Dave Ramsey Sued for $150 Million by Former Fans Who Followed His Timeshare Exit Advice

Dave Ramsey Sued for $150 Million by Former Fans Who Followed His Timeshare Exit Advice

(Link):  Ex Dave Ramsey followers sue him for more than $150M over endorsement of failed timeshare exit company 

Excerpt:

by L. Blair

Evangelical financial advisor and CEO Dave Ramsey is being sued by a group of his former followers for more than $150 million for allegedly deceiving thousands of listeners of his nationally syndicated radio show and podcast to invest millions of dollars into a failed timeshare exit company.

(Link):  Dave Ramsey sued for $150 million over endorsing deceptive timeshare-exit company

Excerpts:

June 2, 2023

…The Morrills, along with 15 others, are suing Dave Ramsey and his company the Lampo Group (now known as Ramsey Solutions), asking for $150 million over accusations of negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and violation of consumer protection laws. The lawsuit was filed in late April in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, where the Timeshare Exit Team was located.

The plaintiffs, each of whom paid thousands to the Timeshare Exit Team based on Ramsey’s advice, say that Ramsey did or should have known better than to endorse the company. They also say Ramsey’s advertising was deceptive, alleging he failed to disclose that he was receiving compensation for the endorsements and that he misrepresented the advertisements as bona fide advice.

…The company also failed to deliver on the 100% money-back guarantee that it advertised and that Ramsey advertised on his shows, according to the lawsuit.

More Christian Abuse Survivor Infighting – Yikes – this time it involves ‘Sacred Wilderness’

More Christian Abuse Survivor Infighting – Yikes – this time it involves ‘Sacred Wilderness’

Several months ago, Christian abuse survivor advocates were ganging up on Christian journalist Julie Roys – I wrote a blog post or two about it, like (Link): this one. I’ve been meaning to write another post or two about it but didn’t get around to it (maybe some day – a lot of Christian abuse survivor advocates are appallingly ignorant about Codependency).

This time, there was another “Civil War” among Christian abuse survivor advocates, some of the names or groups I do not recognize.

Someone named Johnna Harris (who runs or is somehow affiliated with a group called Sacred Wilderness) was being accused of things, and attacked for weeks on end, by another so-called Christian abuse survivor advocate calling himself Kyle Howard. Also, staff or volunteers of SW (Sacred Wilderness) were accusing higher ups at SW of abuse or something.

Again, I’m not familiar with everyone in this drama, so I’m not sure who started what and why, and who is pushing what agenda – well, after having read through the PDF mentioned below, I now have a better idea, but it’s a somewhat long and convoluted mess.

This SW group hired a third party to investigate them, to ensure they were above board.

They released their findings of this third party in (Link): an open letter, Organizational Assessment with Pellucid Consulting,  and a PDF file (I believe the PDF file is linked to at the bottom of the open letter).

Excerpts from the open letter:

Kyle Howard has personally tweeted many hurtful lies towards one of our founding members, Johnna Harris, including tagging her in an email claiming that she was fearful Kyle would try to sexually assault her. This is just one example of hundreds of tweets that we have screenshots of directly targeting Johnna or her work.

Our former employee tweeted on multiple occasions that we chose to do an assessment over an investigation. He said that was wrong because since abuse claims had already been made we should have gone straight to an investigation.

We interviewed and reached out to several corporate investigation companies, both secular and non-secular.

After reviewing our situation with associates of three companies, none of those companies thought we qualified for an investigation. Things they brought up were that we “were not a company with a history of abuse,” “this is too small for them to take on,” and “this just sounds like a corporate conflict where you need to amicably part ways and move on.”

There are so many examples of harmful things said about us that could have been included, but we encourage you to read the report to see more, specifically pages 38-48.
— end excerpts —

We Married as Man and Wife – Now We’re Renewing Our Vows as Two Women After I Transitioned and I Can’t Wait To Wear A Dress by C. Toureille

We Married as Man and Wife – Now We’re Renewing Our Vows as Two Women After I Transitioned and I Can’t Wait To Wear A Dress by C. Toureille

What I say here I may copy and paste into a new, separate post at a later date, because the observations I raise below bears repeating.

I’m a conservative who is not against marriage or the nuclear family, but I do disagree with how obsessed other conservatives are with promoting marriage and the nuclear family and criticizing or shaming any adult who hasn’t married and had children.

Growing up, I was hearing from conservative Christians regularly about how marriage supposedly makes a person more mature, responsible, or godly, and even today, conservative think tanks publish such bogus rhetoric.

Conservatives like Matt Walsh ridicule women for “pushing 50” (his terminology) and still being childless and single.

Speaking of Walsh – he recently criticized a man for going trans, the sidekick to a You Tube star named “Mr. Beast.” Walsh criticized the man for “transitioning,” because, Walsh said, the man’s wife would now be without a husband, and their son would be without a “masculine father.”

Okay, well, here’s my problem with Walsh and marriage-pushers like him (first let me give some background):

I’m in my 50s, and I never did get married. I tried to get married. I went to church singles classes, I prayed and asked God to provide me with a spouse, I tried dating sites in my mid 30s, etc, etc.
None of that worked, as I remain single by circumstance. (Christian dating advice on how to get married is dumb and incompetent, and many Christians will criticize you for pointing that fact of life out;
it makes Christians angry when they are confronted with the fact that their stupid dating advice, specifically of the “how to get married” variety, does not work. They prefer to victim-blame you or scream at you when you point out that Christian “how to get married” advice didn’t work and in some cases even played a role in holding you back from getting married.)

