#Michael Gerson

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

George W. Bush, the infamously anti-gay and neoconservative former U.S. president who invaded Iraq on a lie, has criticized congressional Republicans for threatening to defund the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a largely successful African HIV-prevention program that he launched back in 2003. “There is no program more pro-life” than PEPFAR, he wrote.

Though PEPFAR is estimated to have saved over 25 million lives, its funding is set to expire on September 30. Congressional Republicans are falsely claiming that the program promotes abortion and using its re-funding as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. Republicans have threatened to defund the entire federal government at the end of the month unless they’re allowed to slash military diversity programs and military aid to Ukraine and to increase anti-immigration measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We are on the verge of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To abandon our commitment now would forfeit two decades of unimaginable progress and raise further questions about the worth of America’s word,” Bush wrote in a Wednesday opinion article in The Washington Post.

Bush said that his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, his White House chief of staff Joshua Bolton, and his senior policy advisor Michael Gerson had advised him to begin PEPFAR. Gerson reportedly told Bush that it would be “a source of national shame” if the U.S. didn’t try to help end the worldwide HIV epidemic.

Bush’s opinion article cited words that Gerson himself had written in defense of PEPFAR in November 2017: “Are Republicans in Congress prepared to squander a legacy of GOP leadership that has won the United States considerable goodwill around the world? Among evangelical Christians, what definition of being ‘pro-life’ does not include saving millions of lives from preventable disease and death?”

Adding his own thoughts, Bush wrote, “There is no program more pro-life than one which has saved more than 25 million lives. I urge Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR for another five years without delay.”

During his presidency, Bush backed a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, and used bans on same-sex marriage to help him win re-election in 2004. While he served, 27 states banned same-sex marriage.

Despite Bush’s anti-gay record, PEPFAR was “a sound investment in U.S. security,” Ben Plumley, the former CEO of the now-defunct international HIV organization Pangea, said in a now-deleted interview with Hornet.com. Plumley said the program “generated very significant goodwill towards the United States” and countered “the spread of radical Islam or radical anti-Western attitudes in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Plumley also noted that most HIV transmissions in sub-Saharan Africa are heterosexual, meaning that conservative Republicans could support PEPFAR without worrying about seeming too overtly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Marcin Sacha landscape : Tuscany Fields

* * * *

"Contemplating a loving God strengthens portions of our brain — particularly the frontal lobes and the anterior cingulate — where empathy and reason reside. Contemplating a wrathful God empowers the limbic system, which is ‘filled with aggression and fear.’ It is a sobering concept: The God we choose to love changes us into his image, whether he exists or not.”

— Michael Gerson, quoted by Brian McLaren in A New Kind of Christianity (original source: The Washington Post) Quote for the DayAnamchara • The Website of Unknowing

[alive on all channels]

[contemplatingoutlander]

Michael Gerson presents a thoughtful analysis of how right-wing, White “Christians” in the U.S. seem to have embraced the OPPOSITE of what Jesus preached. It was great to read this article because it clearly states everything that has been so confusing to me for years about the right-wing “Christian” devotion to Trump.

Christ’s revolt against the elites could hardly be more different from the one we see today. Conservative evangelicalism has, in many ways, become the kind of religious tradition against which followers of Jesus were initially called to rebel. And because of the pivotal role of conservative Christians in our politics, this irony is a matter of urgency.

Having known evangelicals who live lives of moral integrity and serve others across lines of race and class, I have no intention of pronouncing an indiscriminate indictment. But all conservative Christians must take seriously a sobering development in America’s common life. Many who identify with Jesus most loudly and publicly are doing the most to discredit his cause. The main danger to conservative churches does not come from bad laws — it comes from Christians who don’t understand the distinctives, the demands and the ultimate appeal of their own faith.

[emphasis added]

This development deserves some woes of its own:

Woe to evangelical hypocrisy. Given the evidence of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention, the corruption and sexual scandal at Liberty University, the sex scandal in the Hillsong ministry, the sexual exploitation revealed in Ravi Zacharias’s ministry, and the years of sexual predation at the (Christian) Kanakuk summer camps, Americans increasingly identify the word “evangelical” with pretense, scandal and duplicity. In the case of the SBC, victims (mostly women) were ignored, intimidated, dismissed and demeaned. Many of the most powerful Southern Baptist leaders betrayed the powerless, added cruelty on top of suffering and justified their coverup as essential to Christian evangelism. How can hearts ostensibly transformed by Christ be so impervious to mercy?

