Mastodawn

Unai Herran Dec 9

Daughter of Discord

Mr Rogers was a republican.
He was a white christian cis het man.

He prayed and read the Bible every day.

He created a children's TV show with taxpayer money in which he promoted his "christian views" to a secular audience through secular media.

He studied other religions and other cultures to improve on his reach and connection. He never preached or quoted scripture--yet, we all got the message he intended for us.

He appealed to President Nixon and Congress to continue to fund the creation of PBS with a persuasive speech that is one of the most studied for public speaking and PR. A gentle but powerful speaker.

While white people were pouring concrete into public pools rather than share with black neighrbors, Fred Rogers broadcast himself sharing a quiet conversation in a pool with African-American music and co-worker, Francios Clemmons. The softest act of defiance against White Supremacy.

He was the most demanded speaker on college campuses--he did not have to con his way onto campus to speak and nazis and counter-protesters did not follow his appearances---You know, despite the fact that he was a white christian man promoting christian values to the general public.

Every generation since the 1968 has been positively impacted by Mr Rogers.

Even children in the past 20 years are benefiting from his legacy at PBS --his methods and messages are STILL used in children's programming around the world.

No one had to mandate mourning his death because we all actually felt a genuine loss when he passed away. Even grown adults, who had not watched his show for 10 years by the time he passed, felt a piece of genuine goodness leave the planet.

We did not have to be Christian with Mr Rogers for him to do so much for us.

He never asked us to be Christian with him.

He only asked us to be his neighbor.

So...

If you find that the general public is rejecting your brand of Christianity, it might because you are a horrible fucking person with a 2000 yr old book of shitty excuses that no one is buying into.

It might be because you are a filthy grifter looking to capitalize off end-times hysteria and seniors with end-of-life anxieties.

It might be cause you are a disgusting bigot trying to reap superiority while evading moral accountability.

It probably has nothing to do at all with you actually "being a christian".

Cause we all fucking loved Mr Rogers.

-- Patchie Dee

Martin Vermeer FCD Sep 28, 2025

@CosmickTrigger It was a diminutive "pool", a small plastic foot bath. Some small things are big.

Hal Pomeranz Oct 3

@martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger Fred Rogers was punk AF

Michael Gemar Oct 4

@hal_pomeranz @DavidM_yeg @martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger Amen.

F4GRX SÃ©bastien Dec 6

@hal_pomeranz @martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger it's not punk it's bigot. He's portraying himself as jesus having feet washed by someone else.

Hal Pomeranz Dec 6

@f4grx @martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger

During the USA Civil Rights era in the 1960s, many cities closed public pools, and in some cases filled them with concrete, rather than integrate them. What Fred Rogers is doing here is the exact opposite of bigotry. He is sharing a pool with his black friend at a time when such an action was considered a radical idea. There is no religious symbolism here.

Martin Vermeer FCD Dec 6

@hal_pomeranz @f4grx @CosmickTrigger Hmm, I took @f4grx as sarcasm.

eestileib (she/hers)Dec 6

@f4grx @hal_pomeranz @martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger

This ain't it

King of Tors Oct 5

@martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger they shot this show at a public TV station, fer Pete's sake. That's the pool they could get. And conversate they did; the conversation was a lot of the goodness of the scene.

Martin Vermeer FCD Oct 5

@kingtor @CosmickTrigger

> That's the pool they could get

All the real pools in the neighbourhood were filled with concrete? /s

I'll see myself out

King of Tors Oct 5

@martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger

eestileib (she/hers)Dec 6

@martinvermeer @CosmickTrigger

I remember this. It was a rerun, but still.

black_sparkling_heart

@CosmickTrigger

*Hell Yeah*

Julie Sqveakaroo Oct 3

@CosmickTrigger Thank you for this.

My heart needed this read.

@CosmickTrigger and he took the clam to court and won

Taz the pika Oct 3

@CosmickTrigger I would be so brazen as to say that nazis did not follow in Mr Rogers's wake despite his Christian values, but because of them.

The nazis called themselves "socialists," and that was a damned lie as well. Why do we believe them when they call themselves "Christians"?

