#conservative Christians

[raqualswonderfunblog]

[shutinthenutouse]

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Okay this is really irritating so i need this to stop happening: "Oh I am a Christian but I don't believe in like the bible or anything; I just follow the teaching of Jesus. But like, whether Jesus was God or rose from the dead or was even real at all, doesn't really-" Stop.

STOP. This is not Christianity. You are not Christian. Christian comes from "Christ" and it is the Christian belief that for Jesus to be the Christ and the Ben Adam (Son of Man/Humanity) is form him to be both human and divine. If you think he was just some moral teacher you're a fool whatever, that's fine, it's fine. BUT DON'T CALL YOURSELF CHRISTIAN!!! There is a separate thing: Jesusism or something like that. Call yourself a Jesusist (not Jesuit) or whatever. Not. Christian.

You are not Christian if you disregard the Tanakh, or Paul, or if you cannot affirm the Nicene Creed. I am not an elitist, just a gatekeeper :). Leave my religion alone.

ALSO. If you are a hater, a supporter of oppression, or otherwise concerned with controlling people's lives, also STOP CALLING YOURSELF CHRISTIAN!!! We have words for those things now. Words like "patriarchy" and "white supremacy". And if you think your Christian because "I am American! And Christianity is the religion of America!" No. No no no no no. America is Babylon. Actually do some study into Christian Political Ethics and you will find (in both the first and second testaments) criticism of many of America's policies. A country that murders innocent people cannot be called the country of Christ. It can be called the City Where Our Lord Was Slain. Stop just being a racist and misogynist and a nationalist and then claiming it's because you're religious. Cause you're not.

I will go Frederick Douglas on you so quickly do not freaking try me (Frederick Douglass wrote an awesome piece on the religion of America and how it was not the religion of Christ. #new favorite prophet)

[creature-wizard]

Seeing various conservative Christians talk about The Exorcist like it's some kind of anti-Christian, pro-Satan movie is so fucking wild. Like, hello, do we even live in the same universe???? Or did you just see that a demon was involved in the plot and jumped to far fucking conclusions???????? Like I understand if you don't want to watch the movie yourself but like, do you have any idea what actually happens in it, like, at all???????

[nando161mando]

[monsterblogging]

Whenever I see uberconservative Christians trying to do media analysis - which is to say, trying to force some kind of Christian message out of what's often a very non-Christian narrative - my reaction is usually "you live like this, bitch??" Because they've got their minds crammed inside this teeny tiny little box that stops them from truly engaging with and comprehending so much wonder and beauty in the world.

[h2shonotes]

Drag is Art.

Love is Love.

Bigots love Twitter.

[whitesinhistory]

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Happening now: Over 500 Jews and allies shut down the New York Stock Exchange for Gaza chanting:

“GAZA BOMBED, WALL STREET BOOMS. FUND HEALTHCARE, HOUSING, FEMA, NOT GENOCIDE.”

[ysabelmystic]

My friends and I are rewatching a bunch of Christian films from my childhood and we completed the original Left Behind trilogy the other day. Here were my observations

I do think it's funny that the plot essentially begins with GMOs. GMOs are bad because more people being fed means world peace and globalism. That is bad.

"I'm Buck Williams and I'm standing in a wheat field" is now doomed to be repeated within my friend group for at least the next two years.

The antichrist's name is Nikolai Carpathia. He has the accent of a guy mimicking a Russian accent. This feels on par with JK Rowling naming her one Asian character "Cho Chang".

The character names also include (aside from the aforementioned antichrist and Kirk Cameron's character) Rayford Steele, Chloe, and Patty. Somehow it has the aura of a porno.

Despite the only demographic to be exclusively raptured is children under the age of 10, this fact is pretty much ignored.

Kirk Cameron's character (Buck) confronts police officers who are shooting at looters and teenagers for lacking compassion. By today's standards, this is woke propaganda.

