#inclusive orthodoxy

[n0nw0ke-gay-exs0d0m1te]

Hi, Exiled Smite here:

Theres probably a bunch of grammar errors in my post probably bc of my terrible relationship with writing which could have been bc I took college english courses in high school not a great experience, was it worth it? Maybe. Anyways I hope anyone who is catholic or orthodox & gay/trans who has felt like they are alone, you are not, as well as if u feel that your not woke welcome, & I hope we can become a big community under Christ & hopefully one day our leaders are touched with humility & understanding to hopefully live without fear with our beloved living ethically adoring our God along wrapped with the warmth of our Lady's veil

Amen.

[orthopunkfox]

God did not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah over homosexuality. Scripture tells us that amongst the sins that cry out to God for vengeance there are: murder, oppressing/neglecting the poor, and defrauding the worker of his wages. I think America had better be worried and not about boys kissing boys.

I recently stumbled across a Facebook post claiming:

"God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for the very things we are celebrating and teaching in schools."

So, I decided to offer a much needed Bible lesson with this image. Ahem. As it is written:

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen." - Ezekiel 16: 49-50

Yeah, something tells me God has a bigger problem with not taking care of the poor and needy than most people have about drag queen storybook hour. 🙄

Image by Sri Harsha Gera from Pixabay

Read my fantasy novel, The Light Prince: Grail, available on Amazon in paperback and e-book.

[salixsociety]

Inquiring Into Orthodoxy

On first services, what to expect, and good etiquette.

A few times now I've found myself writing preposterously long messages about the very beginnings of being an inquirer into Orthodox Christianity. I'm passionate about helping those with such disorders as social anxiety or autism feel more confident attending their first service and, potentially, laying the foundations for catechism, so I am writing this in the hope that I can direct people to this post, instead of preparing my poor arthritic fingers for a 2000 word message.

Glossary at the bottom of the post.

My 'credentials':

I went through the process of inquiry, catechism and baptism/chrismation as an adult in a foreign country. I suffer from various physical and psychological disabilities that give me social anxiety and make me sensitive to novelty and change. Still, I did it and enjoyed it!

Admittedly, my catechism was much shorter than most, as I ended up being baptized in a sort of emergency situation. I will not speak much on catechism for that reason on my blog, and this post will focus on inquiry and your first few services.

So, orthodoxy has piqued your interest!

Finding Orthodoxy and developing an interest in it is exciting, but as quickly as the excitement came, can it go, when you discover that unlike protestant denominations, it is hard to dive head-first into. Theoretical and historical knowledge abounds, but the practice is community based, initiatory and generally not open to 'outsiders'. Figuring out how to dip your toes in can seem daunting, as most resources are geared toward people already actively looking to convert. And perhaps even more importantly, the (seemingly) grave and deeply mystical tradition feels unapproachable. Hopefully the following information will help you find direction and feel more comfortable in how you proceed!

The very humble beginnings

Step one, for one's own benefit, should be a little homework. Assuming you haven't yet, it's good to read up on things like:

The norms and values of Orthodoxy;

How Orthodoxy differs from your (former) religion;

The history and cultural role of Orthodoxy;

The primary denominations within Orthodoxy.

This will orient you slightly in your process of familiarizing yourself. For example, if the Orthodoxy that sparked your interest was Russian Orthodoxy, you don't want to accidentally attend a Coptic church - you won't know what hit you. It will also allow you to start deciding whether Orthodoxy really is for you, and see how it and its values match up with your lifestyle and ideals.

When you've learned about the concept of Orthodoxy, the next step is to look around for a church near you. To become Orthodox, you rely on a parish and a priest - being an ancient religion it is inseparable from community. Don't focus too much on what kind of church you go to for your first few services. It's of little consequence in the long run, as long as it falls in the broad category of the Orthodoxy you're wanting to convert to. The difference between Greek, Russian and Antiochian, which are all Eastern Orthodoxy, is fairly minimal compared to the difference between Russian and Coptic or Ethiopian and Syriac!

Your first Services

There is some merit in choosing your very first service wisely. They have different meanings, lengths, activities and levels of laity participation. I will take the different Eastern Orthodox services as an example list here, because it is the most accessible form of Orthodoxy in the USA and Europe, but you can research the services of the other big denominations as well if you are attending those churches, to decide which one you should go to first.

Common Types of Eastern Orthodox Church Services:

Matins/Orthros: A morning service of about an hour to an hour and a half, dedicated to glorifying the triune God. Traditionally held before dawn and glorifying the light of Christ, it is now held at various times during the day and often serves to lead up to liturgy. Normally held only on sunday and feast days in parishes, but held every day in monasteries.

Vespers: Evening service traditionally held at sunset, preparing the laity for the evening and glorifying the providence of God. Most parishes hold vespers on wednesdays, fridays, and saturdays.

Liturgy: The primary worship service on Sunday. Normally held in the morning, it is the most important service to most Orthodox Christians.

Note that despite this incredibly simplified breakdown, Orthodox worship is very complicated. There are many many services that are held daily in monasteries, that are grouped together into clusters that can be held daily or a few times a week. Service times also differ across jurisdictions and parishes, and the entire worship structure changes throughout the year!

Thankfully, you will not have to spend hours reading liturgical history to figure out how and when to attend. Most churches will have a website with a schedule!

So how do I know which service to attend? Depends! For most inquirers, liturgy is the most popular choice. It is generally attended by the most people, and gives you a taste of everything all the other services have. Sacraments, glorification, hymns, entrances, everything! However, if you are looking for a quieter and more accessible service to attend, vespers can be a great choice. There are no sacraments, just glorification and litanies!

Preparing for the service, and LGBTQ+ problems

If you want to make a good impression, it will be worthwhile to consider things like what you wear, and what you'd like to learn. Let's talk about what to wear, because it can be a sensitive matter to decide what to wear. The Orthodox church is fairly heavily gendered, and there aren't many churches geared toward LGBTQ+ people. To keep things simple and welcoming, I will not use the strongly gendered language the Orthodox church might, as despite my activity within the church, I am queer myself and care about my LGBT siblings. Henceforth we will speak of feminine- and masculine-presenting people! How you interpret that is up to you: you can pick one to stick with, or pick a new one every day. Or even find a happy medium!

When choosing what to wear, it is important to realize two things. One: that you are not Orthodox yet, and therefore not expected to live up to any standards. Two: that Orthodoxy is not about following a set of laws or meeting a standard set by, for example, clergy or fellows, but rather about doing what brings you closest to God, to the best of your ability. Once you are Orthodox you may run into people who expect you to adhere to certain prayer rules, fasting habits or clothing standards like they're laws, but that is an innately unorthodox way of acting. When one is sick or overworked they are not blamed for not attending church, when fasting actively takes away your wellbeing you are not blamed for not doing so. In much the same way, if dressing a certain way makes you unhappy, you are not obliged to do so. There is, however, etiquette, and then the entirely separate matter of tradition.

