#I don’t subscribe to your religion I’m so sorry

[digitaldollsworld]

When have I ever given my mom the impression that I’m a Christian. Seriously. In what about the way that I talk about things and the way that I live my life ever gave her that impression of me

[pineapplerightsideupcake]

I don’t wear makeup because I just never grew up doing it, but I do put like Vaseline on my face and lips and I use castor oil on my eyelashes when I remember. I sometimes feel guilty doing these things bc it feels like mock makeup. And I know makeup is harmful for women. But is it a big deal? Is it better that I use jojoba oil and frankincense oil on instead of foundation? I feel bad sometimes like I’m still subconsciously subscribing to the patriarchy’s feminine beauty standards. But I do really want to look good, and I feel guilty about it. Sorry if it’s a stupid question.

Amazing news! Radical feminism is a philosophical framework with which to analyze the world around you and your own experiences within it. Radical feminism is not a list of rules to follow.

You are doing more to battle patriarchy by not micro analyzing your every move for moral purity than you ever would by just stopping wearing makeup alone.

Which isn’t to say that minimizing makeup use isn’t good praxis- just that political purity is impossible. And I think that message is especially important in this era where the appearance of virtue matters more than anything.

As for the more practical side of things- toiletries like moisturizer, Vaseline, anti itch cream, foot powder, deodorant, etc I believe are all medicinal rather than cosmetic. Like tooth paste isn’t cosmetic. You have to brush your teeth!

I don’t really know what purpose things like frankincense oil or jojoba oil serve. So I’m at a loss as to advise on them.

In the end, it’s okay and even important to acknowledge that no one philosophy is perfect or without gaps or grey areas. People are drawn to philosophies and religions that promise them all the answers but there is no such thing. And that’s scary. It means we have to think. And think hard and think everyday.

The philosophies worth listening to admit their limits. And radical feminism can’t tell you if people would still care about their appearance in a perfect world. Nothing can. Because we don’t live in a perfect world. All we can do is analyze the imperfect one we have.

The good news is this means you get to define your own boundaries and ideas in those gaps. The bad news is you have to define your own boundaries and ideas and be ready to defend them. To others and to yourself. It’s work but it’s worth it.

Relax, go for a walk, and forgive yourself for not being perfect. It’s an ugly manipulation women are told that we have to be perfect in the first place. You are allowed to be human. You are allowed room to breathe and grow and explore.

[heystephen]

hey this is stupid and you can ignore it if you want but I just. don’t have anyone else to tell it to. lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about religon. I was raised atheist, but so many people I’ve seen talking about it like it’s the absolute truth has made me doubt myself. I started to wonder if there really is a god, and it started to make me scared. most of the people I know are atheists too, and I don’t want them to go to hell if god is real. same with myself, I don’t want to go to hell just because I stayed with the beliefs I was raised with. I don’t know if there is a god, but if there is, it scares me, as I am a lesbian. people say that my attraction to girls is wrong because god said so; if god is real then I’m going to hell…? I’ve been really upset over this because it’s confusing me deeply. is my life and existence wrong? am I stupid? am I evil and going to hell?

again I’m sorry about venting in ur inbox but I feel like I can’t tell this to anyone in my life 

hi, i just wanted to assure you that how you’re feeling isn’t stupid at all and it’s actually very common. a lot of people deal with inner turmoil regarding religion and choosing to subscribe to one or not to. i will personally attest that i have felt this way.

you’re not evil. your attraction to women isn’t wrong at all. sending you love.

[siennahrobek]

So idk if you're active anywhere that you'll see this, but I was going through my ao3 subscription emails and was devastated to see that your courage_dear_heart36 account (and the story/series i was subscribed to) are gone. A google search sent me here, but idk if you have anywhere else that I can follow/subscribe to keep up with your work. I'm really sorry that whatever happened *did*, and after seeing some of your posts I feel like also offering sympathy for all the anti-jedi sentiments you were getting almost a year ago, as i don't know whether you're still getting those. In any case, if you do have anywhere else that I can find your works, I'd love to know, and I hope you're doing well!

I’m not particularly active but I’ve still got notifications for some stuff. And I feel bad for some of the stuff that’s happened and kinda ghosting lol 😂

My original works are still on my AO3 under SiennahRobek

Unfortunately, there was a whole mess with AO3 a while back that messed up the courage dear heart account and stuff but all my stuff is still on original account, SiennahRobek. So all the Jedi stuff you should be able to find there.

The anti Jedi sentiments bother me less these days. Not that I agree with them but I get less angry and upset and more sad. Cause people actually believe that stuff and it sucks. There’s even some pro jedi stuff/people I’ve seen that have also been tearing people down - especially in the terms of religion and people in the western hemisphere. I know it’s probably mostly just lashing back out from other stuff but it’s kind of a mess.

I’m not involved in the fandom as I used to be, but I still love Star Wars even if I don’t really keep up with it anymore. I want to finish Revolving Suns so much too. It might take me quite some time but I’d like to. I started re organizing it into better chapters a while back. One of these days I’ll continue doing that until I can start writing it again.

I was drawing for a while (I’m first and foremost an artist) and then got involved for a few months in another fandom/writing for that while battling an artblock. But I’m starting to come back from that as well.

Time really flies.

I appreciate your concern, it’s touching. I’m sorry I freaked you out a bit with the account getting deleted (long story) but my original account is still up and that should have my Star Wars works.

Here is a lin

[goldammerchen]

Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.

[about] [ships] [fics] [tags]

aph-tired until may 2022 > tried if i already had mister-ddr, inspired in aph-/hws- urls. only "lurked" for most of the year, until i decided to make some own posts (and write fanfics). feb 2023, changed it for a last time to goldammerchen (little yellowhammer).

favorite or most used time period: post-war/cold war and the after, stopping 10-20 years ago for my sanity. but! my main focus is on characters rather than in mega exact historical accuracy: loosely historical, low fantasy, and meta.

extra: almost no tags! (sorry), i tag ships more than individuals.

How I interpret heta charas existence (+ the "houses")

(Remade) Prussia’s bird possible Species (my hc, obv look the url)

please Send an Ask if you send a Message! MSG Notifications to this Sideblog rarely* work, probably because i don't use the mobile App.

*they only work in the old tumblr menu? when i'm reporting bots, or iirc also the last time i opened the "create a blog" thingy. btw, besides only using the site on desktop, i rarely use the Dashboard. ofc notifs also work when the bubbles are open (that's why i need a heads up!), but if i have no reasons to keep them open i will close them...

the app i actually have on mobile is discord.

Why are your Hetalia AO3 fics currently on anon? I want to troll surprise my subscribers, while also the progress on my main projects has been slow.

