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stramberryparadice · 4 years ago

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SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN #139 - THE IMPOSSIBLE FREEDOM ?

Here is the English translation of the post I wrote here in French.

I apologize in advance for my mistakes, I'm not good in English but I hope that will be understood.

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Shingeki no kyojin is finished. A leading manga of the 21st century has just ended in tears, blood, mourning, disappointment, frustration… and love. So many emotions come to me when I read this final chapter, I needed to express them as clumsily as it is. I’m sure it’s going to get lost in the Internet, but whatever— it is necessary to remove both the joy and the frustration that I feel to pay tribute to Isayama who offered us a work as powerful as it is cursed.

As intense as it is uneven, as perfect as it is imperfect.. like his tragic hero Eren Jäger, who shows us that men are so weak and pitiful in the face of time and the cruelty of the world. How much even if this hero possesses in his hands the power of a God. My analysis will surely be clumsy, I apologize. And I will not fail to point out at the end the bitterness felt on the final development of some characters including that of Misaka Ackerman.

Eren like “CryBaby”

What a slap for the reader to witness such an emotional picture. Yes. Isayama reminds us to what extent Eren isn't a brave knight, not a charismatic hero, not the genocidal demon of this story but a child.. whose weight of Destiny is too heavy to bear. Scan 139 reminds us to what extent we have lost ourselves, just as Eren has in the way, forgetting the very essence of the story that has been told to us from the beginning. It’s not a story of geopolitical warfare, a biological parasite, titanic monsters, a northern deity, or a philosophical-esoteric trip. It's the story of a boy who wants to emancipate himself, to live for himself, tasted of the thirst for adventure, the tranquility of his loved ones but born in a cruel and alienating world that leaves room only for death, abuse of power, betrayal and despair .

A journey where the child becomes an adult at the cost of his or her life. Learning the most painful lesson… To be an adult is to renounce one’s dreams, to bend one’s knee in the face of the servitude of one’s mortal condition, to be content with one’s cage in order to enjoy the little that one can have at one’s disposal, to mourn those who may disappear from one’s life.

A young boy who dreamed only of freedom, surrounded by people who love him. A child whose inspirations, as impulsive, unreasonable and immature as they may be, will push him to his limits. A child who grew up too fast, who could not mourn his mother, aware of her physical and spiritual weakness, who was confronted with the violence of this world which reminded him of his condition of being insignificant, a pawn on the chessboard of the "Way".

A child whose powers worthy of a God then gives him the possibility to realize the unthinkable, almost the absolute fantasy of every Man : to shape a world in his image, to be as free as a bird flying above the clouds without reddish stain to touch the sky. Move forward, Move forward whatever the price… move forward for an illusion of freedom, for an infantile obsession.

And by assuming the role of the wicked “demon” of tales so that the brave knights can free this world from the evil that eats it.

Lost between the present, the past, the future.. time no longer makes sense. Only finality counts, annihilating its titans whatever the price. They have to pay for his mother. They have to pay for his fallen comrades. They must pay for reminding us of our pitiful helplessness as human beings.

But the Demon also has a heart, remorse, feelings, there are people who attach him to this world. Therefore, what to choose?

Divine Freedom or Mortal Love? The impossible equation... Although Eren may have travelled the road in search of the answer, how can freedom and humanity be reconciled? Free your people and protect your loved ones, though imperfect?

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He will not find the answer— neither by searching the past of the goddess Ymir, not by consulting the other Titans carriers, not by creating the different alternative realities that led to the same observation… only death can free the bird from its cage, only the death of Humanity is able to reconcile the sublime and the hideous. Or rather, a common enemy that will crystallize all their ills. But who would be crazy, brave enough to accept being the victime ?

Like a Christic figure, Eren will assume this role. But not without having to confide his last wishes, his last secrets that can no longer contain… because yes, the demon is limited by his adult condition of 19 years. Yes.. the child has grown up. Recklessness, impulsiveness, daring in the face of death, the omnipotence of the child leaves room for a teenager who is now afraid of dying, who has succumbed to love, who doubts, who is aware of his weakness.

Eren has finally become a man...in pain. He finally accepts his feelings, his weakness in the face of death that awaits him.

He’s not a running child anymore. The plates are only explicit about this. The power of narration.. we come back to the fundamental of this history, which is human psychology. The feelings, the relationships that unite all people between them. Friends or enemies, men or women, child or adult, Eldien or Mahr... