Remember, EM POC only!
How are you all doing? Anything exciting you wanna share? Anything you wanna share that's not so exciting but rather frustrating instead?
Spill it all here, comrades.
death to televangelism/evangelical megachurches. genuinely. i hate them with every fiber of my being.
wait why? (CW: mentions of islamophobia, isntreal, queerphobia, SA)
- are run like cults
- already socially conservative but become more fascist and white supremacist as their church grows (anti-immigrant, islamophobia, pro-
, extreme queerphobia) - have a lot of political power; they regularly participate in rallies to endorse political candidates (with bribes) and slander other political candidates (with bribes)
- all are grifters (eg. "investing" money to God by giving the church money with a "guaranteed" return, "miracle"/"holy" versions of normal things like water, crypto scams, etc.) that get away with stealing millions from their followers while church members put their unconditional trust in them (putting your trust in God =/= putting your trust in a person)
- run their own mafia forces to silence whistleblowers and those that oppose them (stealing, harming and sometimes killing them)
- higher-ups almost always (sexually) abuse other church members, very often children with little repercussions
- churchgoers blindly follow everything they do (even if that includes their pastors slandering other pastors for the same stuff they do, lol. megachurch drama is funny that way)
- church gets let off the hook with most of the church members, the police and the government and very few involved will even be arrested let alone convicted of their crimes. and it doesn't help that those same church members will do everything in their power to keep them out of prison as if the pastor is Jesus 2.0
- are allowed to air their antivax, racist, queerphobic rhetoric - regularly suggesting violence against minorities - without being taken off air
- not to mention that most of their influences come from American televangelists
disclaimer: i'm not personally affected by any of these points, though i have family that have been conned as well as family that continues to engage in this type of content. it's more that i see myself as somewhat knowledgeable about what actually happens, especially from a Western perspective
maybe i'll effortpost on this sometime
edit: added more points
in global south
Good news! We have them here in the imperial core, too! They even have their own TV networks and appearances on public access channels. And they do all the same kinds of shit (embezzlement, sexual abusing children, having political connections, etc.).
Mega churches were one of the main forces pushing to ban abortion and antivax campaigns.
They even have their own TV networks and appearances on public access channels. And they do all the same kinds of shit (embezzlement, sexual abusing children, having political connections, etc.).
yeah, they still have satellite TV channels, large YT channels and access to social media that gives them such a huge audience
Mega churches were one of the main forces pushing to ban abortion and antivax campaigns.
yeah, i've seen a lot of anti-abortion and antivax rhetoric that is interpreted by them as being supported by the Bible
COVID-19 included; many pastors claimed/implied that the COVID-19 vaccine was the "mark of the beast" (Christian endtime thing where non-believers are unknowingly pressured to sign their soul to the devil and never go to heaven), of course after suggesting that Barack Obama was a false prophet lol
and to stoke fear and opposion to progressivism into churches, evangelical pastors have and still continue to present the endtimes as immiment with absurd Bible interpretations.
Good minieffort post, you got my eyes if you do make a longer post. I been to one megachurch growing up and the shear size still baffles me, easily biggest non government building I ever been in
Good minieffort post, you got my eyes if you do make a longer post.
thanks, i'll take a look at it in my free time
I been to one megachurch growing up and the shear size still baffles me, easily biggest non government building I ever been in
yeah it's crazy how large they can get! then televangelists will have a larger online audience too
A coworker came up to me and told me how great Michelle Obamas speech was at the DNC and I should watch. I can't believe they just publicly called me a lib.
My mom let her dinner get cold because she kept getting up to watch the convention on TV 😑
My mom asked me to spell "God Bless America" for her on Facebook.
My autistic cousin living in the US tells me that people will see his socially awkward behavior and immediately assume that he just doesn’t speak English. He says he prefers them assuming that over them making fun of him for being autistic.
That was one thing I hated about living in the US. I’m a big introvert and that was apparently enough for people to condescendingly say, “Hablo Ingles? Un poquito?”
Guess it depends where your from because I never got that to my recollection. Of course on the flipside most people from the same background as me always tell me I must be American since I'm so quite, so it cuts both ways.
You’re in nyc, right? It always happened to me in small Upstate New York towns. I’m guessing being in majority white communities will inevitably lead to that at some point.
I’m from Guatemala and have the stereotypical features of being short and brown. So I guess that played a big part as well.
Ah, that makes sense.
Funny thing is I was planning on taking a trip upstate for a few days just because I had wanted to revisit a town or two from when I was touring colleges way back when I was high school.
Honestly that'd be pretty awkward. I have a hard enough time being a quite person as it is, but it's a bit easier in the city since it's easier to just blend in and be a part of the background.