[DW account]

copypasting the fics list post here (same link as above but reblogable):

Fics list [#fanfic tag 🪶] (Fics only sideblog)

Hate me a little and come back to me: Explicit! PruHun. In progress [AO3] [More works in that series]

Au pas, au pas, au pas, GerFra(Ger). Completed [AO3] + Extra: Cuando tienes dos cabrones de amigos (BTT)

Fotosynthese, CRACK ficlet :), starring Alfred and…

Harvest, Mature or Explicit (idk help) Horror ficlet (Solo Gil) [AO3]

My #polpruweek2023 5/7 fics [AO3 links]. CWs: Violence, Blood, Strong Language, Religion Mention.

Inevitable, One-sided GerPru (Blood, Drama, Near Death…) [AO3]

(I saw this in a dream) PruAus, Zombie au. [AO3]

“a cold war bizarre cooperation” One sided Bela.rus x Russ.ia; Rusprus (yukiusagi). Hints to AmeBela, Rusame (AmeRus), AmeGer. Some ableist language. [AO3].

My #hetahorrorweek 7/7 fics [AO3 links]… A lot of CWs.

A good day in between many bad days [AO3], HRE & Pru Angst and Humor

[Afterlife Idea/WIP, Tumblr only]

going under [AO3], dreamy German bros angst, pay atention to tags.

Thanatos, my Mythalia March fic. FrAus, SpAus, PruAus and more. Explicit! And on going (5/7)

Ghosts [AO3], sad FraPru(Fra)

Playmate (½) [AO3], PolPru Week Day 1, Commonwealth…

The Next Me [AO3], German bros having an argument.

Stolen from a movie [AO3], It happened out of nowhere; not everybody came back.

Follow the Streams [AO3], Neustart (#Cold Boot AU) Spinoff. Pru+HRE, dreamlike.

Träumerei [AO3], more Pru+HRE, different project…

#gerpru week 2024 5/7 fics [AO3 links]

#hetahorror24 7/7 fics [AO3 links]

Same birthday, two decades (½) [AO3]

(+WIP I don’t know when I’ll bother to write properly)

WIPs List (September 2024)

also: #outlines/drafts 🪶; #fic wips, #fic notes and #fic ideas

Also (talking about wips): One-shot 1 (👻); One-shot 2 (AU); Lud&Gil centric series (+extra / canon-divergence); Historical GDR Prussia centric (90s +post-war flashbacks), and… Everything on anon until I’m done with a fucking Crossover 🤪, that will be polished compared to NGE and CSM ones.

Do I know what I am doing? No.

Will that stop me? No, it hasn’t before. Besides we are talking about He(ll)talia fanfictions (<3), already unhinged (<333), stranger that most other media (+ inherently dealing with some touchy subjects), that’s why the separation. I’m writing what I should have done many years ago so now you will have to deal with me (or not).

[maaruin]

When this post went across my dash last time, I wondered if I should write something about the issue of being approached in public based on the cases when it happens with a non-dating-motive. No one has tried to ask me out in public, because I’m a man and that rarely happens to men. But people have tried to 1) get me to subscribe to newspapers, 2) get me to sign up for monthly donations to NGOs, 3) get me to vote for their party in the next election, 4) try to convert me to their religion or ideology.

And the thing is, these weren’t all unpleasant experiences. They range from unpleasant to pleasant.

On the unpleasant side we have an instance where I had the “subscribe to our newspaper”-guy explain what they were offering and I said something along the lines of “I don’t think I am interested”. Then he tried to convince me to do so and I said “no” more firmly. And his superior got angry with me not saying “no” at the beginning of the conversation instead of taking up his underlings time. Or another instance, when I said to one of the “donate to us”-guys (at my door instead of just in public) “I’m sorry, I can’t”, he said “If you were sorry you would donate!”.

On the pleasent side, I got Mormonism explained to me by two guys who had “Elder” on their badge even though they were younger than me, and also told them a bit about my own beliefs. I actually met up with them after that once, but I was very clear before that that “I am interested in learning about your beliefs but I don’t think I will convert”. In another instance I had a discussion with a Trotskyist about where she thought the Russian Revolution went wrong and what her political ideas for the future were.

So my experience (which may not be universal) is that talking with people-who-want-something-from-you in public can be enjoyable if they aren’t too results focussed, are passionate about that thing they want to sell you on, and take no for an answer. But those aren’t the majority of the people who try to approach me in public. The majority want me to sign up for something because they want my money. And with them I always have to worry about underhanded tactics, or at least that they demand I justify my rejection to them.

But these people do it because it gets them results, and as long as doing this brings in more money than it costs paying the people who do the approaching, they will do it. And if I am being honest, if I am stuck with them, I would prefer to meet more of the pleasant approachers in public to balance it out. People who, as I said, aren’t just focussed on getting results, are open to have a genuine conversations, don’t try to trick me, and don’t get mad if I say no.

But that’s just my experience and I don’t know if it translates to being asked out in public. I don’t even know if it translates to the other people’s experience with promoters and missionaries.

"how do i know a woman wants me to talk to her in the grocery store" are you an elderly woman with valuable information about cooking, cleaning, or saving money? if you answered no, then women do not want to talk to you in the grocery store.

[bookish-bi-mormon]

Question, what exactly do you mean when you say you’re a witch? I’m LDS too, but isn’t witchcraft not something we believe in/condone-? I’m not asking in a judgemental way. I just really like all of the witchy stuff that’s rising right now, but I can’t make myself believe that it does anything. I don’t want to do witchy things “for the aesthetic” or just for the intentions, because that seems disrespectful to the people who do think that magic is real. Thoughts? (Sorry if this is totally incomprehensible.)

Hi! This is a fantastic question, one I was asking myself just a few months ago (and honestly am still asking myself, cause I'm still figuring everything out)

A couple things you have to understand about me first:

My relationship with Mormonism is weird. I'm bi and nonbinary, and there are a few BIG tenets of the LDS Church* that I don't subscribe to. So what I have to say on the subject is definitely not church sanctioned. I still go to church pretty regularly but I'm planning my queer wedding right now, so my future with the church as an organization is a little uncertain. (I see from you're bio you're also a "progressive latter-day saint" but I still felt this disclaimer was important)

I just started researching Witchcraft in March, so my knowledge of the craft is extreeeemely limited. Witchcraft is a very complex, almost "create your own" buffet style kind of spiritual path. There are a few things that you need, but there a lot of different paths to follow and ways to be a witch, and I have just barely scratched the surface of all that.

So basically take everything I saw with a grain of salt, or two. Or like twenty handfuls of salt. I'm just trying to figure stuff out.

But I feel like the core of your question is "is being a witch contrary to Heavenly Father's commandments and/or can you practice witchcraft while not believing the same as other witches"

More under the cut cause this got LONG

I first got interested in the idea of "Mormon witchcraft" because there is a man named Josh Baird who is creating a Mormon Tarot deck (each card has figures from Mormon history). On his Patreon there is an article that mentions the "folk magic" that was common among early Saints in Josephs' day.

