#antichristianity

[fetznerdeathrecords]

Perversa - Under The Sign Of Blasphemy

Order the CD version now below!

Genre: Satanic Black Metal Country: Italy Label: Satanath Records - Co-release with Pluton's Rising Productions (Pol) Catalog number: SAT379 / NS CD 2401 Released: May 27th, 2024 Themes: Anti-Christianity, Satanism, Blasphemy Jewelcase, CD + Booklet

1. Satan Majestic Triumphator 03:36 2. The Mark 01:58 3. Under the Sign of Blasphemy 06:05 4. Perversa 04:01 5. Lucifer's Revenge 03:58 6. The Trial of Christianity 03:46 7. Insane Need to Kill 03:58 8. Psycho666 04:38

PERVERSA was founded in Rome (Italy) in 2022 by L.V. (Lord Vampyr, Malamorte, Alex Nunziati, The Tomb, Shadowsreign, ex-Theatres Des Vampires, Cain, Sepolcrum, Nailed God), IBLIS (Handful Of Hate, Massemord, Funeral Oration, Lord Vampyr, Iblis, Deviate Damaen) and AETERNUS (Handful Of Hate, Satanika, Massemord, Lord Vampyr, Nailed God), with the intention to play satanic black metal. In the album you definitely feel all the influences of the different members of the group, but guys still tried to make something personal. "Under the Sign of Blasphemy" was recorded from February to June 2023. Perversa doesn't want to be just a side-project, but a full-fledged band, so musicians intend to play live in as many places as possible, to spread the word of evil everywhere! Mixed and mastered in June 2023 at Music Up Studio by Sk. Logo by Christophe Szpajdel. Artwork by Stealth Fangs.

Line-up: L.V. - vocals, lyrics Iblis - guitars, bass, music Aeternus - drums

[exvangelicalrage]

Nobody Practices What They Preach

6/8/23

A couple of years after my Exit, I remember having a brief conversation with my mom where I mentioned my disappointment at the behavior of some local pastor who was caught up in a scandal and had to leave their church. I mentioned that christians always talk about how good and well-behaved and holy they are, but then you find out it was all a lie. 

My mom replied, in a very patient and tolerant tone of voice, "christians sin too. We are human, just like everybody else." 

And that was it. As if that answer was enough: "christians sin too."

But the problem is, christians don't talk like they're "just people." They say they've been “chosen by god.” They say they're right. They say they Know, with a capital K, what is right and wrong. 

"In the world but not of it," they proclaim, which is just code for "We're better than you. We are heaven bound. Whatever happens here on earth is meaningless in the grand scheme of eternity. But you non-christians? You are sinful. Earthly. Bound for hell. And we don't associate with the hell bound." 

They've drawn a line in the sand. Us vs them. Me vs you.

It's worse when you look at christian leadership. I watched the Hulu documentary about Jerry Falwell Jr. the other day, and the one about Hillsong the weekend before that. I was a little disappointed when I finished. I thought these tell-alls were going to be shocking. Eye-opening. Mind-blowing.

But the reveals were not particularly surprising. 

Doesn't everyone know pastors abuse children? And have sexual dalliances outside their marriage? And are willing to engage in all sorts of unethical behaviors to "further the will of god," whatever they decide that to mean?

I mean, it's great to have proof. And yes, please, hold predators and criminals accountable, destroy their reputations and lives, and take away the power they wield. Whether or not they're christian. I'm a fan of all that.

But I also know that when you eliminate one predator, there will always be another to take their place.

I was around 8 years old when the pastor of my childhood church got booted for having an affair. I remember it distinctly.

"What is happening?" I asked my mom. Everyone at church was in a hubbub that morning.

"Pastor Hall got caught holding hands with a lady who wasn't his wife," my mom told me.

I didn't see why that was such a big deal at the time, of course. Holding hands wasn't that bad, was it? But apparently this time, it had been catastrophic. It divided the church. People left. We left. 

I imagined Pastor Hall at a coffee shop, innocently holding hands with some kind woman while eating a snack. I spent many years quite confused about the whole thing. I was much older before I realized what had actually happened.

Then, the youth pastor in the same church got booted for getting a divorce. Then a pastor at nearby church got kicked for having "a big ego" which most certainly was a cover story for something else. This is all in a 10-mile radius in a rural part of upstate New York. At churches I attended in some capacity. That my friends went to. 

