This is an excellent post, and I've seen this phenomenon in friends of mine who, similar to believing they are 'pro-life' believe they are saving children from the abuses of transgender participation in sports. Its small minded, uninformed, and when I'm in the presence of this debate, am gasping for breath (where do I start?).
In case any of them are willing to read real scientific analysis which is written for lay readers (and Substack-sized; 900 words max.) on the athletics issue in particular., I have done several. My book won't likely be out for another two years, unfortunately, but it is intended to assemble "just the facts" in that way, for those people who are willing to listen.
Thank you for laying out the truth behind this campaign against individuals who have and are facing such turmoil. As if their lives are not hard enough there are those who wish to make it even harder. Where is their empathy, compassion and understanding. Jesus teaches us to love without limits. I always say one of the beautiful aspects of believing and following Jesus—we do not have to judge, we need to love.
Reform are doing the same over here in the UK 🇬🇧 And the national newspapers feed the people with their exaggerated stories and misleading headlines. Trans people, immigrants, the disabled, woke people, anyone really, to stop ordinary people looking at the real issues. All of this is to protect the wealthy. I read, this morning, that all horse racing will stop on one day to protest against raising taxes on betting companies. Betting does untold damage to people and their relationships but, no, we shan’t talk about that. The furore over adding VAT to public school fees (public schools are private schools, other schools are state funded - or not depending on your point of view. There seems to be an unwillingness to go after money from the wealthy. Folk are still clinging on to the myth of trickle down economics. Jesus had a lot to say about rich people and those declaring their faith loudly and in public.
Manipulate people’s fears and they will follow you anywhere.
Most excellent post, John! It's the GOP look there's a squirrel philosophy. Absolutely abhorrent! They should do proper work instead of fear mongering and let people live to be their best selves! Shame on the Republicans fir pursuing hate instead of love.
These MAGA people always pick on the MOST vulnerable populations, i.e., transgender, people of color, immigrants; because these groups can't easily fight back. They are bullies in the purest sense of the word, fighting for dominance in a world that no longer sees them as relevant. They know they are losing ground and they are desperate. I expect their tactics to get worse before they get better.
Scapegoating marginalized people--classic imperial authoritarian strategy to power over, divide, propagandize and distract the masses. One of Jesus' main objectives was to confront this ungodly injustice and violence. See Luke 4:18-19 quoting Isaiah 61:1-2. Christian Nationalism is a huge problem in this county. It is not of Jesus Christ or his teachings! Thank you for this post!
What you’ve written, John, cuts to the heart of the sickness in our politics. You’ve named something we all need to see with unflinching clarity: fear is the lever, and manipulation is the hand that moves it.
Spiritually, this matters because when people are taught from childhood to tremble at shadows, they can no longer discern the real dangers in front of them. They become captives to their fears. And a captive heart cannot love freely, cannot protect the vulnerable, cannot stand guard over justice. That is the deepest tragedy of all: fear shrivels the soul until empathy itself becomes suspect.
What you’ve named is not just politics—it’s desecration. It is the hollowing out of faith until nothing remains but empty rituals of suspicion and hate. To weaponize religion against children who simply want to play basketball or run track is not only cowardice, it is blasphemy against the very idea of community and compassion.
And to me, it matters because this is the blueprint of authoritarianism. Every autocrat in history has known that if you can keep people afraid of invented phantoms, they will never notice the real thieves in their house. They will hand over their freedom willingly, as long as you keep them convinced that some small, powerless group is to blame for their suffering.
That is why I’m grateful for your clarity. Because the only antidote to this manipulation is to keep pulling back the curtain—to keep reminding people that the real dangers are not trans kids on a court, but the cynical leaders who have turned an entire faith tradition into a factory of fear for their own profit.
You’ve told the truth plainly. And the truth, spoken without apology, is the one thing fear cannot withstand.
I so thankful you for this as the mother of a transgender daughter who took her life 10 years ago. People in general have no idea about transgenders, yet have fear and loathing because of what they have been manipulated to believe, which is definitely false. There is not enough education about any atypical group. This posting is a step, and I am grateful.
The Lemkin Institute has identified the united states as a genocidaire because of its efforts to erase trans people. This cultural murder of a group of people who have not committed harm, whose only desire is to live their lives authentically horrifies me. Thank you John for your Truth- Scream.
