#catholic university in usa

[bullwrecks]

My campus on film (Assumption University, Worcester, Massachusetts)

[a-typical]

Gallup began measuring Americans’ views of human origins using this question in 1982 and has intermittently tracked opinions since then. Belief in creationism and God-guided evolution reached their peaks of 47% and 40%, respectively, in 1999 and have since trended downward. Meanwhile, support for evolution without divine intervention has nearly tripled since 1999.

[lovethroughdelusions]

Fascinating! I figured Jewish people weren't big fans of his, but really wanted to understand the difference in perspectives on why they view him as not being the messiah. I figured that phrase wasn't exactly a compliment, but since, as you mentioned, it really is only used for two people historically I couldn't find further information on what it exactly meant beyond "we don't like you."

Thank you for the in depth answer! This will give me some more things to research into!

I've been enraptured with reading about the evolution of the Jewish religion and culture over time. I'm slowly working my way through "The Wars of the Jews" by Josephus. It is dense but very interesting, with many parallels to how to world still runs today as far as international issues and wars go.

Sorry for gushing 😅 I'm really glad I stumbled across your blog! It should give me quite a few places to continue my research both in sources and in topics. Thank you, again, for taking the time to answer my question. (I may have more for you later as I continue to delve....)

Hi! I've been doing reading on about how Judaism feels about Jesus and I keep coming across the phrase, "may his bones be ground into dust". I searched online and couldn't find anything except stuff about like. From dust you were made to dust you shall return and similar phrases. Are you familiar with the phrase?

(I did do a search on your blog to see if you answered this before, but Tumblr search is garbage 😅)

Thank you and have a great day ❤️

Yes, I am familiar with this phrase. It is a curse, similar to Yimakh Shemo ("May his name be erased," "May his name and memory be erased"), which is the strongest curse in Judaism. It is not a literal magical curse, more like an emphasis on how much we don't like you.

That phrase appears in reference to Jesus in Maimonides' letters to Yemenite Jews who were experiencing persecution at the hands of Shia Muslims, heresy, and apostacy over a man who was claiming to be the messiah. The man who was claiming to be the messiah had the goal of combining Islam and Judaism into one faith, with himself at the center, claiming that the Torah had foretold of his arrival. Maimonides, in these letters, reminded the Yemenite Jewish population of Jesus, stating:

The first one to have adopted this plan was Jesus the Nazarene, may his bones be ground to dust. 

And later, in another letter:

You know that the Christians falsely ascribe marvelous powers to Jesus the Nazarene, may his bones be ground to dust, such as the resurrection of the dead and other miracles. Even if we would grant them for the sake of argument, we should not be convinced by their reasoning that Jesus is the Messiah. For we can bring a thousand proofs or so from the Scripture that it is not so even from their point of view. Indeed, will anyone arrogate this rank to himself unless he wishes to make himself a laughing stock?

Jesus caused a lot of harm to the Jewish people, directly and indirectly. This curse is reserved in historical writings in reference to only him and Hadrian, a Roman emperor who banned circumcision, destroyed Jerusalem, established Aelia Capitolina on top of it, including a temple to Jupiter on top of the ruins of our Holy Temple, which ultimately lead to the Bar Kokhba revolt.

So yes, historically we are not big fans. Modern Jewish views regarding Jesus range anywhere from "He was just a dude" to "He has caused unforgivable damage to the Jewish people and apostate Jews are traitors." Each Jew will have their own stance.

[itspheenixbaby]

MUSUTAFU in my mha dr

now playing...black list - hime

AKA; the devils resort

GEOGRAPHY

"when i hear that song, i wanna be with you"

musutafu (MST) prefecture is an island off the southern coast of japan located in the phillipine sea. its about 500-800km away from honshu, has 25,000 mi of land and is home to 35.3 million people. MST houses the most biodiverse tropical rainforest in japan (and one of the three most biodiverse in asia) which covers the entire island. MST has mild winters and minimal snow. it rarely reaches under 60/50 degrees F (10/15C?). both summer and spring are extremely humid.

HISTORY

"buffalo soldier, dreadlock rasta"

i never script colonialism clean out, i just make it different. because im always like wait if we dont have colonialism why tf are so many people speaking european languages? makes no sense right? anyways heres how it worked (in all of my DR's btw); europeans had very little power & money compared to locals who integrated with the culture (including locals of european descent) and it was more of a "leader in name" thing. in actuality, colonialism was more similar to a trade partner agreement with colonies, and colonies themselves were very hard to keep--and usually made more money and had more clout than their european counterparts. MST had this situation with spain, england and portugal. as it was an island (and a rather big one) it was already very cut of from japan culturally, economically & socially. so when the mainland went in seclusion for the meiji restoration, the europeans had already gotten full access to MST.

