I’m not Christian, I don’t go to church anymore, and my pastor died, but when he was alive I’d sometimes go to his sermons and I remember one time he said “it feels good to hate, but we know that it isn’t allowed, so when we’re told that we’re allowed to hate someone we get so excited that we forget we’re supposed to love”, and if my humble atheist ass might borrow some church talk I’d like to perhaps submit that
Anyhow sometimes on the day to day I feel disgust or revulsion and I have to ask myself “is this a danger to anyone at all or am I just looking for something I’m allowed to hate” and a solid 98/100 times it’s the latter so once again thank you pastor D
Real progressives back smart ideas that improve lives — and reject nutty ideas that would ruin neighborhoods.
I’m tired of being told that, to be a progressive, I now must swear allegiance to crazy ideas.
I’m a strong Democrat, with a winning bipartisan track record. I’m rooted in progressive ideals and policies: criminal justice reform, Green New Deal, Medicare for All, free education, clean air and water. These are ideas I have fought for my entire adult life.
But some people in groups like the DSA are pushing an agenda FAR outside those ideals. Supporting Hamas is not progressive. “No police, no prisons, no borders” is not progressive. Celebrating the murder of Israeli civilians is not progressive. These ideas are REGRESSIVE.
If there were no police or prisons, if anyone in your neighborhood could do whatever they wanted, while politicians cheered on terror groups — would that represent PROGRESS to you? No, that would be a step back. Those are REGRESSIVE ideas.
On the other hand, if everybody could see a doctor when they got sick, get a good, free education and breathe clean air — would that represent progress? Yes. Those are PROGRESSIVE ideas.
They are NOT the same thing. And the difference matters.
Some defend the far left by claiming they only want Nordic-style social democracy. If that were true, I might applaud them. I want those policies, too! But what does universal healthcare have to do with Hamas? With abolishing all law enforcement? With erasing all borders? With treating every wealthy person as a villain? Ideas matter. And these are terrible ideas.
Right now, extremists are trying to sneak backwards proposals into our party, hoping mainstream Democrats are too frustrated with MAGA and the Democratic Party establishment to notice.
But we see you.
Yes, we want our Democratic Party to be a big tent. But we don’t need “party poopers. So STOP pooping in the punch bowl — and telling us the turds are ice cubes.
They aren’t. And we are smart enough to know the difference.
Opposing peace means opposing resolution of the conflict
At a pro-Palestinian demonstration today in London, one marcher carried a homemade cardboard sign bearing the words:
“NO PEACE BITCHES!!”
One sign obviously does not represent an entire protest.
But still, it captures a real suspicion of the word peace among parts of the movement.
For some pro-Palestinian activists, peace gets treated like another word for surrender. It means asking Palestinians to accept the loss of land or a future without genuine political rights.
But endless war cannot be the answer. A movement that wants to prevent Palestinian suffering should also be committed to finding a political solution that prevents the next round of suffering.
This is why the pro-Palestinian movement needs to also be pro-peace.
So what does being pro-peace mean to me?
1. It means ending the bloodshed
The first purpose of peace is to stop people being killed, maimed, displaced and traumatised.
That may sound obvious. But every new round of fighting produces more bereaved families, more destroyed communities, and more people with powerful reasons to hate the other side. We can’t ignore this. It needs to end—now.
2. It does not mean total surrender
Palestinians should not be expected to abandon their national aspirations or accept a life without dignity and political rights. Israelis should not be expected to accept permanent insecurity or the possibility of their country’s destruction.
3. It requires a genuine willingness to compromise
It’s easier to favour compromise when it means the other side giving something up.
But real compromise means accepting that neither side will receive everything it wants.
Any vision that requires millions of people to leave, submit or live permanently without rights cannot be treated as a serious peace proposal.
We need compromise. But that compromise needs to be fair, and on both sides.
4. It means recognising the humanity of the other side
Not every Palestinian is responsible for the actions of Hamas. Not every Israeli is responsible for every decision or action of the Israeli government or IDF, either.
An entire population cannot be treated as collectively guilty for harm inflicted on the other side.
Peace requires maintaining that distinction. Even when anger makes collective blame popular.
5. It means rejecting revenge as a political programme
The desire for revenge is sometimes understandable in the context of great suffering or atrocities.
But revenge won’t produce a stable future.
One atrocity does not reverse another. One grieving family is not healed by creating another grieving family.
6. It means accepting that peace is made with enemies
Peace is rarely made between parties that like or trust each other. It is made between adversaries who conclude that coexistence, however imperfect, is preferable to endless destruction.
7. It means choosing the future over the past
History cannot be used as a permanent veto over the future.
At some point, both peoples must decide whether their children will inherit an obligation to continue the conflict—or an opportunity to escape it.
“No peace” may sound defiant. But there is nothing particularly courageous about condemning another generation to fear, hatred and funerals.
superman 🤝 solid snake when it comes to defying what others expected and made you for, and instead choosing to find hope and love in a broken world and deciding to make the best of your situation, despite everything
