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Just want to throw out there that religious schools (like Covington, don't know if they went in particular) were busing those kids to stand in front of the Planned Parenthood in DC before they went to the "March for Life." /1
The kids and their chaperones do anything from just standing there praying (and staring at the patients with pity or disapproval, and the escorts with scorn or almost fear), to calling us things like concentration camp guards, to "sidewalk counseling" the patients. /2
If you've never heard of sidewalk counseling, let me give it to you in a nutshell: it's walking up to a total stranger as they go into a medical facility, and attempting to either browbeat or guilt-trip them into not going into the clinic. /3
There are other brands of interaction they use that mostly center around forming a facsimile of a human connection and then working from there (believe me, there is a playbook for this), but make no mistake they believe they are on the only right side. /4
And about the playbook, note the priorities here; "respect the woman and her circumstances," but "abortion is nothing less than a battle between good and evil." /5
joseromia.tripod.com/black.htm
joseromia.tripod.com/black.htm
More examples and information here if you have a strong stomach, but note the common theme: the antis feel they know what's right for each and every one of us, and it shows in their interactions (no matter how kindly their words). /6 sidewalkcounselor.com/education
Race is also a big factor in what they do, with their canned patter immediately ready for whatever they perceive the person they're approaching/confronting to be. If you have dark skin, then they tell you abortion is black genocide. /7
If you are less dark, you're going to be hearing Spanish, even if you're Cambodian. If you're male, you're going to be told to "get your girlfriend out of there," even if you're gay. If you're a woman, you're going to be told "don't kill your baby." /8
Now think back to that video of the Covington kids harassing Nathan Phillips. These are the same kids, with the same worldview - that they know what everyone's place in the world is, and who isn't currently in their proper place. /9
The reason the adults' response is so muted, and so bent around circling the wagons rather than apology, is the same reason they wring their hands over Trump: you're not supposed to say the messy quiet parts out loud. /10
To me, this is a really good example of why intersectionality matters, because the world view these kids are being raised in (and to uphold) has a role for all of us "a place for everyone in God's Kingdom" is how I sometimes hear it, (unspoken:) even if that place is in Hell. /11
You're not going to like this, but active hate at these people is only going to prove them right in their minds. This is a generation that's been kept far away from what you and I would call critical thinking, and who literally believe they are persecuted in our world. /12
What can *you* do to undo this damage? Maybe nothing you will ever perceive. Keep in mind that some of the structures that support this worldview are older than the United States (hard Calvinism, anyone?), but what you can do is make your own community and thinking /13
as strong and accepting as you can, because not only will you have to survive their bullshit, be ready to take in the very few at a time who will be willing to stop and question what they've been taught all their lives. I will say this though: proselytizing won't work. /14
Why won't it work? Because it's what they do every damn day. They were raised on it. They live and breathe it. They're better at it than you are, and they can spot it a mile away. I guess this is where "be the change you want to see in the world" is applicable. /15
But don't ever frame anything these kids and their parents do as focused on one group, or one set of groups, such as race, class, or gender. It's focused on the entire world, and their plans for you are not ones you'll be happy with. /fin
Coda:
And another example: they know exactly why they were being bussed to DC: to take another step in their quest for ruling - *ahem* making the world and its people conform to (their) god's law.
