really do not think people understand the extent to which palestinian sites/landmarks (especially muslim ones) were destroyed, beginning in 1948 until now, even in cities. the oldest extant mosque in jaffa (al-bahr mosque) was built in 1675, even though islam came there in the 7th century

begging pleading for people to use their critical thinking skills when it comes to the environment. way too many people have this idea:

climate change isn’t real = wrong and bad

climate change is real = correct and good

and while yes, denying climate change *is* wrong and bad, that doesn’t mean you should immediately trust everyone who says climate change is real.

ecofacism is a really concerning trend i see, especially among the younger generation because of how undeniable climate change has become to us. facists are taking advantage of the existential despair that’s rising in young people due to the climate crisis to indoctrinate them into their ideology. the most important thing to remember about ecofacists is that *they don’t actually care about the environment.* it’s a front to make facism more palatable to people who are concerned about the climate. it’s so so so important to learn how to recognize ecofacist talking points because i see them repeated by people who otherwise wouldn’t be described as a facist and it’s very concerning.

if someone says climate change is due to overpopulation, that’s an ecofacist talking point.

if someone says climate change is due to immigration, that’s an ecofacist talking point.

if someone says climate change is a necessary purge of humankind, that’s an ecofacist talking point.

if someone says all humans are inherently evil and deserve to die, that’s an ecofacist talking point.

if someone says that we are the virus, that’s an ecofacist talking point.

ecofacists claim that overpopulation is causing the climate crisis. it’s not. pay attention to the particular spots in the world that have the densest populations: china, india, bangladesh, and nigeria are usually the main countries in these claims. they are targeting asian and african people and blaming them for climate change entirely, when in reality these poorer people living in very high density cities have some of the lowest carbon footprints. ecofacists will say that overpopulation is the issue in asia and africa, and while they usually don’t say this part out loud, the implied solution to the climate crisis is mass genocide against mainly black and brown people. *facism as we know it is white supremacy.* they also use a similar argument to claim that immigration is contributing to climate change, saying that (again, mostly black and brown) immigrants are causing overpopulation in “civilized” countries and that the planes and boats used to take them across the world are causing all that pollution.

ecofacists will say that floods and famine and the subsequent deaths that result from climate change are a necessary evil to keep the human race in check. again, think of who will be most affected by climate change-related disasters (who already are being affected by them). this is not a coincidence.

because they are the masterminds behind the theory that all humans are evil and should die, logically that means the ecofacists would be the ones leading the massacres and choosing which groups to eliminate. again, facism is white supremacy. they will target people of colour, disabled people, queer people, jewish people, and elderly people until only the “ideal” (read: white, abled, cishetallo) members of society are left. this is not a coincidence.

i’m using very extreme examples here obviously but that’s just to demonstrate what the goal of ecofacism is. ecofacists want to use the climate crisis to guilt trip people into giving everything up for the sake of the environment and subscribing to their racist ideals.

it’s very important to mention how rampant ecofacist ideology has become in vegan circles online. obviously there’s nothing wrong with being vegan, but ecofacist talking points are *everywhere* in online vegan communities and it’s very concerning. it’s especially common among animal rights activists (which almost always go hand in hand with veganism, although not all vegans are aras). it’s really important to keep in mind that animal rights activism and animal welfare activism are very very different - animal welfare fights for ethical treatment and slaughter of livestock, while animal rights fights for the complete eradication of animal products. the whole argument over animal welfare vs animal rights can be saved for another post but it is very, very important to recognize how animal rights activism and in many cases veganism parrots racist ecofacist ideas.

it’s really really important to acknowledge that native populations of turtle island and polynesia in particular are damaged by ecofacist ideals. a core part of animal rights activism is the push for completely criminalizing all hunting of wildlife, and who’d have thought - that is incredibly important to the indigenous way of life and forcing native people to stop hunting (*especially* inuit living in the north) is cultural genocide. ecofacism also uses the guise of conservation efforts to push native peoples off of their own land.

it’s true that human consumption can and does lead to climate change, but it isn’t poor people living in slums or even really an average western household. ecofacists put all the blame for climate change on people of colour and other marginalized communities, even when they’re the ones contributing the least to the climate crisis. while a lot of what i’m saying here is intentionally extreme to properly illustrate the point i’m trying to make, it is absolutely a thing that happens that oppressed people actually do die because of ecofacism. the el paso shooter in texas a few years ago admitted to having ecofacist ideals and that his targeting of a store frequented by mexican immigrants was not a coincidence. the shooter that killed 51 people in mosques in christchurch that same year also shared similar ecofacist beliefs.

ecofacist propaganda can be hard to spot and can even make its way to mainstream media. do you remember a couple years ago at the height of tue pandemic when major news outlets were posting videos of dolphins returning to the venecian canals? those videos were not real. they were made with the implicit message of “humans are the virus” - which is, again, an ecofacist talking point. whether the videos were created by an ecofacist or not doesn’t really matter - what matters is that they spread ecofacist propaganda *everywhere*.

it’s really important to recognize absolutist statements like “all humans are evil and should die” or “overpopulation is causing climate change” and be able to critically think about who they might be benefiting and who they might be detrimental to. there are clues in ecofacist talking points, but they’re usually hard to spot - that is the point. if you see some statement that raises a red flag, you should think about who it’s being said or implied is causing the harm, whether it’s a radicalized or oppressed group, and how they’re being portrayed by the people saying these statements. it’s also really important to think about how they propose climate change should be solved: if it involves more police, more surveillance, excluding or pushing entire groups of people out, more military action, or closing borders and denying people the freedom to move - that is an ecofacist talking point.