Lemme guess, when ye point it out, they'll act all pearl-clutchy about it, saying "I'm not racist, I have {insert ethnicity} friends"...
Feels bad, man...
Watching travel videos about China, again. The yearning within me physically hurts.
Parents are from there, used to visit often as a kid and also lived in Shenzhen for a year or so. It was fantastic but I haven’t been back since 2018 so I imagine some things are different now. But yeah it’s great, I love the atmosphere of the city streets, even watching videos of cities I’ve never been to gives me a cozy and familiar feeling. There’s nothing quite like it in the great satan.
Putonghua yes, Cantonese no (I can't understand a word of it.) My parents are from Hubei/Henan respectively. They didn't speak their respective Mandarin dialects at home with me though, so I only speak Putonghua.
Evolving past my desire to lose weight to find a partner and focusing on my true desire of looking like a Z fighter
I feel I can pull off yamcha if I keep losing since I already got long hair and live in the desertFun fact Puar is named after a tea to match oolong, it's pretty good got a case of it
damn really? haven't tried puar or oolong tea tho. one of many such cases where Dragon Ball characters were named after things (frieza, piccolo, etc.)
ngl I'm a big fan of the naming groups though some go over my head like Bardock also being a veggie going along kakarot and raditz
yeah i had only figured out frieza before i realised they were all named after random stuff so rewatching DBZ was a really big eye opener.
also bardock's a vegetable??? crazy
bardock is burdock root guess another underground thing like carrots or radishes. I know bardock not a toriyama oc but really cool they kept to the naming scheme
I'm going on vacation tomorrow to a place I've never been before. I'm pretty sure the food and hotel will be on point, so I'm looking forward to that. I just hope its chill. Picked up some history books I want to read during the evenings. (All about the Byzantine Empire)
Re-listening to the Hadestown soundtrack on repeat... I want to be discovering new music but it's stuck in my head.
anyone know any reading lists for leftism in Grenada? (PRG, NJM, etc.)
the country's geopolitical history is so interesting to me (the music from Radio Free Grenada was how i learned about it) but the Wikipedia page gives off Western bias vibes and the main documentaries on Grenada at the time are extremely Western-biased and anti-communist, or are about (and in the perspective of) the US invasion of Grenadai have some from some old megas, one is an old web page that has been taken down but it was archived it talks about the grenada revolution
the US invasion of Grenada
Other than that, you'd have to get specific
On PTO and kinda sad my travel plans collapsed. But I'll make the most of it. Been wanting to check out some places around the city for food and new chilling spots to decompress.
I'm getting a masters in education and I'm feeling anxious about becoming a teacher. It's a spanish education degree as well. My dream is just to teach in a Latin American country and live there instead of the white suburb I live in now.
I'm looking into applying for a Fulbright scholarship (ew I know), I really don't want to live in this country any more than I have to, but also I also feel weird about leaving my comfort zone. I'm also still in undergrad because it's a double degree.
I wish I had a boyfriend who could be my life partner so I don't have to make these large life choices myself.
My sibling is telling me to get a minor in Computer Science and I feel like I just should if I ever want to switch careers.
The ed grad school advisor told me that foreign language teachers are in high demand, so at least I have that working for me if I work in the States.
My BA is spanish and I'm planning to add Portuguese to it since if I want to become a Romance languages professor you have to have at least two romance languages under your belt. That and English as my native language.
Been fasting as a means to lose weight, been helping though it leaves me somewhere between hangry and sad.
Well, if those who follow Mohammed can live with it, I don't see how you can't
Very true, admittedly I do remember a friend doing this plus with no water which much harder but very beautiful. Feeling hungry does put everything into perspective and does increase my empathy overall.
no water which much harder but very beautiful.
Well tha boy better be careful...
I'm getting back into punk music after a long stint of listening to mostly goth/post-punk (in my alt/subculture side of music listening, when I'm not repetitively listening to the music I liked as a teenager). Discovered some great tracks and remembered that yeah, I actually like this shit.
Managed to wake up set some beans to cook and now gonna head to the gym. Should be ready to eat when I get back
Gym going well, mostly empty to night so gonna take advantage and try free weights. One day I'll get to making a spreadsheet with to keep myself focused on number go up
Also need a blindfold so the other guys don't disturb me, either I feel content and start slacking or inadequate and dismayed
either I feel content and start slacking or inadequate and dismayed
Well, whatever works, I hope yer doing good!
pinto but my treat to make them special is cooking them with plenty of mushrooms
Update to them beans mixed them with roasted cabbage
easily the best meal I had in a while
keep up the hard work
hope all goes well
salute to you, comrade
that's tough
