#not like 'christian bigotry' or 'religious trauma'?

[asterdeer]

would it be petty if i didn't read a book i was really looking forward to because the author lists "catholicism/christianity" as a trigger warning amongst other warnings such as "murder," "gore," and "ableism"

[hollowflight-propaganda]

"Oh, let's see if I can find anything about the upcoming Narnia remake since I haven't looked into it for a while!"

*finds next to nothing in terms of actual news and only sees people talking about how "woke" it's gonna be because oh no, NOTHING'S worse than the idea of DIVERSITY*

"................ that's enough internet for today."

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

"Cal/Kanan fix the mistakes of the old Order and stop repressing what makes them human."

An actual take I have had the misfortune of reading with my own two eyes.

It's amazing how much amatonormativity and aphobia lies just beneath the surface of many anti Jedi arguments, among other kinds of bigotry.

I'm aroace. I cannot fall in love. I'm chemically, physically and spiritually incapable of it. According to this people, I'm broken, emotionally repressed… and when they drop the mask they will outright say I'm not even human.

That's, of course, without getting into the sheer ignorance or outright bigotry towards people who choose celibacy for religious reasons, or the many other reasons someone can abstain from traditional romantic relationships, from trauma and past abuse to "idk just don't feel like it".

"Why are you so against seeing Jedi critical takes?" Geez, probably because the people making them are bigots, towards a minority I'm part of, and will even claim I'm not human?

I am a Jedi fan, I love the Jedi if the name of my blog and the content I post weren't telling enough. I love them for three million and a half reasons. Their culture not being centered around romance, marriage and bio-kids is only one of them, and not even the most important one.

You have no idea how it feels like to see people like you, people who aren't what your society thinks is normal, being heroes when the world doesn't believe you exist or that there's something about you that needs fixing. And that's not getting into how people relate to the Jedi or find them comforting because they aren't Space Christianity Lite™️, because that's a topic that deserves its own post.

So people that have this claims or that even imply Jedi characters falling in love makes them somehow better, can go fuck themselves sideaways.

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

A rant about Jedi Stans from an ex-Jedi fangirl

After some time I've had to reflect on my own behavior as well as my time in the pro Jedi fandom, I decided it's time to call this shit out. Some people take it really personal if someone criticized your favorite characters or their beliefs. Ironically, you all act more like the Sith than the Jedi with how obsessive you can be and insisting any criticism is equal to wanting genocide.

I'm going to start by saying I was in the pro jedi fandom for a few months. Truth be told, I was using it as an outlet for some of my anger issues with my hate towards Anakin, seeing him as similar to a lot of people I've had to deal with. Some of it was wanting more followers and fear of being disliked by the majority. I would pick fights with Anakin fans and was a bit of an asshole and I apologize for that. I still don't like him but no longer HATE him. Seeing how fandoms treat abuse victims who aren't perfect angels like Shinji Ikari or Lapis Lazuli has caused me to loosen up a bit. Many Jedi stans would probably hate those characters for not being “perfect” victims. In retrospect, this wasn't a good community for me. It was very puritanical and I often felt like I was wrong for enjoying media that went against the beliefs Jedi Stans put on a pedestal. Three of my favorite ships (Madohomu, Reishin and Hodaka x Hina) involve "burning the world for one person" and I felt like I couldn't talk about them without being a hypocrite. That and me agreeing less and less with Luca's beliefs pushed me to leave.

It's fine to enjoy a fictional character and defend them if you feel that they're being unfairly criticized. I've done it myself and have written essays defending my faves. The problem is that Jedi stans don't know when to stop. So many are quick to compare the Jedi to minority religions or marginalized groups as a shield against criticism, not recognizing how insulting that can be. Jewish, asian and aroace people are the ones normally used due to the Jedi beliefs being based off Eastern religions as well as Judaism as well as some aroace people identifying with the Jedi.

One thing I noticed about Jedi stans is their similarities to Jumblr which is full of religious chauvinism reworded to sound progressive. Many of them talk about how the Jedi shouldn't have to change their traditions with the times or to accommodate a few individuals like Anakin or Ahsoka. This can be similar to how a lot of people are quick to defend minority religions from outside criticism based on how they were treated by Christian colonists or missionaries. The problem is that this can veer right into ableist or queerphobic territory. You know who else believe that their religion shouldn't have to change with the times to accommodate people? Conservative Christians who hate being told to be affirming of LGBTQ people. Also, schools and parents/guardians do have a responsibility to accommodate kids with disabilities, mental health issues or trauma, even if it may be inconvenient or force you to bend the rules. Claiming they need to just suck it up is honestly disgusting.

