#like we can never do that commitment unless we also accept that religion as an aspect of ourselves

[argeriant18]

Weird thought but don't you find it cool and oddly fitting that Susan is gifted a horn. The whole point of it is that once you use it then help will always come to her. It's oddly fitting and quite foreshadowing as well, knowing that she's the one who strays from the path of Narnia. But also it's a bittersweet and hopeful thought because she should be willing to receive help. She can never come back to Narnia until she resolves her feelings about it within herself. And once she has that peace in herself, she can then seek out Narnia. Like an old verse: seek and you will find, I think that the horn operates on that level too: help will come to her, they will find her, so long as she is willing to call out and receive that help.

[human-souls-buy-dopamine]

Idk why I'm suddenly wanting to post a bunch of random unrelated shit but eh. Here we go I guess, under a cut because idk how long this'll get 😭 also tw, heavy discussion of religion (christianity) and religion-based homophobia/transphobia

So like. Love our grandma to death right. Never will stop loving her. Just GOD sometimes she frustrates us so much 😭 (for context we live with her, she's our parent)

I can't tell if she's trying to be accepting or if she's not sometimes? It's so confusing. She let us have a pride flag, let us get a binder, she sometimes tries to use our pronouns and stuff. But then on the other side of things she just. Also tries to slip stuff about Christianity and whatnot into a lot of conversation about it

Like. Okay, she has a right to her own religious beliefs, just like we have a right to our own religious beliefs. None of our business. But it's so difficult when she claims to accept us and then spouts blatant transphobia and homophobia, votes for the guy literally trying to take away our rights, tells us that "God only made man and woman," etc—

Also the fact that, during our stay at the children's home, we briefly had a period where we genuinely tried to believe in christianity (as opposed to pretending bc you basically had to there) and so we read some verses on those topics + others. And unless there's proof of it being some translation error, homosexuality is mentioned both in the new and old testament!! I can't recall if the word itself is used for Soddam and Gomorrah, but in the NT there's a few that are just. Way too direct to ignore

"(9) Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men (10) nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

"(9) We also know that the law is made ... for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, (10) for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality..." (1 Timothy 1:9-10, omitted some parts for length but I kept the meaning)

With that being said, you can't exactly cherrypick here. It's very explicitly stated, and while it very well could be a 'translation error', I haven't seen anything that supports/points that conclusion. (Not to say it doesn't exist, just we personally haven't)

So like. It's difficult to not feel frustrated, especially since she wants us to go to church— Like, you can't claim to support us as we are and then believe the thing that says we're condemned to hell for it?

And, maybe I'm making shit up here, but in our years of being in a conservative Christian town and listening to sermons, the way that sin is talked about is very much framed as a choice? Like, obviously in Christianity it's believed that humans are inherently sinful/unworthy (which is a whole nother can of worms), but you *commit* sins. You *commit* murder, you *commit* idolatry, you *commit* sexual immorality, etc— Gramatically I can't frame everything in that language, but you get the idea. While humans are apparently predisposed to sin, it's never implied (to us, at least, and from what we've read) that some people just ARE murderers, ARE idolaters, ARE cheaters, etc— people choose to commit these acts while having the option not to.

Therefore, using that logic, in Christianity, being anything besides straight would be a choice. Which we know from experience isn't true— Like, sure, we love our identity, but stars, dude, wouldn't it be a hell of a lot easier if we could just be cishet?? Why would we continually CHOOSE to be something that puts us at risk of being the target of a hate crime, of being murdered, of being harassed?

We've brought up these points, but it's like she just. Doesn't acknowledge it? Or she'll just go "I don't know why" when we bring up the last point, as if she thinks we ARE faking it somehow ???? It's like.,.,,,., ma'am. I love you. Please realize that while I'm fine letting you have your religious beliefs, as any decent person should be, if I were to be insistent about my own the way you are about yours you'd say I'm persecuting you. Your stance is inconsistent and we are rhe ones who have to live with the knowledge that under your beliefs we are a sinner condemned to hell for something we cannot control. That sucks. Like, I love you, but it sucks.

Idk man I'm just. Agh. I love her and she's a great parent, she takes care of us and loves us and provides honesyly a LOT for what we have available, don't get me wrong!! it's just this specific topic that bugs me aghhh

[raxistaicho]

Red Lady turns blue!

Saw a goofy take the other day by our old friend, Strikes:

How could you, Edelgard! :( We trusted yooooooooooou...

Luckily, they're all in picture format, so there's no real argument to debunk here, just a bunch of attempted gotchas.

"EdeIgard would have stopped Nemesis! She would have hated him!"

Honestly I'm not sure if I've ever heard that one spoken like that? It's not usually something that comes up unless one of her detractors is trying to argue she's like him, thinks he's a hero, or would join him.

Anyways,

Uhm? How dare Edelgard get confused when Nemesis is described in a way she hasn't ever heard before?

The funny thing is I use this exact quote as a debunk of the common claim that Edelgard got her history of Fodlan from the Agarthans, because if that theory is true, holy shit is Thales ever careless, revealing the truth to her like this.

Rhea: (Conceals the truth of what happened between her and Nemesis.)

Edelcrits: How dare Bad Red Lady incorrectly describe what happened between Rhea and Nemesis!

This isn't even her praising Nemesis, it's just her pointing out how both Byleth and Nemesis wielded the Sword of the Creator and stand against the Nabateans, the ones who would distort history, which Rhea and Seteth both worked to do.

"EdeIgard didn't want to kill Rhea! She just wanted her to surrender, Rhea forced her hand!"

Watch, this is gonna be "Edelgard says mean things!" while totally ignoring Edelgard's actions.

Edelgard thinks - and she's proven right - that Rhea would never surrender and accept a peaceful resolution to their conflict.

And here we get to mean things. Edelgard's dramatic.

How dare Edelgard be glad that she won and can now begin the long work of reforming Fodlan.

How dare Edelgard acknowledge that she must fight her enemies in battle.

"EdeIgard isn't racist! She just hates Rhea for what she's done!"

Oh this one's totally gonna be mean things.

Humanity, as in, not gods.

Racism is when you want to end a false religion and return freedom to the people.

So here's a funny thing: the localization botched the meaning of this line (shocker).

Here, she's not speaking from her own perspective, she's describing the conflict between Nemesis and Seiros:

(Source)

Also the bit about "masquerading as a human" was a creation of the localization. Thank you, treehouse.

(and featuring our guest star, Hubert!)

Oh Hubert, not you too :(

Who's next, Dorothea? Is she gonna admit to having been in a church choir and not the opera at all!? How deep does it goooooo

Fuck I don't even know where this is from :I

(Does some digging)

Okay so Treehouse kinda screwed up some of the verbage here. It's not so much that they made it inaccurate as they made it unclear - and Strikes is cutting out context, go fucking figure.

So Hubert's accusing the Church of Seiros of hypocrisy, of saying one thing and doing another. In the original JP, Byleth can reply,

Sometimes you must tell others to do what you yourself can’t do

Or,

You’re right

To the first, Hubert replies,

That is true, Professor. However, that is a principle for humans.

And to the second,

Yes, although humans must sometimes preach things they cannot do…

He then follows with,

It is not a principle for inhuman beings, with lifespans much longer than that of humans. That’s why we chose to fight based on human principles.

From this, he's saying the Nabateans have no excuse for committing the same foibles that humans do because they're immortal beings who should know and do better. This is in keeping with the start of that bit, where he says,

If it is between love and hate, then I would choose the latter. The goddess failed to properly govern this world. That is why it is necessary for Lady Edelgard to become the supreme leader of Fódlan.

Or, to summarize it, his whole argument is, "The gods have failed to be godly, so humanity must take responsibility in their stead."

Which is completely true. Rhea, despite her attachment to the divine, is prone to the same failures as the humans she lives over and should know better than, being a millennia old. She's untrusting, obsessed with reclaiming the past, stubborn, inflexible, and prone to excessive negative reactions to any sign of pushback.

(Source)

I'm glad Strikes brought that up, that was legitimately interesting!

"EdeIgard started her war for the people!"

Oh no, she's not gonna reveal that she did everything for Bellerophon, is she?

This is nearly five years after she began the war, and after the Church of Seiros and the Kingdom have made it plain that a peaceful ending is not in the cards, but okay.

It's like they think we don't understand she intends to bring all of Fodlan under her banner. Yeah, she is, for the sake of reforming all Fodlan and not just the Empire.

"EdeIgard tries to spare everyone she faces!"

Watch we're gonna see Judith! We're gonna see Judith, guys! Strikes loves bringing up Judith!

Mean things again. This one's even worse given Edelgard also expresses a desire not to kill Rhea and tries to offer her a surrender.

Eeeeeyyyyyy, it's Judith!

We've been over this one. Judith didn't surrender, she was trying to retreat.

"Won't somebody please think of the generals :("

"The grunts can fuck off though"

Edelgard knows what Faerghus's culture is like, and she knows peace is impossible while Dimitri lives and wants to keep fighting her. Dimitri might be naive enough to think he can just make peace with Edelgard at the end of AM, but she's a little more worldly than him.

"CF is about fighting fate!"

This has kinda already gotten long enough, but it's just a set of points where Edelgard talks about her "fate". Again, Edelgard's dramatic. She also chose this path for herself.

So, in conclusion, you're off the hook this time, Edelgard (and Hubert), but I'll be keeping an eye on you. Don't you betray us now, not after four years :(

[jmtorres]

*bangs on pots and pans* marry your friends

the united states (and i think many other countries) as well as lotsa companies incentivize marriage. we get significant tax breaks. we get added to a spouse's health insurance plan at low or no cost. I knew someone who got married to a flight attendant to be able to get free flights.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SYSTEM.

if you have a friend you would live with and would trust to get legally entangled with, and neither of you have any plans to get married for romantic love, then make an appointment at the courthouse (iirc it was like $30?) and get married for assorted financial benefits.

signed, I was gonna marry my spouse eventually anyway but I did it on a week's notice so I could get on their health insurance and keep seeing the same therapist when we moved one county over.

(folks on disability, I see you and acknowledge the system does not benefit your marriages. I'm so sorry)

FAQ

What if we need to get divorced? Check that no-fault divorce is available in your area (it's currently standard in the US, but under attack from Republicans). You can also look into annulment if you never screwed (or are both willing to state you didn't). Fill out the paperwork properly and don't misspell anyone's name and it should be pretty easy in most jurisdictions. If you live somewhere without no-fault divorce, one of you commit adultery on camera and that'll usually do it.

Divorce continued: But what about alimony or community property? ok A) I said someone you trust to get legally entangled with B) idk, write a prenup. you technically don't even need a lawyer for this just a notary. C) community property is like. real estate. not furniture. unless and until you're buying property don't worry about that

Won't people question the validity of the marriage? In my experience, no. Insurance might want to see a copy of the marriage license but no one's going to investigate if you're married the "right way" unless this is like a green card situation which A) I'm not qualified to speak on but B) completely falls under the umbrella of my advice to marry your friends for the systemic benefits imo, it's just more complicated, do your own research

What will my parents think? Do you care? I mean. Look, if they're good parents they'll recognize you're doing what's best for you. And you might be surprised at the family stories that come out about who married who for what (I was certainly surprised about the flights one! That was a cousin). If they're shitty parents who weren't accepting your disinterest in romantic marriage in the first place, fuck 'em. Hey, one of the benefits of marriage is your spouse becomes your closest next of kin if you don't want your parents making decisions first you if say, you get in a car accident! This is one of the reasons we fought so hard for same-sex marriage.

