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America’s fear problem

How Fear Hacks Our Brains

(This article first appeared in the Sunbury Daily Item’s Opinion section on November 17, 2025)

What happens when we live in a state of fear? How do the media and political leaders exploit our reactions to fear to manipulate us, influence our decisions and affect the way we act toward others?

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According to research out of UCLA, fear and anxiety quickly alter our bodies, stirring up a host of reactions, including jittery and shaking feelings. Fear floods the body with adrenaline and sugar for energy, speeding the heart and narrowing the mind.

The fearful person plunges into the emergency state of fight, flight or freeze. This animal instinct gives us the burst of energy we need. In that state, we can’t think clearly; we instead react, often lashing out at others. That same chemistry plays out in our politics today.

I live in the United States, a land where fear dominates our lives. I hear both my conservative and liberal friends speaking the language of fear with all the suspicious, dehumanizing power fear brings with it.

I listen to friends talk of their terror of ICE agents, immigrants, trans people, socialists and Trump supporters. Fear fills my friends’ minds and bodies, and that fear floods every conversation, and soon enemies abound.

I was 17 years old when my pastor assigned 1 John 4:18 to study and memorize. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

Up until then, I assumed the opposite of love was hate. In this verse, I encountered an unexpected counterbalance to love — fear. Love has the power to displace fear, and when love is absent, fear dominates, holding love at bay.

When fear takes hold and grows, love diminishes. Where love abounds, fear loses its grip.

As a believer, I marvel at how some people claim the United States is a “Christian nation.”

Millions of American citizens practice faiths other than Christianity or have no religious beliefs.

More strikingly, the United States does not feel and act like a nation of love. Fear, distrust and disgust dominate the political discourse, filtering down to our daily encounters with the neighbors we are taught to treat as the enemy.

Bell Hooks, in her book “All About Love,” wrote, “Fear is the primary force upholding structures of domination. It promotes the desire for separation, the desire not to be known.

“When we are taught that safety lies always with sameness, then difference, of any kind, will appear as a threat.”

Fear divides us, dehumanizes us and misshapes our understanding of others and ourselves, but “when we choose to love,” Hooks continues, we choose to move against fear — against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect — to find ourselves in the Other.

First John chapter 4 is all about love. Verses 7 and 8 say, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Why is the USA so Racist?

I’ve been reading the final book Dr. Martin Luther King published before his assassination, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Dr. King reflects on the struggle for Black civil rights and the obstacles that keep discrimination and oppression firmly in place.

In the chapter “Racism and the White Backlash,” he outlines how racism is deeply woven into the fabric of American history, politics, and society. “The roots of racism are very deep in America. Historically, it was so acceptable in national life that today it still only lightly burdens the conscience.” (He also acknowledges that some whites have worked on overcoming this deep-seated racism.)

Throughout the book, Dr. King quotes from other thought leaders, and in this chapter, he shares definitions of racism.

From Dr. George Kelsey’s book Racism and the Christian Understanding of Man:

Racism is a faith. It is a form of idolatry… In its early modern beginnings, racism was a justificatory device. It did not emerge as a faith. It arose as an ideological justification for the constellations of political and economic power which were expressed in colonialism and slavery. But gradually the idea of the superior race was heightened and deepened in meaning and value, so it pointed beyond the historical structures of relation in which it emerged, to human existence itself.

Dr. King goes on to quote Ruth Benedict and her book Race: Science and Politics, defining racism as:

…the dogma that one ethnic group is condemned by nature to hereditary inferiority and another group is destined to hereditary superiority. It is the dogma that the hope of civilization depends upon eliminating some races and keeping others pure. It is the dogma that one race has carried progress throughout human history and can alone ensure future progress.

While the USA has not attempted genocide against Black people, King argues that white power structures have created and maintain a form of elimination.

If a man asserts that another man, because of his race, is not good enough to have a job equal to his, or to eat at a lunch counter next to him. or to have access to certain hotels, or to attend school with him. or to live next store to him, he is by implication affirming that that man does not deserve to exist. He does not deserve to exist because his existence is corrupt and defective.

He goes on to assert that “Racism is a philosophy based on a contempt for life.”

Sure we have seen progress, but as Dr. King points out, for every step forward, there are steps backwards. For every success made by Black people, there is a white backlash.

Aren’t we still seeing the backlash to Obama, the first Black president? How are these racist ideas of inferior and superior races extending to gender, and have always done so? While there are many ways to view the Trump administration and the MAGA movement, the role of the “superior” over the “inferior” fuels the movement.

