{"id":7572,"date":"2016-09-29T21:58:29","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T03:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/?p=7572"},"modified":"2016-09-29T21:58:29","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T03:58:29","slug":"false-outrage-witches-in-government-ouija-boards-and-millennials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/2016\/09\/false-outrage-witches-in-government-ouija-boards-and-millennials\/","title":{"rendered":"False Outrage: Witches in Government, Ouija Boards, and Millennials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The three things in the header above have nothing in common, except they are all examples of false outrage. What is false outrage? It\u2019s when a bunch of people get their undies all tied up in knots because they think an inconsequential thing is worth being outraged about. <\/p>\n

False outrage has always been an effective political tool, and even more so today in the age of social media. All one has to do is repeat a word over and over again all of a sudden you\u2019ve got a scandal! Alternatively, all you have to do is share a stupid petition and all of a sudden the entire Christian world is out to get us. <\/p>\n

I think these days that people so want to be outraged, that they often overlook obvious satire. Just today I found someone outraged over this post from Millennials of New York<\/a> on Facebook:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe debates are tonight. God, I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s come to this. Seriously, both candidates just suck so bad. On the one hand you have Donald Trump, who said all Muslims should be banned from entering this country, encourages violence at his rallies, openly praises Saddam Hussein, suggests we kill the families of terrorists, and has the public support of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, the KKK, and 0% of black people. On the other hand you have Hillary, who, just, like, I dunno, fucking sucks. The emails. And she had pneumonia. They\u2019re equally the WORST.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The bar for humanity is so low today that it\u2019s easy to mistake this for a genuine take on Hillary\/Donald, but Millennials of New York is clearly satire. Just a few days before sharing the above post the site posted this:<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019m sick of all this fucking celebrity worship. Who gives a shit that two extremely famous people that I don\u2019t even know are getting divorced? It\u2019s so dumb to get so caught up in that crap. And anyway, Jennifer Anniston is the real victim here. She watched Angelina steal Brad away from her, and then the marriage doesn\u2019t even work? That\u2019s a slap in the face. Like, if ANGELINA had just kept out of things, I bet Brad and Jennifer would still be together today. That was true love. Everyone could see it. God, I hate Angelina SO FUCKING MUCH! TOMB RAIDER SUCKED! SHIT! Anyway, it\u2019s pathetic that some people actually care about this stuff. Like, get a life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know if the \u201cUptown Baptist Church B&G\u201d promoting a petition to: \u201cMandate 18+ Age requirement for Sale or Use of Ouija and Spirit Talking Boards<\/a>\u201d is meant to be satire, but even if it\u2019s not, only six (after an edit I see they are up to nine!) people have signed the petition thus far. Six people! We are talking about a revolution here. (There is an actual Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago<\/a>, though I don\u2019t know for sure that they are the ones who submitted the petition.) And one of the signers is \u201cDark Lord Satan\u201d so it\u2019s obvious that all involved are taking this pretty seriously. <\/p>\n

\"Spirit Board\" at Change.org <\/a>
\u201cSpirit Board\u201d at Change.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The image on the petition site is so absurd that I\u2019m leaning towards satire here, though that hasn\u2019t stopped a few of my well meaning Pagan friends from being upset about it. By sharing these sorts of stupid outrages we probably draw more attention to them than we would have if had we just left them alone. As long as you don\u2019t needlessly worry about it it\u2019s kind of fun to read. My Ouija Board loving self finds it pretty hilarious, and I\u2019m certainly not upset by it. <\/p>\n

The Ouija Board and Spirit Talking Boards allow our children and young adults access to demonic forces without awareness of the danger. By requiring a warning label the Sale and use of Ouija Boards we will limit the danger of satanic influences, possessions and behavioral changes created by these boards. As Christians, we have a duty to preserve our children from the forces that would corrupt them. If we put a warning label on the Ouija Board, we will be able to preserve. pray and protect so many lost souls from falling into demonic influence. Let us ask our Lawmakers today to put a warning label on Ouija Boards in order to protect future generations of American children and teens from demonic threats.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jim Bakker is a disgraced preacher whose heyday was back in the 1980\u2019s. After a few years in jail during the early 1990\u2019s he returned to his televangelist pulpit, operating generally in obscurity. But every once in awhile he or one of his guests says something so stupid that his name turns up again in social media.<\/p>\n

This time it was during an interview with former Army Lt.Robert Maginnis who made a ridiculous comment<\/a> about demons and witches:<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that there\u2019s demonic forces in that city (Washington DC). I have personally met people that refer to themselves as witches, people that say they advise the senior leadership of the country.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was reported as \u201cRepublicans Obsessed with Idea Witches Are Running Our Country \u2013 Yes, Really\u201d because obscure douchebags on obscure shows speak for the entire Republican Party. There are lots of reasons some of us don\u2019t like Republicans, but I don\u2019t think most (if any) Republicans are obsessed with Witches running the government. And no amount of education or interfaith is going to change the minds of someone visiting the Jim Bakker show, that guy was broken long ago. <\/p>\n

Besides, if that dude thinks we witches have that sort of influence, let him continue to think so. I think we can handle it, it\u2019s certainly better than another stupid politician or preacher talking about the encroachment of Sharia Law. (Which as you all know is not a thing happening in the United States.) <\/p>\n

Before getting mad or outraged about something, make sure it\u2019s something worth getting upset about. There\u2019s plenty wrong with this world, let\u2019s channel our energy into being outraged at the things that actually matter. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s plenty wrong with this world, let’s channel our energy into being outraged at the things that actually matter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":7574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFalse Outrage: Witches in Government, Ouija Boards, and Millennials<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There's plenty wrong with this world, let's channel our energy into being outraged at the things that actually matter.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/2016\/09\/false-outrage-witches-in-government-ouija-boards-and-millennials\/\" 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