#christianity is a scam

[atheist-mumblings]

Absolutely delighted when, the other day, my mother exclaimed that an actor we've seen in a few things would be perfect to play Joseph Smith

An actor we've only seen play cads and con artists

She didn't seem to understand my agreement, or my amusement

[malkebulan360]

🙏🏾

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

I'm allowed to make this joke, but I love that Jewish death rituals are like:

"Pfeh, for what should I spend $12,000 on a big fekakte box they see only for five minutes before they cover it with dirt?"

"Don't waste my good suit what might fit my nephew Lev if the bum should ever even try to get a real job!"

"Embalming? Don't mind me, I'll rot in the dark."

[audreyrose7]

The Christian god places no value whatsoever in consent. It doesn't do any good at all to say that us eating the Apple gave us "free will" if every time we turn around and do something you don't like we're punished severely for it. Jonah didn't want to go and preach, so he got swallowed by a whale. Saul didn't have a choice, he was struck blind. Teenage Mary suddenly found herself pregnant. Moses didn't want to preach that's why Aaron did it. There are countless examples in the Bible of people turning away from god for doing something he didn't approve of, and they're either punished severely, coerced or forced into doing what god wanted in the first place, or straight up unalived because of our disobedience.

[benjaminallhope-fulltimemind]

There is no way to defend this at all, the stnadards set only allow for bibles specifically created by trump given that the bibles need to 'be bound in leather or leather like materials and contain founding government documents' which 99.9% of bibles do not have. Besides the issue of forcing bibles into schools this is a naked attempt to help Trump make money by making the state government buy his bibles in bulk which would really help him given he's facing lawsuits and a expensive presidential campaign. Trump has been and will always be a businessman first and foremost, that's we need to vote blue as he simply views being president as a means to hold onto and expand his power. Vote blue 💙💙💙 and save our American democracy from corporate and religious influences!!

https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4916077-oklahoma-trump-bibles-schools-ryan-walters/

[jezunya]

Woof, this is a relic! As evidenced by the fact I had to make it an image post, because at the time of originally posting this, tumblr was doing that thing where text posts were getting automatically shortened into links. Fuck, I feel old.

It's interesting to me to see this first sort of awakening on this particular topic in my past. I was already an ex-mormon & ex-christian by this point, but I hadn't yet been able to articulate a lot of my problems with the belief system I had been raised in. Even here, what was such a moment of clarity for me at the time, now feels I was barely grasping around the edges of an idea.

It's Prosperity Doctrine.

It's what the Puritans believed, that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. So if bad things happen to you, even just freak accidents, well you must have deserved it for some secret sin.

Ever heard some rich asshole talk about 'pulling themself up their bootstraps'? And it's almost always someone who inherited family money, or had good luck, or were privileged & given more chances to succeed because they were white or male or abled or beautiful or skinny etc? (And/or cheated & abused everyone who worked under them in order to amass their wealth.) That's called The Bootstrap Myth (or sometimes The Bootstrap Fallacy). It's a form of Prosperity Doctrine wherein being a "good" person is specifically defined as working hard and having good business sense (or in other words, not paying taxes and abusing your employees! Soooo sensible!!! /sarcasm)

The thing with Property Doctrine is that uses a very common but also very tricksy logical fallacy. See, they go from a) good person, so therefore b) good things happen to you, and then flip it all around to be: b) good things don't happen to you, so therefore a) you must not be a good person

When people say, 'A therefore B does not equal B therefore A,' this is what they're talking about. It's a fallacy, meaning it's false, it's not true, it doesn't work like that. A causes B, but that doesn't mean that B always happens only because of A.

My car's battery died (A) so therefore my car won't start (B)

Does not mean

Every time my car won't start (B) it must be because the battery is dead (A)

Your mechanic will tell you there are lots of reasons for a car not to start. No gas, a faulty ignition, etc. See what I mean? A may cause B, but other things can cause B too. So B happening doesn't mean A is necessarily the cause.

