Who's Colonizing Whom?
Should Christian Nationalists Be Considered Decolorizers?
My perspective is as a United States of America citizen and this is focused on what’s going on here and now. Because of the recent attack on Israel, some have been talking about decolonization more frequently. I was reading
yesterday and she wrote about the following quote:“A pro-Palestine student from George Mason University wrote this: ‘As university students, it is crucial to have a genuine understanding of the true nature of decolonization. Decolonization is not just a term studied within the confines of a classroom, and it is not just a term analyzed through political theory and social literature. Rather, it is a term that entails resistance in the face of a colonizer. Decolonization entails the struggle for liberation of a colonized people from the grasp of their colonizers. This struggle for the much-sought-after liberation from the colonizer is not meant to be metaphysical — but material.’
I’ve previously written about the Drama Triangle mirrors that happen due to projection. Can you see how this could be flipped?
There were many Christians in the US and they even had Christian prayers in schools, but you could say atheist colonizers tried to take over this Christian nation and get rid of their incorrect beliefs from public schools. It’s not just public schools, but private schools now pushing gender beliefs that oppose biblical beliefs. Christians have felt oppressed in this nation for a long while. They complain every Christmas about being told it’s offensive to say “Merry Christmas.” It’s just getting worse each year.
Are atheists colonizers? Could the rise of Christian Nationalists be decolonization in action? Does that make it okay if Christians wanted to force prayer back into school and into our political system? Should the Democrats be celebrating that too? Of course, we know they won’t because they’re hypocrites.
The majority of people believe that the only way to be considered a woman is to be female. Is that not a shared common belief in the US? Well, then, who decided to colonize and force their opposing beliefs (through hate speech laws and censorship) onto this country?
How many people in this country are actually gay or lesbian? It’s not nearly the percentage we see in TV and movies. I don’t include the “Transgender” heading because they’ve made the umbrella so large I would be considered “transgender,” and you probably would too.
Are Democrats not trying to colonize their beliefs into a country that simply does not share those beliefs? Did colonizing Democrats attempt to take over our schools and government?
What about the Rainbow Flag?
Gilbert Baker wrote about the origin of the rainbow flag. From Rainbow Flag: Origin Story:
“I looked at the flags flying on the various government buildings around the Civic Center. I thought of the American flag with its thirteen stripes and thirteen stars, the colonies breaking away from England to form the United States. I thought of the vertical red, white, and blue tricolor from the French Revolution and how both flags owed their beginnings to a riot, a rebellion, or revolution. I thought a gay nation should have a flag too, to proclaim its own idea of power.”
“The rainbow came from earliest recorded history as a symbol of hope. In the Book of Genesis, it appeared as proof of a covenant between God and all living creatures. It was also found in Chinese, Egyptian and Native American history. A Rainbow Flag would be our modern alternative to the pink triangle. Now the rioters who claimed their freedom at the Stonewall Bar in 1969 would have their own symbol of liberation.”
I doubt he thought consciously about “colonizing this Christian nation”. But it’s clear that the rainbow was in his mind because of Genesis, and it was also in his mind of having hope, for power and liberation from the culture that currently existed. If you view yourself as a “victim” and see the culture as a “persecutor” and desire more power through rioting (as opposed to lawful pursuits) then you’re likely stuck in the drama triangle. That usually means your emotions (and not logic) are your guides.
A lot (if not all) of the wars, riots, and rapes are because of emotions like fear and wrath. Feeling fear usually means you feel powerless, and you usually feel powerless because you are stuck in the Drama Triangle giving your power away to your so-called “Savior.”
Someone who didn’t mind what other people thought and took personal responsibility wouldn’t desire a flag to feel liberated, they’d simply be liberated through personal responsibility. Why would you desire a flag? Gilbert mentioned it stands for a nation, a “gay nation.” How can we have a gay nation and a US nation in the same place? Is there not some desire to take over the nation? Is that not a colonizing viewpoint?
Proof I was Right
I recently wrote about people celebrating the Hamas rapes, suggesting that Israel deserved it. I wrote “I see the same dynamic in Democrats (and a few Republicans) today. So many want to see the other side suffer.” I’ve also previously written MAGAts And The 10 Stages of Genocide. I’ve seen this dynamic for a long time.
I saw the following embedded video on Twitter, taken from @SimpleBlackTheory from TikTok. He believes that black people need to act like Hamas in order to feel better. He’s wrong.
The more people focus on being a “victim” the the more powerless they feel. The more powerless you feel, the more you want to feel powerful. They choose the incorrect way to try to feel powerful and so they decide they want to harm the so-called oppressors. They’re oppressing themselves by not taking personal responsibility, of course.
No amount of attacking the “oppressors” is going to make you feel powerful. You won’t feel powerful unless you are making the internal decision to take personal responsibility and stop blameshifting and scapegoating.
Projection
People who believe that cultures should de-colonize through the torture of innocent civilians minding their own business may be colonizers themselves. The reason they think this behavior is okay is because they would do it if they could because of wrath. That wrath comes from their feeling of powerlessness which they decided to take on when they chose the victim mentality. They should be this angry with themselves, but they project it outward.
They think the “colonizers” are evil because this is how they would act if they could colonize. Instead of taking stock of their personal failures, they project their issues and emotions outward. And, as I wrote about above, they might actually be colonizing other people themselves.
Enforce Boundaries But Don’t Be Evil
People can and should enforce their boundaries, even if that means killing someone who is attacking you or your family members. Reasonable force should be used, but those in the drama triangle are not acting reasonably. They’re acting based on emotions instead. No one should be surprised that people will kill others when they’re worried about getting tortured, raped, or killed themselves.
If you feel like harming innocent bystanders (because they may have “internalized” biases) you are choosing evil.
If you are choosing to torture or rape someone rather than kill them, you are choosing evil.
This shouldn’t be hard, but it is for many people because of motivated reasoning.
Never-Ending Cycle
It feels like it’s a never-ending cycle, a “victim” seeks independence, a “savior” tries to take over the "persecutor” and then others feel like “victims” and they look for a “savior” and that “savior” takes over the “persecutor” and you what they would call colonization after colonization.
Except one side thinks they won, then they lost, then they won, then they lost. That sums up how it feels to be a staunch Republican or Democrat in the US today. But, the majority of people feel like they’re always losing because there’s always someone trying to force beliefs that they don’t believe in.
Decolonization
What is the best-case scenario? To be crystal clear I’m not a Christian Nationalist. I believe having as little government interference as possible would be for the best. Just let people believe what they want to believe, so long as it’s not interfering with someone else’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit (but not guarantee) of happiness.
I honestly think the United States’ foundation was pretty good. The ideals are great. It’s something to hope for. It’s what the US flag used to stand for. I think a desire to replace that flag with another comes from a colonization mindset. What do you think?
Good analysis. I like the model you use to explain why people become trapped in victimhood. It is very helpful.
The video of the black fellow was a great illustration. He is blind to the opportunities America gives him and he will spend his life fighting an oppressor that doesn't exist. Absolutely tragic.
Thanks for this wonderfully creative twist on the concept of colonization, Barbara. Could an open southern border that invites millions of illegal immigrants be a deliberate act of colinization?