What if we .... WHAT?

Utah had two of its deadliest years on the roads after lowering their limit, and drivers can already be arrested and convicted without any BAC testing if their driving and/or other factors indicate they were "affected by" alcohol, so this will only impact drivers between .05 and .08 who weren't driving poorly and there's no evidence it will prevent deaths. It's a terrible pro-carceral idea.

Just 3 years of MFer to go. Got hilf uns.

Also I agree with @2.

"Only 40% of the state's independent venues and festivals are profitable."

It shows what The Stranger reader's and consumers truly value.

If people value it, they part with their discretionary dollars to vote for it.

"claiming that 'only power that can ensure peace throughout the world—and it is done, quite simply, through strength.'”

Why is that claim by Trump shocking or controversial to The Stranger, its readers, and commenters? It is 100% consistent with its world view and philosophy?

If humans are the sole determiner of what is right and wrong, moral and immoral, then the next question is which human's moral code is the one that a group, city, country, or the world will live by?

Obviously its the human group with enough strength to impose their moral preference on everyone else, since humans have never agreed on anything.

Nietzsche was right, if we adopt the view that humans determine morality. We live in a world where each individual, likely as part of a group, lives to assert their "will to power."

Truth is defined as that which conforms to reality.

Hey Vivian,

How is the idea that there was not legal merit to the claims by neighbors of Denny Blaine Park working out?

Has the park returned to the inviting LGTBQ+ clothing optional sanctuary that it was before the neighbors won their injunctive relieve against the second best publicly funded legal department in the State of Washington?

@5: "Obviously its [sic] the human group with enough strength to impose their moral preference on everyone else, since humans have never agreed on anything."

Well then, best to just fight it all out in a glorious bloodbath and get it over with. Peace can wait. Am I reading your sentiment correctly?

I got back from vacation and I was just like... man, I really hope the entire slog comments section is just Pheobe being stupid, NotMyOpic being contrarian for no reason and Daikon being a racist piece of shit this morning.

Thanks!

@7b - Slog AM has never been a SPD blotter.

@Thumpus and @13twelve,

"In 2023, Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter for the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II after Cobb attempted to flee a traffic stop."

"Londregan’s partner was slightly inside the car when Cobb shifted the car into drive. Londregan ... shot him twice. Cobb died at the scene."

"Moriarty said she charged Londregan based on the evidence available at the time and that a Hennepin County judge affirmed there was probable cause to proceed with the case."

"She dropped the case.“

"'We could theoretically prosecute this and just let the jury decide,' she told the Star Tribune in 2024. 'However, we ethically can’t do that because we don’t believe at this point that we can disprove that affirmative defense.'”

https://archive.ph/rbpQy#selection-757.52-761.1

Why are you both so adamant that she will have a better time disproving the affirmative defense available to Ross in the Good case, in an incident where the officer's asserted "reasonable" perception of threat of imminent serious physical injury, and response to that threat unfolded in less than five seconds? What's different enough that she would be able to ethically proceed in this case and overcome the affirmative defense of the officer's asserted reasonable perception based on what the officer saw and perceived solely from his point of view in front of the vehicle?

@8: Embellished by your thoughtful remarks of course.

@11 - You're right Daikon. Nothing about it is racist. Shame on those who throw out that word arbitrarily without a pixel of context to back it up.

@7, The logical conclusion of The Stranger's world view is that peace is a paradox.

Peace comes from the human group strong enough to be able to use enough force to impose their moral code on everyone else.

@8, Rest for the rest of the day in the knowledge your hope has been validated and affirmed.

Jeez... 3 days w/o Slog, and the trolls get itchy.

Conga-rats, Bi-Pedo on your shiny new 'nym. I really hope you are keeping a list of them for posterity, or at least to make sure you don't accidentally reuse one. (Oh wait... did you already get bounced? What's your record for quickest banning?)

And maybe it's just me, but does Neale strike anyone else as someone who paid a shit-ton of money for law school, but failed the bar exam three times? And has a grudge about it?