Proper attire.

For the sake of not being rude, it is preferable that attendees, Orthodox or not, dress modestly and presentably. It is meet to be clean when you arrive, and to ensure your shoulders, knees, and stomach are covered. You don't have to dress formally, just dress as you would to meet acquaintances. You may want to consider wearing shoes that aren't too hard to put on and take off, as some churches will prefer you to take your shoes off! Socks are also pretty handy, in that sense. Tile floors are cold.

Traditional attire.

As you aren't yet Orthodox in any capacity, this is not required for you to adhere to in any way. For your second or third service, however, you may feel a need to fit in, and that's where traditional attire comes in. For feminine-presenting people, it is common to wear skirts or dresses (over the knee) rather than pants. Pants are permitted however, but 'informal' pants such as denim, shorts, etc, are discouraged. Opt for dressy pants!A head covering is also common, symbolic or not. Depending on what kind of church you go to, you may see anything from a small crocheted circle to a full scarf. Head coverings are not required! The standard for modesty means it is preferred that attendees do not wear overly tight clothing, overly flashy clothing, ostentatious jewelry, etc cetera.

Masculine presenting people are expected to be clean and modest as well. So the same rules apply: opt for humble, slightly formal wear. Make sure shoulders, knees and torsos are covered, and your clothing isn't meant to make a statement.

Standards for what is 'formal' can differ region to region. Here in Alaska, nice clean jeans are considered very much formal, maybe even exceptional (I don't even own a pair of unstained jeans). A nice sweater and clean jeans is perfectly acceptable here, but may be considered insufficient somewhere else. At the same time, because of the amount of Russian influence in Alaska, a full head covering is considered much more important than it may be in other places. Keep that variability in mind when you decide what to wear!

Attending the service

There are many questions about attending a service. When do I arrive? Who do I greet? Can I bring anyone? Where do I sit/stand? What are good manners? When do I cross myself? Can I participate? Who will talk to me? What can I expect? Let's take these one by one.

When do I arrive?

The short answer is: on time. Most people will enter the church a few minutes before the service starts, but you may notice people keep streaming in as the service goes on. As an inquirer, nobody will judge you for arriving at variable times or being uncertain of when to come. It would be best for you to arrive a minute or two early, or right as the service starts - but nobody minds you coming in a few minutes late.

Who do I greet?

If you're arriving shortly before the service, you can greet whoever you want. People will probably say hi and good day to you, and may even make small talk. This is a great opportunity to ask where to sit or stand, and anything else you may want to know. If you're walking in as the service is already happening, save for the people singing, everybody will be quiet. You should be too! Don't go chatting people up, but you may get whispered hellos and instruction.

There is also the matter of greeting icons! Orthodox churches are usually divided into a few sections. Here is an example of a Russian Orthodox church:

Note the 'narthex', the room in which you enter! In the narthex there is commonly an icon of Christ to the right of the entrance to the nave (the church proper), and the Theotokos to the left of it. These icons are normally greeted by the assembled faithful, as it is their house, and it is polite to greet your host! Reflecting this, most Orthodox people will perform the following, first before Christ, then before the Theotokos: they cross themselves twice or perform two metanoias, kiss the icon or bow to it, and then cross themselves or perform a metanoia once more. Usually the kissing is on the bottom of the icon, because kissing the feet of your host was good manners in Christ's day. You may greet and venerate these icons too! You can perform the full metanoias, or you can simply bow or kiss your right hand and press it to the icons. The latter are much less daunting, and just as respectable! NOTE: do not kiss icons when you are wearing lip balm or lip makeup! This can damage the icons, which are usually very expensive and handmade.

Can I bring anyone?

Yes! You may bring anyone you like, including children. Adults should adhere to the same manners you do to the best of their abilities, of course, but anybody is welcome. Children are expected to be kept in check, but they are certainly not shunned. Just make sure that if you have small children that cry, you step into the narthex or step outside for a moment until they are quiet again, so as to not disturb the other faithful.

Where do I sit or stand?

If your church has seating it will most likely be along the walls of the church, so sit there! If there is no common seating, which is not unusual, stand in the back, where you can still see well! Where you want to stand may differ a bit parish to parish, so feel it out! Just don't stand in the way of others. For example, if you're not singing, don't stand next to the sheet music. If you are disabled and can't stand, but there's no benches, look around. There may be one or a few chairs in the back of the church for the elderly and disabled. If there aren't any, consider requesting it of the priest after the service ends.

What are good manners?

I think I will divide this section into two parts: 'etiquette', the things you really ought to do, that are polite and respectful and the bare minimum, and 'brownie points'; things that are not necessary at all, but very impressive, considerate and cool!

Etiquette:

Do not disturb others. Turn your phone on silent, do not accept calls in the church, don't talk out loud in the nave during the service, and if you are spoken to or asking somebody a question (which is okay!), speak quietly. Please step outside with crying children, et cetera.

Be polite. Be nice to the other faithful, don't cuss, don't start arguments or debates in the church, don't ask invasive personal questions, handle the possessions of the church with care.

Do not eat or drink in the church unless it's consumables that were handed to you during the service.

Be patient. Orthodoxy is ritualistic and mystical, and sometimes that gets in the way of things happening quickly or practically.

Try to accept things that are given to you. People may hand you blessed bread or similar items. If you for some reason cannot consume what is handed to you, kindly and gratefully decline. If you do receive/accept it, be sure to consume it while inside of the church. Bringing blessed bread outside of the church is very rude!

Stick to the back of the church. In the above picture of a church layout, you can see a wall titled the iconostasis, in front of which are steps on which the choir may be placed. Those steps are called the solea, and as a visitor and inquirer you should under no circumstance step on or past them!

Be reverent. Understand that to the people around you, the place you are in is utterly sacred and the very house of God. Let your actions reflect that you know this, by showing interest, respect, and appreciation.

Brownie Points:

Cross yourself when you enter the nave and at other appropriate moments (as described below).

Stand for the Gospel and the Nicene Creed. The Gospel is announced before it starts, and the Nicene Creed, when in English, starts with: "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty..."

If you arrive late, do not enter the nave or sit down if the priest is not in the sanctuary (e.g. he is instead on the solea, or walking through the church).

Incline your head to the priest when he is walking past you or censing in your direction.

Don't cross your legs or arms, and stand up straight when you are standing.

When and how do I cross myself?

The how-to is simple, but different than you may be used to. Bring together the thumb, index and middle finger of your right hand, as though you're grabbing a pinch of salt.

This represents the trinity, and the posture of your fingers is a prayer of itself! Bring your hand to your forehead, then your abdomen, then your right shoulder, and finally your left shoulder. If you want, you can bring it to the middle of your chest after the left shoulder, but it's not necessary.