I found a book called "Early Mormonism and the Modern Worldview" by D. Michael Quinn that explores in depth these "magical" practices. Lucy Mack Smith was a palm reader. Seer stones, tarot cards, folk healing, etc was believed in by many.

There are a lot of things inherent to Mormonism that make it more "magical" than other protestant Christian religions. Namely: Patriarchal Blessings (fortune telling), Ordinances for those who have passed (affecting the afterlife), as well as other aspects of Temple worship (signs and marks). I've always felt the Priesthood was a kind of Magic.

The Temple Endowment was reportedly somewhat inspired by Joseph Smith's membership with Freemasonry, which I don't know much about but I know most of the world sees them as a kind of "occult" group.

I already know a lot of members of the church who practice Tarot and no one seems to think much of it, so why not branch out into other "witchy" practices?

I have felt the spirit more strongly in my life since I've started learning about the way witches think about the world, nature, and energies, and I've had a few tarot readings that I truly believe were led by Our Heavenly Parents.

Will it offend other witches?

Witch beliefs come in all shapes and colors, there are agnostic and atheist witches, who practice spells with a belief that the intentions and energies have an affect on themselves and the world around them, without any kind of divine intervention. Witchcraft is open to any kind of belief system (although, I suppose you do have to believe that the magic will do something, if only to yourself (like help you be more confident etc)).

There are Christian Witches who follow Jesus Christ and adapt wiccan/witchy** beliefs to their Christian life. If other Christians can do it, why not us? (I have a book by a Christian Witch that addresses the general Christian aversion/condemnation of witchcraft and I'd be happy to share their explanation with you, it's long though and this post is already super long

What is the difference between a prayer and a spell? A prayer is me connecting with God, thanking him, talking with Him about the things I need and want, and asking for His guidance. A Spell is very similar, it just also uses the physical elements of this world that Our Heavenly Parents created, to help ground and specify our desires and intentions. Spells can be used as a way to give thanks or a way to ask for things we feel we need. Tarot is one way to ask for guidance and get a more tangible answer (for me that helps a lot). It still takes intuition, and listening to the Spirit's voice. I don't believe that my intention and spells have any power to go against the Will of God, any more than my regular prayers do, but it does help me to feel more involved in the process.

Keep in mind I've done like 2 spells. And they were both about helping myself emotionally. Like I said, I'm pretty new at this.

Many witches will warn you of the need to purify, cleanse, and protect when you are doing spells. I don't have much experience with this, but I always say a prayer when I'm attempting anything magical. I ask Our Heavenly Parents to be with me, and I always close in the name of Jesus Christ. If there are malevolent spirits that can harm you while doing magic, I believe these prayers protect me. (please do more research on this I don't know, I need to do more research before I do more complex spells).

Feel free to DM me if you'd like to know more! I have a few books and discord servers I can share if you're interested. Learning is always good, even if (and maybe especially if) you discover this isn't the right path for you!

*I use "Mormon" and "LDS church" separately, one to mean the belief system set in motion by Joseph Smith in general, the other to specifically refer to the institution run from Salt Lake city, although I'm currently a member of both I find myself pulling from historical Mormon beliefs that have been out of practice in the church for a long time, so "Mormon" feels more apt to me. I know we were asked to stop using it but I'm not sure how else to refer to my belief system when it stretches outside of the Church's definitions.

**Wicca is a specific religion with a theology and covens and specific deities. Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccan. There are witches who follow norse, greek, egyptian, celtic etc. pantheons, among many many other types.

[passionesolja]

This my hot take but the only reason y’all go after Palpatine for being a mentor to Anakin is because y’all salty that he fairly and legally beat his opps—the Jedi—and y’all don’t like his religion.

Bitch, Qui Gon Jinn did the same shit that Palpatine did but way worse.

Jinn ain’t tell Anakin that he and his mother weren’t leaving together.

Jinn didn’t tell anything any of the specifics of the Jedi Order tenets. He didn’t even tell Shmi what Anakin’s life as a Jedi would he.

He just banked on their trust of the religion.

I don’t think Shmi would have agreed to the life Anakin had in the Jedi Order if Jinn had told her everything about it.

That’s probably why he didn’t because he knew she wouldn’t want it for her son.

Slimey shit. Terrible shit.

He didn’t tell this kid Jackshit, Jinn just encouraged Anakin’s child-like hero worship of the Jedi without any real breakdown of the rules.

Jinn didn’t even tell Shmi—ANAKIN’s MOM—what the fuck Anakin’s life would be like as a Jedi.

Qui Gon Jinn and the Jedi were more than happy to take this kid into their Order when this kid didn’t understand what he was signing up for.

Anakin’s own mother didn’t even know.

Bitch, y’all say Palpatine “groomed” anakin because he asked a GROWN MAN WITH NO PRO SITH ENCOURAGEMENT if he wanted to join the Sith.

That’s not grooming.

Anakin and Palpatine’s relationship wasnt “you’re a cool Sith Lord who’s using his position as a Sith Lord to encourage me—a ten year old—to come with him and join his Order”.

No, that was Qui-Gon Jinn. But I guess since y’all dickride the Jedi, it’s fine because the Jedi are always right no matter what fuckshit they do. Biases as hell.

No, Palpatine was never pro-Sith in Anakin’s presence and he certainly didn’t use his title as Dark Lord to influence Anakin to join the Sith.

Dawg, all Palpatine did was gas up Anakin’s ego (which the Jedi were already doing), be a nice grandpa/father figure, and in the end offered a grown ass man who had strong anti-sith feelings a chance to join the Sith. Which the grown ass man did.

I don’t subscribe to the goofy ass new disney canon so that bar scene ain’t nothing to me. Plus, even that pales in comparison to the manipulation weird zealot ass, Qui Gon Jinn did to Anakin and his mother.

I’m sorry but y’all pointing fingers at the wrong man. Honestly, y’all just hating on Palpatine because he done turned all your gang into a pack and he smokes them daily.

[riot-grrlboy]

Christianity is built on spreading itself. It is a missionizing religion. As someone who is culturally Christian (celebrates secular Christmas, Easter, most of my family still attends church weekly; I stopped when I was 12), it is supposed to stick around and become the “default”. This is on purpose. My parents talk about how I’m going to “come back” to Christianity when I’m older. My sister, who for years was on the not-practicing, not-believing train with me, has recently started attending church again and becoming more religiously Christian, because she lives a Christian lifestyle and believes in Christian morals and has Christian friends, even if they don’t attend church

It’s. The point. Christianity imbeds itself in culture, in life, in your head, to the point that Christians get upset when they aren’t the ONLY ones represented in a group. You can see it with “Happy Holidays” conservative panics and you can hear it interacting with older Christians who act like it’s the *only* real religion (and, that the sects are so distinct that some don’t “count” as Christianity because it differs too far from their worldview). They love to be the default, the obvious choice, the “taken for granted” religion because that passive participation pushes their goals. I’m not going to raise my children Christian, but we’re probably going to celebrate something similar to Christmas (I’m a latin nerd so it might be more like Saturnalia) and Easter. My family will proselytize to them when I’m not there and I won’t be able to stop it. They still proselytize to me, act like I’ll come back to it, even though I’ve been to church once in the past 10 years and found it jarring and bizarre

The first time I took a religious anthro class, we debunked the use of “belief” as a tenet of religion because “belief” is such a loaded term that erases symbolic meaning, passive acceptance of (or mandated practice of) religion and, notably, ethnoreligion. As someone who is culturally Christian, it felt preposterous at first. We discussed it in small groups and all muttered “obviously belief is necessary”, but understood how narrow that perspective was only after learning about other religions and their practices. It took time, patience and many, many, many counter-examples to hammer it into our brains, because it feels obvious that belief is necessary— because otherwise, by every other definition of a religion, I would be a Christian.

