Board index › Topical Discussion › Politics, Philosophy, and Religion

Today was the Anniversary of 9/11...

Page 1 of 1 [ 15 posts ] 

Previous topic | Next topic

DeathFlowerKing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2022
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,228
Location: City of Roses

11 Sep 2022, 7:04 pm

All I can say is I think that the US has been going steadily downhill ever since this tragic event happened, and in a weird way it reminds me of everything that The Tower card symbolizes in tarot (which was inspired by the Tower of Babel story).

It was the beginning of the end for the 'American Empire'...

Maybe someday we'll get to see the curse of The Tower card apply to Trump Tower?

Image



Mona Pereth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Sep 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,212
Location: New York City (Queens)

13 Sep 2022, 3:39 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
All I can say is I think that the US has been going steadily downhill ever since this tragic event happened,

In some ways, yes. But not in every way. There have been some significant improvements too.

For example, between 2001 and 2019, crime rates went way down in many cities. That's an improvement (albeit recently canceled out, to some degree, by recent crime waves apparently sparked by the COVID crisis).

Also, same-sex marriage gained acceptance (though not completely).

On the other hand, economic inequality has gotten worse.


_________________
- Autistic in NYC - Resources and new ideas for the autistic adult community in the New York City metro area.
- Autistic peer-led groups (via text-based chat, currently) led or facilitated by members of the Autistic Peer Leadership Group.


DeathFlowerKing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2022
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,228
Location: City of Roses

13 Sep 2022, 3:51 pm

Mona Pereth wrote:

Also, same-sex marriage gained acceptance (though not completely).


It feels like an empty victory to me. Not only do we have now have an ultra Republican Supreme Court that managed to overturn Roe vs Wade and strip the majority of American Women of their right to a safe and legal abortion, but some justices like Clarence Thomas actually said in an interview that they hope to someday do away with gay marriage AND even go so far as to bring back the Sodomy Laws which would essentially make it a crime to have consensual sex for same sex couples like in the old days when we were put in prisons or even mental hospitals for doing this.

I guess it's like the LGBTQ community were only allowed 5 minutes to enjoy our equal rights that we spent a long time fighting for. :/



Mona Pereth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Sep 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,212
Location: New York City (Queens)

13 Sep 2022, 3:58 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
It feels like an empty victory to me. Not only do we have now have an ultra Republican Supreme Court that managed to overturn Roe vs Wade and strip the majority of American Women of their right to a safe and legal abortion, but some justices like Clarence Thomas actually said in an interview that they hope to someday do away with gay marriage AND even go so far as to bring back the Sodomy Laws which would essentially make it a crime to have consensual sex for same sex couples like in the old days when we were put in prisons or even mental hospitals for doing this.

I guess it's like the LGBTQ community were only allowed 5 minutes to enjoy our equal rights that we spent a long time fighting for. :/

Backlash happens.

If enough LGBTQ+ people are motivated to become politically active, hopefully we'll prevail in the long run.


_________________
- Autistic in NYC - Resources and new ideas for the autistic adult community in the New York City metro area.
- Autistic peer-led groups (via text-based chat, currently) led or facilitated by members of the Autistic Peer Leadership Group.


DeathFlowerKing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2022
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,228
Location: City of Roses

13 Sep 2022, 4:00 pm

Mona Pereth wrote:
DeathFlowerKing wrote:
It feels like an empty victory to me. Not only do we have now have an ultra Republican Supreme Court that managed to overturn Roe vs Wade and strip the majority of American Women of their right to a safe and legal abortion, but some justices like Clarence Thomas actually said in an interview that they hope to someday do away with gay marriage AND even go so far as to bring back the Sodomy Laws which would essentially make it a crime to have consensual sex for same sex couples like in the old days when we were put in prisons or even mental hospitals for doing this.

I guess it's like the LGBTQ community were only allowed 5 minutes to enjoy our equal rights that we spent a long time fighting for. :/

Backlash happens.

If enough LGBTQ+ people are motivated to become politically active, hopefully we'll prevail in the long run.


I certainly hope so too. :(



DeathFlowerKing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2022
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,228
Location: City of Roses

13 Sep 2022, 4:09 pm

Also I dread the day we might become a literal Christian Theocracy and I lose all my rights as a non-Christian...



Mona Pereth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Sep 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,212
Location: New York City (Queens)

14 Sep 2022, 4:47 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
Also I dread the day we might become a literal Christian Theocracy and I lose all my rights as a non-Christian...

