Religious freedom payback thanks to SCOTUS?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 30, 2023

After the ruling by the Supreme Court finding a web designer could not be forced to design a site that went against her religious beliefs, they proved that this case had nothing to do with the religious freedom of everyone but was limited to only those with the same beliefs they approve of.

The case was brought by a woman in Colorado. She was not hired to design a site for a gay couple. So what's the problem? She feared it could happen. OK, I guess but up until now, fear of something that may, or may not happen, doesn't seem to be grounds to end up in the Supreme Court.

What got me was this part.

Gorsuch said that a ruling against Smith would allow the government “to force all manner of artists, speechwriters, and others whose services involve speech to speak what they do not believe on pain of penalty.” For example, a gay website designer could be forced to design websites for an organization that advocates against same-sex marriage, he wrote. “Countless other creative professionals, too, could be forced to choose between remaining silent, producing speech that violates their beliefs, or speaking their minds and incurring sanctions for doing so.”

It seems to have escaped the "justices" that that was exactly what they have been preventing other people in this country from receiving the same protection because they did not choose what the majority wanted them to do. Not the majority of the people in this country but the majority of the 9 people that decide all the laws we all have to live by.

Want or need to end a pregnancy, then it should not be up to you to decide. It should be up to the state you live in to surrender your beliefs and choices to the whim of others when you should decide your own future for yourself.

Want your children to be raised according to what you believe is right for you? Nope sorry when they want prayers brought into schools no matter if you are raising your children to be "religious" or not.

Want them to be able to live their lives and make it home at the end of the day from school without being shot by someone they allowed to have an assault weapon? Out of luck there too since gun owners have more rights than your family.

Over and over again, we are reminded that this country is yet again returning to the times of religious persecution against anyone with beliefs those in power do not agree with. It is the Salem Witch Trails on steroids!

So will there be religious freedom payback removing all the restrictions from the rest of us and also living our own lives according to what we believe? Will we see equality the way the Founding Fathers envisioned following the witchcraft trials and gave us the right to make our own choices? I am no lawyer but it seems that good ones need to take cases to the Supreme Court based on the freedoms of all of us and not just the ones they agree with!

Kathie Costos author of The Scribe Of Salem, The Visionary Of Salem, and 13th Minister Of Salem

suffering out here and dying when we could all be healing together

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 28, 2023

In 2007, I put up a post asking why the press wasn't on suicide watch.

To say I was terrified as to what I saw coming is an understatement. Now the day after #PTSD Awareness Day, 2023 seems as if this nightmare will never end. Why? Because almost every news report and post online focused on veterans with PTSD. Not the current military members. Not any of the other survivors struggling with PTSD and led to believe that what is going on with them can't be PTSD because "only veterans have it." Right now I'm wondering why the press isn't on real PTSD Awareness that can make a difference for all of us.

Back then, I didn't know that I had PTSD because I never read anything about someone like me. I am just a civilian but survived over ten events that have been known to cause PTSD beginning at the age of 5. While my life is rare, surviving is also rare, especially with how many times I did.

I never fully understood why I was so connected to the veterans and families I helped for over 40 years now. I assumed it was because of my Vietnam veteran husband. I knew what nightmares, flashbacks, mood swings, and paranoia were because I had gone through them many times. I also knew what panic attacks were and how they set off everything else. I knew what it was like to have them all pass and what returning to my "normal" life was like.

I can't tell you how angry I am that I spent all those years helping others heal but had to figure out how to heal on my own, feeling as alone as I did because the media never reported on other people like me.

So now, after all these years, with the rate of PTSD among Americans going up, along with suicides, I am asking still wondering how reporters still haven't figured out that there is a hell of a lot more people suffering out here and dying when we could all be healing together. The causes may all be different but the way to heal is side by side with someone else helping us so we can do the same for others.

PTSD still is considered “new” in the world of mental health

PTSD: knowing is the first step

The Gazette
Erin Foster
Jun. 22, 2023

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can greatly impact any person who has experienced trauma in their life. Often associated with the aftermath and symptoms many veterans experience, PTSD still is considered “new” in the world of mental health.

Erin Foster is director of the Linn County Mental Health Access Center , which opened in 2021 (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
First recognized in the early 80s, PTSD symptoms were referred and described as “shell shock” and “war neurosis.” Since the 1980s more research, education and advocacy around PTSD has had a strong focus on military personnel and veterans. More recently the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder has trickled into everyday lives of those not in the military as we now understand trauma can be experienced in my forms and places by anyone.

It is estimated that over 70 percent of adults will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime and more than 20 percent will develop PTSD. PTSD is believed to affect more than 5 million U.S. adults in a given year, and while it does not discriminate by gender, age or race, it does affect women at a slightly higher percentage and middle-aged individuals compared to youth and those over the age of 60.

