On James Dobson, Taylor Swift, and American Progressivism
I’ve been noticing a pattern in the way many of my fellow liberals have been talking online that puts an iffy feeling in my gut. I haven’t said anything because I didn’t know if I’d be adding anything helpful to the conversation that hasn’t already been said, especially since I’m not a social media content creator and for the most part what I’ve posted online has just been me talking to myself. I still don’t know if posting this will help, but with the recent passing of James Dobson followed by the news of Taylor Swift’s engagement, it’s coming into sharp focus for me. Maybe this will just be a journal entry that goes nowhere. I don’t know. But fwiw, here is my observation as an exvangelical who grew up in Dobson’s world:
A lot of the ways progressives in the US are communicating and the attitudes they’re displaying mirrors the attitudes and communication habits I grew up with in right wing fundamentalist Christian circles, which is inherently authoritarian.
Let me explain…
One concept that I remember hearing about a lot at Bible college was the idea of religious legalism. It referred to the stance some Christians took on the Bible and its teachings on morality, which was a stance of strict adherence to their modern literalist interpretation of Biblical teachings.
Take, for example, a teaching attributed to Paul about women needing to dress modestly. With the context of the passage in mind, it’s addressing a specific issue that was occurring at that specific time in history in which women would show up to worship decked out in their expensive clothes and jewelry to show off their wealth, which the author thought was inappropriate in a spiritual community that saw wealth as link in the chain of injustice. However, many fundamentalist Christians have used that passage to justify shaming modern women who wear crop tops and shorts in public. That is a legalistic application of scripture. It erases nuance and forces a singular restrictive interpretation of a moral teaching onto everyone across the board.
Dobson made this same error by using a passage from Proverbs to teach parents that beating their children into submission is the most loving thing they can do.
The passage says, “Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them.” Now, with context in mind, we can understand that the rod being referred to was a shepherd’s rod, which was used not to abuse sheep, but to guide them. Further, people who actually study Proverbs in a responsible way know that it was not a book of laws, but literature made up of sayings and truisms that were meant to offer wisdom in certain situations. It’s kind of like how we might tell someone going through a hard time, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” It’s not meant to be a universal fact for every person in every challenging circumstance, but more of a reminder that sometimes we can learn and grow from adversity. Dobson, however, chose to erase all nuance around that proverb on parenting and instead used it to impose a strict, legalistic teaching about what he viewed as morality onto everyone across the board.
Here is where the Taylor Swift discourse comes in.
One particular saying that a lot of progressives have been repeating is, “There are no ethical billionaires.” Now, don’t take this as me criticizing that saying. In broad strokes, I agree. Building that much wealth very often requires preexisting privilege and exploiting other people. However, the responsible way to understand anything is to remember context and nuance. It’s erroneous to blame one individual for historically entrenched systems that happen to benefit her. Does that mean she’s completely absolved of all responsibility for making the world a more fair and equal place? Of course not. But putting her in the same category as Bezos and Musk and calling her problematic just because she shares a misunderstood economic label with them is a fallacy. She is not on their level.
(Side Note: If you want to talk about what the word “billionaire” actually means, how that word applies to her versus them, her assets or business moves, the jet, the vinyls, etc… I can make separate posts. But that’s another conversation.)
What’s worse is that while I’m seeing Swifties express excitement for her upcoming album and joy over her engagement, I’m also seeing a lot of progressives shaming Swifties for their happiness and celebration. They are erasing all nuance and instead imposing a strict, legalistic belief about what they view as moral engagement with art and celebrity onto everyone across the board. To me, as a person who grew up entrenched in (and abused by) authoritarian views and methods, that attitude sounds very in tune with what I grew up in.
(A quick aside: “Authoritarian” refers to anything that favors adherence to strict rules from hierarchical rulers over personal freedom. “Authoritarianism” is a political system built on authoritarian principles and methods.)
For decades, James Dobson taught authoritarian beliefs to everyone he could reach. He taught parents how to use authoritarian methods to impose strict, legalistic beliefs on their kids. He taught religious leaders how to use authoritarian methods to impose strict, legalistic beliefs on their congregants. He taught politicians how to use authoritarian methods to impose strict, legalistic beliefs on their constituents. The authoritarianism currently being put in place in the US was shaped by Dobson’s work in multiple areas of American life.
Dobson didn’t just happen to benefit from unequal systems. He helped construct them.
Anyone who seeks to be anti-authoritarian needs to start with self-reflection. Just like we grow up with inherent biases about human diversity, we also grow up with inherent biases about how we view the larger systems that govern our lives. A lot of us in the US grew up with an inherent bias towards authoritarian systems, whether that be from our religious background, the version of history we were taught in school, or the conditioning we were put through in pledging allegiance to the flag and standing for the national anthem. If we’re going to be anti-authoritarian, we need to look in the mirror, unpack, and decentralize our own authoritarian biases before we start giving other people advice on how to live.
