#there is no religion less accepting than Christianity and it’s of itself

[milo-by-the-fishtank]

One day I’m gonna save all those transgender Mormons, I feel so bad for them 

[mrpagesfrontispiece]

there’s something that makes me really quite sad

You see, I am a deeply religious person. My faith is the core of my identity, and without it, I would not be nearly the same person I am today, assuming that I was still alive at all. I love God, I love God’s Church, I’ve memorized the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds, (Yes, I know, not the Athenasian one, how shameful of me) and a perhaps unusual percentage of people I know are employees of one religious organization or another. I am also, as it happens, very queer. I’ve got approximately as many flags as a vessel utilized by the U.S. Navy, pronouns, a deep fear of being myself around close family members, the whole shebang. Those two aspects of myself are rather intertwined. Being an Episcopalian, that’s easier for me than a lot of people, but it isn’t an exaggeration to say that I would probably still believe I was a man if I hadn’t read the Bible. For years, the only place I could live as myself was my church, judged by God alone- and God tends to be gentle in God’s judgements. The first person I came out to was my priest, you see. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Oh, they’re going to talk about how sad it is that the church at large doesn’t accept their kind how tragic how misguided they are” yeah no. Those types are heretics and they will be purged just as soon as I can get the Tenth Crusade launched, but they aren’t the topic today.

Like most queer people, a great deal of my friends are queer. And that’s great! All wonderful people, I love them to death. But, as it happens, many of them have been burned by organized religion, as our type tend to be so unfortunately frequently. (Now, I would joke that this of course makes them ripe for conversion to the true Anglican faith, but you can’t really make those jokes around people who haven’t already taken that step. It’s insensitive, you see.) And those traumas often cause a great antipathy to Christianity, and that’s what causes me this anguish. I gush about my love of the liturgy of the Easter Vigil and the beauty of the Eucharist and they shrink away, quieting like flowers in a cold snap. And I know they mean nothing by it, I’m sure they hardly notice themselves, but at times they’ll drop a remark denigrating the Church, my Church, (in the sense that all Christians are participants in the Universal (not Roman!) Catholic Church) or the practices of religion itself, and it hurts me. It’s as if a pin is plunged into my heart, just a prick of pain but pain nonetheless. I can, of course, take criticism of my religion. We have stood strong for two thousand years and will stand as long as God wills it against every sort of ridicule and critique. But it’s just that it hurts so much more when it’s people close to you saying it.

outside of my various religious organizations, I have precisely one friend who can relate to that dual identity, of a religious person and a queer person, but the funny thing is that he isn’t actually Christian, but then the other Abrahamic faiths are close enough. I consider him one of my closest friends because of that. It’s rare to have someone you can relate to on so many levels, especially when you feel so isolated from other people in those spheres sometimes. You know who you are, you’re excellent.

anyway. I just wish that I could share that aspect of myself with more of my friends. I’m sure that they’ll heal their wounds with time, and grow less hostile to the faith. Perhaps if they’re lucky, they’ll fall into the Religious Trauma-Episcopalian Pipeline! But they haven’t done that yet, and so I can only wait, wait and hide my heart. Ironic.

[misstallulah]

Hell as a Place of Redemption: A New Perspective through Theology and TV Series ⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

In monotheistic religions, hell is traditionally seen as a place of eternal punishment where guilty souls pay for their sins in perpetual torment, separated from divine grace. This concept has deep roots in Christian theology, with references in the Bible to "eternal fire" Matthew 25:41 and the "second death" in Revelation, Rev 20:14. However, despite the rigidity of this concept, there are alternative interpretations that view hell not only as a place of suffering but also as a space for reflection and transformation. A place where souls are not eternally condemned but are guided toward understanding their mistakes, eventually moving towards paradise.

An Alternative Theological View: Hell as Purification While the concept of purgatory in Catholic doctrine offers an idea of an intermediate space between damnation and salvation, the notion that hell itself could function as a process of redemption is less explored. However, it is interesting to note that some biblical passages might suggest a less rigid view of divine justice. For instance, in 1 Timothy 2:4, it states that God "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." This could imply that divine will is to offer all souls a chance for redemption, even beyond death, through a process of understanding and repentance.

Additionally, some Christian theologians and mystics, such as Origen, have discussed the idea of apocatastasis, or the final restoration of all things, including sinners, to communion with God. Although this doctrine is not officially accepted by the Church, it provides an intriguing perspective that hell could be a temporary place, destined for redemption rather than eternal punishment.

Hell in TV Series: From "Lucifer" to "Hazbin Hotel" The traditional view of hell as a place of pure torture has been challenged in various contemporary TV series, where hell is reinterpreted as a place of care rather than final punishment. In Lucifer, for example, the ruler of hell, played by Tom Ellis, faces the issue of hell not as a prison where souls are tormented but as a space where they remain trapped by themselves, unable to forgive themselves and move on. It is not a place governed by absolute evil but a sort of psychological space where souls must confront their inner demons. The key phrase that resonates in the series is, "Hell doesn’t need a king, but a curator." Thus, redemption becomes a real possibility, not an illusion. In Hazbin Hotel, an animated series with dark and humorous tones, a similar concept is explored: hell is populated by damned souls, but the main idea of the protagonist, Charlie, is to create a rehabilitation center, a hotel for souls where they can redeem themselves and earn their way back to paradise. Here too, the vision of hell drastically changes: it is no longer a place of eternal damnation but of transition, where souls, through love and understanding, can rediscover their goodness and achieve a new form of salvation.

Other Series with Similar Themes Beyond Lucifer and Hazbin Hotel, other TV series have explored themes of redemption through hell or post-mortem worlds.

In The Good Place, a series that tackles the issues of morality, good, and evil, we see a completely overturned concept of paradise and hell. Souls that end up in the "bad place" (hell) are not destined to stay there forever. As the series progresses, the idea emerges that the system for evaluating souls is flawed, and that even the most damned soul can improve and redeem themselves through learning, growth, and collaboration with others. The Good Place is a great example of how even hell can transform into an opportunity for transformation, where suffering is not an end in itself but part of a process of moral and personal evolution.

The series Supernatural also touches on these themes on several occasions, exploring the nature of hell and the possibility of redemption. Various characters, including demons and evil spirits, seek and find forms of redemption throughout the series. The idea that "lost" entities can change their nature deeply touches on the theme of divine forgiveness and overcoming evil.