I have had this as my pinned post on Bluesky from the beginning and it was my pinned post on Twitter before I deleted my account :
To all of the “Christians” who try to justify their transphobia by saying, “God doesn’t make mistakes”, I would like to say this:
You’re right.
God doesn’t make mistakes.
He made transgender people from the same place of love as He made cis people.
Being transgender is a part of their life journeys.
There are lessons for them to learn and lessons for us to learn from them.
Jesus told us to love our neighbors and do unto others as we wish them to do unto us.
Those words apply to EVERY human being,
not just the ones that you determine worthy.
Transgender people deserve all of the same rights,
all of the same freedoms
and protections
all the same love, acceptance and compassion as every other human being on this planet!
•••••••••••
As for the ridiculous battle about transgender girls playing sports, it’s really insane. There is basically zero difference between the musculature of boys and girls. This whole fight…it’s absurd. Singling out a handful of kids who have already spent some, if not all, of their lives being laughed at, labeled, and tormented. So all these fine loving Christians are going to pile on more? For what? Control ? Power? Or just to make themselves feel better by hurting others ? The whole thing just makes me so angry !! How, yes, HOW can these people call themselves Christians while being so blatantly cruel and hateful ? Their cruelty, bigotry, hatred… it is all the antithesis of what Jesus taught !!
once the felon an dhis regime are done "disappearing" the homeless, it will start with the trans. after all - private prison owners donated big time to the felon and he must repay them by bldg prisons in every state for the sole reason of locking up homeless. so the rich continue to get richer
John, thank you for outing the truth. I have a transgender grandchild. Thank goodness the southern state they live in has a long history of acceptance of non conformity in gender. This is something I have witnessed in the South since my childhood. The hysteria around gender fluidity is stupid. Non conformity has been around since the dawn of time. "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Let's do more of that.
It’s not just the maggots. Major democratic wanna-bees are also spouting this garbage. Newscum, Rahm Emmanuel, congress members in safe districts. And it all comes from place of ignorance and fear.
This is an excellent post, and I've seen this phenomenon in friends of mine who, similar to believing they are 'pro-life' believe they are saving children from the abuses of transgender participation in sports. Its small minded, uninformed, and when I'm in the presence of this debate, am gasping for breath (where do I start?).
In case any of them are willing to read real scientific analysis which is written for lay readers (and Substack-sized; 900 words max.) on the athletics issue in particular., I have done several. My book won't likely be out for another two years, unfortunately, but it is intended to assemble "just the facts" in that way, for those people who are willing to listen.
https://jaynasheats.substack.com/p/allies-dont-dig-tunnels-under-the contains links to several other posts with more detailed information.
Thank you for laying out the truth behind this campaign against individuals who have and are facing such turmoil. As if their lives are not hard enough there are those who wish to make it even harder. Where is their empathy, compassion and understanding. Jesus teaches us to love without limits. I always say one of the beautiful aspects of believing and following Jesus—we do not have to judge, we need to love.
Reform are doing the same over here in the UK 🇬🇧 And the national newspapers feed the people with their exaggerated stories and misleading headlines. Trans people, immigrants, the disabled, woke people, anyone really, to stop ordinary people looking at the real issues. All of this is to protect the wealthy. I read, this morning, that all horse racing will stop on one day to protest against raising taxes on betting companies. Betting does untold damage to people and their relationships but, no, we shan’t talk about that. The furore over adding VAT to public school fees (public schools are private schools, other schools are state funded - or not depending on your point of view. There seems to be an unwillingness to go after money from the wealthy. Folk are still clinging on to the myth of trickle down economics. Jesus had a lot to say about rich people and those declaring their faith loudly and in public.
Manipulate people’s fears and they will follow you anywhere.
Thank you, as always for your work, John.
Most excellent post, John! It's the GOP look there's a squirrel philosophy. Absolutely abhorrent! They should do proper work instead of fear mongering and let people live to be their best selves! Shame on the Republicans fir pursuing hate instead of love.
These MAGA people always pick on the MOST vulnerable populations, i.e., transgender, people of color, immigrants; because these groups can't easily fight back. They are bullies in the purest sense of the word, fighting for dominance in a world that no longer sees them as relevant. They know they are losing ground and they are desperate. I expect their tactics to get worse before they get better.
They pick on those they believe are weaker because they are cowards.