Christianity also teaches that there can be “fake” Christians, a concept I haven’t heard from my non-Christian friends, but have also heard from my “not Christian” friends (Mormans, Jehovahs Withesses, the Amish, 7th day adventists and, by evangelist Protestants, Catholics are usually mentioned as “fake” or “not really Christian” because they don’t subscribe to the same TYPE of Christian worship)

Christianity is a brain worm that sits in your head and whispers “Hell” and “Heaven” your whole life, and that affects your worldview— even if you don’t “believe” in it. You still celebrate Christmas even if you don’t “believe” in it. You still talk about and know the Bible even if you don’t “believe” in it. Your family still gives you sermons and godly advice even if you don’t “believe” in it. You can still be Christian even if you don’t “believe” in it. Christianity takes over culture, morals, even opinions and tells you how to feel, and that takes a lot of unlearning, but the first step is to acknowledge and understand how deeply a Christian upbringing (even a good one! My church performed gay weddings in Tennessee before 2015, which was a huge deal!) can affect your worldview!

Sorry for the rant and the length but I felt the holy urge to yap for a minute about Christianity (because it still takes up a lot of brain space for me)

It's interesting to me that growing up Jewish seems to have given me a fundamentally different understanding of religion from my Christian friends. For me, I think that your religion (or ethnicity, since Judaism is an ethnicity) is not something you can get rid of. You can convert to another religion, but I never understood friends of mine who said that they weren't Christian, but Atheist.

"But you celebrate Christmas, right?" I asked them.

"Well, yeah," they said, "but we don't celebrate Christian Christmas. I'm atheist."

That didn't make any sense to me. Sure, maybe the version of Christmas they celebrated in their house looked more like treats and presents and less like nativity scenes and prayers, but it was still the same holiday.

So, I came up with the concept of the difference between "Not Christian" and "non-Christian". Which of course my "not christian" friends didn't understand. But my idea was that there are people who are "not christian" - mainly culturally christian atheists - and people who are "non-christian", like Jews, Hindus, Muslims, or others.

Because while both groups generally don't identify as Christian, we have different experiences. As a Jew, my experience as a religious minority is not the same as that of a culturally Christian atheist. They're not Christian, and I'm not Christian, but in different ways.

[astaroth1357]

This is going to be my last post on this subject, I would appreciate if you hear me out...

First, I want to say unequivocally that I am sorry. I'm sorry to anyone that I've hurt, I'm sorry to anyone that I disappointed, I'm sorry to anyone who felt marginalized or hurt by my handling of the situation. It was wrong of me, I see that now, and I accept responsibility...

Secondly, I want to reiterate what I said in my original post. I care for the mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing of all people, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, what have you. And I do what I can to not cherry pick this principle (minority or majority, I always try to approach every individual as that, a person, with a unique perspective, thoughts, and feelings to share with me if they’re willing). My blog is a reflection of me and my stance on this. I do have people of several backgrounds as my friends, family, and colleagues and though I don't claim to perfect at always knowing how to address what troubles them, if it involves my behavior I always try to make an effort to correct myself and not let it happen again. They are who I think the most about when approaching the things I know that matter...

Thirdly, transphobia is a big deal. It is not something to be taken lightly. It effects the wellbeing of trans individuals everywhere and I never meant to downplay that. I know what hate feels like. I had to be careful of which friends I visited in my hometown because their neighbors would shout and threaten to shoot me for the color of my skin. I don't wish that feeling on anyone... I'm so sorry if I've made you feel unheard... It was never my intention.

Fourthly, a short background on me... I study Comparative Religion at the academic level (had it not been for COVID I would be going for my Masters right now). I was raised Unitarian Universalist and though I don't follow as much any more, its principles of unity and respect are still ingrained in my soul (if I were to have one). That is to say that I've been personally exposed to multiple practices, faiths, personalities, and viewpoints.

The first thing you learn when you've had that much exposure is everyone, and I mean everyone, believes differently. They may use the same book, but have different interpretations. Merely saying it is or is not in the scripture means almost nothing when the words themselves could be interpreted 5 different ways by 5 different people (including yours and my own). To anyone who says that by subscribing to a religion you must subscribe to all its views, I'm sorry but I believe that in practice that view wholly incorrect. Belief is individual and should be regarded as such.

I am personally friendly to religion, I have to be, it's my area of study. I think it's a beautiful expression of culture... But that doesn’t mean that I hold any of the views they apposed or agree with everything I hear. It took me years to learn for myself that tolerance is not acceptance, because if asked for my opinion I'm not afraid to speak it if it differs. I'm quiet with my opposition, but that’s because outright denounce things left and right only ends a conversation before it can start.

The difference in my approach to some people's is that I don't shut out different beliefs, nor do I assume that a person of faith can't be spoken to. As I've said, the same book can have a million interpretations. Sometimes it just takes respectful discourse to see things a different way. A way more true to who the person wants to be, while still maintaining their goal of salvation. It takes a while, a long while, but it never starts with me shutting them out completely.

You are not me. You're free to disagree with my approach, you're free to disagree my beliefs, you're free to hate me or how I have handled this, but I think it’s important that I at least share where it is that I'm coming from... I understand that my situation is different from others and I have the privilege to make this kind of decision. I'm so sorry to anyone I've hurt...

[teawiththegods]

(1) I’m sorry to keep bringing the witchtok stuff up but I’m really active there (and here too) and a lot of what’s being said as far as deity work and everything else not only is confusing to me but also kinda scary? I just feel like I am an idiot who doesn’t know anything and stuff they say and do makes me question whether I am truly right or wrong there. I know I need more research on various deities for sure, but do we honestly need to be so terrified of the gods (theoi as an example)?

