#this was not in the bible delete this post

[sunkissedliterarylightofchrist]

@artist-issues - why do you believe the death penalty should be completely and totally abolished? explain?

*cracks knuckles* Justice is one of the things I am most passionate about in the entire world and I am so glad that you asked. So presenting-

Why The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished - from a Christian

[This is a heavily condensed version because Tumblr is mean and deleted the entire thing the first time I wrote it, so, here's the short answer]

There are two different theories of justice that are used in the sphere of law. Retribution and Restitution. Retribution is when you punish someone as vengence for an act that they committed, and restitution is when you establish justice in a way to pay back the wrong that was done in the crime. They are two different schools of thought and there are a lot of arguments each way and the more you learn about it the more fascinating it gets, but I firmly believe that the way that God has created justice and law firmly sits in the way of restitution, and all Christians should come to that conclusion when studying the Bible and advocate for such.

According to its use in the Bible, God instructed the Israelites to use the death penalty in cases of rape and murder. To quote @/artist-issues from the comments-

A lot of God’s commands about civil law and justice seem to have to do with what can be *restored* to the victim of the crime. If the criminal takes something that doesn’t belong to them, for example, Exodus 22 shows the principle of the thief restoring what they took, and giving back double—so they’re restoring, and they’re losing something, themselves, in addition, because of their sin. But when someone rapes another human, they’re taking something they cannot restore to the victim. Ever. Same way when they murder; they’re taking something that can never be restored to the victims (plural, because not only is the murdered party dead, but they’ll never be restored to the other victims: their loved ones.) Plus, human life has inherent value. Which really means something, with real-world consequences when that value is totally defiled and ignored. That’s why Genesis 9:6 says “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” So God commands the death penalty. I think both because it IS the just thing to do, and because, knowing humanity’s sinful nature, God also knows that the death penalty is the only way to get depraved humans’ likelihood to COMMIT those crimes to actually drop in number. But both those things are sort of irrelevant for you and me: the bottom line is, if God says it’s okay, it’s okay.

And she is correct and spot on, I agree with almost every syllable of this dissection of Scripture. God has permitted the death penalty in response to rape and murder.

HOWEVER. I think once you start to add in other factors of historical context and modern day society, if you stick to that conclusion to the same degree you are sorely mistaken.

I believe that as of today, in 21st century America, that the death penalty should be overturned in all cases and that no crime whatsoever justifies its use. While our justice system is a lot better than some countries currently or historically and I am very thankful for the fact, it is still messed up.

People are on death row for years, which utterly destroys them physiologically, there is systemic racism and injustice in the bias against minorites (see the very end of this post), it is incredibly expensive for all parties (most notably taxpayers!), the methods of execution like lethal injection can be cruel and unusual, those with intellectual disability and those living in poverty are targeted, and lengthy trials hurt everyone. And most importantly, the rate of how many of those cases the defendent is actually innocent is incredibly staggering and gut-wrenching. And, there is no reliable evidence that the death penalty deters murder- in today's context.

We live in a different world than the Israelites did, plain and simple. Society's ideas of justice have progressed, and I'm not saying that as a way to crap on the ancient world and how uncivilized it was, far from it, I'm just saying that these values have changed, and most of it due to Christiantiy in fact. So we have to look at things in their historical context.

They lived in a revenge culture! If A stole B's camel, B would go kidnap A's sister, then A would murder B's parents, which would make B go burn down A's house and land with all of their family inside, A would torture B to death which would make B's children take up arms, and it could continue to escalate until there were multi-generation bloody wars going on. And do you know what God did when he introduced the concept of capping punishments to the Israelites? It stopped. Very little at first, just among them, but over time and as the other nations saw the power of the Hebrew God, they listened and changed themselves. And now, because of how God has changed society's concept of justice, there is no more need and very little want for extreme and overbearing punishment.

But, with these developments, the fear of punishment has slipped, undoubtably so. People think a lot less about punishment before commiting a crime unfortunately. Because it isn't as extreme anymore, or if it is its for all the wrong reasons in all the wrong places. And because of this, after decades of research, there is no solid evidence that the death penalty has any influence whatsoever on violent crime. Today, having life in prison is a far better way to correctly punish someone rather than excecute them, because now we're morally imprinted on a society that God has shaped to view punishment differently.