This was all a big reason for why I left this garbage pit of a fandom. While there are some who hate the Jedi because they stan the empire or think people need 50s nuclear families to live fulfilling lives, not everyone does that. Believe it or not, some people have faced abuse and bigotry under Judaism and Buddhism. People can also criticize how Lucas presented their beliefs as some Buddhists think he didn't do a good job. Libsoftiktok is a vile transphobe, an Orthodox Jew and her beliefs are said to be fairly common in her community. Many people of color identify with the clones and dislike how even the nicer Jedi treated them. When Obi Wan told Anakin, "It's okay to have romantic feelings, but you must let them pass," that hits different for queer people who have been told similar things from "polite" homophobes. Some queer people do choose celibacy like Side B christians which is fine as long as they don't treat it as a moral failure to want a relationship. There are many neurodivergent people who don't like the Jedi beliefs as they hit close to home. Lucas may have not intended to come off as ableist but the Jedi did with their beliefs about negative emotions. To some people, platitudes like "just let go" aren't helpful and treating it as bad for not living up to those principles is gross.

I deleted the post, but a while back I made a post asking a popular pro jedi blogger their views on adoption since they claimed Anakin not viewing the Jedi as his "found family" was a moral failure. I found their response to be tone deaf and insulting. I responded in a decent way of course, but felt a bit judged and unhappy for wanting to know my birth mother. Adoptees are another set of people this fandom is insensitive and gross to. The Kenobi series I find insulting for that reason too, having Leia be a foil for Anakin and Obi Wan romanticize his recruitment as a child.

Jedi fans are also shitty to those with religious trauma and who faced abuse. Accusing anyone who criticizes the Jedi of projecting their issues with Christianity while simultaneously talking like conservatives as shown above. Tumblr in general has a weird habit of treating religion as if it’s either conservative evangelicalism, liberal reform Judaism and some vague pagan or eastern spirituality with little nuance. Some Jedi stans really come from a place of privilege. Claiming "they can just leave" is insulting to real religious abuse survivors who were raised with harmful beliefs like creationism or homophobia. I'm no antitheist but treating non christian religion as inherently progressive dismisses a lot of people's experiences.

Let's be real, the writing in this franchise was always a bit sloppy. Lucas's issue was wanting to simultaneously create both a black-and-white morality tale for kids based on the fairy tales and serials he grew up and a deep socio-political commentary about the Vietnam and Iraq wars which required some morally grey themes. Thus, along with his terrible dialogue that made the characters seem unlikable, is why the fandom is so divided over whether he intended people to agree with the prequel Jedi.

To wrap this up, I found the pro jedi fandom to be a terrible experience. It was a mix of faux progressivism mixed with fear of judgement for disagreeing. I ended up editing a post I made, and eventually deleted, comparing Yoda with Garnet from SU because I included a tiny bit of criticism and didn't want to get backlash. As long as it’s not gross or bigoted criticism of your favorite characters isn't the end of the world. People don't have to like George Lucas or his beliefs and put them on a pedestal. I feel like the fandom's worship of George comes in response to OT purists who claimed he "raped their childhoods" but there's fair criticism to be made. Just like how not everyone who criticizes Disney SW or any Disney media in general is an "anti woke" grifter. To the pro jedi fans reading this, here's a suggestion. Just block and ignore people, write an essay if you feel it's important, but don't act like an entitled bully if a blog or even a SW writer disagrees with the Jedi, interprets the story differently or criticizes your favorite characters.

[beguilingcorpse]

as a non-practicing jew i think tlt is one of the Most catholic serieses i've Ever read and honestly i appreciate that about it. bc like at least it's upfront about it you know? as a kid i always hated it when authors tried to hide christianity in their books it felt like a trick. fuck you c s lewis i know the lion is jesus you cant fucking get me. but in tlt it's just one of the many many layers of subtext and intertextual references flying right over my dumb little head. anyway im claiming the sixth house as space jewish and im only half joking about this

YES i think a big difference is that a lot of fictional books are catholic in the sense of like.. they want to convert you. or at least the author thinks catholicism is the Right Way and so the narrative holds all of these not-so-subtle religious messages about salvation and god’s love and lion jesus or whatever. the locked tomb definitely has catholicism baked into its structure and narrative but it also centers on the negative parts of the catholic church - imperialism and the crusades, religious trauma, bigotry, etc etc etc in a way that’s very refreshing to read. gideon is space jesus and that’s not a good thing!

also you’re correct about the sixth. rip palamedes sextus your bar mitzvah would have gone insane

[best-overplayed-song]

As someone who never understood the hype around Take Me To Church and keeps forgetting that song even exists, can I ask the fans what exactly it is you like about that song? Because my current hypothesis is that yall were around 14 when it came out and music just hits different when you're 14. What else is there to like, genuinely

I try to stay unbiased here but Hozier is one of the only musicians I allow myself to be pretentious about, so before i info dump about why i love take me to church here's some other hozier songs you should give a shot:

francesca [i'd go through hell again just to hold you one more time], nina cried power [song about activism and black activists], swan upon leda [about the violence of colonialism, misogyny, and religious bigotry], eat your young [about the violence of war, capitalism, and generational trauma], movement, to noise making (sing), shrike, NFWMB [sexy], sunlight

anyway take me to church is so much more than just “loving you is like church”. he starts off by telling us how happy his lover makes him, despite constantly being told by The Church he was born sick and his happiness is a result of sinful behavior. he rejects the religion being forced on him, because unlike christianity, his church doesn't force him to accept absolution to reach heaven ("my church offers no absolutes / she tells me, 'worship in the bedroom' / the only heaven I'll be sent to / is when i'm alone with you"). the last two lines of the first verse-- "i was born sick, but i love it / command me to be well"-- questions why a god would create us to be inherently sick only to punish us for being sick.