You cross yourself upon entering the nave, upon exiting it, and every time the trinity is mentioned. That's the universal minimum of sorts. Everything else depends on the parish you're in. So do what others are doing! Cross yourself when you see others collectively doing it, and look for the patterns in when they do so. You'll have it down in no time!

Can I participate?

Yes you can!! But not in everything. As a visitor, you are welcome to participate in pretty much everything but the sacraments. If others are singing or praying, you can sing and pray along, for example. In fact, many parishes will have booklets with explanations, sheet music and text for you to be able to follow along and learn. You are also welcome to receive blessings from the priest during the service, and kiss the gospel book. You can wait for a line to form when these things happen, and witness how others do it. If you feel confident, go ahead and join the line! You can also prostrate, bow, and perform metanoias when others do so, and touch the robes of the priest if he makes the great entrance. Follow along with the others if you feel like it, but it is also perfectly okay to stand in the back and simply witness.

Who will talk to me?

Upon entering, you may be greeted and guided by some of the laity, whether they are just assembled faithful, or clergy/monastics. After the service ends, there are normally announcements by the priest, and this is when he may notice you and encourage you to introduce yourself! After the announcements the priest normally comes up to you to chat a little.

Engaging with a priest appropriately.

When a priest approaches you there are some manners to adhere to. You should address the priest with 'Father', not 'sir' or anything else. Example: 'Nice to meet you, Father!' or: 'Father [Name], what time does liturgy start next sunday?'

Greeting him should be done with respect for his role in the church! A 'good morning, father', goes a long way. If the priest stretches out his hand, it is not for you to shake it. He does it so you can kiss the back of his hand, so that he can bless you! Simply take his hand and kiss the back of it. If you want to do it the way the Orthodox do it, you should support your right hand with your left hand, and hold his hand that way, like this:

While you are kissing his hand, the priest will make the sign of the cross over your head as a blessing.

Other than that, engage with the priest as you would with anyone else. He's human too!

After the service

On sundays after liturgy, you may be invited to join the parish in a separate building for a shared meal or some sort of coffee hour! This is a great opportunity to meet the laity, ask questions about the service, talk to the priest about further inquiring, and enjoy some fasting-friendly food! However, if that sounds like too much for one day, you will not be blamed if you opt out.

After other services, the laity just goes home and goes about their day.

Attending more services and becoming a formal inquirer

After your first experience, reflect on what you saw and felt! Did you like it? Do you want to try some other churches? Would you like to attend more? All of these options are valid paths to explore.

If you choose to attend more services at the same church, the priest may ask you if you have intentions of becoming a catechumen, a student getting ready to be baptized. You should have an open and honest conversation with the priest, and saying "I'm still thinking about it," is totally okay. In the weeks or months to come you'll likely have many talks with the priest, as he is partially responsible for your life in the church, even if you aren't Orthodox or even a catechumen yet.

As you attend more, it's recommendable to attend more different services as well. Orthros and liturgy, and then perhaps vespers, orthros and liturgy, et cetera. Try on different routines and see how they feel! Also start trying to become a more and more active participant. Learn about the patron saints of your parish, get to know the other faithful, venerate the icons, light candles, sing along, et cetera! It's rewarding and exciting, even if it is also nerve-racking.

Glossary

Baptism and Chrismation:

A service dedicated to joining you to the body of Christ. It washes away your sins, and then anoints you so you may receive the Holy Spirit. It is the first of seven Sacraments.

Blessing:

A blessing is hard to synopsize in a few words, but it is essentially a good wish to you from somebody else, or making you or an item more 'holy'. Read this for a more in-depth examination!

Catechism (cat-uh-kizm):

A period of being a student where you are orally taught about Orthodoxy, in preparation for your baptism and your life in the church.

Censing:

The act of ritually dispersing incense smoke. Usually done with a censer, a special tool for censing.

Church:

Used in many contexts. The church is the collective, organized Orthodox religion. A church is a church building. One can also say 'going to church', which means attending a service. In Orthodoxy, the church is seen as a living organism, of which the lifeblood is the Holy Spirit.

Clergy:

People that have been religiously ordained for special duties within the church.

Denomination:

A recognized, autonomous branch of the Christian Church. Syriac and Coptic Orthodoxy are two different denominations.

Fasting:

The act of abstaining from certain foods to bring yourself closer to God.

Gospel:

The teaching of Christ, and the written record of His life, from the Bible. Read during services from a special holy book, called the Gospel Book.

Holy Spirit:

In Orthodoxy, the Holy Spirit is two concepts that are one thing. One, the Holy Spirit is the lifeblood of the church and the power of prayer and divinity manifest. Two, the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity.

Icon:

A depiction of Christ, the Theotokos, a Saint, or Angel. Never of God Himself! Icons are usually paintings, but they may also be other art forms.

Laity (lay-ih-ty):

Church attendees who are not part of the clergy.

Metanoia (muh-tahn-ya):

A metanoia is a type of prostration. While a prostration involves kneeling and touching one's forehead to the ground, which one cannot do on Sundays, a metanoia can be done at any time, and only involves touching the ground and then crossing yourself.

Monastic:

Somebody who has dedicated their life to Christ. A monk or nun.

Mysticism:

The characteristic of a religion of which the ultimate goal is oneness with the divine.

Parish:

A small church with its own priest that is administratively independent.

Patron Saint:

A Saint that is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a church, place, person, organization, etc. This Saint prays for and on the behalf of the thing it is a patron(ess) of.

Prayer:

The act of prayer. A request for divine intervention or an expression of gratitude directed at God, the divine, a Saint, etc.

Priest:

A religious leader authorized to perform services and pray on behalf of his parish. He is the spiritual leader of his flock and acts as an intermediary between his people and God.

Sacraments:

A sacrament is one of the seven most important spiritual happenings in a person's life. It is a channel for the grace of God to enter a person's life, and a visible symbol of the reality of God.

Saint:

Somebody who has lived an extraordinarily Christ-like life. Usually 'saint' is only in reference to people who have been glorified (formally recognized as a saint), but during services you may also hear acknowledgments of 'unknown saints,' people who lived saintly lives but weren't glorified for it.

Service:

A formal moment of communal worship, normally in a church building and lead by a spiritual leader; but there are also home services.

Theotokos (Thay-oh-TOH-kos):

Lit. God-bearer (Greek), Theotokos is the title commonly used in Orthodoxy for the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.

Trinity:

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The collective name for God, Christ, and Holy Spirit and the foundation the church is built on!

-----------------

And that is all for now! This post will be subject to revision for the next few days as I have people look over it, but I hope this serves its purpose for somebody!