Naturally, I grew up intensely distrustful of pastors, especially male pastors, and anyone in a leadership position in church. Not because I personally experienced any specific abuse, but because I knew that any of them could be a snake.

They even preached it! "A wolf in sheep's clothing" could be anywhere. Anyone. Even one of them.

After all, "christians sin too." 

This particular idea sparks a very specific rage in me. "christians sin too," isn't just some one-off thing my mom said. According to most protestant ideologies, it's a foundational component. Everybody is a sinner. But! jesus' blood covers all sins. If you sin, even after being born again, all you have to do is repent and you will be forgiven. You should strive for perfection, of course, but if you don't attain it, no worries. Repentance to the rescue! Even the catholics have a framework for it: confess and do penance. Then some magic happens... and you're cleansed!

It's a free pass to be a hypocrite. 

You can a.) become a christian, b.) not follow christianity at all, and c.) still get to heaven by merely repenting!

Even in the last moments of your life, if you repent with your very last breath... saved!

No accountability necessary. No amends necessary. Doesn't matter how much harm you've caused to other people. Doesn't matter if you've murdered or raped or exploited people. It doesn't matter the nature, frequency, or intensity of the crimes you've committed.

There's a single, easy out: simply ask god for forgiveness. 

Even Hitler could be in heaven if he repented before he died. Even genocide is covered by the blood of jesus.

This basic, foundational element of the christian ideology turns out to be a convenient loophole not only for committing grievous offenses against other people, but for consolidating and maintaining power and money as well. 

How else would a guy like trump get the support of evangelical christians? He's one of the least christian-behaving people on the fucking planet! He's had too many wives, has sex scandals galore, committed pretty much every sin in the book, is a jackass of epic proportions—and not to mention, you know what the bible says about rich guys? Easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich guy to get to heaven.

But when you're christian, it's easy to overlook that stuff. You know why? Because you don't have to believe that he's a good guy. You don't have to believe that he's never fucked up. You don't have to believe that he's holy, moral, or the epitome of a righteous man. 

All you have to believe is that he has repented. That's it.

And if he messes up again? Easy. He just has to repent again. He's sorry for harassing women. He's sorry for mocking disabled people. He's sorry for stealing classified documents, trying to subvert democracy, and inciting an insurrection. After all, god forgives everybody, you know. No exceptions.

Now imagine you're on the board of directors at a megachurch. You discover that one of your leaders had committed [insert grievous sin here]. Does he express repentance? Maybe even shed a few tears? Then you're golden. As god forgave him, so can you. You pray for him, instruct him not to fuck up again, and sweep the scandal under the rug, everyone outside this small group none the wiser. 

Because, as you know, "christians sin too. They're only human, after all." 

The thing is, nobody practices what they preach perfectly. It doesn't matter if we're talking about christians or buddhists, social justice warriors or school administrators. There's a reason parents and teachers like to toss around the aphorism, "Do what I say, not what I do." Because they know they're never going to behave perfectly in line with whatever ideology they espouse. 

And that's okay. We are all human. We're complex. Nuanced. And there are a million variables that impact our behavior—it's rarely as simple as a black and white, right/wrong choice. Sometimes it's impossible to know what the right choice is. Sometimes mental illness, trauma, society, cultural norms, confusion, brainwashing, and who knows what else influence us to make spur of the moment decisions that are harmful and go against what we profess to believe. Sometimes, it's as simple as our actions had a different outcome than intended. 

Ultimately, being a "good person" is not about being perfect. 

It's about taking responsibility for our choices. That's it.

And the christian ideology conveniently removes that. They don't have to take responsibility, because they've been cleansed—freed from sin!—by the blood of christ! hallelujah! (/sarcasm). All they have to do is repent. Quietly. In private. 

Redemption Unlocked. 

What about the people they've harmed? you might wonder. Like me?

Well, there's a convenient answer for victims too: Repent of your wicked ways, and jesus will lift your burden from you! He will heal your trauma (caused at the hand of another one of his followers, of course)! Fix your problems! And if he doesn't? Clearly you didn't repent good enough. It's your fault. When you're holy enough, god will bless you.

And the circle goes round. The abusers, manipulators, and predators harm and repent, harm and repent, confident they'll end up at the pearly gates when they die. They don't give a shit about their victims, because they know all the victim has to do is pray, and whatever pain or damage they experienced will be lifted, healed, repaired by the all loving, all knowing god who watches from on high.