Although PTSD seems to be more and more common, so are the treatments and services available. The best clinical treatment for this condition still is cognitive therapies. These therapies can use exposure therapy that allows individuals to learn new coping mechanisms when triggers appear. Specifically, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapies have great research around them and are gaining more popularity in helping those with PTSD.
read more here

On a personal note, if you read this site since the beginning, then you know the term "new normal" came from me. I cannot express how it feels to have those words being said as if it has finally become something we can live with, and not be ashamed we survived the cause of it.

Isn't it time to restore sanity under the law?

This is from Cornell Law School

A state's statutes will determine what constitutes standing in that particular state's courts. These typically revolve around the requirement that plaintiffs have sustained or will sustain direct injury or harm and that this harm is redressable.

What harm has been done to anyone other than the one making the choice over their own body? How does it hurt those against abortions being a legal choice they make for themselves?

In Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife (90-1424), 504 U.S. 555 (1992), the Supreme Court created a three-part test to determine whether a party has standing to sue:
The plaintiff must have suffered an "injury in fact," meaning that the injury is of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent
There must be a causal connection between the injury and the conduct brought before the court
It must be likely, rather than speculative, that a favorable decision by the court will redress the injury

It seems to me that this country's laws support those who have been harmed and not those who do not like the choices others make for themselves. So far, we've seen that the only people being harmed are those subjected to the will of others. I heard some claim they do not approve of it and do not want to pay for it. Somehow they fail to see there are many things people do not approve of but they pay for them all the same as a taxpayer. Could you imagine if anything else in this country was based on selective tax disbursements because someone claims it is morally wrong to them?

The thing is most people in this country support the right for people to decide for themselves, which is a good thing.

Support for abortion rights overall has increased as state legislatures and courtrooms have instituted a growing number of restrictions and bans, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults say they support abortion rights, marking a 6-percentage point increase since last June.

Nearly a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, U.S. opinions about that consequential decision remain largely unchanged in this latest poll. A majority of U.S. adults – 59 percent – still say they oppose the justices’ decision, which removed federal protections for many reproductive health care services, while another 40 percent of Americans agree with the nation’s highest court. (PBS)

No one should have the right to take a right away from someone else. No one should have the right to force their beliefs on anyone else while demanding their own rights be protected. Isn't it time to restore sanity under the law? 

There are females all over this country subjected to harm after harm, including the females that wanted to have children. Should it go wrong, they are subjected to suffering because doctors have been threatened with jail and fines for providing medical help. Young females discovering their rapist, not only removed the right of choice by forced sex but also subjected them to more harm having to fight to decide the rest of their lives. The list of harm being done goes on and on while more and more states substitute their "morality" for everyone else. 

It isn't just about abortions but sexual personal decisions everyone had equal rights to decide for themselves. When parents had the right to decide for their own children what is right for them or not. This is all more reminder of how we ended up with the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Forced morality and "Christian" values are an abysmal demonstration of God's Love.

"Can Chris ever live a normal life again?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 16, 2023

"If you’ve read the rest of the series, you’ll love this book."

13th Minister Of Salem can be found here at Books2Read in eBook and print. It can also be found on Amazon.

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite *****

Kathie Costos continues her series with the 13th Minister of Salem: Ministers of the Mystery. Chris is now famous beyond anything he ever imagined and cannot go out without a security detail. Death threats from Haman Cain’s cult abound after Chris took him down, and his books have brought him prominence that he doesn’t welcome. All he wants is a normal life, but something is coming that even he may not be able to stop. Planning his wedding and hoping for normality, Chris receives a warning from the Master, telling him his time may soon be up. What will transpire and can Chris ever live a normal life again?

Kathie Costos expands on Chris and his journey in 13th Minister of Salem and it is a great addition to a supernatural series filled with plenty of suspense. Chris’s growth has been solid throughout the series and that doesn’t change in this installment. He’s a strong character with plenty of demons to fight, and each battle takes a bit more out of him. The remaining role players are equally well-developed and are easy to relate to. This is not a story for the faint-hearted, nor is it for younger readers. It’s a dark tale, with adult scenes, and will send chills down your spine in places. Like the other books in the series, this is full of action, and it’s all go from the start. If you’ve read the rest of the series, you’ll love this book. It should not be regarded as a standalone as you will need the background from the first two books to understand this one.

When I read the review from Anne-Marie Reynolds, it hit me when she asked, "...can Chris ever live a normal life again?" If you have #PTSD, you may have been asking the same question.  Most of the people I've met over the years asked that question. What we all missed was that this is normal for us. It will never be 100% the way it was. Some of it may remain difficult for a long time but other things can become so much more than we ever imagined that they could.

I hope by the time you finish this series, you'll understand that the only limits on what you can become after surviving the cause of PTSD, no matter what it was, are the limits you place on yourself.