But in Prosperity Doctrine, they don't understand this (or they ignore it, because it benefits them). If someone is poor (B), it must be because (A) they made bad choices or they sinned or they didn't work hard or they didn't have good business sense or they didn't pray enough or WHATEVER

And then the really sinister part of this whole belief system: if this person sinned, or didn't work hard, or "God" just doesn't like them for whatever reason, then it would be against "God's" will (or the natural order or social Darwinism or whatever justification they come up with) for the Good Person to help them. Which is why you have conservative religious people defunding food stamps and medicaid and disability benefits and public libraries and public schools and literally any form of social safety net that might help those Bad People. Because they only need that help because they're poor (in money or health or any other dimension) and they're only poor because they're Bad and because "God" willed for them to be punished for their badness. If "God" wanted you to have money for food, he'd have already given it to you, so the Good People can't possibly go against "God" and let you have food stamps!

The thing about missionary work, though, to bring it back to my original rant all those years ago, is that it's an attempt to tell poor, starving, oppressed, traumatized people that they can become one of the Good People and stop being one of the Bad People if they accept Jesus into their life. Because, like I originally ranted about, Christians don't believe that there's any justifiable reason to be poor or sick or disabled or oppressed, those things are all just caused by "God's" will to punish you for being a Bad Person.

It's the same logic as the fuckwad who told me in Sunday school when I was still LDS that I wouldn't be depressed if I read my scriptures and prayed enough.

Idk, I'm not really coming to any big conclusion here. Prosperity Doctrine is the big conclusion, really. And it's not just limited to Christians. It's an extremely pervasive form of magical thinking. It's in everything from 'you must have sinned to bring this disaster on you and your loved ones' to 'you just didn't manifest hard enough so you're not beautiful/rich/famous/happy yet' and 'if you just sell enough in this multilevel marketing scheme or take on yet another side hustle you'll definitely get rich any day now!'

It's victim blaming and just about any form of oppression or "-ism" type bigotry, rolled up together and justified in this magical system where random chance doesn't exist and bigotry doesn't exist and privilege doesn't exist. It's a mystical justification for all these forms of bigotry, and for maintaining oppressive systems, and it's still just as magical & ludicrous when the person benefitting from it is trying to sound down to earth and talk about pulling themself up with hard work alone and absolutely never ever ever any help from anyone else never

And the thing is, again to go back to the missionary stuff that started all this for me, is that this system of magical thinking doesn't only justify an individual person's bigotry. It doesn't only excuse one person from refusing to give spare change to someone begging on the street. It also, necessarily, by definition, excuses the action of the violent, oppressive dictator who has their goons steal all the food and money and technology and medicine and clean water. Because that still counts as a Bad Thing happening to you, you poor malnourished people in various war-torn countries. And that wouldn't happen to you if you weren't one of the Bad People. And rather than take any kind of action to either treat the symptoms of your problems, like using their wealth & resources to provide housing or food or medicine, or treating the root of your problems, like helping you overthrow that dictator, instead Christian missionaries say that the real problem, the real reason for these Bad Things happening to you, is that you're not one of the Good People.

You haven't manifested hard enough.

You haven't hustled fast enough.

You haven't read a specific book often enough.

You haven't talked to some old man in the sky enough.

So, see, it's your fault.

I think I’ve finally figured out why Christianity and in particular overseas Christian missionary work creeps me out so much.

Watching yesterday’s MHP Show segment where they’re discussing the documentary God Loves Uganda, and there’s a bit with a well-fed, healthy, white, privileged American young woman telling a Ugandan woman who appears emaciated and extremely poor by our culture’s standards that she’s come all the way across the sea to bring them the “good news” of Christianity. Ms. Harris-Perry very rightly commented that maybe that young, healthy, white, privileged American woman should stop and take a moment to listen to what the Ugandan woman has to tell her for a change, which obviously never happens. It’s an unbelievably common thread in white American Christian missionary work: they come as benevolent emancipators to educate the local people and raise them up out of the squalor they’re only living in because they haven’t found Jesus yet.

And that’s when it hit me: the underlying belief, the reason that white American Christians never seem interested in hearing what these local people think and feel and know about life, is because there is a perceived causality between 1. Not being Christian, and 2. Not being rich and privileged.

