#interpretation of religious text

[spotlightstory]

"Interpretation is the backbone of this text," Poddar, 52, told CBC News. "Superficial knowledge can be misleading."

But many in India are foregoing that in-person contact with a guru interpreting the Bhagavad Gita and turning to online chatbots, which imitate the voice of the Hindu god Krishna and give answers to probing questions about the meaning of life based on the religious scripture's teachings. 

It's new technology with the tendency to veer off script and condone violence, according to experts, who warn that artificial intelligence chatbots playing god can be a dangerous mix. 

Several of the bots consistently provide the answer that it's OK to kill someone if it's your dharma, or duty.

[autisticrosewilson]

You're all fucking wrong about Catholic Jason he wouldn't feel guilt about Jack shit, ESPECIALLY not killing. He would get the All-Blades and be convinced that this is God's go ahead and divine confirmation that he's right about everything and all of his opinions are valid and everyone who opposes his worldview is a moron blinded by idealism and naivete.

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

Many people have taken one look at this and inmediately leaped to the conclusion that Jedi forbid emotions. Which is, huh… interesting.

What people don't realize is that the Jedi Order are a religious organization, and as such they have their own sacred texts, such as this meditation mantra (because yeah, that's the only time it's ever mentioned, during meditation).

And the trick about this kind of texts is that they're not meant to be taken literally. You're not supposed to take it at face value, you're supposed to think about it, reflect about it, and then interpretate it. I'm sure the average "fan" hasn't actually thought about it beyond "code bad Jedi evil", nevermind that it's not actually the Jedi Code mentioned in the films.

Since it's a meditation mantra, one used to focus to make connecting with the Force easier, it makes perfect sense that this is how you should feel when using the Force.

You shouldn't be overwhelmed with emotions or passions, you shouldn't act if you don't have knowledge. This is obvious: if you can command the essence of life, then maybe you should actually be in the state of mind to do it.

However, the other lines of "no chaos but harmony" and "no death but the Force" don't fit into this. So, what do they mean?

Here is the other version of the Code. It was seen for the first time in the Kanan comics, and is arguably more canon than the previous one.

(People have called it the Gray Jedi Code, which is hilarious in and on itself and another point in favor of the argument that the so called Gray Jedi are just canon Jedi.)

I'm sure everyone can agree that this one is good.

Feel, but find peace in your emotions. Know nothing, but figure it out. Suffer, but look past it to find serenity. Just like there is chaos, there is harmony. And just like there is death, there is the Force.

But what if I told you that both Codes are saying the same thing?

I know, I know. You probably think I'm crazy, but… what if they're saying the same things, in different ways?

To expand on the interpretation that the first one is how you should be when using the Force (and I admit with my whole chest that this is my interpretation), we can say that the Force isn't naturally things like emotion and chaos. They are only what we bring with us.

That doesn't make them any less real. They are, and they are important, but they are subjective experiences. Everyone will have different emotions, different passions, different things they are ignorant of. Even death, even as it will come for everyone, is something private and personal. I don't know what X person felt or thought when they died.

However, things like peace, harmony and the Force are universal.

Chaos (noun): "complete disorder and confusion." "the property of a complex system whose behaviour is so unpredictable as to appear random"

Dictionary definition, bear with me. "Whose behavior is so unpredictable as to appear random". It isn't random, it has patterns and reasons to happen just like everything else. We simply don't know those patterns. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Just because we don't know something doesn't mean we can't learn it. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. Therefore there is no such thing as chaos, not really, just a pattern, an order, a harmony, we don't know yet. First definition is about human reaction, not anything about the object itself. There is no chaos, there is harmony.

Emotion, ignorance, passion, chaos, even death. They are all feelings, subjective experiences, things that, ultimately, can change as you find new understanding (well, death only happens once and is permanent but you get the point). But inner peace, knowledge (about situations, about people's reactions), serenity and harmony are all universal. They exist, and will exist long after we die, we just have to find them.

And, long as we remember people, as we understand that all lives have left a mark, big or small, we will keep those who have passed alive within our hearts.

Death, yet the Force. There is no death, there is the Force. Or, perhaps…

"(The Force)'s an energy field created by all living things" Obi-Wan Kenobi, ANH

"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter" Yoda, ESB

"No one's ever really gone" Luke Skywalker, TLJ

Death, yet the essence of living beings. There is no death, there is life.

