D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
@dlmayfield.bsky.social
🇵🇸 Free Palestine 🇵🇸
Autistic non-binary, exvangelical, tired. Co-founder of STRONGWILLED, a multi-media project focused on survivors of religious authoritarian parenting methods.
http://strongwilledproject.com
Autistic non-binary, exvangelical, tired. Co-founder of STRONGWILLED, a multi-media project focused on survivors of religious authoritarian parenting methods.
http://strongwilledproject.com
Pinned
STRONGWILLED | Krispin Mayfield | Substack
Reclaiming autonomy and exploring the long-terms impacts of religious authoritarian parenting. Click to read STRONGWILLED, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
open.substack.com
My new book all about this is called STRONGWILLED and I am publishing it chapter by chapter on Substack if you want to take a look! open.substack.com/pub/strongwi...
Just when I think the SBC can't get any worse, it does! But weirdly enough, protecting pedophiles is very much connected to being fascist racists who enjoy terrorizing non-white populations and always has been.
Two Hispanic pastors who lead Southern Baptist churches in New England say that SBC President Clint Pressley and its executive board received briefings on the plan and discussed it with Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and WH Border Czar Tom Homan. thisweekinworcester.com/exclusive-tr...
Exclusive: Trump DHS Plans Immigration Raids on Churches Over Holidays
The Trump Dept. of Homeland Security is briefing federal agencies on plans for immigration enforcement operations inside churches over holidays.
thisweekinworcester.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Just when I think the SBC can't get any worse, it does! But weirdly enough, protecting pedophiles is very much connected to being fascist racists who enjoy terrorizing non-white populations and always has been.
Two Hispanic pastors who lead Southern Baptist churches in New England say that SBC President Clint Pressley and its executive board received briefings on the plan and discussed it with Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and WH Border Czar Tom Homan. thisweekinworcester.com/exclusive-tr...
Exclusive: Trump DHS Plans Immigration Raids on Churches Over Holidays
The Trump Dept. of Homeland Security is briefing federal agencies on plans for immigration enforcement operations inside churches over holidays.
thisweekinworcester.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Two Hispanic pastors who lead Southern Baptist churches in New England say that SBC President Clint Pressley and its executive board received briefings on the plan and discussed it with Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and WH Border Czar Tom Homan. thisweekinworcester.com/exclusive-tr...
You can ask anyone in your life rn: do you believe in protecting children from predators? And see how they respond. Take careful note if they use any language to protect the powerful people they vote for or tithe to. They are revealing themselves to be unsafe people, and should be treated as such.
November 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
You can ask anyone in your life rn: do you believe in protecting children from predators? And see how they respond. Take careful note if they use any language to protect the powerful people they vote for or tithe to. They are revealing themselves to be unsafe people, and should be treated as such.
It's been months of crickets on every social media platform for me. Crickets! Meanwhile I mostly keep doing what I have always done for the past 15 years (be myself, and occasionally rant about stuff).
For some reason my instagram is currently blowing up and there is truly no reason for it.
For some reason my instagram is currently blowing up and there is truly no reason for it.
November 17, 2025 at 8:32 PM
It's been months of crickets on every social media platform for me. Crickets! Meanwhile I mostly keep doing what I have always done for the past 15 years (be myself, and occasionally rant about stuff).
For some reason my instagram is currently blowing up and there is truly no reason for it.
For some reason my instagram is currently blowing up and there is truly no reason for it.
I adopted a cat last week and he is perfect and he has improved my mental health by like 70%.
November 17, 2025 at 4:05 AM
I adopted a cat last week and he is perfect and he has improved my mental health by like 70%.
the reddest of red flags are people who excuse predatory behavior against children. If your family members are doing this currently in order to protect their political party I hope you never leave your children around them ever again.
They are revealing who they are, and you should believe them.
They are revealing who they are, and you should believe them.
November 16, 2025 at 10:44 PM
the reddest of red flags are people who excuse predatory behavior against children. If your family members are doing this currently in order to protect their political party I hope you never leave your children around them ever again.
They are revealing who they are, and you should believe them.
They are revealing who they are, and you should believe them.
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
So of course these same folks are not going to take child sexual abuse seriously. They have been trained (or they truly believe) that power imbalances do not exist. It is the entire basis for how and why they abuse their children. Once they are locked into this worldview it is hard to leave it.
November 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM
So of course these same folks are not going to take child sexual abuse seriously. They have been trained (or they truly believe) that power imbalances do not exist. It is the entire basis for how and why they abuse their children. Once they are locked into this worldview it is hard to leave it.
I'm curious what others think . . . it absolutely is vital to getting kids to obey their parents and subscribe to their belief system. It's what the entire hell thing is about!
It really isn’t a ‘core belief of Christianity’. Jesus would never have said that (and I’m not a Christian). He preached forgiveness even for sinners, if I’m not mistaken.