Sex, Gender, and Jesus

There’s a boy inside me who never stood a chance. Before I ever came out as gay, before I even knew what that meant, I got the message loud and clear: don’t be soft. Don’t be flamboyant. Don’t be a sissy.

So I gagged him. Shoved him deep in the closet, bound in silence. But eventually I realized—if I wanted to be whole, I had to go back for him.

This episode of Bubble&Squeak is for that boy. For every sacred, silenced self we’ve buried to survive. It’s called Sissy Gagged—and it’s about bodies, shame, queerness, power, and faith.

It comes in four parts:

🧕 Part One: Tina Beardsley
Reverend Dr. Tina Beardsley is an Anglican priest and theologian who came out as trans after decades in ministry. Her story is not about sensational headlines—it’s about spiritual transformation, institutional resistance, and compassion. Learn more:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Beardsley

👑 Part Two: Panda Dulce
Drag artist Kyle Casey Chu—aka Panda Dulce—made national headlines when Proud Boys ambushed her Drag Story Hour. But Kyle’s story doesn’t begin or end with trauma. We talk about queer disappointment, glitter, poop pits, and why drag might be sacred.
www.kylecaseychu.com

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✝️ Part Three: Rev. Bev
Reverend Dr. Beverly Dale preaches a sex-positive gospel. She’s the founder of the Incarnation Institute for Sex & Faith and the author of Who Told You That You Were Naked? And yes, she says the word “pleasure” from the pulpit. Repeatedly.
www.beverlydale.org

💃 Part Four: Sound Slice
Let me set the scene: Southeastern Yearly Meeting. After hours of Quaker silence, we kick off our shoes and square dance. Boys in skirts. Grandmas in wheelchairs. The Spirit moves.

🎧 Listen to Sissy Gagged on Bubble&Squeak wherever you get your podcasts.

I write and produce this show mostly for myself. Oh—and for John Casey, who taught me how to journal again.

Until next time, stay curious. Be weird. And make room for yourself to shimmer, sparkle, and shine.

Today is Juneteenth—Freedom Day. Jubilee Day. A day for all Americans.

As our friend Catherine Cymone Fourshey, faculty director of Bucknell’s Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Cultures, explained in today’s Daily Item:

“This should be, in a way, the actual Independence Day for everyone in the United States because this is the moment when, after going through the American Revolution in 1776 and 98 years later after the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, all people are emancipated. This was the moment when everyone in Texas got the information and moved freely because there was going to be enforcement by the military.”

Sculpture by Oswaldo Guayasamín
While visiting the artist’s home in Quito—now a museum—I encountered this striking sculpture on the ground floor. Like much of Guayasamín’s work, it pulses with movement and emotion. Arms raised, body twisted, it evokes struggle, resistance, and longing. Even without knowing its title, the sculpture speaks volumes—echoing the pain and hope that run through the story of liberation, from Juneteenth to today.

Juneteenth marks the delayed arrival of freedom for enslaved people in Texas—two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. That delay, and the need for military enforcement, reminds us that true justice is not just declared—it must be delivered.

For too long, white Christians in the American colonies and early U.S.—including some early Quakers—supported and defended the enslavement of African people. Many even used the Bible to justify it. That history must be named.

Yes, slavery was legally ended. But its legacies remain:

  • generational wealth amassed by enslavers and passed down,
  • systems that still benefit from the exploitation of Black labor,
  • and ongoing racism and white supremacy that many still refuse to acknowledge.

Even today, some Christians and lawmakers use scripture to justify new forms of oppression—whether by erasing Black history from classrooms or denying the dignity of those who differ from them.

As we reflect on this day of liberation, may we also commit to telling the full truth about our nation’s history and to ensuring freedom and dignity for all people.

Let Juneteenth stir us—not only to celebration—but to repentance, repair, and renewed responsibility.

For years, the story of Lazarus has followed me like a shadow. Not the spooky kind, but a persistent one—showing up in scripture, art, casual conversation, and even my own dreams. Maybe it speaks to something deep in all of us: the longing to be seen, to be unbound, to be called out of whatever tomb we’ve been living in. I didn’t expect Lazarus to find his way into a podcast episode, but here he is, front and center in the new season of Bubble and Squeak.

Bubble and Squeak by Peterson Toscano · Grave Robbers: Father James Martin, Lucas Wilson, and Coming Out Lazarus

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In Season 4, Episode 1, I speak with two guests: Jesuit priest and bestselling author Father James Martin, and literary scholar and editor Lucas Wilson. We explore the tangled threads of resurrection, shame, identity, and queer freedom through biblical interpretation, comedy, and survivor testimony. And, in the end, we find that Lazarus isn’t just a story from the Gospel of John. He’s all of us, stumbling out of the tomb, still wrapped in grave clothes, squinting toward the light.