 Nobody practices what they preach. Especially christians.

[d-e-r-n-e-b-e-l]

💿💿💿💿💿 . . . @domino_black_metal_cat 🖤 🐱 . . . #dodsferd #suicideandtherestofyourkindwillfollow #fuckingyourcreation #fuckingyourcreationrecords #fycr #metal #blackmetal #depressiveblackmetal #dsbm #depressivesuicidalblackmetal #greekblackmetal #misanthropy #postblackmetal #progressive #underground #death #negativity #suicide #antichristianity #metalheadsofinstagram #metalhead #metalheads #metalcollector #metalcollection #instametal #cat #blackmetalcat #cdcollector #cdcollection #cdjunkie (à Strasbourg, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/CozM7ONo0UL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[ellisdee161]

Cataclysmic Iconoclasm

[numbers-31-blog]

There is no one, orthodox way to commit yourself to Lord Satan. It can be as elaborate as a high black mass or as simple as whispering a prayer over a single black candle at midnight. For me, it was lighting a candle one night when my mom was away at church and reciting the Pater Noster (the Lord's Prayer) backwards and promising Satan that if he answered my prayer, I would renounce Jesus Christ and his Father forever and serve him (Satan) in whatever capacity I could for as long as I lived.

However, if you want to show Satan you are serious, I recommend that you precede your commitment to him with an act of blasphemy. In Matthew 12: 31-32 Jesus informs us that there is one sin that God will never forgive: blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy is deliberate irreverence or profanity directed at something that is held to be sacred, and the Holy Spirit is that part of the Christian Godhead that dwells within every Christian. If you were baptized, even as an infant, you have it -- though it be dormant. By blaspheming the Holy Spirit you are rejecting that part of God which is in you and thus irrevocably cutting yourself off from His grace! Think carefully before you do it since it is a line that, once you cross it, you will never be able to step back from; but when and if you decide to do it, then it will make your commitment to Lord Satan all the more powerful!

If it were me, I would light a black candle and tell the so-called Holy Spirit to f*** off; that it is no longer welcome in me or my life; that I reject forever God, the sacrifice of his son, his grace, and all that he might have planned for me. I would then take the plate of unleavened bread (signifying the body of Christ) and drop it unceremoniously into the garbage. Likewise the glass of wine, signifying the blood of Christ, should be poured onto the ground or into a toilet or sink. Then I would ask Satan and all the denizens of Hell to witness my commitment to Lord Satan and his righteous cause.

[unnounblr]

Counterpoint: The Christian God is also a rapist, and anyone who worships the Christian God is also disgusting.

Hope that helps.

"zeus is a rapist and anyone who worships him is disgusting"

ok by that logic did god rape mary?

no. the answer is no. because thats not how blessings from the divine works.

[whereserpentswalk]

I once heard a gay Christian tell me my anti-Christian posts in queer tags made them feel like a Jewish Nazi. Which is interesting because that's exactly how I want queer Christians to feel, all the time.

There should be no place within the queer community where they feel comfortable or safe openly pushing a pseudo-religion that has done nothing but victimized and oppress us. They should be treated just like queer conservatives and queer capitalists, the fact that the bigoted belief system they're part of isn't secular shouldn't matter.

Liberation movements have become so obsessed with marketability that they've forgotten what almost every liberator in the past understood: that the priest was as much our oppressor as the business owner and the noblemen.

[daemonicdasein]

‘Oh my Father, Lord of Silence, Supreme God of Desolation, though mankind reviles yet aches to embrace, strengthen my purpose to save the world from a second ordeal of Jesus Christ and his grubby mundane creed. Two thousand years have been enough. Show man instead the raptures of Thy kingdom. Infuse in him the grandeur of melancholy, the divinity of loneliness, the purity of evil, the paradise of pain. What perverted imagination has fed man the lie that Hell festers in the bowels of the Earth? There is only one Hell, the leaden monotony of human existence. There is only one Heaven, the ecstasy of my Father's kingdom.’

