Bethany McKinney Fox

.@innocence @the_mip client #MarcellusWilliams will be executed on Sept. 24 for a crime he didn't commit if @GovParsonMO does not step in. Join me in calling him now: 417-373-3400 shorturl.at/tCgYd

Check out this thoughtful assessment of Down for Love, a new dating show following people with Down's syndrome on @netflix

12 Reasons Why Cities Need More Trees: 1. Temperature Control One large tree is equivalent to 10 air conditioning units, and the shade they provide can reduce street temperature by more than 30%. 2. Noise Reduction Trees can reduce loudness by up to 50%. In urban areas filled with the sound of cars, construction, sirens, aeroplanes, and music, trees are essentially the best way to block noise and keep cities — along with the homes and workplaces in them — quieter. 3. Air Purity Trees remove an astonishing amount of harmful pollutants and toxins from the air. In urban areas air quality is often disastrously bad — with severe consequences for our health. Trees make the air we breathe much cleaner. 4. Oxygen And, while absorbing all those pollutants, trees also put more oxygen back into the urban environment. Oxygen levels are significantly lower in cities compared to the countryside; trees help to solve that problem. 5. Water Management Trees do more than just shelter us and our buildings from rain — which is, in fact, extremely important. They also absorb huge quantities of water, reduce run-off, neutralise the severity of flooding, and make flooding more unlikely altogether. Not to forget that their roots absorb pollutants and prevent them from feeding back into a city's water supply. 6. Psychological Health Studies have proven what we instinctively know to be true: that human beings are significantly happier when surrounded by nature rather than sterile urban environments. Our emotions, behaviour, and thoughts are shaped by the places we spend time — and trees have a profoundly positive effect on our psychology. The consequential benefits of being happier and more peaceful — as individuals and as a society — are immense. 7. Physical Health Beyond all the other ways in which trees improve air quality and the urban environment, much to the benefit of our health, they also encourage people to go outside. Cycling, running, and walking are all more common in urban areas with plenty of trees. A knock-on effect of people spending more time outdoors is also social integration and stronger communities. 8. Privacy A simple point, but not inconsequential, is that trees provide privacy. 9. Economics The total economic benefit of urban trees is hard to calculate. There are costs, of course, including the repair of infrastructure damaged by roots and maintaining the trees themselves. But the total economic benefit — a consequence of everything else in this list and more — far outweighs the expenditure. Trees make cities wealthier. 10. Wildlife Trees are miniature cities all of their own, serving as a habitat for hundreds of different species, including birds and mammals and insects. 11. Light Pollution Trees don't only block the light shining down, therefore keeping us and our cities cooler — they also disrupt light shining up, from street lighting, cars, houses, and billboards. Skies are clearer in cities with more trees. 12. Aesthetics And, finally, trees are beautiful. They break up the potential monotony of urban environments — the sharp geometry, the greyscale roads and buildings, the endless rows of cars — with their trunks, boughs, canopies, and flowers. Just think: the gold and red of falling leaves in autumn, the white and pink blossom of spring, the vast green canopies of summer, and the branches lined with hoar-frost in winter. Every single tree is a myriad of intricacy and texture, of colour and scent, of dappled light on the pavement, mottled bark, knotted roots, of clustered leaves and delicate petals and stern boughs. Few streets would not be improved by the kaleidoscopic aesthetic delights of a tree, not to mention the many different species of tree, all over the world, whether willow, oak, lime, cherry, aspen, maple, birch, horse chestnut, dogwood, hornbeam, ash, sycamore... the list goes on. There are some drawbacks to urban trees, most of them context-specific, and they are not — of course — universally appropriate. But it seems fair to say that many cities would benefit from at least a few more trees here and there.

@austintfischer @KatelynBeaty Also, how great it would be if books like this one could be written in as accessible a way as Joel Osteen's books so that more people actually could and would read them?

@KatelynBeaty I sometimes think of how much saner and smarter a place the world would be if this was at the top of the Christian best-seller list instead of Joel Osteen and adult coloring books.

New Substack! To Love a Feral Cat is to See the Face of God. bethanyfox.substack.com/p/to-love-a-fe…

An Asian American scholar said how since AA folks are taught to respect authority, white spaces need to invite and honor noncompliance to get honest AA voices and perspectives. Thinking about parallels to ppl with intellectual disabilities, and how to learn from AAPI movements.

I've been reading Church of the Wild (highly recommend), and something I'm trying to practice from it is regarding the living nature around me as subjects and not objects. It's genuinely perspective shifting and I'm here for it.

@LaSonya_Wilson My heart broke for that young boy. I hope he's found some healing since, and is doing OK now.

So they let this random man spank their kid in front of the congregation. Just sick. #ShinyHappyPeople

@JustinBerkobien Happy Anniversary! 🎉

As we celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary, my wife and I would like to thank all of you who affirm our marriage even though it’s not aligned with the traditional biblical model in which I would be a polygamist and she would be my property.

@richardpropes Welcome to the party! 🎉 If you'd ever be interested in being part of the PDC, you can email for more info.

Clergy and members of the PC(USA): Did you know we have people available to answer accessibility questions and support your connection to disability resources? I'm now the consultant for Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities - there are ones for vision, hearing, mobility too.

We're listed here, along with amazing members of the Presbyterians for Disability Concerns. Reach out if there's a way we can be a sounding board or share some ideas on accessibility needs for you or in your PC(USA) context! …nsfordisabilityconcerns.wordpress.com/pdc-team/

@SJessicaJohnson It's so natural to long to be chosen and wanted and have people be attracted to us. And while I am near certain this will happen for you in time, it doesn't make the sting of it not happening yet (and seeing it happen all around you) feel any better. It sucks. ❤️

@mcbethany77 That fear has never gone away. When I look at photos from high school, I didn’t look much different from the other girls, but I was just heavy enough that no one ever really showed interest & it was enough to convince me that it would never happen (haven’t been proved wrong yet).

Growing up as a fat girl gave me a different relationship with purity culture than what I hear some women talk about now. Is this true for others who were not "conventionally attractive", too? I wasn't afraid of making someone stumble, instead I was afraid I never could.

@JReidenouer Also I think I've run into your spouse in some online fat spaces, based on your last name. Small world! 😊

@mcbethany77 My spouse is superfat, and she's mentioned that purity culture gave her very mixed messages. She was taught that she should "cover up" so as not to "tempt" men, while at the same time being told she needed to lose weight so that men would like her.

@JReidenouer That sounds about right. I wonder what her experience was with that in actual peer interactions.

@psychedlit That's awesome that your parents affirmed you well. Even if maybe stuff with peers felt less affirming. Nice to have that bedrock of acceptance.

@MartinElfert It really is. Perfectly said.

@mcbethany77 Gosh, shame shows up wearing a thousand disguises, doesn't it? Hearing folks talk about resisting sexual advances while you wonder if anyone would ever want to hold your hand - well that was high school for a lot of us. It's a lonely kind of shame.

@tiptuptig ❤️ It's hard not to feel isolation when certain teachings imply everyone's experience is the same, or that broad sexual desirability is indicative of being worthy. Solidarity!

@sparklystefka It's a whole big mess for sure. Strength for the journey! 💕

@mcbethany77 Hello Yeah, I’m just now disentangling the fat-phobia in church from the PC messages. In my 40s as a mom—it’s super fun

@MotherDiva @SarahPa69612621 Oof, yeah, it's so essentializing and toxic.

@mcbethany77 @SarahPa69612621 Yep. Absolutely. And due to communication issues early in my marriage, it continued there, too. "There's something wrong with me, because he's not always in the mood". So much damage.