Read on Twitter
1/ If my desire to maintain a certain overhead over the years left me at the control panel of a giant robot which--I discovered--was working with other robots to deport people, traumatize children, crush dissent, & destroy the possibility of human thriving for most people...
2/ I'd welcome someone (anyone) who spied a living person staring down from the window that is the robot's eyeball socket and tried to reach me and offer a strategy for exiting the robot before I died inside it OR...
3/ Offered instructions for stopping the robots without hurting the people inside them. The robots are what the Apostle Paul referred to as principalities and powers. We call them brands, platforms, parties, offices, & "follower sets."
4/ We're right to wrestle against them (the robots) while remembering that we're to avoid wrestling against "flesh and blood," the human beings looking down at us through the window/eye-sockets of the robots.
5/ I think the Red Hen owner addressed @PressSec as one human being to another when she asked her to leave & SHS responded to her gesture by climbing back into her robot & using the powers with which she's been entrusted to bring her (& her witness) down.
6/ I think we're going to need more and more people to speak and act with the moral clarity and precision the Red Hen owner summoned up in the days to come in spite of what people do with (and within) their robot sponsors.
7/ There are so many ways to challenge people and their problematic relationships with their robots (which have no life or power apart from the people inside them). There's calling your/our representatives and specifying what you expect of their activity within their robots.
8/ There's also accepting responsibility for what we allow people to say aloud in our presence unchallenged. It doesn't have to be a blow-up. We can take it slow. It can be a soft exorcism. Talking people out of their robots takes time.
9/ People need the assurance that we're interested in them apart from the power they think they have/wield in their robots. One can't have a realization and feel shut down simultaneously. Soft exorcism looks like Ella Baker & Fred Rogers & every good teacher we've ever had.
10/ It's everywhere. Be the beloved community (the politics, the media, the broadcast, the witness) you want to see in the world.
11/ One specifically non-robot-mediated, human interaction at a time. "Stand where you must stand. Be human there." Daniel Berrigan
12/ This message was brought to you from within the robot that is my Twitter account and, among other things, a bulletin board, a cry for love, a promotional tool, & an influence campaign.
13/ P.S. When a US Senator rejects the counsel of the @ABAesq & rushes forward to grant a lifetime appointment to SCOTUS to an unhinged & harried man despite credible allegations of sexual assault against him, it's appropriate to nonviolently confront that Senator in public.
14/ One insistently human exchange at a time: https://twitter.com/CPDAction/status/1046829665736957952
15/ "Recounting trauma is powerful but emotionally taxing. It is perhaps more so when the person you are recounting it to won’t look you in the eye, refuses to shake your hand or walks into a bathroom to ignore you." @mgallagher822 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/opinion/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-vote.html
16/ One man's "attack" is another man's call to repentance. Robot soft exorcisms take time: https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1056957290496970754
17/ "You know as well as I do that your best strategy was to make sure the people in this district thought & talked as little as possible and to win on those grounds is shameful." @TabithaK lovingly confronting an opponent who refused to debate her. https://www.wsfa.com/video/2018/11/07/raw-video-tabitha-isner-speaks-after-losing-congressional-race-2/?fbclid=IwAR0UljEFFju8nqZvdZxrqvQX3IMlbhl0mAJcQrXmECu2747sm2BF_yOJ8tg
18/ "My name is Jordan Blue..." https://twitter.com/jules_su/status/1062008915184050178
19/ Very grateful for the witness of Katie Cowley of Ooltewah. We have the right to not remain silent. https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2018/11/16/marsha-blackburn-represents-only-rich-white-christian-people/2007674002/
20/ One human exchange at a time: https://twitter.com/RevDrBarber/status/1066032067555790850 #RobotSoftExorcism
21/ Beloved Community has a witness in Durham: https://twitter.com/wilsonhartgrove/status/1066188280239194112
22/ "Are not Religion & Politics the Same Thing?" William Blake https://twitter.com/wilsonhartgrove/status/1066352829823107077
23/ In some cases, Robot Soft Exorcism involves an adjustment of schedules: https://twitter.com/Rondell_Trevino/status/1066400980449849344
24/ #RobotSoftExorcism can be undertaken by people of any income level and in a wide variety of contexts and at a moment's notice. Everyone's invited. https://twitter.com/Reem_AlHarmi/status/1069282040049225728
25/ #RobotSoftExorcism can also involve climbing statues, burning draft files, running onto soccer fields, singing in cathedrals, & being Thoreau. We are what we pretend to be: https://sojo.net/magazine/december-2018/time-be-impolite-pussy-riot-prophetic
26/ It takes a village to amplify and advocate for the cause of those who attempt #RobotSoftExorcism: https://twitter.com/POkoumou/status/1070654157181341696
27/ “Rise up my people, my condors, my eagles! No human being will ever be illegal!” https://religionnews.com/2018/12/11/at-least-30-faith-leaders-arrested-in-border-protest/ @jackmjenkins #RobotSoftExorcism
28/ "You never want to delegitimize people themselves, but if you delegitimize their leaders and the ideas that cause suffering in the world, I think people move away from those leaders and ideas." @wamandajd https://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/meet-the-activist-who-brought-the-monopoly-man-meme-to-life/ #RobotSoftExorcism