also, i should mention that not everyone who spreads these types of ideas are ecofacists. in fact, i think most of them aren’t, or at least fully. ecofacism is just the most covert form of facist propaganda right now and it’s very easy to fall into the idea that all humans should die or whatever, no matter if you subscribe to the racist implications of that or not. just please be aware of how ecofacism manifests and how easily it spreads online - don’t be afraid to point out when you think someone is unintentionally spreading racist rhetoric, and be self-critical of what the implications of some of the things you might be saying have. critical thinking wasn’t taught in school just so you could figure out if the curtains were blue or not - it affects everything.

some articles about this topic that i like a lot

I am not Israeli so maybe I understood wrong how this country works but... there are arabs living there who are Israeli, right? It is not a full jewish state and I guess that arab Israeli are equal to jewish Israeli? So, where does this idea come from that Israeli do not want to live with arabs when... some of them are part of their population? Also, another question that comes to my mind but what would the arab Israel become under the Hamas' rule? We know they want the jewish population all dead but aren't the arab Israeli traitors? Will not they be slaughtered too? Is that when the internet will understand that the Hamas is just a death group, when they will have slaughtered the "right" group in their books, or will the Hamas be supported as them killing traitors? I don't want to come as someone who is trying to say that some Israeli are more worthy than the others, it is just that I am wondering because on the internet, when they talk about Israeli it is always "The Jews" not the global population.

Arab-Israeli citizens constitute 20% of the population and are the largest minority in Israel, not counting other Arabic-speaking minorities like the Druze, Bedouins and Circassians. Israel is indeed a 'full Jewish state' in the sense that its anthem, official calendar, official language and official holidays are all centered around Judaism both as a religion and an ethnicity. Arabic is legally considered the 2nd national language (after Hebrew) and while Islamic/Christian/Druze/Circassian holidays/traditions are not legally enshrined individually, they are legally respected/accepted in workplace laws and in other relevant fields (like medicine for example). While that is all true, it is a known fact that Arab communities receive less public funding from the govt (for a myriad of reasons that could entirely fill another post, and especially the current govt) which affects the lvl of education they can offer and other public services. Taking that into account, Arab-Israelis still outrank their counterparts from neighboring countries (and the whole MidEast if were being honest) both financially and on a societal lvl, living in a liberal country.

To answer ur 2nd question - yes, theyd absolutely be murdered by Hamas. 20+ Arab-Israelis were mercilessly killed and kidnapped on October 7th, it didnt matter to Hamas at all that they spoke Arabic or that they werent even "fully Israeli" (like the guy from East Jerusalem who was murdered on cam). They indeed called them traitors, Jewish dogs and other fun names.

People also tend to forget that, when the war for independence broke out, Jews werent the only ones fighting the pan-Arabists. In fact, several Arab communities (e.g., Abu Gosh) joined the Jewish Yishuv, and the Druze made a wholeass bloodpact with the Jews. And...Israel also houses a bunch of Lebanese chads too.

Israel could do a whole lot better in how it treats its Arab population (for starters, getting rid of that disgusting Law of Nation), but to say that theyll fare better under the kind of Islamic theocracy Hamas offers or the pan-Arabist communist utopia the PA and PFLP are offering is absurd.

Israel is not "just Jews", youre right. Its primarily Jews, and its main function as a country is to be a homeland for Jews, but it has a wholelotta other ppl that deserve to keep living and thriving here as equal citizens, and inshallah us Normal People will continue pushing them more into the public spotlight and pressure this cunt of a govt (and its successors) into further improving their conditions.

Regarding radical feminists (specifically transphobic ones) becoming fascists: it's a thing. You let yourself fall into one form of bigoted thinking, it gets easier and easier to adopt others. And that's how we get JK Rowling denying Nazi crimes in the year 2024.

oh my fucking god. someone accused her of „upholding nazi ideology around gender“ which she called a fever dream because gender was not a thing in nazi germany since the distinction between sex and gender was made mid 20th century. all the claims about trans people being targeted by the nazis come from the fact they burned books by magnus hirschfeld and made him close his institut where he did research on transsexuals - his wikipedia states he was targeted for being JEWISH and GAY. not because of his research.

this article also makes clear that being trans only meant people crossdressing, which mostly - almost exclusively - affected gay men who were indeed targeted by the nazis as emphasised by homosexuals getting their own symbol in the concentration camps. crossdressers were indeed persecuted because they were regarded as homosexuals.

and just my personal opinion? doing experimental research on what we today understand as homosexuals with internalised homophobia and gender dysphoria is not trans friendly. they usually died soon after the surgeries. if hirschfeld had not been jewish and gay but a non-jewish heterosexual german in the nsdap selling it as the medicalisation and castration of homosexuals it was to the nazis, they certainly would have let him do it or even supported it as part of their eugenics politics. seeing as he was racist and sexist too. and one of his doctors went on to work for the nazis, for example (source: the scientist magazine below).

oh and by the way it is really difficult to find sources that are not tainted by modern gender ideology applied to what went down at that clinic.

this article for instance talks about „transgender“ people getting „gender affirming care“ when - again - gender was introduced as a concept after the fact.

i wish some more of you would realise this. trans, whether that be transvestite, transsexual or transgender, is not a universal concept like biological sex and homosexuality. it is entirely cultural.

oh and lastly, did you know that the nazis persecuted prostitutes but opened brothels in concentration camps and other places? and did you know that many of the women prostituted by german nazis were jewish, roma and eastern european? and did you know that pro trans groups and parties are supporting the liberal prostitution law in germany that enables and fosters the mass sexual exploitation of eastern european women at the hands of german men in german brothels TODAY? where is the uproar for that huh? you people are deeply unserious when it comes to social justice issues and prefer engaging in manufactured rage online over actually analysing and dismantling systems of oppression. fuck off now

If a marginalized person from marginalized group is dealing with bigotry and very clearly is upset and just needs to let out their emotions and vent don't try to debate with them, even if you think you are being being civil. I don't have the energy to debate with people that antisemitism is just as bad all the other forms of oppression and bigotry while then being told Jewish people have it better than other all groups.