Theories on the Third Season of Good Omens: A Realm Uniting Good and Evil In Good Omens, the series based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, we already see an ironic and subversive twist on traditional religious themes. Crowley and Aziraphale, respectively a demon and an angel, form an unlikely alliance that challenges the very notion of absolute good and evil. Although there are no confirmations yet regarding the plot of the third season, one possible theory is that the two protagonists might create a realm where good and evil coexist, not as opposing forces but as complementary parts of a larger divine plan. In this place, souls are neither punished nor rewarded based on a rigid moral dichotomy but find a space to do good, learn, and grow, guided by a deeper understanding of their purpose.

Conclusion: A New Way of Seeing Hell and Redemption Modern TV shows like Lucifer, Hazbin Hotel, The Good Place, and Good Omens portray hell as more than just a realm of suffering. Instead, it's a space for self-reflection and growth, where souls confront their mistakes and seek redemption.

This shift offers a fresh take on divine justice, suggesting that redemption isn't limited to a select few but is a journey open to all, even those who've committed the gravest sins. The emphasis on learning and transformation over eternal punishment mirrors a more compassionate, nuanced view of good, evil, and spiritual balance.

Hell, then, may not be an end but a stage of growth and awareness on the path to salvation.

[radfemsiren]

Hi Siren! How do you think muslim women are able to accept Muhammad and his actions toward women? It seems that Muhammad is a particularly sex obsessed and immoral religious figure . Say what you want about christianity, but at the very least Jesus was supposed to be the ideal most pure individual to walk the earth. What does it say about a religion when a minor figure such as Jesus is more moral than the most holy prophet? Muhammad on the other hand had sex with a nine year old little girl, promises men sex parties with virgins in heaven and does not even pretend to believe that women are human at all. It’s just so over the top. t’s like, adultery and promiscuity is not really bad, just on earth. One cannot even "pretend" that the religion has been corrupted by man or something, the very text itself is so bad. Is there anything for women at all?

Hello, this is a good ask because I feel like a lot of people see the criticisms I offer about Islam on my blog, and they foster a misconception that Muslim women are stupid and docile.

The extremely misogynistic evidence I find in Islamic teachings are purposefully mystified to be not widely known, or lessened in their intensity. Most Muslims are not Arabic speaking, so Muslim leaders also warp translations to seem nicer and more palatable for a general audience. I had to dig to find the core of these ugly parts of the faith, and when I would bring them up in masjids, it made everyone uncomfortable, especially the religious teachers. They don’t just openly and bluntly say women are inferior: they use deceptive wording, mistranslations, and well practiced arguments to make Islam seem like a “feminist religion.” Me doing research and bringing up unspeakable topics is not the norm: I felt safe doing it all the time because my family moved constantly, and I knew there was be no real consequences like ostracization or violence.

As a teen I made a name for this phenomenon: The 2 Muhammads

1 Muhammad loved and cherished all his wives, instructing male Muslims to treat their wives “like expensive vases.” He said daughters were a precious gift, and raising 3 (or 2) right would guarantee heaven. He said that a man that comes home and his wife and children cower in fear of him would not go to heaven. 1 Muhammad would feed the poor, cuddle kittens, let children climb on and play on him while he led prayer, and he “emancipated” the women of the pre Islamic era from infanticide and other forms of mass violence. He generously bestowed on them the right to divorce, the right to half her husbands earning, the right to be protected when she traveled (many of these things are untrue but this is what they are teaching)

2 Muhammad is a shadowy figure only brought up sparingly, when used to criticize and scare the disobedient children, and women. He said if you listen to music, you go to hell! If you draw eyes, if you date, if you don’t listen to your husband… hell! Hell! Hell! He is almost never out in the open, and his greatest sins, like his youngest wife Aisha, is never spoken about. Kill apostates! Kill unbelievers where you find them! Sacrifice your life for Allah! Rape captured women in war! He is the real Muhammad, with far more religious texts matching this personality of his, but he gets less airtime. He’s camera shy 😔

I’ll make an indepth post about the specific arguments used to control Muslim women, in my anti-Islam feminist toolkit! It will layout my arguments for why Islam is misogynistic, and counter arguments I suggest for when they try to shut down criticism! It will be easy for anyone to read, not just ex Muslims.

[gigonia]

Religion & Atheism

I don't like getting even vaguely political here, but... One of the most important things as an atheist is understanding the difference between Christian people, Christian belief, and Christian organization (as in the church). And then, separate from all of that, are the other religions of the world and THEIR individual problems. (Which may well follow the same divisions) And then understanding that that isn't the reason why you're an atheist. The core of atheism is an inability to believe without evidence. I tried, for many years, to have faith. But I can't engage in evidence-less belief or believe in things that contradict my perception of reality. I do not deny that there may be more to reality than meets the eye, nor do I think that science has answered all questions (science itself does not think that). However, the moment this was put in front of me:

I simply lost all ability to believe in God. Perhaps that is a weakness on my part: I'm actually willing to accept that. From what I've been told by mental health professionals, autistic people like myself often struggle with engaging with cognitive dissonance (IE: holding contradictory views as simultaneously true without realizing or otherwise perceiving their contradiction), and other sorts of semi-contradictory or otherwise not perfectly logical thinking are often very difficult to grasp. Ultimately, faith is an emotion, so trying to apply incredible logic to religion ends up missing the point. Of course it doesn't make sense, for the same reason magic doesn't make sense in a piece of fiction: they're both about belief. Religion is a wish, a desire. A hope that the world exists in some format that feels most comfortable to the believer. And I'm happy for the people who can find joy and hope from religion where I could not. What I am NOT happy about is: 1) Religious people who use their religion to justify oppression

2) Christians, Islamists, Scientologists, and other faiths which operate in distinctly undemocratic ways (absolute power corrupts absolutely, and what other way could you describe a man being given the authority of your god than a man being given absolute power?) 3) Atheists who think putting others down for wanting to be happy makes them smarter or otherwise superior. You're not better, and you doing this demonstrates a lack of emotional intelligence, which I suppose helps explain why you're an atheist in the first place.

Anyways, apologies for this, but I just... needed to put this somewhere. Have a wonderful day, and be understanding of others. Thank you.

[owlhead650]

Pokemon Rejuvenation - A Study of Erin as the Devil & Vitus as God

Below is a new character analysis of Erin and Vitus. This is a second draft of an older essay that is so different to the original draft that I decided to change the title as well. It is 1450 words long. Enjoy.

In v13.5 Erin's first major appearance is in her Darchlight Form, as a devil. This is different to how in V13 her first appearance featured her chapter 10-14 design. The developers went out of their way to revise our first impression of her. It could be that this Darchlight form, the one said to be 'the true reflection of your soul' is the best way to understand Erin as a character.

In chapter 15 Erin declared herself the devil who defies Vitus, her father and a man that sees himself as God. "If Vitus himself proclaims to be God, then I proclaim myself to be the Devil. A monster that fights against God itself, I take upon that role." 

