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Tag: solidarity

"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 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 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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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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Definitions of forgiveness to introduce an article about the abuses of the term
How to Make Conversations about Forgiveness Less Contentious

How to Make Conversations about Forgiveness Less Contentious

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I started this project to make space for people of all stripes that are AGAINST unhealthy stuff in the religio-political sphere and FOR a healthier world for us all. The thing is, we don’t all (naturally) agree on all topics. As a result, the AS FB page can become contentious at times, even among long-established followers. This never seems to happen quite as strongly as when the topic of forgiveness comes up. It happened again this week when I posted…

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I picture of people with multiple skin tones holding hands in a cluster
Nick Offerman, Martin Bonham, and the Narratives of Possibility

Nick Offerman, Martin Bonham, and the Narratives of Possibility

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A while back, I blogged here about the film Women Talking and how its dialogues tended to break down dichotomies and help its viewers’ minds break through to narratives of possibility about grieving out abuses and moving forward. In this week’s blog post I plan to look at two recently released books–one by Nick Offerman and the other by Robert Hudson–and discuss the ways they present differing but similar visions of what Assertive Spirituality could look like. Both of these…

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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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Church Sign Image "We Welcome We Do Not Affirm" to open an article to discuss how LGBTQ+ affirmation becomes a devil term in conservative US churches
When Affirming Becomes a Devil Term

When Affirming Becomes a Devil Term

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With so many states creating laws demonizing LGBTQ+ identities and conservative Christians supporting so many of them with their votes, I’ve been thinking a lot about a dimension of the ways “Christian Nice” subtly theologically demonizes LGBTQ+ people lately. And when I saw a picture of a church sign that flat out said “we are welcoming but not affirming” I knew I had to take on the topic of the way that a church becoming (LGBTQ+) affirming is seen as…

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A Viking helmet and axe to introduce an article on the "Viking and victim" mindset
Right-Leaning Folks and the Viking or Victim Mindset

Right-Leaning Folks and the Viking or Victim Mindset

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In the last week I’ve had the dubious privilege of dealing with hundreds of alt-right trolls on a few selected posts on the FB AS page. This has obviously not been my favorite thing—not sure where they all came from, honestly. But since they came along, it was actually pretty helpful (if disturbing) to see the quiet parts the more covertly right-wing folks I came up with said out loud. In thinking about it, one of the things these (now…

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An image of buds on a tree to intro an article about a long-a**ed resurrection from unhealthy religio-political beliefs
On a Long-a**ed Resurrection from Unhealthy Religio-Political Beliefs

On a Long-a**ed Resurrection from Unhealthy Religio-Political Beliefs

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As I write this, it is Holy Saturday, and as I reflect on this time that’s traditionally one of gestation and waiting moving toward resurrection, in the midst of spring, a season that celebrates new growth after the dormancy of winter, it’s profoundly helpful to look back on what has gone before. And to grieve the mini-deaths that have been necessary within me as I’ve been traveling away from unhealthy religio-political beliefs, and hopefully toward healthier ones. I can’t believe…

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Picture of a school hallway to introduce an article on the Nashville school shooting and the danger of a single story
The Nashville Shooting and The Danger of a Single Story

The Nashville Shooting and The Danger of a Single Story

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As I write this, we just passed Transgender Day of Visibility AND there was yet another school shooting this week. But this time it was at a Christian school in Nashville, and by a person who used they/them pronouns (find out more in this NPR story). So yeah, let’s be clear: this is the type of LGBTQ+ visibility that is likely to make the LGBTQ+ community rightfully terrified. After all, this is the kind of edge case situation that unhealthy…

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A picture of a drag queen holding a "love is love" sign to introduce an article discussing the unhealthy rhetoric of anti-drag legislation
When Drag Gets Demonized: A Call to Action

When Drag Gets Demonized: A Call to Action

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Just this past week, Tennessee became the first American state to outlaw drag shows (here’s a piece from PBS that gives some historical context on this). But if you’ve been paying attention, you already know that other red states are working on similar measures. This post will come at this issue from a rhetorical perspective, analyzing how the recent right-wing attempts to ban and demonize drag use strategic ambiguity in really unhealthy ways to target the LGBTQ+ community. Where I’m…

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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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A picture that says "fight racism" to introduce an article describing the toxic sides of the phrase all lives matter in the US
The Toxic Side of “All Lives Matter” Rhetoric

The Toxic Side of “All Lives Matter” Rhetoric

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Okay, so we all KNOW a bunch of us get annoyed with the phrase “all lives matter”–for good reason– when it’s abused. A lot of us even know a lot of the reasons it bothers us. But com theory and related research can really help us see why it bothers us in a new light, and since that’s what I study and teach, I hope to explore what happens when seemingly good concepts like all lives matter “go bad,” and…

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