It is the belief that poverty is due to a defect of character, rather than to oppressive circumstances.

This is the exact same belief that underlies the disgusting statements from the wealthy conservative white Christian rightwing in the US when they talk about how poor people wouldn’t be poor if they’d just let the privileged wealthy white Christians teach them about the dignity of an honest day’s work – because they actually think that people are poor because they just don’t like working. They brush aside the facts of jobs being scarce, of even if you can find a job it won’t pay anything even resembling a living wage, of black market industries and gangs that have taken hold in communities because there are no other options to support and protect your family, of entire generations being mowed down by violence and drugs, and, in many developing nations, of the fact that sometimes the ground just won’t grow anything, and even when it does it gets stolen or destroyed or extorted from you by roving extremist armies or by the very government that’s supposed to be protecting you and the rest of the people of your nation, and you’re lucky if they just take your food and money instead of raping and slaughtering you and your whole family—

And then some rich healthy white Christian American, who has never gone to bed starving, has never buried a child for a disease that can be cured but just not where you live and not for people like you, who thinks studying at a university is a BURDEN rather than a PRIVILEGE, is going to show up and tell you that if you just tried harder and learned the dignity of “real work” and learned to be a good Christian then you’d finally stop being poor and hungry and sick, because obviously that is all entirely your own fault and the people taking everything from you and trying to kill you and your family are meaningless because those things don’t exist in a rich white Christian American’s world so they’re not real because their world view is the only one that matters.

So yeah. Christianity, missionary work, efforts to spread democracy and “American values.”

Creep.

Me.

The fuck.

Out.

And on top of all of it: they walk around with that sense of serenity like they are literally god’s gift to these poor people who just don’t know what they’re missing if only they’d try harder.

Just disgusting.

[cosmicportal]

[spechblend]

Ran into this guy who told me he was a traveling yogi trying to sell me books. I politely decline because I’m usually in a hurry between classes, but he pointed out my “no masters” tshirt and asked if it was a nod to the classic saying, “no gods no masters.”

I told him it was more aligning to punk culture (but yes that too), and since I had my patch pants on, he asked if I was punk, so I said yes. Then he asked me, “isn’t punk a dying culture?”

Before I got into the scene, I thought the same thing. Then I started to post my interests on tumblr, and realized punk is all around us, but sometimes people just don’t dress as obviously as I do. And that’s fine. In every town, every city, you’re surrounded by allies, and that’s comforting to know.

(Except zombiepunk, he’s no ally, fuck him)

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Show Up, Take Photos

The Meghans are global frauds. Every "good" deed, Every word & Every dollar is a GRIFT. "Nigerian girls & women" my arse.💔

Do they really expect us to believe that a global games event could ever be hosted by a country that repeatedly loses track of women & children? Harry and Meghan have the lowest of low in IQs but the rest of the world can see that THIS poverty tourism trip is yet another SUSSEX SCAM.

No country will send disabled athletes or veterans to compete in a country that cannot keep track of school kids. Shame on Nigeria's Defense Minister and all at Invictus who are involved in this fraudulent visit.

"Bring Back our Girls 2.0

"The abduction of the 287 children in Kaduna state on March 7, 2024 near the West African nation’s capital, is one of the largest school kidnappings in the decade since the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Borno state’s Chibok village in 2014 stunned the world. Analysts and activists say the security lapses that allowed that mass abduction remain..."

"One man was shot dead as he tried to save the students, school authorities said"

"The parallels between the two kidnappings have created more worry for parents, as even to this day nearly 100 of the Chibok girls remain missing."

BY CHINEDU ASADU

March 8, 2024

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — "Security forces swept through large forests in Nigeria’s northwest region on Friday in search of nearly 300 children abducted from their school by motorcycle-riding gunmen in the latest mass kidnapping, which analysts and activists blamed on the failure of intelligence and a slow security response.

The abduction of the 287 children in Kaduna state, near the West African nation’s capital, is one of the largest school kidnappings in the decade since the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Borno state’s Chibok village in 2014 stunned the world. Analysts and activists say the security lapses that allowed that mass abduction remain.

