#because of the way christianity tends to view suffering

[theinfernalsanctuary]

Let's talk about religious psychosis for a minute.

For those of you who don't know, religious psychosis is a mental condition that causes somebody to believe that their hallucinations (both audio and visual) and their ideas that are coming out of this manic state are actually the word of a God or some sort of Deity. This can be really dangerous in any religion, and it's incredibly common in both christianity and satanism because it's so hard to tell the difference between somebody who is experiencing religious psychosis and somebody who is actually had a religious experience.

This is why it's so important that people pay attention to what they are looking at online and who they are talking to online, you never know if the person behind the screen that is telling you all of this information is experiencing some form of religious psychosis. Many people who are experiencing some sort of religious psychosis also have delusions of grandeur. These people tend to place themselves into a higher seat of power, calling themselves a high priestess or a high priest, calling themselves a profit calling themselves the messiah, ect. They aren't doing it on purpose, it just so happens that this is what their hallucinations are telling them, it's not outright malicious. That's not to say that it cannot cause people to do some horrendous things. I mean, we've all heard the cliche of "God told me to" or the "devil told me to." This is where that comes from.

Unfortunately, someone who is actually suffering from religious psychosis will not be willing to seek help, nor will they respond well to being pushed into seeking help because they don't believe that what's happening is bad, they think that this is their god trying to reach out to them. It's really important not to push these people too far but also to not feed into these delusions.

I say it's hard to tell the difference between somebody who is experiencing religious psychosis and somebody who isn't, but there is one tell all, they tend to be much more grandiose about literally everything. Think the crazy mega churches in the southern United States, but then change it so that they DON'T know that everything that they're telling their congregation is bogus, imagine if they actually wanted to help and believe everything they say but still churned out more extremists the way they already do. This is one of the many ways that cults can start because not everything that they say is something super out there and obvious, and if the wrong person sees the right post and thinks that this person knows what they're talking about, there's a high potential that they'll start to overlook red flags. This won't necessarily cause others to experience religious psychosis, though it can happen, more often the people who are following the original person with religious psychosis are not experiencing any hallucinations themselves, but are brainwashed into the hope that if they follow what they're told that they will either be given special treatment in the afterlife or that they may start to experience what we know to be hallucinations themselves.

Please be very careful if you believe that you are dealing with someone who is experiencing religious psychosis, they are not trying to cause problems or harm, they are sick. I bring this up now because the solar eclipse is coming up and there are a bunch of people online right now talking about how it's going to be the rapture or how you'll be able to see the faces of angels/demons if you look up at the eclipse while you're in the path of totality (the strip of land that the sun passes over where the eclipse is the most complete.) None of that is true, please be safe when viewing the eclipse and when interacting with others on the internet.

Ave Satanas!

[creature-wizard]

Conspiracy thinking on the left

While many of us associate conspiracy thinking with right-wing types, the fact is that no one is immune to conspiracy thinking, and people on the left indulge in it quite often.

I've spoken about how QAnon types believe that everything they see celebrities and politicians do is all a staged drama, which they call "the show." Supposedly, all of the "real" stuff is playing out "behind the scenes."

Left-leaning people are actually prone to a very similar belief - anytime a public figure says or does something incredibly controversial or ostensibly disastrous, you'll find a number of people claiming that it must have been a carefully-calculated move to gain more publicity. This isn't to say that publicity stunts don't exist, but the kind of people I'm talking about basically believe it's impossible that a public figure is genuinely just a dipshit asshole sometimes. They make the same fundamental error as right wingers by assuming that these people are playing 5D chess. You know how right wingers tend to read everything that doesn't go exactly their way as the machinations of an evil conspiracy? Leftists often do basically the exact same thing, interpreting everything that inconveniences or annoys them is part of a deliberate ploy to keep them oppressed. There are, of course, many laws and systems designed to do exactly that. But sometimes, laws and systems are just designed badly, and people suffer as a result.

Many left-leaning people buy into extremely similar conspiracy theories about Christianity as both Evangelical and New Age conspiracy theorists. Like many Evangelicals, they often believe that the Catholic Church is literally nothing whatsoever more than a tool to deceive and control the masses. (Like yes, the Catholic Church has always been a political force, but that doesn't mean they aren't also generally sincere about their spiritual beliefs.) Like many New Agers, they often believe that Christianity was invented by the Catholic Church and took literally everything from older pagan traditions, in addition to being nothing whatsoever more than a tool to deceive and control the masses. Many view all religions, no exceptions, as nothing more than means of controlling and exploiting people. This hypercynical view of religion makes it easier to believe in things like conspiracy theories about Jews controlling media and finances. Hell, some leftists will basically decide that any work of media they don't personally like must have been deliberately made as fascist propaganda, as opposed to just being created by someone with shit political views, or someone who just didn't think things through - and never will these particular leftists ever stop to consider that maybe they just misread the media. This is no different than those right wing assholes claiming every other movie is full of "Illuminati symbols." Leftists also sometimes fall for anti-pharma conspiracy theories, under the reasoning that because drugs are sold for excruciatingly high prices under capitalism, drugs must have been invented for solely capitalist purposes. They're convinced that after the revolution, the causes of our illnesses will no longer exist and we won't need medication anymore. (Yeah, sorry, serious illnesses have always existed.) So yeah, you are not immune to conspiracy thinking. Absolutely no one is.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

hello :)

First off I’d like to apologize because I only recently discovered your blog at a time of great need, and have been reblogging so many posts lol so sorry if that’s annoying.

I’m in my early twenties, it’s almost my birthday, and I was born into a family with two affirming Catholic parents and three affirming siblings of various beliefs. I’ve pretty much always been comfortable with the fact that I am not heterosexual, and tend to have some beliefs that are not reallllllly accepted by mainstream American Christianity. Because of this, your blog has been incredibly comforting, informative, and thought provoking, so I thank you for that.

I was wondering if you had any resources for how different denominations thought of nature and wild spaces. I know there’s a lot of garden imagery within the Bible, such as in the Song of Songs, but I was always taught in my religious teaching that wild spaces, such as mountains and forests, were like realms of the devil or something. One verse that was pretty common in my local church is something about filling the deserts and leveling mountains to make a path for God (sorry if I’m remembering that incorrectly). Because I’ve only been to Catholic Churches, I was wondering if other groups and denominations had different views on nature rather than untamed = bad and taming the environment = good.

Thank you and have a nice day

Hey there, anon! Not annoying at all to reblog posts, that's what they're here for ^-^

My Catholic self is so happy to hear that your Catholic family is affirming of who you are!

I'm sadder to hear that you were taught much less affirming things about the created world. You are so right to have noticed that the Bible is chock-full of praise for creation! The twisting of Christianity to say otherwise has a long history with an intentional agenda of justifying settler colonialism and environmental devastation.

___

I wish I had more time to look through specific denominations' points of view for you, but if I wait till I do have time I'll probably never get around to answering this, alas! I can provide this much, at least:

One term that some use when describing their support of environmental justice is "Creation Care" (or "earth care"), so that's a good key phrase to use when researching.

For example, here's the Episcopal Church's page on creation care; and the UMC's, and a Catholic site; and a PCUSA site; and the UCC's...

However, I'm not sure that views on the natural world always split neatly on denominational lines anyway. Moving beyond the denominational, I'll loosely describe some of the viewpoints in Christianity around Creation:

Thanks to Paul incorporating a lot of Greco-Roman ideology into his letters that made it into the Bible, and thanks to Christianity getting entangled in Roman Empire shit in like the 400s CE, some Christianity uplifts a strong dualism between the spiritual and the material. When you pit the spiritual and material against each other in this way, it tends to be bad news for the natural world.