I will block you, do not tone police me. I come on tumblr to express myself and enjoy and share my hobbies and escape, not to become more stressed. This is my page if I want to vent I will vent.

Someone said to me that Jewish are the most represented minority but the smallest minority, so it would not make sense to hire Jewish actors. It would be too hard to find them. There more Jewish roles than Jewish actors, which is laughable. I wonder why Jewish people are one of the smallest minority could it be because of an event that happen less than hundred years ago and the increase in hate crimes and over 2000 years of prosecution.

There are barely any explicit Jewish roles that are not stereotypes or about the super religious or about the holocaust and most of them that are are played by Italian actors. When actually Jewish actors play these roles they deal with fetishization and are called unconventionally attractive and often play the comedic characters.

Look the Andy Samberg and Timothee Chalamet both great actor, extremely talented and attractive. Andy Samberg is a cutie pie in my opinion.

People have had audacity to say to me that 'you might not to be getting cast for the roles you actually want because you're unconventionally attractive,' despite the fact in my mother was considered the most beautiful girl in her Jewish community, I look so much like her and people from my family's community are constantly trying to convince my parents to set me up with their sons.

Also, calling someone unconventionally attractive is not a commitment.

People are constantly talking about the privilege in masking or hiding certain parts of yourself to avoid possible harm and how not all Jewish people look stereotypical Jewish but have you thought about Jewish people who do look stereotypical and how saying these things are affecting them.

Their physical traits are being presented as ugly and saying they can not hide for safety.

I have had strangers come up to me and ask me if I am Jewish because I look Jewish. It is mostly well meaning older Christine people who are trying to be friendly and start a conversation and like learning about different types of people, so I don't really mind.

But if people whose families have been who have been in the U.S for generations can tell someone is Jewish just by looking at them then but about people who actually want to cause harm to Jewish people.

I as a Jewish person and actor was calling out erasing of Jewish stories stories, misrepresentation, underrepresented and double standards in film, television and theatre.

Non-Jewish actors still to this day wear prosthetic noses and wigs to play Jewish roles. You can look it up, there are loads of articles about non-Jewish actors doing this. Look up what Bradley Cooper did. He knew Jake Gyllenhaal, a Jewish actor had been planning for years on producing and acting in a biopic about Leonard Bernstein a Jewish man and bought the rights before he could and now in the film Bradley Cooper is wearing a prosthetic nose.

Comic books and Broadway were built off the handwork of Jewish Americans and Jewish Immigrants. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is changing canonical Jewish characters from the comic book and completely erasing their Jewishness and sometimes even turning them into Christians. They are barely any Jewish actors or writers involved in the MCU, if any.

Characters and very clearly show plays and musical that are about being Jewish sometimes don't even have one Jewish actor in the cast. I read a article a while back about a Jewish actress being the only Jewish person cast in a production Fiddler On The Roof. The makeup artist wanted to give her a wig to make her hair look coarser, thicker and darker and wanted to give her a prosthetic nose to appear more Jewish. When the actress told them she was actually Jewish they proceed to tell her she was too pretty to be Jewish.

In the book Red, White & Royal Blue Nora is Jewish. For the film they hired a Christian actress who from what I heard pressured to the creators to change Nora to Christian because she did not feel comfortable playing a Jewish character and because she is a devout Christian. If they want to have black actress they could hire an actual Jewish black actress. If I was hired to play a character who did not align with my religious or spirit beliefs I would not ask them to change it for me.

Before anyone comes at me Judaism is an enthoreglion, people are Jewish by ancestry and linage, not just their beliefs. Most people who identify as Jewish are born into Jewish families and Judaism is one of the hardest religions to convert to, so you have be extremely dedicated. This is not a dig at Jewish converts I am just making a point.

Jewish actors are still being told to change their names to sound less ethic. Zachary Levi is not a full name, it is his stage name and he is not Jewish. The reason Levi is a part of his stage name is because he has the same name as another actor. He has said before he has angered about missing out on roles because people think he is Jewish. Actually Jewish actors are being turned away from role because they look too Jewish or sound too Jewish. Jewish actor get nose jobs and chemically straighten their hair.

Can i ask why people seem to only refer to black and brown people? I'm east Asian, and it can feel kind of bad not really being included in the language surrounding talk about racism. We're one of the groups that faces the most discrimination and hate crimes, especially with how covid started. Me and nearly every Asian person i know has faced racism over our lives and many of us have very pale skin. It feels very alienating to be, in a way, left out of the discussion. I understand that often we're included somewhat implicitly, but it doesn't look like it when the language doesn't represent it.

so before i get into it, i'm giving two caveats: 1. even though i'm jewish and my family and i have had a complicated history with being racialized as non white, i'm still racially white. so while i always try to take into account all the things that my family has experienced and that the people of color i know have taught me, that's still the individual perspective i'm speaking from. 2. i live in the us, so that's the culture and society i'm talking about. it may apply to different places in the west (or even outside the west idk) but it may not so like inb4 "#american centric" bc i am literally talking abt america.

re: your actual question of why people seem to only refer to black and brown people, i think it's mostly used to talk about issues that affect darker skinned people of color, but sometimes used as another variation of "people of color" that's meant to encompass all nonwhite people. i've definitely used it that way before without really thinking about it, but i can see how that could make groups who may not see themselves as being black or brown feel left out of a conversation that still absolutely pertains to them. i think we as a society are currently struggling with what vocabulary to use when we talk about racial issues. there's a bunch of different acronyms and phrases people use, and listing out all the different racial and ethnic groups we can think of always leaves someone out.