November 16, 2025 at 10:40 PM
I'm curious what others think . . . it absolutely is vital to getting kids to obey their parents and subscribe to their belief system. It's what the entire hell thing is about!
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
Secular religious trauma therapist here! The doctrine of original sin is so devastating to a child’s self esteem. In many evangelical environments (especially Calvinist ones), children believe they are bad by default… and then parents wonder why they struggle with self-h*rm etc.
November 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Secular religious trauma therapist here! The doctrine of original sin is so devastating to a child’s self esteem. In many evangelical environments (especially Calvinist ones), children believe they are bad by default… and then parents wonder why they struggle with self-h*rm etc.
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
And I think it follows from the sin leveling idea. Being taught that stealing candy is equivalent to murder because any sin separates you from God and sends you to hell.
And it allows the powerful to use the “everybody makes mistakes” excuse to escape accountability.
And it allows the powerful to use the “everybody makes mistakes” excuse to escape accountability.
November 16, 2025 at 4:11 PM
And I think it follows from the sin leveling idea. Being taught that stealing candy is equivalent to murder because any sin separates you from God and sends you to hell.
And it allows the powerful to use the “everybody makes mistakes” excuse to escape accountability.
And it allows the powerful to use the “everybody makes mistakes” excuse to escape accountability.
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
Original sin's core tenet is that all people are born evil and must redeem, so children must be equally guilty ( this also forks creepily into other things )
It's genuinely so fucked up
It's genuinely so fucked up
November 16, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Original sin's core tenet is that all people are born evil and must redeem, so children must be equally guilty ( this also forks creepily into other things )
It's genuinely so fucked up
It's genuinely so fucked up
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
This is precisely the parenting that leads to a 4 year old being so terrified of going to hell that she insists on becoming a Christian.
Fucking four years old.
It’s abuse at its core making the entire ideology rotten.
Fucking four years old.
It’s abuse at its core making the entire ideology rotten.
As someone who has spent the past several years reading evangelical parenting books I gotta tell you the backbone of these books is that there is no such thing as a power differential. That children (even babies) are as sinful and manipulative as adults and deserving of pain and punishment.
November 16, 2025 at 4:45 PM
This is precisely the parenting that leads to a 4 year old being so terrified of going to hell that she insists on becoming a Christian.
Fucking four years old.
It’s abuse at its core making the entire ideology rotten.
Fucking four years old.
It’s abuse at its core making the entire ideology rotten.
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
This is important context for how conservatives talk about pedophilia-- they really do believe babies, BABIES, are sinful and manipulative.
As someone who has spent the past several years reading evangelical parenting books I gotta tell you the backbone of these books is that there is no such thing as a power differential. That children (even babies) are as sinful and manipulative as adults and deserving of pain and punishment.
November 16, 2025 at 3:28 PM
This is important context for how conservatives talk about pedophilia-- they really do believe babies, BABIES, are sinful and manipulative.
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
Once you view children as defiant, manipulative, sinful -- and deserving of punishment to "save" them . . . well, a whole lot of other shit can (and does) happen. But since this is a core belief of Christianity, we continue to let it slide instead of calling it what it is: an excuse for abuse.
November 16, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Once you view children as defiant, manipulative, sinful -- and deserving of punishment to "save" them . . . well, a whole lot of other shit can (and does) happen. But since this is a core belief of Christianity, we continue to let it slide instead of calling it what it is: an excuse for abuse.
As someone who has spent the past several years reading evangelical parenting books I gotta tell you the backbone of these books is that there is no such thing as a power differential. That children (even babies) are as sinful and manipulative as adults and deserving of pain and punishment.
November 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
As someone who has spent the past several years reading evangelical parenting books I gotta tell you the backbone of these books is that there is no such thing as a power differential. That children (even babies) are as sinful and manipulative as adults and deserving of pain and punishment.
Tim LaHaye (of Left Behind fame) disagrees with Megyn Kelly, because he thinks that 5yos are very similar to sexually active and responsive young wives. And that daddies have a special role in preparing them for this.
Show me a little girl of five or six who can run into her daddy’s heart, sit on his lap, and kiss him any time she likes, and in fifteen or twenty years I will show you a young woman who is emotionally prepared to be a sexually responsive wife.” -Tim and Beverley LaHaye, The Spirit Controlled Family
November 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Tim LaHaye (of Left Behind fame) disagrees with Megyn Kelly, because he thinks that 5yos are very similar to sexually active and responsive young wives. And that daddies have a special role in preparing them for this.