29/ "No one was really interested, so I had to do it alone. The second day, people started joining me." @GretaThunberg https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/11/meet_the_15_year_old_swedish
30/ The glory of God is a human being fully alive. https://twitter.com/Kanew/status/1082734709904474112
31/ “If I took another step, I would be putting my person into his presence—into his space—& I would’ve touched him, & that would have been the thing that the group of people would’ve needed to spring on me." #NathanPhillips https://twitter.com/AnaCabrera/status/1086803628789239809
32/ At the risk of vexing readers by putting a thread within a thread, the care with which @lisasharper recounts what occurred between #NathanPhillips & a 16-year-old in a red hat is essential to the genius of #RobotSoftExorcism: https://twitter.com/lisasharper/status/1087183711014137857
33/ The song remains the same. https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/01/23/video-freedom-not-praise-hong-kong-activists-pull-stunt-govt-hq-national-anthem-law-goes-legislature/
34/ We have a cover. Thank you @StephenDMason: https://twitter.com/StephenDMason/status/1088488491103776768
35/ The work of #RobotSoftExorcism is never done, but installations are sometimes brought to completion: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/world/europe/netherlands-church-vigil-refugees.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes via @ThereseLysaught
36/ “I’m going to refuse and see where it goes." @dchiasso https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/01/31/wellesley-resident-refuses-take-impeach-trump-sign-down-town-says-too-big/9us6GhnmldALlQx4JYksHN/story.html?event=event12
37/ We built this city on Rock and Roll: https://twitter.com/andrewkimmel/status/1094410130257436672
38/ #RobotSoftExrocism can also involve one adult putting questions to another adult on behalf of the American people in the presence of other adults ( @IlhanMN & Elliott Abrams & Sister Megan Rice): https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4779974/representative-omar-clashes-elliott-abrams-us-military-role-central-america
39/ I'm so sorry for the typo ( #RobotSoftExorcism). How's everybody doing out there? Anybody read or hear or witness something that brings to mind the Robot Soft Exorcism jam?
40/ Deeply grateful for the witness of each of these women: https://twitter.com/natalie_allison/status/1108119894997041152
41/ I don't know if this footage is best understood as an exercise in #RobotSoftExorcism, a live demonstration of its limits, or some other phenomena. I offer it for our contemplation: https://twitter.com/VicBergerIV/status/1112019799939309569
42/ I'm going to presume this moment of deflection is also a shout-out to this #RobotSoftExorcism thread. @PressSec is right to say that she isn't ultimately a robot. She's an infinitely valuable bearer of God's image free to exit her robot sponsor today: https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1119197778482057216
43/ I thank God for @brotherjones_. More of this please: https://twitter.com/brotherjones_/status/1120804310437253120
44/ This is what I'm talking about. Thank you @saladinahmed: https://twitter.com/saladinahmed/status/1127222395868209153
45/ People have the power. https://twitter.com/austinwhk/status/1137659520954486785
46/ Sometimes a robot ( @CrackerBarrel) gets it right. In this case, MORE RIGHT than the flesh and blood ( @GovBillLee @MarshaBlackburn @SenAlexander) who have yet to speak out in defense of the gay Tennesseans who pay their room, board, & salary. https://twitter.com/mandersonville/status/1141184170959560706
47/ It's the little things. #RobotSoftExorcism is often as granular as politely declining to shake the hand of a man who's publicly partnered with a sexual predator for over two years. https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/05/19/dozens-of-students-protest-mike-pences-commencement-speech-at-taylor-university/
48/ Even a moment of observational candor from a former POTUS can serve the righteous ends of #RobotSoftExorcism. It's a party to which everyone's invited: https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1145460251505778689
49/ Sir, we have a situation here. The exorcism is occurring WITHIN the robot: https://twitter.com/smotus/status/1146461895047569408
50/ (Karen) Pence Rule: If your famous spouse enters into a public alliance with a sexual predator, refuse to appear in public until your spouse stops. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/07/10/american-carnage-excerpt-access-hollywood-tape-227269?fbclid=IwAR0XeFfJduD8KOBfX_BdwuJW1Angbifrlxi-eTZa35s33M6ZVx2MuX2zZGI
51/ Robot Soft Exorcism will often involve grilled cheese sandwiches: http://thecontributor.org/news/qa-former-vendor-stacey-f-talks-about-helping-her-neighbor-when-ice-agents-came-for-him?fbclid=IwAR1LVBWUy-uVEzF-_Esh3VMR4nm14sICCDrJgtUiP5PnzlToVK73YDAw1pE
52/ Robot Soft Exorcism can involve addressing someone calmly and respectfully as a fellow adult ("I take your question.") even after they've tried to heap scorn upon you. https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/07/25/robert-mueller-man-nothing-prove?page=1
53/ It can also involve refusing to sit still when someone who incites violence on a daily basis expects to be listened to in silence. https://twitter.com/ChenueHer/status/1156249275535372290
54/ #RobotSoftExorcism sometimes requires identifying self & others as a "sanctuary church body." https://religionnews.com/2019/08/07/elca-declares-self-a-sanctuary-church-body-marches-to-ice-building-in-milwaukee/?fbclid=IwAR225Y9SFf9FQk8xU13JA9cYduAZbm4FGI816ualWLigUPcavMeAgIDkf5g
55/ Calling a person a metaphorical bedbug is not an instance of #RobotSoftExorcism, but offering to talk to the person you called a metaphorical bedbug after they've tried to hurt you with/within their robot sponsor is. Thank you,
@davekarpf. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/27/bret-stephens-bedbug-david-karpf-twitter/?noredirect=on
.