[maenefa]

I’ve never been completely satisfied with the Silmarils as a plot device. If Sauron gets the one ring, the world will end, but what will happen if the Sons of Feanor reclaim the Silmarils? Not much.

It’s easy to frame the whole saga as a pointless struggle over “shiny rocks.”

It’s unclear what the Silmarils do. Secondhand Silmaril light is powerful enough to hold Shelob at bay, the jewels burn evil people/creatures, and the people of Sirion believe they have magical protective powers. However, Beren isn’t healed from his mortal wounds when he holds a Silmaril, and their evil-repelling properties don’t stop Morgoth from wearing them in his crown.

I do think it’s legitimate to ask why Dior/Elwing didn’t give up the Silmaril. Yes, the Feanorians don’t really deserve it after all their evil deeds, but handing it over would bring peace between the elves. It’s frustrating to see Doriath and Sirion fall because their rulers didn’t want to let go of the shiny.

The only way I can wrap my head around the Silmarils is to treat them as religious relics.

The light of the Trees is not just a “public good,”but something sacred. Yavanna created the light, and Varda hallowed the Silmarils so no unclean hands could touch them.

When I think about Elwing clutching the Silmaril and jumping into the sea, my terminal Catholic brain rot connects her with St. Tarcisius, an ancient Roman martyr who died rather than hand over the Eucharist. He is only known from this 4th century Latin poem:

When an insane gang pressed saintly Tarcisius, who was carrying the sacraments of Christ, to display them to the profane, he preferred to be killed and give up his life rather than betray to rabid dogs the heavenly body.

You can bet your ass that Tolkien the Literal Altar Boy knew this story, which was popular in Victorian Catholicism (it certainly burned itself into my 7 year-old brain).

Giving the Silmarils to the Feanorians would have been a kind of sacrilege. We know that because the Silmarils burn Maedhros and Maglor, and the horror of realizing their unworthiness is so great that Maedhros kills himself and Maglor wanders by the sea grieving forever.

For me, the story of the Silmarils and the Oath is about the tragedy of doing evil in the name of religion, or simply forgetting the point of it all:

For Feanor began to love the Silmarils with a greedy love, and grudged the sight of them to all save to his father and his seven sons; he seldom remembered now that the light within them was not his own. (Silm. pg. 59)

I find more emotional depth in this interpretation than reducing it all to a blood feud over jewelry.

[kittenfangirl20]

I know I am trying to avoid talking about yurnu and their portrayal of God. They said that he was based on the Old Testament and that just isn’t true. If that were the case then God would be angry at Adam because right before Niffty killed him Adam openly said he should be worshipped which ignores the First Commandment which clearly states that you not allowed to worship anyone except God. One of yurnu’s favorite ships is Adam and Michael which Old Testament God would have frowned upon, I am not talking about the fact that it is a ship involving two men, but the fact that it involved an angel and a human. One of the many reasons why God flooded the Earth in the Noah story was because humans and angels were hooking up. I feel like they were using the Old Testament as an excuse to make God an edgelord, monster, and bully. One of the many things that upset God was a soul going to Hell and he would have been happy that a soul in Hell found redemption and got to go to Heaven. God would also never call Emily stupid, in fact he would say she was one of the few to uphold the morals of Heaven. Unlike what some of the fans of yurnu is saying, I am not causing a controversy, I am expressing my opinion. I know that they don’t like people questioning their little comic, but I can’t stay silent on this, their art is good, but their version of God is a monster who is nothing like the one in the Bible in the Old or New Testament.

[endlessfuckup]

this was a very good watch

super interesting

[of-arches-and-angels]

Meet my new (and first) Ultrakill OC: Bezaliel! I honestly don't have a lot down in terms of his story or place within the lore, but I have been playing with some ideas based on his name meaning "The Shadow of God" (Maybe also meaning "Damaged"? Idk it's kind of mixed but the first one is most widespread. I'm learning as I go lol). He's also mentioned as being a fallen angel (if I'm not mistaken) so I've been toying with that as well. I know that most of his abilities are related to that "Shadow" aspect of things: moving through shadow, providing aide from the shadows, or even using the shadows in battle. The ball on the screen is similar to a familiar of sorts- something he uses to gather information or keep tabs on certain individuals. Considering the fallen angel bit, I might have him be on poor terms with the council, though that part of things is still up in the air.

I have yet to draw his physical weapon, but I do have some ideas for that as well.

