#homophobia religion culture bigotry

[religiousqueer-inbox]

Religious queer culture is getting frustrated when most people assume that atheism is inherently rational, reasonable, unbiased, and un-bigoted. People use science to excuse bigotry just as much as religion.

And vice versa, religious queer culture is getting frustrated (but also sympathetic) when people assume that your faith means that you're a bigot who doesn't believe in science.

Religion isn't the root of homophobia; it's a shield used to justify it. And we have been seeing the same happening with science, especially in wider bigotry.

[mxmorbidmidnight]

In paganism there seems to be an ongoing issue with people not acknowledging its many issues. Pagans will often claim to be the “accepting” religion, with an absence of sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. It does appear that way when you first enter it. This is a lie.

No religion is immune to bigotry, brainwashing, abuse and exploitation. Pagan communities can be breeding grounds for abuse just as churches.

White supremacy is rampant, as is cultural appropriation. Women are treated as reproductive objects while in other more modern spiritual circles exists misandry. All religions are capable of harm. Do not be arrogant enough to think ours is an exception.

[ihopesocomic]

"These lions are not people who belong to a certain ethnic background" EXACTLY! This is the reason why people should be careful with religion while including it in their animal stories. Things like this can very important to Native Americans and other Indigenous populations and seeing how stuff like My Pride had religion not only villainized but simplified down to what seems like white evangelism had me feeling very icky as a Native individual. I'm glad IHS opted to avoid that kind of thing! <33

Thank you, anon. And yeah, that whole deal with Pride Law being the 'true villain' in MP was just weird. We've always consistently said that religion is often merely an excuse used by those to be bigoted rather than it being an actual causation. Hence why what our homophobia anon brought up is purely academic and not worth going into, even if we weren't white. We're not going to sit here and drag whole cultures or religious faiths because of those who choose to hide behind them in order to excuse their bigotry. That's incredibly reductive and borderline offensive.

Like people who are bigoted against LGBT+ individuals will happily change the goalposts to wag their finger at asexuals/aspec individuals despite us seemingly playing by their "rule book" more and that's when you have to arrive at the conclusion that the problem isn't religion or culture: it's people wanting to exert control over other because they deem anything "outside of the norm" like LGBT+ rights as a threat to said control. Bottom line. - RJ

[vaspider]

How many of these far-right nut jobs attacking trans people believe the shit they spew and how many of them actually know that trans women, drag queens, HRT and queer education are all safe for kids and just don’t care?

I think there's a fundamental disconnect between the question that you ask and the answer.

They don't think that being gay is "safe," or that being trans is "safe," at all. Let's get that out of the way up front:

To the kind of person who spends their time attacking trans people, regardless of whether they do it for political expediency or out of a truly deeply held belief, being queer is a fail state for a person. If you are queer, these people think that you are failed. Fully. End of story. You might be a pitiable failure that they can pat on the head and feel good about patting on the head, because they're taking pity on you in your state of disgrace and failure and definitely going to hell, but they think you are a failure as a human being. Whatever else you do, you are a failed person. You could cure cancer and solve world hunger -- not that they actually want those things to happen either, because Evangelicals really believe that the world has to be a total shitheap for their messiah to return -- and you'd still be a failed person.

There is no "being trans" that is "safe," because ideologically, to them, the status of being queer in any fashion is unsafe, it is indicative of failure. You cannot have a 'safe' transition to them.

It's such an utterly broken mindset that it's really hard to convey it to anybody who hasn't lived in that culture or really had to wrestle with it. Asking 'how many of them know it is safe' is like asking 'how many fish breathe air.' By default, the answer is zero, because queerness to them is so completely anathema that there can't be a 'safe' in this situation.

How many of them are that kind of ideologue? A pretty high percentage, honestly. It's a very easy bigotry to carry; it requires pretty much no work. Thinking that another person's innate qualities make them a failure in a way that automatically makes you better than them is a very seductive mindset. "This person is trans, that is a failure, therefore, I am better than them," that kind of mindset means that even the most mediocre dude can feel good about himself simply by not being transgender. Like, seriously, think of the most mediocre transphobe you can think of, and then realize that he thinks he's better than you just because he's cis. Why would he ever challenge or question that thought, that maybe he's the failure and you're just living your best life?

