weary as the day is long

Application of bobbin lace in the shape of a butterfly, c. 1900 - c. 1914. Lacemaker: anonymous, Europe.

So I’ve been expressing this and similar sentiments for (I shit you not) decades by this point, and something has become clear to me with time.

See, somebody will inevitably come along and say

“Those aren’t real Christians!”

And I want SO BADLY to be able to call them out for trying to No True Scotsman their way out of ethical responsibility for their cohort.

But here’s the thing.

They’re right.

Where I live, specifically, the three main religious denominations all claim The Cross as their iconography, and claim to be Christians. They are also literally, pedantically, textually, on the page Heretics, preaching Blasphemy.

I speak specifically of Evangelical Baptists, Mormons, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’m aware that in other regions it’s different, but these folks have been my personal lived experience with The Cross.

Evangelicals believe in things like The Rapture (which is not biblical canon), The Antichrist (also not canon), and the Prosperity Gospel (I’m honestly not even sure if heresy is a strong enough word for how not-Christian that is)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses reject a number of core Christian tenets, including but not limited to the Immortality Of The Soul. That’s, uh. Kinda a big one. You know. Not how I think reality works but. That whole Eternal Afterlife thing is kiiiinda big.

And Mormons. Whoo boy Mormons. Where to even begin with Mormons.

Mormonism is a Eugenics Breeding Cult from the days before Eugenics was a word. Amongst other textual heresies (they literally have their own Fanon Bible Sequel where the Native Americans cross the Atlantic Ocean in wooden submarines. Shits wild.) the Mormons believe that the Patriarch of each family becomes a God unto themselves; a progenitor god of their own whole earth, upon death.

What was the first commandment, again?

…

These folks are actually, literally, Not Christian.

Obnoxious, really. What do I even do.

Complain to you lot, I guess.

But how do I engage with someone who theologically believes that the USA needs to hold Jerusalem so that the President can trigger Armageddon (Evangelicals). How do I engage with somebody who thinks that Women are Chattel both in life and after death (Mormons). How do I engage with people who think that all modern technology is the handiwork of The Devil (Witnesses). Where do you even start.

It’s exhausting to think about.

people probably dont like it because it would mean acknowledging their complicity/refusal to help with the external circumstances harming a person that leads them to self harm to cope

and yet no grace is given to our exhaustion, our pain, our anger. anything other than perfect smiling compliance and simpering gratitude can be punished. if you do things they don't approve of, they may retaliate, or drop you entirely, and write things in your notes that will guarantee future mistreatment.

if you can't imagine how difficult it is to rely on people for basic survival, especially underpaid strangers who don't give a fuck about you, lucky you. if you've never had to appease anyone or choke back justified hurt and anger so as not to be left to rot, lucky you. it takes enormous social energy, which not everyone has. disabled people's survival shouldn't be a popularity contest.