The belief expressed throughout the rest of the Bible — so the Hebrew Bible + much of the Gospels — doesn't construct this binary between the spiritual and the physical. The created world is declared good by God in Genesis 1, and Creation is praised throughout the Psalms and other scripture. The place of human beings in the created world is explored in various parts of the Bible, with various conclusions being drawn — are we in charge? What's it mean to be in charge? Is the whole planet ours to do with as we please, or are are we meant to care for it?

A major example of Christians deciding that the planet is ours to do with as we will comes in the form of the settlers who colonized the Americas. Research manifest destiny for lots of info on the consequences of these views. The Americas, and this whole planet, are suffering greatly because of this way of interpreting the Bible. Thankfully, there are other ways.

The Catholic Church itself actually has a healthier way of understanding Creation in theory, even if the institution doesn't always make choices that practice what they preach. Here's a bit of what the Roman Catholic Catechism says about the natural world:

339 Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection. For each one of the works of the "six days" it is said: "And God saw that it was good." "By the very nature of creation, material being is endowed with its own stability, truth and excellence, its own order and laws." Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment.

340 God wills the interdependence of creatures. The sun and the moon, the cedar and the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their countless diversities and inequalities tells us that no creature is self-sufficient. Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other.

341 The beauty of the universe: The order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect and will.

There's a lot more — check out the Catechism's section on "the visible world" (you have to scroll to it) on this webpage.

_____

Ultimately, in the search for interpretations of Christianity that uplift the goodness of Creation, and our role not as masters but as stewards of it, I highly recommend digging into the works of Indigenous Christians. As white Christianity colludes with empire and wreaks having on the land, Indigenous Christians speak up for the goodness of God's creation.

A fabulous starting point is Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice. It's a short memoir, very readable and powerful.

Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys by Richard Twiss is a little denser, but extremely informative. You can also find interviews and the like with Twiss online, if reading is less your thing.

My own Christian faith has also been deeply enriched by non-Christian Indigenous authors — especially Robin Wall Kimmerer, whose book Braiding Sweetgrass changed my life. I was so inspired by her description of human beings not as the masters of creation but as the "little siblings of Creation" that I wrote this poem about it.

Many Black and Latine theologians have also been integral to me in shaping my understanding of Creation and humanity's place in it. Another memoir I highly recommend is This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley, which talks about a variety of things, including a bit on the natural world. Take this passage, for example.

Finally, there are some gorgeous writings on Creation from Medieval Christians like Francis of Assisi and Hildegard von Bingen.

One last couple of book recs for a look at the holiness of creation: Barbara Brown Taylor's An Altar in the World and Sister Macrina Wiederkehr's A Tree Full of Angels.

___

I hope this helps somewhat! If you haven't already, you might enjoy wandering through my #Creation tag too.

[dead-venge]

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vincent | he/him | 21

welcome to my blog. i’m a full-time psychology student interested in a few different areas of research.

this is just where i ramble/talk more about my ocs and headworlds. expand this post to read some basic information on the ocs i mainly post about + their universe. more detailed info about individual characters can be found on my toyhouse.

feel free to ask me questions in my inbox or send a comment!

haunted

The paranormal have always lurked the mortal realm, and have been extensively documented by humans since the dawn of time. Their presence, though uncomfortable, is accepted by many and denied by some. However, where exactly they originate from is unknown to many - if not all - mortals. I was raised as a Christian and have since left the church a long time ago, so the “origins” of the paranormal/demons tend to follow a more Christian backstory and or explanation. Certain words, i.e “Heaven” or “Hell” are nonexistent and have been replaced by other words in this story.

above: haunt's secondary form The Paranormal

Entities derive from demons themselves. Demons were once holy beings or angels, once cherished and loved by God. Typically, demons have committed a grave sin of some form and were then banished from the Ether to suffer and wander mindlessly on Earth, stripping them of their wings and holiness. Demons learned to feed and harvest off of human souls by means of emotional, mental, and physical torment to survive. It didn’t take long until Lucifer, one of the most powerful fallen angels, manifested a separate realm to hide his demons and entities away to keep them safe. Due to the nature of the realm existing between both the moral and Ether realm, this realm is known as The Inbetween. Often, Lucifer uses the fact that he “saved” and protected the other demons and entities against them. In Lucifer’s eyes, if it hadn’t been for him, then it’s likely they would still be aimlessly wandering and barely thriving.

When a demon has too much power through feeding, an entity will split from the demon and form itself - usually beginning as a shadow and working itself up with time. Demons do not view their entities as their children. Instead, they view them as extensions of themselves to get what they want. Each entity typically has a marking somewhere on their body that serves as a branding, each brand is unique to the demon they serve. For example, Haunt has an inverted crucifix on his back (not to be confused with an inverted cross/st. peter’s cross) that serves as his brand to Lucifer. Because demons have a higher risk of being hurt in some way, usually by means of sacred protections, demons send their entities to do their bidding. Under the watchful eye of Lucifer, the highest order of demons, entities serve under various demons to provide sustenance to their leader by means of haunting or harvesting lost souls. In turn, the leader (a demon) is able to grow stronger and thrive.

There are several higher ups that guide The Inbetween alongside Lucifer, many of which were once angels that were deemed sinful and stripped of their righteousness. Bloody Mary is typically viewed as Lucifer’s second hand, though she secretly may not agree with many of the things he does or believes in.

Classifications of the paranormal, such as poltergeists, phantoms, wraiths, etc. were formed by mortals based off of similar traits/powers and are not used by demons to distinguish their entities.

Entities can produce their own unique look. Haunt is a prime example of this ability. Not all entities possess this ability, or at least are not as strong in it as they are in other areas. Entities will appear as orbs or shadows until they develop a form. Young entities will often struggle with leashing their powers and may struggle with certain powers. However, as they age, they become more powerful and or are able to control their powers more.

above: haunt’s primary form

It’s very difficult for an entity to escape from their demon. Typically, demons can relocate their entity by their bind. However, if that bind is disrupted or destroyed, then it can become significantly difficult for the demon to determine where their entity is at. Entities can do so by entering sacred places, obscuring their being by manipulating their own energy, or having another powerful demon destroy the bind for them - which is highly unlikely. Haunt, for example, was able to successfully disrupt his bind with Lucifer by stealing a priest’s cross that had been previously blessed and fixing it to his suit as a brooch. Additionally, Haunt avoided highly populated areas. This would not be permanent, but it allowed him more time than others.

Unlike demons, many entities are unable to be harmed by holy items or areas because they are not innately evil or sinful, but rather under the guidance of something that is. Because of this, Haunt was not able to be hurt by the cross he carries, nor is he able to be harmed by things like holy water or other similar items. He keeps the cross fixed upside down because it’s a statement that Lucifer couldn’t touch him or find him for an extremely long time, almost in a mocking way.

destroying/killing an entity

Entities can be destroyed, or “killed.” However, demons tend to be more difficult to destroy completely. If a ghost is haunting a building and has no other place or object to latch onto and haunt, that building can be destroyed (usually by burning it) to rid it of the ghost. The same applies to people if that person the ghost is latching onto is killed. Entities are typically killed by demons only if they refuse to serve them. Mortals can also kill entities by previous methods mentioned.

[bthump]

I came across this theory on the internet. Would like to know your opinion on this. By the way, I do not want to set you or someone against the author of the theory. I'm just interested in hearing your opinion.🖤

Griffith = Lucifer. Name meaning “Light-Bringer”, “Shining one” etc. Griffith & Lucifer have the same personality and the same goals (ever “longing”). Lucifer has a gang of fallen angels just like Griffith’s apostles. There’s a nice paragraph on Lucifer (after his fall) that correlates well with Griffith: How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?"