Lazarus and the God Who Calls Us Out

Father James Martin’s new book, Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’s Greatest Miracle, dives deep into the Lazarus story. Not just the biblical narrative, but how artists, theologians, and everyday pilgrims have interacted with it. He takes us inside the actual tomb in Al-Eizariya (Bethany), shares the physical sensation of descending into the cave, and reflects on what it means to come out of darkness and into new life.

He told me, “All of us come before God unfree in some way… And God has an intense desire to free us, to offer us new life.”

Comedy from the Tomb

In the second part of the episode, I share an excerpt from my solo performance, Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House. It’s a comedic, gut-punching story about my 17 years in conversion therapy. Like Lazarus, I didn’t get out of that tomb alone. I needed friends. I needed love. I needed someone to say, “Take off the grave clothes. Let him go.”

Shame, Sex, and Survival

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Lucas Wilson joins me to talk about his new anthology, Shame, Sex, Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy. These stories are messy, often unresolved, and radically honest. From forced group therapy at evangelical colleges to aversion techniques and spiritual abuse, the contributors offer no easy endings—but they do offer truth. And that, too, is a kind of resurrection.

Lucas reminds us that conversion therapy is not a relic of the past. It’s ongoing. It’s deadly. And yet, the people who survive it often become the ones who help others unbind themselves.

A Sound Slice from Cuba

The episode ends on the westernmost edge of Cuba, near María la Gorda, in a place of stunning beauty and difficult history. In 1960, Che Guevara established a forced labor camp on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula—a grim prelude to Cuba’s later UMAP camps that targeted gay men, artists, and others considered unfit for the revolution.

Even in paradise, tombs remain. But so do the voices that call us out.


Resources Mentioned:

When the Church is Just not Into You

The latest episode of Bubble and Squeak podcast features a silly satire about those churches that try to make everyone feel welcome, so they offer a welcome pack. The caller, from First Baptist Church, speaks with Marvin, from the Shekinah Glory Christian Books and Church Supplies Store. She has an odd request thought.

Do you have a welcome pack for a group of people who are NOT welcome?

Janet, from First Baptist Church

To Marvin’s surprise his company offers an array of goody bags based on the demographic of the person or family who shows up for church. In addition they have “Unwelcome Packs!”

Here is an excerpt from the call

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Silly and Sad

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It is funny and tragically cruel at the same time. Many of us know the trauma of being welcomed, “Just as you are!” but not really. Something disqualified some of us because of who we are, our sexual or gender identity, a physical disability, mental illness, our marital status, or our class and at times a combination of these. That hurt runs deep. Healing is essential, and sometime healing can be hilarious. That is the power of satire.

Sex, Marriage, and the Bible

You can hear the entire episode plus my conversation with Dr. Jennifer G. Bird. She talks about how the Bible has been misused to abuse others. She is an expert on sex, marriage, and the Bible. She is also prolific on YouTube with excellent content.

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Peterson:I have a feeling you have a lot of queer people who follow you.
Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah, I do.
Peterson: And not just in the store to say like, “Where’d she get those shoes?” But follow you like online and your work and stuff.
Jennifer: [Laughs–she has the best laugh!] Well, Peterson, what I think you’re talking about is this issue of traditional interpretations over the centuries that have ended up in fairly conservative circles, or not just conservative, but kind of some of the mainline traditions.

What is taught as normative in those traditions just isn’t really well informed, so that when someone like me comes along and says, actually, this is what’s actually going on, it is queer. It’s queer to what the tradition has said, but I’m actually being much more true to the historical realities.”

Dr. Jennifer G Bird and Peterson Toscano in Conversation

Hear it for yourself on Spotify, YouTube, or Wherever

Bubble & Squeak podcast is available widely wherever you get podcasts.

Part one: A conversation with public Bible scholar and trouble maker, Dr. Jennifer Bird
Part two: Marvin gets a job at a born-again online store
Part three: A sound slice from Norway

Transgender and the Bible

See the film that has changed the way scholars look at gender in the Bible!

What Does the Bible Say about Transgender and Gender Non-Binary People?

Well, nothing directly, but there are stories in the Bible that feature people who transgress and transcend gender norms both in the roles they take on and in their personal presentation–the clothes they wear and the way they look. This film looks at well known figures like Joseph in Genesis and Deborah in Judges as well as lesser known characters in both the Hebrew and the Christian Bible.

“Toscano brings a deep reverence for the Biblical text with him into his exploration of gender transgression. This play is mesmerizing and compels the viewer to see well known Bible stories in a brave new light.”

