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Tag: politics and morality

Immigrants standing behind a flag to introduce a blog post on how right-wing immigration rhetoric is fascistic and harmful
When the Right Blames Everything on Immigrants (and Others)

When the Right Blames Everything on Immigrants (and Others)

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While right-wing rhetoric has been ramping up the anti-immigrant fascistic rhetoric since the beginning of the 2016 election, it feels like the recent 2024 vice presidential debate really made it clear that the right has moved to blaming immigrants (and the Democrats and anyone else they don’t like) for nearly everything these days. The suggestions to deport and punish anyone they don’t like have ramped up as well. This should be deeply concerning, both because it’s having actual negative effects…

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An image of a woman silenced with the words For Our Daughters introducing a piece on why Christian nationalism is unhealthy and we should speak out against it.
Why This Page Speaks Out on Politics: For Our Daughters (and Others)

Why This Page Speaks Out on Politics: For Our Daughters (and Others)

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Every so often, there will be someone who comments on the AS Facebook page—usually not someone there in good faith, as it turns out—why is a page about spirituality posting about politics? The short version of the answer to this question is that this page was set up to call people to be assertive about unhealthy versions of spirituality, including Christian nationalism, which has gone fully political. I plan to use this post to unwrap this and other aspects of…

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A pair of converse shoes to introduce an article about the demonization of the politics of joy
When Conservative Christians Demonize the Politics of Joy

When Conservative Christians Demonize the Politics of Joy

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Not that long ago, I saw a right-leaning acquaintance say on social media that “Joy should come from God, not from politics.” With the childhood alarm bells ringing in my ears, I immediately saw how much there was to unpack in that statement, so here I am writing about what happens when conservative Christians demonize the politics of joy. My Background and Standpoint As always, I’m coming at this as a former pastor’s kid who grew up to become a…

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"New Normal This Way" sign to introduce an article on fighting fascism by decentering weird (bigotry)
Decentering Weird to Fight Fascism

Decentering Weird to Fight Fascism

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If you hadn’t heard, a big thing with Democratic rhetoric lately has been calling right-wing behaviors “ weird .“  I’ve heard some confusion and critique of this, so in this blog post I hope to unwrap why this technique is so effective for fighting fascistic rhetoric and actions. My Background and Standpoint As always, I’m coming at this as a former pastor’s kid who went on to become a communication scholar whose work focuses on stress, trauma, and conflict communication….

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An image representing inclusivity to introduce an article about how right-leaning Christians demonize it.
How Right-Leaning Christians Demonize Inclusivity

How Right-Leaning Christians Demonize Inclusivity

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It’s been quite the wild ride lately in political rhetoric. With the politics of hope and joy birthing anew with the Democratic ticket, Biden having stepped aside, it might be easy to think that surely most if not all the right-leaning folks might just see reason and join the other side. Lest we grow complacent, though, I wanted to use this blog post to unwrap some theological maneuvers that help us all understand how the unhealthy folks manage to maintain…

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An image of paper balls over a head to introduce an article on mental health accusations from the right-wing and how they pathologize reasonable people
When the Right Tries to Pathologize Reasonable People

When the Right Tries to Pathologize Reasonable People

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It wasn’t that long ago that someone accused Assertive Spirituality, once again, of having “TDS”—you know, “Tr*mp Derangement Syndrome.” And every time we post in support of trans folks, some right-wing troll seems to pop up to argue that trans people and those who support them are “sick in the head.” (For the record, both things are ridiculous in the ways I’m about to outline.) In this week’s blog post I plan to unwrap a few of the layers of…

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Picture of the term "demagogue" unwrapped to introduce an article on the rhetorical techniques of a "strongman" to demoralize reasonable folks
When a Strongman Tries to Demoralize Reasonable Folks

When a Strongman Tries to Demoralize Reasonable Folks

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So if you’re a reasonable person, you’re likely feeling a little—or a lot—down just now. I’m here to unwrap for you enough of the context behind why that’s happening, specifically how a particular–ahem–right-wing fascistic strongman has been working to try to make their opponents seem immoral and weak—to hopefully give you some oomph to get back up off that mat and keep working toward a healthier world for us all. And let’s be clear—I first wanted to write this post…

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An image of a bear lying on a log to introduce an article about man vs. bear and the privileges of safety
Man vs. Bear and the Privileges of Safety