[spriteofmushrooms]

As Nie Huaisang poured their tea, Jiang Cheng rubbed his thumb against the carved wooden box in his lap and tried not to fret over what the other man was thinking. He knew what he looked like: the white streak at his temple announced it all. Jiang Cheng's cultivation was failing, and with the discussion conference tomorrow, it would be impossible to hide. Not even the reputation of Sandu Shengshou could shield him from being known now.

"Jiang-xiong, if you brought me a present, you have to give it to me," Nie Huaisang said behind his fan. His eyes seemed amused, at least, maybe.

"I know that," Jiang Cheng said, flustered and annoyed for being so. He placed it on the table between them.

Nie Huaisang tapped his hand with the closed fan where he hadn't yet pulled it away, and Jiang Cheng snatched it back to his lap. "It's a beautiful box, Jiang-xiong, but you can't keep it, either!"

"We're supposed to drink tea first," Jiang Cheng groused as Nie Huaisang's dainty fingers opened the lid.

"No, I distinctly recall the Gusu edict that states gifts are more important than anything," Nie Huaisang said. "If it's on their wall, you know it's orthodoxy itself. Oh, what are these?"

In his hands, the brilliant pressed ink cakes were even more beautiful. He was holding the azure bird, and his skin glowed against it. "One of the painters in Lotus Cove has... eccentric ideas. She's been experimenting with pigment and ash combinations. These are her more stable creations, but even then, they're not as permanent as standard ink. But, well." Jiang Cheng pulled a small book out of his sleeve and handed it over. "Here."

Nie Huaisang pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, darted a glance at Jiang Cheng's face, and then set the ink cake back into the box. "I don't have enough hands," he whined, but he took the book graciously. Page by page, his expression grew sharper; a slight flush brightened his cheeks. "A generous gift, Jiang-xiong."

Jiang Cheng swallowed. "She said the pink is especially fleeting, so you shouldn't hang anything with it in direct sunlight," he said gruffly. "Some of them have inclusions that make them act unpredictably in water. It's... You'll have to work with them a lot. To know how they'll perform."

"This kingfisher shimmers with true to life colors," Nie Huaisang murmured. After a moment of silence, he said, "I haven't painted in a long time."

"I know," Jiang Cheng said miserably. At the other's look, he added, "The fans from the last few years weren't your style."

Instantly, Nie Huaisang's fan was between them again. Jiang Cheng looked away, neck hot.

After a tense silence, Nie Huaisang said, "Jiang-xiong, would you tell me if something was wrong?"

"You know something is."

"Can something be done?" Nie Huaisang paused. "Gusu healers, perhaps?"

Jiang Cheng scoffed. "What Lan would help me? Hanguang-jun has never hidden his disdain for me, and Zewu-jun seems determined to live on darkness and silence forever. The Lans who would graciously ignore the feelings of one can't forgive me for being associated with Jin Guangyao and Guanyin Temple, for not noticing a-Ling's xiao-shushu was a treacherous minx who had beguiled the First Jade and would hurt his precious feelings later. As if I've ever picked up on anything like that before."

"How is Jin-zongzhu?" It was hard to read Nie Huaisang's tone, but that wasn't new.

Jiang Cheng fiddled with Zidian, tugging the chain. "He has his friends, his duties, and his shibo."

"Not his jiujiu?"

"You know how Wei Wuxian is," Jiang Cheng said.

Another pause. "I suppose I do." Nie Huaisang picked up and repositioned ink cakes for a moment before asking, "Does he know?"

"Unless the Jin spies defected, yes."

Nie Huaisang rapped his knuckles with the fan, and Jiang Cheng looked up at him. "He should have heard it from you."

"You don't get to tell me how to die," Jiang Cheng snapped.

Nie Huaisang looked bored. "Oh? Then why are you here?"

"This is why tea is supposed to be drunk first," Jiang Cheng said peevishly. "The entire pot is cold now."

Nie Huaisang draped himself over the couch and fanned himself. "You're a thorough person, Jiang-xiong. You must have an heir to announce tomorrow; likely, one of your usual retinue to these things. Not your head disciple, for as dear as that boy is, he doesn't have the head for politics, and politics and reputation have kept YunmengJiang safe. Chen Helin?" At Jiang Cheng's sharp look, he added, "I pay attention to you, too, Jiang-xiong."

"If you know everything, why ask?"

"No one can know everything," Nie Huaisang said gently. "I very often know nothing and must hope for the best. QingheNie hasn't fallen yet, which suggests even caged birds in pavilions aren't always prey." He looked at the box. "You want me to paint again. Why now?"

"After," Jiang Cheng started. He wasn't used to seeing Nie Huaisang's entire face. He wasn't used to seeing Nie Huaisang in soft, unembroidered robes. He wasn't used to seeing Nie Huaisang's hair down from its braids. "After," he repeated, "I didn't ask about your leg."

Nie Huaisang waited, but then murmured, "It healed."

Jiang Cheng swallowed. "I was selfish. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about Chifeng-zun's body or what seeing it in pieces would do to you, because I can't—things are better when you don't think about them. But you stopped painting when he died, Nie-xiong, and all I did back then was scold you for not knowing how to triage your sect in its grief. In your grief." Here, the traitor that used to be his body swelled, and the foreign wave of mourning filled him once again. "You should paint," Jiang Cheng said through tears.

"Oh." Nie Huaisang opened his mouth, and then he closed it, simply looking at Jiang Cheng. "Come here," he said, patting the couch.

Obediently, Jiang Cheng moved to sit next to him.

"Good, good. Put your face here, please."

Jiang Cheng hesitated, but was it wrong to seek comfort when invited? He hadn't asked for it. Nie Huaisang probably didn't know how much he needed it, so it wasn't like he pressured him into it. He fell forward and pressed his face into Nie Huaisang's neck. Engulfed by the complex herbal and spice blend preferred in Qinghe incense and Nie Huaisang's sweet, peppery chrysanthemum, he simply breathed.

"You helped me a lot back then, Jiang-xiong." Nie Huaisang was a little cooler than him, since their cultivation levels were so different, but it was refreshing on his heated cheeks. "Maybe you were stringent, but someone fussing at me to take care of my duties was comforting." His hand moved to the back of Jiang Cheng's head. "I'm sorry I didn't go to Lotus Pier and make a complete nuisance of myself when you needed one."

"I didn't expect you to."

"Why?"

"They said I killed your friend."

Nie Huaisang's hand tightened in his hair. "Weren't you my friend?"

Jiang Cheng didn't want to say that he didn't know, so he said nothing.