i see the the chorus as a smart-ass comparison of his relationship to christianity. The Church expects him to blindly worship their lies and confess his sins, which he knows will be used against him ("take me to church / i'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies / i'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife"), but he's supposed to accept this and devote his life to God so he can get to heaven ("offer me that deathless death / oh good god, let me give you my life"). by offering to do this for his lover, he's equating their love to religion.

in the second verse, he reiterates that he worships his lover with a metaphor ("if i'm a pagan of the good times / my lover's the sunlight"). the subtle remark of referring to the ancient practice of paganism as "the good times" comments on the colonization and forced conversion of ireland by christian england, which criminalized paganism. immediately after stating how his lover demands a sacrifice, he hungrily eyes the high horse The Church sits on, and questions what power they have over him and his people ("that's a fine lookin' high horse / what you got in the stable? / we've a lot of starving faithful"). this could also be a reference to the irish potato famine, which was not a result of drought, but of english lords forcing the irish to turn over their entire crop to send to england.

then we get the most poetic description of sex i've ever heard: "no masters or kings when the ritual begins / there is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin / in the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene / only then, i am human / only then, i am clean". fuck man

a lot of gay people with religious trauma love this song bc of everything i described above. also, it's a fuckin banger.

and yes i was 14 when it came out. what about it

[sheabutterbitch]

what does god mean to you? growing up queer in the rural american south has conditioned me to view christianity as religion overall, and mostly the worst parts of it. i have this recoil when i think about it, and this sense of juvenile pride despite being a grown adult. like, "why must something be larger than me? why must i bow to it? how do we know it is even there?" i do have friends of varying religions and cultures, but i can't shake the trauma of religious violence/bigotry. admittedly, i'm also a very scientific, evidence-based person, and it's difficult for me to put my faith in anything, really. thank you

-your moon and venus twin :)

From an early age I cycled through many understandings of God; I’ve ventured into other religions, spiritual practices, atheism and agnosticism. What I’ve come to understand is that “A God of my own understanding” is just, that.

Working in the field of addiction recovery, we place a lot of emphasis on identifying a higher power. Believing in something greater than yourself has the psychological benefit of fostering resilience and motivation which is necessary in this life. I’ve seen individuals in addiction identify their higher power as Jesus but I’ve also seen them identify their higher power as an ancestor, a lost loved one, the universe, an animal, or an element.

The question of “how do we know it’s real” is no longer a question that I ask because it’s no longer one that matters to me. The feeling I get speaking my deepest longings, fears, and questions to whatever it is that may be listening does more for me than the preoccupation of finding the “one true God.”

Our society has the capacity to bastardize every facet of human life and manipulate it in a way that exerts power and enacts harm. I’m unsurprised that the age old philosophical and psychological practice of looking beyond oneself has been willed in this way, too. I won’t allow that to deter me from engaging in this practice in a meaningful way that inspires growth and change in my life.

I love watching this one TikTok account, Amber, who is a trans woman and a Quaker. Her video on The Theodicy of Queer Christianity was really good and sums up a lot of my thoughts. As a queer person, navigating religion or spirituality is difficult but I personally identify as Christian and feel comfortable in that.

[thescreamcorner]

RAMCOA - Unpacking The History

Trigger Warning for this post, as it will include mentions of various types of trauma and abuse, religious ideology and dogma, medical malpractice, death, and bigotry. Many links provided may go in depth on these subjects, so please be wary of clicking them if you are in a sensitive state.

Forward: Please note that the following analysis is about the term/acronym "RAMCOA" itself. There is a wide array of experiences that are said to fit under the RAMCOA umbrella, and while talking about the toxic history and usage of RAMCOA, these points are not meant to directly apply to every individual experience and trauma that it applies to. Cult and religious abuse exists, institutional and ritualistic abuse exists, trafficking rings exist. I am not attempting to debunk the experiences of survivors of these abuses for using and attaching to the term RAMCOA. This is simply a post I'm putting together while I study, and an encouragement for those who use the acronym to consider other terms given what I've learned and shared.

This is a very long post, so please consider setting it to the side and taking it in in pieces if needed, to make sure you get an accurate understanding.

Where Did This All Start?

Our dive begins with the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, which is commonly shorthanded to ISSTD and will be referred to this way for the entirety of the post going forward. The ISSTD is a nonprofit organization that began in the 1980s under the name "The International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation" (ISSMP&D). The organization featured clinicians and researchers that focused study onto Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD).

Over time, more was understood about the disorder, and MPD was renamed to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) as doctors became aware that the experiences of the disorder were linked to trauma and dissociation, not purely the concept of "multiple personalities". As such, the organization went through two rebrands, settling on the ISSTD acronym in 2006 and remaining under that name to this day.

