#believer in biology

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Colette Colfer

Published: Jan 17, 2024

A slow-burning religious revolution is transforming Ireland. The Catholic Church has waned to a smidgin of its former significance and much of the enormous space it once occupied in the Irish psyche has been vacated. A gap has appeared. We need to mind this gap.

At the same time as Catholicism is declining in importance, a new belief system centred around the concept of gender identity is gathering momentum, thrusting roots deep into the cultural fabric of Irish society, and filling parts of the expanse previously occupied by Catholicism.

This new belief system has implications for all sectors of Irish society including education, sports, legislation, and the media. It also influences popular individual understandings of the self.

‘I am large, I contain multitudes’ wrote Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) in his famous poem Song of Myself. The kaleidoscopic complexity of the individual is often eclipsed when those espousing gender identity theory magnify gender identity out of proportion to other facets of the self.

Although the idea of gender identity is considered secular in nature, there are many religious parallels. A certain level of faith is required to believe in the existence of the scientifically unfalsifiable intangible internal essence that is the gendered self. This disembodied sense of self, elevated in importance above the body, mirrors ideas about the soul. Sacrificial rites involving the removal of healthy organs assert the primacy of gender identity that is bestowed with a sacred quality.

There are echoes of holy days and religious seasons in new calendars listing dates associated with gender identity. These include Agender Pride Day (19th May), Non-Binary Awareness Week (in July), International Pronouns Day (20th October), and Transgender Awareness Month (November). There are also quasi-religious symbols, priest-like leaders, slogans that sound like mantras and compulsory articles of belief including that sex is ‘assigned’ at birth, that everyone has a gender identity, and that social transition and affirmation are the path to finding one’s true self (or salvation).

Societies are always changing. When 108-year-old Florence Pannell was interviewed on UK television in 1977 about growing up in Victorian England, she was asked what had changed most during her lifetime. Florence responded: ‘Everything! Nothing is the same! Everything is changed!’ To be alive is to be caught in a web of change. The rate of religious change in Ireland is happening faster than the rate of population change. The Irish population rose 46% from 3.5 to 5.1 million between 1991 and 2022. During the same period, the number of people with ‘no religion’ increased by over 1,000 per cent.1

Ireland in the 1900s was steeped in Catholicism. Church steeples punctured skylines symbolising the highest societal value and pinpointing the geographical locus of the community. Streets and remote country roads were dotted with grottos of the Virgin Mary. Silhouettes of huge crosses were visible on hills and rocky outcrops. Weeks revolved around Sunday mass. People’s entire lifelines were patterned with religious rituals.

Catholicism in Ireland reached its peak in 1961 when Roman Catholics made up a phenomenal 94.9 per cent of the population. Since then, however, the proportion of Catholics has been in decline. By 2022 it had dropped to 69% and since then, the tide of Catholic belief has been receding further still.

Receding tides require attention. In 1907, a tidal wave resulted in the deaths of 70% of the inhabitants of Simeuleu in Indonesia. Survivors told the story of an earthquake followed by a receding sea and then a tidal wave. They referred to the sequence of events as smong. Stories of smong were passed down through the generations in popular lullabies and poems.

When a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean on the 26th of December 2004 killed an estimated quarter of a million people, the island of Simeuleu was an anomaly in the region as there was only a minimal loss of life. Just seven victims were recorded from the population of almost eighty thousand. The high survival rate was accredited to the stories of smong. Islanders had recognised the signs of the retreating sea after an earthquake and had rushed to higher ground.

Declining religious adherence has potentially important implications. Sascha Becker and Hans-Joachim Voth point out, for example, that: ‘As the role of religion in public life declined from the late 19th century onwards, new ideologies and totalitarian world-views spread’. Becker and Voth mention that the ideologies of both Communism and Naziism were more popular in highly secularised areas of interwar Germany.

The decline of Catholicism in Ireland and the concomitant increase of those with no religion warrants careful consideration. Catholicism has faded significantly from the public sphere, scarpered from centre stage to a quieter corner in the wings. The stage is now peopled by those proclaiming the new gospel of ‘equality, diversity, inclusion’ and the stage is festooned with sacralised Progress Pride flags signalling the adoption of gender identity theory. The ideology of nationalism has more recently made a notable public appearance side stage and new belief systems or older ideologies could also emerge and rise to prominence.