How can the Matt Walsh conservatives (the guys who hyper- market marriage) keep doing so, when so many marriages either end in adultery, divorce, verbal abuse, physical abuse, or in the creation of “Trans Widows?”

Trans widows are women who marry men, and the men later become crossdressers (who claim to be trans).

What is the frikkin’ point of getting married if the man you marry ends up “transitioning” into a fake woman (or he ends up neglecting your emotional needs, or he’s abusive)?

It’s better off for a woman to remain single than to marry some man who first more or less acts and dresses like a normal man, but then, after so many years of marriage says, “Honey, I feel like a woman trapped in a man’s body,” so he either starts perversely wearing women’s clothing and/or gets his penis chopped off?

A normal woman who wants a normal marriage is not going to want that. Some such women may not have a choice but to stay married to the guy if they’re financially dependent on him.

I have more comments to make below this:

(Link): We married as man and wife – now we’re renewing our vows as two women after I transitioned and I can’t wait to wear a dress

A married couple who wed as man and wife plan to renew their vows as two women – with the bride insisting ‘it’s the person I fell in love with – not the body.’

Jae Harvey, 32, met her partner Rayna, 35, on Myspace in 2009 but after two years in a long-distance relationship the couple broke up.

The couple rekindled their romance and got married – as man and woman – in Jae’s hometown – Dallas, Texas, in March 2018 before returning to the UK, where Rayna is from, later that year.

However, Rayna was struggling with her identity and confided in Jae on their honeymoon – who vowed to stick by her and helped her through her transition.

Five years on, the couple who are based in Somerset, plan to renew their vows with Rayna now living as her authentic self, and are trying to get a  gender recognition certification from the British government for her.

Judge Orders Man to Pay Ex-Wife Over $200K for 25 Years of Housework – Doesn’t Jibe With Sexist Complementarian or Trad Wife Propaganda

Judge Orders Man to Pay Ex-Wife Over $200K for 25 Years of Housework – Doesn’t Jibe With Sexist Complementarian or Trad Wife Propaganda

The sub-heading of the news article below is

“Ex-wife claimed her dedication to housework left her without career prospects”

I am not anti-marriage. I am not opposed to women who, if they understand what they’re getting into, decide of their own accord to marry and be a housewife (however, I do not respect this choice if it’s done primarily or only because of church teachings, societal expectations, or family pressure).

If you are a woman, and you know in your heart of hearts that one of your big dreams or goals in life is to marry and be a housewife, then go for it! But it has to be YOUR freely chosen goal or dream, not that of your church, your parents, or your culture.

I do oppose the rigid, sexist societal, family, and religious views that tell women that their only or highest purpose in life is to marry and get pregnant.

I oppose the flip side of this rhetoric, where a society, family, or religion (or cultural, conservative commentators) shame, mock, or criticize women for not marrying or for not having children (for whatever reasons).

Too often, I’ve seen moderate to higher level complementarians argue that women should not get college degrees, and/or should not get a paying job or career.

There’s also been a new-ish trend the last year or two called “Trad Wife,” that seems mostly composed of secular women who want to live out a 1950s, June Cleaver housewife lifestyle (I may be doing a post about this later).

Super hard core wacko patriarchist Lori Alexander, of The Transformed Wife, even goes so far as to say (if I remember correctly) that single women shouldn’t get a job outside of the home and just “trust the Lord to provide.”

(Side note: that is the same advice given to Christian single women: just trust the Lord to send you a husband! Yeah, well, I did a lot of trusting in the Lord, I also tried dating sites and church single classes, and I’m still single, so that advice is bogus.)

Anyway. I have another news story on this blog of a married woman who was jobless, and she was depending on her husband’s disability (or social security? I forget which) payments, but he died in a hospital when his body bursts into flames… so now, this woman, with no job, no income, and a dead husband, has no financial means.

It’s not a wise life choice for a woman to skip college (or a trade school of some kind) and to depend wholly on a husband for financial support, when he may divorce her, she may have to divorce him, or he may die from a heart attack, car accident, or from another factor.

(Link): Court Orders Woman’s Ex-Husband to Pay Her $215K for 25 Years of Housework During Their Marriage

Ivana Moral of Spain will be paid by her former husband, who owns a flourishing gym business, according to multiple reports

(Link): Judge orders man to pay ex-wife over $200K for 25 years of housework

Ex-wife claimed her dedication to housework left her without career prospects

March 12, 2023
by Michael Lee

A Spanish judge ordered a man to pay his ex-wife $215,000 for 25 years of housework that she “exclusively” handled while they were a couple.

Ivana Moral won the judgment after arguing she was burdened by chores for the couple during their 25 years of marriage, according to a report from WSB, citing the Spanish language newspaper El Pais.

Male Celebrity Says He’s Happy Being Childless – I’m Awaiting the Attacks by the Tucker Carlsons, Abby Johnsons, and Matt Walshes Shaming This Man For Being Fine With Not Having Kids

Male Celebrity Says He’s Happy Being Childless – I’m Awaiting the Attacks by the Usual: The Tucker Carlsons, Abby Johnsons, and Matt Walshes, Shaming This Man For Being Fine With Not Having Kids

Will movie actor Seth Rogen get backlash from hyper-pro-parenthood conservatives for publicly admitting that he’s fine with being childless, as did comic Chelsea Handler?

If you’re new to my blog: I’m a conservative who is not anti-family, anti-parenthood, or anti-marriage, but can see how many other conservatives have wrongly placed undue emphasis upon marriage, parenthood, and The Nuclear Family. (I am not a woke, abortion-supporting feminist progressive, in other words.)