@13,

The overwhelming majority of us just scroll right past that guy's posts because the overwhelming majority of them are overtly and objectively racist. If this post was an exception, I'd assume drewl2 there just made a logical assumption without reading it as do the rest of us. You were correct in your comment @9 there that this isn't a forum for catering to the coverage demands of certain commenters, and I can't imagine why you'd bother with that dude's strange diatribes, though to each their/your own, I suppose.

Mike @ 18...
Nailed it. I see his (and Neale's) opening headers and just skim on down the line.

@18: I understand what you're saying, but for folks who don't have the historical Slog avatar awareness as you and drewl2 have they'd have a different conclusion.

I'm sorry, but accusing someone of racism only by obscure tangential musings bothers me and it should you as well.

@17 he strikes me as the type who has no formal training in anything but thinks he’s an expert at everything because he read an article about it once

barth @ 21...
Yup, Dunning-Kruger running wild (re: grudge).

@21, How is your record of predictions on charges and not charges on cases you have commented on? What is your batting average?

@Thumpus @Thirteen12,

Hennepin County Attorney's history on charging and dismissing LEO's with unlawful use of deadly force in motor vehicle incidents. She determined she could not overcome the defenses in Minnesota Law, and specifically disprove the officer's perception of threat.

https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/hennepin-county-attorney-moriarty-discusses-why-her-office-is-dismissing-charges-against-trooper-londregan/

@24 in your own link:

"In an open court hearing on April 29, the defense revealed the substance of Londregan’s testimony, claiming he saw Cobb reach for a trooper’s firearm just before Londregan fired shots that killed Cobb."

Did Good reach for anyone's gun right before the ICE goon shot her? No? Again, you are so so bad at this.

23 i don’t make predictions about things outside of my knowledge or expertise and if i did i wouldn’t have the slightest clue what my “batting average” is because i have a fucking life

Neale @24...
For some Hennepin County/Minneapolis history, google Mike Sauro.

'batting average'
Mister Magoo?
unless I Mis-
remember
your De-
lightful
'Toon

you're
Unable to
SEE the fucking ball?

@7: I predicted a gushing kudos for Donald J. Lemon disrupting Minnesota nice baptists from worshiping. Oh well.

Nothing about the Mayor’s staffing announcements and the bus lane on Denny?

And that “church” in Minneapolis sounds like the typical “independent” congregation that exists to tithe the F out of the poor souls who are Dumb enough to “worship” there.

@30: Yes, I'm not surprised how threatened you are by the mere assembly of your neighbors involved with anything spiritual. I pity your soulless miserable schtick you think is so cool, but let me tell you something honey - and listen carefully, it's not.

You thought people would be gushing over someone disrupting church services? Lol. You really need to turn off fox news and leave the house every once in a while

@30: What they also did was illegal and not protected by the first amendment:

Obstruction of Free Exercise of Religious Beliefs (18 U.S.C. § 247): - This federal felony prohibits intentionally obstructing (by force, threat, or intimidation) any person's free exercise of religion in a place of worship. Penalty: Up to 3 years in prison if no injury; higher if involving threats.

Conspiracy Against Rights (18 U.S.C. § 241):
If the protesters conspired to injure, oppress, or intimidate attendees in their free exercise of religious rights, this could apply. Penalty: Up to 10 years in prison.

You can't underestimate how scared the congregation and clergy must have been. Why just last fall there was a mass shooting killing two kids at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.

@32: Yes, barth retort #6766 - I'm disappointed by your lack of creativity!

@25, You have correctly cited for us that in about 400 cases a moving vehicle counted as a weapon. So use, or attempted use, of a firearm is not required for someone to "reasonably believe" they are at imminent risk of "great bodily harm." The car looming ever larger, in ones tunneling and narrowing field of vision, in a period of less than 5 seconds, is going to be a reasonable basis to conclude imminent risk of serious physical injury that the County Attorney can't show to be unreasonable.

