#but that's not just progressive christians doing that?

[rei-ismyname]

Merry X-Men Holiday Special Highlights

Happy holidays, everyone! It's been about a year since I started posting about the X-Men on Tumblr and if it wasn't for all the lovely folks who engage and discuss it wouldn't be so enriching. I'm super anti-capitalist and anti cultural Christianity so it's less 'Happy Christmas' and more 'I wish y'all the best.' ❤️💚

I wonder if Lockheed speaks Hebrew

Here's Kitty Pryde celebrating Chanukah in Genosha and remembering her father. Leading the special with an explicitly Jewish character observing a Jewish holiday is great, but the notion of saving the world by becoming president of the USA is a dubious one. The USA is an imperialist entity built on deep seated systemic inequality and worse. Even the most progressive of presidents is beholden to that. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try, but Kitty is kidding herself about 'saving the world the right way.'

Nature Girl hates Christmas, and it's hard to argue with her reasons. The parts about warmth are weird to me because I live in Australia where Christmas is always hot AF. One of the few days I hope for rain, tbh.

I'm not sure if Bobby quite understood what 'eschewing capitalism' means but this looks pretty fun. That tie dye X-Men tee slaps and I want one. I wonder what Kubark thinks of this human holiday.

This story with Magneto coming around on the pointlessness of lighting menorahs does the rounds every now and then, though not as much as I'd expect. The kids are particularly plucky and eloquent, and the one who emphatically tells Magneto he's wrong is a legend. I'm fond of any story where Magneto rethinks his beliefs, and this is a nice one.

It took me a while to notice that this is written by Charlamagne tha God, possibly because it's kinda funny to imagine Ororo knowing who that is. Idk why, I've just never seen any stories indicating that she's into Hip Hop culture. I like that it's a rejection of turning the other cheek where bigoted assholes are concerned. You can't reach some people, and there's no obligation to exhaust yourself trying. Fuck em. The Michelle Obama mention is a bit on the nose.

Old man Logan is cutting firewood and being gruff, as he does. Kurt gives him a picture of himself, which is a baller move. I was under the impression that this Logan was an alternate reality Logan, and doesn't have a particularly close relationship with these X-Men. Nothing about Logans makes sense, sometimes you just have to accept it as cute and cool.

Glob does stuff! Is that meant to be mistletoe? We don't have it down here. He nails up some plant matter and then chills by himself. Little bit depressing, but I can't talk.

Bobby Drake has a party! Interestingly neither Jewish nor Christian, but a pagan holiday that's become a bit more popular (like Christmas and Easter.) Hope is watching Cable do... something, in a recorded message from when she was the universe's most unpopular baby.

Some kids are sharing the rumour that Magneto merked Santa, which is hilarious. It's obviously untrue, not least because Santa is Mags' mutant brother. Kurt lectures them.

Jubilee beats up Arcade (yay!) and quotes Home Alone, rescuing Shogo (who's spending this Christmas as a dragon in Otherworld.) I really don't like Arcade, though he has done two excellent things. Torturing Sinister and creating the Proletarian - worker's hero of the Soviet Union.

Nightcrawler and Storm show up and Christmas is really just a backdrop for a light anti-capitalist tale. Cool! I'd expect Cyclops to be in this book, but no. It's Chuck-less as well.

[creature-wizard]

Any ideas about how to respond to people who are “anti-cult” but in a shitty/sexist way?

Context: I’m a (queer) leftist Christian whose denomination is progressive, but have a couple friends who are queerstakes (queer Mormons in community w each other bc the mainstream church is homo/transphobic) & 1 queer lefty Catholic. We’ve all encountered, but them more so, people who want to “save us” from religion in some way.

For me it’s mostly the type of Nü Atheist/antitheist extremist who I can laugh off easily because they’re arguing against a version of ‘my church’ that I’m not in, but especially my Mormon friends will have a harder time because (as with Catholicism) their congregations really are kind of safe-haven offshoots of far-more-conservative traditions, whereas I actually have a synod/denominations/bishops to back me up. But a thing that comes up repeatedly especially for the Mormons is “You’re in a cult”, and with both the language of “You THINK you like it and you THINK you’re happy, but you’re so brainwashed that you don’t know your own mind, you have no agency, and if you just abandoned your (hard-fought for, safe-haven) religious community you’d become Normal, you’ll see!!”

Now. This really rubs all of us the wrong way as a group of queer people who are mostly women. “You can’t trust yourself, you’re incapable of logic, you don’t know how to think for yourself, you have no agency or desires of your own” comes off sexist as all Hell, and appeals to “Try being like everyone else, it’ll make you normal” call to mind religious conservatives who call you back to the fold or push conversion therapy on you. It feels like this is itself trying to deny them agency to make their own choices.

But people (online, or in person in college mainly) never believe the beliefs are genuine or that they’ll ever be safe even among other queer people and progressives.

So I guess the question is… how do you convince someone you don’t need deprogramming when you come from a tradition which is, overarchingly, a lot more high-control to the point that I get why when people say “Mormonism is a cult” etc. When you’re religiously-observant but treated as apostate by a lot of people. Etc.