So like... when you realize that homophobia and transphobia are an easy key to feeling better about a shitty life, and that queer people make a handy political cudgel, it's pretty clear that the answer is that 'all of them believe it,' it's just a question of whether they believe it because of religion, or because of political expediency, or because it's the only thing that gives a sense of superiority within a life otherwise devoid of achievement.

But yeah, they think that being queer at all is a fail state for a person, rather than one of the myriad manifestations of human diversity and beauty, so.

[theshoesofatiredman]

Just stopped being Christian after being “born again” for 2 years and I…feel so duped. I feel sad. Even tho I was “progressive” and believed in universalism and affirmed homosexuality, it ultimately didn’t make the religion less nonsensical.

I annotated the shit out of the New Testament and Mere Christianity by CS Lewis…I loved Jesus with all my heart. And now I know that everything is fake because my brain couldn’t handle the cognitive dissonance anymore. Like the fact that we have no idea what was actually said by anyone in the NT because random men were writing about it decades after the events. And that even though progressives can look at the OT as mostly being metaphorical, ultimately they would still believe the core messages are true because it’s divinely inspired. And idk, the writers being ‘inspired’ by God doesn’t make sense to me anymore.

Just constantly seeing 99% of christians be conservative or take the bible literally was so exhausting. Progressive christianity can be nice but it’s ultimately a walking contradiction, like you trying to make christianity all about Jesus and love and you have to ignore large chunks of everything else. 

It’s so sad. I loved Christian music. I had 50 Christian nonfiction books on my to-read list. And now that’s all gone. Buddhism and Islam and greek mythology and zorioastronism and all that…it’s all humans trying to make sense of spirituality. Christianity is no different. I cant believe I thought it was different. 

On the bright side it is such a relief to feel like I am not being watched anymore. Oh my goshhhhh. Even with my super soft imaginary Jesus that was basically a light of love, I still couldn’t stand the feeling of my thoughts always being watched. I thought about the fact that I was being watched while I pooped lmao 😭

Sorry 2 dump this on you <3 I’ll also be posting on Reddit. I guess I rlly feel the need to share all this because such a huge chunk of my life is now gone. It’s weird.

As a person who started a Tumblr solely so I could share my experience deconstructing, and eventually leaving, Christianity, I absolutely get the need to share this with people!! I'm sorry you're having to deal with the pain of losing your faith, but I do want to say that life gets better. It's possible to build a rich and beautiful life after leaving religion behind and I hope that you can look forward to having that, to building that.

I can imagine how frustrating it must've been and must be to constantly reckon with conservative christians' interpretations. My faith experience was inside conservative evangelicalism and one of the things I found myself mulling over as I was deconstructing was whether or not I could find a home inside a more progressive part of the faith. And one of the things I realized was that there would likely be no escaping the homophobic conservative Christians if I stayed inside the faith. And as a gay man, I was deeply tired of being in community with them.

Yes, you can go to an incredibly welcoming and affirming church. But what if you go to a Christian conference? Or a concert for a Christian artist? If I ever wanted to create religious art, my sexuality was going to be a ? for people and put a target on my back. You're in a fandom where power is concentrated in the hands of people with very bigoted views. You can carve out your own corner, but so long as bigotry is mainstream canon you're gonna struggle to avoid it entirely.

Ultimately, I left the faith because I stopped believing. I think I would've stayed long enough to test my theories on proximity to Biblical homophobia if I had been able to keep believing.

Most modern religions take only portions of an old sacred text and call it sacred. There are so many different versions of Christianity because everyone is focusing on different bits and adding in stuff to suit them. Sometimes that's cultural and sometimes that's one gross man fucking things up for everyone. Now as a non-religious person I don't think there's much wrong with that so long as you're honest about it.