(2) I always believed that it was okay to be kinda friends with your deities as long as you treat them with respect (as you should with anyone mortal or not)? Yet they say that kinda stuff will get you hurt and you have to fear the gods or whatever. They heavily condone godspousing for some reason (which I may not know enough about it but if they aren’t hurting anyone why does that matter??) and really condemn people who has romantic interests in their deities too. What is and isn’t okay? (3) Sorry for this being so long but I just am really second guessing myself and what I know. I’m almost too afraid to ask and I’ve been wanting opinions on a lot of the witchtok bs going on. One lady is claiming she is Medusa and says she brings Athena to her knees and accusing a follower of Freya to be a murderer. I’m almost wondering if I need to just back away from witchtok in general. It has some good spots but a lot of negative too....

And you’re completely demonstrating WHY the WitchTok community is so harmful, irresponsible, and dangerous. 

You’re not alone in doubting your own experiences, knowledge, and instincts and having anxiety over whether you’re right or wrong especially when faced with the outrageously condensing viewpoints presented on Witchtok. 

It’s very VERY common for young people and newcomers to our religion to feel the way you feel. And its understandable. But the issue here is that the people on WitchTok generally FEED off of that uncertainty, doubt, and fear. May I also remind everyone that cult leaders do the exact same thing. 

ANYONE who uses fear and your own anxieties to get you to subscribe to their way of thinking is dangerous and harmful. I don’t care if its a bunch of teenagers doing it. It’s still not okay and again it promotes abuse and cult-like mentalities. 

Always stay away from people who make you feel negative feelings and don’t buy into their bullshit. Not only is there no “one true way” to interact with the gods, there is zero reason for anyone to be that nasty, rude, or hateful to get their point across. Fear is a manipulation tactic especially in religion so anyone who uses it against you please run in the opposite direction. 

And if you are someone who has a lot of doubt in themselves and still finding confidence in your own worship and relationship with the gods, I suggest staying very far away from Witchtok. 

Some people may think I’m being overly dramatic but I really believe it’s a toxic and dangerous environment. 

[whenwegounnoticed]

My Turn To Talk About VioletVineyard, MVCreates, and the Glaring Problems of Power Imbalances.

Introduction

I have been on the fence about talking about my experiences, on one hand, because one of her mods and I are or maybe were (?) friends, and I valued their friendship but in recent light, I don’t know and because I want my main to be a safe place for other writeblrs and because I am afraid.

I was in VioletVineyard at the beginning of it -- and being in it did not feel good for reasons I could never put my finger on.

Let's talk about me and who I am first without giving myself away:

I have a disorder that makes expressing myself difficult, this is due to childhood trauma and a form of self preservation. My wording will be clunky because only recently, with the help of amazing friends, I'm learning the right verbage.

Now. Some of you will know who I am. Hello. Please keep me anonymous. Some of you might have a guess. Hello. Surprised? Maybe you're wrong. I don't know, I'm not in your head just as you're not in mine.

I have screenshots for some stuff and none for others. These are all personal experiences.

I will not be sharing the screenshots of those who were victims to respect their privacy.

Please bear with me. I know this will be long and rambly, but it’s how I make sense of my thoughts and brain.

VioletVineyard: Questionable Reality

I joined VV at the start of it, although it was already pretty big. I was excited! I admired many writeblrs who were in there and wanted to be friends with many of them. They were all so welcoming. And I felt, for a hot minute, like I belonged.

It was sprint of my freshman semester as a journalism major, and Mina reached out to me in the general chat, saying that if I needed help or wanted an In at some journalism company, to let her know because she knows people.

Great! Cool. A little odd but that was nice of her -- and.

That's how it starts.

A side: my friend has a theory that if people only present how perfect and amazingly nice they are, they likely are rotting on the inside. Nobody is ever perfect and always super nice, do not trust them. I do not subscribe to this but it is a thought in my mind now.

It took a week of me being there for the not right feeling set in.

First:

There was drama.

She would start it. She'd vague in the vent about someone and then outright state who she was talking about. And it would be about someone whose opinions she disagreed with. People would go and send anons or they'd bitch about whoever was the victim in the vent channel.

I don't remember if I participated but if I did, I am truly and genuinely sorry.

I think I got stressed two weeks in. I was already ill from invisible physical problems. The server felt horribly unmoderated.

I remember saying something because Mina was doing it again and being told,

"Then support in here."

Mostly innocent right? You support your friends, right?

It wouldn't have been a problem if:

The victim did something wrong.

Mina and this person weren't in their goddamn 30s or near that. They have a child, by the way.

The person was at least under 20.

From my scattered memory, the issue was OP either slightly vagued abt Mina or she just disgreed with OP.

Lots of red flags, right?

"But OP why did you stay?"

Emotional masochism? Fear? Because she, either knowingly or unknowingly cultivated this sort of atmosphere? I cannot speak for anyone else, but that's the reasoning for me.

There was, also, in the beginning, a hope that maybe things would change. Varying personalities, you know? And a desperate need for validation.

So, so wrong.

MVCreates & OP

So, get to the point OP. What happened to you?

A vague threat.

Mina....had Opinions. And opinions are just that, opinions but for her, they were fact. After all, she has her own reality and own story that helped form hers but some of hers were odd. Maybe not to most people who aren’t paying attention or didn’t notice the red flags ( “through rose colored glasses, all red flags just look like flags”) but they were definitely something.

She, for awhile, talked an awful lot about writeblr positivity. I could never really make sense of it -- she either supported it or was against it, from what I remember. (keep in mind, this was a little over a year ago and visually, I can see the gaudy green - red - yellow colors for pronoun preferences).

And I made a vague post about it and her. A few times. I was in the wrong for vaguing about her instead of just saying something up front.

Her response was, and I will paraphrase,

“Do you ever screenshot people vaguing about you just in case they enter a political career?”

I wish I had taken a screenshot. I’m sorry now that I did not. Maybe someone saw that, maybe they brushed it off. I don’t know.

From then on, I kept quiet about my thoughts and opinions because I did have plans to go into a political career -- but jokes on her, I plan on being a human rights officer for the United Nations lmao

Another incident (we’re almost done, I promise):

I was -- venting about gender dysphoria. I was Peak Suicidal at this point in time, just knowing what I was born with brought me to tears frequently. Mina had jumped into in the conversation and started talking about something vaguely related. She started talking about trans BIPOC experiences, which is great! Their experiences are things that need to be talked about because they are often thrown to the side for trans white people’s experiences and that is not okay.

I forget the middle part, it’s been over a year. It went from BIPOC experiences to something else, a conversation about gender? I don’t know. Maybe there’s someone out there who remembers. I doubt it though.

I remember saying, “I wish I would have been born with testicles and everything else because [I’m in hell?]” and she answered with,

“That would [mean / cause / ???? ] privilege.”

This person who has claimed she is non binary, claimed to be a trans ally and part of the trans community, said that to someone in the height of dysphoria and was suicidal.

You do not say that to someone who is experiencing gender dysphoria. To say that is transphobia. And yes, trans & non binary people can be transphobic. You are not exempt.