Guts = Jesus/MichaelLucifer is known as the serpent or ”dragon” (he was in the form of a dragon when defeated by St. Michael), meanwhile Gut’s has an aptly named “Dragon Slayer”. In some interpretations, St. Michael, is also Jesus (Jesus being his form on earth).People also see Parallels between Griffith and the Antichrist. Miura has always been deliberate in portraying Gut’s as Griffiths antithesis. Obviously the antithesis to the antichrist, is christ.Jesus sacrifices himself for others (opposite of GH/Apostles). When he dies he goes to Hell, where he releases all of Hell’s captives. Which is one way for the IoE to be defeated I guess. Somehow purifying the vortex of dark souls (Maybe with some elf magic) could’ve been a thing. Send Guts into that heart like a Trojan horse, strapped with a nuke of “goodness”. I’m half-joking.If I use this theory I can almost see a full conclusion to Berserk. Obviously here Guts dies. But avoids suffering in the Vortex. Knowing who the Fifth King is would’ve helped. If we go by the directions it’s the Center (i.e Void), which binds all the other elements (King of the East, King of the West, King of the Void?). Three plausibilities are Void, IoE, unknown Spirit. It’s also possible Void is using the Fifth like a familiar/posession. But I don’t see how the GH can die when they hang around “formless”, are essentially already ”masses of negative thoughts”, born from the vortex, and will probably just come right out if sent there. IoE has to fall.

I've seen the take a lot that Griffith represents Satan or the Antichrist and tbh I don't really buy that.

In my view, knowing what we know from the lost chapter about the nature of Berserk's "God," Griffith seems to me like a basic messiah figure in a cynical universe where God is the collective unconscious of humanity that wants fate to exist so they have something to blame for bad things happening lol. Ganishka seemed to be the story's antichrist figure, as far as that allegory goes, at least from my pov.

I'm not religious so I'm sure that factors into my own takes here and why I don't necessarily see much merit in theories that rely on the understanding that a Jesus expy is the "good guy." I also tend to be skeptical of analysis that relies on a lot of a=b style reasoning. Berserk has allegorical elements, and a lot of references to various mythologies and other stories, but Christianity is only one of them.

That said, there are similarities and I wouldn't be surprised if elements of Lucifer got mixed in with Jesus, among plenty of other inspirations as well, to create Griffith. But I can't really discuss these elements in detail because I'm far from an expert in Christianity.

wrt the last bit, when Griffith killed Ganishka and genre shifted the world into high fantasy, the Godhand stopped being formless and they're now part of the world. I've always theorized that this makes them both more powerful and more vulnerable, and it'll probably factor in to whatever's going to happen with them.

And I don't necessarily think the Idea of Evil has to be destroyed either. It's entirely possible that the climax of Berserk will lead to some sort of paradigm shift that destroys it by changing humanity's ways of thinking - an age of reason kind of deal, maybe - but I don't consider the IoE a villain that needs to be destroyed for the sake of a happy ending, and if I was going to bet I'd just bet on the cycle starting over again with a new set of godhands. But yeah either way I definitely think that humanity has to change to "defeat" the Idea of Evil, rather than destroying the Idea of Evil to change humanity. It's a product of humanity, not the other way around.

Thanks for the ask!

[iwillsingforhim]

A Short TedTalk

Ok so I was looking at the Prince Of Egypt tag on here and a lot of people were talking about how it's a Jewish film and story and we shouldn't be bringing Jesus/Christianity into it and in doing so, it's Jewish erasure. But here's the thing. The story of Moses that is found in the original Torah is part of Christianity as well. Now if you want to know how that is, you must understand some stuff. Many people tend to separate the Old Testament and the New Testament, saying one is for the Jews, the other for Christians. In reality, the entire Bible is for Christianity. It was given to us by God.

To associate only part of the Bible with our religion is like reading only part of a letter. You miss important information that relates to the part you read. In the same way, the Bible (which is like a letter from God) needs to be read as a whole. I once heard a pastor describe it like as artwork in a museum. The Bible is not a bunch of random, unconnected pieces of art to be viewed separately. It's a mural that is connected and ultimately tells one story, the story of God's love for humanity and the price His Son paid to save us from eternal suffering.

SO the Old Testament isn't just random stories that we teach kids in Sunday school. It's all relevant to Christianity today. From the Levitical laws that give us context for things in the New Testament, to the Psalms and their beautiful praises of God, and even the prophets who reference the coming of the Messiah, it's all relevant.

If you still think that its not, you need to remember: Jesus was Jewish! He came from the line of Judah who was one of the 12 sons of Jacob. Jesus followed the Law of Moses and participated in Passover and Sukkot and Yom Kippur. It was only when He sacrificed Himself, died on the cross in place of us, and rose again that Christianity began. Judaism was the main religion of most of the New Testament figures. They grew up just as Jesus and thousands of others did over the course of hundreds of years!

Now that we know that Jesus Himself was Jewish and that Him and His Father's story starts at the beginning of time, you can understand why many Christians classify the Prince Of Egypt as a "Christian" movie. Its because it is a fantastic testimony to the wonder and power of our God. And by doing so, we are not removing the Jewish aspects of the film. Rather, we're celebrating and remembering the rich culture and history that our Savior grew up in. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

[bells-of-black-sunday]

"Is ptsd a universal human experience?" is a very hotly debated topic in the historical world, there's varying views on the topic and I am in no way an expert here to say yes or no and generally its a bad idea to apply modern standards and labels to figures from the past due to how society has changed a lot even in a decade. For simplification, I will refer to Tarhos has having ptsd, but please do keep in mind it is similar, but different to our modern labeling and I am purely going off of what I could find and read on the subject.

No matter what time period you lived in you will have negative effects on your health from pro-longed traumatic and stressful events, Tarhos is no different from anyone else. He's lived basically his entire life like this, he's had no choice in the matter and he'll be very open and honest about atrocities he's committed. The biggest difference being... he's still in that same stressful and traumatic situation in the fog, he's had no time to relax and feel safe, to him he's still a slave the only thing that's changed is whose holding the leash.

He's made friends just to see them die in the next week, he's seen strangers mangled beyond recognition, he's heard the despair, and he's also heard the deafening silence of the aftermath. He's resigned himself to knowing this is how the world works, because back then... it was kind of the truth. War was a very communal thing, it wasn't something you could avoid and it was a very real and present threat in a lot of people's lives. Lords feuded all the time and the crusades meant you could enslave anyone legally as long as you claimed they weren't Christian.

This put a lot of money in a lot of mercenary groups pockets where they directly profited off of these situations, but more importantly unlike today, there was a lot more societal support for combat veterans. Whether it be through the church, the guilds, or just your neighbors. Knights were seen as honorable and virtuous for putting their life on the line for their country, lord or God and they got a lot of benefits from their contracts as long as you weren't a enslaved person.

While we don't have many first hand written accounts from these men at this time, we do know ptsd tends to be a response after the event rather than during it, so it's generally unknown if combat veterans from this time had any symptoms like that. What we do know is from deep records in Greece and Rome is that yes, combat veterans did have a lot of symptoms very similar to this modern label to ptsd. While flashbacks aren't nearly as common: the anxiety, depression, and nightmares effected a lot of people as well as temporary blindness.

Tarhos himself suffers from anxiety and the nightmares, though he has ways of coping with both and a strong support network that eases it, he'll never be the same kid he was when he first arrived at the camp. Some days he drinks a lot more than he should to drown out his nerves, some days he's more exhausted than usual and doesn't want to try even sleeping, and there's definitely situations and noises that bring those bad feelings back. That's not something that's ever going to be magically cursed from him and is prevalent in pretty much every verse I write him in.