Man vs. Bear and the Privileges of Safety

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I’ve been thinking a lot about the privileges of safety since this whole social media question started making the rounds on social media. You know, the one about whether you’d rather meet a man or a bear or whatever other variation in the woods (if you haven’t heard, many women when offered this question have been enthusiastically choosing the bear, and explaining their experiences and reasons for this). It makes sense that I’d been thinking about this, because the very…

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A trans rights are human rights flag to introduce how anti-trans rhetoric plays on men's fears about " mutilation "
When Anti-Trans Rhetoric Plays on (Men’s) Fears about “ Mutilation ”

When Anti-Trans Rhetoric Plays on (Men’s) Fears about “ Mutilation ”

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Something I’ve been noticing a lot lately when trolls come in with anti-trans rhetoric is HOW MUCH the word “ mutilation “ comes up. Mostly this comes up with male right-wing trolls commenting on trans concerns, but I even saw a woman who identified as (conservative) Christian recently try to say that the Bible was against “ mutilation “ clearly suggesting that gender-alteration surgeries to help people feel more like themselves were somehow morally not okay. As you’ll see if…

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An image of a young white couple praying in front of a US flag to introduce an article about how conservative Christians downplay Christian nationalism
When Conservative Christians Downplay Christian Nationalism

When Conservative Christians Downplay Christian Nationalism

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This week I saw a Facebook post from an educated right-leaning man that completely downplayed the dangers of Christian nationalism, so I’ve decided to unwrap and respond to that post in this blog post. Hopefully by the end we can all get closer to agreeing on why it’s so important to continue to stand up against the very real dangers of Christian nationalism that has already been resulting in the trauma and deaths of actual human beings. Before diving in…

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Fascistic Christian Nationalism as a GOP Platform?

Fascistic Christian Nationalism as a GOP Platform?

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One of the key reasons I founded this Assertive Spirituality project was the disturbing turn of the Republicans, in the 2016 election and beyond, toward embracing the ideals of fascistic Christian nationalism as their party platform. I believe the evidence of this ought to seem disturbing—it very much is a threat to healthy democracy in the US. It can also easily be confusing, though, so in this article I plan to unwrap how some of this rhetoric works, and why…

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an image of a person fighting in response to an aligned group to introduce a blog piece on #notall commentary and tangential responses
#NotAll Commentary: Unpacking Tangential Responses

#NotAll Commentary: Unpacking Tangential Responses

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This week on the AS FB page I’ve been accused of attacking a wide variety of groups as per usual, simply by posting memes that critique unhealthy systems and behaviors. This happens fairly regularly here at the Assertive Spirituality page, mind you—but this week was special as I can’t remember the last time I remember having been accused of attacking so many groups in a few days. At any rate, I’ve been wanting to do a general post for awhile…

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Picture of middle aged woman's face close up to introduce an article on how mothers are often aging faster than presidents
When Mothers Are Aging Faster than Presidents

When Mothers Are Aging Faster than Presidents

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So I always teach a unit of my university courses on stress, because it has such an impact on communication. And I tend to show this video in class that talks about how mothers of disabled children are too often aging 6 years for every year of caregiving of a sick or disabled child. When I get to that point, I’ve taken to stopping the video lately to explain that presidents, for all the stress of their jobs, actually age…

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An image of tug of war to open an article about what happens when facts and ethics get seen as partisan
When Facts (and Ethics) Get Seen as Partisan

When Facts (and Ethics) Get Seen as Partisan

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I’m going to be real, here. Watching the rhetorical situation change over the last few years has been absolutely WILD from the perspective of teaching communication concepts in a university classroom as well as working through these things within this project. It’s been both fascinating and disturbing to see what it takes to teach students the basic principles of communication in a world where fascistic rhetoric is attempting to portray facts, ethics, and empathy as partisan, as well as to…

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Photo of two white young people praying in front of a flag to introduce an article against Christian nationalism
When Unhealthy Christian Nationalism Has the Loudest Voice

When Unhealthy Christian Nationalism Has the Loudest Voice

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Okay, so it’s been quite awhile now since fascistic Christian nationalism has been working hard to get an increasingly loud voice in US politics, and I’ve been noticing some increasingly complex dynamics at play because of this. Since a huge part of why I founded this project is to convince people to raise their voices against the unhealthy dynamics in this specific abuse of the fusion of religion and politics (alongside other unhealthy dynamics), I wanted to take some time…

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