As far back as the 1980s, the ISSTD was the subject of controversy due to the actions of healthcare professionals that operated within the organization. Some providers were found to be using hypnosis and other forms of RMT (link), a highly controversial practice in medicine, in order to help patients recognize and recover traumatic memories. However, it was exemplified through this lawsuit (link) and its 10.6 million dollar settlement that the power of suggestion could easily lead to memories that were inaccurate, modified, or even entirely fabricated, whether or not directly encouraged by the provider.

The lawsuit from Patricia Burgus also exemplifies another piece of controversy regarding the ISSTD, being their contributions to the Satanic Panic (link) and claims of Satanic Ritual Abuse, or SRA, in the 1980s. Providers like Dr. Braun, who co-founded the ISSTD (link), were found to be implanting memories specifically tied to conspiracy theories of mass satanic cults, such as human sacrifices and forced cannibalism.

Further still is the antisemitic ties and roots of these conspiracies, believed to have stemmed from Blood Libel (link) -- A well-contested conspiracy that Jewish people would kidnap and murder innocent Christians (particularly children) in order to use their blood for religious rituals. A conspiracy that, somehow, has still lived on in fringe groups like QAnon (link) and further cemented its links to the Satanic Panic through them.

Another facet of controversy within the ISSTD came from the conspiracy beliefs that not only were held by members, but were often the subject of conferences. These of course featured more on SRA, but also extended to subjects like that of the 1989 annual conference, "Manchurian Candidates" -- a disproven conspiracy that stemmed from a work of political fiction (link) where the protagonist is brainwashed into becoming a sleeper agent for the Soviet Union. While brainwashing is still believed to be potentially real, given the correct circumstances, part of what helped contest the ISSTDs conference subject was the leak of the USA's attempt to replicate this, MKULTRA (link).

The biggest controversy to point to, of course, is the treatment of patients by providers who associated with the ISSTD. Many of the links I've provided already address the many cases of emotional, physical and sexual abuse that took place with clients being treated for dissociative and trauma disorders, so I will not dive further into it here, but know that the details are distressing and the list is much longer than it should be for an organization dedicated to helping traumatized people heal.

How Does All This Connect to RAMCOA?

The ISSTD was responsible for coining the term in 2008 when creating the Ritual Abuse, Mind Control and Organized Abuse Special Interest Group (or, RAMCOA SIG for short), which quickly became their largest and most active special interest group. Multiple members of its Executive have faced controversy, both individually and as representatives for RAMCOA SIG (link), for continuing to spread conspiracies of satanic ritual abuse (some even adding paganism to the list of targets), making presentations that featured debunked allegations of an "underground network of tunnels below a preschool used for a sex trafficking ring" in the 80s (link), and discouraging fellow practitioners from considering misdiagnosis of DID (link).

Because of all this, RAMCOA as a term is inextricably linked to SRA, the Satanic Panic, medical malpractice, and to a degree, antisemitic conspiracy theories. Its creation as an acronym stemmed from theories and conspiracies that are predominantly held by fringe extremist groups, instead of any legitimate medical documentation around trauma and institutional abuse. Many of those who created it have been noted actively and purposely triggering paranoia and delusion in both their clients and fellows of the SIG, still continuing to spread their personal beliefs in lieu of medical advice.

The term has steeped itself in so much controversy, in fact, that the RAMCOA SIG was rebranded (link) to the Organized and Extreme Abuse (OEA) SIG in order to maintain their stance as an educational special interest group.

But What About The Content Creators?

I will again state that in this post, I am not making any attempt to attack or debunk any particular person or survivor, or pick apart the legitimacy of their conditions, traumas, etcetera. However, it is important to the discussion of RAMCOA, the problems of its usage, and its toxic history, to address its current usage -- which is predominantly featured on social media.

There is a startling trend of excessive, even dangerous levels of trauma dumping that can be found when searching through tags and spaces for RAMCOA survivors. This is unfortunately not unique to RAMCOA, as oversharing and lack-of-privacy is something that often gets encouraged in some "mental health" online spaces, but often the RAMCOA tags are most notorious to having graphic abuse details - sometimes without appropriate content warning, oversharing of symptoms/alters, and participants in the "trauma olympics" - a phenomenon of individuals sharing visceral content of their lives for the sake of either attention, or a sense of validation for "having it worse" than other people.

These bouts of extensive oversharing can be harmful in a multitude of ways, the most obvious being the distress that reading it causes. There also exists a possibility of people internalizing the graphic details and developing false and/or altered memories of their own abuse. The consequences of this include interpersonal strains and inaccurate medical care, as doctors may come to a false negative diagnosis if exaggeration is present.

The further risks of this extend past those not affected by these traumas as well, as these extremely personal details can be used against the person sharing them. Depending on the extent of what is shared, the results can be incredibly dangerous and put the person back into a cycle of victimization, potentially with the same abuser(s). And without encouragement of proper anonymity or privacy to protect them, these posts then serve to push more victims to give out dangerous amounts of private information under the guise of "sharing their story." Victims should not feel pressured into silence, but encouraging them to speak on their experiences before they're in a safe environment to do so, and not addressing how much information is "too much" for a public platform, is dangerous.