Any thoughts on ways to respond or explain? Or should they just disregard it because of the bad attitude involved?

I'm not really sure. I think many ex-Christians are channeling their own traumas with Christianity into these conversations, which means they aren't really in a good headspace to be reasoned with.

Maybe it could be useful to start a conversation about how their behavior is Christian missionary behavior in a new hat, and ask them why they think they're going to get a positive response to a type of behavior that they themselves would find incredibly obnoxious. But, I can't guarantee it would work.

[nerdygaymormon]

In thr garden of eden why would god force Adam and eve to disobey him in order to move forward and keep all his commandments? Why wouldn't he just give them the choice of whether or not to eat the fruit (like maybe offering it to them and they can say yes or no) without commanding them to not do it? God being all knowing, he knows Satan will coerce eve and she'll eat the fruit anyway. I'm mormon and so confused about that part

You're on the right track in that these stories were written to get us to ponder their meaning, what are we supposed to learn from them, what lessons about life can we glean?

Here’s one thing to remember, no one has come up with a satisfactory explanation, it’s left a quandary for us to puzzle over.

I think most Christians view the Fall as a mistake, that we were all meant to live in the Garden and have idyllic lives. That certainly is not the LDS viewpoint.

As Latter-day Saints we have 5 versions of this story: 2 in Genesis, 1 in the Book of Moses, 1 in the Book of Abraham, and the 1 presented in the temple endowment. They differ from each other and the things we can learn from each of them differs accordingly.

There’s two main LDS theories I’ve heard taught. The first is that people are here on earth to learn and grow, how can this happen without choices to make? By giving conflicting commandments, God is forcing Adam and Eve to choose.

The other main LDS theory is that God created them perfect and for them to experience the sufferings and degenerative effects of mortal life and death, God didn’t impose it on them, they had to choose it in exchange for the opportunity to grow and progress. I think this idea is a bit problematic for people who believe Adam & Eve are historical and were the first humans, why would Adam & Eve get to make that choice for everyone? But if we think of them as symbolically representing humankind, then we chose to come to earth and encounter the hardships of mortal life for the opportunity to progress to become like God.

There’s some other theories. One fits with Elder Oaks’s recent conference talk that there are some commandments which are temporary and some which are permanent. Not partaking of the fruit was a temporary commandment, thus the conflict was going to be temporary. One version of the story says God will return with further instructions. Perhaps those instructions would include in what circumstances and timeline they were to partake of the fruit, but then Satan showed up and convinced them to do it now.

Another theory is it was done this way to demonstrate that when we’re faced with a decision, choose to be more like God even if it isn't the easier path. Eve chose to be more like God even if that brought suffering and death. We are all going to die in the end, so focus on choosing to become more like our heavenly parents.

In life, we are all going to have hard decisions to make, choose the higher law. Love is the highest law (see what Jesus said about the two greatest commandments). Eve chose love for God by wanting to be like Him. When Adam was faced with the decision, he chose love for Eve, he ate so he could remain with her.

Maybe another way to understand the predicament of Adam & Eve in the Garden is that life isn’t simple and predictable. Our understandings are limited and what we think is the correct thing to do and what we understand God wants for us can change as we get more experience/knowledge.

I hope I gave you some ideas to explore. Going beyond why would God give them conflicting commandments, what else can we learn from the story of Adam and Eve? You may be interested in some of my thoughts from this post and this one.

[glacierruler]

:/

...

I really need to find a better church...

I just don't know if there are any

[not-so-superheroine]

Jesus is my older brother, not my dad.

other christians don't seem to feel the same?

am i missing something where he insists on such a thing except perhaps with actual little children?

[toubledrouble]

You know what we should bring back?

Older christianity. I mean the anti government, anti military, community based christianity. The one that cared the most about peace, equality, mercy, kindness, and radical love. The one with shared property. The one that didn't conform to society but instead existed mostly outside of it. The one where noone considered one sin worse than another because in the end, we are all sinners trying our best to be better.

[nobodysdaydreams]

One of my favorite things about being Christian is being able to say joyfully, genuinely, and hopefully to all my enemies “See you in heaven!” because in a world of “see you in hell” and “kys” and “the world would be better without you” I’d choose “never give up on yourself, this world is better with you in it, it is never too late for you to embrace the God-given goodness inside you, and I would be so excited to discover I was spending eternity with you” every single time.

[psalms-and-spells]

My friends at church joke with me that I want to “Become Catholic for the vibes” but like y’all I’m so close. Forget theology for a moment.

I have been craving a more purposeful way to practice Christianity which is why I have started to dabble in witchcraft but also like… I want a community of people to fast with and be purposeful with and you just aren’t really gonna get that from a non-denominational church ya know.