Modern Christians should reject harmful past teachings and verses that contribute to toxic theology. Even if it's just "I don't agree with that so I don't believe it", that is less harmful for the world than someone saying "well I don't like it but it's god's word so guess I have to believe in eternal conscious torment hell." That dissonance can be a really really hard place to live though which is why most religions have social technology to resolve that "that's not what it really meant", "it was a different time", "thanks to progressive revelation we know that's not how God wants us to live anymore", etc etc. But often times those are only temporarily satisfying.

I'm glad you are enjoying some of these freedoms of apostasy already. No longer having an all seeing eye watching and judging you is a tremendous weight lifted. I hope that as your journey continues, you find yourself less and less burdened and more and more free. Thank you for sharing. Wish you the best!

[harpagornis]

MTG Analysis: LGBT and the color pie

So this is something a bit out of left field since its not Pride Month but I felt like writting this so sue me.

MTG has had a long history with LGBT topics and characters, from Xantcha from the early days to an explosion of LGBT characters in recent years. Officially, homophobia doesn’t exist in the Multiverse (I call bull if you’re familiar with older canon) and that’s fine and dandy, not everyone needs bigotry in their escapism.

However, I like to keep things real, and the matter of fact is that the color pie is philosophical. So I though it’d be fun to see how the colours interact and react to LGBT topics.

White

White I think is the easiest to depict as homophobic/transphobic. After all, real world religions and politics have persecuted LGBT individuals, and White is all about marginalising the outgroup, imposing restrictions on community and using faith as means to dictate one’s life. Conversely, White is also likely to be shown as an ally, since it often also fights for the meek and vulnerable.

An interesting way to depict White in this regard is the different double standards it may have. For example, in some real world cultures trans individuals are accepted because they’re seen as a way to enforce gender roles, while non-binary or gay individuals are shunned because they dismantle gender roles. Conversely, homosexuality may be seen as means to reinforce military bonds, which plays in White’s love of community + militarization.

Overall, because White often governs over society and factions I think there’s a real potential for worldbuilding.

Blue

On the surface, Blue can appear as rather accepting since it believes in reason and science. Its philosophy of one being able to do anything one desires to improve oneself also plays well into accepting trans people. I don’t think there’s a coincidence that the two first non-binary planeswalkers are Blue aligned; one even defied fate for crying out loud!

However, Blue’s belief in tabula rasa also means that it doesn’t believe anything is inherent. Therefore, Blue is the most likely to believe in conversion therapy. Worse, given Blue’s factions penchant for amoral science it is the color most likely to dispense “cures” for homosexuality and make straight designer babies.

In conclusion, Blue’s allyship is highly dependent on what it feels self-improvement entails. On a good day, it rallies for LGBT rights. On a bad day, it makes White look reasonable in comparison.

Black

Black, being the colour of individuality and giving the middle finger to societal norms, is most accepting of all letters of LGBT. This comes with a big caveat, however: it is focused on the individual foremost. So if going to a pride parade displays one’s power and charisma, it will do so. If being a closeted bigoted politician provides that, it will be so. Black has no morals or obligations, why should it care if it can be a hypocrite or profit off pride?

A very fairweather ally, but a staunch supporter especially to spite bigotry.

Red

Red is the colour of freedom and self-expression. It has no patience for those tearing others down in the name of society and laws. Naturally, I think it’s a no-brainer that it is the most LGBT positive colour. It loves who it loves and indentifies as it identifies, and unlike Black it has a sense of empathy and a healthy dose of disregard for authorithy in any way shape or form. And its always down to experiment!

That said, I can see some violently homophobic characters being partly-Red aligned, with some other color to provide reasons as to why Red’s normal love of self-expression is restricted.

Green

Green, like White, is a double edged sword. It fundamentally believes in fate, tradition and genetics; on one hand, it can decry such things as “unnatural”, but on the other it can be supportive, especially if it sees such things as “always meant to be”. Unlike Blue, it believes things are inherent, so it is less likely to believe in “cures”. This in particular is why its dichotomy differs from White, as unlike it Green derives its beliefs from philosophical concepts rather than morality.

