Reminder. The thing the rich fear more than anything else is VIOLENCE directed at THEM, when you finally reject their propaganda that puts you at each other's throats. That propaganda uses #IdentityPolitics, or #CultureWar to fool you. Don't be fooled. You have much more in common with each other than the rich, pigs.

A new book on #US #religion, 'The Great Dechurching', has a survey of “dechurched #evangelicals”, of whom 68% said their #parents played a role in their decision to stop attending #church. The top 5 issues:
1. Emphasis on #CultureWar (14%)
2. Lack of #love, #joy, #gentleness,# kindness, and #generosity (14%)
3. Inability to #listen (14%)
4.Inability to engage with other #viewpoints (13%)
5. Attitudes or actions to #race (13%)
https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/great-dechurching-whos-leaving-why-are-they-going-and-what-will-it-take-to-bring-them-back-jim-davis?variant=40244991197262
@theologidons @theology #theology #faith

The next #culturewar may have an #economic spin:

There is growing resistance to the #cashless society as engineered by the #financialservcies, with much criticism starting to focus on (very early) plans for the global Central Bank of Digital Currencies.

While some of the vocal critics of #digitalcurrency (such as #NigelFarage) have a long culture war history, others are coming to this from concerns around #inequality, #surveillance & suspicions about #banking's fee capture for e-transactions!

#ScottBaugh is an #OrangeCounty , #California #BananaRepublican who is trying to whip-up a #CultureWar over undefined #Wokism , caused by the #WokeMindVirus which he says is a bigger threat to American liberty than #WorldWar2. 👉 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/scott-baugh-wokism-threat-california-gop-congress-candidate_n_64f25ae2e4b04f9a01e8e2f1

Closer inspection reveals he represents #RWNJs in #HuntingtonBeach and was ‘educated’ at #Liberty ‘#University ‘, of #JerryFalwellJr ‘s pool boy fame. 🤷🏻‍♂️

My childhood home state of#Alabama is attempting to give #Florida a run for its money regarding which one can be the most socially regressive.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/denying-our-gay-reality-in-the-heart-of-dixie-67453e3c9103?sk=c2ac73240ad10964c1c69f3711810ce8

#LGBTQ #Gay #BookBanning #CultureWar #Equality #Culture

Guest Essay by Debra Satz and Dan Edelstein

"But universities have a moral and civic duty to teach students how to consider and weigh contrary viewpoints, and how to accept differences of opinion as a healthy feature of a diverse society. Disagreement is in the nature of democracies."
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/03/opinion/colleges-civics-core-curriculum-culture-wars.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

#FreeSpeech #democracy #disagreement #colleges #CultureWar #humanities #CivicEducation

i am so annoyed by this kind of culture war!

yes trudeau is deeply flawed but what is the alternative?
the NDP is in a coma + pierre poilievre is a radicalized conservative + libertarian + the majority of conservative MPs are more radical than the average canadian.
maybe trudeau should resign, so the liberals have a new leader in the next election?
ideally the NDP gets a grip.

this video was in my recommendations.
seriously youtube, please give up trying to radicalize me.

#cdnpoli #culturewar

Good news: Public opinion is on our side.
Bad news: Extreme right wing politicians and activist “parental rights” groups could give a flying fork about majority opinion.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/good-news-for-lgbtq-folk-in-new-navigator-poll-ac915fc1767a?sk=bb5b2c311eb97f21ca0fe2d6d5aba471

#LGBTQ #Education #CultureWar #Equality #Schools

Identity is tricky business for all of us: #LGBTQIA+, straight, non-binary, gender fluid, however we choose to nominalize our gender #identity.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/queer-identity-battlefield-b6bd5bcfedb2?sk=06628ed42f02b4c7c6a7dc786e0b4130

#LGBTQ #Queer #CultureWar #SocialJustice

When #Republicans talk about #CultureWar, they’re talking about taking away your #liberty - your liberty over your minds and bodies, your liberty to love whom you want, your liberty to choose your lifestyle and pursue your own happiness.

When Republicans say they “have to win the culture wars,” they’re saying they are fascists willing to use the state to limit your freedom. Meet them head on and fight for your liberty!

Trudeau is a powerful ally for Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ people. He has spoken out strongly in support of us many times. He has marched in Pride parades alongside us, and supported legislation to protect us.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/intolerance-toward-lgbtq-people-is-shameful-canadian-prime-minister-1b8778759029?sk=7f8771678cd4d5ecc6585ebf55f7d7e5

#LGBTQ #Canada #CultureWar #Allies #JustinTrudeau

Trudeau is a powerful ally for Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ people. He has spoken out strongly in support of us many times. He has marched in Pride parades alongside us, and supported legislation to protect us.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/intolerance-toward-lgbtq-people-is-shameful-canadian-prime-minister-1b8778759029?sk=7f8771678cd4d5ecc6585ebf55f7d7e5

#LGBTQ #Canada #CultureWar #Allies #JustinTrudeau

Not surprisingly, voters as a whole don't seem to apply the same, um, SOUL-CRUSHING IMPORTANCE to crushing #woke #teachers, #LGBTQ -friendly curriculum, or the hopes and lives of #trans kids in school, as, say, #GOP politicians and pundits do. Support for such #culturewar issues is higher among #Republicans, but even there, the polling doesn't show this focus as a grass roots groundswell.