Woe to evangelical exclusion. In their overwhelming, uncritical support of Trump and other nationalist Republicans — leaders who could never win elections without evangelical votes — White religious conservatives have joined a political movement defined by an attitude of “us” vs. “them,” and dedicated to the rejection and humiliation of social outsiders and outcasts. From the start, the Trump-led GOP dehumanized migrants as diseased and violent. It attacked Muslims as suspect and dangerous. Even when evangelical Christians refuse to mouth the words of racism, they have allied themselves with the promoters of prejudice and white grievance. How can it be that believers called to radical inclusion are the most hostile to refugees of any group in the United States? How can anyone who serves God’s boundless kingdom of love and generosity ever rally to the political banner “America First”?

And woe, therefore, to Christian nationalism. Evangelicals broadly confuse the Kingdom of God with a Christian America, preserved by thuggish politicians who promise to prefer their version of Christian rights and enforce Christian values. The political calculation of conservative Christians is simple, and simply wrong.

[emphasis added]

[...] This view of politics is closer to “Game of Thrones” than to the Beatitudes. Nowhere did Jesus demand political passivity from his followers. But his teachings are entirely inconsistent with an approach to public engagement that says: “This Christian country is mine. You are defiling it. And I will take it back by any means necessary.”

By assaulting democratic and religious pluralism, this agenda is at war with the constitutional order. By asserting self-interested rights, secured by lawless means, this approach has lost all resemblance to the teachings of Christ. A Christianity that does not humanize the life of this world is not Christianity.

The theological roots of this error run deep. Evangelicals often think that being a Christian means the individualistic acceptance of Jesus as their personal Savior. But this is quite different from following the example of Jesus we find in the Gospels. “He never asks for admirers, worshipers or adherents,” Soren Kierkegaard observed. “No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is looking for.”

[emphasis added]

Gerson goes on to “imagine” what Christianity would look like in the U.S. “if today’s believers were to live out the full implications of their faith.”

Instead of fighting for narrow advantage, they would express their love of neighbor by seeking the common good and rejecting a view of greatness that makes others small.

Instead of being entirely captive to their cultural background, they would have enough critical distance to sort the good from the bad, the gold from the sand. This might leave them uncomfortable within their own tribe or their own skin — but the moral landscape is often easier to see from the periphery.

Instead of being ruled by anger and fear, they would live lightly, free from grudges and ready to offer forgiveness — thus preserving the possibility of future reconciliation and concord.

Instead of turning to violence in word or deed, they would assert the power of unarmed truth. They would engage in argument without slander or threats — demonstrating not wokeness or weakness, but due regard for our shared dignity.

Instead of being arrogant and willful, they would approach hard issues with humility, recognizing that even the most compelling principles are applied by fallible men and women. They would know that people who esteem the same ideal can come to different policy conclusions — and be open to the possibility of changing their own mind.

Instead of ignoring the cries of the ill, poor and abused, they would honor the unerasable image of God we see in one another. Believers don’t accept a society divided by rank or dominated by the illusion of merit — they seek to subvert such stratification in constructive ways, to prioritize justice and common provision for people in need. [...] Other noble religions and ethical systems come to similar conclusions. But for a Christian, one moment near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry draws the distinction between B.C. and A.D. Jesus stood up in a Nazareth synagogue and read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

[emphasis added]

Amen!

________________

Source for first three images; source for fourth image; note that all images were modified from their sources.

[in-sightpublishing]

The intolerance of evangelicals

Publisher: In-Sight Publishing Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014 Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal Journal Founding: August 2, 2012 Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access Fees: None…

[thenewdemocratus]

PBS: Video: NewsHour: Shields and Brooks: Cold War Echos and Campaign Financing

Kire Schneider on Google+ The New Democrat on Facebook The New Democrat on Twitter I actually agree with Mark Shields on this.  Republicans, especially in the Senate, love to criticize President Obama when it comes to Ukraine.  They blame him for everything from Ukraine to earthquakes thousands of miles away in Asia and perhaps every other problem that has arisen during his presidency. Depending…

[ifreakingloveroyals]

27 January 2016 | Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Micael Bindefeld with winners Adina Krantz and Nadine Gerson during the presentation of Scholarships From Micael Bindefeld Foundation in Memory Of The Holocaust at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, Sweden. (c) Michael Campanella/Getty Images

[retirement-home-rumble]

Your Elderly Representatives:

Gravity Falls - Stanley and Stanford Pines

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Uncle Iroh

Muppets - Statler and Waldorf

Lord of the Rings - Gandalf

Dream SMP - Philza Minecraft and Technoblade

Discworld - Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg

Ace Attorney - Wendy Oldbag

Doctor Who - Wilfred Mott

The Magnus Archives - Gertrude Robinson

Batman - Alfred Pennyworth

Star Wars - Yoda

Critical Role - Chetney Pock O'Pea

Up - Carl and Ellie Fredrickson

The Owl House - Principal Hieronymus Bump

Just Roll With It - Old Man Earl

Splatoon - Captain Craig Cuttlefish and DJ Octavio

Half Life VR but the AI is Self Aware - Dr Harold Coomer and Bubby

Jojo's Bizzare Adventure - Joseph Joestar

Transformers - Ratchet

Cats - Old Deuteronomy

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Splinter

DuckTales - Scrooge McDuck

Ninjago - Sensei Wu

Undertale - Gerson

Amphibia - Hop Pop

Golden Kamuy - Hijikata Toshizou

The Good Place - Michael

Back to the Future - Doc Brown

X-Men - Magneto and Professor X

Zero Escape - Tenmyouji

Genshin Impact - Zhongli

Five Nights at Freddy's - William Afton

Welcome to Night Vale - The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home

Homestuck - Nanna Jane Egbert

Kingdom Hearts - Master Xehanort

The Adventure Zone - Merle Highchurch

RWBY - Maria Calavera

Hermitcraft - TinFoilChef

Full Metal Alchemist - Pinako Rockbell

Miss Marple - Miss Marple

Skullgirls - Black Dahlia

Yu Yu Hakusho - Genkai

Umbrella Academy - Five Hargreeves

Golden Girls - the Golden Girls

Breaking Bad - Mike Erhmantraut

Dimension 20 - Bishop Raphaniel Charlock

Final Fantasy - Emet-Selch

Warrior Cats - Yellowfang

One Piece - Dr Kureha

My Little Pony - Granny Smith

Spongebob Squarepants - Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy

Stardew Valley - Grandpa

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Madame Razz

Bloodborne - Gehrman the First Hunter

Courage the Cowardly Dog - Muriel Bagge

Dragon Ball - Master Roshi

The Emperor's New Groove - Yzma

Mulan - Grandmother Fa

Death Note - Watari

Kung Fu Panda - Master Oogway

Christmas - Santa Claus

Plainview Discord Server - Funky Old

Token Tumblr Real Person - @theangstking 's cat, Lilly

Real Life Old Person - Betty White

EDIT: Results from all preliminaries have been updated

[weclassybouquetfun]

We're getting that much closer to the end of film awards season with the holding of the BAFTA awards. No real surprises with Cillian Murphy, Emma Stone, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Robert Downey Jr., Christopher Nolan, OPPENHEIMER and ANATOMY OF A FALL taking some of the top honours.

Among the presenters were TED LASSO alums Nick Mohammed

who, as his character Mr Swallow, did a skit.

and Hannah Waddingham who led the In Memoriam.

The BAFTAs gave an opportunity for Hannah to reconnect with her fellow Emmy presenter Colman Domingo.

- Phi Dunster partook in some pre-awards events and the BAFTAs afterparty.

Putting this baby to work!

Phil Dunster and Taylor Gerson Zakhar Perez - can't wait.

A BIT MORE TED LASSO ALUMS TIDBITS

Harriet Walters at the do.

Hannah with Michael Sheen

Kola Bokinni and Moe Hashim at Vanity Fair's pre-BAFTA party.

Brett took part in the Valentine's Day ANATOMY OF A FALL live-read in L.A playing the prosecutor played winningly by Antoine Reinartz.

This man went beast mode the entire film.

The live-read cast which includes Olivia Wilde.

Jason Sudeikis, there is no where in the world your cast can go without being connected to the parties of your break-up drama.

[dear-indies]

full list of biden letter 2:

Aaron Bay-Schuck Aaron Sorkin Adam & Jackie Sandler Adam Goodman Adam Levine Alan Grubman Alex Aja Alex Edelman Alexandra Shiva Ali Wentworth Alison Statter Allan Loeb Alona Tal Amy Chozick Amy Pascal Amy Schumer Amy Sherman Palladino Andrew Singer Andy Cohen Angela Robinson Anthony Russo Antonio Campos Ari Dayan Ari Greenburg Arik Kneller Aron Coleite Ashley Levinson Asif Satchu Aubrey Plaza Barbara Hershey Barry Diller Barry Levinson Barry Rosenstein Beau Flynn Behati Prinsloo Bella Thorne Ben Stiller Ben Turner Ben Winston Ben Younger Billy Crystal Blair Kohan Bob Odenkirk Bobbi Brown Bobby Kotick Brad Falchuk Brad Slater Bradley Cooper Bradley Fischer Brett Gelman Brian Grazer Bridget Everett Brooke Shields Bruna Papandrea Cameron Curtis Casey Neistat Cazzie David