‘Nazarene, charlatan, what can you offer humanity? Since the hour you vomited forth from the gaping wound of a woman, you've done nothing but drown man's soaring desires in a deluge of sanctimonious morality. You've inflamed the pubertal mind of youth with your repellent dogma of original sin. And now you absolve in denying them the ultimate joy beyond death by destroying me? But you will fail, Nazarene, as you have always failed. We were both created in man's image, but while you were born of an impotent God, I was conceived of a jackal. Born of Satan, the desolate one, the nail. Your pain on the cross was but a splinter compared to the agony of my father. Cast out of heaven, the fallen angel, banished, reviled. I will drive deeper the thorns into your rancid carcass, you profaner of vices. Cursed Nazarene. Satan, I will avenge thy torment, by destroying the Christ forever.’

— Damien Thorn (portrayed by Sam Neil), Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981), directed by Graham Baker; written by Andrew Birkin.

[satansluckycigarette]

Jesus keeps coming back. He won’t stop. We now have an elite squad of mercenaries whose job it is to put him down.

[septemberadical]

I'll tell you the same thing I told @rosiewitchescottage, I am engaging to see if there is any actual reasoning behind your arguments. So, thank you for responding and let's break it down:

The Bible is full ot hypocrisy, misconceptions, outdated beliefs. There’s no shame in saying that. But it’s not the physical presence of the bible that has sustained Christianity in our culture for this long; it’s both principle and moral value. It’s served as a textual guideline for people to make sense and order of their lives and of our society. I often notice even the most outspoken atheists seem to lack one thing- an anthropological and sociological understanding of what Christianity truly is, beyond the text.

What has sustained the Christian faith, then, if not the bible at least in some form? Where do the "principle and moral value" come from - I would argue it exists in the form of either the written bible or sermons about or in reference to that bible. So, in essence, Christianity does come from the stories within the bible. And saying the bible is "full of hypocrisy, misconceptions, and outdated beliefs" would be an understatement; it is the absolute worst piece of literature to order your life around and you seem to agree at least somewhat. Even if I "look beyond the text" as many people tell me to do, what then? Christians get all of their moral authority (and their ability to escape logic, apparently) because they have a direct line to god through the bible, and now you're telling me I'm naive because I haven't 'looked beyond' the text! Wouldn't looking beyond the text make any godly authority vanish from your reasoning altogether - if you're not referencing the very words of the lord, you've lost all justification for believing what you're saying. You might as well get your philosophical advice from the back of a box of Kraft Dinner.

Women no matter what, will always be vulnerable to men. Always. We know that statistically and in any case of common sense. Legally, socially, emotionally, developmentally, and especially physically. This doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions- but no matter how much we want to believe men are exact equals to women, we cannot wish it true. The physical difference has been what has supported a lifetime of patriarchy for humanity. If you don’t believe me, open a history textbook. Look around now, at the rest of the world. This concept of radically accepting the differences, the female vulnerability- and making a case of men having the civil and spiritual duty of protecting the women they love- what’s wrong with that? For marriage and love to be a sacred bond instead of a form of currency, what’s wrong with that? For women to surrender themselves to a life of love and family; To make the case of married couples to have mutually separate roles in their OWN homes, what’s wrong with that?

I agree with almost everything until the last sentence. I think we should accept the differences between men and women, there are physical differences these are facts and very few would dispute them. And I would even agree with you that physical superiority is what created and perpetuates the patriarchy - if you don't have the power to subjugate then it's impossible to do so. Women being vulnerable to men is a large portion of why women's groups exist, to reduce the vulnerability and help women escape abuse. Where you lose me is when you argue that women should have the 'separate but equal' position, and 'surrender themselves to a life of love and family', because of some psychological or mental inferiority that you have yet to provide evidence for. Why can't men surrender themselves to love and family? Changing diapers has nothing to do with superior muscle mass. Surely after the baby pops out it hardly matters who's taking care of it, who vacuums the house, who does the laundry? Why not ditch the man and form a commune of women based on mutual support, bonobos do it, why can't we? And you are wrong that this is a choice that effects only private individuals in a private capacity, your philosophy argues that all women are naturally inclined to a life of domestic servitude and popping out babies, that's not just one private woman in one private home, that's all women everywhere.

It’s actually Christian ideals that helped pave the way for what is the most feminist time in the history of humanity; the belief in individual freedom and inherent spiritual goodness that has gifted us political ideas of equality, liberty, and civil justice. That’s always forgotten as well, isn’t it?

