That is an awesome role for religion in society (which this Intelligent Design and Creationism over evolution admin wouldn’t back, for all that Trump is almost definitely the worst and most nihilistic type of godless person). Pastor Marian Budde and BroadView Church are the same. And a DUer whose name regrettably escapes as I have not seen them post much (tom?) informed me that the Episcopal Church is very LGBTQ friendly. And I later found out that they also support abortion rights. I am always pleased when any negative stereotype I have is erased to reasonable extents. Rick Warren etc remain jerks. Sesame Street’s one of these things is not like the others is surprisingly useful all the time.
I am godless myself, but I appreciate this type of faith very much. We aren’t all the same. Some of us are spiritual and some of us are like me but we can work together when decent.
One of my doctors locally is Christian and one of my favorite people and I would hate to be slandered to him as a narcissistic atheist or something. It reminds me of the friendship between Prof Guildea and Father Murchison:
https://intranet.royalholloway.ac.uk/english/documents/pdf/centrevictorianstudies/guildeaetext.pdf
I myself try to mask that I am more like Prof Guildea as I am not a churl, but social media and advertising type of “love” had damn near poisoned my insides. But thankfully you guys here on DU and some decent people locally and other people I knew non-locally rescued me from turning into a totally embittered curmudgeon. Ai with no explanation I feel has many similarities with that thing from Guildea. It definitely riles up persons like me very suspicious of what I have heard Georgette Heyer describe as “cupboard love”.
I only saw one piece on this so hopefully it is reliable..I feel like one undergoes so many challenges to critical thinking both natural and worse forced that, with some pieces that play into my own biases if I don’t see more than one story, it is hard to know.
But if this is an accurate representation (and certainly it sounds plausible, but as I said there is just the one story), it is an example of how TikTok remains a cancer on society overall even if there is the rare doctor one reads about on Current Affairs etc using that brain rotting medium:
https://www.salon.com/2026/02/14/tiktokers-came-to-springfield-looking-for-ice-then-the-child-trafficking-rumors-began-partner/
TikTokers came to Springfield looking for ICE. Then the child trafficking rumors began.
The conspiracy theories have triggered chaos in the Ohio city, where Haitian immigrant families are already on edge
By AMANDA BECKER
The residents of Springfield, Ohio, had prepared for the arrival of immigration agents on February 3, the expiration date set by the Trump administration for Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, who account for nearly a quarter of the city’s population. A federal judge intervened at the last minute, pushing the deadline indefinitely. The agents never arrived.
Still, the city has found itself on edge this month and the threat is as unsettling as it is familiar: online misinformation, this time accusing the very people trying to protect their immigrant neighbors from deportation of trafficking their children instead.
Ahead of the 2024 elections, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, then Republican running mates, amplified a rumor initially shared in a local Facebook group that Haitian immigrants were eating area pets. Last Wednesday, TikTok creators, finding none of the mayhem they expected to see in Springfield, started suggesting that faith-based groups working with Haitian immigrants were misdirecting resources. Then came allegations that Haitians were “under threat from the local community.” Within 48 hours of their arrival, they concocted a conspiracy theory that the churches and nonprofit organizations were, in fact, working to deport Haitian parents to take their children.
“The destructive force they have brought is nearly immeasurable,” said one leader in a faith-based coalition, who was hesitant to use her name or the organization’s since the creators have already taken their statements out of context and shared them on social media.
Americans everywhere are trying to figure out what is happening in the Trump administration’s immigration-enforcement hot spots like Minneapolis and Springfield. As they search for information on social media, they are encountering a torrent of misinformation, conspiracy theories and deceptive propaganda. It comes from both political sides: there are liberal Americans using AI to generate the obscured faces of masked immigration agents, though they may not look anything like they do in real life, and there are conservative Americans creating fake images of White women welcoming federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as saviors.
Much of it focuses on children or women. Community leaders across the country are warning that it has the potential to destabilize neighborhoods and entire cities, just as it did in Springfield.
The latest bout of misinformation to hit this city of about 60,000 residents echoes “Pizzagate,” when right-wing conspiracy theorists said during the 2016 presidential campaign that high-profile Democrats were running a pedophilia ring. It culminated in a believer shooting up a popular Washington pizzeria. The conspiracy echoed around the internet for years, with teenagers on TikTok adopting the cause.
This is how it happened in Springfield this month.
Finding no large-scale enforcement action by ICE agents on the street, TikTok creators, who presented themselves as pro-immigrant and anti-deportation, cited reports from “actual Springfield locals” that the groups helping Haitians were refusing them aid. They sent people to a church who demanded to see evidence of the help they were giving. One creator misrepresented news coverage, including by The 19th, to construct the lie that churches and other groups were “trying to take these kids from Haitians and allowing them to be deported without helping them.”
The lies took a life of their own, as viral stories often do. The creators built on each other’s rumors.
Creator Ohaji Free, who posted the video suggesting child trafficking was at play, declined to discuss it with The 19th. Dai’Marr Keys, who suggested community groups were diverting help from Haitians, wrote in an email that he did not stay in Springfield to confirm details because he received threats.
Multiple creators shared photos of Pastor Carl Ruby, whose church has welcomed Haitian congregants. Ruby soon started receiving harassing voicemail messages. Callers said things like, “All of America knows you are complacent in the trafficking of innocent children,” “What is going on with you guys taking their children?” and “Hi, Carl. I was just wondering why you are into, you know, human trafficking and why you want to, like, take these children from families?”
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