If anybody thinks the Handmaid’s Tale is the story of a dystopian future of a society bereft of reason, read this post by an evangelical mother of ten, who emphatically states that women’s bodies are not their own and it is not for them to say how many children they’re going to have — and she seems to find this empowering. No, family planning is no longer your concern, God will make that decision — or, more realistically, one of His agents here on earth. And this version of God is heartless, misogynistic and toxically male. This is no God of love, this is a dictator.
The reason I cannot stand the evangelical sub-culture and their thinking, is because these people have abandoned all responsibility for their own lives and instead, they have turned themselves over to a cult, that calls itself Christian, when in fact it is the antithesis of that. The wingnuts gaslight themselves into believing that they are being “led” by some all-seeing Eye In The Sky God, and this being watches them 24 hours a day, and “has a plan” for their lives — ergo, no need to make any plans on your own, God will do it all. You’re just a puppet, in the final analysis, and somebody else is pulling the strings; and absolutely if you’re a woman.
If you want to read something so scary that it will make the Handmaid’s Tale seem moderate, take a look at this post by Karissa Collins, on a blog called The Transformed Wife. I think it should be renamed The Trance-Formed Wife, because this gal is not in her right mind. She sounds lobotomized. Or, maybe she positively identified with the fascist exercise maven of “1984” — remember how Winston Smith is awakened by the telescreen and told to get out of a warm bed and start doing calisthenics, by a woman who boasts of having had 35 children, so that they could serve Big Brother? And so you better get a move on and catch up?
Many people look at my large family of almost ten and their minds are screaming…”NO THANK YOU.” I get it. I recently encountered a pregnancy announcement for baby number 16. My mind screamed..”IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?” It looks scary. It looks impossible. It doesn’t look like much fun.
But I am here to tell you that this life is not our own. This body is not our own. And who are we really living for?
Okay, my body is not my own. And my life is not my own. So how does that distinguish me from a chicken or a cow? They don’t know if they’re going to be kept to lay eggs or be milked or be butchered the next day. It’s not their call to make. Answer: there is no distinction. I’m livestock. If you’re female, so are you.
Now, there is supposed to be a really biggg distinction between the beasts of the field and the yous and mes. We are given, according to the Bible, the wingnuts’ very textbook, free will. If you go to the very first chapter, Genesis, it makes it clear that people have choices. God said to Adam and Eve, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Now, as you recall, they ignored that direction. They exercised free will. Whether the results were good or bad is immaterial, point being, they had free will and they exercised it. Apparently, that law has been abrogated because, according to this woman, your ideas on the topic of reproduction not only are of no consequence, the last thing that you want to do is make your own decisions.
God might decide to give you one baby and he might decide to give you twenty. We just never know what He has planned or has in store for us. If we don’t trust Him to decide, we will never know. We do have a choice. A choice to live life in our own hands or to trust Him.
You believe this? Members of the Party of Personal Responsibility are now saying, in essence, that there is no such thing? “In God We Trust” now means, we are clueless and that’s okay, because whatever happens, we can just throw up our hands and say, “It’s God’s will.” Now here’s where it gets scary.
We can simply live for the culture. By their rules. By their limitations. By their standards. Or we can live by God’s.,,,
What an honor it is to use our bodies as a vessel to bring forth life God creates…. That this isn’t our children, but rather God’s and we get to be a part of God’s greater plan. We get to be the vessel He uses.
I think Mrs. Collins made a typo, it should read, “this isn’t our children, but rather GOPs.” The problem is GOP is the last party that’s going to do anything for the kid once it’s born. They can’t cut insurance and school lunch programs fast enough.
Mrs. Collins uses the word “vessel,” to describe herself. Republican Florida State Rep. Jose Oliva said a woman was a”host body.” He later recanted it, but during an interview, he used the term “host body” a total of five times. Alien or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, here we come.
Then there’s Marco Rubio. According to this clip on the Planned Parenthood site, Rubio doesn’t even want abortion if it will save the life of the mother. Hell, she’s only a woman, let her die, right?