These issues are something that some facets of the "RAMCOA community" refuse to acknowledge. Others will only address them as a strawman to argue that any criticism of the term RAMCOA (or the behaviors of some individuals that use it) is nothing more than an effort to "silence victims, fakeclaim systems and cover up for abusers." Some twist the argument to say that by noting RAMCOA's historical roots in antisemitism, you're accusing everyone who fits under the umbrella of also being antisemitic.

But these issues aren't something to just ignore or throw away. This isn't a case of "separate the art from the artist"; you can't just pretend the history, meaning and intentions behind the term don't matter, or never existed to begin with.

I think it's time for the "RAMCOA community" to reflect on these things, and for the survivors of extreme cases of abuse to create their own term to gather under, rather than continue to cling to the term coined by an organization that has repeatedly fostered the very same types of abuse they claim to educate about and treat.

[weemietime]

Blorbo

- Shayne or Weemie

- He/him, 33, Canadian

- ISTP, 8w9, sanguine

- Irish, French, Polish, Jewish

- Queer

- Find me on Reddit, and YouTube

- I run a mental health support group on Discord called Treehouse, the politics is kept low-key, moderates and progressives and allies are all allowed, people of all races, religions, sexualities, genders, etc are welcome. Our bread and butter is trauma and disorders that are caused by trauma such as cluster B personality disorders, OCD, certain psychotic features, attachment disorders, dissociative disorders, etc.

Posts about

- DDR, mutual aid, pragmatic pacifism

- ACAB, restorative justice, prison abolition

- Trauma, mental illness, indoctrination

- Zionism, New Iran, Land Back

- Diplomacy, international humanitarian law

- Post-economy, evolution beyond money

- Climate change, environmentalism

- Perpetration induced traumatic stress

Disclosure

- Religious Conservative Jew

- PTSD, SZPD, OCD, ADHD

- Physically disabled, chronic pain

- Former violent offender

- Sober addict

- I have a cortical visual impairment and visual agnosia, so sometimes I will misread or not see things properly. If I ignore or don't see something of yours it isn't on purpose.

Inline Tags (Theme)

#weemie #jumblr #hamas

#ask #mutual aid #szpd

#ocd #ptsd #lgbt #politics

#antisemitism #ableism #israel

Common Questions

What is antisemitism?

"Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." IHRA, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

Antisemitism is spelled as one word, without the dash, as it is not bigotry against all Semites (Arabs + Jews), it is solely about Jews.

Is antisemitism the same as antizionism?

The 3-Ds of antisemitism are Demonization, Delegitimization and Double-Standards. If your criticism of Israel doesn't apply to any other country, if the way you talk about Israelis doesn't match how you talk about Russians, Iranians, Chinese, etc. then it is antisemitism.

What antisemitism is not

Criticism of Israel on its own (i.e. crimes, gov't, policies)

Palestinian self-determination

Palestinian flags, pride, culture

Criticism of religious Judaism (i.e. trauma, harm)

Is accusing Arabs/Muslims of antisemitism racist/Islamophobic?

It is racist to accuse Arabs of being de facto antisemites.

It is racist to presume Arabs are all Muslim as well.

It is not racist to acknowledge that Islam is foundationally taken from Jewish texts and histories, which have been misinterpreted and abused to justify antisemitic violence. It is not racist to hold Islam accountable for the imperialism that pervades its evangelical arm.

Just like it isn't racist to do the same for Christianity. And we hold this standard for Judaism as well. Just like it isn't antisemitic to criticize the harms that Jewish religion has caused for others (such as LGBT), it isn't Islamophobic to do the same.

How prevalent is antisemitism?

It's baked-in to two of the world's major religions, Christianity and Islam. Unfortunately that means antisemitism is the de facto sentiment of a majority of the world's population. Antisemitism is one of the oldest, longest hatreds. That means we are often subjected to historical revisionism, such as denying the severity of the Holocaust, or publishing encyclopedias, textbooks, as "information" with clearly antisemitic content pasted over real events. 

A good example is a look at the Wikipedia article for what Zionism is.

This clearly shows that Wikipedia is being subjected to antisemitic historical revisionism.

What is the alt-left?

We will use the BITE model for indoctrination as popularized by Steven Hassan in Combating Cult Mind Control. BITE stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, Emotion. The most common form of indoctrination is called a thought-terminating cliche, or a fallacy-fallacy.

For example:

P1: "Israel is committing genocide!"

P2: "How many people have Russia killed so far"

P1: "500,000"

P2: "Do you think Russia is committing genocide?

Should we eject Putin from the UNSC?"

P1: "That's whataboutism!"

Resist this "whatabousim" idea, as it is designed to terminate all objections to clear hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is different than whataboutism, because it is a double standard, one of the 3-Ds of antisemitism.

So what is Zionism?

Zionism is the acknowledgment that Jews are the indigenous population of Israel, who have a right to self-determination in their homeland. Zionism is extremely broad. Some people don't even require Israel to be the Jewish country (their goal is simply safety and community for Jews world-wide, in Some Place), but this is a more secular argument.

Some people believe Zionism is only applicable to Jews (i.e. you cannot call yourself a Zionist if you are not a Jew), others are OK with goyim using the term as well. You'll have to feel that out, as both sides of the equation have a right to exist. Personally I use Zionism in as broad a definition as possible, so it does include non-Jews, with the exception of Messianic Christians, and evangelical hoo-hah.