but i also think our struggles with vocabulary are caused in part by the way our view of race has become very black and white. especially when it comes to east asians, i think people fall way too easily for the model minority myth + think lighter skin = less oppression, so they think east asians don't need as much advocacy as other groups. but as you said, especially since covid, there's been a massive spike in anti asian racism, and that's something i don't think people are really taking seriously. there's this one scene in station 19 (cw for discussion of anti asian hate crimes) that i feel like addresses this so well. people are afraid to downplay the severity of anti black racism (which is understandable considering that anti black racism has been downplayed for hundreds of years), but they end up gaslighting other racial and ethnic minorities or even themselves about the other kinds of bigotry that exist. and as one of the characters states in the clip, "it's all bad."

and like, as a jewish person, i definitely feel a lot of solidarity with east asians because our struggles are dismissed in similar ways. for those of us who are light skinned, we're often told (in my experience, usually by non black people) that basically our skin is too light for people to care because "black people have it worse." people use any success our communities have had as a reason why what we experience Can't Possibly Be That Bad. but what they're missing is that it's all connected. the same people who are perpetuating anti blackness are likely perpetuating anti asian racism and antisemitism too. you can't get rid of anti black racism without dismantling white supremacy, and part of dismantling white supremacy is addressing anti asian racism and antisemitism. we can't just keep hacking away at one brick and expect the entire wall to come down. we have to bulldoze it all.

I have a bunch of thoughts related to your recent post on lefty antisemitism, but I don't want to dump a big long thing in your inbox - let me know if you want me to send it, other than that just know you're not alone trying to wade through the messiness of it all.

I know leftist antisemitism is alive and well, I know Jewish perspectives/experiences/identities are not valued, and I know there’s a load of misinformation out there when it comes to the conflict (though honestly, I don’t trust info from any side because everything is propaganda at this point). But I listened to a podcast episode (Joyous Justice - a Jewish racial justice podcast hosted by a Black & Cherokee Jew) that was a bit of a gentle kick in the pants.

To summarize some of the key thoughts: There is antisemitism in lefty spaces because there is antisemitism EVERYWHERE - and racism, sexism, transphobia, classism, ableism, and the like. Leftists are not immune to these things. And so when someone like me says “well I’m not going to engage with some progressive cause because I’m bothered by the antisemitism” it’s like, anyone else of another marginalized identity could have the same excuse for not participating because they will inevitably run into someone who is being shitty about their identity. It’s good that we have ways to process these harmful experiences, and we should try to hold people accountable, but it’s not a good idea for our self-defensiveness to stop us completely from engaging.

I’m not solidly feeling any of this right now, but I am trying to sit with it in the discomfort.

Hi there,

Look, I definitely see where you're coming from and where this podcaster was coming from at least in theory, but I don't agree.

Leftists absolutely have all the same problems any other group has, and obviously we all have to work on our biases and movements all the time to try and root these things out.

This is different and goes beyond that though, because the brand of anti-Zionism that is mainstream amongst American goyische leftist movements and individuals is deeply antisemitic as a part of the cause. Anti-Zionism as an intra-Jewish discussion need not be [internalized] antisemitism, and there are plenty of ways that one can critique specific actions of the Israeli government that are proportionate, fair, and necessary (yes, even as an outsider.)

However, calls for the literal dissolution of the entire country without a thought or care for the safety and well-being of the affected Jews or the Jewish people as a whole, combined with a deep suspicion (and frequently outright hostility) towards Jews who bring up antisemitism (especially as it pertains to rhetoric around Israel) and then adding your regular run-of-the-mill antisemitism on top, are common and accepted in leftist spaces. In short: antisemitism isn't just one unfortunate pimple amongst many other expected blemishes on the face of modern leftism - it's actually frequently taken up as one of the causes of leftism. This form of antisemitism is seen as social justice, and so arguing against it is seen not for what it is (begging for people to add even a little nuance and critically examine a belief system that leads them to call for the genocide of half the Jewish population worldwide) but rather as arguing for whatever terrible thing they want to paint Israel as this week, whether or not it's true and whether or not such a label could just as easily be applied to groups and nations that they will give a pass to.

Meanwhile, most of the goyim arguing in support* of Israel are frequently right-wing conservatives whose other views on human rights and moral progress I find rather repugnant and who frequently utilize standard conservative talking points about Israel's more strident critics to attack them on other levels. For example, I cringe basically any time I see any right-wing critique of, say, the very real antisemitism of Cori Bush or Rashida Tlaib, because I just know it's gonna be racist as hell.

(The * is because I don't honestly classify a lot of this as support for the Jews, so much as a handy vehicle for their anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and unfair painting of all Palestinians and/or Palestinian rights movements as terrorism. I would also be remiss if I didn't say that the same is frequently true of certain batches of leftists whose anti-Zionism is more of a handy vehicle for antisemitism than genuine, thoughtful, and helpful advocacy for Palestinians.)

But there are some conservative voices that do have genuine support for Jews and are pro-Israel in a way that is more nuanced and doesn't just use it as a tactic. And when I see that, and especially when I hold it up next to leftist comrades who would never in a million years advocate for policies that would wipe out half the world population of another minority group but will happily repeat those talking points against Jews as if it were a social justice cause, it makes me question the validity of everything else they're saying.

And so I re-run that calculus on every social issue I'm passionate about, to see if maybe I'm on the wrong side of it, and every time I conclude I'm still very much not. So then I go back to the drawing board and reconsider Jewish history, identity, and peoplehood, and the conclusions I've come to about Zionism from those things, only to return to the same position I was in before. I've heard the arguments. I've actively sought out and considered the other side on this issue, hoping to understand something new, and each new source I read solidifies my opinion.

So then I'm stuck with concluding that my best option is to seek out like-minded Jews and when outside allies or work is needed, just kinda go into it accepting that a significant portion of the people I'm necessarily aligning myself with for other important causes would likely leave me and mine for dead under the right circumstances, and view that as good and right and just.