I’ve so far seen a very small number of people on Twitter saying, “Ha ha, I’m glad Rogen isn’t reproducing” and a few that are critical of him being childfree, but there’s hardly been any resistance or criticism over his childfree choice by everyday people on that platform.

Will Tucker Carlson tell Rogen that by putting career over family, he’s ultimately choosing misery?

(On his nightly Fox news program, Carlson often likes to mock working women who are childless, he likes to argue that they are trading in motherhood – which he equates with guaranteed happiness for all women – for devoting their lives to a corporation.

I’ve never heard Carlson say to single, childless men: “You’re trading in happiness over having kids for a career, you sucker.”
This rhetoric is only directed at women. It’s a double standard.

Also, if a single, childless woman doesn’t earn a pay check, if she doesn’t hold down a job somewhere, is Tucker Carlson going to pay her rent for her, while she’s out dating, to try and find a “Mr. Right” to marry and pro-create with? My guess is no.)

Will sexist Matt Walsh (who’s correct about the transgender debate but little else) mock Rogen for “pushing 50 and being childless,” and suggest he will die alone in a room full of cats, as he did with comic Chelsea Handler? -Probably not.

Even should the usual culprits, who constantly try to shame, criticize, and fear monger women into getting pregnant and having children, should actually criticize Rogen over passing up Fatherhood, it will be a very, very rare exception that does not counter the repeated bashing of childless women that these extreme “pro family” conservatives have been aiming at women for decades.

And, I would guess that on the chance they would confront a man on his being childless, they would do so without using the same level of gross sexism and ageism at a man for passing up parenthood that they commonly direct at women, such as the phrases and jokes about “hitting the wall,” tweeting  photos of empty egg cartons, and making “crazy cat lady” jokes.

I do not think that men or women should be shamed, guilt tripped, or scared into getting married or having children, but I’ve noticed for many years that most of the criticism for being single or childless is more often than not directed at women.

(Link): Seth Rogen Says He and His Wife Are ‘Happy’ They Didn’t Have Kids

(Link): Seth Rogen: Not having kids ‘has helped me succeed’ 

Seth Rogen says he and his wife are “happy” with their “choice to not have kids” — and he believes it’s only boosted his career.

(Link): Seth Rogen claims he’s more successful because he did not have kids: ‘Honestly, thank God’

Seth Rogen and wife Lauren Miller ‘get to do whatever we want’ because they do not have kids, actor says

March 11, 2023
By Stephanie Giang-Paunon | Fox News

Seth Rogen is crediting his success to not having children.

The “Knocked Up” star candidly opened up about his personal life and the reason behind why he and his wife Lauren Miller decided not to start a family of their own.

“I do not [have kids]. That has helped me succeed as well, definitely” Rogen laughed during an interview on The Diary of a CEO podcast.

“There’s a whole huge thing I’m not doing, which is raising children.”

The 40-year-old actor continued to say he doesn’t believe having kids would make him happy.

“I’ve been around obviously a lot of children, I’m not ignorant to what it’s like…everyone I know has kids…some of my friends have had kids for decades,” he quipped.

“Some people want kids, some people don’t want kids. Honestly, you just are told, ‘You go through life, you get married, you have kids.’ That’s what happens…me and my wife, neither of us were like that.”

Bizarre: Women Who Are Genuinely Fine With Being Single or Childless and Who Publicly Admit It Deeply Disturb or Infuriate Sexist Incel Types and My Fellow Conservatives, Who Want Such Women to Harbor a Victim Mindset

Bizarre: Women Who Are Genuinely Fine With Being Single or Childless and Who Publicly Admit It Deeply Disturb or Infuriate Sexist Incel Types and My Fellow Conservatives, Who Want Such Women to Harbor a Victim Mindset

I have been a conservative person my entire life. I am not liberal, woke, or progressive.

I am not opposed to marriage, motherhood, the nuclear family, or parenthood. I do not support abortion on demand.

For years now, I have noticed the oddest, most disgusting behavior from other conservatives: many of them become unhinged, unsettled, or very angry about women who are truly happy with being single or childless or childfree. It didn’t cross my mind to blog about this observation until now.

The cherry on top of Conservative Outrage on this topic is that the fury seems to be particularly directed at single, childless women who mention on social media or in televised interviews that they’re enjoying life single and childless.

That is, from the angry conservative pro-family types, if you are single, childless (or childfree) and happy about it as a woman, you damn well just better keep it to yourself.

These pro-family conservatives, many of whom even profess to be Christian, further sometimes say things to or about those childless women and tell them personally on social media, how miserable they must be.

They chortle things at them things like, “You will die alone in a house full of cats,” and they say this as though they are filled with glee and happy at the thought of childless women dying alone and unhappy. How perverse.

Some of them, like Catholic Matt Walsh, even like to get ageist, and toss in comments about age at these women, saying to them, “You’re nearing 40…” or, “You’re almost 50….” (See (Link): example Tweet of his here.)

Ditto regarding “incels” or other types of men who are deeply sexist and ageist towards women. They too get very agitated and unglued if a woman publicly admits to being okay, content, or happy with being single or childless.

It’s as though these groups need and desperately want to believe that women who are and remain single or childless (or childfree) are lonely, bitter, miserable, and unhappy, or will become so in the future – and they need to believe that such women are deeply unhappy precisely because those women are single, childless, or childfree.