If Christianity 'paved the way' for the modern, feminist world we have now why did it take 2000 years for it to materialize? Why wouldn't the arrival of Christ harken a new age of feminist progress right away? Christianity has a well-known, bloody history of drowning out progress, modernization, scientific advancement, and women from society and, if anything, set back women's rights thousands of years. Your religion does not hold a monopoly on ideas of individual freedom (I will grant you spiritual goodness because that's such a nonsense term I don't even want it) and great philosophers over the course of human history (including before Christianity existed) have independently conjured and applied principles of equality, liberty, and civil justice. The American south was the most Christian nation on earth at the time of the Antebellum south and yet based its entire economy on horrific slave labour, and then fought a war for their right to keep humans as property. Would you argue that black Americans were benefiting from those 'gifts' of Christian principles?

You can sit on tumblr and argue technicalities with Christians all you want, but what does it even matter? You won’t change their minds, we know that. If these partnerships, roles, and values sustain families and offer structure to people in a world without it, why does that bother you so much? What is your goal here? It serves you nothing but a scapegoat.

I'm not trying to change your minds, I'm trying to get you to prove to me your beliefs are grounded in logic and reasoning, which you have yet to do. I'm trying to get you to give some reason why you think women are intellectual and morally inferior to men and the best course of action is to lock them in the kitchen and pump them full of babies. I'm trying to understand why you, with all the privilege of rights hard-fought for you by your foremothers, choose to argue for this uncritically. I also agree that this 'partnership' model has sustained families, it has also led to centuries of intimate partner violence, inter-marital rape, violence, and essentially domestic slavery that we are only now breaking free from. If families will be destroyed by the emancipation of women from that model then they did not deserve to exist in the first place.

For you to not see the nuance and value of Christian ideals, both historically and in our day to day lives as people, is a conversation not even worth continuing. It’s the other side of the coin to religious people who shame non-religious individuals and refuse to have any open minded conversations about their belief or the validity of biblical text. And I’m not here to shame you, I just want you and everyone else who comes to attack us on here that it’s pointless. It doesn’t make you smarter, or a better person. It’s just a waste of time.

I see the value of some, read some, parts of the Christian bible. I believe the sermon on the mount is as interesting a piece of moral philosophy as anything by John Rawls or Simone de Beauvoir. But in that same bible god, your god, ordered the rape and murder of entire civilizations, drowned and burned children, told women they were unclean and unworthy, and condemned homosexuality, and that's only scratching the surface. I don't think I'm smarter or better than you, I consider you an intellectual peer as I do with most conservative women (unless they are truly heinously illogical and cruel), which is why I'm so offended that you are making an insulting generalization about women and spreading it around. Why would you, as a woman with opinions and thoughts I respect, make the point that women in general are inferior to men in reasoning and decision-making? Also, I'm curious why you don't think this is an open-minded conversation? I'm learning a lot and I hope you are too.

I’m left to assume for you, this is personal, as it is with most staunch atheists. Religious trauma is very real, I get it; and I hope whatever religious trauma you faced doesn’t haunt you, and I hope you can learn to forgive and begin to understand the duality of this all.

Thank you for your kind words, and I'm sure you speak from experience and genuinely mean what you say. That doesn't change the fact that what you're saying is wrong, and demeaning, and telling me I am traumatized and don't know what I'm doing when I defend women's intellectual fortitude is not only insulting but pathetic.

You can argue biblical text all day, but you already know it’s much more than that. We are living in a world that does not call to you to fight the power, to be the hero. Christianity is not the threat it may have been in the dark ages, and patriarchy no longer rides on the back of a religious majority. The proof is in the pudding- society is apathetic and we can no longer blame god, or people of god. Only ourselves. Just let people live their lives, have their faith- let it be. And god bless you. xx

Religion is a bedrock of patriarchy, I would argue one of the main ones. And, in fact, I disagree with all religions that subjugate and demean women (which is the vast majority, unfortunately) not just Christianity although it is the one I am most familiar with. Arguing that Christianity is no longer a defining factor in our world is naive, it's one of the largest religions on earth with millions of adherents, and holds powerful sway over political, social, and academic institutions. And until women are free from oppressive stereotypes in all their forms there will always be a need to fight the power.

[rockermazy]

He IS RISEN! The Tomb is EMPTY!