Has said that he “personally” doesn’t believe in exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman: On Fox News’ ‘Hannity,’ host Sean Hannity asked Rubio about his position on abortion exceptions, Rubio’s response was, ““If I’m president and the only bill that can pass is one that has exceptions, that means we’re still going to save millions of lives. But I personally believe, that life begins at conception and all human life is worthy of protection.” [FOX News, 4/13/15]
Now, take the obvious interpretation of the man’s words. “All human life” means in vitro, it does not mean that grown women are human. No, we’ve already heard, grown women are mere host bodies, mere breeding mechanisms, receptacles, vessels, take your pick. But nowhere has the word “person” been used, in this toxic brew of religion and politics from Wingnuttia and it’s GOP elected officials. Here’s the bottom line from Mrs. Collins.
As women, our bodies were made for this. He chose us to procreate. He created us to bring forth life….Let’s start celebrating the short-lived years of fertility.
There you go, biology is destiny, and if you are a female, you’re an incubator and your life is of no consequence, other than in that context. There are members of the GOP on record here to attest to that viewpoint, just hit the links. And there’s this lobotomized woman to co-sign on their absurd anti-life stance. The GOP is not pro-life, they are anti-life.
Forced birth, no exceptions, not even to save your life. Your only purpose as a woman is to procreate, even if impregnated by incest or rape. This is not a moral, empathetic stance, let alone a religious one, this is pure raging misogyny.
This is sick, twisted and warped. But this is very real in Trump’s America. These are the pre-echoes of a fascist state mirroring George Orwell’s “1984.” All we need now is to take all these kids the wingnuts are procreating and put them in little Spies and Youth League uniforms, just like Orwell wrote, and fascist state, there we are. This is how it starts. And Gilead is not so fantastic as you might think.
I had wondered how the Talibangelicals and RWNJs in general could completely and willingly revel in their ingnorance…….now I learn they feel they have no free will or need to think for themselves and so welcome the ignorance…..there is no need to think as they will be told by God (and the Group Of Pricks/Faux News) what to think.
To them. ignorance is indeed bliss.
Thanks Ursula…..now I understand.
I don’t know if you’ve ever met any of these people, but I have. One woman in particular told me that she had “visions” and in her vision she was going to marry a preacher and have two children. Now, this is an okay goal, I guess. Problem with the kids is that the woman was in her fifties, so I said, “You do realize that you would have to do in vitro fertilization don’t you? At your age?” Her reply was that God was going to take care of it. I said, “My dear: God isn’t going to break his own laws. Women pass childbearing years when they do. It’s the way of nature.” No, screw that, a miracle was going to happen.
They’re insane people — in this day and age. I talked the other day to a friend, who said that she used to occasionally go to one of Billy Graham’s shindigs back in the early 70’s and “they weren’t nuts.” I said, “they are now.”
What I think has happened, is that the evangelical “pastors” with the mega churches and the private planes and the estates are simply in it for the money. Whether an older generation got into it for other reasons, I have no idea. But the evangelical “leaders” of today are in it for big bucks and they don’t give a damn about God or Jesus or any of it. But the poor duped followers don’t know it.
What they call ‘holy visions” and “the Lord told me” is what rational people call schitzophrenia
Whenever I hear about their leader’s actions I think of the U2 song……
“And I can’t tell the difference between ABC News
Hillstreet Blues and a preacher on the Old Time Gospel Hour
Stealing money from the sick and the old
Well, the God I believe in isn’t short of cash, mister”
Oh, this woman I’m talking about is the whole package. She not only claims to have visions, she believed that she could “heal” me by speaking over me in tongues once when I came out of the hospital. That was a trip.
Then, she put on Kenneth Copeland Ministries on my laptop computer, and that was supposed to “heal” me as well. Kenneth Copeland is a complete phony and a real son of a bitch, I’ve heard from people who have met him. I did see him in a news interview and he was talking down to the female reporter who spoke to him about his private plane and did his donors know about it? He really was offensive (and defensive, as well, when she asked him about all his money.)
