Facebook groups, “Christians Against The Little Mermaid”
Ok so, unless you’ve been living under the sea, you are well aware by now that Disney shook millions of wypipo (white people) worldwide, by casting a black actress in the role of ‘Ariel’ for their upcoming live-action film, “The Little Mermaid.”
Seriously, thousands of people flocked to the Internet in solidarity, proclaiming that Disney was ruining their childhood by changing the porcelain-skinned, red-haired mermaid they loved in the original animated film, to a black girl with dreadlocks.
Much of the commentary bordered on vile racism, even sparking memes along the lines of the grotesque blackface caricatures of the past. Many attempted to disguise their racism by offering a misguided logic of science and geography as reasons for their disdain. “Everyone knows mermaids are white!”, declared one rabid Twitter protestor, who then continued, “…because Hans Christian Andersen is Danish, and Danish people are white!”
Of course, there is no logic to that at all, because Andersen’s mermaid character was not of Danish origin. She was of the sea; and not even fully human. Most notably though, Danish people can be black –so there’s also that actual scientific fact to contend with.
Of all the people to go bonkers with racially-driven mermaid madness, not surprisingly, it didn’t take long before thousands of “Christians” threw their halos into the ring of foolishness. Once again, we get a glimpse of those in action, who profess their undying love for Jesus while acting in the most unGodliest ways.
Take, for example, the death threats “Christians” made recently to LGBT kids who were minding their own business, planning an inclusive prom for themselves, friends and allies. The danger was so credible the event was canceled. Or let’s look at the “Christians” who, unwelcomed, crashed the beautiful WorldPride parade in New York City weeks ago, with their signs of hate and images of bloody aborted fetuses – clearly conflating incongruent issues. If this is the so-called religion of Jesus’ love, then I will have no parts of it, thank you very much.
Halle Bailey -Instagram Art
A few days after the Disney casting story made the headlines, people began noticing two bizarre Facebook Groups that seemingly popped up overnight and boasting thousands of members. First, was the grammatically challenged group, “Christian’s Against The Little Mermaid” and the second, “Christians Against The Little Mermaid,” with that pesky apostrophe removed. Collectively the membership in these two groups is now over 30,000.
I attempted to join both groups, but I got rejected. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have asked someone else to try to join on my behalf. Luckily though, another one of my Facebook friends proved to be more cunning than I. He was able to snag a screenshot of the welcome message new members receive upon acceptance into the groups.
Welcome message from Facebook group, “Christians Against The Little Mermaid”
In case you believe in miracles, there is potentially a bright light at the end of this ghastly tunnel. Popular blogger, Hemant Mehta (friendlyatheist.patheos.com) did a little investigative work into these two Christian groups and found a bit of fraudulence.
Mehta discovered in his findings that the groups were formed in 2017, which was two years before the 2019 controversial Disney casting announcement of Halle Bailey as The Little Mermaid. As Facebook allows a creator to randomly change the name and trajectory of a private group, this implies that thousands of people may have joined the groups years ago but under a very different premise and group name.
According to Mehta,
Though there may be some people in The “Christians Against The Little Mermaid” facebook groups who ended up there unwittingly, the groups are now gaining new members from knowing participants. Let that sink in. These so-called “Christians” are literally joining a Facebook group to reject a person based on skin color. It’s not only troubling, but it’s also baffling. Just consider for a moment how utterly crazy it is, that the very same people who insist we believe a man walked on water and turned water to wine, are the very same people who think a black mermaid could not exist.
Then again, therein lies the more profound irony; black mermaids don’t exist. Nor do white ones. Sadly, what does exist are racists, and CLEARLY, any excuse will do, for them to show us who they really are.
Check out more of Hemant Mehta’s Post
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This piece is an opinion piece by one Contributing Writer for Instinct Magazine and may not reflect the opinion of the magazine or other Contributing Writers.