Ireland’s National Census of 2022 indicates a religiously heterogeneous society with over fifty separate categories of religion outlined. This compares to the National Census of 1981 when just eight separate categories of religion were recorded and all the Christian denominations combined constituted 99.4% of the total population. A look at just some of the 2022 categories and numbers of adherents gives an indication of the level of religious change: Islam: 81,930; Hindu: 33,043; Taoists: 200; Scientologists: 132; Satanism: 189; Jedi Knight: 1,800, Jehovah’s Witness: 6,332; Buddhist: 9,053. A low-key online campaign in the run-up to the 2022 Census encouraged those with concerns about gender identity theory to identify their religion on the census form as ‘Believer in Biology’. Although the official census data did not publish details, a Freedom of Information request showed that at least 163 of the 8,064 in the ‘Other stated religion’ category identified their religion as ‘Believer in Biology’.2

Minding the gap vacated by traditional religion that is currently being filled, at least in part, by gender identity theory involves paying careful attention to the latest top-quality research on gender dysphoria, following best medical practice, developing guidelines based on evidence rather than ideology, allowing space for a diversity of beliefs and for healthy civil discussion that allows open conversation and respectful dialogue about the implications of gender identity theory on wider society including on single-sex spaces, sports, and children’s psychological and physical well-being.

The highest point in the urban skyline of Ireland today is the satellite pylon rather than the church steeple. This signals a switch in societal values and the locus of community formation. Social media is where new belief systems are promulgated and where younger generations are most likely to seek and find meaning. The trains of communication in the internet era are fast-moving. Mind the gap.

-

According to the National Census, 66,270 people had no religion in 1991. This rose to 736,210 in 2022 – a difference of 1,011% ↩︎

The numbers for ‘Believer in Biology’ only include records processed after November 2022. ↩︎

==

This speaks to the "Substitution Hypothesis," which suggests that as traditional religions decline, other quasi- and religious-like practices fill the void to satisfy human tendency towards religiosity.

[hawkpartys]

i think of this image approximately every day of my life

Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) observation by kiwikiu

[great-and-small]

Wow! Look at all those sticks! That’s exactly what I need for my nest and they’re all perfectly sized omg. How lucky they just fell on that big log like that! Just gonna grab these bad boys for the nest and hop on ov-

[frownyalfred]

As someone from the Midwest I can tell you there’s no way Clark escaped the litany of Dads smacking him on the shoulder/chest as a young adult and going “Dang, you start working out or something?” to an awkward Kryptonian Clark who has never touched a weight in his life and thought he could get away with wearing baggy shirts and pants.

Now he has to construct an elaborate gym routine lie to satisfy the curiosity (and minor jealousy) of every dad who sees his arms flex a little too much at church on Sundays.

[sciderman]

this isn't THRIVING... this is FALLING APART... with STYLE

[thechekhov]

I've just had a very trying time in the comments section and I need to know.

[theladart]

Rapidash/Rainbow Dash ponymon fusion: Firestorm!

Inspired by @pinxpony‘s Pinkie Pie/Flaffy fusion, Flaffy Taffy (hope you don’t mind the tag :P)

Edit: Found out that the rapidash pic I got for reference is a fakemon mega evo designed by CaseyDeanFakemon on Deviantart

[just-your-average-cryptid]

most of us have heard of the red car game. you’re on a road trip, you’re bored, you start looking for red cars to do something.

and then they’re everywhere. you notice them nearly every few minutes.

there aren’t suddenly more red cars now, of course. you were seeing them already, but you weren’t noticing. you weren’t looking.

I am noticing things.

there is a plant I notice everywhere now, a small bushy plant in suburbs, along streets, by shops on the highways. dwarf umbrella bush is what the internet tells me when I look for it’s name. I did this because I wanted to know why,

every time I ever saw it, every place,

it was always dying. always the leaves turning yellow, the branches small and scraggly. inside out - nitrogen deficiency. their soil drained.

I am noticing how many of these landscaping plants are yellowing, how small and sickly they look in just a few years. I am noticing how often the grass outside the house is replaced when it once again turns brown and dry, how the type never changes and the cycle starts again. I am noticing how the unmowed, unkempt spaces on lakesides and roadsides look more alive than this. how the preserve I grew up next to was miles of “messy” unmanicured nature and the ground was covered in leaves instead of grass and there was life.