SCOTUS said in Heller:

"Before addressing the verbs “keep” and “bear,” we interpret their object: “Arms.” The 18th-century meaning is no different from the meaning today. The 1773 edition of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary defined “arms” as “weapons of offence, or armour of defence.” 1 Dictionary of the English Language 107 (4th ed.) (hereinafter Johnson). Timothy Cunningham’s important 1771 legal dictionary defined “arms” as “any thing that a man wears for his defence, or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another.” 1 A New and Complete Law Dictionary (1771); see also N. Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) (reprinted 1989) (hereinafter Webster) (similar)."

So the County Attorney, as in Londregan, still has to overcome the defenses that can be raised by Ross. That Ross believed he was at risk from the vehicle is already out there. The defense that was a reasonable belief is going to be hard to overcome. Also in Londregan there was not just issue of Londregan's perception of danger from the gun, but the danger to the officer partially inside the vehicle being drug or run over by the vehicle. In Londregan her experts told her that either was sufficiently reasonable belief of imminent harm to either Londregan, or his partner, for Longregan to reasonably believe he needed to use deadly force.

In Good you only have one of the two, when either one of the two in Londregan was going to be too much to overcome. In one case you had belt and suspenders holding up the defenses case. In Good you have just a belt, or suspenders, either one of which are sufficient to hold up the defense.

If Moriarty thought she had sufficient evidence to overcome the defenses available likely to be raised by Good, she would charge. She learned from Londregan what it takes to ethically charge and took the political heat to dismiss. She isn't going to repeat that mistake this time around. She is not seeking re-election and needs her law license untarnished by a BAR complaint going after her license, sustained or not. She also strikes me as ethical, in spite of her progressive leanings, and for that reason, is willing to not go where those progressive instincts want to take her, when the law doesn't support that.

@31: I love how you think Catalina is unchurched. I wish I could attach a photo of the four-foot-tall crucifix they gifted me.

34 same. Doesn’t get much more predictable than american christians feeling victimized despite being among the most coddled people on earth.

@33,

"You can't underestimate how scared the congregation and clergy must have been..."

They shouldn't have gone in the church, and I'll also concede that Christians are largely hysterical, gullible rubes who scare easily. Since they did decide to go in, it's sort of a shame they didn't do so dressed up as like an army of Satan's warriors or something. I always get a kick out of those dimwits who live in perpetual fear of His Presence. One of my all-time favorite Jackass stunts is when Chris Pontius dresses up as a cartoonish Satan, and tries to spread his gospel at a busy intersection, only to wind up in a bare knuckle brawl with some violent, bible thumping lunatic. Good times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0MJsQF8K5s

@35 the best part about this is you transparently believe that not only do you know the law better than us internet randos but also the Hennepin County Attorney. Your own article states that her office said the new evidence (reaching for the gun) was what forced them to dismiss, but you insist that, no, the case was improperly charged from the start. Your theory is the County Attorney did not know the law as well as you do, made an embarrassing mistake as a result, and then either didn't realize she had messed up or lied to the public about it. I guess the only remaining question is, why haven't you run for King County Prosecutor given your superior legal acumen?

I was terribly disappointed by the raid into the Mimneapolis church. Not entertaining. The gold standard remains the case of Eden Strang, who in 2000, entered a village church in the UK, buck naked and armed with a samurai sword. He dealt terrible wounds to the congregants but was eventually subdued by choir boys, who cleverly used processional crosses, incense staffs and an organ pipe as weapons to duel with Strang. When asked by police what motivated him, he shared his conviction that the church was promoting Satanism and was in fact, harboring demons.

@36: "They" - there's more than one Catalina? Or did you mean non-binary? No hon, old drag queens are not non-binary because the binary is far more fun ---- puhleeeeeeze! Catalina is a man.

@38:

They shouldn't have gone in the mosque, and I'll also concede that Muslims are largely hysterical, gullible rubes who scare easily. Since they did decide to go in, it's sort of a shame they didn't do so dressed up as like an army of Allah's warriors or something. I always get a kick out of those dimwits who live in perpetual fear of His Presence. One of my all-time favorite Jackass stunts is when Chris Pontius dresses up as a cartoonish jihadist, and tries to spread his koran at a busy intersection, only to wind up in a bare knuckle brawl with some violent, koran thumping lunatic. Good times.