[ilikereadingactually]

Alien Clay

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

WOW WOW WOW. WOW. it's been a while since i've encountered a book as surprising as this one. not in a one-big-shock kind of way, but rather a pleasant slow creep of "are we really going there? oh my god, we are." key features of my delight include absolutely perfect use of "unreliable" limited first person narration, and expertly wielded sections of non-chronological narrative.

i've realized that i tend to approach these casual reviews more like a reading journal and i usually don't give any plot synopsis, which is related to how i like to approach books—with enough sense of the vibe to know i might like it, but not much foreknowledge of what it's about. but i've been feeling like maybe it would be useful to other people to have a tiny bit of synopsis, as a treat. so:

the plot of this book in one sentence: a xenobiologist and academic political dissident is sentenced to a labor camp on an alien world, where he is sure to die, but he might get to study alien life forms first.

it's a fascinating read, and feels very prescient right now. the way Tchaikovsky presents the political orthodoxy of this future, and the strengths and weak points of resistance from a perspective inside it, is so striking! and it's all happening inside this quiet growing horror, the source of which slowly shifts and evolves over the course of the book. what a treat to read a novel so fully unified in its themes, on every level of the narrative and even in the structure!

i also have to yell a little about the narrator, Arton Daghdev. he is simultaneously charming and pathetic, wickedly sharp and foolishly soft. his observations and assessments of himself and the people around him, of academia, of oppression and the oppressors, of the alien surroundings, are all so delightful to me and remind me favorably and unfavorably of many academics i know.

a complete stunner of a book, and my takeaway is that i should have been reading Tchaikovsky's books before now, and i will definitely be requesting some from my library.

the deets

how i read it: another e-galley from NetGalley! so close to digging out from the fall backlog i got stuck in!

try this if you: revel in ambiguous morality, have ever experienced academia, dig stories about resisting fascism, love to see a classic alien planet scenario turned on its head, or were into Scavengers Reign.

some lines i really liked: not kidding, i took 17 screencaps of possible inclusions for this section and whittled it down to a few examples of Tchaikovsky's funny and startling prose and incredibly sharp arguments.

Then we start grappling, slinging ourselves back and forth as the rest of the Labour jeer and cheer. He tries to ram a knee right into my academic credentials and I try to yank a fistful of that wiry beard out.

---

Primatt doesn't even look at me. If I'm a personnel file, it's one she hasn't opened. She makes her face into standard-expression-when-confronted-with-authority number seventeen: willingness to be enlightened.

---

And on such hills I die. That doubtless sounds stupid, to you who tell yourself you will take up arms when they starve your children, when they rob you of your goods, when they come for that demographic which includes you. But it's deviation from the truth that lets them do these things. It's the lies, at all levels, which mean when they come for you and yours, the others won't lift a finger, because they've believed the lies spread about you. It is the lies that starve your children because you believe the stories about general shortages, even though the grandees of the Mandate feast off gold plates every day of the year. And it is lies about science which cut most deeply, telling you that this or that group of people are naturally inferior, or another group has an innate ability to lead. That there is sufficient genetic distinction to make the call, when in actuality we share the vast bulk of our inheritance with mushrooms. Or else that, because of this kinship with mushrooms, our leaders are justified in keeping us in the dirt and feeding us shit.

---

He smiles thinly. I never saw so thin a smile. You could open your wrists with it.

---

"This could have been your crowning achievement," he tells me. "To contribute to solving the mystery. Instead of which you make it all about politics." Thus sayeth the politician when the scientist ventures an opinion.

pub date: September 17, 2024. GO READ THIS, IM NOT KIDDING AROUND HERE.

[thornsent]

Hi sorry I didn't mean for the tone to come off that weird and I was on mobile. I took for granted that lesbianchemicalplant is pretty well known to be Like That and should have provided proof. One of the reasons that you can search spacelazarwolf and not get too much is because she mostly uses screenshots and also tumblr's search feature is garbage.

Anyway, she frequently is weird about trans men and calls any talking about their experiences Privileged and transandrophobia truthers

And then is also weird about Jews. Like all the time. Any time any jew talks about their experience she claims they are a zionist

hey! it's all good, and thanks for not being afraid to come off anon. I don't wanna be hostile to people but it's easy to read anons as being in poor faith for.. obvious reasons lmao, average tumblr experience

anyway I do agree this shit abt transmascs is vile. it's very funny that she has baeddels in her dni but is basically regurgitating their shit.

as for the jewish stuff, I still have to reiterate that she herself is jewish according to her about, and I feel like she has the right to cricitize her own community especially wrt orthodoxy & trauma. to be honest, these screenshots still feel real cherry-picked and don't have much context behind them. most of the claims of zionism I'm seeing on her blog are pretty well-founded, especially when a few of these people overtly call themselves zionists. the exception is when she uses fanpol to justify accusations of bigotry, which I think is generally a stupid stance anyway

I don't really use this website for discourse or news LMAO this is the website where I talk about being a faggot and look at images and sometimes reblog opinionated posts. I rb'd the post we're talking about because to me it spoke to a broader issue wherein tumblr's attempts at acceptance/inclusion become infantilizing and erase problems within already-marginalized communities... Treating a community like it is Inherently Progressive is clearly better than antisemitism but it's still bad, you know?

overall I am far from a fan of OP and I don't 100% agree with everything she says or believes, but I don't necessarily think that I have to. I might delete the post because, while I am learning, I am not myself Jewish & don't wish to overstep. but I don't think she was being weird about jewish people, I think she just cares about zionism and doesn't like jumblr being full of libs lol

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Stephen Knight

Published: May 29, 2024

Comedy is becoming increasingly humourless and ideologically captured. So it should come as no surprise that the small number of comedians willing to make jokes about the ridiculous nature of trans ideology have become targets of fierce criticism. However, there is something especially pathetic about efforts to police what is acceptable in comedy when it is other comedians doing the policing. It’s like an ambulance being involved in a hit-and-run. It’s just worse.

Two particularly bad offenders are comedians Joe Lycett and Nish Kumar. Both have recently gone after Ricky Gervais, whose stand-up material pokes fun at trans activists. This week, Kumar took aim at Gervais on his podcast, Pod Save the UK, claiming that Gervais wants to ‘target and attack a vulnerable and marginalised community’. Similarly in February, Lycett appeared on The News Agents podcast, where he slammed Gervais for ‘doing material which is attacking trans people’ and ‘minorities’.

These attacks by Lycett and Kumar reveal that they either haven’t watched the material they say is so egregious – or worse, they didn’t understand it.

The routine that Lycett and Kumar are likely gesturing to is a bit from Gervais’s 2022 Netflix special, SuperNature. Far from attacking transgender people, the joke in question takes aim at the deranged disciples of trans ideology and gender self-identification.

The premise of the routine is that a trans activist becomes increasingly irate the more his belief that women can have penises is questioned. When a woman raises concerns about sharing the female toilets with a transwoman, asking ‘What if he rapes me?’, the trans activist becomes furious. ‘What if she rapes you, you fucking TERF whore!’, he screams.