[bumblingbabooshka]

K I’m not too deep into voyager yet but I always imagined T’pel as having the same kinda fanatical religious streak as Tuvok. I think they both go weak in the knees for the teaching of surak in a very unlogical way you know? I imagine her as a Vulcan whose maybe too enthusiastic about being one. She’d go on and on to whoever would listen in a monotone voice about how great logic is and excuse it by saying she’s teaching them or something but she’s just really passionate about it lol. Her and Tuvok go on dates and just do Vulcan Bible study for five hours.

From the little of her I’ve seen in the show I think of her as being heavily invested in Vulcan culture and tradition as well, again to the point of it being less logical and more emotional. Like she’d do something in a way that was super tedious just because she wants to do it in a traditional way to preserve and experience history.

also she’s got a lot of that tuvok hater streak in her. She will be petty about how much more she knows about certain topics!! She will gossip about how illogical other Vulcans are being!!

He wants a church girl who goes to church aN readsER Bible!!!

[menlove]

feeling like a real "well, actually-" bitch reading articles for my capstone that have only done surface digging into the ugaritic texts ahdhsjhs they make so many mistakes and parrot some common misconceptions and I'm sitting here like

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Not to turn a lighthearted post into serious commentary or pontification, but my dad is very xtian and he talked to me about this very topic by coincidence.

To him, he hates when people take g-d's name in vein ("oh, my g-d"). He said it literally sounds like nails on a chalkboard to him. To him, it is the ultimate disrespect.

If you couldn't tell, my viewpoint is the opposite. I say and understand "oh, my g-d" as a plea. It's something that to me means, "g-d, please remember me." I view taking g-d's name in vein not as a matter of belief or word, but action. To me, a person who takes g-d name in vein are people who claim to work for g-d and love g-d, but who hate their fellow man. The people who are indifferent to suffering, who profit off pain, who see g-d as a means to an end. That is desecration of The Name.

And I think that highlights some key differences between judaism and xtianity. Neither are wrong or ontologically bad, but it's different.

You can pry "oh, my g-d" out of my cold dead religious hands. I yearn for g-d which means that I personally want to cry out to Him.

I think the difference between myself and other religious people is that I don't see saying "oh my g-d" as being disgraceful to His name. I see saying "oh my g-d" like you're trying to get g-d's attention so you can do this:

[epicstoriestime]

Understanding the Gospel: Can Something Be Translated Without Fully Grasping Its Meaning?

A timeless message, transcending language and culture—capturing the essence of the gospel’s profound wisdom through history, context, and interpretation. In the quest to understand sacred texts like the gospel, we are often confronted with one fundamental question: Can something truly be translated if its meaning is not fully understood? This question touches on the core of language,…

[loulooser]

Reading the brick and understanding little references here and there in the musical as I read more and more makes me SO RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY

[rasarit-of-my-life]

art teacher in university: ’there are three types of art: propagandistic, religious and (another type i cannot bother to remember rn). But; since the religious and propagandistic type seem to have the same pull and energy towards the human mind, they must be, in their essence, one and the same.’

first of all: that’s how you perceive it. just because you call a religious icon ‘propagandistic’ for having similarities (which you may or may not have made up just to prove your personal point) doesn’t mean that it is. It can be used for such purposes, of course, but that is NOT the essence of religious art.

second of all: how are you a teacher with a degree in art school who put you here i will plow your head through fifty walls if you open your damn atheistic mouth again and try to tell me (who was worse than an atheist) how to ‘correct’ my pov over orthodox christianity of all things in this world

[tmarshconnors]

Does it scare you to think about what Satan is trying to do to your kids?

What are you doing to make sure he doesn’t? Are you teaching your children about God?

Are you setting an example for them showing them what faithfulness looks like? Do you take them to church and Bible class?

Do you talk to them about the lies and immorality that the devil has made normal?

Do you keep them from playing video games and watching shows that slip in things that will take them off course? Do you pray for them and over them?

Don’t think for one second that you can let up or slack off. Evil doesn’t.

[mycelestial001]

Traditionally, many religious traditions have maintained rigid views on gender roles and sexual orientation. READ MORE

[thespiritualparrot]

Ancient Wisdom: Spiritual Meanings in Historical Texts

Welcome to a journey through time and spirit! In this article, we’re going to explore the rich tapestry of wisdom woven into ancient historical texts. These texts are not just relics of the past; they are living documents that continue to offer profound insights into our spiritual journey. From the cryptic symbols etched on temple walls to the profound verses of sacred scriptures, every line and…