"ICYMI: Nathalie profiled Imraan Siddiqi, the director of Washington’s Council on American-Islamic Relations running to replace Democratic State Rep. Lauren Davis in the 32nd District."

Not to worry, we didn't miss it at all! Here's just some of what we had to say after reading it:

In response to the profile's claim Siddiqi's, "platform is still fuzzy":

"...his platform isn’t fuzzy he just doesn’t want to talk about it because it’s deeply unpopular."

In response to the profile's introductory description of Siddiqi as, "the executive director of the civil rights nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Washington," we have this 2024 quote from CAIR:

“We cannot endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy because of her refusal to even consider imposing the arms embargo on the Israeli government required by U.S. laws and her failure to promise any other changes whatsoever to President Biden’s failed policy of steadfast financial, diplomatic and military support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”

In response to the profile giving as Siddiqi's motivation for running for office, "protecting people against ICE.":

'...now he'll be "protecting people against ICE." Really. Because apparently protecting people against ICE didn't matter in 2024, and he was happy to help Trump turn ICE into his private gestapo, because hey, ICE didn't harm Gaza, so what's the difference?'

(https://www.thestranger.com/news/2026/01/19/80424267/civil-rights-nonprofit-director-imraan-siddiqi-wants-to-represent-legislative-district-32/comments)

ICYMI: the Stranger's readers know all about Siddiqi. (And far more than just those few things the Stranger wants us to know, too!)

@42 what point are you trying to make, Muslims are equally stupid and crazy as Christians? You could have at least found a funny video for us like blob did

@41: yes baby I know, I’ve been to their home (and it is amazing and their snacks were delicious!) What does their gender have to do with what I said?

@44: The bigotry exercise escapes you. Tells us a lot.
@45: Cute out.

@44,

I also saw a short, funny interview with Chris Pontius a few years after that Jackass stunt ran. He said they considered the possibility that something like that may happen, but thought it unlikely enough that they didn't bother doing much in preparation for it. He said the craziest thing, in addition to just trying to process what was happening in real time, was trying to get adequate traction and leverage to defend himself in an attack while dressed like that, and wearing those footie style sock-things.

The only assaults on churches is ICE snatching people out of them. The congregation that was protested was not Christian st all but a pseudo christofascist cult with an ICE agent at the head. Their sole objective is to defile Christ but worshipping a material agenda. No true Christian would prey on the most vulnerable. He would welcome and serve them. We need more protests in fake churches.

@48: Totally made up and stupid, as usual. You didn't even watch the video. You have no idea what you're lying about. And to trash a house of worship is just sick, even for you.

@46 not a "bigotry exercise" a failed gotcha, you thought we wouldn't also disparage Muslims because Christians are the uniquely most oppressed population in America

@48: "pseudo christofascist cult with an ICE agent at the head"

Even if true, how does that characterization give you the moral clarity to disrupt a peaceful gathering of fellowship and spirituality? Please answer.

@46, See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. Christians are among the largest, most powerful and most destructive forces in our politics but they want to be the victim and the underdog so bad.

@52: No, Muslims are. Nothing more destructive than taking women and subjugating them into servitude and have young girls marry old men to be raped. Makes Jeffery Epstein look like Mr. Rogers.

@53 and there go the last vestiges of the "bigotry exercise" facade

@54: I suppose if you're into treating women that way it might come across as bigoted. So be it I guess.

@53, Get a grip. They’re less than 2% of the population in the US, and there are Christian fundamentalists in this country raping and subjugating women in the name of religion as we speak. Not to mention the muslims who leave their oppressive cultures to come here are more educated and enlightened than the average american evangelical. You don’t get to make taking rights away from women and minorities the center feature of your faith based political movement and escape ridicule in a free, non-theocratic country and you certainly don’t have the authority to call out other faiths for doing the same thing in theirs.

@54 exactly

when Republican
"Jesus" is Your
Christ:

"The only assaults
on churches is ICE
snatching people
out of them.