Violet Vineyard & Reprehensible Behaviors

Before I start this section, and I promise this is almost done, I just want to thank:

@radley-writes​, @gingerly-writing​, @lilquill​, @sapiencenotes​  @rrrawrf-writes​ & many more who have come forward about their experiences, whether publicly and in private. It’s admirable and brave of you to do something I could not. @nuwuhorizons​ & @time-to-write-and-suffer​ have amazing documentation as well.

There isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said and documented, but I can corroborate the bullying Mina and the mods engaged in -- the stuff Radley spoke about I did not know about -- and that makes me ill. I’m glad they owned up to what they did, and for that, thank you Radley. It shows you are a much bigger and better person.

I will not lie, however -- I was hurt and felt a bit ill when you talked about what the mods did. And it made me question and second guess a friendship I have (had?) with another mod. But I think that helped put some pieces of the puzzle together.

 An incident that stands out to me (and honestly bothers me, so a few people have heard about this often and I’m sorry), very clearly and I have screenshots for but will not share to protect their privacy, was when they dogpiled someone who had been asking about writing a Jewish character. While they were falling into somewhat harmful stereotypes, VV was handling it.

Not well.

The person was a minor, for one -- teenagers make mistakes, they make them more if they’re not exposed to varying cultures and beliefs. And the person who was on the receiving end of this dogpile looked to be coming more and more unstable and all I could do is just. Grab screenshots of what I could.

And if you’re reading this, you know who you are, I am so sorry I didn’t say anything. That wasn’t right, the entire situation wasn’t okay. You shouldn’t have gone through that. I hope you find healing and peace.

A quick disclaimer: Violet Vineyard, as far as I know, didn’t have a lot of Jewish members. I know a mod was converting (but hadn’t yet) and I think I saw one or two people with the Star of David in their name or icon. That said, my paternal grandmother was Jewish and had been one of the few survivors of her family from the Holocaust. I cannot speak for the entire Jewish population, and I do not consider myself Jewish in religion but trust me when I say this:

YHWH would be disappointed in their (VV’s) behavior -- and if the moderator who is working on converting is genuine about converting, then I need them to think long and hard  about what is happening. This isn’t what Judaism teaches. And if you’re reading this, ask yourself, would G-d condone the actions of your fellow ex mods?

Final Words

Oof, this was long, wasn’t it? Must have been hard to sit through because I ramble! So. What’s left for me to say?

Not a whole lot but still, a lot but the stuff I want to say are not my lived experiences. It is not my place to speak on behalf of anyone else involved in all of this. And that is okay.

But to the people who were involved with the recent drama and dogpiled a trans teenager and to those who helped bully many people in this community on behalf of the oh so great Mina,

my question is  why?

What was a thirty year old woman, WHO HAS A CHILD, bullying a nineteen year old? Why was an almost thirty year old person with a toddler and one on the way involved in this as well?

Most or a decent handful of you were adults, some with children, some expecting. 

And Mina,

You used your age and position to manipulate people and for that, I find you the most reprehensible. Castor did not deserve what happened, neither did the victim mentioned above. Nobody did. 

I hope, in the end, you finally find happiness without having to lie about your talent and without having to manipulate people.

Thank you for listening and sticking around if you made it this far and didn’t bounce in the beginning.

I’ve said my part. If anyone wants to engage in constructive discussion or share their experiences, feel free to do so.

[normal-thoughts-official]

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeHHDBpb/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeHHCTwq/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeHHUxHb/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeHHDxww/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeHHCtVm/

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeHHCvo3/

She's hilarious but there's two videos where she starts to speak more mumblingly

ok first of all these are brilliant and i'm losing my mind and i love you, thank you for curating these to me.

i will transcribe them in a bit but i just felt the need to leave this "little" (it's long sorry) note:

as someone who's been raised catholic i just want to say that she is pretty wrong about almost everything she said about catholics, and i say that as someone who hates catholicism with my whole mind body and soul and who's been traumatized by this stupid fucking faith to the point where i can't get into a church without breaking into sobs dauihdasiuh. the catholic guilt is real but catholics are absolutely allowed to divorce and use contraceptives, and also have sex before marriage. the first one is met with some guilt esp from women altho honestly i think it's more due to mysoginist reasons than religious reasons, and the second and third ones are commonpractice and if you say that it's wrong and bad everyone will think you're a fucking weirdo

and even with the divorce thing, while the guilt is there (im pretty sure half the reason my mom doesn't divorce is because she would feel guilty about it, although again, i feel like that's got very little to do with religion and way more with internalized mysoginy), i cannot stress enough that divorce is allowed, almost everyone i know has divorced parents and they're all catholics. the church's official position is kinda weird (as of now pope francis basically said that it's "morally necessary" in some cases but he also referred to ppl who divorced and remarried as "imperfect", but like, it hasn't been forbidden for years, so much so that people get second marriages at catholic churches literally all the time, and i kinda feel like ppl overestimate how much ppl care about what the pope says. at least here in latam, cuz we've always kind of freestyled religion since it was imposed on us anyway, but like... in my experience the average catholic practitioner is INCREDIBLY less conservative than the vatican and i feel like most people don't even know what the pope says or doesn't say. and i'm saying that as someone whose grandfather almost became a priest and only gave that up because he fell in love with my grandmother, and he's been a ferverent catholic his entire life. also two of his kids divorced, one married a divorced woman, one is gay and living together without marriage with his divorced boyfriend, one never married, and one had two kids before marriage which necessarily means that they fucked, and none of that was ever a problem to him. oh, also, my dad had divorced AND he was a buddhist when him and my mom married. currently he is a spiritist)

i think it might be possible that u technically have to ask for "permission" to the church to remarry in church, but in practice i think it's more of a ritualistic thing than actually asking for permission, cuz i've never met a single person who had them say no. it was pretty much "hey local bishop guy so my husband sucked and we divorced can i marry again" "sure lol". obviously it sucks that you even have to ask, but it's nowhere near as strict as people seem to think

the contraceptive thing is also absurd. like i cannot stress enough that my family would absolutely flip if they found out i DIDN'T use contraception. that was always something that my family reinforced very strongly, ESPECIALLY my grandpa. i've never met a single catholic who does not teach their kids to use contraceptives. my high school was catholic (literally named the Holy Cross, fun times, although they didn't impose the faith or anything. in fact almost half of the students in that school are jewish, but like, still, there was a priest in the school board) and we were taught to use contraceptives, put the condom in a banana and the whole pizzazz during biology class

like yeah the bible says not to but it also says not to mix different fabrics and that doesn't mean it's actually a thing that's reinforced in most catholic communities doaihdaj at least not here in latam. in here non-catholic christians are actually way more hardcore about the puritanism rules than catholics are, particularly evangelicals, which are kind of overtaken the catholics' traditional role of being colonialist fuckers as they are mostly from the US so they come to further US imperialism through religion here. watch out catholic church they're coming for ur crown