Nadia Bolz-Weber, author of Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint.

Why This Film and Why Now?

Opponents to LGBTQ+ equality, freedom, and happiness are specifically targeting transgender and non-binary people, especially youth. The Bible contends an array of genders beyond male and female. While we will never know how most of these people self-identify, there are clues to how they were seen by the broader society and how they operated in the world differently from the men and women around them.

See Transfigurations, a movie that explores gender and the Bible

Travel through five Bible stories that come to life through performance as I morph from character to character and with multiple genders. Then I explain for you what is happening in the text, hidden messages in the original languages, and observations I only discovered by embodying the stories.

Now for the first time, the film Transfigurations–Transgressing Gender in the Bible is available in full for free on YouTube.

By unearthing the gender stories of people in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, Toscano’s one-person performance deepens well-known (and lesser-known) Bible stories and presents an array of Bible characters with an array of genders.







Support Organizations Fighting for Transgender Rights

In appreciation of the work and to show support and solidarity for transgender and non-binary people, Consider giving a donation of any amount to one of the following organizations.
Trans Justice Funding Project
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Transgender Law Center


See the movie, learn, and share

Watch Transfigurations for free on YouTube. If you want a DVD with an extra performance included visit meetinghouse.xyz. Download the free Transfigurations Study Guide. Share this post the film with friends, family, followers, and folks who are ready to deepen their understanding and empathy.

And as always, I would love to hear your thoughts and your experiences of the film.

If you are looking for a short form podcast that I packed with unexpected and thoughtful conversation, I humbly recommend Quakers Today, a show I host and produce. The guests stimulate and enlighten. Here are two recent episodes.

Actress and eco-activist Daryl Hannah speaks with host Peterson Toscano about her announcement that “Mattel intends to go 100 percent plastic-free by 2030 in all their toys. They hope to support a global ban on plastics.”

Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived. Hours after People Magazine’s story celebrated Mattel’s eco-conscious move, the toy company contacted The New York Times to clarify the situation.

This elaborate hoax was perpetrated by Daryl Hannah and the Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO) against the Mattel Corporation and the media. Yet, behind this public trickery was a broader, poignant message: the need to address the environmental crisis wrought by plastic waste.

One of the tricksters behind the hoax graduated from Greenwood Friends School, a Quaker elementary and middle school. As a boy, he attended Millville Friends Meeting. Operating under the pseudonym Jeff Walburn, this member of the artist-activist group the Yes Men describes the methodology behind their “mischief performances.”

Sara Walcott and Andy Stanton-Henry discuss their unique spiritual influences—charismatic worship and paganism—and how they find common ground in their differing beliefs. Can we listen without prejudice and let the Spirit move us in surprising ways?

We navigate the realms of Charismatic Christianity, embodied spirituality, and even witchy traditions, exploring how Quakerism might be embracing an animistic world view and listening to fresh winds of the Spirit from unexpected places.

You will find more episodes, show notes, and a full transcript at Friends Journal.

Anxiety Blues

Our Bubble&Squeak show today comes in three parts

Listen on SoundCloud or wherever you get podcasts

Part one: Singer Songwriter Linda Jay Reed shares her creation process. 
Part two: Linda Reed sings the song Anxiety Blues
Part three: a SoundSlice from an island in the Philippines

Part One: Linda Jay Reed wrote her first song on guitar when she was 17 years old. She has continued the practice for decades and has gained a faithful fanbase. After hearing her song, Fallin’ Free, I fell hard for both the warmth and the weariness that she exudes through her voice. Every inch of her personal journey is etched the sound she creates. She is honest without being bitter. The music and the moods she creates draw me in. Right before she moved from New York City to California, in the midst of a mountain of moving boxes, Linda took some time out to tell me about her music. 

Or listen on YouTube

Part Two: Anxiety Blues by Linda Jay Reed

Part Three: Sound Slice.

Let me set the scene for you. I am on the shore of Pandan Island in the Philippines. It is a short boat ride from the city of Sablayan. This was the beginning of a 5 week trip to see some of the islands and some of my Aunt Rolla’s family. But first this stop on an island surrounded by a coral reef and teaming with sea turtles. A small shark swam near the shore, and looked so playful, I had to go snorkeling around the island again.

CLOSING
Bubble&Squeak is written and produced by me, Peterson Toscano. I mostly make the show for me and fellow artists like Linda Jay Reed.

You can find her music on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and Amazon Music, which actually pays independent artists better than the other services. Just search for Linda Jay Reed.