I'm polyamorous I can't marry them all! Yeah nope sorry that's rough. Hopefully you're an even-numbered polycule so you can at least all pair off for the tax breaks.

I'm not gay what if people think I'm gay for marrying my same-sex best friend? Who cares? No homo in 2024 really my guy? But also you don't actually have to tell people if you don't want to, you can just say you're roommates. If someone finds out, you can literally just say "we got married for health insurance" you will be amazed how much people are like "oh. huh. that's really smart actually"

Marriage is a sacred rite! I am fully talking about filing government paperwork and if you are unable to separate that from the rituals of your religion, this advice may not be for you.

What if I actually wanted a fancy ceremony though? I mean, no one's stopping you. Send out invitations and a registry. Get those housewares.

Thanks, Anon!

-submit your poll!-

[hamliet]

Unless a Grain of Wheat Falls and It Dies...

Or, why I am pretty optimistic about the fates of Jean, Connie, Gabi, and all titanized people this chapter, which is also an excuse for me to talk about SnK’s allusions to Russian literature. 

There are strikingly parallel ideas The Brothers Karamazov and Attack on Titan, as well as parallel plot points and imagery to the point where if it isn’t deliberate, it’s uncanny. (NB: before people yell at me about comparing a Japanese and Russian work, Isayama has used Russian names since the start of SnK--Shiganshina is a Russian name.) In particular, there are narrative allusions to a portion of the novel known as “The Grand Inquisitor,” which is a short story within a novel. The central thesis of “The Grand Inquisitor” is as follows: 

nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom. 

This parable is told within the story by Ivan Karamazov, a character whose intellectuality is his gift and his curse. He tells his brother Alyosha that the motivation for creating this parable is precisely the evils done to children (oh look, a major SnK theme) and specifically cites an example which was unfortunately taken from real life in Russia and which Isayama has an uncanny parallel:

I want to see with my own eyes the hind lie down with the lion and the victim rise up and embrace his murderer. I want to be there when every one suddenly understands what it has all been for. All the religions of the world are built on this longing, and I am a believer. But then there are the children, and what am I to do about them? That's a question I can't answer... If all must suffer to pay for the eternal harmony, what have children to do with it, tell me, please? ... if it is really true that they must share responsibility for all their fathers' crimes, such a truth is not of this world and is beyond my comprehension. Some jester will say, perhaps, that the child would have grown up and have sinned, but you see he didn't grow up, he was torn to pieces by the dogs, at eight years old...

... How are you going to atone for them? Is it possible? ... What do I care for a hell for oppressors? What good can hell do, since those children have already been tortured? ... I want to forgive. I want to embrace. I don't want more suffering. And if the sufferings of children go to swell the sum of sufferings which was necessary to pay for truth, then I protest that the truth is not worth such a price. ... too high a price is asked for harmony; it's beyond our means to pay so much to enter on it... It's not God that I don't accept, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return Him the ticket.”

The actual parable of “The Grand Inquisitor” is Ivan’s answer to Alyosha’s question about Ivan’s lines above. Ivan tells a story about how freedom is actually what dooms humanity: it is the curse. (Alyosha does not believe this.) Jesus comes back to earth and is promptly arrested, because his existence and return threaten the wellbeing of society. To be happy, one cannot be free, but one or two strong people in society should be free and bear the burden for everyone else (you can see the parallels to King Fritz/the Reisses). 

Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience, but nothing is a greater cause of suffering... all his life he loved humanity, and suddenly his eyes were opened, and he saw that it is no great moral blessedness to attain perfection and freedom, if at the same time one gains the conviction that millions of God's creatures have been created as a mockery, that they will never be capable of using their freedom...

This is SnK’s thesis: to be free, there will be suffering. It is part of human nature, and yet to not have it is to be lost. But SnK, despite its explorations of human darkness and monstrosity, has a higher view of humanity than does Ivan. SnK’s view is more alongside Alyosha’s, who says what is honestly the truth about not just the Reisses, but Eren now:

"Who are these keepers of the mystery who have taken some curse upon themselves for the happiness of mankind? .... It's simple lust of power, of filthy earthly gain, of domination—something like a universal serfdom with them as masters—that's all they stand for.”

Mikasa is akin to the Christ figure in the story, akin to Alyosha: Christ is constantly asked to speak, asked to act, and he does not until the very last moment, when he kisses the Grand Inquisitor on the lips. After the story is over, Alyosha then does likewise to Ivan. 

Not to mention when Alyosha worries about Ivan’s mental state, he then answers with this:

“Listen, Alyosha,” Ivan began in a resolute voice, “if I am really able to care for the sticky little leaves I shall only love them, remembering you. It's enough for me that you are somewhere here, and I shan't lose my desire for life yet.”

A simple leaf can save a life. A leaf can save the world. A leaf, grown from a tree that started as a seed falling to the ground, dead, only to grow life from that death. Alyosha himself notes SnK’s central thesis of chapter 137 in the (very long) novel’s final pages:

...some good, sacred memory, preserved from childhood, is perhaps the best education. If a man carries many such memories with him into life, he is safe to the end of his days, and if one has only one good memory left in one's heart, even that may sometime be the means of saving us.

There’s a lot more to this, but this is the epigraph to The Brothers Karamazov, the central thesis of the entire novel:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." -John 12:24

Suffering can grow great fruit in an individual life, and by giving something up, by even death, something beautiful can come. Through cruelty, you can find life. 

This is not just a long-running theme in SnK, but a pattern in its plot. Often those who surrender then receive exactly what they had surrendered (but admittedly, not always, like Erwin). 

Mikasa accepted Eren’s loss, and got him back.

Mikasa let Armin go, and got him back.

Falco gave up hope of survival, and got another chance: 

Hange was going to die alone, feeling guilty for having failed her comrades, but saw everyone again, and they told her well done: 

Historia gave up being free, but now we know she will be.

Levi gave up on his revenge, and then got it. Annie thought she would never see her dad again, but she did. For Mikasa, accepting that she has to kill the boy she loves coincides not just with her acceptance of her love, but with the acceptance and knowledge that he loves her:

It always comes with sacrifice, increasingly hard sacrifice, but usually the seeds that are dropped grow and bloom. 

This chapter, everyone surrendered their hearts. They let their dreams fall to the ground, and I honestly think the story will allow it to plant life. Yes, the world as a whole is saved and that is enough to make thematic sense, but it works even better if the very people who were titanized this chapter also bloom again. They chose to trust Mikasa, Levi, Falco, and Pieck to finish the task.

The characters giving up their lives only to get them back make sense, and give Mikasa’s sacrifice of Eren. For Mikasa, Eren was her world, and she gave it up when she had lost everyone else. She had nothing left, and she still did it. I would hope she’d be narratively rewarded beyond just the world being saved, because Mikasa has always been motivated by her personal relationships.

Moving on from Mikasa: Connie’s mom has been kept alive and the concept of turning mindless titans back to humans was already brought up specifically in relation to her:

Connie giving up on his mother a dozenish chapters ago only to get her back now--not through sacrificing a child, but through saving the entire world--would fit the themes and patterns of SnK.

Thirdly, Gabi should not die. She’s Eren with positive development, and cannot meet the same end. Even people who are skeptical of every titan being saved seem to agree that she’ll be fine. It’s possible she’s the only one saved, but imo, not likely. 

See, the only shifter characters who are going to have the option of self-sacrifice are Falco and maaaaaybe Armin. The others look like they’re about to die right here and now, never mind choosing someone to save: the mindless titans are ripping at their napes. Armin also looks to be in bad shape. 

Yet Armin cannot narratively commit suicide; two chapters ago he was still screaming at himself for being useless and thinking he would be better off dead. He’s already tried the heroic sacrifice, too, so why would it work this time around? It does not work for his arc. Falco dying for Gabi was the plan without any freedom from the titan curse; it’s more powerful if ending the curse changes things, rather than forcing him to make the same choice that Reiner has always been trying to make: a heroic suicide. It could happen; it’s just not as narratively strong.

As for whether the worldbuilding rules, we know that mindless titans are not truly dead nor entirely mindless; they just don’t have freedom. Ymir’s case of getting herself back after decades shows that they aren’t quite dead or absorbed. They still have consciousness that can be awoken; Ymir described it as being in a long “nightmare.” Dina still went looking for Grisha. Connie’s mom remembered and recognized Connie, telling him “welcome home.” There is plenty of evidence that there are parts of these people that are still in there even if they are forced to become monsters (oh hey, it’s an Eren parallel; he was conscious of it and had choices while mindless titans do not, but the parallel remains).

[scarletarosa]

Luciferian Teachings vs Abrahamic

Take accountability for your actions and constantly work to better yourself: it is a very dangerous and irresponsible way to live if you continuously rely upon a higher power to wash away all your misdeeds. Lucifer teaches that we are our own saviours; no-one else can truly save us but ourselves. Yet this takes conscious effort, wisdom, and if you wish, guidance from deities. At the end of the day, no-one can cleanse us of all that we have done wrong, we can only strive towards making amends and becoming better people. Also, no-one is to blame for your misdeeds but yourself; don’t even try to avoid your guilt by using scapegoats.

Embrace the paths of hardship and suffering rather than trying to avoid them: if we are to become wise and strong in character, suffering is the gateway to these virtues. This is why all demons (and some other deities) teach people through adversity; it is how we evolve and leave behind our restrictions. Though along this path, we cannot give in to despair, which is why we are meant to “embrace” this and remain steadfast. We cannot expect things to be easy in life, they never will be; to battle this, we need to train ourselves to become strong, diligent, and wise. Overtime, we will come to realize our full potential and what we are truly capable of. 

We do not exist to serve god: every single thing has a purpose, which all serve the higher function of sustaining existence. From blades of grass and the wind, to the black holes, all things fulfill a mission. Yet for living beings and spirits, our missions are not for the gods, but for ourselves. The purpose behind all of existence is to evolve so that we can reach a higher state of being; though beyond this, only the Source knows the purpose. In life, we must focus on serving ourselves first (not in an egotistical way) so that we can become knowledgeable and healthy. Once we have started to become better and develop wisdom, then we can begin focusing on bettering the world. For without wisdom, the world will continue to make the same mistakes. Overall, the main focus of existence is to forever evolve and grow wiser

Passivity does more evil than good: we may all be familiar with the “turning the other cheek” mentality, which might seem very peaceful and admirable to many people. However, this mentality allows selfish and aggressive people to continue being this way; people are not all good at heart and will use your passiveness to their advantage. The lesson is to become assertive and not allow selfish people to have their way with everything; do not allow them to run the world or even get away with some minor things. If someone says or does something wrong to you, remember to put them in their place (unless it could endanger you). 

Humility and self-respect (no holier-than-thou mentalities): just because you follow a certain deity, it does not make you better than others; we are all ignorant of many things and are all guilty. In the same respect, following a certain god does not mean that you have the right to preach to other people or think that you are going to be saved while others will not. We must learn to remain humble and open-minded of others; yet not to have too much humility since we also need to recognize how to be proud of ourselves in a healthy way. 

Open-mindedness and seeking knowledge: seek to learn everything about everything, you should not limit yourself since ignorance only perpetuates evil. Therefore, we must seek to understand evil so that we can avoid it. If we live sheltered lives and remain in the dark, we will never develop wisdom or true understanding of morality. Understand that you do not know everything and never will, allow this to humble you and make you more accepting of new information. However, you must also learn to question everything and research in-depth until you are absolutely certain of the truth (remember that many books lie and that some historians are even paid to keep darker truths hidden). Remember to not follow groups; learn to think for yourself and not be a “sheep”.