Charles Roven Chelsea Handler Chloe Fineman Chris Fischer Chris Jericho Chris Rock Christian Carino Cindi Berger Claire Coffee Colleen Camp Constance Wu Courteney Cox Craig Silverstein Dame Maureen Lipman Dan Aloni Dan Rosenweig Dana Goldberg Dana Klein Daniel Palladino Danielle Bernstein Danny Cohen Danny Strong Daphne Kastner David Alan Grier David Baddiel David Bernad David Chang David Ellison David Geffen David Gilmour & David Goodman David Joseph David Kohan David Lowery David Oyelowo David Schwimmer Dawn Porter Dean Cain Deborah Lee Furness Deborah Snyder Debra Messing Diane Von Furstenberg Donny Deutsch Doug Liman Douglas Chabbott Eddy Kitsis Edgar Ramirez Eli Roth Elisabeth Shue Elizabeth Himelstein Embeth Davidtz Emma Seligman Emmanuelle Chriqui Eric Andre Erik Feig Erin Foster Eugene Levy Evan Jonigkeit Evan Winiker Ewan McGregor Francis Benhamou Francis Lawrence Fred Raskin Gabe Turner Gail Berman Gal Gadot Gary Barber Gene Stupinski Genevieve Angelson Gideon Raff Gina Gershon Grant Singer Greg Berlanti Guy Nattiv Guy Oseary Gwyneth Paltrow Hannah Fidell Hannah Graf Harlan Coben Harold Brown Harvey Keitel Henrietta Conrad Henry Winkler Holland Taylor Howard Gordon Iain Morris Imran Ahmed Inbar Lavi Isla Fisher Jack Black Jackie Sandler Jake Graf Jake Kasdan James Brolin James Corden Jamie Ray Newman Jaron Varsano Jason Biggs & Jenny Mollen Biggs Jason Blum Jason Fuchs Jason Reitman Jason Segel Jason Sudeikis JD Lifshitz Jeff Goldblum Jeff Rake Jen Joel Jeremy Piven Jerry Seinfeld Jesse Itzler Jesse Plemons Jesse Sisgold Jessica Biel Jessica Elbaum Jessica Seinfeld Jill Littman Jimmy Carr Jody Gerson

Joe Hipps Joe Quinn Joe Russo Joe Tippett Joel Fields Joey King John Landgraf John Slattery Jon Bernthal Jon Glickman Jon Hamm Jon Liebman Jonathan Baruch Jonathan Groff Jonathan Marc Sherman Jonathan Ross Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Tisch Jonathan Tropper Jordan Peele Josh Brolin Josh Charles Josh Goldstine Josh Greenstein Josh Grode Judd Apatow Judge Judy Sheindlin Julia Garner Julia Lester Julianna Margulies Julie Greenwald Julie Rudd Juliette Lewis Justin Theroux Justin Timberlake Karen Pollock Karlie Kloss Katy Perry Kelley Lynch Kevin Kane Kevin Zegers Kirsten Dunst Kitao Sakurai KJ Steinberg Kristen Schaal Kristin Chenoweth Lana Del Rey Laura Dern Laura Pradelska Lauren Schuker Blum Laurence Mark Laurie David Lea Michele Lee Eisenberg Leo Pearlman Leslie Siebert Liev Schreiber Limor Gott Lina Esco Liz Garbus Lizanne Rosenstein Lizzie Tisch Lorraine Schwartz Lynn Harris Lyor Cohen Madonna Mandana Dayani Mara Buxbaum Marc Webb Marco Perego Maria Dizzia Mark Feuerstein Mark Foster Mark Scheinberg Mark Shedletsky Martin Short Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mathew Rosengart Matt Lucas Matt Miller Matthew Bronfman Matthew Hiltzik Matthew Weiner Matti Leshem Max Mutchnik Maya Lasry Meaghan Oppenheimer Melissa Zukerman Michael Aloni Michael Ellenberg Michael Green Michael Rapino Michael Rappaport Michael Weber Michelle Williams Mike Medavoy Mila Kunis Mimi Leder Modi Wiczyk Molly Shannon Nancy Josephson Natasha Leggero