CULTURE

"90 degress inna the shade, temperature tun up"

linguistics the standard language is a portuguese-spanish-tagalog-japanese fusion? and more japanese dominant. no fucking clue how thatll sound.

diversity MST is very racially & ethnically diverse, with a steady flow of immigrants from all over the world. a few prominent origin points include ; south east asia, central america, the carribbean, usa, western europe, south america, taiwan and india. but of course there are many more. the natives are pretty racially diverse as well, about half of the japanese population is "afro-japanese" which is genetically similar to aetas or melanesians.

motorsports drag racing is fully decriminalized and extremely normal. so much so that entire tournaments and elaborate race tracks are built to encourage it. (partially because of the tourism it brings) but before you can do any drag racing you need a permit or license. its very normal for celebrities and heroes to drag race, theres even a yearly competition for celebrities.

lifestyle lazy, indulgent and leisurely. days are spent relaxing at a beach, vibing at a local cookout or shopping. were very friendly, open and relaxed. its a city with very big & bold personalities. most people are ambiverts and its cartoonishly easy to make friends. unfortunately the culture can be a little shallow at times.

beauty standard few are fussy on beauty standards but a visible sun tan is universally preferred. however theres two big rules: no fake tanning under any circumstance & never tan more than two shades darker. in terms of body types, both men & women with toned bodies and "nice" asses are attractive--but for women the addition of being curvy is preferred.

religion among the japanese population the most practiced religion is catholism. this branch of catholism is very heavily mixed with shintoism & buddhism though.

mardi gras/carnaval the prefectures biggest holiday. its both the best and the worst. the sense of community is a focal point, millions of people celebrating and having fun (including the sizable portion of non-christians). everywhere is packed, music is blasting and half the city is drunk and/or high. by night everyone forgets how to act. surely the busiest day for MST based heroes.

MUSUTAFU CITY DISTRICTS (16 total but im only writing for 4)

"on an island in the sun, we'll be playing and having fun"

the beach durrr the city has a ton of beaches, but this one is the most iconic, large and populated. its right in front of the cities biggest shopping center (what is basically our equivalent of times square...but not as dirty or ghetto). theres always people at this beach, hanging out, on a work break or at a cookout.

the ghetto about 2-3 districts are classified as ghettos. they have an extremely high crime rate, but low quality of life, income & rent. expect seas of street vendors, houses stacked on eachother, music playing all through the night and walls panted with street art. (urarakas district 😍)

the islands a fifteen island archipelago off of the cities coast. considered middle class or lower middle class. life in the islands is slow and easy going. many people work in agriculture or fishing so its known for food & open air markets. the islands have a fun nightlife scene but its generally more laid back. (my district)

rural district the largest district in the city. known for its rich traditional japanese culture, the abundance of natural marijuana and nature. the district is very sparsely industrialized, especially compared to the rest of the city, so its mostly jungle/rainforest. theres also so much wildlife there! and disturbingly large roaches. something cool about it is this biiig ass gate surrounding the whole district! (todoroki family's district)

all districts have a fair share of mongrels / stray dogs. many people take them in to "guard" the house, or just to care for them

people from the islands like to have cute lil sea animal mailboxes!

KNOWN FOR

"as i recall i know you love to show off"

love for sports. soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball & surfing are extremely popular (among both genders)

lots of the population has a shopping addiction

elaborate heists.

trashy reality tv.

big film / tv industry.

high crime rate.

musutafuans want to go to the beach like every fucking day.

really good music.

clubs, casinos, nightlife in general.

beautiful beaches. white sand & clear blue water.

POP CULTURE

"aserejé, ja, dejé"

GTA game based on MST

love & hip hop: MST

brazilian funk, rnb, afro beats, amapiano, dancehall, reggae, dembow, reggaeton and rap are really popular. way more than non japanese/latin pop music

real housewives of MST

we have golden crust, jollibee, mama empanada, and kfc but no mcdonalds 😬

havianas are really trendy.

im actually considering scripting my version of MST in some of my other DR's (idol dr especially) but im on the fence.

if any of this inspired you your free to include some for you dr <3

[camisoledadparis]

In the USA, Pope Francis appoints an "anti-Trump" and "pro-LGBT" cardinal to head the Archdiocese of Washington! Chosen by the sovereign pontiff on Monday, January 6, 2025 to lead the Archdiocese of Washington, Robert McElroy, 70, has issued several criticisms in recent years regarding the future American president's migration program and his treatment of LGBTQ people!

A symbolic decision. Pope Francis on Monday appointed a Catholic cardinal who is very critical of Donald Trump's political program as the new head of the Catholic Church in Washington, a few days before the billionaire's inauguration as President of the United States, and on the fourth anniversary of the attack on the United States Capitol, January 6, 2021!

Robert McElroy, 70, already made a cardinal by Francis in 2022, has been Bishop of San Diego since 2015! He is particularly known for his public anti-Trump stances… During the Republican leader's first term, Bishop McElroy strongly criticized his plans to launch a mass deportation campaign targeting millions of immigrants living in the United States! He called on Americans to "disrupt" these plans in a 2017 speech and later told a Catholic magazine that Catholics "simply cannot stand by and watch (migrants) be deported"! A bold move: Robert McElroy is also an outspoken ally of Francis among the American Catholic bishops, who are widely divided over the Pope's pastoral agenda! He has taken progressive positions on issues such as welcoming LGBTQ Catholics and calling for the ordination of priests… Before arriving at the head of the archdiocese, the cardinal had a classic career path: holding a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, as is customary for Catholic prelates, he also earned a doctorate in politics from Stanford University, where his thesis focused on American foreign policy!

"This is a bold move," Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic who has closely followed Francis' papacy, said of RobertMcElroy's appointment! He will replace Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who has led the Archdiocese of Washington since 2019 and is retiring… Gregory was the first African-American leader of the Catholic Church in Washington and the first black cardinal in the United States!

