by True the Vote’s and QAnon figures’ efforts. The charges were ultimately dropped, with the county and Yu later reaching a $5 million settlement. True the Vote also collaborated with a then-QAnon supporter whose group monitored drop boxes during the 2022 elections.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, the organization has launched an app based on flawed data that “enables users to research voter data and submit voter-eligibility challenges to local election offices.” In multiple media appearances in late July and early August, Engelbrecht appeared to reveal an additional 2024 effort to partner with local sheriffs and target ballot drop boxes, particularly in swing states like Wisconsin.  During a July 30 interview with self-described Christian nationalist “prophet” Lance Wallnau — in which Wallnau predicted that “there will be cheating” using drop boxes in swing states like Wisconsin and Michigan — Engelbrecht said that True the Vote would be “working with sheriffs to identify areas that sheriffs would be willing to allow us to grant them camera equipment that they can monitor and we can livestream.” When Wallnau asked specifically about Wisconsin, Engelbrecht said, “We have three very influential sheriffs, and we look forward to more. We’re getting there next week to do a site assessment.”

Election Denial organization True The Vote is trying to partner with local sheriffs to monitor ballot drop boxes for supposed “voter fraud”.

[sysmedsaresexist]

sysmedicalism is an objectively pro psych stance. The fact that you're identifying as it is extremely disturbing, as a DID SYSTEM that has been harmed by the medical institution.

This post is highly related to this post, and I hope you'll read both. This was written first.

Mod Quill here, automatically done with this entire conversation about the term sysmed. Let’s just break this down.

This blog is pysch-critical. Because we believe psychology is beneficial and we are. In therapy. For our psychological problems. I’m not sure where you thought we were anti-psych? No false advertising here. Mod Dude is quite literally on all sides of psych; patient, trained SSW, proud DSM-bootlicker, you name it. The other mods are in similar positions. We can acknowledge the flaws of the medical system while also acknowledging the need for it. If you can’t, then you’re not going to like us.

Sysmed, as a term, means basically nothing at this point. Yes, it had a definition. No, the definition is not agreed upon. Until the Holy Pro-Endo Prophet who invented the damn word comes down from the heavens and announces what it actually meant, I’m going to continue to be a little bitch about a word that’s hurt me (and you can ID with it all you want). Fun fact, I actually don’t agree with Mod Dude using the label sysmed — I think he’ll reach a point eventually where he drops it in favor for some other label, or maybe no labels. But I also cannot bring myself to give a single solitary shit about it. Why would I? The word has as much meaning now as half the labels I see in system spaces. It’s not a useful word. I have literally never understood the desire to cling to it when it’s not ever used usefully. When is the last time someone actually used the term to *properly* critique the associations of the systems who feel plurality is medical to those who feel gender identity is medical, a flawed argument in of itself?

Lastly, I’m so sorry that the constant correlation between “CDD Focused” and “Sysmed” has made me and many others accept that we (DID systems) are sysmeds to you all. I’ve been told countless times that my beliefs are “sysmedical,” despite those beliefs being things that have nothing to do with medicalizing plurality. Dude is far further on the medical spectrum than I am, and yet I’ve been called a sysmed more times than I can count. Traumascum, too. Because I’m a CDD system speaking up for CDD systems.

Look. Anon. I’m sorry for what you’ve faced. I’m sorry you’ve been hurt by the medical system. That sucks.

It’s also not our fault, and something some of us have also experienced. It’s bold of you to think you’re unique in those struggles.

I hope you can find healing outside of the psych system, and that you can recover on your own, or else one day perhaps find solace within a medical system. Who knows?

The fact is, this blog has always been psych critical, and will continue to be. And that shouldn’t matter because the thing about this blog is, it has been and always will be dedicated to focusing on CDD systems. If that bothers people, there’s a million other blogs out there. May I suggest pokemon-cards-hourly?

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Everyone getting in on this.

Mod Dude, here, OG blog owner

To reiterate, I am on both sides-- patient and clinician in the psych field (NOT LICENSED).

I really just want to pop in and say something myself.

I am psych-critical, and I always have been. I have had some terrible doctors. Fatphobia, transphobia, homophobia, ableism abound, and a large population of uneducated people parading as doctors. I was sanctioned once by a doctor who didn't like that I was gay. Yes, in Canada. It took the threat of legal action to get me released, and then they tried to purge my file and say I had never been admitted.

I've had more amazing, wonderful doctors that have gone and above and beyond to help me than bad ones, though. I want to be one of those doctors. I want to change the landscape of psychiatry to be what it SHOULD BE, not what it is now.

The psych system is a necessary evil, and I have a very complicated relationship to it as, eventually, my father will need to be forcibly confined and treated for his disease. The world will be very lucky if he doesn't kill someone before then.

I don't think it will always be evil, though. I don't think every case is evil. I don't honestly think a system is capable of being evil, only the people within the system and using it to further their own gain.

I feel for anyone who has been abused in the system, or that has suffered because of it.

I see anti-psych as giving up. Rather than fight for change, it's rejected entirely for talking points that are already available and need to be improved within themselves anyways.

I have HOPE for the FUTURE of the psych system, and can acknowledge its many current flaws while simultaneously engaging with and promoting its positive aspects and work, and by encouraging more people to get into the field and specialize. Releasing the backlog and increasing the number of specialists with lived experience that actually care is step number 1. I want to reduce the fear of stigma of engaging with the system.

I support the medicalization and treatment of systems that WANT to engage with psychiatry (hence sysmed). I support systems that have no desire to engage for simple reasons, or for no reason at all. I equally support and care for those who have been so hurt by it that they can't engage anymore. Those are real people with real stories. I hope that the things I post can help those that can't engage directly.

It's not the full picture, though. Hence "critical".

I have never WANTED or TRIED to force medicalization on anyone, and I never will. I can understand that in some cases it's not so black and white. But this may not be the space for you. Good luck elsewhere, genuinely ❤️

Also I'm going to follow Pokémon hourly now.