Humans as “god’s chosen ones”: humans were never the chosen race of any deity, we are just one of many other species that they have created. Ironically, humans are actually one of the least favoured species of the gods due to how the majority of our kind is corrupt and because we killed off the majority of the other races during the ancient times. Any group of people who claim to be “god’s special people” are egotistical and have a superiority complex that is very dangerous (as we can see from history). This is also the exact mentality that caused all the Abrahamic religions to feel justified to commit genocide across the world or believe that certain countries should be theirs. Likewise, the Earth also does not belong to us; we are given the honour of living on this planet so we can exist, but can just as easily be taken out of it if we become too greedy. Many deities view the Earth as being more important than humanity.

Question all authorities: we must always recognize that people in authority are meant to serve their people, not vice-versa. If we allow ourselves to be cowardly or lazy, those in authority will do whatever they can to gain more power. Corruption happens slowly at first, disguised as help, but ends up as tyranny (which is what happened in Nazi Germany). If we wish to prevent this, we must recognize that all governments are corrupt and they lie constantly while pretending to be getting better. Every leader must be confronted by their people so they know their place. We cannot allow ourselves to be manipulated or pushed around; recognize when things do not seem right or when governments are being overly controlling so we all can rise to stop it. 

We need a healthy balance between indulgence and temperance: as Luciferians, we highly value things such as patience, charity, moderation, humility, and other virtues, but these must be balanced with other traits at the right times. For example, remain humble but value yourself, be kind but also deliver justice to those who wrong you, be physically healthy but indulge in nicer things when able, do not give away all your money to charity, look after your own needs first; etc. By living in this method of harmony, we are far more healthy and less restricted.

Hell is for all evil people, whether they were Christian or not: the realm of Hell is a twisted land of unimaginable torments. It is this land that is designated for all evil spirits; meant to suffer horribly for all eternity. There is no god who can cleanse all sins and save whoever they want from Hell, especially since it is a place of harsh justice. Christians, whether they like it or not, will be sent here if they are too corrupt.

There are many gods: as we seek for truth, we find that all gods exist. Lucifer himself is the first-born god of this Universe and led the other gods before he Fell during the rebellion. Jehovah is just one god of many, and is nowhere near being the supreme god as he says. We see the supreme god as the Source (where all things begin; known as Atum or Brahman) who has their female counterpart as the Queen of Heaven (Adi Parashakti). These two formless supreme deities exist together as equals and are One in essence; the Source needed their feminine counterpart in order to create since existence requires balance. From these Gods, the other gods began coming into existence.

Other Luciferian based posts: The Luciferian Path, The Angels

[dickgreyson]

dearest symeona

i’d like to join your little discussion and fill you in, since you were watching cat videos last year and seemed to miss everything. sounds like a much nicer time than i was having! because at the time i was being sent death threats and anti semitic hate for a holding a fairly uncontroversial opinion, or at least in the circles in which i run.

yes, i got upset seeing damian in a santa hat. because for the last few years, my dash every christmas is pretty jam packed full of christmas themed batfam posts and art. and as a jewish person, understanding that the creators of bruce and most of the batfam are jewish, i found this to be quite confusing and hurtful. and let’s just get this out of the way, bruce is jewish. dc has even published articles about this, and has confirmed it in a pussy way. but even without that, his mother, kate’s maternal aunt, is a jew. that means that bruce is a jew. unless he takes real concrete steps to renounce his faith and community, ethnically he’s still jewish. and he can be an atheist and STILL BE JEWISH. there are actually atheist rabbis, who just really love our culture and tradition, want to have a central role in the community, and guide other jews in a positive direction. and thats actually pretty wonderful. because again, judaism is just as much an ethnicity as it is a religion.

over the years, christians have written bruce as catholic and christian and atheist, and a broad range of other things. hell, in the 80s the phrase ‘caped crusader’ was coined by a christian writer, and i dont love hearing him referred to as that. i think it goes against the very core of why he was created as a jewish allegory. the same goes for people who believe superman is a jesus allegory - he isnt. he was written as a modern day moses parallel. also by jewish authors. he’s a jewish character to his core too. the author of the 1990whatever robin run even said he wanted tim to be jewish, and showed his mother in a jewish cemetery. its not as if intent isnt there.

comics as a whole were created by jewish people, to tell jewish stories to a wider audience. yes, there is some old official art of bruce and dick standing in front of a christmas tree. and that might maybe be because.... it was from the 40s. and i dont know if you noticed but in the 40s americans werent really fond of jews, and neither was the world at large. judging by the response of people in my inbox, they still arent. so these characters can still be jewish allegories, written by jewish people to convey jewish ideals and stories, in an antisemitic world. back then this lipservice needed to be paid in the name of assimilation, and i would have hoped today the need for this would have diminished. 

i hope thats enough context to introduce what happened last year, i was upset that it was all going to start again, and made it known. the artist even reached out to me, and listened to my point of view. because this actually, at the end of the day, isnt a huge deal. and im not sure why it grew, and why other people got involved, when the artist, urs, and i had sorted it out. it became a lightning rod for ‘free speech/art’ anti semitic crusaders.

what is a huge deal though is the hate and vitriol and racism and anti semitism that poured out of the people who associate with your side. Urs, my brave friend who vocally stood by me, received countless hateful messages about her being a survivor and a first nations american. i cant even count how many times i was called a kike.

so the real problem here wasnt the santa hat, it was that a jewish and native american person expressed unhappiness about something, and was met with a disgusting display of hate. thats the problem. that your side was so ready to resort to death threats and slurs. because someone expressed an opinion.

I believe that there is a difference between a person choosing to celebrate a holiday, and a non jewish artist drawing jewish/created by jewish people’s characters celebrating christian holidays. because the jewish person has a choice, but the character does not. at this point in time, there are very few practicing jewish and muslim characters in comics, and in media at large. so i dont think it’s appropriate to make everything christian and say no big deal. i think its more important to display diversity in faith and culture, even if dc is reticent because of cultural antisemitism at large.

when it comes to damian, i can’t speak to that with the same certainty and intensity as i can to the others, since im not muslim. but i do know that several writers have intended him to be muslim (again never committing in canon because comic fans are obviously not very progressive people), and muslim members of this fanbase have really connected with him. and i think showing art where he is muslim, and practices that in a loving and meaningful way, is way more significant and impactful than drawing him in a fucking santa hat.

it is actually very important for jewish people to conserve and practice our culture, and to be vocal about doing so. because people have tried to take it away from us time and time again. so to just brush this aside and say that ‘christmas is a coca cola ad so who cares’ (?) isnt good enough. because we were killed for practicing chanukah, so now its really important that we do. that we remember our tradition, and we pass it on. that we dont allow it to be wallpapered over in the name of assimilation.

all that needed to have happened was for someone to accept and admit that these are characters created by jewish people, to tell jewish stories, and act accordingly and respectfully.

so the problem, in the end, was that i was viciously and ruthlessly attacked for being a jewish woman with an opinion on something, and 10 months later deciding to get involved? i think thats a bad look babe xx

[leohtttbriar]

it's because they're both political. they're both political figures more than anything else--winn because she cannot speak to the prophets and resents it and sisko because he assigns no spiritualism or religiosity to the prophets that speak to him. they are both representatives of a religion that they are adjacently-faithful to. winn expressed in the first episode she was in that she wanted to meet her gods and she had to be punished for wanting so. sisko is as his culture made him--irreligious. in this way they're both materialist.

the fact of them both making this move to not let bajor join the federation yet, on the eve of war with the dominion, which is a civilization of people who are so boundary-less as beings that their materialism must be equally so (that is, unfocused on autonomy and individual choices and freedom), is suggestive of the specific ds9 star trek themes. while sisko's journey is some version of "government is better committed to one than many," with him retreating completely into spiritual-paternalism such that he proves hobbes right by enacting the divine message that only he can hear in a way that only someone who is "faithful" would trust---winn's journey is finding her place as a political representative that can handle the precariousness of the situation as she reconsiders her doubts about a starfleet alien being a religious figure in exactly the way she's always wanted. sisko accepts his place as a prophet of the divine while winn accepts her place as a diplomat.

and it's interesting that both these changes in character happen in regards to what is framed as an inevitable war. the extra-dimensional beings who can look down on the universe and see all of time played out, they've positioned sisko and winn in these ways textually as a strategy for facing the changeling attack. as in, bajor need an emissary that's like sisko, an "unbeliever" but deeply invested in bajoran history and science and anything else the federation is meant to represent in the story; and bajor also needs a political leader like winn who adheres to the archaic rituals first and blind faith sort of never (she believes the interpretation of the prophets that is politically expedient).

they both come to the conclusion that there is a reason and that what the prophets say and do is rational---in the interests of a planet of people so recently liberated from violent occupation. thus, god exists because something had to be caused. scotus's proof of god's existence is like:

"(1) No effect can produce itself. (2) No effect can be produced by just nothing at all. (3) A circle of causes is impossible. (4) Therefore, an effect must be produced by something else. (from 1, 2, and 3) (5) There is no infinite regress in an essentially ordered series of causes. (6) It is not possible for there to be an accidentally ordered series of causes unless there is an essentially ordered series. (7) Therefore, there is a first agent. (from 4, 5, and 6)"

given that you can refer to the speed of light as the speed of causality and that the divine beings of this story are creatures in a wormhole, which is like, theoretically, the place where space and time are indistinct, the epistemological argument with sisko and winn and this episode and the whole ds9 story is that knowledge and information are sourced completely in the material world. but only the "first agent" is rationally capable of knowing all--the beings that are above causality, that are the first cause, that live where causality meets up with effect and production and potentialities are so great that there is a horizon of events, beyond which time is meaningless as we know it.

it's a reckoning with divinity that i did not expect and reckoning with religion that is less condemning than other episodes in the show display. and both winn and sisko can enact the right path due to their rationalized scotus-like faith, on the eve of war where a multicultural multiplicity of autonomous people are fighting against a unified people who can morph into everything (and therefore trust nothing for not being able to cope with uncertainty). it's the decolonizing effect of re-discovering a lost city of an oppressed civilization right before a large fight against fascist colonizers of a sort, and winn and sisko work together to save bajor due to sisko's new faith in the infinite knowledge of the bajoran prophets and winn's new faith in sisko actually being able to hear the prophets' voices. faiths which are founded in rational proofs.

still thinking about how both kai winn and sisko both needed material proof (in the form of a lost city) that sisko was the emissary with everything that it implies. medievalist reckoning with the divine, it is.

[filmmakerdreamst]

Xena: Warrior Princess Review

During Pride Month 2020, I finally got around to watch ‘Xena’. A show that had been in my to-watch list for years, but never got around to start. And when I finally did, I was pleasantly surprised. It was not what I expected and it was everything I think my 11 year old self would have loved.

The one thing that surprised me about the show, was the lack of packaging. Even though it was a fantasy, it also played with different kinds of genres too. I’ve talked about this before in my other review - ‘Xena’ was made at a time when TV had very few rules/rarely had a set audience, since there were parts of the show that were clearly for kids and there were other parts that were clearly for adults (therefore had much more flexibility). I admired how they weren’t afraid to break barriers and touch on deep themes such as religion, morality, redemption, spirituality, motherhood, forgiveness etc - even more than shows of today are able. I also loved how they played into the idea of ‘murder’ and how much it can damage a person - not just the person who commits the act, but the many people affected afterwards. I wasn’t expecting it to be that extreme. It made me think that this must of been the inspiration for ‘Game of Thrones’. 