Scapegoating marginalized people--classic imperial authoritarian strategy to power over, divide, propagandize and distract the masses. One of Jesus' main objectives was to confront this ungodly injustice and violence. See Luke 4:18-19 quoting Isaiah 61:1-2. Christian Nationalism is a huge problem in this county. It is not of Jesus Christ or his teachings! Thank you for this post!
What you’ve written, John, cuts to the heart of the sickness in our politics. You’ve named something we all need to see with unflinching clarity: fear is the lever, and manipulation is the hand that moves it.
Spiritually, this matters because when people are taught from childhood to tremble at shadows, they can no longer discern the real dangers in front of them. They become captives to their fears. And a captive heart cannot love freely, cannot protect the vulnerable, cannot stand guard over justice. That is the deepest tragedy of all: fear shrivels the soul until empathy itself becomes suspect.
What you’ve named is not just politics—it’s desecration. It is the hollowing out of faith until nothing remains but empty rituals of suspicion and hate. To weaponize religion against children who simply want to play basketball or run track is not only cowardice, it is blasphemy against the very idea of community and compassion.
And to me, it matters because this is the blueprint of authoritarianism. Every autocrat in history has known that if you can keep people afraid of invented phantoms, they will never notice the real thieves in their house. They will hand over their freedom willingly, as long as you keep them convinced that some small, powerless group is to blame for their suffering.
That is why I’m grateful for your clarity. Because the only antidote to this manipulation is to keep pulling back the curtain—to keep reminding people that the real dangers are not trans kids on a court, but the cynical leaders who have turned an entire faith tradition into a factory of fear for their own profit.
You’ve told the truth plainly. And the truth, spoken without apology, is the one thing fear cannot withstand.
Beautifully stated!
I so thankful you for this as the mother of a transgender daughter who took her life 10 years ago. People in general have no idea about transgenders, yet have fear and loathing because of what they have been manipulated to believe, which is definitely false. There is not enough education about any atypical group. This posting is a step, and I am grateful.
The Lemkin Institute has identified the united states as a genocidaire because of its efforts to erase trans people. This cultural murder of a group of people who have not committed harm, whose only desire is to live their lives authentically horrifies me. Thank you John for your Truth- Scream.
These horses have not only been lead to poisoned water, they're drinking their fill. How do we handle such idiocy?
My favorite quote from this article: “talk about selling a shit ton of nothing burgers and empty calories”. The best…
I have had this as my pinned post on Bluesky from the beginning and it was my pinned post on Twitter before I deleted my account :
To all of the “Christians” who try to justify their transphobia by saying, “God doesn’t make mistakes”, I would like to say this:
You’re right.
God doesn’t make mistakes.
He made transgender people from the same place of love as He made cis people.
Being transgender is a part of their life journeys.
There are lessons for them to learn and lessons for us to learn from them.
Jesus told us to love our neighbors and do unto others as we wish them to do unto us.
Those words apply to EVERY human being,
not just the ones that you determine worthy.
Transgender people deserve all of the same rights,
all of the same freedoms
and protections
all the same love, acceptance and compassion as every other human being on this planet!
•••••••••••
As for the ridiculous battle about transgender girls playing sports, it’s really insane. There is basically zero difference between the musculature of boys and girls. This whole fight…it’s absurd. Singling out a handful of kids who have already spent some, if not all, of their lives being laughed at, labeled, and tormented. So all these fine loving Christians are going to pile on more? For what? Control ? Power? Or just to make themselves feel better by hurting others ? The whole thing just makes me so angry !! How, yes, HOW can these people call themselves Christians while being so blatantly cruel and hateful ? Their cruelty, bigotry, hatred… it is all the antithesis of what Jesus taught !!
Thank you. Well and honestly stated.
once the felon an dhis regime are done "disappearing" the homeless, it will start with the trans. after all - private prison owners donated big time to the felon and he must repay them by bldg prisons in every state for the sole reason of locking up homeless. so the rich continue to get richer
Martin Niemöller's list.
John, thank you for outing the truth. I have a transgender grandchild. Thank goodness the southern state they live in has a long history of acceptance of non conformity in gender. This is something I have witnessed in the South since my childhood. The hysteria around gender fluidity is stupid. Non conformity has been around since the dawn of time. "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Let's do more of that.
It’s not just the maggots. Major democratic wanna-bees are also spouting this garbage. Newscum, Rahm Emmanuel, congress members in safe districts. And it all comes from place of ignorance and fear.