Conventional myth tells us the devil was once an angel that became too proud and tried to overthrow God. As punishment the devil was defeated and cast into hell forever. Erin was banished to the Unknown Dimension and lived there with Alice and Allen. It’s not exactly hell, it has more of a resemblance to Pokemon Gold and Silver for the Gameboy Colour, yet it’s another world she was sent to as punishment for defiance which makes the analogy work. Portraying God as evil and oppressive while the devil is portrayed as a victim of that oppression is far from a new idea in modern storytelling. This is largely thanks to the church losing political power and much of the public becoming disillusioned with Christianity and religious institutions as a whole. Religion has been used for control and people religious authorities want to destroy are branded as evil. Vitus/Indriad and Angie are both hyper-religious cult leaders, they claim to be carrying out the will of Arceus but they actually do horrible things.

In Pokemon Rejuvenation Erin is the devil, but what does that role mean for her story? Many Christian stories (or even modern media) portray devils as perpetrators of senseless evil, creatures that want us to become worse people so that our souls face eternal torment after death. This clearly isn’t who Erin is, she’s much more likely to lift someone up than to knock them down. 

In chapter 15 herself and Kanon fight Angie. Angie insists that because Kanon was created to be a servant then he’s less than human. We learn in the same chapter that Vitus and Nymiera were the ones to create him. Nymiera decided that Kanon should choose his own name which Vitus immediately protests against, yet before he can do anything the decision is made and Kanon names himself. At the first opportunity Vitus harshly disciplines Kanon, leaving long term trauma and conditioning him into accepting the servant role.

How Vitus hurt Kanon is similar to how he treats every other living thing in his power. He believes in a world of servants and masters. A world with Pokemon and servants like Kanon beneath humanity, and himself above everything. His preferred method of control is stamping out individuality, ensuring that the subjugated entity believes itself to be lesser. He does this through naming. The act of naming something shows power, ownership and an understanding of its nature. Vitus makes a point of naming all his servants and won’t tolerate any creation that tries to change its name. While Alice or Angie are possessed by him they refer to everyone by their given names. Venam is called Veronica, Erin is called Eriena and after modifying Maria’s memory he renames her to Marianette. Changing your own name shows agency that he doesn’t want anything to have.

Returning to the point about Erin lifting people up, she encourages Kanon to embrace his individuality and realise that he’s not beneath anyone. Erin taking up the devil role isn’t because she actually sees herself as evil, it’s an expression of defiance and agency. To her, being the devil means fighting his control and accepting those that Vitus would call unworthy, being the devil means liberating people rather than punishing them.

The idea of the devil acting as a liberator in Pokemon Rejuvenation is implied in the very first scene Erin appears in. When Florin, Flora and the Interceptor awaken in Darchlight Caves they find themselves confined within glass tubes created as part of a Bladestar base. In this scene she also makes a very bold claim that is easy to forget about in the long run but still very important to understanding her:

I can’t be trapped. I never have, never will, and never shall be “trapped”.

And in a way this is true. She escaped the unknown dimension, and she escapes Darchlight caves. Erin has been trapped, but never for too long. If the rest of the story is going to vindicate her then we can expect that Erin will keep escaping.

Erin’s role is to be the devil that fights God, that fights Vitus. To fully understand her role we need to understand what Vitus’s role means. I interpret Vitus’s role as God to be connected to the patriarchy. The patriarchy is a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are beneath them. This also involves forcing specific standards of what men and women should be onto people. Mainly that men need to be dominant and stoic while women need to be submissive and hardworking housekeepers. It also involves lots of homophobia and racism, generally patriarchies oppress all minorities. It’s fitting that a patriarch like Vitus would be religious considering that religion has long been a tool of the patriarchy. From the glimpse we have of Vitus and Anathea’s marriage we can see that their family dynamic is very patriarchal and ‘traditional’. They also had four children, these being Alice, Allen, Maria and Erin.

Although Erin didn’t remember her time in the Theolia household for most of the story, we can see why she developed a strong desire for freedom and individuality. During a conflict between Vitus and Anathea, Erin was used by both parents to spy on the other. First Anathea had Erin spy on Vitus, then when he caught her he demanded that Erin spy on Anathea back. It’s disappointing yet unsurprising that they should act this way, Anathea admitted in a scene during Chapter 15 that Vitus abuses her. Yet this is completely unfair on Erin. She was parentified and forced to help mediate an unhappy marriage between two adults who weren’t mature enough to settle their differences the correct way. 

Vitus superficially apologised for this and said it was her duty as the eldest daughter. Yet this is wrong because the eldest daughter is still just a child and shouldn’t have such pressure put on her, in a functional family it would be the parent resolving conflict between children, not the other way around. (Although to a patriarchy daughters are just mothers in training anyway.) Eventually the pressure breaks Erin and she throws a fit that awakens her latent archetype powers. After this Vitus activates his own powers and they fight. Erin loses. Badly. He brings Erin, Alice and Allen to an underground portal that sends them to the Unknown Dimension. If we remove the flashy powers from the scene, this is essentially Vitus beating his daughter and dragging her to the basement.

If there’s any takeaway from this story it’s that Vitus’s controlling behaviour and abuse of power throughout Pokemon Rejuvenation reflects the injustices of theocracies and patriarchies. Erin fights to have what those societal systems would deny her. The consistency of Vitus or villains controlled by him using dead names is such a simple yet visceral way to show they represent oppressive societal systems. Dead naming is a typical transphobic action that insults individual agency. The scene in chapter 7 where Angie reads out the truth of people from a book, listing their strengths and insecurities to their face is a powerful metaphor. It reflects how a patriarchy presumes to know everything about you. People who actually think that’s a healthy way to structure society will argue that men and women are naturally inclined towards their traditional roles, and that alternative ways of being are defects and perversions. They think that humans are so simple, that they can read the cold truth from your heart as if they know you better than you know yourself.

The main characters can never be themselves under Vitus. Venam is a lesbian, Melia is pan and Erin is asexual. Lots of rejuvenation players are in the lgbt community too so odds are good the Interceptor won’t be happy under him either. Maybe a God like Vitus thinks they’re unnatural, disgusting and ungrateful children. If so then that’s another reason Erin can be proud of becoming the devil.

[meowkavian]

Very long and complicated post about Japan and Judaism/Israel ahead. Please read if you can.

A video of a pro-Israel Japanese demonstration kept popping up and it was making me think and gave me a hefty feeling of worry and skepticism.

