“Deus Vult” My Foot

Y’all. We need to talk.

Joel Webbon (yes, that Joel, of Project 2025, Handmaid’s Tale cosplay, and Crusade-core masculinity) recently got on the internet and declared that “The young men are waking up. Women will learn to have a quiet and gentle spirit. Or they will learn to be alone. Deus vult.”

Now, I don’t know who gave Joel a Bible or a microphone, but I’m starting to think we need a national registry for bad theology. Because this right here? This is not “God’s will.” This is patriarchal fan fiction with a side of religious cosplay.

Let me make it plain:

God’s will ain’t a leash. And Love doesn’t come with a volume control.

This idea that women need to be “quiet” to be worthy? That they should either shut up or get used to solitude? That’s not biblical. That’s not Christian. That’s fragile male ego dressed up like doctrine.

And let’s not miss the punchline, he threw in *“Deus vult.” Latin for “God wills it,” and the Crusader war cry of every sword-swinging man who ever thought Jesus was just another excuse to conquer, control, and colonize.

Sir, this ain’t 1096.

You’re not a knight.

And no, Jesus didn’t die so you could LARP your way into a theocracy where women lose their voice and men get bigger pulpits.

Let’s Talk About the Women Jesus Actually Hung Out With

You want to talk about “God’s will”?

Then let’s talk about the women who walked with Jesus.

Because they weren’t docile.

They weren’t quiet.

And they sure as hell weren’t waiting around for some man to “wake up” and validate their existence.

They were bold.
They were loud.
They were the backbone of the movement.

- Mary Magdalene? First preacher of the resurrection.
- Joanna & Susanna? Bankrolled the ministry as the boys were asking dumb questions.
- The Samaritan woman? Had a theological showdown with Jesus and held her own.
- The Canaanite woman? Argued with Jesus and changed his mind.
- The woman with the alabaster jar? Prophetically anointed Jesus when everyone else was pretending nothing bad was coming.

These women weren’t accessories to the mission.

They were central to it.

They didn’t follow Jesus because they were silent. They followed him because he saw their worth – loud voices, sharp minds, fierce hearts and all.

Joel Ain’t a Fluke – He’s the GOP in a Nutshell

Now, before anyone says, “Oh, that’s just one extremist with a podcast and a persecution complex,” let’s be real clear:

Joel Webbon’s theology isn’t fringe.

It’s a mirror.

It’s a red, white, and bruised reflection of how a whole lot of today’s GOP treats women:
Not as equals. Not as leaders. But as accessories, useful when obedient, disposable when not.

Need receipts?

- Tennessee’s “Abortion is never medically necessary” law. Pushed by Republican lawmakers who literally told doctors to just wait until women are “crashing” before intervening to save their lives. That's not pro-life. That’s pro-patriarchy with a body count.

- Texas GOP platform now includes language condemning no-fault divorce. Because, apparently, women escaping abusive or loveless marriages is too much freedom for their taste.

- Missouri Republican Senator Mike Moon once defended child marriage on the House floor. Yep. Child marriage. In the name of “parental rights” and “biblical values.” (Jesus wept.)

- Project 2025 which Joel’s attached to, has actual plans to roll back women’s rights nationwide: reproductive autonomy, workplace protections, access to contraception. You name it, they want it gone.

This ain’t about “quiet and gentle spirits.”

It’s about control.

Control over bodies.

Control over choices.

Control over futures.

And they're trying to baptize that control in the name of “God’s will.”

That sure as hell is not divine order, it’s dominion in disguise.

So What’s Really Going On Here?

Joel and his Project 2025 pals don’t want women to be “gentle.” They want them to be compliant.

They don’t want order. They want control.

They don’t want faith. They want patriarchy with a cross stitched on the front. And they’re dressing it up in God-language so it sounds righteous when it’s really just dominion theology in drag.

This isn’t about virtue. It’s about power.

And the fear that if women (and LGBTQ+ folks, and BIPOC folks, and every other person they’ve historically shoved to the margins) actually embrace their voice and their power?

The old empire falls.
And they’re right.

It will.

Not Today, Patriarchy

So to all the women out there:
If being “alone” means not having to perform submission for men with messiah complexes?
Then consider yourself blessed.

Because Love doesn’t ask you to be smaller.
Love doesn’t demand your silence.
Love doesn’t threaten you with loneliness if you don’t shrink for someone else’s comfort.

Love says: Stand up. Speak out. Flip some damn tables if you have to.

And to Joel:
If your masculinity needs obedience to survive, it’s not masculinity, it’s a toddler throwing a tantrum in a priest costume.

Benediction for the Unbothered and Unbowed

Go in the power of your own voice.
Not softened. Not silenced. Not sorry.

Walk like truth can’t be tamed,
because it can’t.

Refuse the script they wrote for you.
Write your own – with grit, with grace, with fire.

And may Love stay louder
than every man who mistook control for calling.

Amen.