It’s opinions on trans topics in particular can be pretty interesting: does it see an individual’s body as the natural truth, or the soul? Loreley Writes once wrote a post I can’t find that Green magic could theoretically work with a person’s own identity to modify the flesh; that’d be a cool use of biomancy if made canon.

So in conclusion

I respect WOTC for not wanting to deal with topics that could backfire horribly, but I just can’t help myself!

[forestoflys]

An Introduction

Hello all, my name is Lys! I am okay with the use of any pronouns, however I am partial to he/they. I’m a 23 year-old beginner witch whose focus is primarily on southern Italian healing traditions as well as classical Roman folk magic. Aside from being Italian-American, I also come from an academic background studying Latin literature and the Roman religion; however, my practice does not solely revolve around these subjects as I often incorporate more popular traditions.

This blog does not tolerate:

Homophobia/Transphobia

Zionism/Antisemitism/Racism/White Supremacy/Islamophobia/Bigotry of Any Kind

Pulling from closed cultural traditions if you yourself are not a part of said culture

In addition, while I am not intolerant of minors liking/reblogging my content, I would ask that if you are under 18 that you do not follow me or strike up conversation. This is technically a SFW blog, but while I’ve got nothing against you I would simply like to keep any interactions 18+.

Source:

Printer’s Ornament (Chiswick Press, 192)

[astro-witchery]

—ℐ𝓃𝓉𝓇ℴ𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃—

My name is Sasha. I am a cosmic/astro/lunar witch. This means: I do a lot of rituals around the moon cycles, I tend to also do intention setting based on lunar phases, and live my life by astrological and cosmic patterns and magic.

I am also an astrologer (I’ve been practicing and studying for over 6 years). I’m a Sagittarius sun, Sagittarius moon, and Cancer ascendant in Tropical Astrology. {Scorpio Sun, Sagittarius Moon, and Gemini Ascendant in Western Sidereal.} I study all types of astrology but I’m most well versed in Western Tropical and am studying Traditional Hellenistic Tropical Astrology to blend the aspects of both together.

I also do tarot, oracle, & dabble with other forms of divination. Plus, I believe myself to be claircognizant and use this to help aide in my witchery.

I consider myself an Agnostic Pagan and Witchy. I am also and animist. I identified as a Hellenic Polytheist for a while but have recently decided to explore my ancestry and it’s relation to other spiritual paths (absolutely not in a folkish or racist way btw!) I am adopted and it’s always been really hard for me, not being able to explore my ancestry and do ancestor work within my spiritual practice.

I am possibly a mix of Anglo-Saxon, Devon, & Cornish descent. My adopted family is of Scottish, Welsh, & French descent. I’m still putting together my biological family tree. This very hard for me to do as I don’t have a lot of access to info being an adoptee. (I am not claiming I have certain rights to cultures because of this, I am just trying to learn about my ancestors and their spiritual practices to find answers about my own inherent beliefs about spirituality that I was born with.)

I have always had a love for religious and philosophical studies. I had very profound spiritual experiences at a very young age (for example: I knew I was reincarnated without even really knowing what death was or about spirituality). Most people in these spaces have a similar story to starting off Christian and not being satisfied (or being traumatized) by their church. I grew up Baptist and when I could explore other options after I left home I did.

I currently research: Christian Sects (especially Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy, but also really enjoy niche fringe sects and “folk Catholicism” or “Christian Witchcraft”), Pagan and Polytheistic religions (Hellenic Polytheism, Proto Indo-European Polytheism, Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, Norse Heathenry, & Celtic Polytheism or more specifically Cornish/Devon/Welsh Druidism), Hinduism, Buddhism, Atheism, and honestly I could add more to list but I don’t want to ramble on. This does not mean I am an eclectic witch or that I mix pantheons or practices, I just enjoy reading/studying all types of world religions and I’m still searching for the right practice for me.