I shouldn’t have to preface this also by saying I don’t support the decisions of the Israeli government, but people with no nuance on this site love to think Jews are a monolith, and I don’t want to go into the whole “good Jew bad Jew” “dual loyalty” thing because that’s a WHOLE other thing.

I also preface this by saying that I’m not a Japanese citizen. However, I did live and work in Japan and have been traveling there since 2016 for internships. I do not claim to be an expert on Japan or Jewishness. All that follows is what I experienced as a Jewish person that lived in Japan.

Japan is a country with a very little Jewish population (estimated less than 2000, most of which are not legally considered citizens) with a significant lack of knowledge of actual Jewish people or culture, with very few safe spaces for people who are Jewish to have community. More on this later.

There isn’t a lot of knowledge, among young people especially, about the Holocaust, for instance, that hasn’t been watered down at least a bit, in my experience. This isn’t just a problem with Japan’s comfort with Jewish people and Judaism, but with its own lack of accepting and owning up to its own bloody histories especially during World War II. Whitewashing history isn’t just a Japanese problem obviously, but it’s a pretty egregious one Japan has in respect to mistreating indigenous cultures, ethnic Koreans and what is disgustingly called “comfort women”.

While I was working in Japan I assisted in the set up of a peace exhibit which in part, due to my efforts, discussed the atrocities of the Holocaust and the artwork from the children kept in the Terezin concentration camp. I was in touch with one scholar who was essentially the voice on Japanese knowledge of Terezin. I brought up my Jewishness multiple times, but it always had a feeling it was being brushed over.

A lot of the panels lent to us by her mentioned Judaism only from the idea that we were victims, without discussion of anything about our culture or context. Even when the scholar spoke of the atrocities, Judaism was barely mentioned outside of being a descriptor of something banned from schools, or put into ghettos.

So many people who visited the exhibit knew nothing about Terezin, had never heard of it, never knew the extent of the horrible conditions in the camps. Some reacted openly by sobbing and crying out during her speech, proving the lack of knowledge. I was raised alongside the children of Terezin’s pictures as a young Jewish child; I grew up with stories of the Holocaust and pogroms from such an early age I never had a chance not to know it.

The majority of what I experienced as a Jewish person who has lived in Japan for some time exposed me to the fact that the majority of what touts itself to be pro-Jewish resources is Messianic Judaism, which is not Judaism. Many of the Jewish resources other than that are from Chabads, of which there are maybe a handful scattered around Japan. Even less of these are Jewish community centers or synagogues. A multitude of fringe, new and Christianity based religions that lay claim to Israel do have presences here. Many of those religions, including Messianic Judaism are known to appropriate Hebrew as a “sacred language”.

Antisemitism is rampant in Japan, even if it’s not always outright. Nazi symbolism appears in cosplay and decorations and fashion as an image of “counterculture” or “punk.” When it’s not outright, it’s ignorance and the discussions of new world orders. It’s a common thought that there really aren’t any Jews in Japan.

When I saw that pro-Israel demonstration, I looked for any outward display of Judaism. In Japan there’s a strong possibility that by participating in protests or demos you can get your visa revoked and get deported.

In that demo there was no one wearing kippahs, or tallit. They sang in Hebrew but it didn’t make me feel better. It just made me wonder, where is this coming from? Because if your support of Israel really and truly meant your support of Jewish people, it doesn’t seem like it.

[lorddeathofmurdermountain]

Literally what isn't a cult.

Tbh I fucking hate the word. I hate the word because some schmuck made it up for a fantasy story and everyone started using it seriously but also simultaneously not taking it seriously at all anything that's like a cult is dismissed as bad bc it's not, like, fr a cult. You can't call Christianity a cult bc it's a worldwide accepted religion but like. The fuck it isn't. So now the word is just useless besides being used to describe Bad People. I can't even start my Cult Of Big Hugs And Fuzzy Feelings bc the word cult itself is now Evil™ and should only be used for obscenely obviously, comically evil people.

"An abusive relationship is just a two-person cult." Fuck that's so pretentious. "Two-person cult." You already fucking have terminology for it. Don't hype yourself up by making stuff into stuff you're an expert on, or at least familiar with. Fuck it. Abusive relationships are kinda like pill production. You're expected to give your all at any time of the day for practically nothing in return while everyone else around you somehow manages to do literally less than nothing, since despite doing nothing they still somehow make things worse for you.

America has a weird relationship with cults where they’re terrified of small cults (or organizations they think are cults) but completely normalized massive cults that hurt many more people (eg: LDS Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Amish, Scientology, most Megachurches)

[d-0ve]

you guys know that hating religion and spirituality indiscriminately is also weird and fascist, right? like i know evangelicals are annoying, but you do know that when you act like people who participate in spiritual practice of any kind or find value and meaning in that major and timelessly fucking ancient aspect of human culture and community are stupid and backwards and uncivilized and small minded, you are still supporting the material goals of fascism, right?

religion is a massive part of almost all human culture, and destroying and devaluing that is historically a pretty massive part of any successful genocide. human spirituality isnt above criticism, and the institutions we build around religions have inordinate power in our society, power that is often used to abuse the vulnerable. this should be criticized, as should all instituations. but the concept of religion itself, the fact that some people pray and have a spiritual practice? that does deserve respect, even if it isn't for you.

evangelical behavior does not deserve respect, and those who try to force their religion on others are also acting in a deeply fascist way- but at the same time, trying to force your lack of respect for spirituality on others who genuinely don't share your perspective is really not any different. i get that many of us are understandably traumatized by our experiences with religion, but that doesn't mean we have free reign to shit on the entire concept and on every religious person who exists. assuming every religion is as bad as the one that hurt you and every religious person is just as harmful as the people who hurt you really isnt very different of a worldview than an evangelical christian holds around people who don't share their understanding of religion.."everyone who isnt like me is a stupid thoughtless heathen with no moral backbone and their difference from me is the reason they are less worthy of respect"

get a fucking grip. grow up. learn to respect people who are different from you, or accept that your hatred and disgust will be used as a tool by those in power to raize villages and stamp out knowledge and cultures that have survived thousands of years.

[mediaevalmusereads]

Hell Followed With Us. By Andrew Joseph White. Peachtree, 2022.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: YA, science fiction, horror, lgbtqia+

Series: N/A

Summary: Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: transphobia, blood, gore, body horror, self harm, child death, violence

OVERVIEW: This book has been on my radar but I didn't pick it up until I found a used copy. The premise was intriguing, and I'm a sucker for stories that grapple with complex understanding of religion and gender. But while I did like a lot about this book, I think the main think holding it back is the lack of a driving plot. Don't get me wrong - the story of queer survival is a good one, but personally, I felt like most of this book was just in a holding pattern.