He scams his donors like you can’t believe. I did watch a few hours of his b.s., and his wife’s, and to hear them tell it, they’re normal middle class folks, and their son drives an old used truck, they’re just like you and me. HA! I saw an aerial view of their estate and it would blow your mind.
But, people call in with the credit cards and mail these scumbags cash. It’s tragic, it really is. And when I talked to the woman who had visions and asked her, did she know how flush the Copelands were? She just stared at me. There’s no getting through to these people.
You should tell her that the doctors today can help with those visions..l.l.but stupid is a lifelong affliction.
This woman is hopeless and her story is actually quite sad. She was a good looker in her youth and lived off of men — but not effectively enough, because she never got married, divorced — came out of it with a few bucks, is my point. Women like that generally do. She tells tales of incredible homes and furs and jewels — oh, and she had a show business career as an exotic dancer, making $1,000 a night.
Anyhow, long story short, she was in a car accident and laid up from that for a while and her relatives stole all her money and then she found Jesus. And she became a homeless person. But that’s okay, because that’s when she began having visions, and she’s not only marrying the preacher and having the kids she’s also going back into show business hosting a music show on the Christian Broadcasting Network. Thus sayeth the Lord unto her. (Wonder if God has told Pat Robertson about this?)
That was the main vision, but she gets other visions as well. She had a vision that Trump stays in office for eight years followed by Pence for another eight — and if that happens, I’ll have to repatriate to Ireland, assuming there’s a boat or a plane that still runs.
Want to know my bottom line? She’s a foolish woman who never thought she’d get too old to live off her looks and it drove her insane when she realized that she wasn’t able to run that game anymore. so she decided religion was a better racket to get into. And I think she probably did have some money at some point, but it was her boyfriends’ and I doubt if they were wealthy men.
The red flag for me is that she has zero left from the halcyon days. I went through a lot of awful experiences when I became disabled and broke, but I still have my jewelry, suits, Tiffany lamps, what have you and she has zero to show and claims it was all stolen.
But I’m in her debt, because when I met her, I started researching the evangelicals and man, what a mountain of s*it I found. It is a cult, make no mistake about that. It offers the insulation from the real world that only a cult can provide.
Damn, I was beginning to think the birthers would come around to explain how we the people were going to support all the forced babies, since a 9-10 year old girl, raped and pregnant, after 9 months of hell would NOT have the means to do all the tests and maintenance schedule required for a pregnant mother, then on to the birth itself, obviously done in a hospital or a clinic with facilities for safe births, especially one to a child with a small frame and minimally developed organs herself …
Another consideration, a young girl, say 17-18 years old, is a heavy drug user, that will have a drug induced deformed and basically brain dead baby if carried to term, no exceptions? Do we have to pay for a procedure that produces a barely breathing glob on tubes and monitors, showing signs of great suffering, able to, “survive”, for a month or two, only with intensive natal care, 24/7?
Where do these millions/billions of dollars for extra care facilities and personnel, as well as long term family placement, or are they just going to be placed in one of Trumps, “special dog cages”, where the baby immigrants start their lives?
We need to hear the, WHO, WHAT, WHEN, people are going to provide a home for these unwanted results of a fearful rape of horror … make them explain EVERYTHING !!
You’re preaching to the choir, Darrel. Amen. I don’t know what Rubio or any of these “pro-life” clowns think. I put it in quotes because the term has become laughable to me, as of today when I read this piece by this dingbat woman. This is the opposite of pro-life, this is pro-madness.
What you are saying is absolutely a consideration that we should have. And beyond these fundamental medical considerations, and the cost, what about just feeding and housing these children? The freaking planet has seven billion people and these lunatics want to continue to overpopulate it?
I just shake my head over all this. My God, how have we come to such a passage in this country, when there are idiotic people supporting insane legislation — and insane legislators ready to pass it. Where did we go so far astray, any ideas?
I pray trump is not re-elected so these middle age nuts will go back into obscurity.
You’re absolutely right. Another Trump term is just going to empower this idiocy further and it’s already gotten out of control.
Nothing new here. In Texas, (where good old Cruz comes from) the Divorce Decree states that the husband no longer possesses the wife. Nowhere in the document does it state the wife no longer possesses the husband. And the parents both possess the children. I personally mutter under my breath that I hope the children are possessed (while Tubular Bells is playing in my head as well).