and even outside of puritanism, "non practicing catholics" are absolutely a thing like ppl who are catholic but don't even pray or go to church, much less care about that shit douahdsaohj so like the stereotype that all catholics are like the very small minority of hardcore catholics is like the stereotype that every muslim lives by the ultra-conservative muslim rules. it's not true and it's stereotypical and taking the minority ultra conservatives to be the rule when they are not

there's also the fact that there are many different currents of thought inside the catholic church (a little bit like with judaism although way less flexible than judaism is), some of which are very conservative, some of which are progressive. here in latam in particular the teology of liberation is extremely popular (it's the one my family subscribes to, and i'm pretty sure it was actually born here in latam) and it's pretty progressive. for catholics, that is

and like mandatory disclaimer that i am coming from my own experiences with latam catholicism, which i feel is different from other catholic countries - my polish friends for example have experiences with catholicism that are a lot closer to those stereotypes than mine ever were - but since most of the catholic population in the world is brazilian (like me), and second place goes to mexicans, i feel pretty comfortable taking it as a ruler to measure general catholic practices

with that being said, however, the catholic church can choke and die in a fire as it is a symbol of colonialism first and foremost, its proselitism is one of the worst things ever, and even the progressive currents are still way too damn conservative for my tastes. i just don't feel comfortable transcribing something that i know is incorrect and stereotypical (and that in some cases is used to further oppression like with the Irish in the UK or armenian catholics, and i've even had some US-diaspora latinos hear some incredible things from gringos who assumed they were catholic, or, in their beautiful words, "had latino religion". but obviously in most cases catholics are the oppressors, especially here in the third world)

also, her assessment in the third video is absolutely correct. A/B/O IS just conservative gender roles born of christian and catholic imposition transposed to a fictional world where the genders have slightly different names, which is why i, as a rule, hate it dauhdsaiuhdauhda and even though the assessment that catholicism is thaaat much more conservative than other christian religions (it's absolutely not, it's Exactly As Conservative) isn't true, catholicism is still where most if not all of western conservative rethoric is born of, and ugh, it's so refreshing to see someone understand this and put it into words so well

so yeah keep that note in mind but anyway, transcriptions:

[Video transcription #1: in reply to a tiktok question, which says, "now i'm thinking about the catholic guilt that would come with it oh my god". user @Omarsbigsister is saying, "good morning", she then covers her mouth as she starts to laugh, before continuing, "I guess I'm the religious omegaverse tiktoker now. I did not know catholic guilt was more than just sex, I thought it was just about sex, but nO. people who are catholic, if you don't know, they get guilt over every little thing, they get guilty when they eat, they have guilt when, like... [dismissive gesture] they have fun... it's messed up *cut* [mumbling i don't understand, sorry] in which you HAVE to be bonded before... *sticks tongue out* *cut* and catholics, from what i know, uhm, cannot get divorced, so you can't be unbonded, you're stuck for life with that alpha or omega, and then you can't use contraceptives so if you have a heat or rut, good luck, you cannot escape it, and on top of that, they preach abstinence, right, so if you're having a heat or rut in your teen years you just gotta deal with it alone like you are not allowed to be bonded, so, that would be really intense."

#2: in response to a question, which said, "follow up question: if in the real world hijabis are women, in ABO universe would hijabis be omegas of all genders?". the user is shown stroking her chin in contemplative silence for a long time, before she says, "actually, both men and women have to wear a hijab, it's just more visible on women, but men also have to cover from like, the neck all the way down... so like when you see them [mumbling i don't understand, sorry] that's their hijab. *cut* Islam is actually treating men and women, like, fairly somewhat equally, so, I feel like in omegaverse alphas, betas, and omegas would all be held to the same standards, and alphas and omegas would also be held by the same standards but then culture would ruin it, just like western culture has ruined it. for your other question. 'would muslim families prefer betas more, and would betas be spiritual leaders', i feel like everyone prefers betas more, but then also Islam came to like, uplift women [a written note then shows up, which says, "like girls are seen as a blessing to have as kids"], so like omegas would be seen as like, a blessing to have as a child.

#3: in response to another tiktok question, which says, "fun fact bestie you cannot get divorced in the catholic religion even if your spouse is abusive and horrible to you so in omegaverse how would that work?". she replies, "the reason that Abrahamic religions seemingly fit so well into the omegaverse universe is because catholicism specifically and christianity, uhm, all the gender norms and all the cultural norms especially in the west came from catholicism and christianity, they were forced on people, and then you know, people might not be religious, but the norms stay. but now you have omegaverse which is basically just a bunch of like youth exploring the youth through this, like, werewolf fanfiction trope, using all these gender roles that you have in society on their head, so, really, what i'm saying, is that... omegaverse is just catholicism fanfiction"

#4: she looks at the camera and says, "getting islamophobic comments is one thing, but getting islamophobic comments that say that muslims cannot be in the omegaverse".... she then breaks into laughter for a solid 30 seconds

#5: she is shown reading out loud, in a mock-outraged face, a tweet that says, "about to murder tiktok they try to make Ramadan a 'quirky' trend. it's a religious holiday. stop it, get some help. /srsly /g.", then a follow-up tweet, which says, "saw a tweet saying on tiktok they are asking questions about how ramadan would work in omegaverse. i'm done with y'all, just say you disrespect muslims and go". then another tweet by a different user, which says, "i tried to read, i got secondhand embarrassment-" they then break out of character and say, "oh, that's fair," before going back, "if it wasn't ramadan i'd be boxing those people right now. those people should be ashamed to even think that way wtf". then another, which replies, "well i'm not celebrating it, so as a non-muslim, i'll happily box them". then, back to her normal voice, she says, "i really was just making a silly little tiktok and seeing that stuff really hurts... i'm just kidding, i can't keep a straight face. you like minecraft youtubers, what are you gonna do to me? what are you gonna do to me?"

#6: in reply to a tiktok ask, which said, "prince philip was an omega". she slowly films herself as she takes a walk, finds the nearest trash bin, and tosses the phone there, before putting the lid over the box. end ID]

[ghostfilesbish]

Hullo!

🐉Zodiac Sign?

🌌Chinese zodiac?

💅Do you wear makeup?

🔮Any advice you would have given 10 y/o you?

🌅Are you a morning or night person?

🎃Favourite holiday?

🎗Are you religious?

⏰what time is it currently for you?

🎭What would your answer be if ANYTHING could be a religion for 🎗?

HEY COLE<3

🐉Zodiac Sign?

Cancer✨

🌌Chinese zodiac?

I just found this out, so thank you for that. Tis' monkey. (idk what that means, I'll google it later)

💅Do you wear makeup?

No I don't, I have acne and even before that I never did until I was going for a family function, which included compact powder and lipstick (which I'd sneakily remove later coz I hate the way it feels)

🔮Any advice you would have given 10 y/o you?

