No, Collins, Fauci etc. aren't malevolent sadists on the level of a Mengele, but they're definitely ideologues, completely closed to correction, and willing to dismiss people suffering from adverse vax effects as collateral damage for a noble cause.
There is a certain sense in which it's legitimate to discuss the vaccine roll-out as a kind of mass-scale experiment, conducted without all necessary precautions, and underreporting adverse effects. But it's not necessary to chalk this up to a shadowy deep-state cabal.
All you need is a handful of arrogant boomers with too much power and a relentlessly one-track mind. They're not setting out to hurt people on purpose. It just happens.
Also, if you're not creeped out by the way people have been locked down in Australia or European countries, then I'm sorry, but you have no perspective, and nobody should take your takes seriously in this area.
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So, I actually bought and started reading the pedophile book, the one the lady...man...lady-man just got fired over. Yeah. Um. Many thoughts, but I'll just make one note because it ties together with other threads about "creating subculture" around disordered desires. /1
One of Walker's case studies is a female seminary student, "Harper," who discovers VirPed, a virtual "community" of fellow "minor-attracted" people. She introduces herself and begins to find a sense of a camaraderie with the group. /2
Harper finds a measure of relief in having found a space where pedophilia is discussed openly and non-judgmentally and even joked about (!) E.g., "What kind of shoes do pedophiles wear? White Vans." /3
This Giving Tuesday, I'm highlighting a friend's work with an orphanage in India. They currently have a modest $3000-dollar goal for a Christmas party that will provide gifts and food for many children in the area. Please consider!
Bill Henson, 38:00: "If we don't relate to people based on how they self-identify...if we don't call people by the name they call themselves, just because we don't want to compromise something, we're not gonna have much of a gospel reach..."
"If we can't get there on their preferred pronoun and their chosen name, we have a gospel reach problem, because if we don't have relational proximity, there is no advancement of the gospel, at least through us..."
"And if there is no relational trust, then there can't be that proximity, and every missionary knows the ultimate goal is build the trust and the relationship that leads to proximity, that's how the kingdom advances from one person to another..."
I'd heard this testimony before and just came across a new livestream of it. I find the story of Jim's particular journey into and eventually out of the gay lifestyle very moving, and a great testament to the power of faithful Christian community.
Jim recalls being a "Christian golden boy" through high school, headed for ministry, all while nursing the secret of his bisexuality. Eventually he left the church and took up with a male partner, in a relationship that slowly spiraled into toxic co-dependence.
Through his lover's substance abuse and mental illness, they became insolvent and lost the roof over their heads. This was the moment when Jim called his lover's parents to say "Help."
So this should probably be a blog, but I have another angle on the "elite evangelicals" blowup based on my experience observing similar feuds in a different area, namely biblical studies. /1
I've seen some waving away Galli's thesis as if it's silly to imagine anyone aiming for the "elite evangelical niche" on purpose when there could be more lucrative options elsewhere, either right or left. /2
This of course completely fails to account for the fact that a certain kind of respect is worth far more than money to many, many people.
I've also seen a false dichotomy that if we say people in this category long for respect, they can't also be sincere. /3