Neil Blair Neil Druckmann Nicola Peltz Nicole Avant Nina Jacobson Noa Kirel Noa Tishby Noah Oppenheim Noah Schnapp Noreena Hertz Odeya Rush Olivia Wilde Oran Zegman Orlando Bloom Pasha Kovalev Pattie LuPone Paul & Julie Rudd Paul Haas Paul Pflug Peter Traugott Polly Sampson Rachel Riley Rafi Marmor Ram Bergman Raphael Margulies Rebecca Angelo Rebecca Mall Regina Spektor Reinaldo Marcus Green Rich Statter Richard Jenkins Richard Kind Rick Hoffman Rick Rosen Rita Ora Rob Rinder Robert Newman Roger Birnbaum Roger Green Rosie O’Donnell Ross Duffer Ryan Feldman Sacha Baron Cohen Sam Levinson Sam Trammell Sara Foster Sarah Baker Sarah Bremner Sarah Cooper Sarah Paulson Sarah Treem Scott Braun Scott Braun Scott Neustadter Scott Tenley Sean Combs Seth Meyers Seth Oster Shannon Watts Shari Redstone Sharon Jackson Sharon Stone Shauna Perlman Shawn Levy Sheila Nevins Shira Haas Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Tikhman Skylar Astin Stacey Snider Stephen Fry Steve Agee Steve Rifkind Sting & Trudie Styler Susanna Felleman Susie Arons Taika Waititi Thomas Kail Tiffany Haddish Todd Lieberman Todd Moscowitz Todd Waldman Tom Freston Tom Werner Tomer Capone Tracy Ann Oberman Trudie Styler Tyler James Williams Tyler Perry Vanessa Bayer Veronica Grazer Veronica Smiley Whitney Wolfe Herd

Will Ferrell Will Graham Yamanieka Saunders Yariv Milchan Ynon Kreiz Zack Snyder Zoe Saldana Zoey Deutch Zosia Mamet

[unshulf]

Here’s my take on Deltarune’s later chapters.

So I actually postponed this post for a while because I wanted to have the dialogue sprites ready for it, but I never really got around finishing them.

Because of that, I will only post the overworld sprites.

Now all of this is technically subject to change as I had some new ideas as of recently, but I will write down the current concepts either way.

Chapter 3’s main bosses are Michael “Pink-Rook” Tenna (otherwise known as Peter) and Michael “Blue-Rook” Tenna (otherwise known as Baker). They have a brotherly rivalry sort of dynamic and I did base them a bit after the Left and Right Twix commercials in a way, as they tend to try to be different but end up doing essentially the same thing. Peter has a cliché French accent while Baker has a cliché German accent.  CH3’s secret boss is Mike An, who in the light world is the middle, half-circle piece of the TV’s antenna. He is the third brother (also the oldest one technically) who will go into retirement very soon after receiving a phone call from a mysterious someone during one of his radio shows. He would appear more in the story than Spamton does.

Chapter 4’s main boss is Bowoman, who is best described as a fraud, as there is no Bowman/Bow Woman chess piece. In a family dynamic she would be best described as the strange, distant cousin. Her lightworld counterpart is the tall sink within Sans and Papyrus’ house, as this chapter takes place there.  CH4’s secret boss is Times New Roman (or shortly referred to as Roman), who in the lightworld would be an old newspaper featuring an article of the disappearance of a specific someone. He takes on the role of secret boss similarly as Jevil, by not making direct contact with the Lightners unless they go to his place specifically.

Chapter 5’s main boss is John “Bishop” Baptiste. While he poses no threat, his patience does break when the Lightners disturb the peace of his church. His Lightworld counterpart is the bowl filled with the “sick” fruit juice.  CH5’s secret boss is Sabarter, the other Bishop, whose ways have been corrupted by one of the Knights. Her Lightworld counterpart is a broken Church Chalice. Similarly to Mike, she appears frequently throughout the story.

Chapter 6’s main boss is The Knight, whose lightworld counterpart is Gerson’s Hammer, while CH6’s secret boss is the other Knight, being Gaster. I will say as much that Gaster will only appear if the previous secret bosses have been defeated, though otherwise, not much to say about the Knights or the chapter as I haven’t conceptualized it that much. Same goes for Chapter 7, where I didn’t go further than the main boss being the Vessel, who represents the Pawn chesspiece.

Anyhow, I will see if I can put some work into this later on.

Currently, due to school and my focus being put onto original projects, my posts will continue to be really inconsistent, so, I want to apologize beforehand.

See ya.

[christianity-crucible]

“More than one in 10 Americans — around 40 million of us — stopped attending church in the last 25 years,” reported Christianity Today. “There’s no denying the decline in church attendance.” But there is denying it. Focus on the Family argues that stories about evangelical church decline are a “myth” promoted by liberals and that “liberal churches are hemorrhaging members” while “biblical churches are holding strong,” growing or even exploding. In May, the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest evangelical denomination, reported losing 457,371 members from 2021 to 2022, its “largest single-year numerical drop in more than 100 years,” according to the SBC’s Lifeway Research. “In total, Southern Baptist churches have suffered membership declines of about 3% annually the past three years.” “Despite what you may hear, conservative, evangelical churches are, in fact, growing.” Yet in July, Focus on the Family again promoted its contrary claim: “On the surface, it may appear that Americans are leaving the pews in droves. And there is some truth to that. However, that’s not the whole truth. Some churches are losing members. But it is actually the more liberal churches that are dying. … Despite what you may hear, conservative, evangelical churches are, in fact, growing.”