In the reverse situation, every once in awhile a woman celebrity may publicly say she’s sad that she was never able to have children – and what do the sexist conservatives and d-bag incels do, but immediately take screen captures of the comments, share them all over social media, as if to say,

“See? See?! Feminism has made women miserable. All women obviously want to marry and have babies! They are depressed if they don’t marry and have children, see, see, see!!!
“Women are unable to enjoy life or find contentment if they never marry or never have children, here is your proof, right here, this lady movie star saying she is lonely at 62 and regrets she never had children!!!!”

I’ve never been a feminist, but may I add: if some women are unhappy being childless or single, it may be in part precisely because conservatives and churches are constantly brainwashing women to think their only purpose in life, and their only road to happiness, resides in marrying and becoming pregnant.

If a woman grows up in a family, societal, or religious context that conditions her to think that she can be happy and have meaning only if she marries or has children, well, duh, don’t be surprised if yes, some women may get to adulthood and feel a little down that they’re not married or don’t have kids.

But that would be a result, in part, due to conservative, traditional, old school “family values” brainwashing. That would not be due to “feminism,” of all things

It’s as though many conservatives and sexist lunatics want single and childless women to be unhappy. It’s utterly bizarre to me.

Before I go on further, here is a pertinent article from the WSJ:

(Link): What’s That Ticking Sound? The Male Biological Clock

Men are also at the mercy of age when it comes to having kids

June 25, 2011
By Jennifer Vanderbes

A man’s age when he has children is turning out to be an important factor in that child’s health, according to WSJ contributor Jennifer Vanderbes. Kelsey Hubbard talks to the author about the role a man’s biological clock plays in a child’s risk for diseases and disorders.

Conservatives and the Double Standard Re: Lonely, Single Hetero Men

By the way, I’ve seen more and more articles the last several years that say more and more hetero men are single, and those hetero men either don’t want to date or marry (they’ve lost interest), or, some of them do want to date or marry women, but they can’t seem to get girlfriends and do not know how to go about getting dates or getting a girl friend.

So, I then began seeing news stories such as these about men who are single, some of whom are lonely:

(Link): Guy So Depressed Over Being Single He Cut Off His Own Penis (article)

(Link): ‘Transmaxxing’: Meet The Online Community Encouraging Gender Transitions For Sexually Frustrated (Incel) Men

(Link): Number of ‘Lonely, Single’ Men is on the Rise as Women with Higher Dating Standards Look for Partners Who are ‘Emotionally Available, Good Communicators, and Share Similar Values’, Says Psychologist

(Link): Dear Abby: I (Older, Single Man) Gave Up Dating Women, and 30 Years Later, I’m Lonely

(Link): Bitter, Frustrated 22 Year Old Male Virgin and Member of Men’s Rights / PUA Groups Kills Several Women Because He Couldn’t Get Dates – what an entitled sexist doof

Funny how I seldom see other conservatives mocking such men as the ones mentioned in those news articles for being single and lonely.

If anything, when these topics and news reports of men “falling behind” in culture are brought up, both conservative men and women rush to the men’s defense, to pity them and portray men in culture as being victims.

Often times, such conservatives who paint men as a group as being victims blame women for the men’s victim status, or else, they blame feminism or feminists, for the failings of men – it is so hypocritical and laughable.

By the way, as a conservative, I’ve also noticed that any time a new study or news story is published about men being single and lonely, that conservatives such as (but not limited to) Tucker Carlson will offer very understanding, compassionate, nuanced examinations about these shifts in culture leaving men out in the cold, and how society has supposedly let men down.

Carlson especially likes to invite on conservative women guest speakers on to his television program on Fox News who back Carlson up on this issue, and these women cluck in worry over those poor, poor, single men who are allegedly being kept down and single by a supposedly “feminized” culture of raving, men-hating feminists.

However, if women are under discussion – let’s say there’s a study or news story about women finding it difficult finding suitable marriage partners to marry, or what have you – those very same conservatives who pity men will revoke deep, thoughtful, compassionate analysis to instead snigger in contempt that, “feminism has made you women miserable, ha ha ha, look how  you’ve traded the bliss of family and marriage to being chained to a corporate desk! Ha ha, it’s so wonderful to see single and childless women suffering!”

The culture-wide problems that men face and the ones that women face are treated completely differently by such conservatives, with pity and empathy (and lots of excuses and justifications) being made for the failings or sadness of men,
while women, on the other hand, get roasted, demonized, mocked, and criticized, often for things and problems that they actually did not bring about, but are blamed for anyhow.

I see this phenomenon come up quite often by Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, sometimes Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, and so on.

The men always get a pass, and always get rationalizations and lots of hugs, kisses, and reassurances, and the men’s failings get blamed on women, or on feminism, while the women, on the other hand, usually (wrongly), get blamed for problems they did not create, and they get ridiculed or criticized, too.

Woman Podcaster Killed by Former Male Listener Who Became Her Stalker – Good Lesson in Using a Pseudonym Online, Not Befriending Your Listeners or Readers IRL (ATTN: Codependents and Empaths)

Woman Podcaster Killed by Former Male Listener Who Became Her Stalker – Good Lesson in Using a Pseudonym Online, Not Befriending Your Listeners or Readers IRL (ATTN: Codependents and Empaths)

The following news story, of a male podcast listener who began by befriending, then stalking, a woman podcaster (before murdering her and her husband) is one reason of a few why I like to stay Anonymous on my blog.

I’ve been screamed at in years past (by liberals, progressives, and at least one conservative man) for not writing under my real name here or on my Twitter account, or for refusing to divulge this information to them privately when they e-mailed me or tweeted me about it.