[2sgf]

Solstice ☀️ Sol ☀️ Sunny

he/him ⭐ they/them ⭐ she/her

28 years old ; tme two-spirit first nations wo/man

@mermen is my moonlight 🌙

★ minors do not follow or interact thank you

☆ white supremacists, transmisogynists, sex bioessentiallists, TERFs, and anyone who follow these kinds of beliefs will be blocked

★ if you notice i've interacted with anyone who follows the above ideology or they have interacted with me, please let me know! i might have not noticed

☆ feel free to dm me any donation posts or anything else you need boosted. i will do my best to boost it during the day.

★ i always read abouts, carrds, rentrys, & pinned posts! i might forget to like posts after, or might unlike them after some time to keep my likes clean

☆ i try to keep others' blacklists in mind but if i forgot to tag something, feel free to send me an ask or a message! i will do my best to remember but the dissociation might fuck with me so if it's something important but niche you need tagged, i might need multiple reminders so just unfollow if you're worried about it...

★ disabled, neurodivergent polyfrag system

☆ remade on july 18th 2024

art blog: @solsunbeam

more about under the cut! ^^ not necessary to read

☀ my socio-political beliefs: land back, pro palestine, anti-colonization, harm reductionist, anti-canada and anti-usa, anti capitalism, defund & dismantle the police, prison abolitionist, anti child family services, pro family reunification, better funding for social services, pro universal healthcare (including mental health resources, optometry, AND dentistry), antipsychiatry, pro universal basic income, decriminalize drugs, sex bioessentialism is rooted in white supremacy, and may all the catholic churches burn down thank you

☼ i don't 'debate' any of the above with anon asks. if you want more info on why i hold these beliefs, you can ask me privately via message. though, i may block you if your vibes are bad. if you deeply disagree with the above, then i rather you block me than try to convince me otherwise. i'll save us both the time and just block you.

☀ in general i block whenever i feel i need to

☼ i occasionally post about the above, but this blog will also contain a mish-mash of my interests, personal posts, fashion pictures, nature pics, and like.... idk whatever ✌🏽

☀ mutuals this is your sign to ASK FOR MY DISCORD! come. enter my dms. let me send you pictures of my cats.

☼ interests: poetry, art, films, fashion, video games, animation, plants, comics, child welfare, trauma recovery, disability rights, tarot, witchcraft, the occult, linguistics, lolita fashion, and all kinds of other stuff

☀ video games: kingdom hearts, fire emblem, legend of zelda, animal crossing, final fantasy, supergiant's hades, minecraft, mario bros, pokemon (mostly gens 1-5), sonic the hedgehog, undertale, deltarune, // anime/manga: witch hat atelier, dungeon meshi, sailor moon, revolutionary girl utena, yugioh duel monsters, card captor sakura, madoka magica, hunter x hunter, ghibli movies, and other stuff lol

☼ alters may or might not tag their posts as [alter name].txt feel free to refer to them as their name! but we all respond to the collective name as well <3

☀ my final message...... peas and lov on planet erth....... goodnight

[kaikaralius]

A Sagittarius Sun Observation

I have a few family members, friends and people I know with a Sagittarius Sun, and I’ve noticed some patterns regarding their father figure.

Before I begin, it’s important to note that the Sun is typically associated with the father in a natal chart, while the Moon represents the mother. Saturn is also seen as a representation of the father figure. However, I believe that Jupiter can symbolize the father figure as well, especially in a woman’s chart. This is because, as females, we often look for traits of our fathers in our husbands, and Jupiter represents the husband in our charts. This perspective leads me to think that the 9th house is more indicative of the father, rather than the 10th—though that’s just my opinion, and it doesn’t have to be universally applicable.

On the other hand the 9th House which is ruled by Sagittarius and Jupiter represent: higher mind, expansion, international and long-distance travel, foreign languages, inspiration, optimism, publishing, broadcasting, universities and higher education, luck, risk, adventure, gambling, religion, philosophy, morals and ethics.

Observations

Mother:

Her mother and father are the same age, but they come from different religious backgrounds. My grandmother was Catholic, while my grandfather was Protestant. As a result, all my aunts and uncles have two sets of godparents—one from the Catholic side and one from the Protestant side.

Niece:

My niece's father and mother are also around the same age, but there’s a cultural difference: her mother was born in the USA, while her father was born in Puerto Rico. Her mother has Puerto Rican heritage. Interestingly, my brother was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and while he speaks English, he doesn't speak it as fluently as his younger siblings. This is partly because he was out of school when my mother moved us here.

An Old friend:

As far as I know, his Father was older than his Mother. Because of what he told me once his dad was Half puertorican half African American, Not only that he was born in United States while his mom was born and raised in Puerto Rico, she moved him as a baby to Puerto Rico and he grew up over there.

My Mexican Friend:

Regarding my Mexican friend, I don’t remember if she mentioned whether her dad is older than her mom, but I do know she wasn’t born in Mexico. Her mom crossed the border and gave birth to her in the USA, then crossed back to raise her in Mexico. Interestingly, she has her Sun in the 4th house and currently lives in the USA.

Lo Que Pasó, Pasó:

Now, about this man: his father was born in Puerto Rico, and as far as I know, his mother was born in the USA but has Puerto Rican heritage, similar to my niece's mom. His dad is fluent in Spanish, as is his family, but he doesn’t speak Spanish, and as far as he told me, neither does his mom.