WRITING: White's prose is generally pretty good. On a sentence level, it moves swiftly and works hard to capture Benji's emotions surrounding his transformation, his need for support, and his complex relationship with his past.

I did like the way Benji ran through a lot of Bible verses and teachings in his head, showing the hold that religious indoctrination can have on a person even if they disagree or leave/escape a church.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Benji, a 16 year old trans boy who escapes from an eco-fascist Christian cult two years after said cult has released a virus on the world. Survivors live in an apocalyptic wasteland, and to finish off the 'unbelievers' and bring about the true end of the world, the cult creates a new strain of the virus called Seraph. Benji, being the first person to survive Seraph, is believed to be the ultimate weapon that can advance the cult's goals, so when he escapes, they make it a priority to get him back.

I do think, however, that some of the prose could feel repetitive, mostly because there are some places in the plot where it feels like we're waiting around. It felt like White used repetitive descriptions of Benji feeling sick or Benji checking in with Nick not to build suspense, but because there wasn't really much happening. I think if the plot was a bit more focused, less of this "dead time" could have been more interesting.

I'm also not sure how I feel about the switch in perspectives. If they were a little more consistent, I think that would have helped, but some of them feel random so it was a tad awkward.

Meanwhile, Benji finds shelter with a group of teens holed up in an old LGBTQIA+ Center. While Benji tries to hide the transformations that are making him more monstrous, one of the group's leaders, Nick, has a plan for Benji that may work against everything they stand for.

I really liked the idea of monstrosity being not an allegory queer and trans identity itself (in the vein of monstrosity = outsider, monster as queer, etc), but also as a metaphor for how an oppressive group (Christianity, in this case) can create feelings of monstrosity in a queer person. Monstrosity is something that is deliberately done to Benji in order to further the cult’s own goals, and a big part of Benji's arc is learning to deal with his monstrosity despite never asking for it or having no control over it being done to him.

However, I do think the overall plot of this book was a little weak. White does his best to create an impending sense of dread while also reveling in a revenge fantasy, but there isn't a lot of support from the story to make those things land. The author's note tells us that more than dread and revenge, this is meant to be a survival story, but again, I think the plot needed a little something else to make it feel like Benji and the others weren't just existing. Perhaps Benji and Nick team up to try to find a cure but Nick is plotting a betrayal. Perhaps they team up to get Benji as far away from people as possible. Some kind of end goal that can drive the narrative rather than leaving it so open.

Lastly, I think more needed to be done to show us the impact of the past on Benji. The book opens with Benji running away and the death of his father, so it's a bit in medias res. From there, most of Benji's past is told to us, so it's difficult to absorb his emotional attachment to his father, to Theo, etc. I think having flashbacks or dual timelines would have helped a lot.

CHARACTERS: Benji, our protagonist, is interesting in that he's a trans boy struggling with his very literal monstrosity and his past as a child in an eco-fascist cult. I liked that White showed him as compassionate towards the Graces and I liked Benji's complicated feelings for Theo. But I do think more could have been done to give him a personal arc that unfolds over the course of the whole novel, not just all at once at the end.

Nick, the autistic teen in charge of the ALC (more or less), has some sweet moments. I liked the way he bonded with Benji by passing notes back and forth, and the pressure Nick was under to keep everyone alive and safe was understandable. I do think White showed his cards too soon when it came to Nick's secrets, and I think more could have been done to explore a personal arc of moving from staunch protector and soldier to something else.

Theo, Benji's former fiancé, was very interesting to me because he accepted Benji without question yet still fully believed in the cult doctrine. It was fascinating to watch the complexity of how feelings for someone could challenge one's belief in a cause, and I was eager to find out what would win out in the end.

Supporting characters were fine, though I think there could have been more opportunities to shape the plot so that Benji bonded with the ALC teens more emotionally. As it stands, most of the others just kind of feel there until the end, when Benji decides to view them as family. I wanted a little more growth to support that switch.

TL;DR: Hell Followed With Us is a book with an interesting premise but needs a lot more narrative support. While it's nice to have trans representation in a book about survival and religion, I also think this book lacked a driving force that would have made the plot more interesting.

[unfoldingmoments]

The Role of Faith and Worship in a Pragmatic World: Balancing Logic, Belief, and Lifestyle

In a world where pragmatism and logic often dominate our thinking, the concepts of faith, worship, and belief in the divine can seem abstract or even unnecessary. For many, the scientific explanations of life, the universe, and our existence offer sufficient answers. However, the deeper purpose of faith and worship goes beyond logic and can offer a profound sense of meaning and connection that science alone cannot provide.

At the same time, religion itself is a concept that many associate with rigid rules, traditions, and sometimes even oppression. In Christianity, for instance, the idea of “religion” is often seen as problematic because it can sometimes reduce the experience of faith to mere ritual and law. The Pharisees in the Bible are often cited as an example of those who were too focused on religious rules without understanding the spirit of the teachings. Christianity is about a way of life—one that is rooted in love, humility, and grace, rather than adhering strictly to external rules.

1. Worship as More Than Ritual: A Personal Connection

Worship is often misunderstood as simply a set of rituals or rules to follow. However, at its core, worship is about building a personal relationship with the divine—acknowledging a higher power and seeking spiritual growth. It’s an expression of gratitude, trust, and dependence on something greater than ourselves. While religious practices may vary, the act of worship transcends mere ritual; it’s about creating a deeper connection with the divine, which is central to many belief systems.

In Christianity, worship is often less about obligation and more about living a life that reflects the teachings of Christ. It is not about mindlessly following a set of rules, but about transforming one’s heart and actions to reflect a lifestyle of love and kindness.

2. Faith Beyond Logic: Trust in the Impossible

Many people find it difficult to accept beliefs that seem illogical or beyond human understanding. For example, the idea of walking on water or the belief that humans were created from dust may seem nonsensical, especially in a world grounded in scientific facts. Yet, faith often requires trust in the unseen and the impossible. It’s not about blind belief but about choosing to trust in a higher power—even when it defies logic. This is similar to the way a child trusts their parent to guide them safely through traffic, or the way people might believe in a tightrope walker’s ability despite the inherent risk. Faith asks us to trust in something greater than our own abilities, even when it seems impossible.

However, logic plays a crucial role in our lives as well. It is how we navigate the practical, everyday world and make decisions that have tangible outcomes. Logic helps us understand cause and effect, plan for the future, and solve problems. It’s a tool that aids in survival and personal development. But logic also has its limits. There are many things in life that logic alone cannot explain—such as the mysteries of the universe, human consciousness, or even the phenomenon of love. While logic is indispensable in understanding the material world, it doesn’t always provide answers to existential questions or the deeper mysteries of life.