@davekarpf. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/27/bret-stephens-bedbug-david-karpf-twitter/?noredirect=on
.
56/ Sometimes #RobotSoftExorcism involves talking to your children, lovingly and firmly, about what they're up to in their paying gigs. https://twitter.com/lisasharper/status/1167423398621921280
57/ All culture is granular. Everything matters. #RobotSoftExorcism can be as simple as refusing to let your name appear on false statements. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/us/politics/trump-alabama-noaa.html
58/ In some cases, #RobotSoftExorcism involves musical instruments. https://twitter.com/JoshuaPotash/status/1174370931353030662
59/ #RSE is also an honest account of how things were/are within a robot & can compel relevant party people to rethink their game. As sister @MargaretAtwood tells us, a word after a word after a word is power. https://medium.com/@andrehenry/black-christians-deserve-better-than-companies-like-relevant-media-group-42aed44528c9
60/ One manifestation of #RobotSoftExorcism is refusing to make nice with a spouse who's decided to pull you & your family into a lifelong arrangement with a white supremacist sexual predator: https://twitter.com/scottbix/status/1177594279629348869
61/ "Mr. Wilson felt the record needed to be corrected." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/27/us/joseph-wilson-who-challenged-iraq-war-narrative-dies-at-69.html
62/ One man's interrogation is another man's interview: https://twitter.com/joshscampbell/status/1180118217169096705
63/ All culture is granular. One form #RobotSoftExorcism takes is risking a word of advocacy within an event put on by a corporation that mocks the National Anthem after directing everyone to stand for it: https://twitter.com/davidpaulk/status/1181894853707235328
64/ #RobotSoftExorcism isn't just for people with modest means. It can also involve politely requesting that one not be put in a position in which one would have to decline aloud a situation in which one would appear to be normalizing predation. https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1188630058287751168
65/ Exceedingly helpful account of what's at stake in our interactions with predators. https://twitter.com/SlacktivistFred/status/1188901979638116357
66/ #RobotSoftExorcism is not always planned in advance. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/467712-man-explains-refusing-to-shake-mcconnells-hand-at-cummings-memorial-i-couldnt
67/ Sometimes the man within the robot requests an exorcism but then somehow resists it within a space of seconds. https://twitter.com/PassionFruit62/status/1066530178577440768
68/ #RobotSoftExorcism is often as simple as reminding a nearby millionaire that actionable love of neighbor remains a viable option: #AdyBarkan
69/ "That's it." @LindseyGrahamSC https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/1197913224361975808
70/ We are each free to address those who enable predation with firmness & honesty. It isn't "getting political." It's taking up the moral seriousness required of adults. Ronstadt foes before us. https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/08/opinions/linda-ronstadt-mike-pompeo-trump-comments-drexler/index.html
"foes" was sposed to be "goes"
71/ #RobotSoftExorcism also involves refusing to be the vending machine a buyer of a product might want you to be. As Michael Stipe intones, "I'm not commodity." Thank you for being a full human being, @aaronieq. May your witness be amplified: https://twitter.com/aaronieq/status/1204446974021455872
72/ Sometimes #RobotSoftExorcism involves penning an editorial within a robot founded by a man whose other robot is enabling a white nationalist terror regime. Thank you, @markgalli. Please receive your father's witness, @Franklin_Graham. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/trump-should-be-removed-from-office.html
73/ We become what we abide.