This is indeed a possibility to be concerned about.

Hopefully a sufficiently large number of Americans will resist.

Unfortunately, many people here in the U.S.A., especially people who live outside of Bible Belt and have had little or no contact with Bible Belt culture, are not fully aware of even the existence of significant numbers of Christians who want the U.S.A. to be a specifically "Christian nation."

So, if you are concerned about this, one of the things you could do about it is to educate people living in blue and purple states who are unaware of the threat. (Two resources you could use for that purpose are the Christian Nationalism section of Religion Dispatches and the Christian Nation section of Right Wing Watch.)


_________________
- Autistic in NYC - Resources and new ideas for the autistic adult community in the New York City metro area.
- Autistic peer-led groups (via text-based chat, currently) led or facilitated by members of the Autistic Peer Leadership Group.


DeathFlowerKing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2022
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,228
Location: City of Roses

14 Sep 2022, 5:08 pm

And I actually live right in the Bible Belt, believe it or not. Sometimes I fear that the time will come when I have to stay closeted about being both a homosexual and my spiritual beliefs just for my own safety.

These really are disturbing times. That's no exaggeration. :(



Mona Pereth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Sep 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,212
Location: New York City (Queens)

14 Sep 2022, 5:17 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
And I actually live right in the Bible Belt, believe it or not.

I kinda guessed that either you lived in the Bible Belt or you were a refugee from the Bible Belt. Most people outside the Bible Belt are just not fully aware of the threat.

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
Sometimes I fear that the time will come when I have to stay closeted about being both a homosexual and my spiritual beliefs just for my own safety.

These really are disturbing times. That's no exaggeration. :(

Yep they are.


_________________
- Autistic in NYC - Resources and new ideas for the autistic adult community in the New York City metro area.
- Autistic peer-led groups (via text-based chat, currently) led or facilitated by members of the Autistic Peer Leadership Group.


Last edited by Mona Pereth on 14 Sep 2022, 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

DeathFlowerKing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2022
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,228
Location: City of Roses

14 Sep 2022, 5:31 pm

I would leave this country or at least this state before the SHTF if i could, but im pretty much stuck here...



Mona Pereth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Sep 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,212
Location: New York City (Queens)

14 Sep 2022, 6:28 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
I would leave this country or at least this state before the SHTF if i could, but im pretty much stuck here...

Then perhaps the best thing you can do is to try to educate Americans outside the Bible Belt, using links to well-researched articles about the Christian religious right wing and its ambitions.

Hopefully also there might be some local political activist groups you could get involved with.


_________________
- Autistic in NYC - Resources and new ideas for the autistic adult community in the New York City metro area.
- Autistic peer-led groups (via text-based chat, currently) led or facilitated by members of the Autistic Peer Leadership Group.


DeathFlowerKing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2022
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,228
Location: City of Roses

14 Sep 2022, 6:30 pm

What about educating the people who live inside the Bible Belt?



lostonearth35
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,681
Location: Lost on Earth, waddya think?

14 Sep 2022, 6:35 pm

Not just the US, the whole world has been going rapidly downhill since 9/11. And the universe, which will soon rip it apart. There's nothing to look forwards to, the human race is doomed.



Mona Pereth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Sep 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,212
Location: New York City (Queens)

14 Sep 2022, 6:37 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
What about educating the people who live inside the Bible Belt?

That, too, although a somewhat different kind of education might be needed.


_________________
- Autistic in NYC - Resources and new ideas for the autistic adult community in the New York City metro area.
- Autistic peer-led groups (via text-based chat, currently) led or facilitated by members of the Autistic Peer Leadership Group.


Mona Pereth
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 11 Sep 2018
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,212
Location: New York City (Queens)

14 Sep 2022, 6:46 pm

lostonearth35 wrote:
Not just the US, the whole world has been going rapidly downhill since 9/11.

Not in every way, or at least not since 2001.

For example, between 2001 and 2015, world hunger went down. It has been rising again since 2016, alas. Yet the world hunger stats (as a proportion of the world's human population, at least) are still much lower than when I was young. I remember hearing that a third of third of the world's population was on the brink of starvation.

Also, between 2001 and 2015, rights to same-sex marriage were won in many places. It may soon be necessary to fight again to hold on to that right, but winning it in the first place was certainly an improvement.


_________________
- Autistic in NYC - Resources and new ideas for the autistic adult community in the New York City metro area.
- Autistic peer-led groups (via text-based chat, currently) led or facilitated by members of the Autistic Peer Leadership Group.