3. The Big Bang and the Design of the Universe

The intricacies of the universe—the laws of gravity, the structure of time and space—are often seen as evidence of a larger design. While science offers explanations like the Big Bang Theory, many find it difficult to dismiss the possibility of a divine creator behind it all. The universe’s order and precision can inspire a sense of awe and wonder, suggesting that there may be an intentional force at work. It’s not about rejecting science, but rather recognizing that the more we learn about the universe, the more questions arise about who or what orchestrated it all.

In a sense, logic and faith can coexist in the search for understanding. Science explains how the universe operates, but faith provides a framework for understanding why it exists in such a structured and purposeful way. Both are tools for exploring the mysteries of life, and when combined, they offer a more holistic view of the world.

4. The Humility in Creation: From Dust to Life

One of the most profound aspects of faith is the idea that humanity was created from humble beginnings—dust, or earth. For those who struggle with the idea of creation, this concept challenges us to reflect on our own fragility and dependence. It’s not meant to be taken literally, but rather as a reminder of the transient nature of human existence and the need for humility. It speaks to a deeper truth: that life is a gift and we are not in control of it, no matter how much we may want to be.

For those who rely heavily on logic, this idea may seem irrational. Yet, it is precisely in the acceptance of the irrational—the mystery of life, the inexplicable nature of consciousness—that faith invites us to grow. Faith doesn’t require us to abandon logic, but rather to acknowledge that there are dimensions of existence beyond what the mind can fully grasp.

5. Faith in a Pragmatic World: Is There Room for Both?

In an increasingly pragmatic world, where logic often takes precedence, faith can seem irrelevant. But for many, faith is not about rejecting reason—it’s about finding meaning in life that goes beyond what can be proven. Faith offers comfort, hope, and a sense of purpose that logic alone cannot provide. It’s about trusting in something beyond ourselves, seeking spiritual fulfillment, and aligning our lives with a higher purpose.

Even for those who don’t subscribe to religious beliefs, the principles of faith—trust, humility, and hope—can still play an important role in navigating life’s challenges. Whether through art, relationships, or personal reflection, moments of connection to something greater than ourselves can bring peace and fulfillment.

6. Fine-Tuning Religion: Avoiding Brainwashing, Embracing a Lifestyle

When discussing faith and worship, particularly in Christianity, it’s crucial to recognize that religion is not about following laws blindly or imposing beliefs on others. True worship, particularly in Christianity, is about a lifestyle—living in a way that reflects love, humility, and service. While religion often gets a bad reputation for being associated with Pharisees who were more concerned with external rituals than inner transformation, faith is about internal change and how we live our lives in alignment with spiritual principles.

In a pragmatic world, where many may resist religious influences due to their rigid or dogmatic nature, it’s important to understand that worship and faith should never be forced upon anyone. The goal is not to “brainwash” people into compliance but to inspire them to live in a way that reflects the core values of love, kindness, and grace. The act of worship is an invitation to connect with something greater and to experience the transformation that comes from it—not an obligation or a rule to follow.

Conclusion: Faith and Logic Working in Tandem

In a world that moves faster every day, where pragmatism and logic often rule our decisions, faith offers a pause. It invites us to step back and reflect, to trust in something beyond the immediate, and to seek a deeper connection with the universe, with others, and with ourselves. Worship and faith are not about rules or rituals but about finding peace in the chaos and acknowledging that, even in our limitations, we are part of something far greater.

Logic and faith don’t have to be at odds. Instead, they can complement each other. While logic helps us navigate the material world and solve practical problems, faith can provide the deeper meaning and guidance we seek in moments of uncertainty. Both are essential to living a balanced and fulfilling life.

[gryficowa]

Looking at what God did in the Torah and Koran, recognizing Jesus as God himself sounds like insulting Jesus himself… Drowning people and encouraging people to burn villages because there are gays in them sounds like Jesus on crack...

And I speak as a person from Poland (My mother is Catholic, but Catholicism is a branch of Christianity, here they believe in the Holy Trinity… And you don't eat meat on Friday and during Lent… Just Catholicism… I am an agnostic for context), so you understand, even as a kid it sounded like WTF to me when they said that God, Jesus and the holy spirit are the same person… And now, when you understand the whole lore of God (however it sounds), one raises an eyebrow when someone says that Jesus and God are the same person… No, not really, Jesus was probably not in favor of murdering people, but rather someone who gave another chance and if he saw that you wanted to kill someone for being gay, he would rather to side with the person you want to kill, not yours

Yes, Jesus was a child of God, but I wouldn't call him God… Because he is too human and too distant an entity than God himself, and the Torah and the Koran themselves prove it…

As I mentioned, God's actions themselves deny that he is Jesus…

(And yes, as I know, Jesus appears in the Koran, but his name is Issa and he is a prophet)

But I say this from the perspective of someone who knows the Torah and the Bible better, although he knows about events from the Koran (Because it takes place after the Bible, and as I understand it, there was a moment when Issa, i.e. Jesus, talked to the prophet Mahoment, so it's interesting to read how Christians they accuse that Islam does not recognize Jesus… Besides, Jesus would rather you believe in God, as I understand it… Well… You can't believe in Jesus, because it's a sin… I'm just saying… The commandment itself says that you are not to have greater gods than God himself… So yes, teaching it myself you do, anyway, I don't know if having images and crosses is consistent with the Abrahamic faith… If we are to pick on your standards and hypocrisy even more), I may not be an expert, but you see, at school I had more of the Torah and a little less of the Bible (What's interesting in my country…), but absolutely nothing of the Koran, so you understand, I know limited information, but still more than some Christians who attack Muslims in the comments with the texts "Jesus is the true God!" and other shit, because you know, there is no greater "Love" than Christian love (Witches burned at the stake say hello, as do atheists who were tortured by Christians in order to convert them to the right religion)

It's just that, as I mentioned, for me saying that Jesus is God is strange, even as a child it didn't make sense to me, so I think that Jesus is a person who romanticized God himself and his actions (Because the father… You know, toxic relationships in Abrahamic lore this is unfortunately something normal…), this is my only explanation why in the Bible God himself is shown as the most accepting person who wants your good… Because seriously, otherwise I won't explain why God is a tyrant in the Torah and Koran, and in the Bible he is as I described… Too different (As if insist… Jehovah's Witnesses see God correctly… Which is depressing, but looking at his actions from the Torah and Koran, it doesn't sound like much of a stretch… And yes, for some reason, Jehovah's Witnesses in my country are considered a religion, not a sect… Sus)