“The Bubble&Squeak theme song is Worthless. by The jellyrox from the album Bang and a whimper. You can find it on iTunes, Spotify, of wherever you listen to music.”
You also heard maskros by BOMULL

To find more great music and new podcasts visit www.rockcandyrecordings.com

Feel free to say hi on to me X. @p2son the letter p the number two son @p2son
Oh, and thanks for listening.

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David Robert avatar

Since the early 2000’s Mike Airhart, David Roberts, and volunteer authors at Ex-Gay Watch kept their eyes on the workings of the Conversion Therapy world and its leaders. They broke many stories and informed both the public and press about the many ways conversion therapists (most who never had any actual training in counseling, therapy, or theology) inserted themselves into the public discourse and insisted that “Change is Possible!”

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What the proponents and practicers of these made-up therapies failed to mention was that “Change” did not mean changing one’s desires. Their clever marketing to susceptible Christians leveraged the fear and shame anti-LGBTQ+ church leaders piled on congregations.

Only after going through the doors of conversion therapy programs and ministries, I realized that they really just meant a change in “behavior” and “lifestyle.” Whenever possible they trotted out straight spouses and children to support the myth that So and So had CHANGED! They never mentioned the possibility that some people are bisexual or the reality that most of these “mixed orientation” marriages end in divorce. Once the kids leave home, daddy or mommy comes out!

Worse yet, they never revealed the harm that people who submitted to their treatments suffered. That took conversion therapy survivors to step up and tell their stories. Some conversion therapy leaders were so moved by these stories, they relented and repented of their conversion therapy ministries. Some even issued public apologies.

After some of the harm and abuses came to light, some states outlawed conversion therapy on minors. The North American conversation therapy shops began to close down one after an other, and Exodus, the big umbrella organization finally announced its closure in 2015.

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But just like in the whack-a-mole game, some of the conversation therapy proponents are sticking their heads up from their underground lairs and causing trouble again. Their number one target this time? Transgender and gender non-binary youth.

Rebranded, they are attempting once again to interfere in the life, liberty, and happiness of queer youth and their families. To keep an eye on all this and to bring it to the light, David Roberts, senior editor of Ex-Gay Watch, has reopened the site and has begun posting new articles. They are also looking for writers who can report on the ins and outs of the conversion therapy world.

Check out Ex-Gay Watch, and let me know if you want to write for them.

I’m Back!

Since 2018 I blogged directly on my website, but I recently revamped the entire site to reflect the new direction my work has been going. (See the old site on Internet Archive Wayback Machine.) Since before the start of the Pandemic in 2020, I was slowly transitioning my work from stages to on-line platforms. My preferred platform is podcasting, and now I produce over five of them with more in the works.

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In the studio

Earlier this year I opened Peterson Toscano Studios, and I have begun meeting with prospective clients who want to start a long-term or a limited series podcasts. I especially like working with nonprofits, artists, writers, and change makers. Below you will see some of my current projects.

For the past 10 years I have focused much of my attention on climate change. Later I have felt the grief and rage that many LGBTQ+ people in the USA experience as we see law after law proposed and passed, all designed to dehumanize and disenfranchise lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonbinary, and queer people. Our opponents most ruthlessly target and attack Transgender people. I will not be silent; I will increase my efforts to speak out, raise money, support activists, and counter the cruel and dangerous attacks on fellow LGBTQ+ people.

Today I announce that all of the proceeds I earn from the sales and rentals of Transfigurations–Transgressing Gender in the Bible will all go to organizations promoting and fighting for transgender equality. The DVD is available through MeetingHouse.xyz. It had been available on Amazon Prime for streaming, and they recently stopped offering it. The distributor is now working on bringing it back to that platform so people in the US, Uk, and beyond can view it. I will spread the word once it is available again.

Perhaps my favorite organization to support and promote is the Transgender Justice Funding Project. Check them out and send them a donation if you can.

These days I am working on these podcasts, and perhaps one day soon I will collaborate with you!

Check out my project page for audio samples.

What is our Lenten Ethic?

Power and moving post really deepens a spiritual practice into a thoughtful engagement with the world.

Arvind Theodore's avatarREFLECTIONS

I am reminded of the famous song by Bob Dylan “Blowin’ in the Wind” whose words are poignant and poetic yet defiant and political. Though his answer is ambiguous, as it should be, the questions he asks are pretty weighty:

How many times must the cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned?

How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?

How many times can a man turn his head pretending that he just doesn’t see?

How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?

How many deaths will it take ‘til he knows that too many people have died?[i]

Most of us, if not all, often understand the Lenten season as a season of purposeful “disengagement” – disengagement from sin that pollutes our bodies, minds, and hearts. We commend and applaud the effort of those who voluntarily, yet temporarily, forfeit certain…

View original post 674 more words

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