*whispers* A lot of hardcore shitty Chris-chen conservatives are big giant subs.

All they want out of life is someone/something to follow around. The more powerful the better.

Happy Sunday lmaooooooo https://twitter.com/alwayslikethi5/status/1330301390099542018

This is why it's so important to connect with yourself, what your wants/needs are, & healthy ways to fill them.

Folks who know this about themselves & engage in safe, consensual roleplay? Rad!

Folks with an unexamined thirst for authority in their lives? Welcome to Hell!

This realization brought to you by the many overstuffed patriarchs in my life who couldn't stop doing stupid blind follower things, & folded like a cheap chair in a cage match the second I gave real pushback & didn't back down

Obviously the connection between overall personality & sexuality is Complicated. And you can't run an authoritarian church, government, etc ONLY with followers.

It's why churches are friendly places for predators. Just a bunch of happy lil followers all gathered to await input.

But like, think about it. People don't get paid to go to church. Matter of fact they pay for it. To go to a place dedicated (in conservative churches) to lectures, shaming, & blissing out over the importance of authority & punishment.

Wh...what does that sound to you.

"conservative folks keep acting against their own interests" lmao sounds like you don't know what their interests are my good dude

Anyway yeah if you think you're gonna "logic" people out of that, good fuckin luck.

Conservative church leadership is hyper-aware of political interests, finances, etc. But the pews are filled by folks operating on a whole different level.

You wanna change hearts & minds? Stop talking. Go BE in those communities. Bring the power to reward people for doing your thing instead of following Pastor Frollo around.

This is a scary concept for most white leftists bc a lot of them have their own unexamined baggage about power.

But anyway yeah that's why I don't bother w persuasion & just work on building worker-owned food systems in the South.

Just existing in good ol boy-dominated areas as a source of $, upward mobility, & validation that's independent from them is literally the most powerful thing you can do.

edging ever closer to a Unified Theory of Church, Kink, and Pro Wrestling

So much to unpack here!

1) Taking serious offense when someone shit-talks the object of their deference

2) Appeal to abject identity ("back-row baptists")

3) Bonus feature: "bless your heart" as "you can't hurt me" shield/safe word.

It's ok, the internet is a great place to learn things about ourselves!

And I can't stress this enough: not wanting to be in charge all the time, or being a sub if you will, doesn't make you a bad or lesser person.

That's toxic masculinity talking.

But OP here brings up an important point. This is key to the fantasy that conservative churches are selling.

Western culture holds that men are supposed to be dominant & in charge.

But that's such a BAD fit for a lot of ppl's actual personality & what they want out of life.

This creates a lot of tension. What do?

A lot of subordinate men use conservative churches as a "safe space" to act out their need to follow w/out getting clocked as a follower.

By supporting leaders who root for sexual inequality, racism, violence, homophobia, etc

they can LOOK like a proper dominant hetero white man & get all the privileges that go with that

while actually BEING a follower. Which is all they've ever really wanted.

Ever notice that the more someone self-identifies as a "maverick," the more every conversation with them is just a roll call of talking points they heard from Fox News and Pastor Frollo?

And I'll say it again, because our society is obsessed with the idea that men have to be dominant alpha authority figures to be worthwhile human beings:

Ain't nothing wrong with preferring follow someone else's lead, & wanting a space to do that.

But there's a LOT wrong with folks who are so in denial or ashamed about it that they'd rather join a hate group

than grapple with the funkier parts of their own humanity.

This is a big part of why conservative churches regulate sexuality & relationships so hard. The more people's desires go unfulfilled & not even recognized or acknowledged

the easier it is for shitty leaders to step in & channel that frustration onto their favorite scapegoats.

Shaming men over wanting to be a follower is, ironically, one of the best ways to keep them as followers.

Big shout-outs to @gnrosenberg & the account formerly known as rivka/gheist for their vital contributions helping me sort through all the weird shit that happened on farms/at church

btw if anyone's a mutual with the account formerly known as rivka/gheist reply here? She had to change her handle a few times to evade a shitty ex & I lost track. Pls DO NOT post her new handle here, I'll DM you for it.