The congregation that was protested
was not Christian [at] all but a
pseudo christofascist cult
with an ICE agent
at the head.

Their sole objective
is to defile Christ but wor-
shipping a material agenda.

No true Christian would prey on the most vulnerable.

He would welcome and serve them.
We need more protests
in fake churches."

Thank You,
CDizzle.

"See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. Christians
are among the largest, most powerful and most
destructive forces in our politics but they want
to be the victim and the underdog so bad."

--barth on January 21, 2026 at 8:23 AM

Very well put, barth.

@KkKoolie --
KOMO and the
Seattle Times beckon:

you should Visit them.
and More oftenly.

@56: "They’re less than 2% of the population"

Quantity doesn't make an argument.

"You certainly don’t have the authority to call out other faiths for doing the same thing in theirs."

So pompous given the "authority" you displayed in @52.

Get a grip yourself. If you can reach it, that is.

@57:

"with an ICE agent
at the head."

So what? Does that justify the terrorism?

Of course the quantity makes an argument if they are an underrepresented minority. We’re talking about politics here. I’m not even sure what you’re trying to say about “authority” but i am talking about the negative impact the christian faith has on the lives of all americans, atheist, muslim, and christian alike. If you’re more concerned about religious extremism in a group with no material impact on our rights and freedoms but not the extremism in a faith that has commandeered an entire political party you don’t actually give a fuck about the subjugation of women. Until you clean up your own side of the street you have no place to criticize others.

@39, The lack of charges by the Hennepin County Attorney, with the evidence in hand that you and Thumpus say conclusively shows a crime speaks for itself.

The fact that she charged, and then dismissed, in the last case, says she learned something about the law. As soon as she was faced with the affidavits from use of force experts, and the defenses that would be raised at trial, she quickly concluded she did not have proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a crime.

@60: "talking about the negative impact the christian faith has on the lives of all americans, atheist, muslim, and christian alike."

Do you hear yourself? Your blatant hostile bigoted statements are breathtaking.

What exactly is bigoted about it? Right now women in this country are dying in childbirth because they were not allowed to get a lifesaving medical procedure, thanks a christian extremist movement who don’t respect the separation of church and state. If the “moral majority” had their way gay people would not be allowed to get married or adopt children. They don’t know how to live and let live in a country centered on that concept and there is nothing bigoted about acknowledging this truth.

They are betraying not only our country’s values bur their own faith and the irony of all this should not escape you. The central plot of the new testament is about an immigrant family being turned away in their hour of need but if this story played out in contemporary times Jesus would have been born in an ice camp. American Christians have become the villains in their own mythology and their country’s.

Oh, the ol' abortion angle. Should have known. It doesn't take a religion to know that an unborn child is a human being to be protected.

If you worried about gay rights, blame the TQ+ crowd.

@63: Just note that whenever you bash Christians - I'll bash Muslims!

Coolie has gone full fascist. Reading his drivel is a waste.

@64, Women are dying, dude. You know christian women also suffer complications from pregnancy, right? It’s not just atheists who are negatively impacted by their antics. Which do you value more, the life of fetuses or women and girls? You can only pick one. And I will continue to blame the people seeking to strip rights from others, not the people in their crosshairs.

You say you’ll bash muslims like it’s a threat. You can bash whoever the fuck you want, i don’t care, but to be abundantly clear, i am criticizing christianism, not all christians, just as your gripe is with islamism and not all muslims, or at least it should be. Most of the Christians i know are lovely people. It’s just the ones who have succumbed to this vile and hateful political agenda that I don’t care for. You can believe whatever you want and live your life accordingly, just keep your faith out of politics and you’re cool with me.

@66 he’s always been there, you just have to poke him a bit and the fash just starts pouring out

@66: It's fascists who say which churches are real. My God man, look in the mirror.

@67: Yes, women can have complications but their fetus still sacred. And she should have an abortion is her life is in danger. Multiple concepts are true at the same time, go figure.

Sorry but I'm having trouble squaring your backpedaling in your second paragraph with your previous statement in @52.

