Until I met a particularly memorable Air Force chaplain, who opined that he felt Rev. Dobson didn't go nearly far enough.
Can confirm. I lived in C. Springs in 98-99, and sporadically for years after that, when fate brought me through.
Focus on the Family had its claws DEEP in that town, at every level, and especially in the military families stationed there.
Focus on the Family moved to Colorado Springs in 1992, and soon, megachurch pastor Ted Haggard, who helped to radicalize the town, would come to head the National Association of Evangelicals.
— Chrissy Stroop in the winter of our discontent (@C_Stroop) January 10, 2021
My family moved to the Springs in 1993. Our milieu adored the nearby Air Force Academy. https://t.co/gEFV2cc8Jd
Until I met a particularly memorable Air Force chaplain, who opined that he felt Rev. Dobson didn't go nearly far enough.
Like, parents cutting off their own kids' hands to keep them from masturbating. That kind of crazy.
But back home it was individuals going off the rails. Not massive, organized megachurches.
And a lifeline of unconditional love and salvation sounds mighty good when the rest of your life is people screaming at you for being a worthless failure.
But when the foundation of your personality is poisoned, you have no defense against it.
I was flown around, loaned out to every branch, every religion, even allies from other countries. I heard confessions that still keep me awake at night.
People. Flawed, scarred, terrified people, needed to know that somebody loved them, despite everything they'd done.
And if you're the one selling acceptance, you will have no shortage of customers.
More from History
Thank you so much to the incredible @gregjenner and his team for having me on "You're Dead to Me" and to @kaekurd for being so hilarious and bringing Gilgamesh the restaurant into my life!
Here’s a thread of some of the stuff referenced in the podcast for those interested
First of all, what even is cuneiform?
It’s a writing system from the ancient Middle East, used to write several languages like Sumerian and Akkadian. Cuneiform signs can stand for whole words or syllables. Here’s a little primer of its evolution https://t.co/7CVjLCHwkS
What kinds of texts was cuneiform used to write?
Initially, accounting records and lists.
Eventually, literature, astronomy, medicine, maps, architectural plans, omens, letters, contracts, law collections, and more.
Texts from the Library of Ashurbanipal, who ruled the ancient Assyrian empire when it was at its largest in the 7th century BCE, represent many of the genres of cuneiform texts and scholarship.
Here’s a short intro to the library via @opencuneiform https://t.co/wjnaxpMRrC
The Library of Ashurbanipal has a complicated modern and ancient history, which you can read about in this brilliant (and open access) book by Prof @Eleanor_Robson
Here’s a thread of some of the stuff referenced in the podcast for those interested
First of all, what even is cuneiform?
It’s a writing system from the ancient Middle East, used to write several languages like Sumerian and Akkadian. Cuneiform signs can stand for whole words or syllables. Here’s a little primer of its evolution https://t.co/7CVjLCHwkS
What kinds of texts was cuneiform used to write?
Initially, accounting records and lists.
Eventually, literature, astronomy, medicine, maps, architectural plans, omens, letters, contracts, law collections, and more.
Texts from the Library of Ashurbanipal, who ruled the ancient Assyrian empire when it was at its largest in the 7th century BCE, represent many of the genres of cuneiform texts and scholarship.
Here’s a short intro to the library via @opencuneiform https://t.co/wjnaxpMRrC
The Library of Ashurbanipal has a complicated modern and ancient history, which you can read about in this brilliant (and open access) book by Prof @Eleanor_Robson