But more so- because there have been so many screw-ups when it comes to this that it makes me weep. Please read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Please go and take a look at that link and think about what you read there. Human error and sin have lead to so much pain and suffering that was totally undeserved and evil. Innocent people are dead, mentally disabled, or physically so. People who were in fact guilty still faced heinous circumstances that outweighed the wrong that they had done by a staggering amount. And both the innocent and guilty have staggered under the weight of injustice that has wrongly convicted them and ruined their lives- if they lived.

Also, we need to remember that our job today with the justice system is not to give out the final punishment that person may or may not deserve in this life. That's Jesus' job on judgement day. The laws that Ancient Israel had back then should be treated differently than 21st century America today. The law is good if used properly- but the death penalty isn't that today. The holy men who used to distribute God's justice in Israel would do so by God's standard, and everyone understood and submitted under His authority willingly. They understood the why behind it. Did those guys who decided on punishment ever screw up like today and commit injustice? I don't know. I'm not going to speculate. But what I do know? According to the way that God outlined what the acceptable use of the death penalty, that is good. That is justice. I completely and totally agree with that.

But that isn't America today. America is not a Christian country. And we don't function as a theocracy. A lot of very powerful people blaspheme God and do not care about the morality He has laid on our hearts. And people are wicked and will do wicked things, not caring for those they have hurt. They have wielded the justice system to hurt people, the innocent yes, but also the guilty more than they deserved. Which is also unjust. And because of people's action, or inaction, so much pain and suffering has manifested in the world.

And look- God can do anything. Absolutely, 100%. The heart of kings is like water in His hand. Even if we screw up, His plan will come through anyway and He'll use it for good. But Scripture makes abundently clear that our actions do indeed have consequences and do have an effect. I'm not God, there is a lot of gray area, I don't fully understand it or how it lines up for or against His plan, but all I do know is that He has set things before us to achieve and it is our duty to carry them out with everything that we've got. All I can see when I look at the justice system today is overwhelming evidence for a need for reform and to protect the incarcerated- those who do in fact deserve to be there, as well as those who are innocent and are suffocating under the weight of injustice.

Unfortunately, the death penalty is not unconstitutional… as of right now. We can amend it to be so however. And same with abolishing it on a state by state level, we could get there. Which is why we sorely need more Christians to go into law, civil rights, and politics, despite how hard and ugly they can be. We need more people to stand up and shout that this is vile and wrong and hurts the world. There have been some huge wins against capital punishment! In Furman v. Georgia it was decided that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment when the punishment was not proportional to the crime. This lead 35 states to pass refined death penalty laws and Congress to pass statutory guidelines for death sentences. Praise God and hallelujah! If we can continue this and stregthen it, we very well could be on the way to better justice and abolishment in the not-so-near future.

I doubt that our country will ever reach a place of being able to perfectly align the legal system with Old Testament law and advocate for the death penalty in the cases that the Bible states. Because society and culture today are different. A majority of people in the judicial system are not religious, let alone Christian. So they're not thinking in the way that we think about these things. And I've barely touched on the fact that logistically, the death penalty costs so much money and time that it is literally cheaper to feed and care for someone spending seventy years behind bars than it is to pay for the legal proccess of that person's case, on both the defensive and offensive's accounts, but its true. A HUGE reason to totally abolish the penalty due to our culture today and how its changed. And it is going to be far better to advocate for life in prison rather than death- because that means anytime there is human error, we're looking to release people from jail with a big check rather than mourn over the fact that if we had just been a little bit better at our jobs in the legal system, we wouldn't be leaving flowers at their grave.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that it is the calling of the faithful to save as many people as we can. That means that we evangelize and preach the Gospel to the world no matter what. While Jesus is the only one who saves, and one only comes to the Father if He has first called him, we’re called in Romans 10 and many other places to tell as many as possible. Because how can they come to God if they never know Him? Which is why Christians are called to preach the Gospel to every tounge, tribe, and nation.

I apply the same philosophy here. I am going to do everything in my power for the rest of my life to save the physical lives of as many people as possible according to my convictions and what I see God calling for us as His children to do to the justice system as it is the way it is today. Because how can I hope to save someone who is dead, or so mentally damaged they may never be able to grasp the Word? Before I can work to save their souls, I have to save their life.