If you follow this stupid logical fallacy, then we don’t need criminal laws or prisons either. It was just God’s will that someone else was murdered, raped, burglarized, etc. No need to punish the criminal since God will take care of that as well. And you wonder where I lost my sense of humor.
No, I follow you exactly! This is precisely the logical extension of this madness. These people really believe that Satan is lurking around the corner and that demons follow them. Now, in all seriousness. I think that there are forces beyond our comprehension in the world, but not the cartoon level bullshit that these clowns are talking about.
If free will is thrown out the door and whatever happens is the deliberate choice of an insane God, then what is the point of living? Just to hope to get lucky and God will give you a lotto ticket as opposed to a bullet? And if you talk to these ding a lings, they can’t answer simple logic like you just stated. All you get is a blank look. Believe me, I’ve tried.
And, just for fun, I want to share with you that one of these fundies told a friend of mine that I had demons following me, do you love it? I guess the pissed off trolls that show up here from time to time are demons, I never thought of it that way!
LOL!!! The trolls are demons. Wonder what kind of demonic possessions they have, besides writing stupid, inane comments and clogging up the commentary board.
When I was working for the AZAG Child Support Enforcement I was in court with one of these religious zealots. He kept stating that I was Satan. By the third time that was said, I replied “So pay your child support before I lay your soul to waste.” Just channeling my inner Mick Jagger and I have no idea how I thought of that so fast. My paralegal was trying not to laugh out loud. The judge just smiled, then held in him in contempt for not paying child support, sent him to jail and ordered his bond at 10% of what he owed. He came up with $15k within 12 hours. Must have been manna from heaven.
That is HILARIOUS!! I LOVE it!! Good for you.
The “pastor” Kenneth Copeland recently bought a private jet, and in an interview he said he needed the jet because there was a demon on a commercial flight. He’s not the only evangelical wingnut with a private jet. They all have them, Joel Osteen, that entire crowd. Copeland was nasty to the reporter, too. I wonder if any of his flock saw that ungodly display?
Evilgelicals are missing the point. The point is not whether or not my body belongs to God. The point is, whoever it belongs to, it doe NOT belong to THEM.
I’m actually fine with my body belong to God, in which case She/He is my authority on the best way to deal with it – NOT lawmakers, NOT a bunch of self-righteous people whose beliefs I don’t share, NOT anyone but God, and they need to stay the hell out of bodies they are not personally walking around in.
These people are so totally lost, from all that I’ve seen. Not that I’ve seen an extensive amount, but what little I can parse together, low education, low skills people, who aren’t able to do much in the job market, gravitate to these evangelical cult ministries. Plus, they seem to be people not really connected to other interests or activities.
They are lost souls — not in the theological sense, but in the sense that they literally don’t know where they belong or what to do. Now a decent church is a good support system. Don’t get me wrong about that. I applaud a good pastor and a good congregation. I encourage people to seek that out. Church can be both a good support system and a good social outlet. The evangelical cult is not that. It’s something altogether different and it’s very evil. Everything I’ve seen and read indicates that. Even some pastors who have identified as evangelical — and I’m thinking William Barber here — have said that they don’t support Graham and Robertson and Falwell and the lot of them that have gone to the Dark Side, for lack of a better image.
Sometimes a person’s body is not their own…like if they’re demanded by legal subpoena to show up somewhere at a specific time.
But anyway…what is the response to the counterargument that if the state can force a woman to have many children, it could force a woman to have few or no children?
Also…I mean…J.H.C…don’t get an abortion, fine. But after kids six or seven or eight, it’s time for surgical birth control. And yes…the dude should be the one stepping up…after that many kids the woman has definitely pulled her weight in the OR.
I’m always amazed by religion. I mean, it’s pretty clear that man created god in his own image. And by “man” I mean guys. A pretty easy way to control the rubes and maintain power and wealth. I just don’t understand how they sold women on the idea. Hey, want to join a group that considers you inferior? Where do I sign up?