So, when we start to analyze God's behavior, saying that he and Jesus are the same person sounds… Like this strange theory from cartoons like from "The Powerpuff Girls", where all three Powerpuff Girls are the same person, but with personality disorders … Yes, Jesus was impulsive (Breaking up the stand and shouting at the fig tree…), but he probably wasn't someone who wanted your suffering and punishment (Hello, he died for your sins… That says a lot…), I'm not saying that if you believe it's wrong, I mean that I don't like this type of shenanigans intellectual and romanticizing God's actions, which, as I mentioned, do not show him in a very good light, especially when in the Koran he returned to what he did in the Torah, i.e. Jesus died for nothing… Because Jesus perceived God in more positive colors than he was and this thought rather adds to the tragedy that Jesus himself experienced…

Yes, I love analyzing everything too much, I can't help it, and texts about metaphors don't appeal to me, because many things were described literally (And I believe that Jesus shouted at the fig tree because of hunger… Because when you are hungry, you do strange things, so I'm surprised how people analyze it like a poem by a certain poet… It's just weird) and analyzing them intensely tends to make people ignore everything that happens to fit their narrative… And this is dangerous, especially in the context of sects, let's just say that following everything that " "God" deems good is rather destructive on many levels, yes, Torah, the bible and the quran have values ​​that can help you (Especially as the world becomes more and more destructive), but there are also values ​​that are better not repeated (like hurting someone), hello, throwing stones? Conversion by force? Burning villages BECAUSE THERE ARE GAY? It is rather something that should not be repeated and should be followed, these are the destructive values ​​that each of the books thanks to which the Abrahamic religions were created has

Because one thing is when something helps you survive, and the other is when you use it towards people who don't choose who they are (Orientation is something you don't choose, even if many people want to believe it, it's like saying that if someone is a person with a disability this is evil and he must be killed because it is against faith to be a person with a disability… I have ASD and that's why I compare it to this, because you can't change both, yes, you can become a person with a disability, but I mean the disability you are born with and die with, you can't change it just like you can't change your orientation, you can pretend and mask it, but one day you'll break and you can't cope anymore, it's a mental effort when you feel that everything you do is wrong, and now imagine that you are in danger of being murdered or going to prison for something you have no control over… Exactly…)

LGBT+ was created by people who were attacked for something they had no control over, to fight together for their rights, if you recognize that these defenseless people are a threat to your religion, doesn't that make you a threat to these people? What about people whose faith and being LGBT+ overlap? They deny the black and white vision that you cannot be LGBT+ and believe in Judaism/Christianity/Islam because "God doesn't like it", saying the text "I don't like LGBT+ because my faith considers it a sin" would not be accepted if you replaced LGBT+ with e.g. People with disabilities or ethnic origin, i.e. things over which no one has any influence

Just think how comical this text sounds in the context of other groups that, like LGBT+ people, have no influence on who they are and do not choose (Hello, I was diagnosed with ASD after finishing the sixth grade of primary school, and I still had no idea what autism was… I experienced ableism in junior high school from a support teacher, this woman had the nerve to tell my mother that I was faking it… As if I had chosen the diagnosis myself without any knowledge about autism and as if I could fake autism without knowing what autism was… Exactly… It sounds ridiculous to say that to a parent whose child was diagnosed a few years ago, right? Now remember what people who are not straight are told and what questions they are asked… As if they had a choice…)

So yes, I had to mention it because it has an extra layer of showing that Jesus and God are not the same person, I doubt Jesus would want someone who had no control over their orientation to be punished… It's just like he had punish people for being sick and weak, as if they had a choice over it… No, orientation is not a disease, but it is an inseparable part of you, you have no control over anything, even if people professing Abrahamic religions want to believe otherwise…

I don't know, if you told a disabled person not to be disabled, everyone would probably look at you like an idiot and a jerk, why do you do it to another group of people who didn't choose who they are? It's simply hypocrisy… Before you use your religion as an attack, think twice about what you're saying… Because, contrary to appearances, you can change or abandon your religion or orientation? No, it's not a fashion anymore, because you might as well say that disability is a fashion, because more and more people with ASD and ADHD are diagnosed… Or black people are a fashion, because they appear more and more often in cartoons…

I know, I've gone off topic, but I guess it's my nature to start with something and then go deeper and you know what I mean

My mind overanalyzes and starts to go deeper and deeper, but the simple conclusion is: Don't be a jerk to people of a different faith or orientation than you

[yhwhrulz]

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer Devotional: October 4th

Tozer in the Morning Vital Faith Shows Itself in Changed Living

We would make a clear distinction here between moral action and mere religious activity. In truth there is already too much of that popular type of activity which does little more than agitate the surface of religion. Its never-ending squirrel-cage motion gives the impression that much is being done, when actually nothing really important is happening and no genuine spiritual progress is being made. From such we must turn away.

By moral action, we mean a voluntary response to the Christian message: not merely the acceptance of Christ as our personal Savior but a submission to the obligation implicit in the doctrine of the Lordship of Jesus. We must free ourselves from the inadequate concept of the gospel as being only "good news," and accept the total meaning of the Christian message centering in the cross of Christ. We must restore again to the church the idea that the offer of salvation by faith in Christ carries with it the condition that there must be also a surrender of the life to God in complete obedience.

Anything less than this puts the whole thing in the passive voice. A lifetime of passive listening to the truth without responding to it paralyzes the will and causes a fatty degeneration of the heart. The purpose of Bible teaching is to secure a moral and spiritual change in the whole life. Failing this, the whole thing may be wasted.

Tozer in the Evening Resisting Monotony By Means of Variety

Some of the purest souls have written of the dangers of continuous spiritual exercises uninterrupted by lowlier considerations. Von Hugel speaks of the ?neutral cost? of prayer and advises that we should sometimes break off thoughts of heavenly things and go for a walk or dig in the garden. We have all known the disappointment felt when returning to a passage of Scripture that had been so fresh and fragrant the day before only to find the sweetness gone out of it. It is the Spirit?s way of urging us on to new vistas. I notice that in the wilderness God kept Israel moving. One may wonder what would have happened if they had camped in one place for forty years. The lives of the great Christians show that they differed not only from each other but from themselves at different periods of their lives. Spiritual exercises that helped them at one stage of their development later became useless and had to be changed for others.

Copyright Statement This material is considered in the public domain.