SIDE NOTE: anyone reading this who doesn’t believe in racial injustice needs to wake up and go read some statistics and go look at the EJI website, It is real, it is happening, and it will keep happening until we stop racial inequality. Believe it or not, while there are no laws that spell out racial inequality that are still in force, it is still very much present and active socially, especially in the Deep South. If you do not believe in racial inequality and how its affecting innocent people, either ask me more about it or just unfollow me. I might not post about this topic often but it doesn’t mean I am filled with a fiery passion and conviction to bring forth change every time I think of it.

Reminder that the death penalty is highly unethical and should be completely and totally abolished with no exceptions.

[psipaka]

Just wanted to try drawing without lines, that was fun surprisingly

(Also IM NOT A HATER, SHIP IS CUTE, IM JUST NOT A SHIPPER IN GENERAL)

[boysslovedramas]

[scarefox]

Regardless of everything I absolutely love that Bible got paired with Jes and mixed that ship dynamic up instead of trying to recreate, ya know. They fit so well.

[absolutebl]

Hi!

So apparently GMMTV will be announcing their 2024 line up in October!

Which actors do you think will be paired together this time? I feel like Mix and Pond have hinted they will be studying more so maybe not their pairings…. GeminiFourth said they will have a series so definitely them…

I would love to see ThorFluke plus Pawin with anyone and Drake with anyone!

What are your predictions?

Ooooo, GMMTV 2024 Pure Speculation

(remember if it's not data driven I'm historically pretty bad at this, but sure, let's shoot the shizz)

Most Likely

EarthMix - they're reading v burned out (in addition to Mix + school) but they are currently GMMTV's cash cow so I can't imagine GMMTV won't try to put them in something, no matter what Mix said... but it's possible they'll be let rest for most of 2024.

First & Khao - naturally, if GMMTV can find a script the boys like, these two are likely their the biggest pair earners (if EarthMix really are out).

GeminiFourth - of course, the new princes

ForceBook - honestly they are steady, reliable workhorses who visually suit many BL scripts, they seem easy to work with, fun, and game. Not the most charismatic pair and I'm shaky on their range and versatility, but GMMTV clearly doesn't feel that way. I think it's pretty likely they will get something... I just hope it is something interesting. Are they bankable enough for a historical? That's the real question.

Not Sure

JoongDunk - I really don't know, I think they are slightly more likely than not but they keep getting lackluster scripts. GMMTV is more likely to blame the pair than the show. And it is possible they are just a lackluster pair... too.

JimmySea - what happen to (or will happen with) Last Twilight?

I'd like to see Jimmy paired with someone else. He's too charismatic for Sea. To really break us they should pair him with Gun and just burn down the world. GMMTV would never do this, tho.

Least Likely

It's unlikely PondPhuwin will lead out a show. Pond def said something about going back to school. (Which is code for a long break, if nothing else). They're good but less $ than EarthMix so I think GMMTV will back off from them.

OffGun - I'm not saying it won't happen anymore, but...

TayNew - see above

Bright with... anyone but Win.

A queer can dream, tho.

Some noodling

I do think First & Khao were successful enough, and Only Friends will be enough of a sensation, for GMMTV to consider more First Khao style stuff. AKA instead of just dropping a whole pair, GMMTV will try rearranging pairs. Especially for couples that had previously been mostly just sides.

So we can expect Neo, Mark, Marc, Puwin, Aou, possibly even the twins or the Flukes show up paired "experimentally" with different other actors. Some that may genuinely surprise us.

That said, I'd like some more role swapping too.

For example, with Pond away, and him getting older and being SO established in the genre, I would love to see Phuwin play a seme roll. Not sure he has the personality for it in terms of how he's bonded with some of the newer GMMTV talent since I don't watch any of the variety/BTS anymore, but he has the screen presence.

Remember originally Neo & Phuwin had a pairing... I wonder if that would ever happen again.

I would love love LOVE to see Tay paired with someone else. I thought he was a revelation in 3 Will Be Free showing range I'd no idea he had and he's such a big puppy and friendly with everyone. I bet he could get many partners to trust and relax.

Similarly New needs to play a seme. I think he once said he'd rather not do BL with anyone but Tay, but I still think he'd be fun to see.

So New is less likely, but I think we can safely assume Tay would be game. With TayNew it's whether their shipper/stalker fans would "allow" this.