This is a lie that evangelicals had been telling for a while but the evidence now clearly shows evangelical churches are now also in decline and have been for years. (According to one account, evangelical decline just started later than main Protestant denominations'.)

“White evangelicals should panic,” wrote the late Michael Gerson, who decried the great dechurching in a 2019 column: “About 26% of Americans 65 and older identify as white evangelical Protestants. Among those ages 18 to 29, the figure is 8%. Why this demographic abyss does not cause greater panic — panic concerning the existence of evangelicalism as a major force in the United States — is a mystery and a scandal.” Focus on the Family promotes panic about many cultural trends. Why no panic about evangelical church trends?

Turns out evangelical leaders *are* panicking. Which is part of the reason they are trying to de-emphasize their anti-LGBTQ bigotry -- to where some LGBTQ people only find out how hateful their church is toward them *years* after they started attending.

But with churches closing all over, evangelicals often feel they can't afford to reject anyone -- which is why many evangelical churches now are unwilling to admit to new parishioners that they are non-affirming.

(I wonder how clear Tim Keller's Redeemer Presbyterian Church ever was about that to new members?)

[aestheticallynotdeerlightful]

It would be super cool to see your voice claims for the characters!

VOICE CLAIMS WOO!

Okay okay so this is a very long list, because I’m indecisive, and originally I would’ve loved to make this a video but alas I do not how to edit, nor do I own my computer, so it’ll have to wait

I was debating if I should of just sent my Google doc here of everything (because that doc has even more then I’m sending here) but I decided to just- copy and paste some of it so apologizes in advance for the length!

This list is very extensive and I’ve pulled voices from ALL over the place, I haven’t even watched all these shows, most of this I’ve just seen through clips and went “omg it’s perfect” so it’s a mess I’m sorry akdjsjd

Long post ahead!! (Italicized font are the ones I especially like the most)(I’ve also included links to some of these if you’ve never heard them)

UNDERTALE

Frisk

•Gregory (Over the garden wall)- Colling Dean

•Jessica (Craig of the creek)- Lucia Grace Cunningham

•Chihiro (spirited away English dub)- Daveigh Chase

•chowder (chowder)- Nicky jones

•niki yang, BMO (adventure time), Candy (gravity falls)

Flowey

•Yakko Warner (animaniacs) -Rob paulsen

•Richard Horvitz

Toriel

•Sigourney weaver

•little foots mother (land before time)

•Kala (Tarzan)- Glenn close and Kat cressida

•freya (god of war)- Danielle bisutti

Napstablook

•Sadness (Inside out)- Phyllis smith (although maybe a tad pitched down. But only a smidge)

Sans

•Herb (BoJack horseman)- Stanley Tucci

•Bob (bobs burgers)-H. Jon Benjamin

•Moist Cr1tikal (the YouTuber)

•Revtrosity (also a YouTuber)

•Red guy (DHMIS) -Joseph pelling

Papyrus

•Jacksepticeye (you all know who that is.)

•Scudworth (clone high)

•Skeletor (he-man) (I think this one speaks for itself)

•revtrosity (YouTube)

Monster kid

•Darwin Watterson (Gumball)

•Steven universe- Zach Callison (specifically young steven)

•Wybie (Coraline)- Robert Bailey Jr

Grillby

•Jack Skellington (nightmare before Christmas)- Danny elfman and Chris Sarandon

•Wirt (over the garden wall)- Elijah wood

Gaster

•Narrator (the Stanley parable) kevan Brighting

•bubo (bubo)- James dijit

•knight lautrec (dark souls)

•Sasha barbicon (titanic adventure out of time)

Undyne

•Jasper (Steven universe)- Kimberly brooks

•kuvira (legend of Korra)- Zelda Williams

•Yunan (amphibia)

Alphys

•Peridot (Steven universe) -Shelby Rabara

•Lara Jill Miller

Mettaton

•ENA (ENA)- Gabe V and Lizzie freeman

Mettaton Ex

•Alaska thunderfuck (hieeeee)

Burgerpants

•Hiccup (HTTYD)- Jay baruchel

•Randell(monsters inc)- Steve Buscemi

Asgore

•Mufasa (lion king)

•Aslan (Narnia)- Liam neeson

Asriel

•Lewis (meet the robinsons)