Already answered in the previous ask❤

🌅Are you a morning or night person? DEFINITELY a night person, it's the only time I feel like I can breathe and not feel bad about it, and I get to relax alone and just exist in a thin space between fiction and reality, just me and my thoughts.

🎃Favourite holiday? Christmas and probably Pongal, also maybe Eid?

🎗Are you religious? This is a bit complicated. The definition for "religious" is believing in a certain religion and subscribing to its faith, which I don't, despite being born and raised Hindu. I believe in God and pray to them everyday, but I don't personally believe in religions because all the gods are the same for me and religion (for me personally) is something man-made to bring like-minded people together and intertwine them with faith and similar beliefs and virtues and fears, but over the years I kinda cannot help but feel negatively towards religion because of the news and India, so yes I beleive in God and pray to one, but I'm not religious.

⏰what time is it currently for you? Umm, it's exactlty 9:57pm.

🎭What would your answer be if ANYTHING could be a religion for 🎗? I didn't get this question sorry, I'm really losing braincells, but I'm guessing you're asking me what I would do if anything could be a religion? Well, if anything could be a religion, then ig as long as there anre't any riots and discrimination based on whatever the fuck they wanna do, I don't mind

Thanks for asking Cole, ly<3

[highqueenofelfhame]

20: Are you religious?❤️

kinda complicated! i was raised southern baptist however i have a lot of like religious guilt and trauma and i find...i don’t know. i don’t believe in that version of a god. i don’t believe that god would make his creation and then spite them for not being all knowing and not being able to believe in him? i don’t think it makes sense to only have evidence of his existence from 2000 years ago and i don’t subscribe to what my family believes, which is that the earth is only 6000 years old. i am very much a black sheep in my family, and they think i’m going to hell for my sexuality and my faith struggle. 

i don’t not believe in a god, though. i think the world is too beautiful and intricate to solely believe that it happened on accident. but i don’t... want to believe in a god that is vindictive and expects everyone to either believe in him based on inaccurately translated pieces of text from 2k years ago or die and burn in hell. you know? so i believe in something. i just don’t know what it is. 

however i do feel a lot of anger toward the christian religion as i find a lot of hypocrisy within churches. i’ve had the most hurtful shit said to me and about me by people that claim they’re christians and idk dude if your god wants you to show love why are you so goddamn hateful?

clearly i am very passionate about this lol. i don’t want to offend anyone by any means. i respect everyone and their beliefs it’s just that christianity beliefs just happen to not be for me. 

that being said i do celebrate christmas because it’s what the rest of my family celebrates so iDK. 

religious, not really. kinda spiritual. probably leaning more on agnostic. 

so sorry for the rant wow lol.

get to know me!

[fleurabeille]

from the perspective of someone that isn’t catholic in the slightest and dislikes the church: how do you balance all of the stuff about the church that can be really harmful with the good principles and teachings of christ? like how do you deal with the whole homophobia and misogyny and the other shortcomings of the church without it being a “no true scotsman” type of thing? i really admire your faith and i think it’s really cool that you’re involving yourself in something that’s so meaningful to you, i just find it really surprising that you’re catholic now because i didn’t ever really see you as the type of person to feel so strongly about a higher power. do you kind of define catholicism for yourself and do your own thing, or do you follow the church and the bible strictly?

hello, love! thanks for the question, and sorry in advance for the long answer, but i like to be really thorough with how i talk about my faith. 

firstly, i totally get the dislike of the church. i spent my entire life strongly, strongly disliking christianity in general, especially catholicism. i still have many many many things that i take issue with within the catholic church. as for balancing the harmful parts of the church with Christ’s love and good teachings, i don’t balance them. if a preacher is saying something that goes against Jesus’ teachings and against what we believe to be God’s word, i don’t listen to it. i do not believe that being homophobic is God’s want for any of us, in fact i think he condemns it. and quite honestly Jesus never mentioned homosexuals in The Bible, even though homosexuality was very prevalent in society then (and now!). i won’t say that there aren’t homophobic teachings in the church, because there certainly are. what i will say is that homosexuality is not condemned in the catechism, and there is not sufficient scripture to condemn it within The Bible. (and don’t come at me with Leviticus because it has lost its clarity of whether it is about same-sex attraction, or pedophilia through the years). because of this, here is what i have come to understand about homosexuality (also i’m bisexual and not at all ashamed or sinful because of it): God did not make it plain and clear whether we (we as in humans) should only partake in straight relationships. if you have a relationship with another human being that is driven by love, that is consensual and kind, i believe it glorifies God. i don’t think gender matters, i think actions do.

as for misogyny, i don’t think the church is misogynist. i know, i know. hear me out: if the church is misogynist, it is also just as misandrist (misandry being the hate or dislike of men). there are traditional roles for men and women in the church. it is a defining characteristic of catholicism. that is absolutely true, and a lot of people don’t like that. that’s totally fine! i am not a believer that catholicism is the one true denomination, if you’re better off as a methodist, that is just as wonderful. we have a lot of things that women, in a traditional catholic church, don’t take on. we have SO MANY (i think more) things that men don’t take on. for example, i veil my head at mass because in catholicism women are seen as holy because we have the power to create life. at mass, holy object are veiled (the tabernacle, the communion, the altar, etc) to show their status. women don’t have to veil, but they are welcomed to because of their holiness. men, on the other hand, may not veil because they do not (most men, that is) have the gift of bearing and birthing life. there are many ways that the church glorifies women, and it’s part of why i love it.

as for your last question, i definitely do not define catholicism for myself. part of why i’m drawn to being catholic is due to its firm and deep rooted traditions and values. that being said, nothing i believe is taken at face value. every single part of the church that i subscribe to (i can’t say i follow every teaching because there are thousands and i don’t know them all) is researched for many many hours to make sure i fully understand it, and also that it isn’t a faulty teaching (humans are faulty! and we are far past the days where Jesus walked the earth, so the things we’ve “tacked on” to christianity aren’t always very theologically sound. particularly the hateful teachings.). i follow the actual teachings of the catholic church and the bible as best as i can, as far as i have studied. of course i stumble, and i absolutely question everything. i make sure i can agree and understand what i’m doing before doing it. also, catholic church doctrine is NOT what your local priest says. it isn’t even what the Pope says. it is the words in the catechism. that is the only place you should 100% trust to find the actual beliefs of the church. a lot of priests break their covenant with God by spewing hateful rhetoric and leading members away from The Lord, and it is an absolute shame. 

as a final note: i believe the relationship that i have with God, through my religion as a catholic, is what i should put my faith in most of all. God has never called me to be hateful, to condemn someone’s lifestyle, sexuality or gender, to make others fearful and ashamed. He has only ever called me to show others the unfailing, inconceivable love of Jesus, and let them choose how best to live their life and interact with God. i only hope the love they receive from me will lead them toward a place of peace, love, happiness, and compassion.