And while I don't let that change my voting behavior or advocacy at a practical level, it also doesn't change the fact that it fucking hurts and that I'm morally right to be angry about it.

November Carnival of Aros Submission: Aplatonic vs. Loner

When I think of the term aplatonic, fear comes to mind. Do I really want to write about my feelings of being aplatonic (or more specifically grayplatonic in my case) in a book that my family, friends, or co-workers might read? The stigma of not having many friends is one that I fear. Once, someone asked me if I was a loner. The feeling of fear and not knowing what to say struck my heart. The idea of not having a lot of friends makes me feel like there’s something wrong with me, that I’m broken. 

In WebMD’s article, What is a loner?, it begins by stating, “Being a loner means that you would prefer to be by yourself rather than with others. Depending on the context of the situation and your personality and preferences, this could be a good or bad thing.” The first section continues by stating, “Loners display varying degrees of wanting to or needing to be alone. There are positive, healthy reasons for being a loner, as well as negative, destructive reasons.” While I appreciate the positive attitude that addresses the healthy reasons for spending time alone, I feel like the stigma against those who are not attracted to spending time building friendships is still emphasized. 

The creation of the aplatonic sprectrum as an identity is an attempt to step away from that stigma and accept that it is ok to not feel an attraction to the idea of being friends with someone. But can this spectrum ever breakaway from the stigma of being loners? Aspec people frequently write about the ability to form strong friendships and platonic partnerships as being just as important as romantic or sexual relations to allos. I have never identified strongly with these feelings. While I do have friends and make an effort to find friends when I move to new cities, I have rarely felt such a close bond with friends that I would liken it to being on the same level of importance as a romantic relationship. 

In May 2022, I wrote my first submission for Carnival of Aros on being non-partnering. I reflected on the bullying that I experienced, and how it was related to the selective mutism. Because of this experience, and others, I wondered if my experiences with mental health did affect my feelings and desires. For me, being someone who has experienced selective mutism and never sought counseling on it, I feel that the times that are difficult to speak are not just fear based, but who I am. It makes me feel neurodivergent in a way that hasn’t been recognized. This inability to think of things to say beyond the basic conversations of getting to know someone and my career or academic pursuits, makes me seem boring. It’s hard for me to connect with many people or be attracted to maintaining a friendship. I really only maintain friendships with others who are willing to be my friend without judging me, who have common interests, and don’t mind that I’m not going to want to chat with them on the phone regularly. I’ve made friends through board game groups, work, Jewish social events, Chicago’s AVEN meetup, and Meetup.com groups that have events that interest me. I’m grateful for the supportive friends that I have made over the years. So, I don’t really identify with the term aplatonic, but do feel that grayplatonic or noetiplatonic could be an appropriate identity for myself. 

Surprisingly, I wouldn’t consider myself non-partnering anymore. I never expected to meet anyone that I would want to date. Several months after writing about being non-partnering, I actually met someone who had a crush on me so much that he wanted to go on a date. After several dates, I realized he was so caring and accepting of my faults that I was willing to be in a romantic relationship with him. The mental connection that we had was similar to the one other time that I had a crush on someone, who didn’t want to date me, that I feel like the microlabels would be noetiromantic and recipromantic. After being in a relationship with him for nearly a year, I’ve definitely learned a lot about relationships with people that are alloromantic and allosexual, but I think I need to save some insights for the book…

Just reblogged your post about how we're out here desperately asking people to just say three simple words 'antisemitism is bad' because I had a recent exchange with a 'friend' asking the same who responded with this -

She then said she 'needs to step back from this situation and from [me]'

Losing so many friends to this kind of behavior is driving me insane. I feel broken. Hope you're doing okay.

This sucks and this person sucks. I’m luckily doing pretty ok. I still get waves of unadulterated panic when I see dog whistles from people I care about. I have to wonder if they’re coming from a place of ignorance (which is fine with me, actually. Ignorance, not willful ignorance, can always be fixed by knowledge), or if a secret but long-held hatred is beginning to emerge.

I’ve had to have a similar conversation with a few friends. Not identical. But basically saying, “Hey. I’m really sorry to come off controlling or aggressive, but that thing you said/posted/shared was kind of alarming to me. It made me feel unsafe and unsure how you feel towards me.”

Luckily, most of the people I spoke with about this (there weren’t that many. Many people aren’t sharing anything about either side at all, which I think is also fine. People should be allowed to craft politics free spaces for themselves and their sanity), took my words as I intended. A couple used the opportunity to learn more about antisemitism and Jewish history. I’m very grateful for that.

On the one hand, I’m a big believer in boundless empathy and giving people the benefit of the doubt. On the other, I cannot imagine telling a friend telling me that I’ve done something that scared them and made them feel unsafe and responding with an accusation of any kind. I certainly cannot imagine responding that I wanted to abandon the person I harmed.

I also can’t imagine seeing a group of people under threat, being told I am contributing to that threat by someone directly affected by it, and not caring enough to correct my actions.

I want to say that my instinct is to tell you that this person is not your friend and doesn’t deserve your time or care. But I am also Jewish at this time, and I know exactly where you are emotionally. It’s so scary to lose people from your life. And it’s really scary to lose them on terms where they are left feeling in negative ways toward Jews in this political climate. Not only can severing ties leave us completely isolated, but we also have to carry the weight of feeling responsible for leaving someone with a resentment toward Jews and worry that this will cause more harm to our very small community.

I want to say that whether or not you drop this person from your life, you are totally justified in your stance. Their antisemitism is not your fault. Not all goyim respond to correction so callously. This person’s continued antisemitism will not be your fault if you sever ties with them.