When you're discussing Zionism with a Jew, especially as a non-Jew, you need to listen to what they describe Zionism as. It is de-legitimizing (another of the 3-Ds) to claim that Jews can't be trusted to point out antisemitic rhetoric. Jews define antisemitism, and we define Zionism. They are words about us, for us. 

In some cases people will say wrong dumb shit, so refer back to the first part of what antisemitism isn't. E.g. if someone (even a fellow Jew) says holding a Palestinian flag is antisemitic, they are actually being antisemitic themselves.

Is goy a slur?

No, in fact the term "gentile" was popularized by the KKK. Gentile is based off of a Christian scholar's interpretation of the term goy (Saint Jerome). Goy simply means "nations", as in non-Jewish people. Goyim/goy is not a slur. Some people might use it derogatorily, the same way Black people might speak negatively about white folks who have been racist to them.

It's still not a slur. We prefer to use goy because it is our word, we like it, and it doesn't have a history of being lobbed at us by mask-wearing wizard KKK freaks. Terms like "zio", "zionazi" etc are also slurs developed by David Duke.

You're a conservative who believes in prison abolition and social justice blah khadl blargo de glarm hlblehgah?

Conservative Judaism is a progressive, egalitarian denomination of Judaism. We believe in conserving the spirit of the Torah, but produce adaptive Responsa as we gain more scientific and social understanding. it is not Republican/political conservatism.

Why do you post all these gibberish asks by idiots?

That's actually the reason I am here! To do outreach to people who are brainrotted. I was an extreme kid. I was indoctrinated into a violent armed gang at age 8, and we had a lot of the same ideology.

Violence is cool, and our enemies should die and be hurt, brutality should be rewarded, etc. I want to dismantle this pipeline. I want to use my experiences to be a force for good, because that gives meaning to my life.

But I get that it's annoying to constantly read bullshit, so you don't have to follow me!

Is Israel committing genocide?

As it stands now, I'm keeping an eye on things. The simplest opinion I have is that we don't have any real data to work with, so we can't make conclusions. But we do have testimonies, believable ones, from people who were there and who are documenting the Likud war crimes.

So far, there is not conclusive proof that Israel is committing genocide in a systematic way. Some Israeli politicians are saying genocidal rhetoric, (one egregious piece of evidence is Halevi's statements that bombing Gazan civilian areas would "soften the battlefield," which is an open statement he made to media, this would mean he supports giving orders to deliberately target civilian areas - this is genocidal!) but this is separate from genocidal actions.

It's possible the answer to this question will change to yes and I have always been open about that. And if it does become yes, I will say yes.

[saschagemruler]

Some of y'all need to realize that religious (yes even Christian) queers aren't your enemy. Obviously don't take no shit from those who are assholes but come on.

Christian ≠ conservative

Christian ≠ evangelist

Christian ≠ bigotry

There is a lot of discussion to have about the horrible effect of USAmerican cultural Christianity on the USA (can't speak for other countries but good ol' 'merica cant keep its shit to itself so probably other countries too) but if you claim to be accepting and open minded but someone who wears a cross necklace and talks excitedly about their God is grounds enough for you to be a dick, check yourself. Your trauma ain't an excuse.

I can't speak on other religions or how the queer community treats other religions but it can get quite fucking tiring to have to feel like you have to put a big sign on yourself and tiptoe around everyone else.

Just be nice to people

[onbearfeet]

Very nice to see people discovering my "quilts are art and also don't fucking lowball artists" post.

I was a little concerned the giant cross in the middle of the quilt would be a point of controversy, hence the cw tags (I have a touch of the ol' religious trauma myself), so I'd just like to state that the bride specifically requested Christian imagery in a Celtic art style as both those elements are personally important to her and her new husband. Nobody involved is a Christian nationalist or a Nazi or a terf or anything terrible like that; they just wanted their wedding quilt to reflect the shared spirituality that is one of the foundations of their marriage, along with the Irish heritage reflected in her new surname.

Unfortunately, I've seen traditional arts like quilting used to promote virulent bigotry, so I'm going to make something clear:

If you proselytize on my post or try to use it to promote racist bullshit, the bears will eat you. Starting with your face.

[cheerstotheelites-if]

What was your inspiration for Jasiel?

Uhhhh TW: religious talk? Though it's more on me talking about my experience growing up with religion and not me shoving the holy word of god with a capital G down your throat. I won't go into full detail and the rest will be about character inspirations for Jasiel, so don't worry.

To be quite honest, he was the culmination of my own feelings against religion and the trauma I got from it. I grew up in a Christian household for the majority of my life and studied in a Catholic school from nursery school to highschool. So, you can only imagine the conflicting beliefs that were taught to me growing up. Saints were believed in one religion, while the other isn't. Prayers are memorized, while another says it should come from the heart. I experienced Catholocism being made fun of in my Christian family for their many holy rituals and saints, while Christianity is both despised and hated for being so 'restrictive' and basically the cause of most of the bigotry from friends who grew up Catholic.