I am noticing the birds that come by the lake. there was a flash of blue wings and red chest - eastern bluebird, male, relatively common. I had never seen one before. there is a family of ducks that appear every spring; i cannot say if it’s successive generations or different ducks, but I can always look forward to ducklings. there are little brown birds with white heads whose names I do not know - are they some kind of piper? why don’t I already know?

why is it so hard to learn about my native plants (accurately, that is)? why are so many gardening sites littered with people who think a plants value is based on how pretty or useful it is to them, who think a tree shedding leaves is “messy”?

why is knowing about the world we live in so… odd? why is it a hobby and not vital knowledge? I learned about polar equations. I taught myself about mycorrhizal networks and species of insects.

(did you know there are shiny green bees? a special species of wasp pollinating figs? that white flowers bloom at night for moths? do you know? have you looked?)

I cannot look at a lawn and see life anymore. it is a wasteland, devoid of life, dying slowly itself. everywhere is grass, grass, doused in water that runs over into storm drains, soaked in fertilizer and pesticides and a hundred other poisons and sending one clear message:

this is a place of death. life is not welcome here.

I do not think I could live in a city. too loud, yes, too busy, yes, too many people, yes, but the plants would bother me. a tree allotted only a convenient square, surrounded by dead stone and metal.

a forest cleared for this, for burning asphalt streets and racing cars and shops whose bathrooms are “for paying customers only”.

this is a place of death. life is not welcome here.

and now I am noticing.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Me in my mind: Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be a fish? What it’s like to inhabit the aquatic world? Fish literally exist inside their element. Do you wonder how it feels to breathlessly suck in the water too thick for our lungs, enjoy the feeling, revel in the fresh cool water washing over your gills? Wander the world around you in perfect three dimensions, no longer restrained by gravity. Watch the sunlight ripple through the waves, dancing on the bottom. Even the darkness of night and winter is no longer frightening, as you can feel every movement of your fellow kin and the environment around you. Inches apart, never touching, yet you feel it all. How does it feel to fill your swim bladder with gas and rise from the deep dark muck motionlessly like a regal ghost ship from the fog? How does it feel to caress the weeds and reeds with your fins, jump briefly from the waves into a world so unlike your own, of thin atmosphere and dry air? And to think, we were fishes once, our ancestors. Look at how far we’ve come from home! We have different coating on top of our skin which harms the ray-fins’ mucus, our scales adapted into hairs long ago, we posture ourselves like seahorses with no tail, our hands are made for holding onto things. We’re so different now, and yet, so similar. Every time I look into the eye of a fish I see understanding: a fellow traveler of the Earth whose circumstances brought her and me together. Her eyes study my body and my surroundings. Does the fish look at me, through the same glass, and wonder about the other world like I do? Does she imagine what it’s like? What does she feel?

Me to my family: damn can you believe fish are real

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

misunderstanding

[orengejoshi]

I can not believe im asking you this but I saw a post about flug having eggs or something? Is that like mpreg? I kinda know what it means bc I've seen sans au x sans au before. But whats with the eggs? Im not offending you its just idk that much in mpreg and i also don't draw any of it. (This is not to offend anyone im just curious.)(also love how you draw flug Hes my favorite character.)

Haha yeah it kinda is! I made a few arts this year where Flug takes care of eggs.

Don't worry you're just curious, that's cool💛 I don't feel offended

there's no other thing I get as many requests for as for mpreg with Flug so I feel like it's a good time to say:

I know it's called mpreg in fandom terms, but I for one don't even think of it as that inherently suggestive trope; I genuinely just think it's cute and silly. pregnancy is a beautiful thing in my eyes, and not a kink for me personally. there's no issue with it, but I'm saying that's just not my motivation. I headcanon Flug is a transman who still wishes for an own baby, like me. it's kinda coping for me to draw Flug going thru smth I wish for irl as well. I relate to him bc he's taken on such a good parent role for 505

this reasoning is gonna be super rare, most people who enjoy/draw this explicitly do NOT want children irl. idk why others draw it tbh... but this is just me.

so the reason I usually always choose eggs is bc I mostly draw the paperhat ship... and since Black Hat seems to have more reptile or insect features I figured his offspring would probably grow in eggs instead of live. he's basically an alien, right

you can canonly have Black Hat's offspring! in the old orientation video on youtube "Los casos perdidos del futuro" exactly at minute 7, Demencia hints to the fact that by drinking his saliva you can have his spawn.

they never actually showed anyone doing that but I'm just assuming they'll come in eggs.