[thatstormygeek]

It is a truth universally accepted that you can’t even be considered for the job of US president if you are not a Christian—a rule unwritten in any law book, but true nonetheless. That said, though, once the assertion has been made to the electorate’s satisfaction, the candidate is under absolutely no obligation whatsoever to follow any tenet of the religion. ... How much of western politics, and conservative politics in particular, is made up of closeted skeptics, secularists, even atheists, policing each other’s faith for no real reason other than the fact that they, themselves, feel pressured to appear faithful to other closeted apostates? How deep does the absurdity go? ... This is a paradox that drives me fucking nuts, because I can’t figure out the importance. Part of it’s because I’m an agnostic, no doubt, but I must reiterate, the philosophy and the practice of the Christian faith are not important or even desirable. They want Donald Trump as president, not Ned Flanders. If you want admission to the club of western conservatism then it’s both a necessary and sufficient condition that you express belief that a specific person from the town of Nazareth in the first century AD was a supernatural being who did in fact create all of time, space, and reality. It's universal, it’s inescapable, and it is, from the top down, a completely fabricated and incomprehensibly dedicated kayfabe game of pretendsies.

My theory, for what it’s worth, is that Christianity has just become part of the general overall gamification of politics. For many, the profession of belief in a supernatural deity has less to do with a real genuine metaphysical position than it is simply a declaration of “the side I’m on.” The declaration itself is what matters, not the fully optional philosophy that comes with it. It’s like wearing a sports jersey.

[shawnjacksonsbs]

Some of my thoughts, as I watch us backslide. 6-29-24

"Church is still the most segregated hour in the world." - someone adapted from Martin Luther King Jr

In today's world, especially in this country, where people are hell-bent on wrapping their identity around things that keep us divided and wear the division as some sort of weird fucking badge of honor, is just weird to me.

Some of us are trying not to, but that's difficult, in and of itself, because accepting, or respecting diversity sometimes comes at a cost. The cost of not reaching full inclusion.

From race, and of course religion- which generally carries several "esteemed" forms of discrimination with it . . . it's hard to hold real peace for long periods of time.

It's hard to find respect for any religion that's whole purpose is to bring people over to their "side" instead of just respecting the boundaries of all others.

I hear Christians all the time claiming their "belief" isn't religion, it's more a personal relationship with Jesus/god.

Well it's obviously not just a personal relationship if their purpose is the gospel, testimony, and conversions. That's actually the opposite of just personal.

The further and further we get from fundamental, monumentally positive, and historical progresses we've made in spades. . .the more resentment build up I feel towards those that think, collectively, that their way should be our way.

I've only seen a few episodes of the Handmaid's Tale, but for fucks sake, c'mon.

This is for any religions that wants me and mine in a world ruled by their belief not an open system that includes, and respect everyone's belief as long as they're not infringing.

My point is that living for ways to bring us altogether, gets more and more difficult with every backslide.

In a country where invitation to come "live the American Dream" was an ingrained part of life here, has now become more of a divided Union with people putting everything, from politics to religion to race, behind themselves, except each other, and our common good.

Just my thoughts in this early hour.

I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I'm not scared to talk to anyone, but man standing up for others should be more priority than judging them and putting things in place to make their lives harder, or to make them feel less than.

I promise you there are some far better people in the slums than standing at a pulpit, or on capital hill.

Again, 2 cents worth, and it's how I stay healthy, mentally, and emotionally.

Hope ALL of you finds a way to have a wonderful week without placing others under your step.

And remember being kind isn't just for show.

Be grateful, and then share your LOVE and LAUGHTER with the world around you.

Have a Happy Independence Day and stay safe and cool 😎 this week.

Until next week;

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

~

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." - from the Declaration of Independence

[umutisiktagiyev]

Book Notes | Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu | 01.11.2023

It is a rather dull work. I read all of it in one day in a math class today. The introduction and later explanation pages are longer than the book itself.

The book is more about political rule than anything, dedicated to teaching the rulers of the time how to conduct their behavior. 

It feels as if the work is kept knowingly cryptic, as the text is meant to rhyme and be remembered, while the explanation would be given orally to the scholars of the time.

The book mentions essential stuff, like how things that can be named are not constants but creations. It also has some base-level creation myths.

The main message is about the way, Tao, which is very close to BEING (the power of now). One does not resist, one does not do act; one goes with the flow and is yielding towards life.

Polarities are absurd and a product of the human mind. There are no opposites within the way.

Desire is the greatest sin. You should act so naturally and do so little that the people you rule over don’t even know your existence. It’s about being like water, how it corrodes the hardest of materials, how women win over men.

Accepting the opposites as a way of yielding is positive; for example, the sage does not put himself first but does come first.

“In the home, it is the site that matters; in quality of mind, it is the depth that matters; in an ally, it is benevolence that matters; in speech, it is good faith that matters; in government, it is order that matters; in affairs, it is the ability that matters, in action it is timeliness that matters.”

“When his task is accomplished and his work done, the people all say ‘it happened to us naturally.”

“A man of the way conforms to the way, and a man of virtue conforms to virtue; a man of loss conforms to loss. He who conforms is gladly accepted, by the way.”

“He who tiptoes cannot stand; he who strides cannot walk.”

“Heaven and earth will unite and sweet dew will fall, and the people will be equitable, though no one so decrees. Only when it is cut are there names. As soon as there are names, one ought to know that it is time to stop. Knowing when to stop, one can be free from danger.”

It is said that the more you seek, the less you understand.

“He who knows others is clever; He who knows himself has discernment. He who overcomes others has force; He who overcomes himself is strong. He who knows contentment is rich He who preserves is a man of purpose He who does not lose his station will endure He who lives out his days has had a long life.”

“If you would have a thing shrink, you must first stretch it.”

“A man of the highest virtue does not keep to virtue, and that is why he has virtue.”

“The myriad creatures carry on their backs the yin and embrace in their arms the yang and are the blending of the generative forces of the two.”

“One who excels as a warrior does not appear formidable. One who excels in fighting is never roused in anger. “

“Hence the sage knows himself but does not display himself, loves himself but does not exalt himself. He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death. He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.”

“Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive.”

There is a lesson to be learned from every medium. Our understanding has to be holistic; everything is connected to each other. There are essential truths reached by sages centuries apart.

This book made me think about my ideas about God. I lost my faith when I was around ten years old when I moved up to my head and studied physics nonstop—a pure materialist through and through.

I don’t defend or propose that Christianity or any other institutional religion is correct, but they might point to a similar truth. That BEING, call it God, the way, or the emptiness, might even be the universe; it can or might have greater intelligence. It is alive; the entire universe might be one giant body. Can we even call it dead? 

There is an intelligence inherent to life. Am I controlling my breathing? The division of my cells? My organs?

Your body is just as smart as you are, if not more. Ignoring its intelligence is senseless and counterproductive. Ignoring the intelligence of the universe might be the same thing.

The closest thing to a god I can imagine is the Jungian idea of the collective unconscious. And that God, or the universe, is feminine.

4.2/10