Something like that, amongst being a bystander to the troubles of those affected by the said religion.

Besides bystander's guilt and trauma that was inflicted upon the poor boy, have you guys heard of Sunday from the hit Turn-based RPG Honkai Star Rail? Yeah. Him. False bird Messiah. He's one of the main inspirations for Jasiel, specifically the aspect of being deceived by higher ups that their religion is the key to the happiness of their people in the Penacony main story and is now guilty for his past actions and trying to make up for that in the upcoming main story in update 2.7 of the game.

Another inspiration would be Agott from Witch Hat Atelier in the aspect of him trying to prove himself without the help of the reputation of his siblings or his family name. Jasiel, right now in the story, wants to prove his own words hold truth, and not have people blindly believe him because his siblings are two of the heads of the local church. He wants to be his own individual too. He doesn't want to be associated with the church nor have anything to do with it, and he gets frustrated that whatever he does something successfully and people just associate it because he's a Lèmieux and that he's "gifted by Lord Malkiel".

So, you can say he's got a bit of an inferiority complex, but it's a complex that stems from a lot of issues related to his family and what they do in the dark.

[veespee]

introduction

(EDIT: redoing this intro to match my new theme:3)

hello!

basic info about me: my name is Ven, i'm 16 yrs old, i'm greek, and my pronouns are she/they.

what i will post:

mostly poetry, small writing, headcannons (usually for slenderverse), quotes that i believe suit certain characters, moodboards, and maybe some of my drawings.

i enjoy analyzing media and rambling a lot, so i’ll be very happy if anyone really took the time to read any of my posts lol

you can ask anything, i honestly don’t mind unless you’re really weird, and can make any requests. i’m looking for fellow people around my age that enjoy my interests!

interests:

-slenderverse.

specific series: everymanHYBRID, marble hornets, tribetwelve, mydarkjournal, darkharvest00, whispered faith, stan frederick.

-ARGs, such as: mandela catalogue, the walten files, POSTcontent, i am sophie.

-video games, such as: night in the woods, life is strange. detroit: become human, what remains of edith finch, sally face, etc. etc.

-poetry about cannibalism, religious trauma, loneliness, limerence, yearning, and my favourite, canine poetry.

-music, genres i enjoy are: indie, rock, goth and new wave, death metal, slam metal, sludge metal.

specific artists: alex g, jeff buckley, elliot smith, radiohead, a perfect circle, nirvana, foo fighters, alice in chains, freshwater, deftones, cocteau twins, the cure, bauhaus, she wants revenge, london after midnight, christian death, mortician, death, field dressed, and more.

(visit my spotify if you're interested :))

-horror movies. (specifically: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, House if 1000 Corpses (+ all Rob Zombie movies), Creep, and lots more.

specific slenderverse characters i will/want to write about: HABIT/ Evan Myers, Jeff Koval, Vinnie Everyman/Caffarello, Steph, Dr. Corenthal, Alex (Koval and Kralie), Tim/Masky and Brian/Hoody, Noah and Firebrand, Kevin and Observer, Milo and Mr. Scars, Michael/Patrick, Shaun, Chris and Alex (DH00), Jesse Laurenzi, Heather McComber, Victor (MDJ) and Geneva, Tim/Mr. Flips, Robert.

things i don’t like:

-writing romantic scenarios about characters. i don’t like shipping, maybe some headcanons could be fine.

-NSFW. (writing nsfw, i am fine with nsfw jokes and such. just don’t go too far.)

-bigotry, obvious.

-zionists.

-ppl who defend Adam Rosner and Jeffery Koval.

things i do like:

-people interacting with me about my interests. please, do not be scared to interact with me and ask anything, i am very lonely. (/hj)

-getting requests. again, don’t be afraid to ask me anything and request anything.

thank you sm for reading!

[ladydeath-vanserra]

like as much as I have been very resistant to Christians and the Church™️ Specifically I cannot say I would be where I am now without the help of some of the most devout catholic women I have met. Hell, my mentor growing up went to church every Sunday and then spent her lunch breaks on Wednesday at church, too. She was heavily involved with our school system and was the head of the M.A.Y. Mentoring Program for my school, which was a community based program for our area

another deeply devout catholic woman, who didn't necessarily vibe with the Church on an Institutional Level helped ppl get to abortion clinics and had friends who had died during the AIDS epidemic. she and her friends snuck into Woodstock

the religious trauma I have has nothing to do with the churches from my hometown, but that of the church camps I attended over the summer

there are plenty of valid reasons to be critical of the Church and Christianity but tbh I have received so much help from churchgoers who knew damn well I wanted nothing to do with the Church and did not try to convert me in the slightest

and it's so frustrating that I have deconstructed so much of my own religious trauma and the history and cultural context of Christianity and the Bible and its so sad that I see so many people who literally blaspheme Jesus in order to uphold so much bigotry and violence across the world

you're gonna sit here and tell me the brown oppressed Jewish man who said to love your neighbor is going to be a-ok with yall being hateful bigots killing in his name

[transmascpetewentz]

Coming from an ex-atheist: you, @atheistsupreme96, are an antisemite, and no, saying "but religion is oppressive!!!" doesn't acquit you of accountability for your words and actions that negatively affect Jewish people.