This is just a place where I can share and reblog helpful info and share aspects of my craft ~

☾ ⁂ ——————— 🜸☆

𖦹 This Account Stands Against Bigotry 𖦹

This account is accepting of all people of all religions and belief systems that are not harmful to others. This account is a safe space for LGBTQA+ identities, disabled folks, mentally ill folks, plural/multiple folks, & strangers/travelers/homeless folks. This account is against racism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, ALL the problematic isms.

I don’t do DNIs bc I prefer to block people.

I am happy that you are here! If I follow you back it will be from my main account @s4shiii

Feel free to send asks to get to know me more, to inquire about readings, or ask astrological questions. I do offer full paid astrological natal chart readings in Western Tropical & I also offer tarot card readings all for a sliding scale price! ~

[trekwiz]

American Christians: with Trump's victory and the coming crisis for LGBT people, I need you to take time to consider what you can do, and how you've contributed.

I know your first reaction is to say that he doesn't represent you; that he's perverting your religion. I'm sorry, that is not, and has never been true. You need to understand this, or you will continue to do things that prop him up, and hurt LGBT people. You don't have to choose to cause suffering.

Christianity is his base:

It's impossible to just wave away 70 million+ people as fakers--especially if your criteria would also define you as a faker, too. This is not an aberration in Christian history; the crusades, Spanish Inquisition, the transatlantic slave trade, manifest destiny, missionaries wiping out native cultures globally, the hundreds of bodies buried under Canadian church schools.

I know it's painful to confront, but Donald Trump is the epitome of how Christianity interacts with the world; his behavior is neither unusual nor surprising in that context. You just don't see it because you're being protective of something meaningful to you. If you accept your religion's flaws, you feel like you'll value it less.

But the more you sweep it under the rug, the more pain you'll be inflicting on others. Christianity's blemishes need to be confronted, not excused as "fakers." By focusing on defending how people perceive your religion, you're actively overlooking the people who are hurt by it. You're putting your personal discomfort above the damaged and destroyed lives of others.

Trump's agenda for LGBT people is 100% Christian. It's impossible to separate the two. There is no secular, or rational basis for LGBT phobia. In the US, these attitudes are completely rooted in Christianity. When you see some bleedover among atheists, it's largely a consequence of growing up in a Christian culture and not unlearning it; it's why some Atheists maintain a Protestant work ethic--it's background noise, but it came from somewhere. The root cause is undeniably Christian.

Trump ran a series of ads, "Harris is for they/them, I'm for you." I need you to understand who he was talking to, why that was effective, and how you contributed.

Let's say for a moment that you don't think your church is transphobic; perhaps it even allows trans people to join. Have the people at your church shared stories (maybe from the news) about the gross man who thinks he's a woman? Did you laugh about how delusional "he" is? Maybe you didn't notice when someone described it as a sin that needs to be overcome. Did anyone speak up to say that this kind of casual bigotry is inappropriate? Did anyone work to make sure this attitude wasn't tolerated? If someone did speak up, were they derided for it? Treated as annoying?

Those are the people Trump is aligned with. He can successfully advertise that way, because churches in particular, have this casual LGBT-phobic culture. And it radiates from there. Maybe your niece or nephew doesn't go to church, but they're still likely to pick it up from your sibling. And they're just as likely to pass that attitude on to friends. Even if they're trying to resist that mindset, they might not even realize that they've picked it up when they decide who to be friends with.

It's so critical that you stand and let your church--attendees and leaders--know that you won't tolerate painting someone's innate traits as "sin." Are blue eyes a sin? Is it sinful to have hands? Do you know how much suffering (literal child abuse) was caused by treating left-handed people as sinners? Do you know how recently that was normalized the same way as homophobia is now?

When you ascribe a negative judgment to a trait that someone can't change, you are necessarily being hateful. That hate will present itself in the environment you cultivate. It will hurt people. It does hurt people.

What happens in environments that casually tolerate racist jokes, long-term?

If you're unwilling to confront the existence of bigotry that's coming out of the places that are meaningful to you, you will, even accidentally, perpetuate it.