I'm pretty sure the prior thing is to show that Buck is a good and pure soul who just needs to read a Bible to be fully redeemed because how else can you have a non-Christian protagonist in a movie like this. Or maybe this is to show that he's misguided and worldly. However, despite being a hot, sexy, prolific journalist, the movie also points out that he is a virgin.

The alleged romantic tension between Buck and pilot-not-porn-star Rayford Steele's daughter is painful to watch because Kirk Cameron will not kiss anyone other than his wife. There's a lot of awkward side hugs and leaving room for Jesus. Given that they end up getting married later, this is amusing to me.

These movies really want you to know two things: World Peace Is Bad, and Jews Are Bad. There are direct plot points specifically about converting Jewish people to Christianity so that they cannot usher in the rule of the antichrist.

I think it's really funny that, despite TV and the internet existing during the time this series takes place, the connection between the rapture prophecies/fanfics and The Fucking Rapture is only discovered by our protagonists and a handful of other random guys. I think a mass disappearance of certain branches of Christianity and children would provoke some kind of doubt and curiosity, but no. That's bad for plot. Instead, the whole world goes straight to "y'know what? Let's just get rid of all religion at once. Forever." This is because all other religions are made from faithless heathens who just really hate Christians, and since there are no longer Christians, they no longer have to Do Religion. I guess.

I also think it's funny that the main characters, though they themselves were convinced to convert because of the rapture, do not use the rapture as a means to convert the masses. They jump straight to bunker church and secret Bible brigades. When they do successfully convert others, it is either by trotting out the tired, "YOU THINK THIS WORLD WAS AN ACCIDENT???" Case for Christ nonsense, or basically threatening their victim with damnation.

Case in point, Rayford Steele talks a guy out of suicide by reminding him that he will never see his wife and child again if he goes through with it. Suicide = Straight To Hell.

There's a scene where the antichrist like... tries to "test" Rayford Steele by revealing his uber spoopy ghost face and seeing if he reacts. Because I guess the uber spoopy ghost face only works on believers. Te uber spoopy ghost face is his figure showing up in infrared, then his face stretching out cartoonishly, and his eyes turning black. This scared me as a child. It is the second funniest part of the movie.

Also, the title of the second movie being "Left Behind: Tribulation Force" is giving big "Electric Boogaloo" energy.

The antichrist reveals of the evil Global Community organization to the protagonists by handing them a piece of loose leaf printer paper with a logo that I would've made in the computer lab in 2005. This is done to the tune of sinister and dramatic music. This is the funniest part of the movie.

The third movie begins with the introduction of The President. It was previously stated that the president had been raptured. There was no mention of presidents up until this point. I know the line of succession exits but it really felt like they just forgot.

Oh yeah...the Pope was also raptured because he was secretly protestant.

Buck marries Rayford Steele's daughter at the same time Rayford Steele marries a random blonde lady. It feels weird and icky, which is furthered by the fact that the now married daughter will henceforth be referred to as "our girl" by both of these men for the rest of the movie.

We also had to stop the movie several times due most of the female cast consisting of skinny white blonde ladies. We could not tell the difference between any of them except for by their eyeliner. If she wears dark eyeliner, she's a whore.

Due to the plot involving the release of a virus that mainly only affects Christians, this film was definitely the most fun to dissect.

The virus is stored in badly CGId glowy green goo bottles, which for a series that has tried very hard to be serious, was awfully cartoony.

This movie does not give a fuck about the protagonists. This movie is about the president. I'm pretty sure this is because the protagonists, who are Christian, are no longer allowed to commit murder. The president is not a Christian, so he gets to use a gun.

The president has random warehouses to do casual interrogations in wherever and whenever he wants. It is clear that the creators were really struggling to make due with the set.

We know the antichrist is bad because he wants to take everyone's nukes. The president's main goal in this movie is to keep the nukes.