[fetznerdeathrecords]

Crest of Darkness - My Ghost

Black Metal from Hunndalen, Norway

Norwegian Extreme Metal veterans, CREST OF DARKNESS moved their limits again with “My Ghost”, their 9th full length album, and present the heaviest, darkest and most personal album in 30 years of career thanks to evil riffing, obscure atmospheres and demonic vocals. Structured as a ritual, "My Ghost" is a concept album, which, is meant to be heard as a whole. From the album's evocative opening, the ritual leads us to its climax, embodied by the final song. This is the point at which the listener completes the initiation into their dark world, and is thus ready to enter the Ninth Portal.

1. My Ghost 04:45 2. Infected 03:44 3. The Will Of God 06:34 4. Call Of The Moon 04:17 5. Satanic 04:41 6. Sacrificed To The Sun 03:47 7. The Awakening 05:29 8. Under My Spell 04:32 9. The Ultimate Truth 05:44

Release date: October 18th, 2024 via @mykingdommusicofficial

@crestofdarkness

[exvangelicalrage]

Sin Is Fake

6/5/23

I realized something this week. Which is that I don't believe in sin. Obviously, I don't believe in a lot of things, including god, christianity, and literally anything, haha, but I realized this week that I'd been taking the idea of "sin" as a given.

The idea of sin has been a constant in my life since my birth; only a few weeks after we came home from the hospital, my parents had me "dedicated" in front of the church congregation, which is the protestant alternative to the catholic baby baptisms. Instead of saving your soul, however, it's merely a commitment by christian parents to "raise their child in the way he should go" or whatever. And in this case, that meant raising their child to believe they were inherently sinful and needed to be saved by jesus in order to go to heaven. 

I've long determined that people are not inherently sinful; that babies are not evil from the moment they are beget; that children do not need to plead forgiveness for imagined wrongs. 

But the idea that perhaps sin simply... doesn't exist at all? That is new.

When I was five, I kneeled next to my bed on the pink throw rug my great grandmother had given me, clasped my hands together, and said, "Dear jesus, please come into my heart and forgive me." As I said the words, there was a deep sense of "this is what I'm supposed to do in order to get to heaven." I hadn't quite put together the "I'm sinful and need to be forgiven" part, despite the emphasis on that during Sunday school and vacation bible school, but I knew the words and I said them and I meant them. 

But as I grew, it didn't take me long to fully understand what "sin" was. 

Sin was whining about chores. Sin was arguing with my brothers. Sin was being obstreperous. Sin was reading instead of cleaning my room. Sin was talking back to my parents. Sin was watching other kids get picked on in school and doing nothing. Sin was not wanting to do my homework. Sin was getting bad grades. Sin was not listening to the teacher. Sin was watching movies. And listening to secular music. And reading books with swear words in them.

Sin was doing anything that upset my parents for any reason. 

Sin was lack of total perfection.

Sin was making god mad.

I asked for forgiveness regularly. As a 7 year old. As a 10 year old. As a 12 year old. I knew my soul was irreparably blackened, and jesus was the only one who could cleanse me and guarantee my way into heaven. 

When I reached my teenage years, I continued to pray for forgiveness, but I tacked on an extra little request at the end of my prayers: "Please forgive me, and also, if you notice me doing something wrong, could you just let me know?"

"If I'm doing something and don't realize it's a sin, could you please point it out to me?"

"I'm not entirely sure quite what I'm doing wrong, but I know it must be something, so please forgive me even for stuff I don't realize is wrong."

It's a pretty heavy weight, to walk around thinking that you're perpetually committing grievous offenses but have no idea what they are. To believe that god is incessantly watching every movement, every choice, and every thought, and judging you accordingly. Especially as a child. And sure, the pastors said "his blood covers it all" but what does that even mean? And if his blood covers "it all" why couldn't we just be regular people? Why did we have to focus on being as perfect as possible? 

The thing is, though, the existence of sin is necessary to christianity. If humans weren't inherently "sinful" then what would the point of christianity be? Because if we weren't inherently sinful, nothing would be preventing us from accessing heaven. We wouldn't need jesus, we wouldn't need the bible, and most of all, we wouldn't need the church. 

Sin, at least in a christian context, is a direct and willful violation of god's will. But in order for it to be real, a.) god has to exist, and b.) we have to be able to determine what his will is—irrefutably. But since god (if he exists) hasn't provided a clear-cut directive... how can we possibly ensure that we aren't violating god's will? And if we can't know his will, we can't violate it on purpose.

Hence, sin is fake.

But if pastors, leaders, humans make clear-cut statements that say, "This is wrong and I know because god told me so," then they can claim that your violation of their commandments is sin, and in doing so, they strip access to heaven from you.

