My therapist the other day gave me some really good insight about how narcissistic, abusive people will often try to bully everyone around them into being submissive to them, but paradoxically they will only ever show respect to the ones who don't. I wonder if that's what happened behind the scenes.

Someone in the comments pointed out that this is also pretty classic bully (or I would say narcissistic abuser) behavior. Talk a bunch of crap from a distance and then play like you're their best friend up close.

(Christian Zionism at least. I don't know very much about Jewish Zionism, but I would assume it's a separate thing.)

This Bible is estimated to have sold between 5 million and 12+ million from its publishing in 1909 and 1990, and it's still in print. Its influence on evangelicalism can't be understated. This is where young-earth theology, the rapture, the idea that Russia is cosmically evil, and Zionism came from.

If you're not familiar with Dispensationalism beyond the rapture, essentially this asserts that everything Jesus said during his lifetime holds the same weight for modern Christians as the ancient Jewish Law, ie: we can kinda take it or leave it. This explains SO MUCH.

*ahem* @merriam-webster.com, y'all haven't picked a word of the year yet, so here ya go, this one'll do numbers probably

I think slop should be the word of the year

I think this is the equivalent of Brits trying to explain to an American what a "pudding" is. I've spent TIME trying to figure it out and I still can't confidently trace the boundaries of that definition.

Wait, you just glossed over the fact that he invented the VIBROSWORD?? (Or I guess the original electric carving knife, but that's not as fun)

Exactly, it's so easy to jump to, "How could anyone miss such an obvious thing", but everyone misses obvious things every day. Every one of us will look back on our current selves and think "how could I have missed X when it was right in front of me??" It's why diverse perspectives are so important.

I had to look up "perry" too, lol, but um, sparkling pear cider sounds really good honestly

Also notable that he had the backing of J.P. Morgan, a Vanderbilt, and several other obscenely wealthy gilded-age capitalists...

I'm sure he was just doing what he sincerely thought was best for the world, but his meteoric rise to fame and seeming assumption that that meant he was right about everything is a timeless cautionary tale.

At last I have found my villain.