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Category: Fascism

a folder labeled "top secret" to introduce an article on classified documents and sin-leveling
On Sin-Leveling and Classified Documents

On Sin-Leveling and Classified Documents

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Wow, we’ve been hearing a lot about classified documents in the US news lately. If you’re not paying attention to the rhetoric closely enough, it seems like it’s suddenly this huge problem that EVERYONE in government has. AND, significantly, like everyone ON ALL SIDES of US government is equally guilty of mishandling classified documents. In this piece I plan to unwrap why that simply isn’t so, and how this kind of largely right-wing rhetoric mirrors nature and the effects of…

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the word "shame" on a background of torn up words that say shame to introduce an article on purity culture's unhealthy shame emphasis
When Shame–Er, Purity Culture—Becomes a God Term

When Shame–Er, Purity Culture—Becomes a God Term

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So this week I had the strange experience of re-reading the book Pure by Linda Kay Klein when an article came out suggesting that Evangelical missionary, martyr, and purity culture icon Jim Elliot seems to have longed for death at the end of his life because of struggle against something unspecified that he deemed a (sexual) sin. Considering Pure is an ethnographic study of the damage and trauma caused by the Evangelical purity culture movement that was in part pioneered…

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Letters that spell "Bullying Stops Here" to Introduce an article about standing up against bullies in both politics and child abuse
How to Respond When the Bullies (Seem to) Win

How to Respond When the Bullies (Seem to) Win

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I don’t know about you, but there are times in weeks like this past one when it just feels so much like however much progress we make, like the systems in place are just too flawed, and allow the bad guys—you know, the bullies and abusers—to win much much too often. In today’s piece I want to unwrap some of the dynamics of these issues and how to understand and healthily respond when things seem like this. (This is going…

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definition of white supremacy to introduce an article about how important it is for leaders and others to openly denounce white supremacists and Nazis
When the GOP Fails to Denounce Nazis—A Call to Action

When the GOP Fails to Denounce Nazis—A Call to Action

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I have to confess—I’ve been choking back an awful lot of “I told you so’s” this past week or so as people marveled at the fact that the former president of the US (you know, the one who still thinks he didn’t lose a legitimate election in 2020 and has been shown to have fomented an insurrection to maintain power) hosted alt-right extremist Nick Fuentes for dinner at his home, and so so few GOP leaders decried the choice. In…

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mortality definition to introduce an article on higher mortality rates in conservative states
When Mortality Rates Are Higher in Conservative States

When Mortality Rates Are Higher in Conservative States

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This week a USA Today article about mortality rates being higher in red states popped into my email inbox that would have been useful to speed my way to voting reasonably faster. That is, it would have had I seen it when I was still voting only based on narrowly “pro-life” views as I was conditioned to. I wish I could have seen it back then, but hopefully drawing your attention to it now will help encourage you and/or others…

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a dictionary definition of propaganda to ground an analysis of right-wing conspiracy rhetoric against the DOJ
When Right-Wing Media Poisons the Well Against the DOJ

When Right-Wing Media Poisons the Well Against the DOJ

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This week a member of the AS community sent me an article they had seen a pastor in the US post on social media from the right-wing source the Daily Wire. They asked for an analysis. This Daily Wire post (which I won’t link to here but you are welcome to Google) was about a supposed “new development” in the case which has already led to many convictions in the case of Keith Raniere’s multi-level marketing scheme meets sex cult/sex…

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picture of immigration lines at an airport to introduce an article on open borders rhetoric as fascistic rhetoric
When “Open Borders” Becomes a Right-Wing Devil Term Yet Again

When “Open Borders” Becomes a Right-Wing Devil Term Yet Again

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Okay, so I’ll confess I had to go back and read up on Heather Cox Richardson’s latest update when I started seeing memes and posts about GOP immigration nonsense in my feed again. At any rate, it doesn’t actually feel all that new at all. That’s because this rhetoric is old as the fascistic hills. So today I wanted to unwrap a bit more of what happens in general with unhealthy rhetoric that frames “open borders” as a devil term—and…

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A picture that says "student loan repayment" to introduce a piece on loan forgiveness as a conservative devil term
When (Loan) Forgiveness Becomes a Conservative (Christian) Devil Term

When (Loan) Forgiveness Becomes a Conservative (Christian) Devil Term

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There’s been some gold out there in the reasonable world the last few days since the student loan forgiveness policy was announced, especially in responding to the conservative Christian rhetoric critiquing the policy. In the remainder of this piece, I hope to build on these excellent critiques that are already out there as well as some previous pieces here. In so doing I plan to discuss the details of why at least some conservative Christians are decrying student loan forgiveness…

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picture of an accident and emergency sign to introduce an article on the human cost of unhealthy politics
The Human Cost of Unhealthy Politics

The Human Cost of Unhealthy Politics

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I don’t know about you, but I grew up with a lot of political talk that cast both debating and politics as the types of activities that were presumed to have no cost EXCEPT to the home team. The home team (in this case, conservatives) were clearly the victimized ones. But no one else was likely to be hurt by any of these activities. The kind of “snowflake” rhetoric that’s emerged since then has come out of this attitude I…

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A sign pointing Democrats and Republicans opposite ways to introduce an article for how despising Democrats can become a cover for bigotry
When Despising Democrats Becomes a Cover for Right-Wing Bigotry

When Despising Democrats Becomes a Cover for Right-Wing Bigotry

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So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how a lot of the right-leaning people I grew up with would swear to the ends of the earth that they’re not bigots. (I mean, “bigot” is clearly the worst bad word, right? Cue many eyeroll emojis.) But at the same time, they saw Democrats as one of the biggest threats in their world. In this week’s blog post I plan to unwrap the complexities of how these fears of Democrats (created…

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the word loss with an eraser to introduce an article on ambiguous loss and fascism
Coping with Ambiguous Loss in an Age of Fascism

Coping with Ambiguous Loss in an Age of Fascism

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I’ve been thinking a lot about ambiguous loss lately. And on the heels of a few recent blog posts here looking back at fascistic rhetoric and policies and their negative effects (see here, here, and here), I’ve been thinking about ambiguous loss in those contexts. Hang with me and I’ll try to unwrap what ambiguous loss means, how it can apply to life in an era where fascism is attempting to rise, and how we can all pour our stress…

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