Some of these readers get infuriated and vehemently demand that I reveal more details about myself, including my real name – when it’s none of their business.

The liberals and progressives obviously want my identity only so that they can harass me off-line and get me fired from any job I hold. That is their intent – I knew that years ago, before progressive cancel culture began in earnest.

During the years I used to be very empathetic and a total Codependent, I intuitively knew to keep overtly hostile, controlling people at arm’s length.

However, it took me much longer, after accumulating life experience and researching topics later in life, such as Vulnerable (Covert) Narcissism and Sociopathy, to be on guard for subtle, non-aggressive, emotional manipulation, where a person will use guilt trips, kindness, and so on, to chip away at your boundaries in a very nice manner.

Some of these dishonest, troubled individuals will use your kindness and empathy against you to manipulate you into doing what they want.

I’ve had a few people I’ve met online pester me about something I initially told them “no” in response to, some request they made, but they pestered me in a very friendly, kind-hearted way to drop one or more of my boundaries, so they got me from saying “no” to saying “yes.”

That one lady, “Emma,” who approached me to befriend me online (that I talked about here, among other posts – she came across my twitter and this blog and approached me, I did not approach her) spent about a year to year and a half, very politely pursuing me, jovially and cheerfully hounding me to cave in and let her know more about me.

I kept politely telling her “no” for many months, but I finally caved in and befriended her on other social media sites; I let her get to know more about me after a year or more of her friendly pestering. I should’ve stuck to my boundaries and kept her at arm’s length.

Back then, it was more difficult for me to spot when people were using (fake) kindness to get me to lower my boundaries: I had my guard up at that time against hostile (the rude, angry, demanding) attempts, which are easier to spot.

Also, if you’re an empath, a people pleaser, or a codependent, this may be eye opening for you, but:

1) not everyone is as kind hearted, giving, and empathetic as you.

Stop assuming others are as loving as you are.

Stop projecting your kindness and empathy on to other people.
Some people, due to having personality disorders, are literally incapable of having empathy, but they will use yours against you to exploit you.

2) You have to become more choosy about who and when you give your affection, empathy, and time (or money) to

Almost everyone in life is undergoing some kind of problem.

Almost everyone is still walking around (even into their 40s and older) with left over wounds from childhood.

Many people, even into their 40s, 50s, and older, are lonely (even if they’re married, they’re being emotionally neglected by their spouse).

A lot of people are hungering to be heard, seen, and listened to and empathized with.

Many of these hurting, lonely, lost, emotionally needy or wounded people would love nothing more than to have an empathetic emotional rock, a caring sounding board, who they can rely on to get their emotional needs met.

If you allow them, they will call or text you daily to weekly to monthly to complain about their pain (both physical and emotional), how others have let them down and hurt them, or how nothing in their life ever works out, or how they were abused or misused by their family or ex spouse.

You will hear (in great detail, for hours, over months to years) about every pain and frustration they’ve ever had in their life, and/or whatever their current problems are.

You cannot save such people, no matter how much empathy, attention, and emotional support you give them: and it will never end.

These types of people (some of whom have BPD or Vulnerable Narcissism) are endless black holes of emotional need or emotional dis-regulation with an identity crisis, asking and demanding that you fill those needs, regulate their dysfunction, and provide them with a stable identity.

However, you cannot do any of that constantly or permanently for them, no matter how loving and kind you are. You’re just human with your own needs to deal with.

And they will very rarely give you support and validation in return. They will drain you dry, leaving you mentally (and perhaps physically) exhausted.

If you have a blog, video channel, podcast, or some other way you are online publicly, I’d advise using a fake name, no matter how many temper tantrums some of your readers or listeners pull.

If you use your real name on your video channel, blog, or podcast, be very careful about who you permit into your life.
This is ten times more true if you have poor boundaries, you’re overly empathetic, are reluctant (or too afraid, or feel guilty) to turn other people down and say “no” to them, and/or you’re a codependent.

If not, you’re going to have one of these mentally disturbed lunatics possibly hunt you down IRL (in real life) and murder you.

Or, at the very least, they will start contacting you frequently, draining you mentally dry, wearing you down to the point of exhaustion, because they want you to give them constant emotional support, and they will make no effort to take responsibility for their own happiness and to make changes in their life.

They will come to depend on YOU to “make them happy” (which you and no other person can do), or to regulate them emotionally. You’re not obligated to be anyone’s compassionate free therapist.

Anyway, notice that being married did not keep this woman safe. Her stalker murdered both her and her husband. Being married didn’t give this woman a happy fairy tale ending.

(Link): Texas trucker, 38, kills Seattle ‘podcaster’ he’d been stalking AND her husband after climbing through a window of their $1m home: Victim’s mother escaped and called 911

March 10, 2023
by Jen Smith

A Texas trucker killed a Seattle podcast host he had been stalking and her husband last night after climbing through a window of their $1.6million suburban home.

Redmond Police say Zohreh Sadeghi, 33, was shot and killed by trucker Ramin Khodakaramrezaei, 38, last night. Sadeghi’s husband, Mohammed Naseri, 35, was also killed.

Police say Khodakaramrezaei was a listener and became so obsessed with her that she filed a restraining order against him. 

Court records obtained by DailyMail.com show there was a warrant for his arrest on charges of telephone stalking and stalking. The criminal complaint was filed against him a week ago.

At 2am last night, the trucker broke into the home in Redmond, Washington, shot her and her husband before turning his gun on himself.