Back in the side plot, it turns out that the Christians are getting infected with green goo disease because the antichrist hid it in their Bibles. As the protagonists drown in guilt, the suspense of the plot really starts to fall apart. Their entire goal is to Get More People Into Heaven, and in this series, reading the Bible will automatically make anyone a Christian (the Bible's words cannot be resisted). If anything, they just fast-tracked a bunch of people into heaven, and they no longer have to endure the next seven years of apocalypse.

We should've all watched these movie pre-COVID. The only person who wears a mask and gloves is the antichrist. The protagonists also mention avoiding vaccines and relying on God/sacrificing themselves instead. This movie predicted 2020.

The super advanced green goo virus has an instacure antidote. Fucking red wine. This seems like a helluva lot of oversight to hand the "drinks red wine as part of religious rituals" group a virus that can be instacured by red wine.

WW3 starts. Somehow, this does not cause a nuclear winter.

The antichrist discovers that he can force-choke people.

The president suicide-bombs the antichrist's tower in order to "slow him down". Given that the antichrist cannot be killed and cell phones exist, I have no idea what exactly that was supposed to do.

As someone who grew up fully believing that Obama was the antichrist and Muslim (which is conservative for "literally a member of Al-Queda/ISIS").... and Black but they didn't say that part out loud), it was interesting in retrospect to watch this movie unfold. The president in this movie is a Black, non-Christian man who is initially for world peace, but then converts to Christianity and suicide-bombs the antichrist. We all have different interpretations of this, but we do agree that they would not have made that specific set of choices today. That said, my interpretation is the correct one /hj

[exvangelical-christian-nerd]

Some thoughts on "Hell is Forever"

TW religion, conservative Christianity

Hell is Forever is a bop. Musically I enjoy it a lot. And It's definitley one I'll go listen to separatelyfrom the others on occasion.

But

It is also probably the song that bothers me the most. And it does not bother me in a way I like. I've talked about before, how I like things that poke at my beliefs and make me ask questions. This one doesn't do that. This song is like a buzzing fly to my inner-theologian, and I think I figured out why (Ironically it might also be one of the reasons I enjoy it)

So I've been working on some of my series type content lately, including my devos. I'm trying to make a series based on the Hazbin songs (if that is something you're interested in let me know in the comments and I will try to tag you when I start posting them). Naturally this includes Hell is Forever.

The thing about Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss is that by their very nature they include some theology, but a good portion of it is hellaverse-ified. Some of it is theology and some Christian lore. It's part of the draw. Here's the diffrence between Hell is Forever, and most of the rest of it: Hell is Forever addresses real Theology, more or less directly. I'd say more than, possibly, any other part of either show so far.

Now before I go any farther let's make sure we all have the same definitions so my meaning doesn't get mixed up.

Real Theology= Theology actually believed by a fair portion of people.

Good Theology= Theology that is grounded and has biblical backing.

Bad Theology= Opposite of Good Theology

So yes, Hell is Forever has Real Theology. Here's the thing that gets me though: I wouldn't consider most of it Good Theology. In fact I would consider most of it Bad Theology.

Now the thing with Theology is that our interpretation of it is flawed. We don't know a lot and we don't agree on a lot. That's why there are tens of thousands of denominations. But the particular brand we get in this song is what I'm going to call "Bible Thumper Theology." Not all Bible Thumper Theology is necessarily Bad Theology, but plenty of it is. But honestly I have three major issues with Bible Thumper Theology. First is that it's weaponized. Whether your Theology is good or bad, using it as a weapon is risky business. Second, it's often pretty weak. Even if the theological concept is solid, their understanding of it is usually surface level at best. And third, so much of it is just cherry picking.

So here are the main theological points I identified in Hell is Forever. I'm not going to go deep into them now, because that would make this already long post way to long, and because I'm already planning on making posts specifically on them.