In many ways, kind, firm, and measured words are the single most important thing that anyone can do for the Jewish community worldwide right now. Repeatedly affirming that supporting Palestinian liberation and self determination does not exist at odds with antisemitism. It is possible to care for two parties at once, and everyone should do so.

Sending love and hope your way. It’s a scary time.

PS check out the post I made just before this one.

Israel (And Expansion)

Israel forgets that racism exists when they use the "Holocaust" as a defense. They then extend that; because of this: Palestinians are anti-Semitic.

To the rest of the world; Jews, Israelis, Palestinians, Even Iran, Iraq, Muslims, Hindu, Shiek, etc ... They are all the same. They are treated the same by appearance, and were all treated the same during the Holocaust. This is how there were millions of *Jews* affected. Despite many not practicing the Jewish Faith.

The white Jews (white people, westerners who adopted the faith, or of "Jewish" descent with lighter skin) are more accepted than the brown ones...

Israel then decided to aggressively expand her territory into Palestine. Subsequently claiming that the Palestinians are the same as the anti-Semitic countries during WWII.

Despite you know; the entire world seeing them as the same people; and then raising the truly anti-Semitic propaganda of the self-hating Jew.

This mixture between religious heritage, genetic heritage, and appearance has caused some interesting propaganda.

Including the one that says that Hamas is in fact Isis and Al-Qaeda. The middle-eastern insurgency groups, that the U.S. had supported and than stopped supporting when they became a danger to the surrounding countries.

The U.S. own Fox News Group has even forgotten who Al-Qaeda was and blamed 9/11 on Hamas and Palestine.

For comparison; Palestine is the size of two Rhode Islands, or 5 new york cities.

It's not big. And yes, Rhode Island is closer to a city than a state. In comparison, it'd be like if New York decided to kick out the inhabitants of Rhode Island, because the population of Trump Tower needed somewhere to go because He needed to sell it.

Israel, Palestine, and many Middle Eastern territories are all state sized or smaller. Rhode Island sized, and in some cases. City sized.

When compared with what we think about those things. And so when the U.S. is afraid of what'll happen to itself, or allies with a small portion of the Middle East; it causes big problems.

If, for example; you're one of those people who think they should "Figure it out themselves" then you'd be for them building a type of Federal government so that they start cooperating. If you're thinking the U.S. should intervene and help out; You're for them becoming U.S. territory until they figure out how to work it out.

But supporting a small state to create a situation where people are disenfranchised and have to leave their homes; is inviting them here. For Asylum. Because you supported them being removed from their homes.

Israel will ask "What about our homes from 100 years ago?" Does that give you the right to inflict the same pain on somebody else?

But what about the increasing conflict and war like aggressions? But ignore "both sides". If you're *just* defending yourselves, why are they not allowed to. And vice-versa?

When the U.S. puts it's weight on the scale, it'll tip where ever we tip it too. And we should be wary of how we give help.

And so we support "both sides" through aid that is supposed to be for resources famine, and medical expenses caused by conflict. So how did that aid end up going towards increasing aggression between both sides instead of de-escalation?

And why are people claiming ownership over a land that was worked on and built up by the Palestinians? And what ancient texts would have to say about this exact premise?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012&version=NIV

Jesus talks about increasing aggression in this way. Land that was given to someone else to put the work in, belongs to them... But those even more wealthy than they will come and kill them with that wealth. And then repeat the process.

This parable asks the question; which is more evil?

"The Pharisee didn't like it because they knew that he was talking about them." Not the farmers.

What is the solution do you think? More violence?

If the United States was able to become so greater by putting our differences aside (Her wicked history non-withstanding) why hasn't the middle-eastern been able to do the same?

The potential is there. Is it because bigger countries keep getting involved and causing destabilization? If so, we should cut off all involvement all together. All trade, travel, everything. Until everything stabilizes.

If bigger countries like the U.S. are truly helping; it's not because we're helping one territory take over another. That causes immigration. That thing that Fox News just can't stand happening.

So what is the solution here? If I keep talking about "Solutions" and "Israel" in the same sentence I'm going to be compared to Hitler.

And this, I think is why we should stay out of it. But at the same time. I think we should help people stay and build where they are at so they don't *need* to move here.

We're backed up at the border, correct?

RE my last repost ... the reason why white liberals tend to romanticize islam and judaism comes down to two things methinks

a. STILL not seeing muslim and jewish communities as human beings. making sweeping assumptions about a group of people is always stupid even if these sweeping assumptions are "positive". like, we are human beings lol. sometimes we are shitty! respecting someone's inherent personhood doesn't mean they're always good people. and it's still dehumanizing, it's just dehumanizingly making you feel like you're doing something lol. it also allows shitty muslims and shitty jewish people to get away with shitty things. overcorrecting because you don't want to seem like a bigot is fucking... stupid, lmao. motherfuckers will say shit like "omg u guys we can't ask muslims to not hate gay people, its disrespectful to them :/" like, what, are we so stupid and barbaric that we cannot possibly be asked to adhere to your Regular People moral code? do you think you have to hold my hand into not hatecriming a dude? boo fucking hooooo. also no offense (full offense) if someone believes their religion allows them to oppress other people, like, if THIS is what they take away from their holy text, then maybe... they are simply just a shitty person? they are a shitty person who also shouldn't live in fear of some fucking white supremacist cunt yanking their hijab off their head like???