The Gospel Coalition Says – in Sex Won’t Save You Essay – that (Married) Sex is a “Salvation Icon” that Supposedly “Points People to God” – TGC Making Christianity Irrelevant to Single, Celibate Adults

The Gospel Coalition Says – in Sex Won’t Save You Essay – that (Married) Sex is a “Salvation Icon” that Supposedly “Points People to God” -TGC Making Christianity Irrelevant to Single, Celibate Adults

I first began composing this on or around March 1 (or 2?), I have it set to be auto-published on March 4, and as of today, March 3, there’s been a lot more commentary on Twitter about this awful TGC marital sex article, to the point, TGC removed the original tweet linking to it, and I learned that one guy I quote-tweeted about it, a Brent McCracken, deleted his tweet that I quote tweeted (but I have a screen capture of it), and I was informed McCracken is head editor of TGC.

NOTE: I will edit this post after publication to add any more links or new content pertinent, so you may want to periodically re-visit this page and scroll down and skim over to find new links / videos, etc

I may be writing a follow up to this post later – a part two, if you will.

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Un-freaking-believable. I’ve been blogging here for over ten years, and during that time, have I not been pointing out that not only do most Christians now, even the conservatives, attack sexual purity, sexual abstinence, virginity-until-marriage, but they have also turned sex (and marriage, parenthood, the nuclear family) into idols that they worship, to the point they act distressed when they hear that fornication among singles has declined? (I have a few examples under “Related Posts” towards the bottom of this page.)

There’s more of this nonsense, courtesy of The Gospel Coalition.

It starts off well enough by recognizing that many in secular society have turned sex and relationships into idols, and seek to find love and purpose in romance and sex, but then it goes on to make the very distasteful point that sex can, or does, point people to God.

Also… if such a book begins by acknowledging that singleness is fine in a page or two (or paragraph or two) but then never-the-less 99% of the book remains focused on a Jesus-marriage-sex analogy, it’s undercutting any “it’s okay to be single” or “you don’t have to be married and having sex to have a relationship with God” message.

This is no different from the idiot pastors who make every other sermon in church about “how to have smokin’ hot sex with your spouse” but who thinks it’s okay to overly focus on marriage constantly, if they merely toss in the token, “Hey, you may be single, but this marital sermon can be applicable to you too.”

I’m sorry, but evangelical Protestants or Baptists making the majority of the non-stop deluge of comments, sermons, or books about marriage and married sex, while only offering passing lip service, to adult singleness and celibacy, is still elevating marriage (and sex) to an unhealthy, bizarre, un-Biblical degree that still marginalizes singleness.

Screen Cap of Gospel Coalition Tweet

While it is true for a long time that many in American culture have turned sex and romantic relationships into idols, or seek to find identity or purpose in such, it’s also true that for the past several years, many news headlines and studies have been published showing that a larger number of adults are declining to have sex, date, and/or marry.

If you’re trying to titillate a secular public into giving Jesus a try by using sex-God analogies or metaphors, in a society where having sex, dating, or marrying are no longer the norm and not very popular, it’s not going to work.

I mean, while Butler is writing his book comparing knowing the Trinity to marital sexual intercourse and pro-creation, other conservative outlets have been in pearl-clutching, severe worry mode, that marriage is on the decline, and they’re shaming women for not choosing motherhood, and some conservatives are even upset that single adults are not having as much sex prior to marriage as they used to.

(Link): Sex Won’t Save You (But It Points to the One Who Will)

Excerpts (citing free use):

by Josh Butler
March 1, 2023

…Our culture looks to sex for salvation too. We want romance to free us from solitary confinement, to deliver us into a welcome embrace. But idolizing sex results in slavery.

Sex wasn’t designed to be your salvation but to point you to the One who is.

Union with Christ
Sex is an icon of Christ and the church.  …

[The author then goes on to refer to a Bible verses which seem to refer to marriage, such as a man leaving his family and cleaving to his wife, etc]

… A husband and wife’s life of faithful love is designed to point to greater things, but so is their sexual union! This is a gospel bombshell: sex is an icon of salvation.

A woman residing illegally in the United States pleaded guilty this week before a federal judge to sex trafficking involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion of both adult and minor females. The victims were forced to perform commercial sex acts in a cantina in Houston

 A woman residing illegally in the United States pleaded guilty this week before a federal judge to sex trafficking involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion of both adult and minor females. The victims were forced to perform commercial sex acts in a cantina in Houston

I do not have empathy for people in the United States who get into the nation illegally (that comment is NOT applicable to people sex trafficked or labor trafficked into the USA – I do have empathy for young people who are tricked or trafficked into the USA; they get here illegally, but they are being exploited by others into free labor or into being prostituted).

But stories like the one you see below is one reason of several why I do NOT support illegal immigrants (aside from the sex trafficked ones, etc), and I have no patience for the bleeding heart Democrats, ex-Trumpers (like Melody Kay Young),
Stephanie Drury and 99% of goons at her “Stuff Christian Culture Likes” Facebook group and other progressives,
who support illegal migrants and illegal immigration – such bleeding hearts are actually supporting not only negative ramifications for the United States, but they are supporting sex trafficking.

If I have the time and energy, I’ve been intending on writing a more in-depth, comprehensive post on this blog about the breakdown of the American borders and the influx of illegal aliens (the southern border has been bad, but I’ve read recent news reports that migrants are now sneaking into the nation via the northern border too).

It absolutely infuriates me to see the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens pour into our nation – and the cherry on top is that the Democrats host these migrant idiots (some of whom are ingrates) in fancy hotels and so on.