I imagine for him specifically it gets a lot worse for a while when he's finally allowed to relax like for a lot of people it does. He's never had that. He has a hard time letting go of this hyper-vigilant feeling that he's always had to have and falling into something as normal as caring for land when he's no longer used to it takes some real adjusting. Tarhos doesn't feel left behind by society like he does in modern, but... it's still a new normal for him and it will take him a lot longer to adjust than other people, but once he gets used to it the feelings will lessen.

Just like how falling into familiar comforts like being held while he sleeps can lessen his nightmares, but not fully get rid of them, those feelings will never go away fully. He just learns better ways to deal with them and some days are worse than others, he's an old dog, but at least he can finally start to acknowledge what happened to him. Stop talking about it like it happened to someone else or it's just a story and finally accept that while he is okay with what he's done to survive, those things still happened to him and he still did horrific things to people.

Of course this doesn't apply to the fog, Tarhos is still hyper vigilant there. That'll never change not even if he manages to escape. He's calm, but he's not a very happy person, what is there to be happy about? There's no sun, there's no comfort, and he's still surrounded by the same hypocrisy he despised outside the fog. He'll never feel safe within it, but he knows how to survive and he does that well to the point where even if he seems a bit gloomy, he just seems normal to most people. He finds comfort in the only thing he can still, the violence he commits.

He doesn't enjoy it. In fact he's getting really bored of the same routine monotony, but it's all he has. He's on a shorter leash than before and prefers to keep to himself because of it. Very rarely will he ever seek others out and it's usually just to play that game of "Am I going to get stabbed today or not" just to break his days up. It is absolutely self-destructive behavior, but he doesn't really care. He's not going to die if he does get hurt.

He's never valued his body before this, he's certainly not going to now that he's in a place where even if he gets hurt nothing is going to happen. His nightmares are still a thing every time he does sleep, they're probably worse in the fog due to entity influence and that means he doesn't rest much these days either. Still... he's resigned to knowing it's never going to change and even if he still responds the same way to certain things that make him on edge, it's not going to change his situation the same way it didn't before.

He's never going to find peace within a place like that and no one can expect him to.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

In James Cameron’s Titanic, the scene of a child and his father playing with a spinning top on the promenade is directly copied from this famous photograph.

Taken aboard the Titanic by Jesuit novitiate Francis Browne it shows six-year-old Robert Douglas Spedden watched by his father Frederic and is one of the most famous of the collection.

In April, 1912, the Frederic and Margaretta "Daisy" Spedden booked passage on the Titanic with their seven-year-old son, Douglas. Also travelling were Daisy's maid, Helen Alice Wilson, and Douglas's former nursemaid Margaret Burns called "Muddie Boons" by the boy as he had difficulty pronouncing her name.

Frederic and his wife were awakened by the collision with the iceberg; they noticed that the ship was listing, so went to rouse the servants. Daisy woke Douglas telling the boy they were taking a "trip to see the stars." The Spedden party made their way to the starboard side of the boat deck, where the women and children boarded lifeboat 3. After all the women and children had been loaded, Frederic, along with about 20 other men, were also allowed in the boat.

Douglas fell asleep and slept through the night. Waking at dawn and seeing the icebergs he said "Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it."

The entire party survived and were rescued by Carpathia where the Spedden family was remembered for numerous acts of kindness. Margaret Burns made use of her nursing skills tending to the injured and shocked passengers throughout the journey to New York.

One year after the disaster Daisy wrote and illustrated a storybook for her son called "My Story", which told the story of the trip, sinking, and rescue from the point of view of Douglas' teddy bear. The tale was inspired by the stuffed bear her son never left behind during the sinking and their subsequent rescue.

Daisy was also writing a series of diaries starring the little bear for Douglas, when he was older, to read and reminisce about all those moments he spent together with his parents.

She gave the storybook to Douglas as a gift on Christmas Day 1913. Tragically, two years later, one summer afternoon in 1915, Douglas was struck by a delivery truck on Gridstone Neck, Winter Harbor, near the family summer retreat in Maine. He died instantly from the concussion he suffered. He was 9 years old.

Both Frederic and Daisy mourned stoically, because they always had faith in Christian providence.

After her son's death Daisy stopped writing her diaries. They lived out the rest of their lives with close friends and family and continued to travel the world.

Frederick died on February 3, 1947 at the age of 80 due to a heart attack while poolside at the Bath Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Daisy passed away on February 11, 1950 at the age of 77.

[Titanic Memorial Lighthouse]

[swearyshera]

You can't really get away from the religious / Christianity undertones with this, the "stained-glass language" as it were, but I would like to put a bid in that I think what She-Ra got at with the canon on this stuff was something of a specific form of it - a popular form, but there are actually many shades of "Christianity" out there. I've known Progressive Christians and Liberation Theology folks who are the absolute opposite of the authoritarian views. (There are LGBT+ ministers out there, in liberal churches, is what I'm saying). There are also people like me who are ex-evangelical, but who kept certain aspects of the belief system to become Progressive / go our own way. Granted, the authoritarian types, the Evangelical-authority structure that Prime represents, they don't think of the "liberal" or "leftist" Christians as actual Christians and tend to gatekeep authors and speakers out of "Christian" venues. (It's basically the reason like Rob Bell, a pastor who wrote a book arguing that Hell doesn't exist got drummed out of mainstream theological circles, to say nothing of what they do to LGBT+ believers and allies). I am sorry for rambling, but this is a long-term interest of mine. I'm an ex-evangelical in a long deconstruction. I've also been going through a fresh round of the Deconstruction That Never Ends as a part of my grief-process (I'm the person who lost a loved one this week, previous ask), so it is on the forefront of my mind. I just... in response to others, I do want to put in a word that describing Prime's ways as symbolic of "Christian" is... not inaccurate at all and is very on-point, but to warn that to fall into the trap of* all* things under the broad "Christian" banner are emblematic of that is kind of like saying "All Muslims are ISIS" or "All dogs are Dobermans." I do think the "Christian Left" needs a new name because "Christian" is essentially ruined, but we have not found it yet. All Dobermans are Dogs, but not all Dogs are Dobermans, I guess. I find, personally, that Prime represents a specific thing. He's the God who is worried about what's in your pants. He's a God who believes that suffering purifies. He is the God who will send you to Hell for not living to his perfection. Some of us who believe in a higher power and might even still call ourselves "Christian" for lack of a better, modern term stopped believing in that God long ago. (And want to murder him with as much extreme prejudice as future-Hordak with neck-grab strangle abyss-drop). You can guess at what scene I am most looking forward to in Sweary She-Ra. Make my boy Hordak shine. _freedfromthegalactichivemind

Nate has said a couple of times, I think, that Horde Prime and the whole storyline surrounding him was inspired by his own evangelical upbringing, so it's very much not a coincidence that much of Prime's world is a reflection of that particular type of Christianity. Personally, I grew up as Roman Catholic, which is a rather different type of Christianity to Evangelicalism, so this kind of outward, 'repent or go to hell' preaching is a little alien to what I'm familiar with. But there are still parallels.

The reason I haven't explicitly mentioned religion in the comic is twofold. The first being that I just don't have enough experience with the type of Christianity that Prime represents to make it (for want of a better word) faithful. It would either be a poor imitation or an exaggeration. And yeah, religion means a lot to some people - I mean, this is tumblr so you could all be out there like 'God is dead and I killed her', but I think there's a chunk of you who don't want to see the sledgehammer 'Religion bad' message it would end up as. The other reason is that I don't have an axe to grind against religion - I'm not religious now, but I've never had reason to say 'the church is awful and we should take it down'. Maybe I'm lucky, I dunno. So I focus here on the things that I do have stronger opinions about - the rise of anti-lgbt hate (shown in Prime's story), and the importance of persevering and showing that it really does get better if you just hold on (shown in Catra's).

