Indeed, many rituals violate what we call logic by exploiting edge cases of the rules of what we think makes sense. TST's rituals, on the other hand, violate pollitical illogic by exploiting edge cases of rule sets that most (especially here) would conclude do not make sense to begin with.
I never really got into the TST movement, but your perspective here sharpens the focus in terms of how it might be considered "magical". Large-scale attempts at LBM seem problematic to me, but I'm not the "boss of the applesauce".
Nevertheless, there is only one abortion clinic left I'm aware of (nearby where I live) in the entire state. There is a lot of religious influence here these days. TST sells a lot of of merchandise to support their causes, but so do Christians.
These are interesting times.
I can tell you honestly and truly it's a case of a lot of big ass legal bills.
And though those bills indicate a lost battle, a lot of new projects have been released from the various campaigns.
The ones I'm in are doing a lot now. And things are starting to feel wayy more autonomous and free of unvetted checks and balances.
I've also noticed TST is real shit producing mature and knowledgeable leaders. It was worrying earlier on but it feels like there is a "graduation" of people taking shit seriously, acting like professionals, and undertaking MASSIVE amounts of...I don't know. Learning. It's a crucible. But yeah, when someone becomes more visible you can see them growing into a more caring and well spoken adult.
I think a big part of it is the volunteer work. Modern society doesn't shit on volunteer work, but it doesn't really emphasize it. And advocacy does a lot for self confidence and public speaking.
Its rebellion, AH! THE DEVIL!