Or, at the very least, we need to consider the larger context, facts, and nuances before we start pointing fingers and attacking people in comment sections for not fitting into our strict definitions of progressive perfection.
Until we can do that, we might as well be MAGA in blue hats instead of red.
I tried my hands at @cnroth's OC Talia, a counselor who is on board the USS Voyager during their seven year journey. I grew to love the character in our sprinting sessions and her rewrite of the series with Talia is just amazing - she feels absolutely organic and it makes the episodes so much better.
Everyone needs art of their OCs and here is my attempt - alcohol markers and watercolor.
May 1-15: Get caught in the darkness for another year.
Welcome to the seventh Cohen-based Star Trek fandom event, carrying on the tradition begun with Leonard Cohen and the Merry Month of May, organized by the incomparable @mia-cooper in 2019. I have the honor of organizing this year's event.
This year’s twist: A betrayal that was never forgotten.
You know how betrayals are. They can destroy someone's life or make them rebirth from the ashes.
Does it have to be the end of the world? I mean, nah. Betrayals can be forgiven - for sure. Can they be forgotten though?
You know the drill (the same procedure as every year):
1. Pick a Leonard Cohen song, or multiples of. Any Cohen lyrics as long as they sing dark and angsty thoughts to you.
2. Pick a date in the first fortnight of May only (Thursday 1st May – Thursday 15th May). If there is an avalanche of fanworks coming this way, we’ll double up on the day.
3. Pick a Star Trek fandom, or a mash-up of ST fandoms. Mix DS9 and Picard if you so wish, but no crossovers with non-Star-Trek fandoms.
4. Message this blog with your chosen date, the Star Trek fandom(s) you’ve picked, and the type of fanwork you’ll be producing. There'll be frequent updates with the sign-ups.
5. Message this blog for any questions / changes etc…
6. Post your angst-filled fanwork on your chosen date.
7. Message this blog with the details of where your fanwork is posted, and tag your Tumblr post with #theholy-orthebrokenhallelujah
8. If posting on AO3, add your fanwork to the collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TheHolyortheBrokenHallelujah
9. Follow this blog for updates.
Tagging all the creators from the last years. No obligation to participate this year of course, but please reblog to others: @caladeniablue, @theredheadedcaptain, @70thousandlightyearsfromhome, @marymoss1971, @pc-corner, @hauntedmoonchaos, @grissomesque, @lipstickonmylabcoat, @madamairlock, @littleobsessions90, @mia-cooper, @regionalpancake, @a-little-squirrely-sunshine @elephant-in-the-pride-parade @whathappenstotheheart @go-tell-the-bees @neverenough37 @coffeeblack75 @curator-on-ao3 @cnroth @seema-unbound
I was tagged by @curator-on-ao3 @elephant-in-the-pride-parade and @pc-corner thank you friends!!! 🩵🩵🩵
Since I already did this challenge a while ago with the first line of my current WIP (yes I’m still working on it… this thing is a beast), this time I’ll do first few lines of the last chapter I wrote (for my Voyager-has-a-counselor AU rewrite):
Talia woke up crying, but this time it wasn’t a nightmare to blame. It had been a good dream, in fact. It should have made her smile. Instead, it cracked her heart.
I think most people have probably been tagged by now, but if anyone sees this who wants to participate (or participate again!), consider yourself tagged!!
I got watercolor markers and needed practice. Dedicated to the VOY gals at the sprinty server @divinemissem13, @cnroth, @strkamand, @elephant-in-the-pride-parade @magdalenejaneway @cheile
What if Kashyk was way more sadistic and had a secret? And what if he managed to persuade Kathryn to cooperate in ways she barely survived? And what if Chakotay had a secret of his own?
I've wanted to do a Counterpoint fic ever since I first heard Kashyk's creaking way of saying the word 'Captain.'
Thanks to the encouragement, support, and cheerleading from @elephant-in-the-pride-parade, @cnroth, @cheile, @magdalenejaneway, and @pc-corner, this fic is ready to get started!
Chapter One posted today, will be posting the rest every few days.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/61365433
This is the link to my @25daysofvoyager and Prodigy submission for Day 14.
You're heard of Elf on a Shelf?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
The author is not accountable for Rok-Tahk being put in these circumstances. I'm JUST tryna fix it, OK @elephant-in-the-pride-parade?!?!?!?!
Thank you so much to Elephant and @cnroth and all the sproozing crew for your enablerina-ing on this one. I hope you find it magical. Happy Concelebre!
The last line I wrote was for Project House (Horror/Sci-Fi/Coming of Age/Romance)
The only thing breaking up the endless sea of trees is the occasional billboard, advertising to no one, since they haven't seen even a single other car in the twenty or so minutes since they left the shitty little town that [Logan's Father] is moving the rest of the family to.
love relationships between fictional ppl over 50. you skip all that teenage hormonal shit and go straight to what counts: war crimes and making each other worse