Now, if that just translated into actual #voting ...

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-poll-shows-massive-backlash-to

Unpopular opinion: Forget the whole pronoun game; just use “they” across the board and be done with it.

The singular they has been around since Shakespeare and it fits into conversation quite comfortably and naturally. I’ve been doing it for ages, and nobody even blinks at it.

This organic practice avoids the whole issue of people deciding what pronouns apply to them and then trying to get everyone else to comply.

Yes, it’s rude to misgender someone, but “they” has no gender, so it’s not an issue. It can’t be wrong, whether intentionally or not.

Frankly, I find the whole “here’s my pronouns, so fucking use them or else” thing to be pointlessly confrontational. It’s even more so when someone demands that we use a nonstandard pronoun that is entirely artificial.

Likewise, let’s just make bathrooms unisex and be done with it. If it means adding floor-to-ceiling booths for more privacy, all the better. Unisex makes for better load-balancing, as well.

The best way to fight the culture war is to pick the battles that matter, not purely symbolic ones that benefit the fascists more than anyone else.

#politics #pronouns #gender #lgbtq #culturewar

Parental rights sounds like a good thing, right? Why would experts protest it? Well, you see, children are human too, and human rights includes children’s rights. When a parent goes against what is best for the child, that violates the child’s rights.

And, yes, some parents do things that are bad for their children. We all know this, but conservatives conveniently forget it when they want to.

https://medium.com/prismnpen/saskatchewan-government-mandates-outing-transgender-students-7781751d2361?sk=833e763f27e7c75385f0fc5bd40fa856
#2SLGBTQIA #LGBTQ #Canada #Saskatchewan #CultureWar

#Saskatchewan is one of the more conservative provinces in Canada, but we’re still in #Canada, which means we’re still a lot more progressive than U.S. Republicans.

At least, I thought so.

https://medium.com/prismnpen/saskatchewan-government-mandates-outing-transgender-students-7781751d2361?sk=833e763f27e7c75385f0fc5bd40fa856

#LGBTQ #CultureWar #Schools #Education

@liztai

I missed this entirely.

Is the US right making a civilizational / #culturewar issue out of #Dedollarization then? Or are you referring to Chinese media?

TITLE: Across U.S., Conservatives Target Bans on LGBTQ+ "Conversion Therapy"—Bans Repealed After Threats of Lawsuits Based on Freedom of Religion & Speech

My commentary: As I have said many times, I fully expect our various mental health professions in the USA to split into conservative/fascist and democratic/progressive associations -- each with its own "ethics" code -- in the near future.

Thank you Dr. Pope for summary below.

Michael Reeder, LCPC

-------- Forwarded Message --------

The Associated Press released an article: “In Iowa and elsewhere, bans on LGBTQ+ ‘conversion therapy’ become a conservative target.”

Here are some excerpts:

One of Iowa’s largest cities repealed its ban on “conversion therapy”… after a Christian organization threatened legal action, part of a deepening national movement to challenge protections for LGBTQ+ kids.

The city council in Waterloo voted this week to remove its restrictions after Liberty Counsel warned in a letter June 30 that it would “take further action” if the city did not repeal the ordinance by August 1. It was enacted in May.

The organization, which is based in Orlando, Florida, argued the ordinance infringes on the constitutional right to free speech and acted on behalf of a therapist in Waterloo “who was concerned about the implications of this on the practice of counseling,” Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel founder and chair, said in an interview in which he promised further litigation targeting states.

In Iowa and across the country, efforts are spreading to curb the rights of LGBTQ+ kids and adopt restrictions on gender and sexuality in classrooms, youth sports and medicine.

In recent years, local bans on conversion therapy in Florida also fell with the help of Liberty Counsel, which describes itself as a Christian ministry that is “restoring the culture by advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the family.”

Such therapy has been discredited and is opposed by, among others, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, citing research that shows it leads to increased risk of suicide and depression.

“The mental health mainstream believes that one, that these practices don’t really work, and two, that they may cause harm,” said Dr. Jack Drescher, a Columbia University psychiatry professor and editor of the chapter on gender dysphoria in the psychiatric association’s diagnostic manual.

<snip>

Laws prohibiting mental health professionals from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity are on the books in 22 states and Washington, D.C., according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights think tank. In 13 states, including Iowa, some municipalities have adopted their own provisions.