But Trump's support goes beyond the LGBT phobia. Can you define Fascism? The actual, literal definition of a government that is fascist. If you look it up, you'll see specific traits: it has an authoritative leader who cannot be questioned, expectation of putting the interests of the government ahead of your own, suppression of opposing ideas, and out-groups to oppress.

What might have inspired people in Italy to come up with that, specific, structure? Do you think the idea that inspired it might still exist in the world, shaping the way people think?

I'm sorry. I know you're not ready to unpack that part.

Now, more than ever, you're needed to loudly, visibly reject LGBT phobia. You're uniquely positioned to make a difference. More than ever, your voice can keep people alive.

[hopelesslygaysstuff]

This feels like a super weird questions but is being Christian hard? I don’t really know if you are but I’m Jewish and I see a lot of Christian people with religous trauma but I don’t see as many Jews. I PROMISE I’m not tryna be rude and I really hope this doesn’t come off that way I just was wondering if you had an answer /srs

its not a weird question i promise!

I was a specific type of Christian, a Mormon. I can't really say what its like for any other churches, but I know that Mormonism is essentially a cult. Racism, homophobia, bigotry, classism and many other things were so ingrained in that church that I had to unlearn a lot of hateful, hurtful stuff. The purity culture is absolutely insane, and Mormons are some of the judgiest people you will ever meet. They won't judge you to your face though, but they'll talk about you to everyone in the church under the guise of concern and wanting to help you be a better Mormon.

Sure, there are actual good people in that church, but as a whole, the religion is really controlling and takes over every aspect of your life. I mean, I from the age of 10-16 i was giving 10% of ANY and ALL money i made to the church in the form of tithing. i'm still not really sure where all that money goes, except to help that church build more temples everywhere in the world and probably pay the leaders.

Leaving that church is super hard to, because all your friends and your entire support system and your family is with that church. The second you pull away, you're immediately ostracized. I mean, some of my adult leaders that I loved and some of the friends I made won't even look me in the eye anymore when I happen to see them in public. At my brothers graduation, I was excluded and not talked to the entire time because a majority of the people there were Mormon and from the church i went to growing up. And my mom (who was an active member at the time) didn't even realize it, and she was shocked when I told her about how some parents pulled their 10 year old kid away from me when he tried to talk to me about college.

So I guess, leaving the Mormon church is extremely difficult but idk about other religions. Its also what I grew up with, and I was so sheltered from the world that I didn't even know what I was missing out on. I had to change my entire way of thinking, and I'm still unlearning some things to this day.

[magnetothemagnificent]

https://at.tumblr.com/magnetothemagnificent/tumblr-antisemitism-bingo-id-in-alt-text/um9kbysoo8mp

what does the "haha mixed fabrics" thing mean? why is it antisemitic? /gq

Culturally Christian LGBT people trying to clap-back at homophobic Christians often say "ooohhh but the Bible also says not to mix fabrics oohhhhh what do you say about that?" in response to Christians using the Bible to justify homophobia.

The issue is that what they're referencing is the Tanakh/"Old Testament", and yes, there is also a prohibition against mixing wool and linen, called Shatnez, among other stuff Cultural Christians call "ridiculous". But the thing is...these are commandments that are followed by Observant Jews to this day, and they're also commandments that are specifically not part of Christian doctrine. So the only thing this talking point accomplishes is alienate Jews, especially queer Jews. I'm Jewish. I'm also trans and bi. And I also follow the laws of Shatnez, Kashrut, etc etc. These are not contradictory.

Cultural Christian queer people love to mock Jewish practices as some kind of 'gotcha' to homophobic Christians. And yes, I am using Cultural Christian, because the instinctive revulsion and shock towards Old Testament laws is culturally engrained in Christianity. Part of Christianity is saying that they're better than the Old Testament, and better than the Old Testament's "archaic" ways.

Like...