Some of these illegals are rapists, child molesters, or are on the terror watch list. I do not want any of these criminals who are human trash in the United States.

And the Democrats don’t care. (The Republicans haven’t done near enough to stop this, either.) But the Democrats seem way more lax and accepting of illegal immigration than the Republicans.

(Link): Woman Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking Minor in Texas Cantina

Excerpts:

by Bob Price
February 3, 2023

HOUSTON, Texas — A woman residing illegally in the United States pleaded guilty this week before a federal judge to sex trafficking involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion of both adult and minor females. The victims were forced to perform commercial sex acts in a cantina in Houston.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced that Maria Botello-Morales, a 56-year-old woman residing illegally in Houston, appeared before a federal judge and pleaded guilty to several sex trafficking crimes, according to a statement obtained from U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

The crimes included the use of force, fraud, or coercion to induce at least two adult women and a 17-year-old minor female from Mexico to have sex with customers at the Puerto Alegre cantina in Houston.

The Chelsea Handler Childless Woman Upset: Other Conservatives Wrongly Conflating Married Motherhood with Womanhood or Happiness, Meaning, Purpose

The Chelsea Handler Childless Woman Upset: Other Conservatives Wrongly Conflating Married Motherhood with Womanhood or with Happiness, Meaning, or Purpose

After entertainer Chelsea Handler uploaded (Link): a Tweet with a video of herself listing the numerous ways she enjoys life due to being childless – I didn’t see anything in the video mentioning abortion – a lot of other conservatives jumped to shame and scold Handler for being happy about being childless and publicly expressing that happiness.

Others have said that Handler had two or three abortions in the past. The fact that Handler previously had abortions does not change the substance of my problems with conservative reaction to Handler’s video.

I am pro-life, not pro-choice, so I don’t agree with Handler’s actions to terminate her pregnancies.

However, again, I don’t recall Handler’s “happy to be childless” video advocating abortion or mentioning anything about abortion.

I don’t think her video criticized or shamed women for being mothers or for wanting to be mothers.

The only possible, even remotely “anti motherhood” take away one can get from her video is that mothers – assuming they are good, non-abusive mothers – invest a lot of time in child-rearing, but Handler doesn’t frame it in an anti-motherhood way.

It’s Okay For Women to Be Childless at Any Age and to be Happy About Being Childless, Just Like It’s Okay For Mothers to Be Happy About Being Mothers

Handler was just showing ways she has more free time because she doesn’t have to participate in childcare – which is not the same thing as being “anti-motherhood,” or telling other women they are wrong to be mothers.

It’s perfectly fine for a woman to be single and childless and to be happy about it.

Women can and should find meaning and purpose apart from marriage and motherhood. It’s unhealthy for any person to wrap up all their happiness, meaning, or purpose into one identity, station of life, or role.

If you are a married mother, your children will grow up, move out, and seldom visit you once they’re gone. Your husband may develop dementia, abuse you, or cheat on you, so that you will be without emotional support or you will have to divorce him.
In all these situations, you will be left with yourself, by yourself, and god help you if you never forged purpose, identity, happiness, or meaning apart from a spouse and children.

There’s no reason to criticize or shame an adult, man or woman, for being single and childless and for being happy about it and posting about it.

My fellow conservatives often push motherhood (via podcasts, tweets, magazine articles, church sermons, blog posts, etc) to a loopy, creepy, fevered pitch, about how super awesome, fulfilling, and wonderful motherhood supposedly is – but goodness forbid a childless woman lists or publicizes the ways she’s happy with being childless – and do so without criticizing motherhood or mothers. That’s a huge double standard.

I also didn’t agree with Handler’s mockery of single women who choose to remain virgins until marriage or to remain chaste (I blogged about that (Link): here a few years ago).

Unfortunately, in the midst of criticizing Handler, a lot of conservatives today were conflating “womanhood” to married motherhood. 

However, a woman remains a woman regardless if she has a child or is infertile, childless, or childfree, or whether she wants to have children or not.

The Bizarre, Misguided Shaming of Single and Childless or Childfree Women by Pro-Lifer Abby Johnson – (Not All Single, Childless Women are Liberal, Pro-Choice Feminists)

The Bizarre, Misguided Shaming of Single and Childless or Childfree Women by Pro-Lifer Abby Johnson – (Not All Single, Childless Women are Liberal, Pro-Choice Feminists)

When I was on Twitter the other day, someone who I follow on Twitter commented on a Tweet by a lady calling herself Abby Johnson.

A reminder: I sometimes follow people on social media who I don’t fully agree with on all topics. I’m a conservative, but I follow some liberals and progressives, including women who call themselves “radical feminists.” A lot of those radical feminists are pro-choice; they support abortion, I do not.

Like me, most of those radical feminists do not support “sex work” (strip clubs, prostitution, etc), and they do not support transgender activism.

Here is how Abby Johnson is currently describing herself on her Twitter bio (@AbbyJohnson):

Planned Parenthood Director turned Pro-Life Advocate! CEO of @ATTWNministry
. Global Ambassador for @COL1972official
. Best selling author & speaker. Mama/Wife
— end Twitter bio —

I am sincerely glad to hear that Johnson flipped her opinion on abortion, that she went from being pro-choice to pro-life.

Johnson seems a bit familiar. I think I may have seen her interviewed on Christian television program “The 700 Club,” in one of their CBN news segments, or perhaps I saw her on Fox News at some point?

At any rate, I am dismayed by her Twitter feed. Unfortunately, she, like many of my other fellow conservatives, falsely equates motherhood and wifehood with womanhood. I corrected her on that under a few of her other tweets.