(It’s weird because theology wise I am like… the opposite of catholic. Then again that never stopped my Grandma who was one of the most catholic people I knew. I think I just inherited my Grandma’s belief system genuinely but she just kinda rolled with it and I’m not a ‘roll with it’ kind of person)

[francy-sketches]

hotd twitter is turning me into a reddit atheist istg

[mars-and-the-theoi]

God gives His toughest battles to His strongest soldiers (Being a Quaker who believes strongly in simplicity and simple living and no overconsumption in a Capitalist society)

[demonic-shadowlucifer]

by the way i kinda want to talk about the whole "christians arent oppressed" and "oooh christians wanna be oppressed so bad" stuff because i do feel strongly about it because of how much history it ignores lmfao ...because, yes. but actually no. Long ago, the Romans... actually did not like Christianity! Oh no. They despised them, especially Nero, who hated them so much he called for their execution. Eventually though Rome decided "actually yeah Christianity is cool". And that's not all!

Christians, especially Jehovah's Witnesses, weren't safe during WW2 neither! Oh no. Jehovah's Witnesses, while not persecuted as badly as Jewish folks, were still targeted and faced discrimination by the Nazis. And many were also unlucky enough to end up in concentration camps as well. Not to mention the fact that Christians are currently being targeted in other countries, such as North Korea. Oh yeah! Don't think America's getting out of this one neither! Black Christians especially aren't safe. In 2015, a black church in Charleston, South Carolina (particularly Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal) was shot up, killing 9 African Americans, including state senator Clementa C. Pinckney. And going further back in 1963, 15th Street Baptist Church, the first black church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by members of the KKK, with four children, the youngest being 11, killed as a result.

So yes, Christians *have* been oppressed before. ...Just not in the way evangelicals want you to believe.

[weirdopponent]

FRUITS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN GROWING ON THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

The apple, the classic, bright red like struck skin

fits firmly in your palm.

You crush it in your teeth and between your jaws, it snaps like broken bone.

Scavengers feast on what remains, what you leave behind.

The pomegranate, cut in half, bleeds like a heart

from four chambers, from its severed veins

which it doesn't need anymore, taken from its body like this

The peach falls to the ground and no one catches it in time

and it bruises readily, tenderly

martyred for the health of the earth

The cherry grows in pairs

One holds the other which holds the other back

When you split them apart, the ladder of your ribs aches in sympathy

The apricot shines golden from its perch in the golden sun

reminding you of the guardians blinding halo, its fierce flaming swords

Is it ever blinded? The fruit is sweet on the tongue

A banana?

That's just silly.

[eenochian]

“headcanoning farah as wlw is disrespectful because she’s muslim”

my. my guy. queer people exist in every group. queer muslims very much exist.

“ok but it’s a sin in islam”

WHY ARE WE SUDDENLY JUSTIFYING HOMOPHOBIA WITH RELIGION⁉️⁉️ it’s wrong for a christian to use religion to justify their bigotry, so WHY is it okay to use islam or any other religion to do the same?? i know that i’m comparing the world’s most oppressive religion (christianity) to a religion that’s oppressed, but like… allowing one group to essentially “get a pass” opens the door for EVERY group to get one.

what was even weirder is that the person who made the post about it wasn’t even muslim 😭 they said they looked it up which i believe, but then they had an actual wlw muslim in their comments telling them it wasn’t a big deal— and THEY LITERALLY TOLD THE COMMENTER THAT IT WAS STILL DISRESPECTFUL?? AND OTHER NON-MUSLIMS WERE GOING “grr but it’s a sin >:(” LIKE?? HELLO?? WHY are people not even included in the group talking over ACTUAL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP???

i care very deeply about respecting people’s beliefs and faiths. but once that belief starts to harm others, my respect is withdrawn. the golden rule is that your rights end where another person’s begin. i remember seeing posts from years ago about queer muslims. they’ve always reminded me of queer christians – the vast majority of their faiths hate them, but they do still exist. and it’s possible to be progressive while also being devoted to your faith. i’ve met so many religious folks that are allies and supportive of queer people, so seeing posts like this crop up and gain popularity is just… disheartening. it feels like we’re going backwards after finally making some progress.

[toubledrouble]

"fuck the rich and the government" but like in a christian way yk

[psalms-and-spells]

Christian No nuanced take: The “don’t trust your heart” narrative that it’s touted by so many Christians is not only wildly misinterpreting the verse but also causes actual damage to Christian communities.

[snekdood]

Dude.. my ex boyfriend totally did get me into conspiracy theory shit, even if unintentionally (i think its intentional im sure he believed in that shit. Would not surprise me at all.) At the time i was already pretty isolated from anyone online who mightve countered any of my dumb spiritual or alien related beliefs because of some dumb shit i said online making most of the friends and followers i made online generally avoid me, depending on who it was. I was just a regular pagan and then he showed me this weird video with all this weird conspiracy theory symbolism in it. I looked it up later on and looked up the meaning of the symbolism and came across a whole bunch of stuff posing itself as Secret Information The US Govt Doesnt Want You To Know About, etc. And then i just fell deeper into the conspiracy theory pipeline, traded my paganism for new age beliefs, and goddamn dude. Like we both got suspended from school bc he had a dumb idea to dumb shit there and i spent my time in detention fucking. Trying to read "the emerald tablets" or whatever tf. Its all coming back to me rn.