The joke here is obviously that these gender zealots care more about a bloke with a penis being ‘misgendered’ than about the safety of a woman having to share loos with the penis-owning stranger. What Lycett and Kumar fail to understand from inside their ultra-progressive echo chambers is that this scenario isn’t just an invention of one comedian’s imagination. Any woman that has dared to defend their sex-based rights from the encroachment of gender ideology will be able to tell you about the rape and death threats and the risk of cancellation they face. Whenever they try to gather anywhere to protest for their rights, they are met with violent intimidation. In some cases, they have been visited by police.

Just this week, it was reported that the NHS is facing legal action after 26 female nurses complained about being forced to share the women’s changing room with a trans-identified male. One of the nurses in question, who was the victim of sexual abuse as a child, spoke of how ‘petrified’ she was to have this male in her space. Not least as the man repeatedly asked her when she planned on getting changed. The HR manager responded to these concerns by telling the female nurses they must ‘be more inclusive’, ‘broaden their mindset’ and ‘be educated and attend training’.

Worse still, in real life, the female victims of assault by trans-identifying men really have been compelled to recognise the ‘gender identity’ of their attackers. In 2018, a woman was required by a court of law to pretend her male attacker is actually a woman. In 2022, mainstream news outlets, including the BBC, edited the direct testimony of a rape survivor to avoid the unforgivable sin of ‘misgendering’ her rapist.

Just look at the ordeal Roz Adams has faced. Earlier this month, an employment tribunal concluded that she was unlawfully discriminated against and unfairly dismissed from her job at the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre. Why? Because she believed that the victims of rape – who often understandably find being in close proximity with men traumatic – had the right to know and choose the sex of the staff member providing them with care. The tribunal concluded that management’s treatment of Adams amounted to a ‘heresy hunt’.

Such ‘heresy hunts’ are the backdrop for Gervais’s jokes about trans ideology. And it is the suffocating new reality regular people now find themselves having to navigate on a daily basis. The average person no longer has to contend with the authoritarianism of the church. They are more likely to fall foul of the blasphemy codes and dogmas invented by the new gender puritans in our midst.

Lycett and Kumar want us to believe Gervais has devolved into a chauvinistic, reactionary shock jock. In reality, he has always gone after quasi-religious ideologies that are hostile to science and the right to free expression. The new church of gender ideology is no different. It compels people to believe that men can become women simply by saying so and demands that all who disagree are financially, reputationally and sometimes even legally punished. Surely this gives any conservative, science-denying, crackpot church a run for its money.

Taking aim at trans ideology isn’t a regression for Gervais. It’s a display of consistency. It is just that he is joking about a worldview that the Lycetts and Kumars of this world simply aren’t equipped to think about critically. They imagine themselves as moral guardians of what is permissible in modern comedy. Unfortunately for them, the speed with which Gervais continues to sell out tours and break streaming records tells us that audiences still have the final say of what goes and which jokes land. And it seems that they have had their fill of censorious, virtue-signalling ‘progressives’ who are too toothless to leave the safety net of their right-on establishment views.

Thank God for comedians like Ricky Gervais, who refuse to play it safe. Most of us want a laugh, not a lecture.

==

At bottom, this is a complaint about religious blasphemy by a heretic.

There's no human right to not being offended. And demanding that you (or one group) alone get to be immune from comedy is demanding special privileges. Equality means you get to be treated as fair game like everyone else.

[featherwriter]

A Selection of Mistmas Carols

Ten years ago, I did a Survivorist Christmas cover, and in honor of that anniversary... I decided to make some more! This time we've branched out to some of the other Scadrian faiths too, but I had a lot of fun with these. I hope people enjoy them! Each song has a little lore blurb to go along with it too.

The art backgrounds on these are by @conjchamberlain who created them for our Diceborn series, but was kind enough to let me reuse them for this project too.

Though the inclusion of lyrics in High Imperial evokes an antiquated air, this Survivorist hymn celebrating the life of the Ascendant Warrior is in fact, quite contemporary. Written by notable composer Doxell Venture to commemorate the deeds of his house’s most notable member, this piece was first performed in the Elendel Cathedral in 293 PC. While it is unique among Survivorist hymnary for lacking direct mention of the deeds of the Survivor himself, it remains one of the most popular holiday carols throughout the Basin.

- Historical and Religious Arts Archive, Elendel University

Like many works affiliated with the Pathian faith, neither composer and lyricist of this short hymn are known. The absence of hierarchy or formal clergy of the Path make sourcing historical works like this remarkably difficult, despite its status as the most well known song of the Path in popular awareness.

- Historical and Religious Arts Archive, Elendel University

One of the oldest extant anteverdant songs, this hymn is believed to have been commissioned by the Canton of Orthodoxy in the late 600s of the Final Empire. Its stark lyrics both capture and celebrate the brutal inequality of life before the Catacendre. An additional stanza is notated here which describes a day in which the Lord Ruler will return. Apocryphal testimony sources this final verse to modern day Sliverist cults, but such claims have never been substantiated.

- Historical and Religious Arts Archive, Elendel University

A well documented historical record supports the claim that this hymn describing the fall of the Final Empire as the earliest written work in the Survivorist faith. Its lyrics are believed to have originally been written by an unnamed poet during the turbulent days of the Catacendre itself, but later became the song we know today when it was set to music in the first century PC.

- Historical and Religious Arts Archive, Elendel University

[hero-israel]

What do you think of Reform Jews? I don’t have a problem with it necessarily, but I have noticed it has been the movement of choice for many anti-Zionists to convert into and it’s been making me feel iffy about reform Jews I meet lately bc I don’t know if they’re just a Jew who have been burned by Orthodoxy for their sexuality for example and just want a safe(r) space for them to be both Jewish and Gay, or if they’re a Jew who just converted to legitimize their antiZionism and antisemitism shdjdk which I know is my problem bc I shouldn’t make assumptions about ppl just bc they’re reform

You shouldn't make assumptions about Reform Jews. Or about converts either.

Converts are Jews - full stop - and must always be welcomed, as their souls were welcomed at Sinai. I find it next to impossible to believe that there is any significant trend of people converting to Judaism in order to be anti-Zionist troublemakers. Given how long and involved conversion is (and Reform conversions are just as valid), "haters coming in to attack us" probably happens about as much as razorblades in Halloween candy.

When it comes to anti-Zionist Jews, the call is coming from inside the house. To an overwhelming extent they were born Jewish along one of two paths:

Ultra-Orthodox haredi Judaism (Neturei Karta, Satmar, "True Torah Judaism," etc), who hate Israel both because it was formed by mortal men with smelly armpits instead of by Moshiach with a red heifer, and because Israel is much too tolerant and liberal with too many rights for minorities instead of being a theocratic kingdom where all non-Jewish faiths have been totally eliminated. They "support Palestine" only because it isn't time to wipe out the Palestinians yet, and are every bit as cynical and apocalyptic as the Christian Zionists who want Israel to persist until it is destroyed in the Rapture.