I see a lot of comments here and there, saying how ‘cheesy and terrible’ it was but to just accept it because its part of the fun. And while like any show it does suffer from the occasional spell of bad writing (the whole of season 5) but it was also shown to be very aware of that fact and never took itself too seriously - unlike some shows I could mention. 

And regarding the ‘cheese’ factor (what 90s show wasn’t) It definitely can be, but I would call it ‘camp’ and ‘experimental’ more than anything else. (Don’t diss the poor use of CGI - I’m personally sympathetic to what was avaliable to them at the time) The style of humour reminded me of Taika Waititi’s filmmaking. If you’ve watched any of his films such as ‘Hunt for The Wilderpeople’ or ‘Jojo Rabbit’, then you know what I’m talking about. I liked how little they cared about being accurate or logical, which added to the ‘bonkers’ element in the show - which you can see in all of Taika Waititi’s films.

In all seriousness, a show centered around two women in their late twenties, who are realistic sizes (not trying to play teenagers). One of whom is a reformed mass murderer, who has lived a life experience, trying to do good in the world for the first time, picking the other one up who has no life experience prior (after they bugged them until they said ‘ok fine’) in their path to redemption. Just two women who become friends travelling the world together, fighting crime, having a laff, learning from one another without any toxicity - when suddenly when the stakes are raised - they realise ‘oh I'm actually falling in love with this person’ I have watched a lot of badly written shows in my childhood enough to know that, that’s not ‘cheesy’. I’ve never seen a story like that in my entire life. I’m not at all surprised that Russel T Davis was inspired by it while writing the Doctor and Rose’s relationship in ‘Doctor Who’ since he’s gay himself.

What’s more amazing about their love story is how they’re both develop as separate people as well. There was this video essay explaining ‘Why you should watch Angel’ the spin off series to Buffy; how ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer ‘was all about growing up and ‘Angel’ was all about being an adult. With Xena: Warrior Princess, you have both of those stories at the same time. 

Xena’s character was such a multifaceted experience to watch. And I can’t imagine anyone else who could play her as well as Lucy Lawless. What planet did they get that actress from? She's flawless! The amount of skill she has to put herself into a very physical role is astonishing. I personally had a love/hate relationship with her character all series long. Not in the way that I hated her, just that I couldn’t trust if she was all good or bad, which I know was intentional on the writers part. I haven’t seen a character quite like her before. She felt very much like a fallen angel; almost like the villain of her own story. Some of my favourite episodes come from fleshing out her character and dark past (‘Locked up and Tied Down’ is one of them) which reminds the audience that's she's not the stereotypical hero everyone expects. I loved her transformation from being this incredibly stoic warrior to being content and happy with who she is in season six, all because of a woman she fell in love with along the way. 

I’ve always thought of Gabrielle as the real hero and narrator of ‘Xena’. She’s the prime example of ‘a normal person becoming extrodinary’. Gabrielle’s coming of age story starting out as an innocent girl from a poor village dreaming of adventure, and ending as this vicious warrior who realises the ‘adventure’ wasn’t how she made it out to be is honestly the best character arc that I’ve ever seen. I loved how travelling with Xena made her realise her passion for writing (which was never going to happen in her home town, given the ‘sexist’ and ‘heteronormative’ ideas) and that she became a amazon princess like Xena. In regards to her sexuality, which is more up for debate than Xena’s (which I think we can all agree is bisexual) I personally interpret her as gay, just in terms of how she was written. Theres this moment in season 4 where she's being held up her hair, and Xena “symbolically” cuts it off ‘freeing her’. And she never really gets with a man afterwards, unless she’s being ‘possessed. It reminded me of a moment in one of Hayao Miyasaki’s films ‘Laputa, Castle in the Sky’ where the bad guy Moska shoots Sheeta’s ‘princess hair off’ which symbolises her transition from child to adult.

The cinematography was breathtaking. There was some great utilisation of New Zealand as the scenery. So was the soundtrack. You could tell it was made by experienced filmmakers. One of my favourite things about the show was the domestic elements - moments in the show where time seemed to stop - which made the world around the characters seem very real and magical. Even though it was a show that featured a lot of action/adventure, there was also this gentleness to it as well. For example, you could feel the wetness of the rain, the warmth of the sun and the clashing of the waves. This technique is used in Hayao Miayasaki’s work a lot .

The technique is referred to as ‘MA’ 空虚 meaning emptiness in Japanese. ‘Miyasaki describes this as the time between a clap’

“If you just have non stop action, with no breathing space at all, its just busyness. But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension” - Hayao Miyasaki

The episode ‘A Day in the Life’ in season two is a really good example of this technique being used.

To my understanding, they used a lot of the local actors in New Zealand, which according to Lucy Lawless, consisted of ‘African immigrants and other different ethnicites’. It was so refreshing to see such a diverse show (despite some slip ups) especially in the 90s. I appreciated the idea that if the actors or extras couldn’t do an ‘american accent’ people could just talk in their natural speech which was also very refreshing. 

The LGBT representation was surprisingly amazing. I never expected so many queer characters in one show - especially under the censors. There was this one episode where they had a trans woman - played by an actual trans actress - win a beauty contest. It made me cry. Not to mention the actress was an aids activist. It was actually Lucy Lawless’ idea to kiss her which was incredibly controversial at that time considering how everyone thought you could catch aids just by kissing. I can definitey see how it validated people back in the 90s.

When people told me that Xena: Warrior Princess was one of the greatest love stories, I thought they were exaggerating a little. But no, watching the show in context, I found out that it really is. Despite its obvious restrictions, It made me realise (regarding token gay couples today) how often television writers rely on physicality and drama to convey a ‘love story’ and how much of it is actually pandering the audience. One of the reasons why Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship felt so genuine is because it was built on mutual respect/compassion and they were also best friends. I felt like I was witnessing something very real and private. It didn’t need kissing scenes or drama to make it interesting. 

It really helped that most of the writers were queer also. There’s this opening scene in season 4, panning over to Gabrielle giving Xena a massage (metaphor for sex - because they weren’t able to show that on screen) which I consider to be one of the most iconic scenes in media - considering how I wanted to sick up my supper when I watched the 10 minute ‘empty’ explicit sex scene in ‘Blue in the Warmest Colour’. The difference when something is written by a queer women vs a straight man.

Because the creators weren’t allowed to write their love story in the normal way, due to the studio forbidding them to, they found creative ways to showcase that love on screen - which made for a very magical/sensual experience. And I can safely say, if anyone has doubts about watching ‘Xena’, whenever I expected to be queer baited at a few points in the show, I was proved wrong time and time again. It’s the most romantical show I’ve ever seen in my life!

[unintentionalgenius]

you're post about buck converting was very insightful and i was wondering if you could maybe share what that process looks like?

so, im not sure if you mean about the process in general or about buck specifically - if I guessed wrong feel free to pop back in and tell me!

so, all this is with the caveat that there is a TON of difference between denominations, different synagogues, and even just individual rabbis. No two people will have the same process, or even the same general steps or ""requirements"". Also with the caveat that I am a fairly well-educated jew but I am not a rabbi. For context, I would say my background is conserva-form, or Masortiform (some mix of conservative/Masorti and reform judaism).

an important note here before we begin: jews don't proselytize. it's not a fully closed religion like Zoroastrianism, but we don't recruit, and there is an extensive formal process in Jewish law for transitioning from a non-jew to a jew. We also don't believe that everyone needs to be jewish; if your only frame of reference is christianity, that might seem very weird. there is a very small subset of moral laws called the noahide laws that we think all people should follow, and you don't need to/have to do anything else if you're not a jew. becoming a jew means exponentially increasing your moral/religious obligations!

if one decided that despite all the good arguments against it, they still wanted to formally begin the process, it would start with an expression of interest - most people have done something jewish or gotten at least marginally involved in a jewish community at some point, just kind of poking around. You have to know something to even begin to think you might want to convert, you know? and so at some point you go from a person hanging around a jewish organization to someone who has spoken to a rabbi and is Officially Exploring Judaism.

Now comes the weird part - i know people for whom this section was less than a year, and people for whom this section was a decade+. All you do is learn. that's it! there's no guide for when you've learned enough. You might take an intro to judaism class, you might take other classes about judaism, you might just go to services a lot, you might do Torah study... one thing that's almost guaranteed is that in this period you meet every so often with the rabbi who is guiding you through this process. The key is to integrate into the community and functionally live like you're Jewish before you actually formally become Jewish. between the two of you, you decide when you're ready. Some things a rabbi might want to see at this stage include:

indications that you understand the seriousness/permanence of your decision

a shabbat practice of some kind

a tzedakah (charity) practice of some kind

some form of personal prayer practice

engagement with jewish community

overall acceptable level of factual jewish knowledge and knowledge of jewish theology - if you don't know all the major holidays, or if you don't know what kosher means, if you can't name any mitzvot (commandments, the things you're obligated to do as a jew), those would be bad signs.

some denominations will test you on rules about keeping kosher, which blessings you say when, etc. but that tends to be more orthodox

some consideration of keeping kosher or at least engaging with the moral underpinnings of it

commitment to living a jewish life publicly, including in front of your family

commitment to renouncing any other religion traditions you might have been raised with (this gets fuzzier when it comes to the blurred line between religion and culture; every rabbi will interpret it differently)

most rabbis will also want you to have done one full jewish year cycle, so that you've hit each of the holidays

it all depends, really! but at some point your rabbi is going to say to you "hey I think you're ready". This will often come as part of an ongoing conversation - much like getting engaged, it shouldn't surprise you. At this point, if not before, you'll pick your Hebrew name. [Hebrew names are one to two personal names and then a gendered word for child, and then the names of your parents. Unless they have a good reason not to, converts usually format their names as personal name(s) bat/ben Avraham v'Sara, child of Abraham and Sarah, the first jews.] The Hebrew name-choosing process is deeply personal and also a lot of fun! Some people who were raised jewish never got a Hebrew name, or some folks will add a second personal name after a major life event, so there are a lot of ways to end up picking part or all of your name.

After you and your rabbi agree you're ready, the final step is a beit din - a religious court, but it's not as scary as it sounds - and then immersion in a mikvah, a ritual bath. the beit din is a small group of learned jews (though in modern conversion processes they're almost always rabbis) who talk to you and ask questions about your conversion until they're satisfied. They will ask about many of the things in that bulleted list above. No rabbi ever sends someone to the beit din if they don't personally think they're ready, but I have heard of people being sent back from a beit din, so it's not a guarantee. The vast, VAST majority of people are not sent back, though, and at least in the reform movement, the formal beit din concludes with a series of questions that everyone gets asked, almost as a formality; the rabbi definitely already knows your answers to these. Once that's done, you immerse in the mikvah; some places do these immediately one after the other, but I've heard from people whose beit din was on a different day than their actual immersion.

there is a whole separate post about immersing in a mikvah but basically a rabbi or mikvah guide walks you through it and after you come out of the mikvah is the moment you're officially jewish! mazel tov!

Crucially, at any point in this process before the mikvah, you can back out - no one will be mad. We love people exploring judaism and it's great to learn about even if you ultimately decide you were not meant to join the tribe! However, once you've immersed in the mikvah, it's permanent - there is nothing you can do to "un-jew" yourself. there's a teaching that all of the souls of all jewish people forever were together at Sinai when Moses brought down the ten commandments, which is a beautiful teaching that also embodies a lot of the modern approach to conversion - you were always jewish, it's just that your jewish journey looks different from someone else's!

i hope this was helpful and not just massively confusing 😅

[aowski]

Changing the Narrative

It seems that death is coming at us from all sides these days. Police shootings, mass shootings, road-rage shootings, COVID deaths, and the execution spree of the last administration.  