Interestingly enough, I know (because I’m worse than the FBI) that his two sisters also have their Suns in Sagittarius. His oldest sister is his father's daughter, while his other sister is from someone else, but based on her last name, I know her dad can’t be Puerto Rican. As for his younger brothers, one is a Cancer and the other is a Pisces, but I don’t have enough birth data to know all their positions.

Another detail about his parents' relationship is that they met in high school.

El Dominicano's Daughter:

This man has four kids; out of those, two are mixed. I don't have much information about the last child, but the baby girl is a Sagittarius Sun. Her mom is Puerto Rican, and her dad is Dominican. That's all I have to say.

Honorable Mentions:

Ex-Husband:

He is a Leo Sun with his Sun in the 9th house and a Sagittarius rising. His father is 14 years older than his mother, and he met her when she was in high school while he was a grown man of 30. (If I had known this story before we got married, I would have canceled the wedding.)

PLEASE IF YOU ARE A SAG SUN OR HAVE THE SUN IN THE 9TH HOUSE LET ME KNOW IF YOU SEE ANY OF THIS PATTERNS IN YOUR LIFE.

PS: I don't own the right for the image used in this post.

[gracie-bird]

Princess Grace at Mr and Mrs Amb. Peter K. Murphy's living room in Arlington Virginia in March 1978. "Unbeknownst to us, our 7 years old son, Marc, asked Her to pose and he snapped this photo with his little Brownie camera just before we left for the Catholic University of America where the Princess and Richard Pasco performed a poetry and prose reading entitled Birds, Beasts and Flowers. The same program was a smashing success - later that same month at Princetown University and Harvard University during that unique tour of the USA" - Amb. Peter K. Murphy.

[thebroccolination]

TICKET TO HEAVEN THOUGHTS

When I was growing up in the States in the nineties, most—if not all—of the queer media I watched was centered around Christian homophobia. Like, I still can’t see the term “gay panic” as a cutesy fandom term because I know it as a defense used by homophobes on trial for murdering queer people. A defense that worked.

Most of the queer-centric TV shows and movies I watched when I was growing up had some flavor of, “Hello! I am gay and ashamed because of Christian people specifically! I will probably die at the end of this!” and as a result I am tiiiired.

I also went to Catholic schools for my entire education, including university, so when I say I’ve spent half of my life so far submerged in the Vat of Christian Homophobia, I’m not being hyperbolic. As a personal rule, I avoid Christian homophobia in stories. Writing it, reading it, consuming it in any form. I’ve experienced what feels like every possible angle of “I’m gay” “nAUUUU but GOD” and I don’t know if I have it in me to try out another one.

So it may not be surprising to you at this point to hear that when I saw the teaser for GeminiFourth’s upcoming project, I felt a visceral revulsion to it.

I am intrigued because it’s not American Christian homophobia, but as we all know, colonialism pushed that shit globally, so it was often present even in the international media I watched for a long time. A big, big part of what appeals so strongly to me about Thai queer media is that it’s an escape from Christian bigotry. (It’s also part of what made living in Japan feel so safe to me. Homophobia is alive and well there, but the source is more nebulous and less laser-focused on God and Hell and all that noise.)

It’s going to be interesting to see how younger people born in the States react to Ticket to Heaven, because a lot of U.S. Americans in interfandom who were born after the I Killed Him Because His Icky Gayness Made Me Go Temporarily Insane Your Honor days won’t have the same type of deep-seated trauma I do. Like, those born in the Obama era grew up with a very different USA than the one I did, and got to experience the passing of marriage equality in their early youth. They probably aren’t as exhausted to screaming of sinister, hostile Christian homophobia in queer media as I am.

All this to say, I’m less interested in the actual story than I am in Aof’s personal experiences with this brand of homophobia and people’s reactions to the series once it’s on air. It’s an impressively impactful series to get so early on, and I’m sure Gemini and Fourth will do a fantastic job with it.

I may end up watching it after it’s finished, but as of now, the thought of reliving the bigotry of my formative years couldn’t be less appealing.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Fine that the Francoist dictatorship authorities made the director of Sant Jordi choir pay for having sung an unauthorized Catalan song on April 23rd 1964. This fine is kept as a historical document in the archive of the University of Barcelona.

General Francisco Franco's fascist dictatorship of Spain (1939-1975) banned and persecuted the use of the Catalan language for many years, allowing it towards the end of the dictatorship only in certain settings and under strict supervision of the police and censorship authorities. The dictatorship had the objective of eliminating the Catalan language, culture, and identity, and making all Catalan people become Spanish people. Cultural elements of Catalan culture were forbidden, such as certain songs, dances, and celebrations of traditional holidays, and people were imprisoned, tortured, and even sentenced to death for defending the right to exist of the Catalan people. The same persecution was suffered by the other nationalities under Spanish rule (mostly Basques and Galicians).

The choir Coral Sant Jordi, named after Catalonia's patron saint (Saint George), was founded in 1947 by Oriol Martorell. Its objective was to sing choir music with a focus on traditional Catalan music. The choir toured around Catalonia singing these songs with a great vocal quality, and became a symbol of cultural resistance against the dictatorship's attempt of ethnocide.