@OchotonidKnight @CosmickTrigger hence the expression "wolf in sheep's clothing". and isn't "sheep" a metaphor for christian congregations? it keeps happening.

int%rmitt]nt sig^al. ...~!...)Oct 4

@CosmickTrigger
⬆️
The man profiled above presented. intentionally or not as a Humanist. He never quoted scripture or mentioned god or Jesus , he just showed children, and their parents, how being kind and caring to each other made the world better for everyone.

Jocelynephiliac

@CosmickTrigger @desiree I feel it's important to note that Fred Rogers was a republican at a time before the republican party became staunchly conservative. The GOP of the 60s was far more centrist, even liberal. It changed in the 70s and 80s after nixon and reagan. His wife has been very vocal about how Fred would have been very opposed to the republicans of today.

@CosmickTrigger Christians shitcanned Jesus when they embraced the Golden Calf of Trump.

@CosmickTrigger Fred Rogers broadcast the most effective Christian proselytization I have ever seen, in that he led with an example of kindness, empathy, emotional intelligence, and imagination. I'm Juffo-Wuppian, but I would always be Mr. Rogers' neighbor.

@CosmickTrigger My 2-year-old knows Mr. Rogers' legacy through the spinoff Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

The other day, my wife told the kid that we're getting a new neighbor.

The kid responded, "Daniel?"

Matt Hall Oct 4

@CosmickTrigger

Oh. I can't boost this nearly enough.

ferricoxide Oct 4

@CosmickTrigger

Rogers was an actual Christian.

America Brand Christians™ are Christians like I am a car ...inasmuch as me sitting in my driveway confers the status the same way that their going to church does.

andrea-smandrea Oct 4

@CosmickTrigger *slamming the boost button* this!

@CosmickTrigger closet thing to a Saint in our lifetime.

Andrew Wickliffe Oct 4

@CosmickTrigger thank you for making me feel all that. all teary

Leonard Kirke Oct 5

@CosmickTrigger @juergen_hubert I love this post! I do want to add though (not to the detriment of the point being made) that he made comments that implied he may not have been cis het.

WallOffTrump Oct 6

@CosmickTrigger
Beautifully said.

Isaac Freeman Oct 7

@CosmickTrigger Another person non-Christians really like is Jesus. Consider the lily, turn the other cheek, blessed are the peacemakers… everybody loves Jesus. Except apparently the people who most loudly claim to be Christians.

Martin Vermeer FCD Dec 7

@isaacfreeman @CosmickTrigger And to think that the biblical Jesus is probably in large measure revisionist. The real Jesus was a political insurrectionist/preacher/troublemaker, and the Romans had his number. 'My kingdom is not of this Earth' my foot.

@CosmickTrigger

Preach!

Chupacabra 78704 Dec 6

@CosmickTrigger yes.

F4GRX SÃ©bastien Dec 6

@CosmickTrigger when the mere goal of your public speaking is promoting religion, thats bigoted, even when communication is not explicit. Thats even worse in fact, because you imply, as christians usually believe, that religion is natural and permeates everything. Fuck that shit.

Bytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Dec 6

@CosmickTrigger
This made me do a cry, and I've never even seen any of his shows.

LeonianUniverse😁Dec 7

@SapphireRose91 @CosmickTrigger Yeah Mr. Rogers was really one of a kind, I sincerely hope that he finds exhaultation in the end times, if anyone deserves to live out his life in the palaces of heaven, its him.

Nicks World Dec 7

@LeonianUniverse @SapphireRose91 @CosmickTrigger 100%

NaClKnight 🧂⚔️🥊Dec 7

@CosmickTrigger Amen

@CosmickTrigger

I have occasionally thought that if USian Protestantism had saints then Fred Rogers would have already been well on the path to sainthood.

Monte Freeman Dec 7

@CosmickTrigger
MeowMeow Good read, Meow.

@CosmickTrigger It may also be because we live in the age of social media now, and no matter what you do, people are going to hate you for it.

You just cured cancer? Congratulations, you're a communist radical that wants to put hard-working doctors and nurses out of their jobs.

(I'm not condoning any particular person, just making an observation that whether you're loved or hated in the 21st century has very little to do with how much love/hate you deserve).