No person's childhood gives him or her a perpetual moral get-out-of-jail-free card — not Lindsay, not Aunt Wee, not me, and not Mom. - JD Vance

I think Donald Trump didn't serve in the military, but he didn't lie about it.

The fallen world described by the Christian religion matched the world I saw around me: one where a happy car ride could quickly turn to misery, one where individual misconduct rippled across a family’s and a community’s life. When I asked Mamaw if God loved us, I asked her to reassure me that this religion of ours could still make sense of the world we lived in. I needed reassurance of some deeper justice, some cadence or rhythm that lurked beneath the heartache and chaos.

Nothing compares to the fear that you’re becoming the monster in your closet.