"he’s always been there, you just have to poke him a bit and the fash just starts pouring out."

More like when you let it all out, someone speaks the truth!

No i mean you’re coming out as anti-choice, blaming queer people for christians hating them, and “threatening” to say bigoted things about muslims. Each of these are antithetical to “small government conservatism” but scratch one and an authoritarian bleeds. You normally try to keep these things under wraps but it’s obviously lurking below the surface.

Every state has different laws regarding abortion access thanks to christianism so now women in certain states do not have access to lifesaving medical care if they need it. I don’t believe anything is sacred because that is a religious belief but thanks once again for reminding us that you value your personal religious beliefs over women’s right to bodily autonomy.

I’m not backpedaling on anything but you continue to prove my point @52 that you want to be the victim so bad despite having nothing to complain about, only having your feelings hurt because i said true but unflattering things about movement Christianity poisoning our politics.

@69: "you’re coming out as anti-choice,"

Where did I say that?

"blaming queer people for christians hating them"

Where did I say that?

"threatening” to say bigoted things about muslims"

It was simply a return volley after being pummeled your anti-Christian fervor, which repeats it with "Christianity poisoning our politics."

Islam is most definitely poisoning our politics. We better watch out or we'll become like the UK.

And no such thing as queer people. Just men and women, with some being same-sex attracted commonly refereed to as gays and lesbians.

“Oh, the ol' abortion angle. Should have known. It doesn't take a religion to know that an unborn child is a human being to be protected.” = anti-choice

“If you worried about gay rights, blame the TQ+ crowd.” = blaming queer people for christians hating them

The Christians i know do not believe their faith is an excuse to deny people rights, it’s just their personal relationship with god. Once you understand this fairly simple distinction you won’t be so offended by my opinions, unless you see yourself represented in the christianist blight on our society.

If you’re offended because i think christians believe silly things that’s fair but if so you should have some integrity and keep muslims’ silly beliefs out of your mouth. You should also be aware that i’m not muslim and could not care less if you think their religion is dumb so these threats achieve nothing besides revealing your hypocrisy. If you genuinely believe islam is a greater threat to our society than the christianist movement currently hollowing out our basic rights you are truly beyond help.

Coolie would snatch Jesus out of the temple and deport him, leaving money changers in their place with a big golden altar to the crucifix with the top chopped off. You are no Christian, you are the same as the Nazi at the end of Indiana Jones and the last crusade who has forsaken the wooden cup of Jesus for a golden chalice of false faith, leading to your instant spiritual decay into a hideous husk of wasted life.

It was Jesus who invaded the temple in righteous fury and retribution to throw the corrupting influences out of the church. So should the church rise up against false faith that distorts and perverts the gifts of the spirit for the acts of the flesh and material decay.

@72: Abortion: See @68 para 2. Does that seem anti-choice to you?

TQ+: I meant every word. It's the TQ+ crowd that is ruining gay rights. It's not "christians hating them" it's their refusal to accept science and reality that makes it their fault. Indeed, how can you justify people cheating at sports with their biology and exposing their penises in the women's room, much less the transhousen mothers and our public school system trying to change their effeminate boys and tomboys into trans. Answer that!

There's no "christianist movement" but there sure is an Islamic movement when Mamdani has by executive order allowed Mosque calls to prayer starting at 4am in Brooklyn.

I'm very glad you're not a Muslim, as I do emphatically believe that Islam is one of the greatest threats to our society.

@73 - Never saw that movie.

Of course there is a Christianist movement, it is folks who identify as Christian, sorta like how folks identify as a gender, except they don't actually read or understand the bible or understand Jesus's actions in their historical context. They become a proxy for submission to the government and a material agenda. Christianists are "culturally" christian which means they are WASP MAGAts or Latinos who have been guilt tripped all their life into blindly supporting whoever claims to be anti abortion no matter what horrible things they do.

@76. It's a fantastic film, even now. You would enjoy it, politics aside. A true classic.

@77: Of course there's evangelization, as with most religions. The discussion is complex and your stereotypes were probably thought of in a hurry to get that comment out and I dare say are probably beneath your real intellectual observations.