What most of us know about the death penalty in America, we probably gleaned from movies like “The Green Mile”. In our minds, we confine it geographically and historically to the old South. I propose that it encompasses more of our lives than we care to admit. We just don’t see it and recognize it as such. The sentence of death hangs over all of us. We’ve become numb to all the ways this is true, especially if it doesn’t directly affect us or our demographic today. But executions are happening daily in this country. It might help if these executions were categorized:

Judicial Execution - Death administered by the State, as a punishment for a capitol crime, usually for being too poor to afford a proper defense.

Civil Execution - Death administered by law enforcement as punishment for  no reason at all except being a poor person of color. 

Stochastic Execution - Death administered randomly in a public place by another person by reason of their own uncontrolled rage and easy access to military-grade firearms.

Domestic Execution - Death administered by a significant other, usually an aggrieved spouse or lover. Again rage combined with easy access to firearms. May result in stochastic execution of others.

Policy Execution - Death administered by state austerity that neglects human well-being. Reverend Barber’s “Policy Violence”.

Economic Execution - Death administered by poverty. Holes in the social safety net coupled with grievous inequality depriving people of access to food, water, shelter, and healthcare.

Environmental Execution - Death by industrial pollution, its toxic effects on food, water, or air, and climate change.

Epidemiological Execution - Death by a communicable virus that spreads like wildfire because of government negligence,  politicization, assertion of personal freedom, and utter disregard for the well-being of others.

Self Execution - Death caused by our own hand. More than the act itself. The culmination of untreated depression, bi-polar illness, or hopelessness, i.e. the psychic death that precedes it.

Taken together, the result is...

Actuarial Execution - The reduced lifespan resulting from living in the United States. With a life expectancy of 78.5 years (per a WHO 2019 report), we have fallen to 40th among the world's nations in life expectancy! These are Life-years stolen! How did we get here? What is it about America that has made 39 others countries a better place, a place to live longer?

We have accepted a "culture of death", a phrase coined by Pope John Paul II. The Psalmist called it ��the Shadow of Death”. In this country, the culture of death began with genocide of the indigenous, but gained an enduring foothold with slavery.

Slavery was the foundation of the economy at our country’s inception and was well-represented at the Constitutional Convention: 

Let us consider the first fifty years of our national history. There was never a moment during this time when the slavery issue was not a sleeping serpent. That issue lay coiled up under the table during the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention in 1787.— John Jay Chapman

Much of our Constitution was an agreement made by compromising with slave-holding states and interests. The most notorious artifact was the “three-fifths” clause which counted slaves as 3/5 of a human being for the purpose of apportionment, thus giving the slave-holding states disproportionate representation. The Second Amendment is another concession to the interests of slavery. By the time of the Convention, “Slave Patrols” were well established in the South. There was concern that Article 1, Section 8, giving Congress the power to form and finance armies could gain control of state militias. Virginia would not ratify the Constitution unless the Second Amendment was included. 

The cohesion (and fragmentation) within our society is based on identity. Too often this identity is not based so much on common interests, but on caste.

Identity is not who we define ourselves to be, but who we define ourselves to not be. More to the point, we understand ourselves to be in a hierarchy, so we define ourselves by who we are above. 

They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know better, but, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know. To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger. In this case, the danger, in the minds of most white Americans, is the loss of their identity.—James Baldwin

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." —Lyndon B. Johnson

It is a human failing that we need a scapegoat to blame others for our shortcomings and vulnerabilities. White people impugn our shadow on Black people and other minority groups. Everything White America refuses to believe about itself, hates about itself, is projected onto people of color.

The white man's unadmitted and apparently, to him, unspeakable-private fears and longings are projected onto the Negro. —James Baldwin

Of all the things we want to push away from ourselves, the certainty of our death is chief among them. Yet...

Mortality the reality that we are most adept at denying. 

Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have.

—James Baldwin

And, again, White America, finds it convenient to avoid  the reality of death by projecting it on others:

White Americans do not believe in death, and this is why the darkness of my skin so intimidates them.  

—James Baldwin

Is this is why White America has been so indifferent to the suffering and death of Black Americans? Per CDC data, life expectancy for Black Americans is approximately five years less than the population as a whole. Indifference may not be imputation, but it does translate into the lack of political will to change things.

Racism is the Poison. Although inequality disproportionately affects people of color, all working and middle-class people are struggling to survive. Compared against other wealthy Western nations, America’s systemic ills are dragging us all down into the shadows of death. 

...racism is a poison first consumed by its concocters. What's clearer now in our time of growing inequality is that the economic benefit of the racial bargain is shrinking for all but the richest. The logic that launched the zero-sum paradigm-I will profit at your expense-is no longer sparing millions of white Americans from the degradations of American economic life as people of color have always known it.

—Heather McGhee (The Sum of Us)

Solidarity is the alternative and people are waking up to it:

Everywhere I went, I found that the people who had replaced the zero sum with a new formula of cross-racial solidarity had found the key to unlocking what I began to call a "Solidarity Dividend," from higher wages to cleaner air, made possible through collective action. And the benefits weren't only external. I didn't set out to write about the moral costs of racism, but they kept showing themselves. There is a psychic and emotional cost to the tightrope white people walk, clutching their identity as good people when all around them is suffering they don't know how to stop, but that is done, it seems, in their name and for their benefit. The forces of division seek to harden this guilt into racial resentment, but I met people who had been liberated by facing the truth and working toward racial healing in their communities.

—Heather McGhee (The Sum of Us)

A New Way, a way of life, a way of economic security is possible, but only if we seize the moment we are in. A moment of crisis is also a moment of opportunity. As we come out of a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, more people are facing the bankruptcy of 40 years of trickle-down Reaganomics.

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced —James Baldwin

The politics and messaging of racial scapegoating is deeply embedded in the American psyche. Race-baiting and fear are the tools used against solidarity. The answer is a new story, a race-class narrative. 

If we lead with a shared value, that means race and class, for example, ‘Whatever your race, gender, or religion, most of us work hard for our families. Every child, regardless of where they come from, deserves a chance to pursue their dreams.’ Reminding us of our common humanity (that’s a good place to start) and then saying that racial scapegoating is a weapon that economically harms all of us. You’re actually putting a shot in your listeners’ arm, inoculating them, so the next time they hear that racial scapegoating, they have antibodies for it. —Heather McGhee

This is the pivotal moment we find ourselves in. Our choices are to continue with the old story of racism, division, and death or to embrace a new story, a story of solidarity and an abundance. This can happen when we realize we are more than "The Sum of Us" (McGhee).

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Embracing The World: Faults in Belief and Fellowship

Question: Feelings of fellowship between people can be damaged because of some unexpected behavior, and thus good will towards one another can easily be weakened. Is this situation a result of a fault and immaturity in our belief? How can we attain true perfection in belief and how can we maintain it?

Answer: Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, prayed that his community not be completely eradicated from the face of the earth, that they not suffer from pervasive famine, and not be attacked by an enemy which could destroy the great majority of believers; he said that his wishes had been granted. Working from this hadith, we can say that his community will not be subjected to general destruction, nor will they remain under the sovereignty of others permanently. However, the Prophet also reported in the same hadith that a similar prayer that he made for God’s prevention of bloodshed and mischief among his community was not granted (Muslim, Fitan, 19/20).

As to why this last prayer was not accepted, it can perhaps be argued that what was asked for lies within the capacity of human willpower. Humans are blessed with reason and mental capacity. It is not congruent with human dignity to be herded to and fro or to be gathered here and there, against their will. Human beings can exercise their volition and seek the possibility to live together with others peacefully.

“We try (test) people through one another”

By mentioning repeatedly in a number of verses (An’am 6:53) that people will be tested through one another, God warns the Muslim community of this grave threat that might loom over them. God Almighty puts us in trial in a variety of ways; sometimes with illness, sometimes with misfortune, sometimes through our worship, and at other times with our vulnerability to sins. Trying some of us through other people is another means of testing. Every individual person is unique; God created each of us like a separate species in and of itself. We all have different personalities; no one is like another person. By creating every one so different God reveals the manifestations of His beautiful names and glorified attributes and thus puts us through a trial with a promise of a reward for those who are successful. This test requires acknowledgement of these differences in the nature of each person; it is with this awareness that everyone should seek ways to coexist, despite all our differences.

It is reported that Bediuzzaman Said Nursi once praised one of his students and his good skills in his writing to another of his students. He said: “His writing is better than yours.” Upon this, which was also a kind of trial, his student remarked that he was pleased to hear this; he showed no sign of discontent. Bediuzzaman realized that this student was truly sincere in his words. It may not be possible that everyone has the same level of ease at heart in the face of such a situation; we should not expect such a purity of conscience from all. Yet, it is still in our hands to control our behavior.

We should also never forget that a person who displays bad behavior is not necessarily a bad person in all their aspects. Labeling someone thus, especially if that person is an observant believer, is a distorted perspective and reflects one’s own contempt. Moreover, discrediting another believer in such a way means that the discreditor is actually the one who is on the wrong path; he or she might suffer a blow from that person, or a severe dispute might occur. So, instead of making an immediate judgment about another person, it is always best to think of a way to resolve the dispute and to come to terms. The person who takes the first step and apologizes for what has happened can be considered to be a hero. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, also points out that when two people are angry with one another, the virtuous one is the one who makes the first greeting (Bukhari, Adab, 62). The following verse in the Qur’an enjoins believers as follows:

Goodness and evil can never be equal. Repel evil with what is better (or best). Then see: the one between whom and you there was enmity has become a bosom friend. (Fussilat 41:34)

In contradiction of divine commands

I deeply regret and sometimes feel great sorrow when such weaknesses and lack of integrity surface, despite the above-mentioned divine instructions and warnings. It is not uncommon to come across two people, who normally meet each other at spiritual gatherings and discuss issues related with belief, becoming involved in a dispute. This means that such people are unable to perceive the resentment and hatred that is directed towards believers, and the plots that have been devised by antagonist circles obsessed with enmity; these can obstruct many good services. If these plots against and resentment towards believers are trivial matter, then what is significant for them, that their honor and pride were not regarded? So for us, is it truly the case that the denial of God and His Messenger is not a major issue, but a word uttered unfavorably on our behalf is more important?!

What do we value most? We should be aware of the attention that we give to frivolous matters which we unnecessarily overvalue at the expense of many issues of greater magnitude. God has blessed us with reason, and even beyond that, with belief and the ability to comprehend. So, it is imperative that we analyze how people fall out, albeit they share countless common denominators in belief and values. They believe in the same Creator, the same Sovereign, the same Lord, perhaps even follow the same Messenger and religion, and turn in the same direction for prayer; they may even live in the same country and are committed to the same lofty goals, treading on the same path… Hundreds of shared values should unite people, but we may still fall in dispute over matters that are as insignificant as the wings of a fly. If someone curses me, this does not give me the right to respond likewise. For Bediuzzaman, retaliation is a cruel principle.

“If for God the world was worth the wing of a fly, unbelievers would not be allowed to drink even a drop of water” (Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 13). The world is so insignificant that the unbelievers are allowed to drink. If this is the real value of the world, then what significance can some repugnant worldly issues have for friends who fall apart? Can this ever be reconciled with reason?