What GMMTV Wants/Needs

I said in the past they needed to onboard new talent and they went for free agents (Joong, Perth). I thought they'd go for whole pairs, and I still think they'd be wise to consider this.

Given they're likely shifting focus on expansion into darker, higher heat, and more gritty arenas (which I think they need to do given the paucity of scripts within their preferred BL style, the tenor of the market, and the aging of their existing stable) what they want is Zee++. Now they can't wrestle him/his pair free of Dormundi, so...

For solos they are looking for:

actors who have lost their pair, have range into dark territory, will do high heat, and can play harsher seme roles (tall a bonus.)

If they're smart they make a play for Bible, but I wouldn't rule out Lee Long Shi. Both actors have a style that fills a niche in the GMMTV stable and are pro enough to work well in a new pair that GMMTV sets for them.

You KNOW they want Bible. How could they not? Can you imagine?

If they go after a pair?

If they're smart as I think they are? They want NetJames. And they might be able to get them, depending on contracts. NetJames has been awful quiet recently, they either are actually finally filming Love Upon a Time or that's fallen through and they're in contract negotiations. YinWar and JaFirst are also tempting prospects, I would imagine. Especially Ja.

It's this "new pair to GMMTV" announcement I'm most interested in, come October.

I think I'm leaving a key high heat pair on the table, but GMMTV also has a specific appearance and acting style they tend to cast for, and not all of the current indy heat pairs have that. Plus their are high value pairs that clearly do not want to sign with or work with GMMTV (OhmFluke for example) so that's a factor.

Finally, you KNOW they want to recreate the magic of GeminiFourth with young talent so I would bet they are actively recruiting high school grade pink milk via auditions, so we can expect one set of totally fresh faces.

Also tumblr ate half this post so I might have missed a few pairs worth discussing, because I had them but it deleted them. Don't blame me, blame tumblr, and leave a comment.

FYI my predictions for 2023 were as follows:

10 GMMTV THAI BL 2023 Predictions (and how I did)

(these are the ones I made last year before their announcements)

EarthMix (yes, 2x)

something with Joong but not paired with Dunk (nope, they tried the same thing again)

dito Jimmy (not sure what's going on there)

what the hell: Lee does a BL (still no, last man standing)

probably a new attempt at ForceBook (yep)

2 set in high school and fewer set in uni (yep/nope)

at least 1 set in an office of some kind and at least 2 set in the countryside (yep/sorta but mostly nope)

one experimental paranormal/alt reality/time slip (yep)

something Friend Zone messy featuring several LBGTQ+ characters and couples and higher heat (yep)

an attempt to resurrect big guns like TayNew (yep - if cherry magic happens) or even BrightWin (nope, they went for OffGun instead, who I had thought were out)

So here's my...

10 GMMTV THAI BL 2024 Predictions

First & Khao lead out something non-school and complex (GMMTV BL grows up)

ForceBook & GeminiFourth get new shows

Phuwin paired with someone else

GMMTV starts experimenting more with busting up and rearranging pairs

What the hell, Tay does a BL with not New.

We see Joong and Perth star in something GMMTV but not BL

GMMTV pulls in at least one established outside talent who plays harsh seme roles and has a more aggressive tone

GMMTV recruits/onboards an established pair who can and is willing to do higher heat

They option something v complex: crime thriller, mystery, suspense, historical even, I wonder if they might be interested in adapting say... Trapped.

JoJo gets to helm another "off brand" show

What I want them to do?

Finally admit that they can take an established script and "make it gay" and just LEAN in. Descendants of the Sun, but gay. Business Proposal, but gay. Home Town Cha Cha Cha... but gay. Thailand has the latent pool and the screen time but they don't have the scripts/stories.

Time to look to Korea and just fill in the gap that Korea is already leaving on the table (by only doing short form BLs).

Korea has the romances. Hundreds of them. MANY of which are not gender dependent.

Can you fucking imagine if Boss & Babe had been that exact cast but GMMTV doing a gay Dali and the Cocky Prince instead? It would have been amazing.

(source)

[dunmeshistash]

Not an ask. I'm convinced that you're literally the best blog, my guy. You're literally my favorite to read, dude. I need to catch up on dun meshi, and you make it so much less daunting fr fr bro.

Thank you so much! That's very kind bro!