b. inherent misunderstanding of power dynamics and how they function in society. muslims and jewish people in europe and the us/canada are a religious minority and often though not always are racialized -> ie they're an oppressed group. people have used religion to oppress minorities since like ever since they created the concept of religion lol. this is neither new nor special. but as it so happens, antisemitism and islamophobia is deeply rooted in western society in a way that affects the lives of jewish ppl and muslims every day. However! in muslim majority countries, for example, muslims are the oppressor. in ways identical to how christians are the oppressor in the west lol. like, in egypt, for example, like 15% of the population is christian. every one else is Presumed to be muslim. (egyptian jews are SO badly persecuted that they have to say they're muslim or christian on their ID because they might actually get fucking hatecrimed OR KILLED for being jewish !! and if you say you're atheist you may literally get fucking killed lol 🤩) and you'll find this shit in nearly every muslim majority country just as you find it in fuckass islamphobic racist america! does this mean ALL muslims are antisemitic bigoted pieces of shit? No but SOME sure fucking are! it just so happens, that in this specific region, the people who are in power, the people who have the resources and social power to oppress others, are muslim. it is so insanely eurocentric to think that muslims are always uwu victims uwu. and you know what's fucking funny? christian minorities in the SWANA region are nothing like, i don't know, catholics in france. diaspora muslims are nothing like the fucking taliban. you don't tend to see verses about christian supremacy in SWANA christians, just as you don't tend to see bigoted verses repeated by diaspora muslims. religion tends to manifest in peaceful "wholesome" ways when you're disenfranchised as a survival tactic because you gotta be on your best behavior baby you can't oppress people here! you cannot afford to alienate (looks at scrambled writing on hand) women or gay people. people have and will use religion as a tool and weapon to be relevant and stay in power but context is fucking keyyyyyy

soooo I binged the Devil in Ohio and now I’m just mad

- make the origin story of an evil cult two persecuted fleeing from genocide Irish Jews? Check.

- that same group of Irish immigrants also somehow retained Gaeilge as their language despite not a single Irish American immigrant doing so? For added pagan feeling spooks? Check.

- the pronounciation of Diabhail. It’s just. Divil. Divilment, being a divil. That’s how you say it. Check I guess.

- the innocent wife of Seamus (Americans I’m begging you pick a different Irish name there are more than that one and ones that I actually hear when I walk around! You’ll hear Paddy more than Seamus I swear to you). being called MARY. Seamus means JOSEPH. This was a not so subtle hint that Mary and “Seamus” represent Catholicism. Meaning they only worshipped Yahweh so that you knew that Caleb, the Jewish named one, was Jewish. (I’m abandoning the check system leave me alone)

- they wanted Irish catholics as the persecuted innocents w/o having them have a made up blood association w/ the evil Jewish cult leader. The irish Jews didn’t wipe out Irish catholics in a manufactured famine!!! It was British Protestants!!!

- the poor abused cult escapee being reframed as a villain because she, lemme check real quick… risked her own life returning to a cult with the barest of hopes that someone care enough to come save her????

- Jules’ friend being mad he isn’t the centre of Jules’ attention

- Jules’ being mad that the girl who clearly adores her is… traumatised and being given affection by her peers for it

- the lesbian sister saying “she’s working mom” when all she did was, let’s remember, own up to releasing a photo of herself to help Jules

- the dad being a prick

- the PARENTS abandoning their TWELVE YEAR OLD and her nearly dying and them both agreeing it was Mae’s fault?????

- the hint that this is a supernatural show. And then being like SIKE

Am I supposed to turn on a teenage victim??? Am I meant to take the side of petty irritating people??? Like what??

I am not even fan of color or etc but I understeand why they feel like this and they have alright to most of the fans love her because of her personality not just music and they love her because they can relalte to her and now her dating him just feels wrong after all things he said against black people and etc

i am white but also ethnically jewish, and have experienced virulent and damaging antisemitism (some of which was literally played off to school administration as a "joke," when it was anything but), and yet i recognize that i don't and can't know what it's like for black women/women of color (and he targeted multiple different ethnicities). i'm chronically ill, but invisibly, so when he uses ableist slurs, they wouldn't be aimed at me, but it's still shocking and hurtful. we should be repulsed by it no matter what, we don't have to be a part of one of those specific groups to be disturbed and upset, and it's even more important to stand with them in empathy and solidarity so that they know they're not alone right now. seeing black fans feeling abandoned in the fandom is terrible. seeing anyone feeling as though a safe space and source of happiness for them has been taken away/diminished/changed breaks my heart. that's why i want fans affected to know that they are being heard right now. even if it doesn't change anything, they're not on their own.

we do tend to love not only her music and artistry, but to care about her, and a lot of the distress here is coming from this being antithetical to the values and compassion she's told us she has and has shown. we wouldn't be upset in this way if we didn't like and care about her tbh. no, we do not "know" her, and we never have directly, but we believed in her and what she's shared with us, and to so publicly be with someone who represents the opposite of a lot of that is understandly distressing. she's choosing to platform him. she's choosing to make this public via articles and appearances despite her previous stance on privacy, during a massive tour and ahead of an anticipated re-recording, when she's already getting so much press, so of course this is going to draw even more attention, and take focus from her art. at this point, she has no one to blame for that gossip but herself. we can't just look away. it's just...sad and frustrating and i care most about the fans being hurt in all this. this comment on the sub really got me:

Hey! I am the anon who ask for an alternative for "grisha", and, as someone who don't know Russian culture or language, I want to ask your opinion on what I thought.

What do you think of "bditel'nyy" (which should mean awake, vigilant, according to an English-Russian dictionary I found online, but this could be wrong) as a substitute, at least as a formal title, for "grisha"? I was inspired by the "egregore", especially Frater Tenebris' definition: "[…] an occult term for an independently functioning spiritual entity created by one or more magick practitioners. Many egregores begin as thought-forms but then become capable of operating independently of the practitioners", with "thought-form" being "an esoteric entity created by magick […] or from worship and prayer by generations of believers". The definitions of Gaetan Delaforge and René Guénon respectively also seem interesting in this sense: "egregore" is "a kind of group mind which is created when people consciously come together for a common purpose", "possessing a subtle force made up in a way of the contributions of all its members past and present, and which is consequently all the more considerable and able to produce greater effects as the collectivity is older and is composed of a greater number of members".