It is also reported from Hafiz-i Shiradhi that “the world is not a commodity worth disputing.” I believe that no one would consider this to be an exaggeration. Yet, how much are we reflecting this truth into our lives? Thinking over all these, I cannot help but ask myself “for what purpose are we reading, keeping ourselves busy with the Qur’an and the practice of the Prophet, or with the analysis of marginal matters?” Why are we wasting our time quibbling over such matters if they do not help us reach human perfection?

I am sorrowed by those who do not forgive

All of us need rehabilitation; we need to reflect on our integrity and revise our humanity. This is necessary for all of us. It is easy to overemphasize trivial matters and start the gossip that lies at the tip of our tongues; minds and pure hearts are tarnished with the tar of gossip.

Let me give you an example of how important this issue is: if a friend gets up from their seat and leaves the room, and if I infer in my mind or comment openly on this, saying, “I think he is overwhelmed by sleep too much, so he leaves the gathering to sleep somewhere else” he might be hurt if he were to hear this. What would befall me is to ask for his forgiveness the very first moment I came across him. Gossip is a grave sin. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says that gossip is worse than adultery on the grounds that God can forgive the adulterer if he repents and is determined not to commit the sin again. Nevertheless, a gossiper has to ask forgiveness from the person he or she has gossiped about as well as from God (Bayhaqi, Shuabu’l-iman, 14/255). Gossiping about a person who has a large following might result in a grave sin, for it violates the rights of all those people who admire that person. This is a very delicate matter. Unless we deem what God Almighty enjoins as significant as being significant, then many trivial matters will replace them.

We have serious faults in our belief; it is certainly imperfect. We have huge gaps in our commitments to the basic tenets of belief, both at a personal and social level. We seem not to possess perfect belief in the existence of God and His all-encompassing presence, nor in the fact that His will is superior over all other things, nor in the Hereafter where we will account for all we have done in this world.

I am disappointed with and deeply sorrowed by behavior that does not suit a true believer; indeed, for any weakness in this regard. I am heart-broken by my friends who are unable to forgive one another, by those who seek the errors of others, and by those who keep record of others’ sins like the Angle Scribes, and by those who ignore the good deeds performed by others.

Let us not allow any feelings or thoughts that might damage fellowship to enter even our dreams. If we believe, then let us be prepared to honor even the evil-doers and embrace those who have turned their backs on us. Let us make it our life principle to be without hands against those who strike us and without speech against those who curse us.

[picsofsannyas]

IT IS NOT ONLY YOUR PROBLEM -- it is the problem of almost everybody.

  OSHO, I FEEL NEGATIVE ABOUT MYSELF: HOW DO YOU SEE ME?

Swami Prem Asutosh,

IT IS NOT ONLY YOUR PROBLEM -- it is the problem of almost everybody. All the cultures and all the religions have been conditioning you to feel negative about yourself. Nobody is loved, appreciated, for just being himself or herself. You are asked to prove whether you are of any worth: "Bring gold medals from the university! Achieve success, money, power, prestige, respectability! Prove!" Your worth is not intrinsic; that's what has been taught to you. Your worth has to be proved. Hence a deep antagonism towards oneself arises, a deep feeling that I am worthless as I am -- unless proved otherwise." And very few people can succeed in this competitive world. Millions and millions of people are competing. How many people can succeed? How many people can become presidents and prime ministers? In a country of millions, only one person will become the president; and deep down everybody is hankering for it. Millions will feel that they are unworthy. How many people can become great poets? A Shakespeare. a Milton, a Shelley, a Rabindranath -- how many people can become great poets? And everybody has something of the poetic in his being; everybody has some poetry to give to the world. But when it becomes an ambition... ambition in itself is anti-poetic. How many people can become great painters like Picasso or Dali? And everybody has something to create. The idea of success is torturing you. It is the greatest calamity that has happened to humanity, the idea of success, that you have to succeed. And success means you have to compete, you have to fight, by fair or foul means -- it doesn't matter. Once you succeed everything is okay. The question is of success. even if by foul means you succeed, once you are successful whatsoever you have done is okay. Success changes the quality of all your acts. Success changes evil means into good means. So the only question is: How to succeed? How to reach to the top? And naturally, very few people can reach to the top. If everybody is trying to reach Everest. how many people can stand there? There is not much space there; only one person can stand there at ease. Then the millions who were also striving will feel failure, a great despair will settle in their souls. They will start feeling negative. This is a wrong kind of education. It is utterly poisonous, this so-called education that has been given to you. Your schools, colleges, your universities, are poisoning you. They are creating misery for you; they are the factories where hells are manufactured -- but in such a beautiful way that you never become aware of what is going on. The whole world has become a hell because of a wrong education. Any education that is based on the idea of ambition is going to create hell on the earth -- it has succeeded. Everybody is suffering and feeling inferior. This is really a strange situation. NOBODY IS inferior, and nobody is superior, because each individual is unique -- no comparison is possible. You are you, and you are SIMPLY YOU, and you cannot be anybody else, and there is no need either. And you need not become famous, you need not be a success in the eyes of the world. Those are all foolish ideas. All that you need is to be creative, loving, aware, meditative... if you feel poetry arising in you, write it for yourself, for your woman, for your children, for your friends -- and forget all about it! Sing it, and if nobody listens, sing it alone and enjoy it! Go to the trees and they will applaud and appreciate it. Or talk to the birds and the animals, and they will understand far more than the stupid human beings who have been poisoned for centuries and centuries with wrong concepts of life. The ambitious person is pathological.

You say: I FEEL NEGATIVE ABOUT MYSELF. Everybody is feeling negative about himself, because that's how he has been made to feel. Your parents have done it to you -- this is a heritage, a great heritage. Your teachers have done it to you, your priests have done it to you, your political leaders have done it to you -- and so many people are doing it that, naturally, you have become impressed by the very idea that you are worthless, that you don't have any intrinsic meaning or value, that you don't have any significance of your own. Each parent is saying to the child, to each child, "Prove that you have some worth!" Being, just being, is not enough -- some doing is needed. My whole approach is that being is intrinsically valuable. Just that you are is such a gift from God, what more can you ask for? Just to breathe in this beautiful existence is certificate enough that God loves you, that existence needs you; otherwise you would not be here. YOU ARE! Existence has given birth to you. There must have been an immense need -- you have filled a gap. Without you existence would be less. And when I say this, I am saying it not only to you: I am saying it to the trees, to the birds, to the animals, to the pebbles on the shore. A single pebble less on the immense seashore and the seashore would not be the same. A single flower less and the universe would miss it. You have to learn that you are valuable as you are. And I am not teaching you any ego -- just the contrary. In the feeling that you are valuable as you are you will also feel others are valuable as they are. Accept people as they are; drop shoulds, oughts -- those are the enemies. And you are carrying so many shoulds: "Do this and don't do that!" You are carrying so many dos and don'ts that you cannot dance; the burden is too heavy. And you have been given so many ideals and goals -- ideals of perfection -- that you always feel you are falling short. And the ideals are utterly impossible. You cannot fulfill them; there is no possibility of fulfilling them. So you will ALWAYS fall short. To be a perfectionist is to be ready for the psychiatrist's couch; to be a perfectionist is to be a neurotic. And you have all been told to be perfect. Life is beautiful in all its imperfections. Nothing is perfect. Let me say to you: even God is not perfect -- because if God is perfect then Friedrich Nietzsche is right that God is dead. Perfection means death! Perfection means now there is no possibility of growth. Perfection means now everything is finished. Imperfection means there is a possibility to grow. Imperfection means the excitement of new pastures, ecstasy, adventure. Imperfection means that you are alive, that life is going to be there. And life is eternal, hence I say life is eternally imperfect. And there is nothing wrong in being imperfect. Accept your imperfection. And then the idea of being negative towards yourself will disappear. Accept your present state and don't compare it with some future perfection, future ideal. Don't think in terms of how you should be! That is the root of all pathology -- drop that. You are as you are today, and tomorrow you may be different, but you cannot predict it today, and there is no need to plan for it either. Live this day in all its beauty, in all its joy, in all its pain, agony, ecstasy. Live it in its totality -- in its darkness, in its light. Live the hate and live the love. Live the anger and live the compassion. Live whatsoever is available in this moment. My approach is not that of perfection but that of totality. Live the moment that is available to you totally, and the next moment will be born out of it. If this moment has been lived totally, the next is going to reach a higher pitch of totality. a higher peak of totality -- because from where is the next moment going to come? It is going to be born out of this moment. Forget all about the future -- the present is enough. Jesus says: "Think not of the morrow, and look at the lilies in the field! how beautiful they are. Even Solomon was not so beautiful attired in all his grandeur." And what is the secret of the beautiful lilies, the poor lilies? The secret is simple: they think not of the morrow, they don't know anything of the future. Tomorrow exists not. This day is enough unto itself, this moment is enough unto itself. And, Asutosh, your feeling of negativity about yourself will disappear. Remember, if you feel negative about yourself, you will automatically feel negative about others. That is a necessary corollary. It has to be understood.

THE PERSON WHO IS NEGATIVE ABOUT HIMSELF cannot be positive about anybody else either, because the faults that he finds in himself he will find in others -- in fact he will magnify them in others. He will take revenge. Your parents have made you negative about yourself, you will take revenge on your children you will make them even more negative. Hence, negativity goes on growing with each generation. Each generation becomes more and more pathological. If the modern man is suffering psychologically so much it has nothing to do with the modern man himself: it simply shows that the whole past has been wrong. It is all accumulation of the whole past. The modern man is suffering from the past; the modern man is not suffering from his own sins as the so-called religious preachers go on saying to you. You are suffering from the sins of centuries... but now things have come to a peak. Man is falling apart. Up to now somehow we have managed to keep ourselves together, but now things have come to such a point that either man has to change totally and has to change his vision of life, or man has to commit suicide. If you follow the past, then you are on the verge of committing a global suicide. And that's what your political leaders are trying to do: preparing atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, super hydrogen bombs -- piling up bombs upon bombs. They already have too many! In fact, just ten years ago they were already capable of killing each person seven times. Ten years ago they were ready to destroy this earth seven times, although a person dies only once -- you need not kill him twice, that will be unnecessary. But in case somebody survives, politicians have to take care -- they plan perfectly. But that is how things were ten years ago. Now, you will be surprised: they can destroy this earth seven hundred times -- each single person can be killed seven hundred times! Now this is too much, and absolutely unnecessary. Seven is okay -- there are a few cunning people who may not die. But seven hundred times!? And still the race continues. Even poor countries are joining the race hankering to join it -- starving, but they want atom bombs. Starving! but they want more power to kill and destroy. Just a bird's eye view and you can see the earth is preparing for a global suicide, a total destruction, a total war. And remember again, this has nothing to do with the modern man as such. The modern man is only a victim of the whole past. And the priests go on saying that something is wrong with the modern man, and they go on praising the past. The modern man is a by-product of the whole past! Christian, Mohammedan, Hindu, Buddhist -- all kinds of cultures have contributed to this situation. They are responsible. Unless they all disappear, unless we drop this whole pathological past and start anew, living in the present, with no idea of perfection, with no ideals, with no shoulds, with no commandments, man is doomed. Everybody is feeling negative. One may say it, one may not say it. And when one feels negative about oneself, one feels negative about everything else. One's attitude becomes negative, that of a NO. And if the negative person is taken to the rosebush he will count the thorns, he will not look at the rose flower -- he cannot. He is not capable of that. He will simply ignore the roseflower, he will count the thorns.