•kubo (kubo and the two strings)- art parkinson

•yes hear me out: Max (camp camp) -Michael Jones

Hyperdeath Asriel/Adult asriel

•Anakin (Star Wars)

Chara

•Connie (Steven universe)

•Kristofferson (fantastic mr fox)- Eric chase Anderson

•Marcy Wu (amphibia)

•Demetri (cobra Kai the karate kid saga continues)

•Ronno (Bambi)

Temmie

•Happy (Fairytail)- Tia Ballard

Mad dummy

•Blitzo (Helluva boss)- Brandon rogers

Gerson

•Yule (Mune: guardian of the moon)- (it’s the large green old guy)

That’s it for the Classic cast so far, I’ll make a seperate post this with my picks for the Environmentalshift au and other miscellaneous voices at a later time. This took forever

Maybe someday I’ll turn this into a video. So it’s easier

[are-they-z]

Supporters of #NoHostageLeftBehind Open Letter to Joe Biden - Part 2/2

Gabe Turner

Gail Berman

Gary Barber

Genevieve Angelson

Gideon Raff

Grant Singer

Greg Berlanti

Guy Nattiv

Hannah Fidell

Hannah Graf

Harlan Coben

Harold Brown

Henrietta Conrad

Howard Gordon

Iain Morris

Imran Ahmed

Inbar Lavi

Jackie Sandler

Jake Graf

Jake Kasdan

Jamie Ray Newman

Jaron Varsano

Jason Fuchs

Jason Biggs & Jenny Mollen Biggs

Jason Segel

JD Lifshitz

Jeff Rake

Jen Joel

Jeremy Piven

Jesse Itzler

Jesse Sisgold

Jill Littman

Jody Gerson

Joe Hipps

Joe Quinn

Joe Russo

Joe Tippett

Joel Fields

John Landgraf

Jon Bernthal

Jon Glickman

Jon Liebman

Jonathan Baruch

Jonathan Groff

Jonathan Tropper

Jonathan Marc Sherman

Jonathan Steinberg

Jonathan Tisch

Josh Goldstine

Josh Greenstein

Josh Grode

Julia Lester

Julie Greenwald

Karen Pollock

Kelley Lynch

Kevin Kane

Kevin Zegers

Kitao Sakurai

KJ Steinberg

Laura Pradelska

Lauren Schuker Blum

Laurence Mark

Laurie David

Lee Eisenberg

Leslie Siebert

Leo Pearlman

Limor Gott

Lina Esco

Liz Garbus

Lizanne Rosenstein

Lizzie Tisch

Lorraine Schwartz

Lynn Harris

Lyor Cohen

Mandana Dayani

Maria Dizzia

Mara Buxbaum

Marc Webb

Marco Perego

Mark Feuerstein

Mark Shedletsky

Mark Scheinberg

Mathew Rosengart

Matt Lucas

Matt Miller

Matthew Bronfman

Matthew Hiltzik

Matti Leshem

Dame Maureen Lipman

Max Mutchnik

Maya Lasry

Meaghan Oppenheimer

Melissa Zukerman

Michael Ellenberg

Michael Aloni

Michael Green

Michael Rapino

Michael Weber

Mike Medavoy

Mimi Leder

Modi Wiczyk

Nancy Josephson

Natasha Leggero

Neil Blair

Neil Druckmann

Nicole Avant

Nina Jacobson

Noa Kirel

Noah Oppenheim

Noreena Hertz

Odeya Rush

Oran Zegman

Pasha Kovalev

Paul Haas

Paul Pflug

Peter Traugott

Rachel Riley

Rafi Marmor

Ram Bergman

Raphael Margulies

Rebecca Angelo

Rebecca Mall

Reinaldo Marcus Green

Rich Statter

Richard Kind

Rick Hoffman

Rick Rosen

Robert Newman

Rob Rinder

Roger Birnbaum

Roger Green

Rosie O'Donnell

Ryan Feldman

Sam Trammell

Sarah Baker

Sarah Bremner

Sarah Treem

Scott Tenley

Seth Oster

Scott Braun

Scott Neustadter

Shannon Watts

Shari Redstone

Sharon Jackson

Shauna Perlman

Shawn Levy

Sheila Nevins

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Simon Tikhman

Skylar Astin

Stacey Snider

Stephen Fry

Steve Agee

Steve Rifkind

Susanna Felleman

Susie Arons

Todd Lieberman

Todd Moscowitz

Todd Waldman

Tom Freston

Tom Werner

Tomer Capone

Tracy Ann Oberman

Trudie Styler

Tyler James Williams

Vanessa Bayer

Veronica Grazer

Veronica Smiley

Whitney Wolfe Herd

Will Graham

Yamanieka Saunders

Yariv Milchan

Ynon Kreiz

[ludrii]

Do you base your Mettaton only on canon or do you have any favorite headcanons borrowed from fandom. Like, do you have any voices (voiceactors etc) that you think are perfect for him?