In other words, it would be related to: 1) an elite spiritual group, who maintain traditions and are vigilant; 2) a group mind; and 3) an independent magical being arising from the collective mind.

PS.: Thank you for answering my first question! And, by any chance, do you think it's offensive to take a Western concept for a group that is part of a country inspired by Russia?

ah my apologies! I took your previous ask to mean a canonical replacement for grisha instead of a fictional exercise in creativity.

if you're searching for answers about russian culture and language, I'd recommend asking the slavic members of this community, of which there are actually many. I believe @stromuprisahat could help you out, if not with your question then just to recc others with more knowledge on the subject.

bditel'nyy is actually fun! and I'm sure there are many russian words or phrases you could use in your writing to replace the word grisha, especially if you came up with the lore for why the phrase exists and where it does and how it's dispersed throughout the world/who uses it/how it affects grisha culture and all of that other worldbuilding stuff which is incredibly fun. so I say go for ideas like that! it's cool and interesting.

I'm going to give a bit of a neutral reaction to frater tenebris and the term egregore in general, however. again, I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but I think you should be wary of how you incorporate what seems to be american centric paganism into a tsarist russia built on what appears to be a mixture of slavic paganism and the russian orthodoxy. while I think the meaning of the term itself could be fun to play around with, I'd give it some thought and maybe ask around more. I'm also not partial to the "elite spiritual group mind" aspect of it, personally, but a name doesn't have to be logical or strictly defining of its members, so that's really one of my own hang ups lol. you could have real fun creatively with that if you used it right.

I love this creative peek into sab lore too! it's neat to explore rewriting it, considering the canonical lore is so lacking, and even sankt grigori is a shallow excuse for worldbuilding when it comes to the true naming of a whole people, imo. there are so many aspects of the grishaverse that could be built on lore wise in much more rich and complex ways.

and you're welcome! I'm glad I got to answer your first question, even if I maybe didn't get your point 😭

last note: I do think it's probably not a great idea to use a western concept for a group of people within a country inspired by russia. but at the same time, the grisha themselves take heavy inspiration from western jewish persecution and ghettoization. so in general, I'd be careful of both russian culture and your interpretations of the grisha and how they're named/treated in your world.

anyways, good luck on whatever you're working on! let me know if you have any more questions!

To Hate Ideologies, It Doesn’t Matter Who You Are

One thing that I’ve learned is that if someone gets deep enough in a hate ideology directed at a specific group, it doesn’t matter whether or not I’m in that group, merely defending that group, even in one specific, limited instance, is enough to get me targeted with hate. In some cases, you don’t even need to defend the group, you just need to disagree with something someone is doing to attack the group. 

Like I’m white and I’ve never been subjected to racism. But...when I make a video talking about some issue that affects people of other races, it’s like, suddenly all these white supremacists come out of the woodwork to leave hate messages on my YouTube channel.

And like, in case you’re wondering how deep it goes? One of my ancestors was actually lynched, because he lived in the deep south and he was a sympathizer for the union during the civil war, and people knew this and so a group of people just went out and killed him.

So like, it can go that far.

And like, this is just one of the many examples. I’m nonbinary, not really a woman or a man. But I’m negatively affected both by misogyny and by hate directed at men.

I’m not Jewish, but I have a Jewish last name and 1/4 Jewish blood and that’s enough to get me targeted by antisemitism.

And I’m not a cop nor have I ever been one nor have I ever really allied myself to them, but I’ve had people go absolutely apeshit on me just because I didn’t agree 100% with their anti-police rhetoric. For example, I’m outspoken about disagreeing when people advocate for violence against police in situations where I think the backlash is likely to harm vulnerable people who did not initiate or consent to be included in the violence, and it’s amazing how my whole life and track record of activism completely goes out the window as soon as I disagree with 0.1% of someone’s ideology, like I get labeled the enemy and called all sorts of slurs. In this case it’s especially frustrating because I’m just as concerned with police violence as they are, but just because I don’t agree 100% with their methods, and would prefer they be more mindful about how and when and where they escalate, this is enough for them to lump me in the “them” group.

On some level this stuff is shocking to me. But on some level it’s not surprising because us-vs-them thinking is really that toxic. When people get too deep in it, you really have to agree with them 100% or else you become part of the “them”, and who knows where that might lead.

Do everyone a favor and keep these ideologies as far away from your life as possible. Intervene early if you see people slipping into them. Try to educate people around you about their dangers so they can avoid them.

hi dani, this ask is probably going to be really messy and long but i’m having a pretty hard time reconciling my feelings of disappointment and anger regarding taylor’s relationship with that man and my feelings of excitement and happiness about the fact that i’m going to her concert this saturday, which will not only be my first time traveling to the US, but also my very first concert of hers. i’m not a person of color so i am definitely not the person that was the most directly affected by the things he’s said, but i’m jewish, and seeing taylor associating with someone who has hurt so many people and communities and marginalized groups makes me extremely sad. at the same time, i’ve been anticipating seeing her in concert for probably most of my life, and i still am extremely happy that i will be able to, but almost every time i listen to her songs now, that man and the things he’s done come to mind. idk if any of this made sense, but do you have any advice on how i can fully enjoy seeing taylor perform and have fun at the concert without that bad taste in my mouth? also thank u so much for being one of the very few sane and reasonable people on my dash <3

hi bestie. I totally understand how you feel. i just barely got my tickets today and i still have that rock in my gut like… idk! it’s just a sour taste in my mouth. my only way to justify this is that like. we love her and that’s why this hurts so bad and why we’re criticizing this so harshly. you want better from the people you love!! and also at least tour was announced and we got everything situated before this news broke out