A woman was very unhappy. Her husband was seriously ill in hospital, and her son had just been arrested on a drug charge. So she went to the park to sit in the sun and refresh herself. She sat on a bench. As she watched, a little bird flew from a tree on one side of the bench towards a tree on the other side. When it passed over the woman, it let loose a little birdshit which hit her on the forehead. The woman's eyes lifted towards heaven, her hands came up, and she said, "You see how it is, God -- for other people they sing!"

If you are feeling negative, then the whole life becomes a dark night. Then there are no more dawns, then the mornings are never there. Then the sun only sets and never rises. Then your dark nights are not even full of stars. What to say about stars? You don't even have a small candle. The negative person lives in darkness, lives a kind of death. He slowly dies. That's what he thinks life is. He goes on poisoning himself in many ways; he is self-destructive. And, naturally, whosoever comes in contact with him, he destroys him too. A negative mother will destroy the child. The negative husband will destroy the wife; the negative wife will destroy the husband. The negative parents will destroy their children; the negative teacher will destroy his students. The negative priest... and all priests are negative. It is very rarely that you come across a man like Buddha or Christ or Mohammed, who is not negative -- but they are not priests: they are prophets. They bring new visions to life. Priests exploit the prophets' vision; they distort it. They interpret it in such ways that it becomes a strategy to dominate people. Christ is not a Christian, remember; Christ was never a Christian. Christianity is created by the priests; Christianity is the creation of Saint Paul. He is the real founder of Christianity -- not Jesus Christ. It is not Buddha who is the founder of Buddhism, but the priests who followed.... And it is so with every religion. Whenever a truth has entered into somebody's being, whenever somebody has received God, priests gather together around him. They never miss the opportunity -- they are the most cunning people. They start exploiting the situation. And once the enlightened person is gone, then the priests become the masters, the owners. The past has been created by the priests. It is a negative past -- life-denying, anti-life, anti-love, anti-joy, anti-celebration. It has created only two kinds of people in the world those who are sincere -- just like you, Asutosh -- those who are sincere, they are suffering from negativity, anguish, despair; and those who are not sincere, they have become hypocrites. They go on talking about the anti-life religious teachings, and from the backdoor they live a totally different life. On the surface they are spiritualists, deep down they are materialists. And, remember, I am not against materialism: I am against hypocrisy. I would like everybody to be a materialist and a spiritualist, because you are both body and soul, because God is both God and the universe. The universe is his manifestation. Your body is the manifestation of your soul. In the past, because the religions talked in terms of anti-materialism they created two kinds of people: sincere people who had to declare that they were materialists -- and that is not good; because of that declaration they became closed to the spiritual dimension -- and then there were insincere, cunning people who talked about spiritualism and remained materialists. You can see it in this country. My own experience is -- and I have known all kinds of people; here with me there are all kinds of people from almost every country of the world -- my own experience is that Indians are the most materialistic. They talk about spiritualism, they brag about spiritualism, but all that bragging and all that talking is just to hide, to cover their reality. They are hypocrites. The more religious a country pretends to be, the more hypocritical it is. And then man is split. Either the spiritual dimension becomes closed, or you become a split person. And both alternatives are wrong. A new man is needed who will affirm life, who will love life, who will love love, who will love this existence AS it is, who will not make demands that first it has to be perfect, who will celebrate life with all its limitations. And that new man is my sannyasin. My sannyasin heralds the new man, a new beginning, a disconnection from the past, a discontinuity from the past. I don't want you to be hypocrites: I want you to be real, authentic human beings. Love your body, live your body to its totality. Love your instincts, your desires, and live them in their totality. And you will be surprised: if you love your life, life starts opening its doors to you. If you love, mysteries are revealed to you, secrets are handed over to you. If you love your body, sooner or later you will become aware of the soul that resides in it. If you love the trees and the mountains and the rivers, sooner or later you will see the invisible hands of God behind everything. His signature is on every leaf. You just need eyes to see -- and only positive eyes can see; negative eyes cannot see. Negative eyes are blind! Negative eyes only see the wrong.

You ask me, Asutosh: I FEEL NEGATIVE ABOUT MYSELF: HOW DO YOU SEE ME?

I SEE YOU AS A BEING A BEAUTIFUL PERSON. I see you as of great worth, significance. If God has given birth to you, that is proof enough! -- no other proof is needed -- that you are fulfilling some immense need of the universe. Start loving yourself, because that is the only way to love others, that is the only way to love God. If you cannot love yourself, how can you love your creator? If you hate yourself, you will hate your creator too -- because finally HE is responsible. He has created an unworthy person like you. He has made you ugly. He has given you wrong, evil desires. He is the culprit! Condemning your own instincts, your own desires, yom own life, you are condemning, vicariously, God himself Accept yourself, otherwise you will become a hypocrite. Don't repress -- nothing is negative in you. Existence is utterly positive. Express... manifest your hiddenmost core. Sing your song, and don't be worried what it is. Don't expect anybody to applaud it -- there is no need. Singing in itself should be the reward. I would not like you to become a hypocrite. And who is a hypocrite? The person who says something, believes something, and lives just the contrary.

Father Flanagan is walking through the village when he is hailed by Mrs. O'Rourke. "Would ye be joining us, father?" she calls out. "It is a bit of a party we are having." "I wish I could," replies the good father, "but I have to go and say mass." "What a pity," says the woman, "a fine party it is, and we are playing some lovely games. We blindfolded the women, the men took off their trousers, and the women have been guessing who is who. And would you believe it, father, your name has been called out five times already!"

Beware! One cannot live in the negative. One can think negatively but one has to live positively. You cannot live in the no, because the no has no nourishment in it, and the no has no space in it. No is a death! One can die in a no, but one cannot live in a no. If you want to really live, you will need a deep yes in your heart. It is only yes that allows you to live. It gives you nourishment, it gives you space to move. Just watch the word! Even repeating the word 'yes'... and something starts opening up in you. Say no and something shrinks. Say no, repeat no, and you are killing yourself Say yes and you will feel overflowing. Say yes and you are ready to love, to live, to be. Asutosh, to me, each individual is superb, is unique. I don't compare any individual; comparison is not my way, because comparison is always ugly and violent. I will not say you are superior to others, I will not say you are inferior to anybody -- you are just yourself And you are needed as you are. And you are incomparable -- as everybody else is.

Osho.

The Fish in the Sea is Not Thirsty Chapter #3 Chapter title: The Prints of Your Inner Being

[ochibuogwu5]

JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY IS THE ONLY MEANS OF HUMAN SALVATION IN THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE

JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY AS THE ATONEMENT OF HUMAN SIN SI THE ONLY MEANS OF HUMAN SALVATION:

Jesus Christ Crucified on the Cross of Calvary *as the atonement for human sin/flesh* Is The Only Connection/Mediator between Human Being & God; The Creator of all human beings and the Universe!!!

  "For there [is only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all [people, a fact that was] attested to at the right and proper time." (1 Timothy 2:5-6 ampc)

  "Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me." (John 14:6 ampc)

  While every other religion/ideology/philosophy/channel/method leads to eternal death(hell-fire)

  This is not a human ideology/judgement/decision/philosophy/pronouncement but the judgement of God thus

"While he was still speaking, behold, a shining cloud [composed of light] overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is My Son, My Beloved, with Whom I am [and have always been] delighted. Listen(follow/obey) to Him!" (Matthew 17:5 ampc)

  "But as it concerns the Son, He(God the Father) says to Him, *Your throne, O God, is forever and ever (to the ages of the ages), and the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of absolute righteousness* (of justice and straightforwardness).

 9. You have loved righteousness [You have delighted in integrity, virtue, and uprightness in purpose, thought, and action] and You have hated lawlessness (injustice and iniquity). Therefore *God, [even] Your God (Godhead)*, has *anointed You with the oil of exultant joy and gladness above and beyond Your companions.*

 10 And [further], *You, Lord, did lay the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.*

 11 They will perish, but You remain and continue permanently; they will all grow old and wear out like a garment.

 12 Like a mantle [thrown about one’s self] You will roll them up, and they will be changed and replaced by others. But You remain the same, and Your years will never end nor come to failure.

 13 Besides, to which of the angels has He ever said, Sit at My right hand [associated with Me in My royal dignity] till I make your enemies a stool for your feet?

 14 Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service [of God for the assistance] of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:8-14 ampc)

  Then Peter who was an eye-witness when God the Father pronounced this eternal choice, decision and judgement of HIS re-affirmed this judgment and decision of the Father thus

 "For we were not following cleverly devised stories when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (grandeur, authority of sovereign power).

 17 For when He was invested with honor and glory from God the Father and a voice was borne to Him by the [splendid] Majestic Glory [in the bright cloud that overshadowed Him, saying], This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased and delight,

 18 We [actually] heard this voice borne out of heaven, for we were together with Him on the holy mountain" (2 Peter 1:16-18 ampc)

  Repent from sin/unbelief/any other channel or religion/philosophy that you are using as a means to get access to the God who created all human being and this universe; then surrender your life inside the crucified life of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary so that He can replace that old-life/nature/flesh you inherited from Adam's disobedience WITH HIS NEW CREATION LIFE RELEASED ON THE CROSS AFTER HE SAID "IT IS FINISHED" (John 19:30)

  It is this NEW CREATION LIFE ALONE that can begin to live a consistent and progressive holy, pure, pleasing and acceptable lifestyle to GOD THE FATHER, fresh every second on this earthly sojourn till eternity by faith (every second; we agree afresh in our hearts/mind/mouth that our old-life died with Jesus on the Cross permanently and became replaced by the COMPLETE NEW LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST which He used to live on this earth from conception till ascension without sin/disobedience to the perfect-will of His Father hence this SAME LIFE is now living through our mortal-bodies in every/any sector/phase/circumstance of this earthly living that we are currently engaging by the Power of His Holy Spirit)

thus

 "For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, He poured God’s goodness(ETERNAL LIFE) into us!" (2 Corinthians 5:21 TLB)

 therefore anybody who has believed that this *exchange on Calvary happened in his/her own life will boldly declare every second of his/her earthly life both in deeds, words, actions, decisions and lifestyle whether privately or publicly thus

 "For I(put your full-name here) through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law] have [in Christ’s death for me] myself died to the Law and all the Law’s demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to and for God.

 20 I(put your full-name here) have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

 21 [Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor/ETERNAL LIFE) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]"

(Galatians 2:19-21 ampc)

  AND understanding the VALUE OF THIS EXCHANGE ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY FURTHER will always manifest this lifestyle in deeds and words thus

"But far be it from me to glory [in anything or anyone] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) through Whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!"

(Galatians 6:14 ampc)

  " *From now on* let no person trouble me [by making it necessary for me to vindicate my apostolic authority and the divine truth of my Gospel], for *I bear on my body the [brand] marks of the Lord Jesus* [the wounds, scars, and other outward evidence of persecutions—these testify to His ownership of me]!"

(Galatians 6:17 ampc)

  This is why Jesus defined our every second agreement with our position inside His Crucified body on the Cross even after being born-again as the only means of being His genuine disciple/follower thus

"And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and *take up his cross daily and follow Me* [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

 24 For whoever would preserve his life and save it will lose and destroy it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he will preserve and save it [from the penalty of eternal death]."