Hell is forever (Obviously)

Eye for an eye Theology (I don't know what else to call it)

Justification by the law (or works)

Justified k1ll1ng (which is obviously super yikes)

Now there are few others in there too, but I'd say these are the main ones. As I said I'm plannin to address these more later, though the first one, I'm still waffling on whether I want to tackle that or not. The primary reason being that I do believe eternal damnation is eternal (as much as I wish I didn't), however I am not going to join the fire and brimstone brigade. There are too many of them all ready. If I do tackle it, it will probably be about why I take issue with the fire and brimstone brigade.

But yes all that to say, Hell is Forever bothers me because it's essentially just Bible Thumper Theology, and Bible Thumper Theology annoys me because it's what makes the church as a whole look bad, and usually it is pretty Bad Theology.

Honestly most of the time someone starts spewing this kind of stuff at me, I can't help but think "Have you read your Bible, or do you just believe what your pastor tells you?" Is my theology flawless? Not a chance (If anyone ever says their's is, approach with extreme caution, or better yet don't approach at all). I am seeking and trying to sort out what I believe. And I'm growing.

Ironically, I think part of the thing I like about Hell is Forever is that the people spewing the bullshit are the villains. I have too often seen them up on a pedestal.

[raqualswonderfunblog]

[shutinthenutouse]

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

I am so sick of Christians making everything into a Conservative vs Liberal debate thing. Please chill out. There are Orthodox Christians (not the denom), Heterodox Christians, and Heretics. That’s it. Stop screaming about what conservatives believe vs what liberals believe vs what progressives believe vs what evangelicals believe.

It’s exhausting. Maybe this is just cause im Protestant (for now) but there are just biblical (orthodox and heterodox) Christians and heretical Christians. That’s it.

Also stop confusing political and religious conservatism/liberalism. They’re not the same. Many conservative Christians and politically liberal (me and my fav bible scholar actually) and many liberal Christians are politically conservative (Nazi “Christians”)

[zenosanalytic]

The Republican solution to Israel's ever-expanding genocide in the lands it occupies and WANTS to occupy is "Help Israel Commit Genocide so they Build the Third Temple Sooner, so we can Deport all US Jews to Israel, then Nuke Israel to Kill All The Jews to Summon Jesus".

OPPOSING THAT, i.e. denying Republicans the political offices and authority they need to further it by voting for the most likely candidates to win who are NOT REPUBLICANS, is Not, In Fact, Supporting Genocide.

Hope this clears that up.

[tvlipsandbread]

My take on church hurt as a Christian: there’s this guy on TikTok, and all his videos have #exchristian, and his bio states “agnostic- atheist” so you can guess what his videos are about. He posted something that I lowk agreed with and I went to the comments, someone said “bro’s entire personality is being an exchristian” as an insult which is crazy to me. Do we realize that when this happens we’re partially, if not fully at fault?. Imagine your entire being is used to hate something or someone that you don’t even believe in, there must be a lot of hurt for that to happen. We hurt him, we hurt them. “You worship God not the people in the church” I agree, but it’s obvious that the people in the church play a huge role, it’s obvious that if there’s a judgmental, toxic environment that person will pull away, if you disagree don’t even bother to say anything because you don’t have the level iq needed for basic reasoning. God literally sent Jesus (a human!!) to act as a bridge between Him and us. I’m really tired, like really sick and tired of seeing this happen. When was spreading the gospel ever meant to be discrediting someone’s beliefs in order enforce yours? Never! That’s not what we’re supposed to do, does that not sound like dictatorship??. All we can do is share our beliefs and faith, not aggressively shove it down a throat, live by example, whether someone decides to convert or accept our beliefs is not our problem, it’s theirs and God’s. I’ll forever remember the time a close friend of mine shared why they pulled away from the religion, and just religion in general, the way she was treated, treated like?? Like she was dirty and needed cleansing, treated like she committed the most heinous crime and needed the sin beat out of her, all because she just doesn’t like boys the way I do😐. Glad to say that she hasn’t seen anyone from that congregation in two years. Time for us to be better

[nando161mando]