(I’m not sure if Johnson is a Christian or not, but from her tweets, I can see that she leans right – as I do – and she also is pro-life, does not support transgenderism. I too am pro-life, and I sure as heck do not support progressive transgenderism, ie, allowing biological men who say they are women into women’s prisons, women’s locker rooms and so forth).

Also like a lot of other conservatives, Johnson holds a lot of false stereotypes about secular, liberal feminists. Not all feminists support trans activism, are anti-men, anti-nuclear family, and so on. There are actually women feminists who are married mothers.

If you’ve followed my blog, you will already know that I am middle-aged, I am single by circumstance (not by choice – not that men or women who choose to be single should be criticized for that, either), I am a conservative, I am anti-progressive trans agenda, and I am pro-life.

I am not opposed to The Nuclear Family, parenthood, and marriage, but I am opposed to the deification of such by other conservatives.

(Yes, most conservatives have unfortunately turned “the family,” motherhood, fatherhood, and marriage into idols, and they frequently love to make negative assumptions about, and insult anyone, who isn’t married or who doesn’t have children).

Let’s look at some of Johnson’s tweets – here’s the first one that I saw the other day, because someone I followed on Twitter commented below it (link to her tweet):

So, what does Johnson do with conservative, pro-life, anti- leftist transgender activism, middle-aged never married women such as myself, who was a devout Christian for decades, who had expected to get married, never met the right guy, remained faithful to biblical sexual ethics – no sex outside of marriage, hence no pregnancies?

Why is Johnson lumping pro-life, conservative, single, childless women, such as myself, into the same group with progressive, pro-choice, pro-progressive- gender- ideology women? Which is what she’s doing, because she’s equating being a woman, and/or a decent, happy woman, with being married and a mother.

Johnson is unnecessarily insulting other pro-life, conservative women who never did marry, who may never marry, and who do not have children, and she’s doing this to score a few points against what she terms “radical feminists,” who she (like many of my other fellow conservatives) wrongly assume, are all man-hating, baby-hating, single women who are lonely, miserable Cat Ladies.

(The Cat Lady trope is very sexist and needs to die off already. I usually see men tossing this at women. It feels a little more gross to see a woman tossing this sexist stand-by at other women to insult them with.)

In trying to score points against radical feminists, many of whom are actually married with children (and possibly cats) of their own, Johnson creates collateral damage.

Meaning…
Not all conservative, anti-trans agenda, pro-life women are married, can get married, or want to get married. Not all conservative, anti-trans agenda, pro-life women have children, can have children, or want to have children.

Why is Abby Johnson throwing such conservative women under the bus? To get some cheap shots in at liberal, feminist, pro-choice women?

I’m a conservative, and while I do not agree with feminists (radical or otherwise) on every issue, I am not okay with Johnson (or other conservatives) shaming or insulting liberal or pro-choice women over their marital or parenting status, or that of mine or that of other conservative women.

I cannot imagine how Johnson hopes to change any pro-choice minds by carrying on like she is?

Priest Close to Pope Francis Accused of Inviting Two Nuns to Take Part in a ‘Holy Trinity’ Threesome

Priest Close to Pope Francis Accused of Inviting Two Nuns to Take Part in a ‘Holy Trinity’ Threesome

(Link): Priest close to Pope Francis accused of inviting two nuns to take part in a ‘Holy Trinity’ threesome 

(Link): Priest accused of inviting nun to join ‘Holy Trinity’ threesome

Dec 20, 2022
by Tom Kington, Rome

A Jesuit priest at the centre of a sex scandal at the Vatican tried to arrange a ménage à trois with two nuns, likening the tryst to the Holy Trinity, one of the nuns has said.

The allegation against Marko Ivan Rupnik adds to revelations of sexual antics dating back decades, all of which could be an embarrassment for the Pope, who is said to be close to the priest. Rupnik, 68, has produced mosaics that feature biblical scenes for a papal chapel at the Vatican.

(Link): Priest ‘close to the Pope’ is accused of inviting two nuns to take part in a ‘Holy Trinity’ threesome

Dec 20, 2022

A Slovenian priest who is said to be close to the Pope has been accused of inviting two nuns to take part in a ‘Holy Trinity’ threesome.

Marko Ivan Rupnik, 68, was accused by a former nun of using his ‘psycho-spiritual’ control over her some three decades ago to have sex, including group sex, and watch pornographic films.

At the time of the allegations, Rupnik, who is known in the church for his artwork, was a spiritual director of a convent in Slovenia and the former nun, now 58, has described how her complaints against the priest were ignored.

…The former nun told the Italian investigative newspaper Domani on Sunday in an explosive testimony: ‘Father Marko started slowly and sweetly getting inside my psychological and spiritual world, exploiting my uncertainties and fragility and using my relationship with God to push me into sexual experiences with him.’

The nun claimed Rupnik had groomed her, had sex with her and bullied her into silence during her time in the Slovenian convent between 1987 and 1994.

She claimed Rupnik had asked her and another nun to have sex with him, saying they would replicate the three-way relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

She said she believed Rupnik had abused as many as 20 women.

(Link): Jesuits ask victims to come forward in artist abuse case

Pope Francis’ Jesuit order is asking any victims to come forward with complaints against a famous Jesuit artist

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
December 18, 2022

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ Jesuit order on Sunday asked any more victims to come forward with complaints against a famous Jesuit artist who was essentially let off the hook by the Vatican twice despite devastating testimony by women who said he sexually and spiritually abused them.