In the 1960s, the dictatorship wanted to become a normalized part of Europe and the international community. The regime opened Spain's borders to survive as a fascist stronghold, and thanks to the help from the USA (who was promoting fascist governments around the world), fascist Spain was accepted in the UN, normalized its relations with many countries, and opened its borders to tourism. To look more acceptable, it did some reforms among which they allowed speaking the local languages (Catalan, Aranese Occitan, Basque, Galician, etc) in public in some acts, as long as the person who was going to do it applied for official permission and turned in everything they were going to say or, in the case of a concert, the track list of all the songs that they were going to sing and all their lyrics as well as if they were going to speak between songs. The censorship authorities could accept or deny this application, and very often they censored parts of what was going to be said or sung, or whole songs.

On April 23rd 1964, the choir Sant Jordi sang in a fundraising event to raise money for a church. Like all Catholic churches, this church is under the title of a saint, virgin, or similar. In this case, the church is dedicated to Saint George, who their choir is also named after. In the concert, the choir sang an extra song that wasn't on the tracklist that they had submitted to be approved by the censorship authorities. This extra song was the "Goigs de Sant Jordi" (goigs are a traditional Catalan music genre of songs dedicated to exalting a particular saint or Virgin). This is a goigs song composed in the year 1885 in the Catalan language, which explains the saint's story and asks: "patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth".

For having sung this, the Spanish government made Oriol Martorell (conductor of the choir) pay a fine of 10,000 pesetas, a huge amount at the time. Oriol appealed the resolution many times, even reaching the Supreme Court, but as was expected they did not repeal it, and he (with support from the rest of the choir) had to pay the fine.

Under the cut I've included the whole lyrics of the unauthorized song translated to English.

This is a print of goigs song they sang. This one is from an act in 1990, kept in the archive of Jaume I University. These are the translated lyrics:

GOIGS OF SAINT GEORGE. Patron saint of Catalonia.

Since the heaven entrusted you the most excellent mission: Patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth.

Art, history, and legend have embroidered your mantle and have given you the best offering with the quill and the chisel. From the north to the south, from the east to the west: Patron...

You were born in Cappadocia of a palatial lineage, honoured patrician, you were Diocletian’s knight; your illustrious hierarchy gave you great demeanour: Patron...

You follow the blessed law of crucified Jesus, which was persecuted in Rome as the most depraved crime. You, with all the courage, resolutely embrace it: Patron...

Like a willow, if it’s stripped off its branches, it grows more branches and lushness, new Christians aren’t missing either when there’s more rigour for them. One day you spoke in the council and they destined you to torment: Patron…

You were tied to a wheel, your flesh teared out; when they left you for dead, they found you well healed. Such a miracle soon converted many people: Patron…

The emperor, then, wants to convince you, sweetly, and gives you seductive offers, but he doesn’t get anything from you. Refusing idolatry you defect the Caesar: Patron…

He doesn’t receive the affront freely and immediately orders you be beheaded; seven gold-winged angels take you up to heaven. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary welcome you smiling: Patron…

Up in heaven they proclaim you patron of the good knights; the sword they gave you there is Lucifer’s fright. On your Shield was printed the red cross on a silver field: Patron…

There was a gentle princess, stealer of love, and a ferocious monster wants to capture her, traitor; but you, with bravery, turn up to attack: Patron…

On the first lance stroke the monster falls down pierced; the virgin, already released, takes him away well tied up; all the town, with happiness, branches and palms beat: Patron…

Clovis’s wife builds sumptuous temples for you, and you have pious altars from Calp to the Pyrenees; Sir Ramir also erected for you a monument near Viana: Patron…

You help, near Girona, the undefeated emperor, and you give back the golden sceptre to Borrell of Barcelona; your shining image used to appear to king Peter: Patron…

When April comes and is crowned with the roses from the gardens, Barcelona celebrates you more than all the paladins. People of all hierarchies sings to you devoutly: Patron…

Look over the loved homeland, for its freedom, for the well-rooted faith, for the holy brotherhood. And if the great day came to save it in combat: Patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth.

Since the heaven entrusted you to free the good believer: Patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth.

[eaglesnick]

"The fact is that far more crime and child abuse has been committed by zealots in the name of God, Jesus and Mohammed than has ever been committed in the name of Satan. Many people don’t like that statement, but few can argue with it." – Carl Sagan

A common theme that runs throughout the USA and European political hard right is their professed belief in traditional Judeo-Christian values.

For example, Giorgia Meloni of Italy's Brothers of Italy party and Poland's Law and Justice party (PiS) are known for their Christian-conservative stances. Viktor Orban, the far-right leader of Hungary, has emphasised Christian values, and even Marine  Le Pen, the hard right leader of the French  National  Rally party, expresses support for Christian values in order to secure  Roman Catholic votes.

Across the Atlantic in America Donald Trump preaches the same doctrine and has just signed an executive order to protect Christian values and to:

 “..fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide.” (PBS NEWS: 07/02/25)

He is also setting up a White House Faith Office, and has pardoned Christian anti-abortion activists, some of them violent, who were convicted of breaching the law in regard to blockading abortion clinics.

The enemies of Christianity according to Trump are, secularists and atheists, Liberal politicians, anyone left wing, the LBGTQ+ community, certain media outlets, and even some of America’s own Federal Agencies.  All of this religious-political paranoia conjures up dark images of The Handmaid’s Tale.

In America, and in religious mainland Europe, it makes political sense to play the Christian-values card but not so here in Britain. A massive 72% of mainland Europeans identify as Christian, while In the USA this figure is 67%. In Britain less than half the population identify as Christian while 37.2% of us confess to having no faith at all.

