“TODAY WAS WILD!!! A RIOT BROKE OUT IN SEATTLE!!” Those were the exuberant words of revivalist Ross Johnston celebrating on Instagram in all
On Saturday, May 24th, 2025, a Christian supremacist group (largely made up of members of Pursuit NW church) descended on Seattle's Cal Anderson Park to engage the city in so-called spiritual warfare. From the linked article:
The event was part of the MAY DAY USA 2025 tour of Her Voice MVMT that organizes “worship warfare” events across the nation in an attempt to convert LGBTQ people to become heterosexual, conservative evangelical Republicans.
The article is a good analysis of what happened and why it matters, in my view, but here's a few of my personal takeaways:
I've seen comparisons to the Westboro Baptist Church, aka, "these are fringe loonies out to troll you." While the people behind this event do use provocation as a tool to garner Insta-worthy footage, lawsuit fodder, and in-group cohesion from their congregation, the scale of this group is different.
Pursuit has deep ties to former state rep and unpunished local insurrectionist Matt Shea (no, not Jan 6, before that). Saturday's events have garnered attention and promises of investigation from AG Pam Bondi and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.
In general, the bigoted, nationalist, and accelerationist/apocalyptic beliefs on display from these folks are startlingly prominent among Americans in general. Here is some nightmare fuel in the form of statistics. I also recommend the book "The Violent Take it By Force" by Matthew D. Taylor, which is a great examination of this cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs theology and its ties to the current administration.
All that scary stuff said .......... spiritual warfare is kinda cringe??? It's built on a stupidly complex and dubiously scriptural mythology, and mostly entails praying for something to happen or not happen and then no matter what the outcome is, declaring victory. This is probably easier to feel good about when you are a majority-white movement that's already pretty close to the top of the societal hierarchy, and your biggest fear is of losing ground to women, gays, and other marginalized people. Basically, worship warriors are to Christianity what the Final Fantasy House is to video games.
I don't agree with people saying "just don't give them any oxygen." Remember that thing about taking any result and turning it into victory? Yes, counterprotesting is "proof of persecution," but silence means "everyone agrees with us." It gives the bigots free room to maneuver, spatially and narratively. So, taking as a given the fact that queer people in Seattle deserve to use their public park in the summertime without facing bigotry (or police brutality) ... I think there are tactics that are more likely to disrupt Christian nationalist propaganda efforts than others. One example took place at the May 24 event itself, when punk kids played a counter-concert across the park. As we move forward, let's look inward and ask, "What tools do we have that they wish they did?" I think of things like: sense of humor. Style. Artistic talent. Joy in the face of loss. The arts are explicitly part of the "seven mountains of culture" that these types of Christians believe they need to conquer to ascend to their rightful place as rulers, so that's where I tend to lean in. I think there are a lot of "right answers" to fighting these people--possibly as many right answers as there are queer people and allies--but a number of those answers exist outside the warlike binary that these bigots have adopted.
In conclusion: The spirit of smashing a pie into Anita Bryant's face lives on in us, and I love all of you very much. Stay safe, and be good to yourselves and each other.
P.S. There was no good place to say this, but Matt Shea's personal website has a page where he "debunks" "falsehoods" about him, and it's a great argument for unplugging the whole internet.
wilbur soot's been in that void for 9 slutty, slutty years. while you had your egg plots and disc wars, he studied the literal fabric of the universe and played competitive solitaire.
Willow was a LOT of fun~ I re-watched the movie last week, after having not seen it since I was a child. I had hoped heading into the series that they'd keep the feel of the movie. And to me, they did just that, while also expanding things in good ways.
I do hope people enjoy this~ I found the first two episodes to be engaging, and I am LOVING the cast. Am really excited to see where we go from here~!
funny thing about being part of an online community but being perpetually insecure and wired to bring myself down, is that whenever somebody i particularly like interacts with my blog i get super excited and feel very validated. but the idea that this thing happens when i'm the one interacting with other people's posts is unthinkable for me.
like,,,,,my brain goes like "nah, you are annoying, nobody likes you, nobody cares, you're invisible" yadda yadda and by god even if i know that probably it's not like that, it's so much easier to believe that everything nice that has happened to me online is just a lucky coincidence/mistake rather than something that is a consequence of my efforts lmao
who knows what part of my trauma made me into this person lol
I’ve been away for a bit (pretty much since I made the message about my wrist), so I’m very sorry I’m super behind on all my messages. Thank all of you for asking me about commissions! I had two lined up before I injured my wrist. So if those are still available to me, I need to get one or both of them done first. And if I find that I can comfortably work on that kind of art, and make steady progress, I’ll open up commissions again~
Thank you everyone who also contacted me to ask me how I was feeling. It was very much a hard few months being unable to hold a tablet pen. Let alone draw. So, let’s hope for good things!
And finally, I hope all of you are well. Stay safe.
i love how the topic on dsmpblr today is "was the beginning of l'manburg actually about freedom?" and literally every response i've seen is a resounding yes. very proud of this community, y'all have done your research, 10/10 would like again.
thinking about how tommy referred to l'manburg as his unfinished symphony, but with the intention of finishing it. unlike wilbur, who said those words with victory. he wanted it to remain unfinished because he wanted it gone. tommy still holds onto the hope that l'manburg can be finished and be what it once was.
tommy canonically has voices in his head too. anyway phil also has voices in his head and wilbur referenced chat when he was talking about blowing up l'manburg so i now follow the narrative that all of sbi have voices instead of chat