And yes, Prime does represent that specific type of God used to strike fear into people to obtain obedience and compliance. And this scene, the 'purification' is a perfect example of that. I genuinely don't think Prime is too bothered by Catra calling Hordak by his name, I don't think he needs to go through the whole memory wipe thing for that. He does it as a show of power to scare Catra into obedience and compliance with his wishes. It's bad enough at face value, what Prime does, but when you consider that he's needlessly torturing a living being as a threat to someone else... ugh, that's utterly horrific.

Anyhow, I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to be debating religion and its portrayal in SPOP. All I can do is tell you things from my point of view and how I reflect them here. But one thing's for sure, I think we're all looking forward to Prime's defeat!

[childofchrist1983]

There was a point where every person on this Earth had chosen to live their life on their own accord. No one cared to listen to what God had to say. The same way sheep tend to wander off mindlessly was the same way that everybody had decided to wander off and do their own thing. We see the same thing in the current world that we are living in. Many people have chosen to follow their own way and advice or have turned to worldly wisdom for guidance over the wisdom and guidance of God. Think of how you would feel if someone decided to ignore everything you had to say, and they chose to follow their own way instead. You would be pretty upset, wouldn't you? There is a high chance that you wouldn't want to help anyone ever again because of the pain that they caused you.

But mankind's actions didn't faze God – And they sure as anything did not phase Jesus. Jesus Christ took all of the sin, infirmities, and imperfections of humankind upon Himself. He stood in the place of every human being and He chose to take the fall for us so that we wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of our fallen nature. Jesus didn't wait for our approval before He decided to do what He did. He left His Heavenly home, became a human being – like you and me – and lived the way we did. He ate the food we would eat. He walked on the same ground. He drank the same kind of water. The only difference between Him and the rest of humankind was that He lived a sinless life and willingly expressed God's nature of love wherever He went without fail. Even when He was being beaten and mocked by His own people, Jesus did not change His mind about dying for us.

You won't find a love like that anywhere else. We can only find such a deep, unashamed love in Christ and this is why we need Him. The Holy Bible constantly reminds us of our fallen ways and how Jesus Christ came to take care of the sin that we could not take care of ourselves. Our lives are nothing without Christ. This is why we need to cling on to Him daily. We won't find a love and salvation and peace like this anywhere else. We were lost when we depended on our own ways. But when we are found in Christ and His love and light, there's no place other place we could ever prefer to be. Let us humble ourselves before God daily, asking Him to forgive us and to strength and teach us to view life through the lens of God and His promises. May He guard our hearts against Satan and the temptations of this world and our flesh. May He give us the peace to find full satisfaction in God and His peace and promises, so that we may live our lives daily in ways that honor and pleases Him. As we seek Him daily, may He reveal Himself to us through the words He has provided and use it to conform the desires of our heart to Him and His love and compassion and grace.

As true and spiritually reborn Christians, we love, trust and believe in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ. Thank Him for calling us to faith and imparting us with salvation and righteousness. May He empower us to live in His will and righteousness, so that we may testify to His soul-saving power as our faith carries us past all doubt, fear, and failure. May He grant us the grace to forgive others who have wronged us, and the humility to seek forgiveness where we have caused strife. We must ask Him to help us grow spiritually in our relationship with Him and strengthen us and the bonds of love that He has given us, so that our unity may glorify and testify to His power and goodness. We choose to keep Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ first in our hearts and lives and all other worldly desires behind us. He extends salvation to everyone, and we want to show the world the freedom, hope and peace they can have in accepting and following Him. May we follow and serve God daily with love, trust, awe and wonder. May Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ strengthen our faith, lift our spirits, protect our hearts, and show us opportunities to help bring others to Him and His Gospel Truth daily. May we do this duty boldly, humbly and faithfully. To God be all the honor and praise and glory! Seek, follow and trust in the LORD God Almighty always!

We must come to Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ with sincere hearts to ask forgiveness and follow Him and His Holy Word and Spirit always. We praise Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the mercy He bestows upon us and we are grateful for His grace and mercy and infinite blessings. By surrendering our hearts and our lives to His will, we see all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. God our refuge and our salvation and our constant provider. We lift our voices to Him in praise for His steadfast love, mercy and understanding. May Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ open our minds and hearts more and more to perceive and embrace Him and His truths. May He help us to find time to pray and read and study the Holy Bible daily and to find power in prayer, praying according to His Holy Word and will. May He help us to come to Him in true repentance and with faith in Him and His grace and merciful nature. May He give us the grace, courage and strength we need to walk with Him and do His will daily. May He teach us to watch our words when we pray to Him and to speak reverently and rightly. May we continually ask God to transform our hearts and make us faithful and humble as we walk with Him daily. We must come to Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ with honest, humble and repentant hearts. We must seek Him and His will and choose to follow Him all the days of our lives. May He help transform our hearts, help us to seek and live for Him above all else and to grow spiritually and build our faith and relationship with Him with each passing day. May He forgive our sinful nature and help us always make Him and our relationship with Him top priority.

As true and born-again Christians, we choose to walk in His righteous path and lead a life that is pleasing to Him. We desire Him and His will above anything else. We desire to walk in accordance with the love and light He has shown to us through His Holy Word and Spirit. We long for a deeper relationship with Him and a deeper fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ as well. When we fall into temptation and sin, we must turn to Him for forgiveness, strength and guidance. When believers learn to walk in accordance with God's Holy Word and Spirit, they have deeper fellowship with both God and one another. And the sin that could threaten to destroy that fellowship, if confessed (1 John 1:9), is covered in the blood of Jesus Christ and no longer a barrier between us and God. May we ask Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ to forgive us for any sins we have sinned this day or in days past. May we be faithful to Him and His Holy Word always. May He help us to walk more consistently in the light and to not neglect long to confess and forsake any sins that hinder our walk with Him. May He lead us in the direction He wants us to go so that we may seek and serve Him faithfully. God is holy and almighty and deserving of all praise honor and glory. We rejoice in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ, knowing He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8). May our hearts always be filled with thanksgiving and rejoicing. May He help us to praise Him freely and honestly like all believers who came before us. May we live a life that showcases our love and trust in Him and His Holy Word and Spirit as He uses us draw others to Him and His soul-saving Gospel Truth daily. May He continue guide, correct and protect us, so that we continue to grow in Him and not weaken and stray. May we all remain faithful to Him and to this duty and purpose He has called us to. Seek and put your faith and trust in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ and let Him do the rest. May He humble our hearts and help us focus on following and serving Him daily and helping others with joy and happiness. We lift our voices in praise to Him for His love, mercy, peace, faithfulness and grace - For EVERYTHING!