This fact is Nigel Farages Achilles heel.

Whatever your opinion of Nigel Farage, it is true to say he regards Donald Trump as both friend and mentor. Only seven weeks ago he said:

“The guy has got guts, the guys got balls – he stands up and fights for the right values."  (uk.news.Yahoo.com: Fact Check, 20/12/24.

These "values” are traditional Judeo- Christian in origin and to be fair to Farage he has supported these values for a long time now so cannot be accused of simply jumping on the Christian values bandwagon.  As long ago as 2015 he was arguing for:

"a much more muscular defence of our Christian heritage and our Christian Constitution". (Christian Today: 28/04/2015)

Seven years later he was still preaching the same message:

“My country is a Judeo-Christian country. So we’ve got to actually start standing up for our values.”  (Conservative Political Action Conference on August 6th, 2022.)

He also believes that Britain is:

“… under attack!.  The threat is not external! The biggest threat we face is from within. The biggest threat we face is the fifth column …that is attempting to destroy the family unit, Judeo-Christian Culture…"

These attackers include the universities and the political left, who he named, but presumably also the   LBGTQ+ communities, secularists, humanists and all those “others” that Trump has also designated the “enemy” of Christianity.

To help counter this so-called “attack” on British traditional Christian values Forage has teamed up with the American based group, Alliance Defending Freedom. This is a Christian organisation described as “a hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Centre, and as “an extreme anti-abortion Christian legacy advocacy group” by the Byline Times. (BYLINE TIMES: 29/11/24)

It remains to be seen how far down the religious rabbit hole Farage will continue to travel but if he goes too deep he is in danger of losing his way as the British people do not take kindly to being told how to behave or what to believe.

What is more, neither the Roman Catholic Church nor the Church of England have an exemplary record when it comes to morality and values - child abuse, sexual assaults, attitudes towards single mothers, cruelty to orphans and subsequent cover-ups, etc.

Only 25% of the British public in England, Scotland and Wales view the Church of England favourably and only 46.2 % of the population identified as Christian, while 37.2% of us profess no faith at all.

Given Farage’s friend and mentor Donald Trump sees atheists and non-Christians as as enemies of traditional Christian values, is Farage really expecting the British people to do the same? Is he really saying that over a third of the British population is “the enemy” simply because they do not believe in a god?

If he is then he is no better than the Islamic extremists who also view atheists as enemies and subject them to persecution, discrimination and even violence.

What the British public know, and what politicians like Farage and Trump seem not to realise, is that politics and religion are a lethal combination leading to religious dictatorship.  We had that once under Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. The British people rejected it then and they will reject it now.

[caassette]

one interesting thing in programming is the prevalence of scripting languages, which refer to programming languages that are built around "scripts" which are interpreted at run-time rather than other types of programs which are compiled into machine code and then executed. The important distinction here is that with scripting languages, you write your code and run it, with no in-between compilation step (which often can take a while).

as the name implies, scripting languages are really good for "scripting" things! so if you have a certain set of steps you want to execute every time you log in to your computer (i.e. turn on my vpn, adjust my timezone, deactivate my webcam) you'll use something like Bash to write that script, rather than an ahead-of-time compiled language like C.

The most common (by far, like it's not even close) scripting language is javascript, which you may know from the internet. But another popular scripting language, especially for videogames, is Lua.

There's a few cool things about Lua, but one of my favorites is that it's Brazilian! Nearly every programming language in widespread use was developed in the USA, but Lua was developed at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, which is where it is still developed to this day!

While made famous by roblox, which uses Lua for scripting the games you can make within it, manh other games also use Lua, such as:

Garry's Mod

BeamNG.Drive

Civilization V & VI

Don't Starve

The Elder Scrolls Online

Factorio

Grim Fandango

Payday: The Heist & 2

Powder Toy

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Saints Row 2, The Third, and IV

SimCity 4

Star Wars: Battlefront I & II (the originals)

Tap Tap Revenge

The Witcher

World of Warcraft

and more!

[gothicprep]

i have a little bit of time off, and i want to use it to catch up on award season movies. the problem is, of course, that the golden globes is sort of a fake award show. the people who vote on these awards aren’t part of a guild or anything. they’re just guys and dudes. the other problem is that a lot of the nominations don’t hit wide release until well after the awards air.

this is an aside but I love how they have a “cinematic box office achievement” category that’s just shit like alien: romulous, beetlejuice beetlejuice, deadpool & wolverine, gladiator 2, inside out 2, the wild robot, twisters, and wicked pt 1. it’s like saying “we will give a movie you actually watched some laurels so you can tolerate three hours of us giving awards to anora and the brutalist.”

a couple of thoughts outside of that:

I’m happy that the substance has gotten as many nominations as it has. the main issue I had with it when I first saw it was that it was just… so french while ostensibly being commentary on hollywood usa. I’m not going to spoil anything, but near the end of the movie, there’s a nye party that includes a topless kickline. this is DISTRACTINGLY FRENCH. we’re too prudish for that over here! but, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I love how deliberate the camera work is in it. it deserves a best cinematography or best director oscar nom for this. it isn’t coralie fargeat’s fault that she’s french and this carries into her work. she has a very clear vision and is able to execute it well.