A) Why bring up examples from the Old Testament to say "oh well if you're so religious why don't you follow these" to homophobic Christians? Literally the point of Christianity is that they follow a new covenant and don't follow most of the laws in the Old Testament. It's not pointing out hypocrisy. It's like going to a Jew and saying "oh well alcohol is haram!" as if it's some kind of comeback. It's using a law Christians don't follow and have never followed as some sort of point- which doesn't work.

B) Saying "oh well if you're so religious why don't you do x?" is a terrible arguement. Because there are Christians who do follow the entirety of Christian doctrine, and are still homophobic. Would homophobia be okay if it came from a monk? If your whole point is that religion shouldn't excuse bigotry, then why are you using an arguement that essentially says that as long as you're actually religious, it's okay to be homophobic.

[comicallybored]

I wish a lot more people ACTUALLY READ ABOUT RELIGIONS, their different teachings and ideas before opening their damn mouth.

Notice how i said religion? And not people. Ya condemn people, but if you condemn people only of one side and not of your own, who are spreading hate, then you're no better than the other side you claim to oppose. ( applies to both/ all sides) .

When it comes to religion, instead of wasting time on the internet arguing with faceless people, please read different aspects to all religions? Even the ones differing from your political views??

Because when you start to do that, you recognize that religions aren't good or bad in themselves, its what people interpret and practice it to be. Just because its your set of people ( some people not all) spreading hate, doesn't mean you stand complacent because you're getting protected. Stand against the hate mongers and take pride in your culture.

Taking pride in your religion / culture and calling out the ones spreading hate IS NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. IT SHOULD NOT BE. it just creates more polarization than what already exists. Painting everyone in the same brush serves no one.

And for heaven's sake read actual books and look at different perspectives while reading about history, religion, politics etc because the internet is an echo chamber which directs you to sources based on your clicks. The internet, while has been instrumental in making people appreciate their culture, IT IS NOT A PLACE TO LEARN ABOUT SUCH THINGS. IT IS A VERY DANGEROUS AND POLARIZING PLACE.

Differences in opinions always exist, because opinions come from interpretation of what is there. Criticism is valid, but blind hate disguised as criticism is not. You can have your opinions, but at least look at differing sides??

I'll always say this, if the love for your religion comes from a place of the hate of others, it's not love, it's bigotry. If everyone says " we won't compromise we won't do this", it just destroys our society and it's already happening. I sometimes feel like banging my head against against wall is better than seeing our society tread down this path of dangerous reactionary politics.

Which is why I've taken recourse to spirituality because its the only thing that I feel is worth pursuing. I cant change the world but at least I can change myself.

Peace.

Note : calling out aspects like sexism, homophobia, casteism, discrimination etc should be done. And appreciation of aspects like serving others, closeness to the god of belief, moral lessons should also be done!!

[ihopesocomic]

@ last anon: what you said doesn't cancel out the fact that homophobia is very much linked to religion a lot of the time but go off on sounding very white yourself and implying RJ and Cat are racist for... not offering commentary on these "homophobic cultures" they may or may not belong to via their gay lion comic? xDD

I guess we're racist for -checks notes- not speaking on cultures we don't belong to. No winning here I guess!

There's also just. A tonnnnnn of context to keep in mind. Things that have influenced our culture from centuries ago. (Colonialism being a big one.) I can only speak on religions and atheism/agnosticism I'm familiar with, but I don't see the general consensus being that different in concept. (Which people are more than welcome to correct me.) That bigotry is learned, specifically it is pushed by people who want something out of you.

And generally, it is rooted in people weaponizing religion in order to create an enemy, to redirect attention away from those actually causing the problem. This happens even if they don't believe in religion at all.

Homophobic atheists (which you'd think would be an oxymoron) are very much a thing. Even if they don't self-identify as an atheist, their bigotry, whether they're aware of it or not, is in fact rooted in religious fundamentalism. And it was something they never bothered to look in to. - Cat

-

And the bottom line is that this is a pro LGBT+ lion comic. We're not here to do a commentary on homophobia and its exact roots.

