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| Chinese New Year decoration with rabbits, for the year of the rabbit. Image source. |
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1. 'It was a beautiful moment': Moore County drag show goes on despite power outages (December 5) So, some conservatives were outraged about a drag show, and then there was a power outage- and then one of the people who opposed the drag show tweeted "The power is out in Moore County, and I know why." I find this SO FASCINATING, because yes, I have been in many situations where a Christian says something- something that if it was really true, would be very alarming and maybe we should get law enforcement involved- but nobody takes it that way. (The example that comes to mind is people saying, "I'm such a bad sinner, if you all knew what I've done, you wouldn't even want to be in the same room as me." Or a speaker I saw at a Christian event who said, "I've broken every one of the 10 commandments"- and immediately my brain was like "oh my goodness, she had sex???" and then my second thought was "WAIT, 'do not murder' is one of the 10 commandments" (!!!!!!!) and then my third thought was "well Jesus said that being angry at someone is as bad as murder, so I'm sure that's what she meant.")
So- "The power is out in Moore County, and I know why" and then she was so surprised when the police showed up at her house. Because, she meant it like, obviously God has heard our prayers to stop this drag show, and God has answered by causing this power outage, and this is such wonderful news, it's so exciting to see God working. She had no idea that, to normal people, it sounded like she was saying "I committed a crime." Her mistake was tweeting it where people outside of her Christian bubble could see it.
2. Wards of God (December 2022) "They have families. And those families are really struggling, maybe. And sometimes they’re struggling primarily because the state is intervening oppressively, but either way they exist."
3. Idaho’s ‘faith-healing’ exemption has led to more senseless child deaths (January 19) [content note: child death] So... I'm not sure if changing the law will help here. If "your kid might die" isn't a good enough reason for parents to go against their religious beliefs, then why would "your kid might die, and then you'll get arrested and charged with murder" be a good enough reason? I assume these are parents who love their kids and also really really believe that it's wrong to get real medical care, and that if they "obey God" then God will magically save their kids' lives. (Or, if God doesn't save them, well, it was "God's plan" so it's okay.)
I'd be interested to know if other states which do not have a "faith-healing exemption" have fewer children dying in these kinds of situations. Or, maybe if they arrest other people besides the parents- people who pressured the parents into refusing medical care, people who might fear "I'll get arrested" more than they fear "the kid might die."
But definitely some kind of action needs to be taken to stop this. Children have a right to real medical care.
4. Nonviolent Activism, Stress and a Major Victory in Oklahoma: On Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Motion to Delay Executions (January 19) [content note: death penalty] "I don’t ever intend to sit back and let government killing of its’ citizens ever become an easy process."
5. The Humble Power Box That People Line Up To See (January 20) "A power box in Lujiazui, Shanghai's financial hub, has become a popular check-in spot."
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