It is vital that we remain rooted in Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ through prayer and His Holy Word and Spirit and that we live and walk as a beacon of His light and love and share and spread the Gospel Truth daily, so that the lost souls in this world can come to know Him and be saved. The more we focus on Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ, growing spiritually by building our relationship with Him, leaning on Him and His Holy Word and Spirit, the better off we will be. Thanks to this and our faith in Him, we know that everything will be alright. And we will forever be grateful to Him. As true and born-again Christians, we believe in Him and His Holy Word and we strive daily to walk in His Holy Spirit. We know though our mortal bodies should die, He will raise us up and into new and glorious bodies (The Rapture). We who are truly His and alive at His second coming will never die, and our bodies will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and so shall we ever be with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven forevermore (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This is one of many promises given to us by God Himself. Thank God for His strength and guidance when we are faced with sin and temptation. Thank Him for His mercy and grace. Through Bible study and prayer, God reveals His wisdom and guides us to see opportunities to grow closer to Him and grow spiritually. He gives us direction to live our lives daily according to His will.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven (John 3:5, 14:6), the ONLY way to salvation (Acts 4:12, Ephesians 2:8-9) and He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25-26). Jesus Christ the LORD of lords, the KING of kings, the GOD of gods (Deuteronomy 10:17, 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16) - He is the Living, Almighty and Everlasting God (Isaiah 9:6, Revelation 1:8, John 3:16, John 3:36, Jeremiah 10:10). There is no other God besides Him (Isaiah 45:5). We MUST humble ourselves before Him, turning our backs on false teachers, false gods and idols and our sinful ways. We MUST repent and turn back to God and recognize who He is and love Him in return for His great love for us. We MUST make God top priority everyday! May we be motivated to spread God's Holy Word and Gospel Truth to all the Earth, knowing that it is the only hope of all those lost in their sins. Let us not hold out a false hope for men to be saved without the Gospel, but instead, strive to do our part to get the Gospel out to a lost and dying world.

Leaning on Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ through prayer and His Holy Word and Spirit strengthens us and our knowledge and wisdom about God and His Gospel Truth, exposing these imposters. May God help us to seek and lean on Him daily to gain the strength, wisdom and spiritual discernment needed to expose Satan and his imposters who seek to destroy us and God's ultimate Truth. Everyday, we must remember to share Jesus Christ's Gospel Truth with the world and to thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for the grace that He poured out for us on the cross at Calvary. He has freed us from the burdens of sin and from the eternal damnation of Hell. In all we say and do, may all praise, honor and glory always be given to Him and His Kingdom of Heaven.

With renewed minds, hearts and wills, let us serve Him humbly and faithfully out of pure love and grateful rejoicing. May He remind us of His presence and to remain at peace, fully knowing that all will be well because He is always with us. Let us seek Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ today and everyday with all our heart and being, looking for His love, light and will for our lives with each step we take. Let us seek to please Him with our thoughts, words, and deeds and seek to advance His Kingdom of Heaven and His glory with our lives. Let us seek Him from a pure and humble heart, and when we so seek, we believe Him and His promise that we will find. May He help us all to be more sensitive to the teaching ministry of His Holy Word and Spirit, relying on Him and allowing Him to speak to us and guide us every step of our Christian journey.

God gave us the Holy Bible - His living and Holy Word - to let us know of Him and His abiding love and care as well as guide and prepare us for all our lives. May He help us encourage one another as we continue our walk with Him and our duty to Him daily. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for being present for all our new beginnings and all our lives. May He redirect any anxiety we feel as He provides countless opportunities for growth and change. May we humble ourselves before God always, asking Him to forgive our sins and make our hearts and lives anew through His Holy Word and Spirit. May He help us make Him and His Holy Word top priority, so we can grow spiritually and grow in our relationship with Him as we apply it to our daily lives. Thank God that we can focus on Him and everything about Him, for that is what keeps us sane and at peace. May our words and actions always be a reflection of Him and His Holy Word and Spirit and will.

May He help us to always walk in His grace and Holy Spirit, not by our own measure. May He give us the humble humility to know that our freedom and eternal salvation is found only in Him, so that His grace may sustain us, and we may never lose sight of His love and light and mercy. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for calling us to Him and to serve Him. May He equip us to do all that He has called us to do so that as He works through us, He may use us to produce fruit, to reach others, and to encourage all brothers and sisters in Christ. May He work all of these things in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all His creation, for His miraculous ways and for everything He does and has done for us! Keep the faith and keep moving forward in your walk with Jesus! He loves us and He knows what is best for us. Seek, follow and trust in Him - Always!

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful LORD, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

[thatndginger]

Happy STS, K! How do you factor religion into your story, if at all? How religious are your characters? Did you build them a religion? If so, why did you do it that way? Do they follow a real religion? Why that one? If they aren’t religious at all, why?

!!!! Oooh this is a very good series of questions! I'll answer for Shapeshifter for this one, since it's almost always on my mind ;P

How do you factor religion into your story, if at all?

I'd like to think I factor religion into Shapeshifter in a respectful way - but religion is far from the main focus of this story. I treat religion and religious belief in a very 'mundane' way, in my opinion. Like: Warrick's an artist, he's a mechanic, he's Muslim, he wears wild clothes, he can't cook... it's a part of who he is, but it's not all he is, you know? Sometimes religion is more important to other characters, but to the story it isn't really a big thing. The city has roughly 1 million people, there is a lot of variation capable.

I do have a plot that deals pretty heavily with a cult and extremist religious views, but that's still very much in the 'building' stage so I don't wanna say much about it.

How religious are your characters? Do they follow a real religion? Why that one? If they aren’t religious at all, why?

That is very dependent on the individual characters. Kerr believes in something, but despite being Irish he's not a Christian. Jay has a very contentious relationship with religion and the idea of a higher power guiding the universe. Warrick is Muslim and he might be the most devout believer, but he is still very much a believer. There are a lot of witch characters who believe in various deities or universal powers.

Kerr's belief (or lack of, if you ask him) stems from an event in his childhood that made him definitively sure that the Christian God he'd been taught about couldn't exist. His belief is more in the realm of "the universe has a trajectory but there's no one at the wheel".

Jay tends to range from ambivalent to actively hostile against religion - something that is a direct copy from my own experience. She has a very, very hard time believing in a God or Gods that would willingly allow such suffering and pain to exist in the world. And personally, why they would allow her to become this monstrous thing when she's done nothing to warrant it. (I was suicidally depressed at 13 and being raised in a Christian cult that told me it was my own fault. It left me with some heavy baggage that unfortunately Jay inherited. I have recovered and am doing fine most days now!)

Did you build them a religion? If so, why did you do it that way?

On a technicality, yes. While I am happy to borrow from various open witchcraft practices that exist in the real world, I've developed my own Shapeshifter-specific witchcraft practice for this world. It started as a way for me to explore my own relationship to witchcraft and personal beliefs, and partly to avoid possibly offending anyone who follows real-life practices. And then everything grew a life of it's own and it is distinctly it's Own Thing now lol.

The main tenants of the 'Shapeshifter Witchcraft' practice are as follows:

-the ability to use magic comes almost entirely from simply believing you can use magic. Trust in yourself and magic will listen

-It is impossible to say for certain that any or all deities truly exist, because even a witch who believes in no gods can weild magic. So, to err on the side of caution, it's better to believe all deities could be alive and you shouldn't disparage them

-everything in the world has a base level of magic inside itself. For some objects, this magic level is so small it's almost nonexistent. For some, it's so large they're nearly bursting with it. Regardless of levels, everything has some magic.

-there is a base 'normal' for all living things, and though magic can alter a great deal of a thing's makeup, it cannot truly alter the 'base' of it. A human will always be a human, a dog always a dog, no matter how hard you try to change that with magic

[streetslost]

what do they think of creation? do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? what is their religion like?

cat is pretty agnostic.  she feels like there is something out there, but she doesn’t have a set concept/idea/system/etc. she accepts.  she tends to lean to the christian version simply because that’s the most exposure she’s gotten ( other homeless who maintain their faith and the majority of safer shelters she’s visited on occasion having it as a core value ), but it isn’t necessarily a belief system she’s adapted or adheres to... or even truly believes in any fashion.  it’s just sort of acknowledged on her end offhandedly.  but it’s also difficult to accept or believe in such things because, in a way, she would be having to accept that this God, whoever He may be... has left her to suffer.  has left so much of the world to suffer, and that’s a difficult reality to fight against.  that’s difficult to want to put your faith in. others have explained why the world is this way to her ( free will is a thing ), but she still feels the conflicts as most do when they try to determine their views on religion, afterlife, etc.  so cat prefers to stay neutral as she lets herself figure it all out in due time.  though she won’t label herself atheist, either.  open to learning, she supposes.  a personal commitment or denial to concern herself with later, probably.  not that she has a positive outlook on dying regardless of belief... and generally views herself as doomed by that point due to passed actions.