The only time we ever have to discuss it is when we have anons like the previous one screeching at us over it instead of just constructing their own gay story with homophobia in it. If this is a case of them wanting it so bad vs. trying to say we're somehow terrible for not marketing a homophobic narrative as pro-gay, anyway.

Or if there's just no point other than what I previously discussed in the last ask. Which is even more pathetic. c: - RJ

[curiooftheheart]

What’s with this thing people do where it’s like “Oh yeah all [homophobia/transphobia/racism/literally any societal ill] started in the like 1600s with the Catholics. Any existence of it anywhen or anywhere else is just the white European christian influence. No other culture, society, nation, or religion would’ve ever had any cruelty or bigotry if it wasn’t for colonialism.” Like not to defend like Catholicism, shit’s fucked, but some of y’all just sound like you need your neat tidy and cozy explanations for evil instead of understanding it is something boringly, mundanely human

[mommybard]

Do you hate christians? I don't see a single post of you attacking any other religion

TW: Religion. Bigotry. American-Christian culture. Attacking? I think you're using the wrong word there anon-y. I've answered some bad asks from people and yeah, got a bit mean, but attacking? Persecution complex is showing there. But, how about this, I'll answer your question assuming you meant it in a good faith way and not a passive-aggressive woe-is-me type way. I don't hate Christians. I do however live in a country chock full of people who love to hide their racism, homophobia, xenophobia, transphobia, sexism, and basically just about any other form of bigotry behind the shield of "Well it's my religious belief!" as if that somehow elevates it out of the realms of scrutiny. And in America, the religion they tend to hide behind is Christianity. So several sects of Christianity I am hardline against. It's also an almost norm here for Christians, not all of the, hell I'm willing to even grant that its probably a minority of them who do this they just do it very LOUDLY, to try to force their religious views and their religion itself on other people. Not guiding people who are looking for more information or to convert, but going out and trying to push it onto others. So when someone comes into my ask box trying to preach, trying to convert me, or trying to couch their bigotry in their religion, I'm not going to be very nice to that person, because that gets fucking exhausting to deal with.

[evilelitest2]

So, where do you fall on Leftism spectrum? I sure hope not believing in left armament or successful uprising disqualifies me from being futher left than a liberal.

oh this is a complicated question, but in short not wanting a violent revolution doesn't make you not a leftist, it just makes you not an idiot. My view of leftism is that it is about protecting human rights, which is my first priority. I think my leftism boils down to the following points

Liberalism: Negative Freedoms, aka Civil Liberties, protections against government tyranny

Examples: Right to free speech, Freedom of religion, equality before the law, right to a fair trial, habitus Corpus, innocence until proven guilty, warrant any sort of limit on state power

Socialism: Positive freedoms, aka things the government needs to provide to all citizens

Examples: Free education, Free housing, Free Healthcare, free food, land redistribution, free clothing, free lawyers, free support ect

Progressivism, aka Civil Rights, things to protect citizens from other Citizens, mostly in terms of opposing bigotry. So policies that fight back against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, xenophobia, nativism, religious intolerance, anti Semitism and antiquated cultural norms.

Democratic Republican (not the political party like pro Democracy) Pro Democracy: Democracy is the best government system that we have and the more proportional a democracy the better, we need to remove most authoritarian power structures. democracy should be designed to resist corruption and graft form the ground up

Examples: Ranked Choice voting, abolish the Senate, lower the voting age, popular election of Presidents, term limits, abolish gerrymandering, limit the Supreme Court

Green: Oh dear god, please make the environment less horrible we are going to die

Examples: AHHHHHHHHHHH

I generally think that leftists must balance all 5 of those, if not, its not leftism i want, intersectionality is the name of the game

now within Leftism I am a huge statist, I think the State is the most effective tool for implementing these policies, and the most powerful tool for the left (i also have a low opinion on human nature) I am anti utopian, I am pro intellectual and anti conspiracy theory

So I think that makes me a Progressive Social Democrat, since "humanist" isn't a political party (except in disco Elysium)