I'm not just asking about MTT, but about other UT/DR characters as well!

I mostly (try to) base him on canon, although I have so many headcanons about him now that he's basically my own character haha. Mostly stuff taken from my dreams or own ideas tho, I don't really tend to borrow unless it fits my very specific vision that I developed for him. But I do have a few headcanons that I borrowed from others. Like the plug tail. Or that he tastes make-up, nailpolish and hair products to test their quality. Or that his eyes flash red when he's angry. Or that he's aro and pansexual, although idk if I borrowed that.. I think it's actually my own. I just didn't really think about it until I saw other people bring it up as well. Hm. Or that he can feel ALL of his mechanics cause he like. literally became his body. Or that he's ticklish. Those two may or may not correlate. Or cooling fans. Sort of like the ones computers have. As in, instead of blushing his fans start to whirr to try and cool him down. I've seen it in some fanfictions and since it appeared in one of my dreams too it's basically canon to me.

As for the voice.. In Mettaton's case, I got a rather complex, VERY specific headcanon voice for him (mostly based on what he sounds like in my dreams) and I haven't heard anyone sound close enough to it. As for the other UT characters, I conducted a research (stole other people's headcanons basically xD), and made a list of voice(actor)s for them, behold:

Flowey: Kotetsu from Kamisama Kiss (Josh Grelle) Toriel: Kala from Tarzan (Glenn Close) Sans: Patrick Seitz. Papyrus: Alan Oppenheimer Undyne: Lalaco Godspeed from Space Patrol Luluco (Monica Rial) Alphys (not really but eh,): Lara Jill Miller Mettaton (ex) (take with a grain of salt, it's the closest I found to my headcanon anyway): Zarbon from Dragon Ball Raging Blast (J. Michael Tatum) (also James Carter Cathcart kinda) Asgore: King Frederic from Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Clancy Brown) Asriel - young: Armin Arlert from Attack on Titan (Josh Grelle) - adult: Xbalanque from SMITE (Josh Grelle)

Burgerpants: Sanji from One Piece Film: Gold (Eric Vale) Bratty: Kobayshi from Miss Kobayshi's Dragon Maid (Lean Clark) Catty: Junko Enoshima from Dangaronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School (Jamie Marchi) Snowdin shopkeeper: Shion Kananomori from Psycho-Pass (Lydia Mackay) Gerson: Kaseki from Dr. Stone (Kenny Green)

They're colour coded so you can see where exactly I stole what from where, and to hear it too, if you want:

Green (timestamps) Flowey - 0:00 Undyne - 2:11 Mettaton - 3:47 Snowdin shopkeeper - 7:34 Gerson - 8:30 Bratty - 9:04 Catty - 9:30 Burgerpants - 10:03 Asriel (adult) - 10:36 Asriel (young) - 11:09

Red Toriel - 0:24

Blue Alphys - 0:22 Mettaton #2 - 0:35 Asgore - 1:32 Papyrus - 2:49 Sans - 3:01

As for the DR characters.. Dunno, I didn't really look into it. When it comes to Spamton, my headcanon voice(actor) for him is Alex Rochon ig. For the others- L Void cuts it for me just fine. Especially for Queen, Susie and Kris. Although for Berdly and Jevil it'd be Revtrosity instead.

I can't bother with links there, too lazy.

[vague-humanoid]

Conservative Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson penned a piece Thursday in which he said he was wrong to think that Republicans weren't really racists when it came right down to it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/20/gop-maga-trump-racism-white-grievance-strategy/

This is among the worst errors of moral judgment I have made as a columnist. I tended to view bigotry as one of America’s defects or failures. The historical works I read often tried to defend the best elements of the American ideal as dramatically outweighing the worst moments of its application.

But no: The country was soiled by the sin of slavery from its birth. Many White people became wealthy by systematically stealing the wages and wealth of their Black neighbors. White Americans established a social and religious system designed to grant themselves dominance, often while trying to convince African Americans of God’s lower regard for their souls. Such systemic abuse could be found in North and South (though it was more heavy-handed in the South). Slaves were raped with impunity and murdered without consequence. And if someone in the North promulgated abolitionist ideas with too much effect, they could be targeted for bounties, beaten in the street or killed.

[pulpsandcomics2]

The Shadow      April 15, 1933

The Shadow’s Justice by Maxwell Grant

Blood and Milk by Conrad Gerson

Murder on Board by Michael Tilden