[christian-perspectives]

A New Life With Christ

In your mind what is one of the best things about Christianity? Besides the fact that we can spend eternity with the Lord. Right now we can also experience a new life in Christ. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.  2 Corinthians 5:15 Who did Jesus die for? The Apostle Paul didn’t say that Christ died for them “all,” even though He did. Instead, he made his statement more specific. He said Christ died for every “one.”  There was a popular song back in the late '60s called “One is the Loneliest Number.” Its verse starts by saying “one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.” Check out this free eBook related to having a new life in Christ. That statement especially rings true when a person goes through life without Christ. Even while standing in the middle of a room full of people, they can experience loneliness.  Those in Christ, however, can always depend on the “one” who gives them new life. Isaiah told us that the Lord goes far beyond being just a presence within us. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 Listen to what the Psalmist said about those who might tend to feel all alone. These couple of verses definitely refer to Christians who have new life in Christ. Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Psalm 68:5-6

Prejudging Others

With that said, how often do you categorize or classify people in your minds? In other words, how often do you prejudge someone because of their past or present situations? The next verse in 2 Corinthians 5 says the following about the way Paul had previously judged others. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. 2 Corinthians 5:16 In the rest of that verse, Paul went on to tell us why his views changed. It happen when his view of Jesus changed. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 2 Corinthians 5:16 He continued by reinforcing his position. Paul wanted to make sure that everyone knew they qualified for a new life with Christ. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Those With New Life in Christ will Stand in Judgment

We know that Christ died for each “one” of us and has given us each new life. With that in mind verse 10 goes on to say that Christians will stand before the Lord for judgment. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. 2 Corinthians 5:10 This is not referring to salvation. You will not go to the Judgment Seat of Christ unless you are living this new life in Him. Paul then compared our works to a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. And those works will go through the fire. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 Review Let’s review how you as a Christian can receive encouragement through what you have just read. - Christ died so you can have new life. - You are never alone when the Lord is a part of your life. - You have the same opportunities in Jesus as those you feel inferior to. - Those who seem inferior to you also have the same opportunities that you do. - The Lord will reward you for your works that survive the fire. His presence in your life is a great positive. Therefore rejoice because he told us that he will never leave us nor forsake us. He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. So, “ONE” doesn’t have to be a lonely number in your life. Especially when you focus on the “ONE” who can change your life.  In fact, Christ is the “ONE” who will give you new life. Lord, thank you that your son Jesus Christ died so we can have new life. We know our new life helps us never feel like we are alone again. Check out these posts related on the benefits of living a new life with Christ. - Enjoy Life To The Fullest - Living The New Life - Enjoying The Benefits Of Living A Godly Life - God's Plans For Your Life Are Good And Encouraging - 7 Reasons to Celebrate our Life in Christ - How To Know God's Perfect Will For Your Life Read the full article

[theestervashti]

"The Sophos." From Esther 2: 1-4.

Chapter 1 concludes not every man in Israel can be the king but he must be encouraged to act like it and support a moral agenda within society. This means everyone gets to do some things their way, other things must be done the way stated in the Torah. Specifically, one can be as sexy as one can handle, but one's sex must not interfere with the pursuit of the whims of the government or the faith. It is never the other way around: So long as the laws of civil society are observed, sex cannot be limited by the government or the temple by any means.

The Book of Esther suggests this path has many benefits as we discover as Chapter 2 opens: a virgin chicken in every pot! Seriously!

Children who grow up ashamed of their bodies or sexuality turn into very warped adults that do nothing but cavil about the unseen conduct of others. Christianity is, for the most part to blame for unnecessary stress upon youth and minorities in society because of its irrational views toward sex:

"Religious sexual minorities often face adverse consequences compared to “mainstream” sexual minorities. In particular, Christian sexual minority youth often seem to hold negative views of their sexual orientation (Goldbach & Gibbs, 2017) tend to conceal their sexual orientation (Kuyper, 2014), and suffer from more mental health issues than their nonreligious counterparts (Lytle et al., 2018). Sexual minorities generally refer to persons who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and people with non-heterosexual sexual behaviors or attractions; together they are referred to as ‘LGB’. In this article, the terms sexual minority and LGB are used interchangeable. According to the minority stress model (Meyer, 2003), sexual minorities may experience adverse health outcomes induced by stress due to fear of rejection, homophobia, and external stigmatization on account of their socially inferior minority status (e.g., Berghe et al., 2010). In recent years, scholars have acknowledged the importance of gaining greater insight into intersecting forms of stigmatization and have expanded the discussion about minority stress to encompass double (or triple) minority stressors, including stress arising from religious socialization and/or affiliation. In this research, we applied the dual minority stress model to the case of sexual minority youth who received Christian socialization."

So the next frame opens with a discussion of how to expose ourselves to a morally upright way of life that does not profane the human body or its functions. This effort is called Hegai, "A Holiday in the Land of Israel", which includes a dusting, a cleaning, free makeup treatment, a senior prom bondage cocktail dress, and happines all around:

Here begins Chapter 2: Esther Made Queen

2 Later when King Xerxes’ fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. 

2 Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. 

3 Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa "the mare". Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let beauty treatments be given to them. 

4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.

The king's attendants and the eunuch Hegai are key to understanding how women can be groomed for proper social status in a royal household. The reason this is the locale over a democratically elected system is it suggests non-bureaucratic legislative change is the ideal for improving social welfare. The People, while we hold them in high regard are the main problem for the other people and there is no end in sight to this.

Niether a king nor a prince will put up with that shit, and as a result are supposed to be more achieving in the area of social norms, allowing their people to be happier rather than upset at each other all the time.

The King's Attendants are hired lifelong to ensure the king is fit for duty. The term has a value in Gematria of 637, "jazz & go."

Jazz is assocciated with sophos, lesbians, and in the Torah that connotes incredible expertise:

"The only real way to check whether one is wise is to measure effects (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:35). If things go up in smoke (crops get lost, wives run off, enemies take over): not wise. If things go smoothly (crops are abundant, wives are merry, enemies become friendly neighbors): there's wisdom at play."

That says it all. The Values in Gematria for the above block follows the Four Directions, meaning there are four steps one follows in order to attain to the Sophos:

v. 1: North: What is not known at this time. He remembered Vashti. Vashti means the world has many different kinds of persons within it, all are legally required by the Torah to observe Shabbos. This is the only way the civilized world will work. It has never been done before.

The Number is 7176, זאזו‎‎ , zazu, "shoo, go away". If you don't want to be happy, hit the road, Jack.

v. 2 East, what is revealed through inquiry. The Attendants Proposed: Let a search be made.

Attendents are mentioned in Chayeh Sarah:

59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase  to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess  the cities of their enemies.” 61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

A Rabak is a kind of master who understands how the Torah works. The unused verb רבק (rabaq) means to tie fast in other languages. Noun מרבק (marbeq), which does occur in the Bible, means stall.

A Rabak Ah knows this happens through the love of mankind for itself.