The idea of sin allows humans to control other humans. Even humans who don't believe in their ideology.

But if sin doesn't exist in the first place? That hill they're standing on is nothing but air.

To be clear, I think mistakes are real. I think we can do things that we wish we hadn't. I think we can cause harm. We can do things that upset or cause pain or discomfort toward other people, ourselves, or the world around us.

But sin? Nah.

I think I still carry this weight, even though I left christianity over a decade ago. 

It's clearest for me in this subconscious  pressure that suggests I'm "living a sinful lifestyle," despite the fact that even according to christian standards, my "lifestyle," as it were, is pretty innocuous. I'm straight & hetero, married and monogomous, donate and volunteer to causes, mind my own business most of the time. But I do swear. And read romance novels (with sex scenes *gasp*). And I'm not christian. Which all equals "sinful lifestyle" in my subconscious, I guess.

But there's a lot of freedom in being able to look an action in the face and say "What harm does this cause?" If the answer is "It causes no harm," I can move on with my life. And if the answer is "It causes this specific harm," then I can remediate to the best of my ability. 

Litter? I can donate to an environmental organization or pick up more trash than I dropped. 

Give voice to my internal biases, even unintentionally? Apologize immediately and truthfully. Or donate to an anti-racist/feminist/trans-inclusionary/disability activist organization if an apology isn't possible. Or all of the above! 

Steal something? Give it back. Pay for it. Go to jail. Whatever. Make amends.

There is freedom in accountability. There is freedom in taking responsibility for my misdeeds. I don't need jesus or christianity to "save" me. All I need to do is own up to my behaviors, decisions, and choices, and the consequences therein. 

I can make amends. All by myself. No penance, priest, or prayer necessary.

If everyone did this, instead of just "praying for forgiveness," I think the world would be a lot less shitty place.

-----

A not-exactly side note: 

If I'm being honest, I think this whole blog is partially about me trying to make amends in a way. It's also therapy through writing, an exploration of my feelings, and a process to think through some of the concepts and ideas that still nag at me. But I could do all of that without sharing it online.

The one thing I feel more guilty about than anything in my life, was the evangelism I did as a teenager. I talked down to other people. Tried to convince them they were evil. I built walls around myself, and judged everyone else as either "saved" or "unsaved." I roped people in, with music and a pretty smile and the threat of hell. 

I understand that I was still a child. And that the religion I wielded was placed into my hands by adults. That it's not entirely my fault. I know I was trying to do what was right. But I also feel strongly that I caused harm to those around me. Harm I regret to this day.

I made it out. But not without casualties.

It's a strange type of survivor's guilt.

So I'm hoping that writing out & sharing my experiences, feelings, and pain will maybe help somebody somewhere. I want to do something good that directly counteracts the harm I caused then. Maybe I can support someone leaving the church now, validate someone who is questioning, or offer logic, reason, and experience to help someone see the door. 

Maybe it'll help, maybe not. But it feels like the right thing to do.

[d-e-r-n-e-b-e-l]

🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 🖤 . @debemurmorti 🖤 @domino_black_metal_cat 🖤 🐱 . #godkiller #wearetheblackknights #debemurmorti #debemurmortiproductions #metal #epicblackmetal #medievalblackmetal #protodungeonsynth #dungeonsynth #blackmetal #darkmetal #industrialmusic #deathmetal #industrialblackmetal #electronicblackmetal #satanism #antichristianity #death #darkness #hate #depression #decadence #cat #metalheadsofinstagram #metalhead #metalheads #cdcollector #cdcollection #blackmetalcat #chubbycat (à Strasbourg, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFOsmMLKMq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mxadrian779]

Happy Pride Month to God's beautiful rainbow children ♥

[numbers-31-blog]

Christians take offense when they hear that Satanists are holding black masses and yet the Christian Eucharist ceremony is basically a rip off of the Jewish Pascha which commemorates the 10th plague Yahweh smote on the first born of Egypt. The only thing the Christians omit is the sacrificial goat and the bitter herbs, but they keep the wine and unleavened bread. No doubt Jews are offended by this since they consider Jesus to be a blasphemer and the Christian worship of him as idolatry. If Christians can subvert Jewish symbolism for their own ends, then why shouldn't Satanists do the same thing with Christian symbolism? Remove the beam from your own eye, Christcucks, before you call us blasphemers!