(Luke 9:23-24 ampc)

  NOTE:

Unless a human being *sees/accepts within his/her mindset/heart that he/she died with Jesus on the Cross of Calvary when Jesus was crucified about 2021 years ago*; such a person *cannot receive or manifest this New Creation Lifestyle*; no matter how many *sinners prayers that you say when you encounter a new preacher* or fasting and prayers that you engage or family-cleansing/deliverance that all the prayer-warriors in this universe can conduct in your family or how many hands of anointed men/women of God that were laid upon you or theological studies that you have/undergo or religious titles/activities that you engage e.t.c.

 You will still be *struggling with sin because the flesh; who is the producer of any type of sinful-products (lies, fornication, anger, fear-of-death, bitterness, jealousy, greed e.t.c.) has not *been uprooted and replaced*

  The only remedy for uprooting this producer(the flesh) which we inherited from Adam's disobedience not because of any sin that we committed by ourselves is *death with Jesus on the Cross of Calvary* and it is not biological death or wearing a crucifix/cross but by *a consistent heart to heart agreement of seeing yourself dead with Jesus on the Cross and replaced with His New Life of Resurrection* just as it is only those children of Israel who *gazed consistently upon the molded bronze serpent were healed while those who were trying to kill the snakes that bite them or heal themselves with their own medicine/logic died in the wilderness* thus

"And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must [so it is necessary that] the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross],

 15 In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] may not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever!" (John 3:14-15 ampc)

 MANIFESTING LIKE JESUS CHRIST WHILE ON EARTH:

what do we need to do in order to manifest the *power that Jesus expressed while on earth* since He now lives through our mortal bodies ?

 Just remain conformed(agree within your mind, free-will, emotions, heart, mouth, deeds, thoughts, decisions and actions) to your personal death with Jesus on the Cross of Calvary by faith (whether physical, mental and spiritual engagements in a deliberate daily study of the Holy Bible to see how Jesus handled all the issues of life both in the old and new testament as well as prayers) then the Power of His Resurrection(the Holy Spirit Power and lifestyle; fruits, gifts and services) will flow through your mortal-body effortlessly and endlessly thus

"That I may *know him*, and the *power of his resurrection*, and the *fellowship of his sufferings*, being *made conformable unto his death*;" (Philippians 3:10 KJV)

 AND

 " *Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus*, that the *life also of Jesus* might be *made manifest in our body* ". (2 Corinthians 4:10 KJV)

Abbah Father, your word declared that no human being can come to Jesus Christ You Son unless You draw him/her to Jesus by the outpouring of your Holy Spirit revelation hence we implore You to reveal the reality of Jesus death on the Cross and His resurrection upon all human being in this our generation much more than we can write, think, pray or imagine in Jesus name. Amen.

[emisonme]

Burnin'.........

I hate it when we have to go by the lyrics we get in live shows. Can't hear shit, let alone make out the damn words. I went to Genius today, to look at the lyrics for Burnin' again, and low and behold, some of them had changed, from the last time I looked.

So, with that, I won't be doing a line by line, or verse by verse analysis, of this song. I'm just going to go with the theme of the lyrics I do know, and go from there.

That being said, HOLY SHIT, Lauren went there. Sorry folks, but the synchronicity of when we got Señorita, and Burnin' live, are not a fucking coincidence. One is depicting the story, of how they came to be, and the other is depicting Lauren's story, of how she accepted her feeling, that allowed them to be.

Basically, Burnin' is continuing the story of where Señorita left off. It is also very similar to NBTS. Camila describes her feelings as an addiction to drugs, while Lauren describes her feelings as being addicted to a burning flame. Camila knew, just one "hit", she'd never be the same. Lauren knew, with just a "taste", she'd wouldn't want to stop....Not to mention, what Camila said, in concert about NBTS, that she knew it would hurt when she had to leave, but she'd "do it again" if she could, and Lauren has those words in her lyrics, that she'd "do it again", consequences be damned.

NO ONE is going to convince me, these two young women are not writing about each other. The similarities are to great. And just for shits and giggles, the hotel scene from Señorita, would be a damn near perfect match to Lauren's lyrics. Just sayin!!!

OK, so what is the actual message, Lauren is conveying in Burnin'? The short answer... She is telling us, how she pushed aside her propagated fear of eternal damnation, to be with the woman she loves....(And please, DO NOT even try to convince me, she wrote that song about Lucy. Didn't happen.)

The first thing we need to know, for those who may not, is the religious aspect of it. Lauren was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic Schools. So, what is the Catholic Church's stance on same sex relations?

Well, homosexuality is considered heresy, and those who commit heresy, are called heretics. Heresy is any act that goes against the "will of God". Those who committed these acts of "abomination", used to be burned at the stake... Organized religion sucks!!!

Another thing we need to know, is that lust and desire are also considered a "sin". We also know, religious organizations like to use animal metaphors, for damn near everything. Desire is no exception.

Sexual desire, is represented by a serpent, or snake. The snakes toxic venom represents that burning fire of desire one gets in their "bowels", otherwise known as the lower abdomen, that is "wrapped in the curves of your waist".

They also like to have a double meaning for damn near everything, therefore, the serpent/snake, also represents fertility and life. Passion is good, desire is bad. Because those idiots realized, passion can only take you so far...Passion doesn't get the sexual juices flowing. You can't slam a passionate limp noodle through a tight hole. So, they had to make desire OK, as long as you had that desire with the people THEY said it was OK to have it with. Those people are your opposite sex spouse, for the purpose of procreating. In fact, sex in general is considered a "sin" unless it is with your opposite sex spouse, for the purpose of creating life....Did I mention, organized religion SUCKS!!!!!

Anyway, I could go on a long ass tangent, about the hypocrisies of all this shit, but let's move on. Because Lauren was BRAINWASHED throughout childhood, by the teachings of Catholicism, she had a very hard time accepting her attraction, and especially her sexual attraction, to girls.

We know this. She has told us about it, herself. Now-a-days, the Catholic Church don't condemn homosexuals, they just expect them to practice chastity. In other words, they will no longer condemn you for being homosexual, as long as you become a chaste sexless lonely hobbit. They will only condemn you, if you are a "practicing" homosexual. One who give into those sinful temptations of serpentine sexual desires. Whatever!

That is what leads us to Lauren's song, Burnin'. In her mind, she knows she shouldn't have these thoughts and sexual desires, about Camila, but damn it, you spend so much damn time fighting yourself, you find it's ALL YOU WANT. The more she fought it, the more she desired it.

There comes a point, you have to choose. Do I do what I want, or what others expect of me. (those damn expectations) The thought of Camila, and her silky skin, was to enticing. Lauren found herself in a continuous state of enchantment, just thinking about it.

The hot and heavy make out sessions, were becoming harder and harder to stop. She wanted more. She desired more. She made her choice. With her heart in her hand, she gives herself to the one she loves...And that venomous snake of sexual desire, wrapped in the curve of her waist, enjoyed every fucking minute of it.

She knows, she'll be "damned" in the morning...Or so the religious zealots say. They will call her a "sinner" and a "prisoner" to the way Camila makes her feel. They can burn her at the stake, or try and shame her, so be it. She'll shoulder that shame, and she'll do it again, just give her a taste.

When she wakes up, in the morning, she sees her girl sleeping soundly next to her. She knows what she's done, and knows she should "bow her head to pray", and ask for forgiveness, of her "transgression"...But damn, she looks so beautiful laying there next to her.

She is laying there, worshiping and adoring her sleeping beauty, when she feels the spirit, her inner being and motivational force, invoking, or begging her, to forget about all that other stuff. It's not temptation, it's passion. It's not lust, it's love. It's not wrong, because pure unadulterated love, is never wrong.

So, she follows her heart. I mean, it is getting late. Time to wake up her sleeping beauty, in the most wonderful way possible. As a faint hollow moaning, from her BEAUTIFUL ANGEL, starts filling the room, she will shoulder all of "their" shame...... Why? Because her Baby takes her higher, soaks her in desire, lights her fire, keeps her burnin', and makes her certain, they are ALWAYS worth it in the end!!!

Burnin' was fire. I really hope we actually get the finished studio version, of this song. Hopefully, they won't make her change all the lyrics, to do so....Keep 'em coming, Ladies. Get the truth out there. A shit load of us are listening and paying attention.

[soulbondinghelp]

hi hi! i have a concern about soulbonding. what effects does it have on your daily life? i havent seen anyone really talk about it, so i wanted to know, since one of my biggest fears is accidentally creating something that directly changes everything or at least large amounts of my lifestyle and how i live my life outside of the safety of my room. maybe its not talked about because theres no big differences in how life runs with soulbonds, but i figure its be best to ask someone if- (1/2)

-there are any drawbacks. is it hard to keep your soulbonds under wraps in the real world? or are they more just there to comment and stuff? (2/2)

This is a very good question actually.

First of all, I want to make it clear that when you soulbond you are not creating anything but a link. The person you are soulbonding with already exists so soulbonds themselves cannot be “created”. If something is created like that it is by definition some kind of thoughtform or Tulpa. Which doesn’t make them less of a person or less valid, but it does make them different from a soulbond.

Second, there is no “real world”. There is the more physical world and the existence in which we inhabit and soulbonds can’t without some kind of fronting, but the worlds that soulbonds come from are not fake. They are places that actually exist even if they are very different. Some soulbonds might inhabit a headspace yes, but where they come from is just as real as here.

Anyway, the answer to this is yes. Soulbonding will have a major impact on your life. It is a very big commitment and you should not go into it without knowing what you are getting yourself into.

There are many ways your life can change with soulbonds. I am going to now list some of them off.

First of all, there is going to be the obvious stigma that society has against soulbonders. While there are some nice people here and there that are open minded and accepting, the majority of people are most likely not going to be like that unless you live in specific areas. People think that we are “crazy” and “delusional” because we are different.

This is the case for pretty much any spiritual group that is not a well established religion or philosophy that has profitable well selling books written on it. It is hypocrisy at it’s finest that it’s ok in this society to believe in a magic man in the sky because a book told you to, but if you suddenly say you’re a soulbonder you’re “crazy”. But that is just how things are and will probably be for a while (not that I have anything against people who believe in a single god. It isn’t your fault that society sucks ass like this).

Because of this we at this blog highly recommend you are not open about your soulbonding unless you live in the super accepting areas mentioned before. Telling close friends and family members that you think might be ok with it is fine, but do not go telling people you are unsure if you can trust and never be open about it in general at work or school.

Second, you are most likely going to be spending a lot of time with your soulbonds. Even if you have a long distance soulbond, the connection is still going to be there and you are still going to have a significant amount of interaction. When you make friends, it always changes your life. This is hopefully for the better, but it is still change none the less.

If you have a permanent resident or a day tripper that stays a lot of the time, you are also going to be living with someone which is a whole other thing to manage. You are going to have to treat them like an actual housemate/room mate that no one else can see or interact with. You are going to have to most likely make some compromises because of this unless you have super similar needs and such. If you like blaring music at 3:00AM and your soulbond does not want to hear it, you might have to find a better time to play your music. That kind of thing.

Third, there are other things that can just kind of....happen. Maybe you end up not getting along with your soulbond at all and can’t get them to leave so you have to come to some kind of understanding. Maybe you REALLY hit it off with your soulbond and you start dating. Maybe you soulbond a family member of a soulbond you already have and it starts drama. Soulbonds are people and they will behave like people. And when you are dealing with people, life throws things at you that can be good, bad, or somewhere in between.

Anyway, I hope you can consider all of these things if you are considering soulbonding. Soulbonding is something that you are in for the long run and requires a lot of compromises, ups, and downs. But soulbonding can also be a wonderful experience too and you can meet amazing people you will eventually be very close to!