I don’t love conclave getting a best drama nomination. there are very few movies that I watch and think to myself, “this would have worked better as a miniseries”. this was one of them. I don’t know how to talk about this one without spoiling the ending, but the last 15 minutes of it are so cheesy. it’s a slab of brie for dinner. i saw some people compare a speech at the end to aaron sorkin’s writing, but i walked out being a bit offended on sorkin’s behalf.

my wife (theology nut) saw this with my friends and me, and she went off on how disinterested it was in its catholic universe. it hints at a divide between cardinals in the global north and global south, but it doesn’t do much with this. it doesn’t address doctrinal beef at all. and the ending really skates over what the implications would be for the Catholic Church. someone in the theater we all saw this in loudly said “WHAT?” during the last scene. adrienne suggested that it was a bizarrely nested Trump thing because of how negligent it was in this aspect. a relatively progressive pope dies, and there’s a power struggle involved. liberal cardinals are going against an italian who longs for a pope who speaks latin, makes an event of being racist towards the african cardinal, and rails against muslims during the subplot of this movie where bombs are going off outside the church. this is a real thing in the movie that is never explained. i sort of see what she’s getting at. trump has been an inescapable anti-muse in art and it’s really difficult to not interpret this stuff through that lens. the more I thought about this one, the more of a mess i thought it was.

anyway, those are some golden globes hot takes. I don’t know what else to do with my time right now.

[anamericangirl]

I've already graduated long time ago but I was wondering what is the relationship between schools and religion in your country?

I've heard about a thing in the USA called a Sunday School but I don't know how it works. Where I'm from, Poland, we have a class called ''Religion'' where we are taught Roman Catholic religion, the most prevalent religion in Poland. There would be sometimes lessons about other religions but they usually boiled down to ''Be nice to others and let's all get along.'' We would talk about other religions in history class. Ancient Greece? Greek Gods! Ottoman Empire? Islam. Poland before its Christening? (Yes, Poland ''becomes Christian'' when our ruler, prince Mieszko I, got baptized in 966. And yes ruler of the country doesn't have to be a king. We had few rulers who's never been technically crowned.) Slavic Gods!

What about kids who aren't Christian or who are but whose parents don't want them to be taught religion in school for some reason? They go to ''ethics'' class which boils down to ''Don't kill because it's a sin bad thing.'' etc.

Perfectly serviceable, right?

But even though it's not mandatory there are still people who think religion should not be in school at all. Because in their opinion there's already enough going on in school and religion class just keeps their kids in school an extra hour (In Poland classes are only 45 minutes and breaks are only 5 - 10 minutes long, with one long one, 15 minutes.).

Most people like or at least acknowledge that it's far more convenient that way.

It's not some small village where an entire school would fit in one room. How would the priest ask and grade an entire building's worth of children? (''Religion'' isn't taught by priests, nuns or catechists. (I think that's how you translate it.) We would get grades for reciting the prayers and other stuff, our notebooks and participation during class.)

But it might be because my school is religious even by Polish standards. Our Patreon is John Paul the Second. We have his bust in front of the school, almost every class has a cross and his picture. We have some pictures and drawings (made by previous students) of him in the hallways.

What do you think?

Thanks for the message! It was interesting to read about how things are done in Poland. I think for the most part it is the same here. Publics schools here can't promote or practice a particular religion, but they can teach about different religions (which mostly would occur in a history class and there wouldn't be a whole class on religion itself. That can be the case in college/university though).

However, there are private christian/catholic schools here as well and those schools can practice/promote religion and provide religious classes.

Sunday School is not an actual school that's just what we call church for children basically lol. During Sunday church services kids are usually dismissed to go to Sunday school which is just a class that takes place during church where they go over bible stories/lessons in more kid-friendly ways.

[anniekoh]

elsewhere on the internet, the american shitshow

Feckless Dems need ‘a Navalny, not a Newsom by Will Bunch (Philadelphia Inquirer, Mar 11, 2025)

The California governor, in the first episode of his new podcast, asserted that he agrees with the political far right that transgender women competing in women’s school sports is “deeply unfair.” It was arguably as problematic, maybe more so, just who Newsom welcomed to his first podcast — in what felt like a clear effort to reveal the governor’s inner Joe Rogan to young white dude-bros who voted for Donald Trump in 2024. That guest was Charlie Kirk, the Turning Point USA founder who never met a conspiracy theory about COVID-19 or stolen elections that he didn’t like, who believes our universities are “islands of totalitarianism” and recently called the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “not a good person,” tied to the “big mistake” of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Newsom even released a picture of him smiling with Kirk, like the two men had just shot an endangered rhino or something.

...

One online comedian posted that when it comes to the fate of the republic, the Republicans might be the mass shooters but the Democrats are the hapless Uvalde cops, standing around and doing nothing. Democracy may or may not survive these next 46 months, but these sellouts on the left side of the aisle have no future, either way.

Defunded evangelical aid groups are reaping what the religious right sowed by Marci Hamilton (Religion News, Mar 10, 2025)

In a meeting at the White House on Wednesday (March 5), white evangelical Christians, who have for decades enjoyed billions in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development for their overseas missions, were told by Trump administration officials not to expect a reopening of the flow of funds, The Washington Post reported the following day. The Post said the administration officials passed the turn of events off as a positive for their faith. “’Do you want the country to get credit for foreign aid, or do you want the Creator to get the credit?’ asked Albert Gombis, a State Department political appointee,” according to the story. The leaders in the room were flabbergasted. “‘Some of us looked at each other in disbelief,’” the paper quoted one attendee saying. The fact that these groups got an audience to explain the cuts is testimony to their unflagging support for Trump in both his campaigns for the nation’s highest office.