Raised lapsed and unobservant, with Jewish identity totally irrelevant to their lives, to the point that even antisemitism meant nothing to them, so from either the "push" or the "pull" aspects a Jewish state was senseless to them. Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky, Eli Valley, Norman Finkelstein, Alan Rickman, Jackie Walker, Arthur Hays Sulzberger.

It is very hard to convert to Judaism, and we should want more people to persevere through that. It is very easy to throw away a culture and history that seems totally irrelevant to oneself, and we should want those conditions to stop entirely. The latter is a much more real cause of anti-Zionism. It is totally backwards to presume converts must be bringing weakness and subversion with them. I always expect they have joined us out of love and I have never met a case otherwise. The way we slow down the growth of anti-Zionism within the Jewish community is by helping to build dialogue and warmth among people who were born Jewish but for whatever reason feel disconnected and apathetic about Judaism. Show them the community they can still have with us; when we don't, they enter college with a gnawing void of meaning inside them and are easy prey for "Jews for Jesus in Palestine" groups (i.e. If Not Now, formed and led by evangelical Christians).

And since I am Reform, my family is Reform, my children are Reform, "what I think of Reform Jews" is that we're just fine, thanks. The basic "point" of Reform Judaism is to attempt to realize equal treatment for women, LGBT Jews (with gender-neutral ceremonies if requested), and children of interfaith parents, with clergy roles available for all of the above (rabbis, cantors, mohels, etc.), and girls reading from the Torah at their bat mitzvahs; this used to be really distinctive but with overall social trends it no longer is. In terms of social politics, inclusion, and Hebrew-to-English ratio during services, a Conservative shul in 2023 is pretty much a Reform shul in 1993. Where Reform congregations do still stand out is in their full embrace of patrilineal Jews, and in my opinion other congregations should follow that lead as well. I expect they will.

I deliberately left out Jews of color from that list as I think all denominations have been poor at welcoming them. Anyone who wants to give it a go first, please feel free.

[orthopunkfox]

Being queer and a Christian is often very difficult. I experience alienation from both sides. Often these two parts of myself feel impossible to reconcile. But, I want to share something beautiful that my priest does that nearly makes me weep every time. The Orthodox Church is not known for its inclusivity or progressiveness. It is ancient and its gears turn slowly. During Holy Communion, those who are not confirmed members of the Church may come forward for a blessing. The blessing is done by gender.

"The servant of God [Name] is blessed..." for men,

"The handmaid of God [Name] is blessed..." for women.

The first time I went up for a blessing, I was hesitant. My gender is no secret and I do not try to hide my queerness. Which blessing would I receive? With sadness, I concluded the priest would do what was simplest and default to my assigned gender.

I stood before him and bowed my head, arms crossed over my (noticeably growing) chest. He raised the golden chalice over my head and lovingly said:

"The beloved of God Quinn is blessed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen "

He has done this ever since and with this simple action, preaches one of the main, if oft forgotten pillars of Orthodoxy: It does not matter who you are, what pronouns you use, what colour your hair is, what clothes you wear, what mistakes you've made, what trials you have overcome, where you came from or where you are. You are beloved of God just as you are. You are created in the Image of God and are a sacred vessel of beauty, and there is a place for you here.

This is true inclusivity. Not the white liberal veneer placed on so many churches where the cishet, boomer congregation pats themselves on the back for the rainbow flag outside while actively misgendering the trans person sitting in the pew. My priest has not given any big speeches talking about how everyone is loved here. He doesn't have to. His genuine kindness and that of my fellow parishioners are the only sermon marginalised people need to hear. In these moments, the two parts of myself become one and I truly believe that the God I love delights in me.

[n0nw0ke-gay-exs0d0m1te]

HI & WELCOME

So first, for safety & identity reasons, my name is the Gay ExS0d0m!te or u can call me that Exiled Mite or Exiled Soddi, tho I got other nicknames but for now I'll just present myself as what I just introduced myself & reason why I chose this name it's bc I'm a pick me gae jk jk but fr it's bc I'm bi(lgb & ts) actually but also a traditionalist somewhat conservative & moderate bc my beliefs don't align with the Queers(lgbtqiaa2sabc+) & I'm orthodox catholic well catholic,I'll explain in the future why I identify as orthodox catholic. & my username represents like I guess this parallelism in which my kind conservative-moderate "normal" gays & "real" transsexuals & transcums are often "exiled" from the alphabet "mafia"/circus which kinda represents how biblical figures are treated in S0d0m & G@m0rrah but also how the ABC mafia affects us as well when it comes to our faith & our religious community which separates our relationship with God(meanwhile there are progressive churches some of us prefer to follow the "true" church(es) & believe those leftist churches are heterodoxal)& all we want them is to accept us & be part of the Body of Christ which can hard bc some of us don't want the church to become a circus but also want it to be loving & understanding to us homos & cgd ppl & with this platform I want others like me who want to make a better & understanding future in our Mother & Sister churches without betraying our beliefs & be included in the House of our Lord, we can discuss & share our gay conservative & moderate views & maybe compare some liberal views to see how we can actually guide others to reconciliate their faith & sexuality or cgd, & show others that we are children of God as well as Brides of Christ & children of the Theotokos & can live morally, ethically, & gracefully with God's word & law along with humility & love, & dicuss misunderstandings & misconceptions our church leaders have about us & as well as what progressive left wing churches also get wrong, Amen.

[gayleviticus]

there can be a tendency to stereotype a notion of 'orthodoxy' as rigid thought-policing informed by political maneuvering - and i don't deny that is a relevant element - but i was thinking recently abt the ways in which 'orthodoxy' can function also as a safeguard, in a way.

if one of my friends invites me to a church that preaches there's a fourth member of the trinity called Joe or that there's a Third Testament, that immediately acts as a red flag. that's not bc there's anything inherently about weird beliefs that causes people to be abusive, or that professing the nicene creed protects churches from being shitty (far be from it).

but i think a dive into heresy often signals a certain self-centredness, a cutting off from others. "Unlike every other Christian church, we have the truth about the Bible suppressed for so long" quickly becomes "We are the only way to God and you need to stick with us or be damned."

Whereas a willingness to commit to a shared orthodox belief can't help but be more inclusive. If you're Lutheran you have to admit at least other Lutheran churches, if not most Protestant ones, are also entirely valid places to worship God. You have less grounds to convince people the one Lutheran church you pastor is the only gateway to heaven.