74/ Anyone can do it. #RobotSoftExorcism might involve declining to normalize the behavior of a man who's knowingly partnered with a white nationalist sexual predator for over three years. https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1220381643992637440
75/ “We are removing our consent from this system, and we are not asking for anyone’s permission.” @fieldsprout https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/climate-activism-grassroots-resistance/ @wenstephenson #RobotSoftExorcism
76/ Land of the free: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/03/01/michael-bloomberg-churchgoers-turn-backs-selma-alabama-sot-vpx-nr.cnn via @greg_thornbury
77/ #RobotSoftExorcism declines to fall for what @AOC calls "saviorism." Here's @mspackyetti with a helpful long-haul zoom-out. https://twitter.com/MsPackyetti/status/1237614974568148992 via @robvgr
78/ Sometimes #RobotSoftExorcism involves confronting terror with truth. https://twitter.com/_SJPeace_/status/1238329117587705856
79/ Rare footage of a woman standing in stunned silence at the command console of a giant robot while a thoughtful man attempts a soft exorcism by shaking his head and telling the truth. https://twitter.com/benyt/status/1245529084534366208 #RobotSoftExorcism
80/ There are so many ways to love God. https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1253474772702429189 via @pattonoswalt
81/ Sometimes, a man steps out of the robot. Meet @timbray. https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2020/04/29/Leaving-Amazon
82/ Perhaps #RobotSoftExorcism can involve forcibly taking a person who's pretending to be in one robot while actually serving a second & placing him in the arms of a third. https://twitter.com/s_Allahverdi/status/1267242837629898759
83/ Sometimes #RobotSoftExorcism involves exiting a robot that's in danger of becoming a stronghold of #WhiteSupremacistAntichristPoltergeist & raising money to make such difficult choices easier for others. https://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/former-liberty-university-official-raises-more-than-17-000-to-help-black-employees-leave-the/article_52757729-a12b-57fe-93cc-e57276aeca1e.html
84/ Sometimes #RobotSoftExorcism involves addressing adults in the room asking them to behave like adults in the room lest their refusal to act like adults in the room prove to be a public health hazard. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/mike-pence-hamilton.html
85/ "Specificity causes people to pause." That's beautifully put. I'm not a licensed therapist, but I imagine this is a trustworthy saying for that righteous work. Generalization fuels abuse. Specificity exposes it. #RobotSoftExorcism https://twitter.com/marc_halpin/status/1281261641951318018
86/ Sometimes #robotsoftexorcism is declining when asked to cover for uniformed men a businessman posing as a public servant ordered to terrorize someone waiting to talk to him. https://twitter.com/brotherjones_/status/1282293498625089538
87/ #RobotSoftExorcism can involve repenting & grieving aloud your own once-subservient posture within a robot to younger people who took your place within it. https://twitter.com/johncusack/status/1287455550092054528
88/ Imagery calls out to imagery. https://twitter.com/stepd0c/status/1013173541846618112
89/ Thank you, @dustinkensrue & @CarryTheFirePod, for asking me to explain myself. https://twitter.com/CarryTheFirePod/status/1290329022799310848
90/ Sometimes the human voice comes from inside the momentarily hijacked but ultimately ancient and beautiful robot. https://twitter.com/USPS/status/1292823830935764993
91/ Sometimes one robot comes to town to partner with another & folks within & on the periphery of the local robot try to address a human being within the visiting robot. https://twitter.com/lasmoths/status/1300947208515342338
92/ Sometimes the woman within the visiting robot speaks demeaningly of the folks who tried to speak to address her as a fellow human being when she (& her robot) dropped by. https://twitter.com/AbbyJohnson/status/1301146132224106500
93/ Sometimes #RobotSoftExorcism involves declining to be photographed with a white supremacist sexual predator who believes the two of you would make a great fit. https://twitter.com/LEBassett/status/1301001383450206208
94/ #RobotSoftExorcism can involve responding artfully when a frightened person steals your property. Well played, @jessicaeichman & @bfeichman.
95/ Sometimes a man within one robot addresses unnamed individuals in a second robot & faults them for thanking unnamed individuals in a third robot that tortures & kills unnamed individuals hidden from public view. Thanks @jaketapper. https://twitter.com/CNNSotu/status/1305159197777068032
96/ These words from my mentor give voice to what I take to be an appropriate posture for those who hope to attempt #RobotSoftExorcism. https://twitter.com/justinmcroberts/status/1305480570047062017
97/ The man in the red hat appears to vulnerable to have access to anything quite like a powerful robot, but...I place this footage here for further study. Is this #RobotSoftExorcism? https://twitter.com/RN00711/status/1283918833942749184
98/ Sometimes an exorcism is attempted from inside the robot. https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1311699137134505984
