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The White Supremacists, Sovereign Citizen, Alleged Domestic Terrorist and Fundamental Baptist who was also... M y  MOTHER!   She wasn’t’ really a terrorist,   ALTHOUGH... those who knew her well would agree, she could be a terror to her dissenters and especially so to her husband, siblings and children!     She did proudly own the rest of those titles though.   I will explain the domestic terrorist allegation in a later post, but before I get to that, I want readers to know that in this series of blog posts, I will be revealing events of my childhood I have never revealed so publically and in writing before.       It is because of this country’s current, aggressive conflation of politics and religion, that I am compelled to share my history—both as a child and adult—and how my history heavily influenced my political and religious beliefs now.    I have posted enough opposition to the Right’s celebration of America’s return to i...
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Recent posts
NOTE:  This is an older post I wrote 10 years ago this month and during Trump's first run for the presidency.  I  am now witnessing enough of the motivations I had suspected during his first presidency come to fruition in his second presidency, that I feel validated in those suspicions, unfortunately.  Whether anyone I expressed those suspicions to before have reconsidered, now that we have a second look at Trump's self-proclaimed intentions,It is apparent that more have actually reaffirmed their support of Trump.  I should know better by now.  I have seen the very same thing happen on a much smaller scale, with church being the setting.  My intention at this time is to reveal how my extreme, right-wing conservative political and fundamentalist Baptist history as a child, adult parent and as an aging adult has convinced me to  embrace a more authentic position on all those former dogmatic positions.  To those people I know, who have similar b...
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Fundamentalism and Family Trauma

Bunyon Oco Norris Painted by my Aunt Kassie, his 3rd daughter My grandfather’s name was Bunyon Oco (Bill) Norris.  He is my mother’s father who influenced and directed the fundamental Baptist beliefs under which I was born and reared.  “Papaw” as he was known to his grandchildren, was named after John Bunyon (1628-1688), author of the Christian allegorical classic, “Pilgrim’s Progress” as well as several other controversial Puritan Christian writings.  Both of my grandparents left a profound influence on my life in very different ways, but my Papaw’s influence was the most penetrating because of his commanding, often invasive fundamental Baptist beliefs and his extreme conservative political positions.  My family lived in the house my parents had built on 2 ½ acres of property Papaw had sold them. It was right next to he and “Mamaw,’s” house—the house he built with his own hands. My mother lived there with them from her early teen years until she married my dad at ...
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And Now For Some Good Stuff

  It took us a long time after leaving to decide which of our former beliefs we still believed to be true and right, and which ones were just... crazy.   The illegitimate feelings of guilt and shame attached to all those beliefs and practices will probably plague us for life.     Although we immediately abandoned the most extreme standards we only practiced because they were required of us as leaders, plenty of them hung on for a while.   The reason it took so long probably had to do with the degree with which these regulations became a test of genuine spirituality. Why would any truly committed believer object to abiding by rules their preacher established to guard the ‘purity of his church?    This was the subject of many, many sermons.      The Preacher required all teachers and other leaders (including us) to sign a paper detailing rules we were expected to obey to continue in any leadership position. This included piano pl...
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