Show me a little girl of five or six who can run into her daddy’s heart, sit on his lap, and kiss him any time she likes, and in fifteen or twenty years I will show you a young woman who is emotionally prepared to be a sexually responsive wife.” -Tim and Beverley LaHaye, The Spirit Controlled Family
November 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Show me a little girl of five or six who can run into her daddy’s heart, sit on his lap, and kiss him any time she likes, and in fifteen or twenty years I will show you a young woman who is emotionally prepared to be a sexually responsive wife.” -Tim and Beverley LaHaye, The Spirit Controlled Family
This is why I have become obsessed with evangelical parenting books. They teach parents that toddlers are sinful, and that all sin is equal in the eyes of God. So if Bill Gothard "repents" he is forgiven, while a two year old who doesn't repent is destined for repeated physical abuse. I hate it here
My mom, when the allegations came out against Bill Gothard: “It just shows how we’re all sinners 😔”
You mean it doesn’t make you seriously question all the toxic theology he’s been spewing for years?!?!? The theology you pushed on me as a kid, mom?!??
Arrrgh
You mean it doesn’t make you seriously question all the toxic theology he’s been spewing for years?!?!? The theology you pushed on me as a kid, mom?!??
Arrrgh
November 14, 2025 at 3:31 PM
This is why I have become obsessed with evangelical parenting books. They teach parents that toddlers are sinful, and that all sin is equal in the eyes of God. So if Bill Gothard "repents" he is forgiven, while a two year old who doesn't repent is destined for repeated physical abuse. I hate it here
One of the most horrifying moments of my life is when my evangelical mother told me how terrified she was of the criticism of Brett Kavanaugh because what men do in college shouldn't haunt them the rest of their days. Don't trust white Christian women, they choose the patriarchy almost every time.
November 14, 2025 at 3:20 PM
One of the most horrifying moments of my life is when my evangelical mother told me how terrified she was of the criticism of Brett Kavanaugh because what men do in college shouldn't haunt them the rest of their days. Don't trust white Christian women, they choose the patriarchy almost every time.
Megyn Kelly is a Christian woman . . . this is how a lot of them are going to react because this is what they tell themselves constantly about the men in their lives. It's truly baked into the system.
It cannot be remembered enough that these were the same people who got worked up about drag brunches
November 14, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Megyn Kelly is a Christian woman . . . this is how a lot of them are going to react because this is what they tell themselves constantly about the men in their lives. It's truly baked into the system.
especially if the White people are obsessed with a patriarchal hierarchal religion where kids have almost zero power and adult men have a lot. It's a recipe for abuse, time after time.
anything White people and/or wealthy people support, it's in your best interest to investigate and denounce.
they are never on the right side of history.
they are never on the right side of history.
And certain religious groups (like white evangelicalism) groom everyone to normalize pedophilic thought patterns. You gotta root this shit out or you might just perpetuate it: www.strongwilledproject.com/focus-on-the...
November 13, 2025 at 8:36 PM
especially if the White people are obsessed with a patriarchal hierarchal religion where kids have almost zero power and adult men have a lot. It's a recipe for abuse, time after time.
The biggest secret in so many evangelical families is this. People know, and they choose to protect predators over children almost every time.
My evangelical family rushed to forgive my pedophile uncle. The entire extended family now has a rift in it where the 2 sides ( those forgiving the pedophile vs. those excommunicating the pedophile) are no longer speaking to eachother. Grandmothers stopped talking to their grandchildren over this.
November 13, 2025 at 8:29 PM
The biggest secret in so many evangelical families is this. People know, and they choose to protect predators over children almost every time.
It has come to my attention that once again people think I left Christianity because of church hurt.
Let me be clear: I left Christianity when I realized I had been indoctrinated into it as a defenseless child and that it was a power-hungry cult that protected abusers.
Let me be clear: I left Christianity when I realized I had been indoctrinated into it as a defenseless child and that it was a power-hungry cult that protected abusers.
November 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM
It has come to my attention that once again people think I left Christianity because of church hurt.
Let me be clear: I left Christianity when I realized I had been indoctrinated into it as a defenseless child and that it was a power-hungry cult that protected abusers.
Let me be clear: I left Christianity when I realized I had been indoctrinated into it as a defenseless child and that it was a power-hungry cult that protected abusers.
Mark my words the evangelicals are going to start talking about how we as a society need to forgive Trump for his past sins. This is what they have done for every pedophile that has been revealed in their midst so I don't see why they would change now.
November 13, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Mark my words the evangelicals are going to start talking about how we as a society need to forgive Trump for his past sins. This is what they have done for every pedophile that has been revealed in their midst so I don't see why they would change now.
Reposted by D.L. Mayfield (they/them)
Okay, so, we’re all going to have to agree that it’s wrong to have sex with children. Like, if you don’t agree with me inside your own head, you should keep that inside until you tell a therapist. Also, people who defend pedophiles can not be trusted with your children. At all. AT ALL. EVERRRRRRRRR.
in case you're wondering how the cope is going www.mediamatters.org/megyn-kelly/...
November 13, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Okay, so, we’re all going to have to agree that it’s wrong to have sex with children. Like, if you don’t agree with me inside your own head, you should keep that inside until you tell a therapist. Also, people who defend pedophiles can not be trusted with your children. At all. AT ALL. EVERRRRRRRRR.