And granted, there are forms of non-orthodox belief which avoid this problem entirely, bc their deviation from the norm is a softening of more exclusivist aspects, not an intensifying (e.g. theological liberalism). But certainly in a lot of cases, non-orthodox beliefs are a red flag bc they indicate 'we don't want to play with others'

[vomitdodger]

Long and thorough article. Choice paragraphs below showing every step of the way is compromised:

“In May 2021, the AMA released its Organizational Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Advance Health Equity, “dedicated to embedding racial justice” in all medical practice. Among the plans key priorities is one whose implications for medical education and medical school admissions are readily apparent: “Develop structures and processes to consistently center the experiences and ideas of historically marginalized (women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, International Medical Graduates) and minoritized (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and other people of color) physicians.”

The medical profession’s leaders, almost without exception or dissent, now vigorously enforce this new orthodoxy of anti-racism. Most notably, they have designed and implemented a new version of medical education explicitly grounded in ideology rather than scientific excellence. In pursuit of this project, the president of the AAMC (which accredits U.S. medical schools) and the chair of the AAMC’s Council of [Medical School] Deans stated publicly in July 2022: “We believe this topic [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] deserves just as much attention from learners and educators at every stage of their careers as the latest scientific breakthroughs.”

The AAMC’s DEI Competencies, issued in October 2021, details the new required social justice skills that medical students must acquire. In addition, the AAMC has discouraged the use of the rigorous Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) as a filter to help select medical students. Dozens of the 158 allopathic (MD granting) U.S. medical schools have made the MCAT optional. Several medical schools, including the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, have programs to admit students from designated “underrepresented” identity groups without requiring the submission of MCAT scores at all. The MCAT itself has been revised to include social justice questions that are easy to ace because the answers are always the same: structural racism is the cause of any group disparities that disfavor underrepresented groups. But even this re-engineered test shows persistent group disparities in test scores, which means that Asian applicants must score almost 4 times higher than black applicants to have an equal chance of admission.”

The MCAT was the only aspect of the entire application process which demonstrated true aptitude for a science/medical based curriculum. And they’re largely doing away with it.

And it isn’t just medical schools. The indoctrination and dumbing down of standards continues through residency/fellowship and practice. Example: This is how certain hospitals come to the forefront to promote the trans mutilation. Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston being one of the worst.

Emergency Medicine is another example. EM is represented by ACEP:

👆the president of ACEP (black female naturally-not a racist comment-just an observation for a demographic that is less than 5% of emergency medicine physicians) actively OPPOSES that anti-DEI legislation.

And to prevent trolls citing the usual lazy dumb denial of sOuRcE???? for that 5% statistic, here it is:

[gemsofgreece]

Hi :)

I have a question about the term "dodekatheism", is it true that it's questionable to use to describe the traditional Greek religion?

Dodekatheism is a term used widely, if not most commonly, inside Greece to address the followers of the Ancient Greek religion. The Hellenic Polytheists of Greece themselves prefer the term «Έλληνες Εθνικοί» which can loosely be translated to Ethnic Hellenes, Hellenic Ethnics. In English the meaning shifts to an inaccurate degree as it makes it a matter of ethnicity questioning even more. In Greek it is less so but only because of context. That is, the reason they go by Ethnic Hellenes is because this is how Greeks are addressed in the Bible most often. They are called “ethnics”, which is a short characterisation of the Greek people who at the time were omnipresent in the Roman Empire but believed in their own idolatrous ethnic religion. That’s from the view of the Jewish evangelists. They do not call the Greeks “Romans” and they do not equate the two. They call them “the Ethnics”. The polytheists must like that and it must have resonated with them, as they feel they follow the true Greek religion.

However, in our times, and ever since Christianity prevailed anyway, Christian Greeks do not like calling the contemporary “Ethnics” as such because that would raise implications about their own ethnicity out of nowhere. (This is even more so the reason all Greeks take an issue with foreign believers calling themselves Hellenes or believers of Hellenism, because it is exactly like saying Greeks or believers of Greekness, EXACTLY). Besides, it is the firm conviction of most Greeks that Orthodox Christianity is in fact irreversibly bonded with the Greek ethnos, and to be fair, this is entirely true. Orthodoxy has been catalysing and shaping to an extreme degree in Greek culture and history, certainly no less than the Ancient Religion. (Of course Orthodoxy has spread way beyond Greece but here I am only talking about the impact on Greeks in specific.)

So, such petty quarrels are pitiful. Both religions are bound to be parts of the Greek identity, there is simply no “A True Greeker One Religion”.

But many Hellenic Polytheists dislike the term Dodekatheism Christians use a) because the Ancient Greek religion had numerous gods, not just the 12 Olympians and b) because they understand Christians use it out of annoyance at the ethnic term.

The Hellenic Polytheism is a term that is more or less accepted by everybody. I don’t think Dodekatheism is seriously problematic or harmful, it’s just the connotations that can be drawn that make some polytheists uncomfortable perhaps. But I believe I must have seen a few, like in old articles or so, going by the name Dodekatheists on their own.

As for believers of the Hellenic Polytheism abroad, the term Dodekatheism resolutely does not have problematic meanings, except that it is somewhat inaccurate if a believer honours many more deities than just the twelve Olympians, which is almost always, because if you believe in an Olympian, then why wouldn’t you acknowledge the existence of lesser deities connected to them or their progenitors, right?

If you ask me, Hellenic Polytheism / Polytheists is the most inclusive and accurate term for Greeks and foreigners alike.

Hope I helped :)

[acti-veg]

is the definition of veganism too vague? who decides what counts as possible and practicable?

It’s vague for sure, but I imagine that was intentional, and wisely so. As soon as you try to make it less vague you also make it less flexible and less inclusive. There is no more specific definition of veganism that I can come up with which wouldn’t exclude people who I believe are just as much a part of this community as anyone else.

This is the case for all ethical principles really, as soon as you try to make it really specific or define a set of normative rules, it becomes inflexible and unworkable. All ethical principles and their accompanying definitions have to be flexible, or they will very quickly become dated and just not very useful for those who practice them.

I also think that including space for interpretation and disparate opinions within any community is very healthy. I like that there can be two people who are both vegan who have different politics and different interpretations of what that means in practice. Animal rights is not a simple concept, after all, and there is a lot we still need to figure out, both practically and philosophically. Personally, I have no interest in trying to foster a movement where everyone agrees and there is no real room for diversity of opinion or nuance.

It is up to every vegan to decide what possible and practicable means for them, and that is a very good thing to me. Ethics have to involve the exercise of practical wisdom and reason. We can’t define it in any more concrete way without essentially laying out a series of rigid qualifiers. What would that look like? ‘Vegans don’t use products derived from or tested on animals’ is cited by some, but that would exclude a great many devoted vegans who can’t meet that standard - myself included.

Once you stop trusting people to interpret an ethical principle in good faith, or you try to create some sort of orthodoxy of opinion, what you end up with is inflexible dogma. The positive of that is that it’s neat, rigorous and easy to define, which is attractive in its own way. The downside is that it will always be used to exclude people, intentionally or not. More fundamentally, it just isn’t all that useful when it comes to making ethical decisions in the real world.