Information dense world building can be daunting so I'm really trying to make as easy to reference/learn as possible <3

[official-lucifers-child]

THE FIRST AMENDMENT DOES NOT PROTECT YOU FROM PRIVATE COMPANIES OR INDIVIDUALS.

THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH AND PRESS PROTECTS YOU FROM THE GOVERNMENT. ONLY THE GOVERNMENT. IF AN INDIVIDUAL MUTES YOUR POST OR COMMENT OR TALKS OVER YOU, THAT IS NOT AN INFRINGEMENT ON YOUR RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH. THAT IS JUST AN INDIVIDUAL. IF A GOVERNMENT ENTITY MUTES YOUR POST OR COMMENT OR DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO SPEAK, THAT IS AN INFRINGEMENT ON YOUR RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH UNLESS THEY HAVE DEEMED THAT YOUR WORDS WERE INCITING VIOLENCE, IN WHICH CASE THEIR DUTY TO PROTECT THE MASSES OVERRULES YOUR INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, BECAUSE VIOLENCE IS NOT A PROTECTED SPEECH.

stop crying wolf when twitter bans your account or your reddit post is taken down. that’s not infringing upon your right to free speech, that is a PRIVATE company exercising THEIR right to cultivate their platform as they see fit.

anyway.

[zibah-ho]

Based on your likes? I have never read a Harry Potter let alone like it how dare you accuse me of that

[rebelrainfall]

i kinda thought i was desensitized to most of the awful conservative-christian rhetoric i hear from all directions all the time but. i guess not.

[loveable-sea-lemon]

:(

[shapeforcesthemind]

i was thinking about why i'm so emotionally unavailable but then i realized i can never get into a relationship unless its like this

[lizardmonet]

someone said something stupid on twitter and i’m choosing to not engage and being so so brave about it

[bills-bible-basics]

WHY I AM FED UP WITH FACEBOOK! -- a Bill's Bible Basics Article #Christian #BibleStudy #Jesus This Bill’s Bible Basics article by Bill Kochman can be read at: https://www.billkochman.com/Articles/fed-up-facebook.html https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/why-i-am-fed-up-with-facebook-a-bills-bible-basics-article/?WHY%20I%20AM%20FED%20UP%20WITH%20FACEBOOK%21%20--%20a%20Bill%27s%20Bible%20Basics%20Article

[heyitslapis]

The argument of "well people are offended by ANYTHING these days, so thats their fault not mine and i dont have to change my behavior just cause im 'offending them' haha got'cha!" doesnt make any fucking sense to me either bc like. I remember when i was like 13/14, when i had just gotten a tumblr, i used to call girls "chicks" without giving it any thought. it was just a word i was raised hearing. I wasn't doing it in a hateful manner and my goal wasnt to be offensive, but still, someone was uncomfortable with me using that term used to refer to women. I received a simple anon that said "hey do you mind to not use the word "chicks" (when referring to women), it makes me uncomfortable". And you know what? I told the anon no worries and that i'd not say that word from there on out.

It didn't hurt me to find another word, the word wasnt special to me in any way, i didnt take offense to it, because i was unaware that i was causing harm, so its not like it was an attack on my character, and i knew the anon was coming to me for a minuscule, easy to grant request. The word held no real meaning to me, but to someone else, it did, and because i dont want to hurt people on purpose or to have people feel like im not a safe space, i adjusted my behavior AND my vocabulary accordingly. it was no skin off my back, and i was happy to do it because i was able to help someone else feel safe around me/my blog. No, i dont HAVE to cater to peoples requests, and i dont HAVE to change my vocabulary just because someone else has an issue with what i say, but why would i not? it doesnt inconveinece me, it doesnt harm me, its not much extra effort to spend .2 seconds thinking of a different word to use, and that teeny tiny grain-of-sand sized request meant something to the anon who asked it, so why would i argue or fight or piss and moan about a single little word? why is that so hard? why is common courtesy, mutual respect and kindness such a chore to these people? why do you so desperately want to defend your right to be mean and harsh and callous toward people? what do you gain? arent you tired?

[ennieasys]

religious mentions (not a debate just a scripture that looks... 💅)

when your parents don't understand the difference between being gay and gay sex and explains that the Bible only condemns gay sex and shows you this

(which is 2 Samuel 1:26) and are just like "interpret that as you will"

[yurimartyr]

really gotta un#fav some posts I have #favved