his spawn does not look like this^, Alan has drawn it in a livestream; it's just an eldritch clump of eyes, teeth and tentacles on the floor. in reality Black Hat is the only one of his species and he's unable to create another independent sentient creature like him.

so I drew what I imagine them looking like if he could (a lot of people asked for that anyway)

Thank you for loving my art💜

[froglegsblogs]

Most vampires have specialized hollowed out teeth (and thin tubes lined with an connecting to said teeth that go just over the roof of their mouth and connect to the inside of the throat) most often the top canines for drinking blood directly from a victim though they may drink the blood normally in other circumstances such as from a cup. Because of how these teeth are connected deeper into the head any damage taken to them is extremely painful and proves more difficult to heal often leaving crack like “scars” on the teeth. These teeth are connected to more flexible gum tissue and can move around slightly for easier feeding. (a little bit similar to a snake)

These teeth also inject victims with a small amount of venom that calms and numbs victims when first bitten.

Similar to some venomous snakes this venom is mildly anti coagulant and will thin out blood. (The venom neutralizes in the human body within an hour)

Because of all this vampires have smaller nasal cavities, which isn’t really a big problem seeing that they are dead and don’t need what the nasal cavity offers quite as much. (respiratory protection, breathing, etc.)

I might make a more anatomically accurate one later but for now you get my scribbles!

[makofinz]

glow squid!! like me!!! like meee!!! ^_^ im a glow squid if u didnt know…. ik for a fact the tentacle # is wrong but some r like behind it or something u need to trust

[inkrivelbr]

How shameless!

It's not news to Liu Qingge that when he goes on missions, he ends up listening to the famous "Resentment of Chunshan".

But now, it's stranger than usual to hear this obscene song, as he is being courted (even if secretly from the public) by the couple.

Liu Qingge tried his best to ignore the music as he ordered tea at the store.

— Dear listeners, the beloved song has been updated, I hope you like it.

The song continues but halfway through, the singer says.

Liu Qingge was surprised.

— I hope they didn't make it any more obscene.

The singer returned to singing and...

A hot-blooded but loyal man.

A man known for his battles.

Once an enemy, now a friend.

The couple managed to win the heart of the handsome warrior.

Liu Qingge the warlord.

He is certainly the only one with enough resistance and strength.

To handle Xin Mo and Xiu Ya at the same time.

Liu Qingge spits out all the tea, ignoring the indignant scream of the person in front of him.

The music continued but Liu Qingge couldn't help but pay attention to it.

W-what did he just hear??

How did you find out they were courting you??

Why the hell in the song is he portrayed as a blushing virgin maiden?!

Yes he was a virgin before sleeping with them, but that doesn't matter now!

And what is this about holding both at the same time?!

He never...

Binghe is already too big...

B-both...at the same time...

Is this humanly possible?

He can already handle Luo Binghe...what would be more-

Embarrassed by his own thoughts, Liu Qingge pays for the tea and leaves the store.

______

Liu Qingge was panting, with his legs spread as wide as possible so that Luo Binghe could go deeper inside him.

— Qingge is very needy today, you know that whatever you want, just ask.

Says Shen Qingqiu while stroking Liu Qingge's hair as he was lying on Shen Qingqiu's lap.

Liu Qingge blushes, it is very shameless what he wants.

— Shishu, we will not refuse.

Seeing both of them being so kind to him, Liu Qingge finally confesses.

— I-I want you both... at the same time

A silence passed through the room before the couple, with renewed desire, made Liu Qingge's wish.

Liu Qingge actually endured Xin Mo and Xiu Ya at the same time.

The entire night in the Palace was filled with the moans of the Demon Lord and Peak Lord Qing Jing future husband

The servants clapped for Liu Qingge's resistance.

As expected of Bai Zhan's God of War!

[da-janela-lateral]

I've always been curious about esper aura textures. Do they form based on the way psychic energy emerges from its source and weaves itself into an external structure? Do their appearance have a genetic factor just like the very presence of ESP, or its purely a matter of a person's soul? Are there registered patterns in which they can manifest? Do their shapes, colors and movements have a general reason to appear like that, or does it depend on the person? Can the patterns change? Do the patterns interfer in sensorial properties, like perceived temperature, texture or hardness?

Oh that's an anime only thing right.

[madamairlock]

Friends, I have very very good news!

I GOT IN!

I start the end of August! 😍