First of all, your culturally Christian (and white, but because I am white I don't feel qualified to talk about this) entitlement. You feel entitled to walk into Jewish spaces where you are not welcome to "criticize" Judaism (by demonizing Jews and making them look like they hate you when they're just making a very basic critique of American culture). When Jews push back against your immediate hostility of anything that questions Christian culture, you say that the various genocides where Jews were targeted were their own fault, saying that "Jews can’t stop themselves from turning everyone against them."

You seem to be unable to fathom that a religion isn't actively trying to spread itself to everyone around it, and that's a very Christian mindset because most world religions actively want you to not be a part of their religion—and Judaism is one of those religions with a high barrier to entry, where they do not want you to be a part of their religion unless you're willing to go through the conversion process, which takes one year AT LEAST.

And, if Jewish communities are being bigoted to queer people, women, etc—that's up to Jews to call out. They've got this. Queer Jews, Jewish women, and Jewish people of color are constantly talking about bigotry in Jewish communities and trying to improve it, but you refuse to listen to them. You are ironically making it worse for the multiply marginalized Jews you are trying to make it look like you care about.

Jews are one of many ethnic and religious minorities that are affected by cultural Christianity, which cannot be separated from white supremacy. They are marginalized and experience oppression, which we call antisemitism. If you are an atheist, that is okay, and the concept of cultural Christianity isn't calling you a Christian. Culturally Christian atheists are atheists who were raised in a Christian culture and are not of a religious or cultural minority.

Ideas such as purity, the idea that knowledge of evil is inherently corrupting and/or evil, and the idea that bad people deserve to be tortured forever are all culturally Christian ideas that can be held by people who are not Christian. Hell, they can be held by anyone, including Jews, Muslims, and other marginalized religions that are fucked over by cultural Christianity.

Your trauma with Christianity is real and valid, but you cannot be using it as a way to wave away Jewish criticisms of the antisemitic behaviors that many atheists raised in a Christian culture do. Your antisemitism very much resembles what an actual Christian might do, making it very hard for you to beat the cultural Christianity allegations.

[ludinusdaleth]

i agree! it's very frustrating that so many people insist it's "ludinus is right, kill them all!" versus "they're all 100% good"

im glad to hear the support, anon. i feel like the cr fanbase has gotten more into theorizing & meta this campaign than last, which im deeply happy about, but i feel like it's come at a cost of not many actually.... analyzing well, beyond their own biases, which is vital.

something interesting to me is how i feel like the very story of c3 itself is partly about how vasselheim is so utterly focused on ludinus as a threat (which, he is undoubtedly one) that they have repeatedly enforced worse & failed in their efforts against him (literally occupying & preparing to obliterate marquet via airship just to get to him and getting eviscerated, kiro's rage about ludinus making her accuse orym of being with him which leads to our current mess). continually vasselheim refuses to assist or care for any other country or party that isnt wholly aligned to their goal. meanwhile in similar nature, the fandom is so completely sure that lud is a liar & a loser that anyone with an idealogy a few degrees south of his is seen as a threat instantly - the fanbase is so mad that this campaign is "anti god" that they're missing the most poignant pro faith statements characters have because they aren't paladins in shining armor plunging a spear into da'leth praising bahamut as they do so - but rather common-people as they try to embrace faith despite trauma & actual godkilling times. and it's at times frankly deeply uncomfortable, considering the characters deemed threats & whose views on faith have been cast aside have been deanna & frida (who have absolutely been treated weirdly to points of racism to their actors), & pagan natives oppressed by what matt outright stated were missionaries.

but in the same uncomfortability zone are people so consumed by their own personal biases with very obvious culturally christian religious trauma (i say this as someone with it too) that they cannot realize ludinus is partially metaphor for everyone who escapes christianity, thinks they're superior for it, but never for a moment unpacks the colonialist doomsday mindset that came with it. i admit i see this far less than the other side, so i dont see it as so much of a concern, but when i do it is unsettling - ludinus is so clearly showcasing far right tactics of alienation & preying on trauma to get people to join his cult, and real people are falling for it. matt has said that religion & art are connected & vital - when aeor fully stepped away from religion it became almost artless. you cannot strip something so important to humanity's core away because of your own experiences - your personal trauma is important but does not mean your bigotry or bias is justified and i feel that message is radiant in c3.

i think this campaign poses some of the most interesting questions on forgiveness & responsibility because, while it's impossible not to draw similarities in how mortals deal with religion, the exandrian pantheon itself cannot be viewed through our world's lens. the gods were warlords who nuked an entire city (that was fighting amongst itself!) to nothing because a few mages posed a threat to them. but afterwards they receded, & locked themselves away. what does that say about them? what does it mean now? do they deserve to be saved? does art surpass its creators? i want to explore these themes so much, and i love that campaign 3 is trying to in vibrant ways - i just hate that so few people want to embrace it & the changes to the fictional world that will come with it, because it's impossible to look past our own noses & embrace more than our own perspective even regarding fiction.