The victims of the latest attack — among them at least 100 children aged 12 or under — were surrounded and marched into a forest just as they were starting the school day, said locals in Kuriga town, located 55 miles (89 kilometers) from the city of Kaduna. One man was shot dead as he tried to save the students, school authorities said."

J-P Mauro - published on 03/14/24

"With no word from the abductors, the bishops are calling on the state to identify the kidnappers and save the hostages.

The remote town of Kuriga, in Nigeria’s Kaduna state, is still reeling after dozens of armed extremists kidnapped hundreds of students out of their classes in broad daylight on the morning of March 7. Worried parents are now calling for government intervention, after days without any word from the abductors. As of March 13, the children have yet to be found. 

The AP reports that at least 287 students were abducted – with about 100 of them aged 12 or under – making it one of the largest kidnappings since the 2014 abduction of the Chibok girls, when 275 girls were taken from their school by Boko Haram.

The parallels between the two kidnappings have created more worry for parents, as even to this day nearly 100 of the Chibok girls remain missing. 

The March 7 kidnapping saw children taken from the school just as the day was starting, at around 8 a.m.. They were herded into the forest. It took authorities several hours to respond to the scene and begin a search operation, but it is unclear how deep into the forest the kidnappers went.

Locals have suggested that the abductors belong to a group of bandits who have been terrorizing remote villages in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions.

14-year-old Nigerian girl could declared a martyr. Nigeria is one of the places of most intense suffering for Christians in our day.

Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi has called on the government to intercede on behalf of the Christian population, which he said is being targeted by these attacks. Bishop Anagbe told OSV: 

“The kidnappings, killings and destroying churches we are experiencing every day are aimed at finishing Christians. We are worried that despite such killings and kidnappings, the government has never arrested anyone. As a church, we now demand that the government act quickly to stop these vices that continue to dishearten people.”

I try hard not to hate anyone, but The Meghans sure know how to push the right buttons. 🤐🤬

Safety 1st: The UK is unsafe but African countries where Nigerian schoolgirls are kidnapped & Zika Zones for childbearing royals are no problem.

Team Sussex: Global Court Jesters

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"Deep within the heart of every evangelist lies the wreck of a car salesman." -- H.L. Mencken

Example:

[nando161mando]

[blackwolfmanx4]

Real Talk:

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

[noideamyguy]

[moonbean117]

[audreyrose7]

[gogandmagog]

“(…)There was an American sitting behind Jane and me—such a romantic-looking man, with coal-black hair and eyes. Josie Pye says he is a distinguished artist, and that her mother’s cousin in Boston is married to a man that used to go to school with him. Well, we heard him say—didn’t we, Jane?—’Who is that girl on the platform with the splendid Titian hair? She has a face I should like to paint.’ There now, Anne. But what does Titian hair mean?”

— Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery

A(nother) modern AU (you know, the kind I loathe so wholly), except in place of an American painter, a ‘famous’ American photographer comes to the White Sands Hotel for this concert. After Anne’s moving Noyes ‘the Highwayman’ recital, he seeks her out and asks her if she’s ever been ‘shot’ before (he wants to, and he tells Marilla this is a paid gig when she scoffs)… his sunflower compliment is yes, of course, about her Titan hair, but he also adds that her face is ‘high fashion/old money’ – which gets an unexpected ironic laugh from the orphan of two very poor teachers. The payment associated with Anne being photographed is too generous to sensibly say no to, even if Marilla is worried of the impact on Anne’s vanity, and two months afterwards, Anne is offered a contract with one of the biggest agencies in the States… Ford (😅) models. Over the next four years, her success grants her all the necessary funds for a B.A. from Redmond… without relying on burdening Marilla’s ‘slim purse.’

"Red hair is very fashionable now," said Anne, trying to smile, but speaking rather coldly. Life had developed in her a sense of humor which helped her over many difficulties; but as yet nothing had availed to steel her against a reference to her hair.

"So it is--so it is," conceded Mrs. Harmon. "There's no telling what queer freaks fashion will take.”

— Anne of the Island, Lucy Maud Montgomery