So a Rabak who mounts the camels the line of succession, and gives them a taste of this sentiment will create the city that will rule the Kingdom and be the most impervious to its enemies.

All searches that lead out of the uknown into the future in the East begin with how to turn the world away from combat with itself because God told us this is what is best for us.

The Number is 4634, דוגד‎ ‎, dogg, "fishing". Brotherly love and the tie that binds are clearly not for everyone unless they are taught this from an early age or forced to change their mind through social pressure. Without both, there is no chance the world will change its hostile ways.

v. 3: South: What is understood after the inquiry. The King sent out commissioners to every province to create the Harem. This means he began to institute the education of the world on the Pack, all 24 Noble Jewish Identities, 12 male and 12 female.

The Number is 8930, חטגאֶפֶס‎‎, hatgafes, "they squatted", they taught the Torah in its appropriate format whether it was socially acceptable or not.

v. 4: West: What is enlightening about what is understood. The advice appealed, and he followed it. The Number is 7963, ז‎טוג‎‎‎, ztug, "paired up". This is the essence of the Sophos, when things go well, a new paradigm evolves. Faith dictates success must not be elusive or an accident it must be the result of an acute understanding of the Grace of God and long life. Man's contribution to this, the Hegai, is called celebration of the Shabbos.

The government's contribution is control over the factors outside the influences of the Sophos, such as corruption, greed, superstition, ignorance, tyranny etc. Churches and states are not sentient, they are things, they are but gathering places. If we endeavor from birth to involve all persons in the Rabak, Sophos will result.

[lindajenni]

mar 13

unspeakable evil "then the Lord said to me, 'even if moses and samuel stood before Me, my mind would not be favorable toward this people.  cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.'" jer 15:1 there used to be a radio show broadcasting in america called the shadow.  promo for the show was: "who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? the shadow knows!"  evil is a strong word, and a provocative one.  nowadays it tends to be reserved for acts of exceptional cruelty: mass murders, child abuse, sex trafficking, genocide - the worst among the bad.  it is not just the extreme nastiness of such acts – and their perpetrators – that makes us describe them as evil.  evil exists even in acts of unkindness as well.  "for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." matt 15:9 there lies something within the darkness of evil.  it may begin as a faint shadow, gradually sinking into a  deep, impenetrable darkness that resists any light of reason.  to say that a murderer has killed because she or he is evil is really to point to an absence of motive; possibly a reprobate mind.  far from the usual muddle of human motivation, the reprobate has a cold, horrifying purity.  phrases like "unthinkable evil" or "unspeakable evil" are the only way to describe them.  and yet, some have witnessed even the evilest of the evil touched by the Holy Spirit and born again.  Hope exists even in extreme darkness. so how does one think about evil?  perhaps we can't, or shouldn't.  a philosopher once wrote that we should remain silent about "that whereof we cannot speak."  on a more practical level, most victims of evil will find that simply coping takes all their energy – and in the midst of their suffering, it may be difficult to untangle the questions "why?" or "why me?"  but the very asking of these questions suggests that there is something about evil that demands our thinking. the christian tradition offers huge resources for our thinking about the nature, the origin and meaning of evil.  our Christian doctrine of creation often demands a defense to unbelievers questioning even the existence of God.  if the world was designed and brought into being by a perfectly good, just and all-powerful creator, why does it contain evil at all?  if God did not create evil, where did it come from?  and why would God make human beings capable of extreme cruelty?  i.e., why didn't God just make everything better? their question is often asked and summarized.  "is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?  then he is impotent.  is He able, but not willing?  then He is malevolent.  is He both able and willing?  why then does evil exist?" The world's response to such questions is to simply accept that the world is as it is, evil and all existing simultaneous in each of us.  creation gives expression to a view shared by many believers and non-believers alike: that the world is good, that life is worthwhile, that it is better to be than not to be.  but the view which once ruled is now shrinking into obscurity; that of a deeply-held belief in norms of goodness and justice. as it stands now, all are under condemnation, subject to judgement and punishment by our very acts.  when one comes to that realization, knowing that every beginning has an ending, the question must then be asked: "therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?" 2 pet 3:11  "so He said to them, 'you will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father." matt 20:23 we dare not even seek such an honor for ourselves.  His presence is more than enough for us.  so willingly we live the example our Lord set for us.  "do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." rom 12:12 

[sluthut6000]

hi! I think all of yall are right and are looking at some very important findings about international workers rights and its a very complex issue caused by a lot of things. BUT I saw yall talking sociology and couldn't help but butt in with some fun facts and background info on some of the topics discussed (I'm a sociologist)

the protestant work ethic is a sociological theory used to explain the relationship with religion and work, put forth by Max Weber in 1905. The book argues that as religion develops, so do moral and philosophical ideas around general life affairs (such as work). He postits that as capitalism and the Protestant Reformation followed similar timelines in terms of development that Protestant religions attitudes towards work was a causal factor in the development of how Protestant and capitalist countries developed and understood the actually idea of what it means to work. In this way, the Calvinists who were forced into America (because their religious views were so extreme) were very influential in that work (and also being in general very anti-human in sentiment,, like, all things that brought pleasure and weren't for suffering or devotion to God weren't really it) was a mainstay devotion to God. Blandness and doing nothing to pleasure the senses were devotions to God. suffering your life away for heaven was a devotion to God. America in general has a very specific understanding of both the Christian religion and work due to this historical influence. I can't say anything about the revolutionary war era (1775-1810 I'll just say) because I'm not studied on that but I am aware of the way protestantism developed across America in the early 1800s was influenced by these perspectives as well. Examples of religions that came from this era: Baptists, Mormons, Methodists. This is known as the "Awakening" and you can see influences of this religious zeal all across the American West (went hand in hand with Manofest Destiny). Anyway, that is to say that both the Puritan ethos and the Evangelicalism are both profoundly influential on American culture and the understanding of American work and capitalism and have been for 2 or more centuries.

If work and denying oneself pleasures in life are the foundations of godly devotion in the religious lives of those who were forced into America, what legacy would that leave?

I haven't done specific research into work culture in the modern era and how that relates to this historic ideological legacy, however, one could theorize that a lack of workers rights could very easily be a consequence of this, especially as WASPs tend to be those who have political and financial power in the US.

Now, that leaves the question of why that didn't happen in Protestant countries in Europe. I think Weber (its been a while since I've actually read this book) did in fact find that those in Protestant countries did devote themselves more to capitalism, but that has nothing to do with government policy. (this is 100% speculation now - no research has been done on this topic tho ig i technically "had to read an article on this for class") It could have to do with a stronger focus on the humanitarian aspects of the enlightenment having more of a legacy in Europe? Like, America has always kinda been ruled by the rich, but ik Europe seems to have a lot of historical class based revolutions (this is based on a vague remembering about a peasant riot in one of my classes on social movements?) even tho these countries have also been ruled by the rich ??? but I am aware that there are actually very important philosophies that Europe looks at when making laws and influence daily life (just as ideologies influence most things that people touch) and "Integral Europe: Fast Capitalism, Multiculturalism, Neofascism" by Douglas Holmes gets into it a wee bit BUT I don't remember it because I read that book over a year ago. sorry. but it could have to do with that? I'm sure there's been research done into that - if I remember about this when I have free time I'll look into it and also I'll cite and link my sources if yallre interested

I am really interested in studying the real life ramifications of religious and philosophical ideology in the US sooo this was just right up my alley. Also I haven't looked into some of these topics in a while so I very well could be wrong, misremembering, or misinterpreting the things that I've learned and would love for corrections or discussion on the topics!

I think adults need summer vacation. Like let's just close down all our jobs for three months and play outside. Please. I'm so tired.