75, People are dying and having their constitutional rights trampled but you’re worried about calls to prayer. Freedom of speech and religion for me, but not those filthy pigs, right?

Sorry but anything short of unconditional bodily autonomy is anti-choice. Plenty of anti-choice zealots claim to support conditions for maternal safety but in practice that value is not respected because many states do not have such exceptions. Even in states that allow exceptions, doctors are choosing not to abort for fear that they can be criminally charged because the law is ambiguous, and women and girls are suffering for it.

You do not get to define what it means to be queer. Keep reveling your contempt for trans people though, really helps your case that you’re not blaming queer people for their own persecution.

Again, all you’re doing is outing yourself as a christianist, or the movement jerry fallwell christened the “moral majority” 4 decades ago if you prefer. I think you should just embrace it instead of denying it even exists, but whatever. It doesn’t change your values, your character, or how anyone perceives you, it just just makes you look like you’re ashamed of yourself. So who knows, maybe there is hope for you after all

@80: "People are dying and having their constitutional rights trampled but you’re worried about calls to prayer."

What if I asked you "People are dying and having their constitutional rights trampled but you’re worried about calls to climate change." -- See how silly that is? You can't just take any two issues and juxtapose them into a convincing argument.

"You do not get to define what it means to be queer."

I do get to define what makes sense to me. "Queer" doesn't say anything. There are even heterosexuals who call themselves queer to appropriate and be an "ally" - give me a break.

"Again, all you’re doing is outing yourself as a christianist"

Outing myself as a Christian? Guilty as charged! It's you who can't handle my giving credence to America's Judea-Christian heritage.

That sounds silly because it makes no sense. We are not randomly juxtaposing issues, we have been talking about the threat of two different political-religious movements on American society, and you’re the one who brought up islam in the first place. I can make my point about christian extremism just fine without whatabouting another religion but apparently you can’t defend it without creating a distraction.

It’s true we can care about two things at once but that doesn’t apply here because you are not arguing both are a threat; you are worried about one thing and in complete denial about the other — the one that is actively destroying people’s lives and our standing on the global stage. If you are concerned about islamic extremism taking over America because a mosque in brooklyn has the same constitutional rights as any church but oblivious to the threat of christian extremism you are at best delusional about the imminent threats to our rights and at worst a christian fascist. Either way it’s not looking good for you.

I don’t care how you self-identify. No one is telling you you can’t not identify as queer but you are trying to argue queer people don’t exist at all. That’s just not how it works.

https://youtube.com/shorts/0z-699eFVX0?si=NGUjF3DXTvbKvuJ2

https://youtu.be/olhpqJso41M?si=WHgqoAV0n88nIofJ

@82: You're conflating "christian extremism" with simply passions of the faithful, for which they have a constitutional right to worship and gather. Worries over "imminent threats to our rights" are handled by our courts, not by storming churches - regardless of whether the pastor is an ICE agent.

In addition, how its it threatening in the slightest to Minneapolis for a group of folks to meet on Sunday at a worship service? Time to reflect one's actions, including ICE agents, may have taken place - but no, these terrorists (and that's what they were) had to disrupt the tranquility and make kids cry. You should be sick about this if you have any decency - especially since a there was a mass shooting at a Minneapolis church last fall.

Queer is too malleable and subjective as a definition to describe a group of people sharing similar characteristics without further information. But that's just my opinion.

@83: The issues are over politics, not scripture.

Queer can be an umbrella term for sexual minorities, but it's distinct in LBTQ+.

Thank you, Lissa dear. I'm happy the crucifix found a forever home. Although now that I think of it, we should have had a procession around the block as part of the transfer, but we would have needed a censer and it wouldn't really be complete wtihout a monstrance. Also, I doubt if I could still fit into my cassock or surplice anymore.

Personally, I think all churches should be converted to either free on-demand abortion clinics or gay bathhouses. Religion is a sign of a weak soul. Just an unneeded middleman between mankind and whatever "the creator" is.