...

The alliance with the GOP was not just about money. Yes, they wanted to allow taxpayer funds to pay for their Christian schools, but they also wanted to control the government’s treatment of LGBTQ+ people, women, and children. Unable to win the culture war by example or argument, they sought to do it by co-opting the government... Central to this campaign was destroying the U.S. Supreme Court’s establishment clause doctrine, which holds that taxpayer funds can’t be paid directly to religious institutions. This is nearly accomplished: This term, the court is set to decide whether a public charter school can be Catholic, a case that would have been unimaginable even 10 years ago. 

Competitive authoritarianism: This Is Going Even Worse Than Steven Levitsky Expected by Benjamin Hart (NY Mag, Mar 3, 2025)

Earlier this year, Levitsky and Lucan A. Way published an essay in Foreign Affairs titled “The Path to American Authoritarianism.” (They wrote almost all of the article before January 20.) Levitsky and Way focus on “competitive authoritarianism,” a concept they have explored for more than two decades. Under competitive authoritarianism, aspiring autocrats acquire power through legitimate elections, then stack the deck in their favor by rewarding corrupt allies, seeking revenge on their enemies through lawsuits and harassment, and cowing mass media. (Sound familiar?) ... When democracy is under threat, you don’t just say, “Well, the polls say … My focus groups say bread-and-butter issues are better.” You’ve got to defend the Constitution, man.

Louisiana Governor Flexes Power to Police New Orleans, Defying Local Preferences (Bolts Mag, Feb 2025) by Delaney Nolan

he heavy police presence was the result of an emergency declaration by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry in the wake of the New Year’s Day truck attack that killed 14.  The executive order authorized Landry to bulk up the presence of Louisiana State Police (LSP) within the city of New Orleans, and to “compel the evacuation of all or part of the population,” using whatever route, mode of transport, and destination he chooses. With a signature, Landry gave himself the authority to “control the movement of persons” within a certain area, making sure to note that he might need to set up “emergency temporary housing” for unhoused people camped near the stadium.  On January 15, Landry used those powers to send LSP officers out to forcibly displace unhoused residents of New Orleans’ downtown encampments, bussing over 100 people to a then-unheated warehouse miles away, under threat of arrest. By the time the Super Bowl rolled around, the encampments were empty. Instead, swarms of officers from the LSP and other agencies roamed the Quarter, walking in clumps of five or six down Bourbon Street. At each intersection, knots of camo-clad Louisiana National Guard soldiers toted semi-automatic rifles, becoming a spectacle of their own: Some tourists posed near the officers for pictures, while others hurried past under the floodlights, clutching their cocktails.

And a bonus from 2024

How does Trump embody Latter-day Saint values? (Dec 2024)

After some thought, here are some LDS principles I think Trump follows or exhibits that make him feel so right to so many American Mormons:

Patriarchy: Trump clearly has little use for women holding positions of authority. Similarly, the LDS Church gives women very little institutional authority, having all-male leadership both at the general and local level. While Trump and the Church obviously disagree about rules around sex, they agree that women are the attractive objects who are responsible for it.

Prosperity gospel: Trump is wealthy. He may have driven many businesses to bankruptcy, but he at least has the appearance of having a lot of money. ... The Church spends a lot of money to make temples look fancy in ways that echo Trump’s love of plating things with gold.

[dracaryswonder]

I found the former school mate talking about social rankings very interesting because he mentioned Luigi was the new kid and one that didn't have generational history with the school, I assume in highly estimated private schools, family being alumni would matter a lot for the social standings because as the guy said, everyone there was rich.

I wonder if him being Roman Catholic Italian also had something to do with it because in white Old Money circles, more importance and esteem is given to WASP families, still in 2025 and the fact that the Italian community in general in the USA keeps to themselves.

Lastly, it's interesting that this guy speculated that Lu wanted more socially than he could afford at Gilman, which by all purposes sounds like it doesn't leave a lot of time for the kids to have to themselves. I wonder if he would have been happier with his cousins at the Catholic private school. Idk I would have felt a little left out if my whole family was in one school together and I was in the whole another one which was harder, stricter and limited my social life as a kid. I do think his parents meant well though, they saw he was a bright kid and did what they knew best.

I found that interesting, too! The whole thing about family being alumni being important for social standings is super intriguing, but it makes sense. It is like that posh university as well. I know someone who got into a good university. They had decent grades, but they were let in because of family connections.

I mean, in expensive schools, the white old money kids will always be at the top of the hierarchy.

Considering how many clubs Luigi was in, I can imagine he wouldn't have had a lot of spare time for other things. This is somber because places like Gilman didn't let kids be kids or do things normal kids would do; they seemed like mini adults.

I wonder if he would have been happier with his cousins at the Catholic private school. Idk I would have felt a little left out if my whole family was in one school together

I remember reading something Luigi wrote about not liking Gilman at first, and I wonder if this has something to do with it.

I agree about his parents wanting the best for him. My mother and grandmother were both privately educated at certain points in childhood, and they both said if they could have afforded private school in my area, I would have gone there. He was a bright young boy, and they wanted him to have the best education. I wonder if his parents were privately educated as well.

That Rolling Stone article was pretty well-written and researched. I found the part about his education really interesting.