The issue has the potential to come to a head in the next year if the U.S. Supreme Court decides early this fall to hear the appeal of a Washington state therapist, Brian Tingley, whose lawsuit was dismissed.

While early lawsuits similar to Tingley’s failed, a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 prompted a new round of cases, said Christy Mallory, legal director at the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, which researches sexual orientation and gender identity. That ruling invoked free speech protections to block a California law that required anti-abortion centers to provide information about abortion.

In 2020, a panel of three federal judges in Florida relied in part on that 2018 ruling and became the first federal appeals court to block ordinances in Boca Raton and Palm Beach County that banned conversion therapy. Liberty Counsel represents the two therapists who won that case.

The diverging federal rulings in the Washington and Florida cases may be a reason for the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in this term, bringing another high-profile LGBTQ+ issue to the docket.

Staver is confident the Supreme Court will strike down bans in the near future. And Liberty Counsel has imminent plans to sue over statewide bans, he said.

“I think it is a losing proposition for any state or local government to have one of these laws, and they would be wise to repeal them before they also are sued,” Staver said.

In Iowa, Senate Democrats and a Republican in the House introduced bills for conversion therapy bans that didn’t make it out of subcommittees in 2020. That was the last time there was a concerted effort for a ban in the state, said Damian Thompson, public policy director at Iowa Safe Schools, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ children.

Meanwhile, in Iowa and elsewhere, laws have since been passed to prohibit teachers from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students through grade six, to restrict the restrooms transgender students can use, and to ban treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans minors. Many are facing challenges in court.

Republican lawmakers say the laws are designed to affirm parents’ rights and protect children. The issues have become flashpoints in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

But many parents and advocates worry about the deterioration of the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ kids.

In Waterloo, a city of over 65,000, Councilor Jonathan Grieder said he had heard concerns about conversion therapy happening in the area. He worked with Thompson at Iowa Safe Schools to draft an ordinance after watching statewide efforts stall but a ban pass in another Iowa city, Davenport, and in Linn County.

The Waterloo council approved it 6-1 in May, but overturned it 4-3 on Monday amid the prospect of costly litigation.

Archer Trip, of neighboring Cedar Falls, addressed the council before the repeal vote as a “survivor of conversion therapy” who had been placed there in high school.

“It does not work. Now, I am a proud queer man, but I am also here to protect everyone else,” Trip said. “We should protect our children.”

Archer’s twin sister, Nic Trip, who was also put in conversion therapy, testified: “Unfortunately, not all parents always make the safest decision for their children. What is the line of what is OK to do to our children?”

Mayor Quentin Hart said, not mentioning the Liberty Counsel, that there was “threat of impending litigation moving forward,” which put the members in a “tough situation.”

“I don’t believe that the Waterloo City Council are cowards,” Hart said. “I believe that they do have a decision to make tonight.”

The decision disappointed Thompson, who said Iowa Safe Schools will continue to advocate for local bans despite far-right groups’ success in turning a “common sense” issue into a “wedge culture war” one.

“Which is a shame,” Thompson said, “because in the meantime it only results in more kids being victimized and more kids, ultimately, receiving lifelong trauma.”

Ken Pope

Ken Pope, Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, Hector Y. Adames, Janet L. Sonne, and Beverly A. Greene
Speaking the Unspoken: Breaking the Silence, Myths, and Taboos That Hurt Therapists and Patients (APA, 2023)

Hector Y. Adames, Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, Melba J.T. Vasquez, & Ken Pope:
Succeeding as a Therapist: How to Create a Thriving Practice in a Changing World (APA, 2022)

Ken Pope, Melba J.T. Vasquez, Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, & Hector Y. Adames:
Ethics in Psychotherapy & Counseling: A Practical Guide, 6th Edition (Wiley, 2021)

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”
—Steve Biko (1946-1977), anti-apartheid activist & co-founder of the South African Students' Organization

~~~

#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy #legal #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #transgender #conversiontherapy
@psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #doctors #hospitals #gender #genderrestrictions #libertycounsel #christianright #supremecourt #safeschools #queer #culturewar

@marick It smells like everyone's too busy "owning the other-tards" to focus on reality. #CultureWar
http://webseitz.fluxent.com/wiki/2017-02-15-MindmapCultureWarSocialMediaEconomy

#BookBanning is just one assault as part of a larger war. They seek to re-establish the “good old days” of second-class status for anyone not a #white, #cisgender, #heterosexual #Christian. That is their “#CultureWar.”
https://medium.com/prismnpen/book-banning-blitzkrieg-white-cisgender-heteronormative-books-only-please-f3b90371824?sk=f1e5cb60f41414634ad61c27a381acf6

#LGBTQ #Education #Racism #Equality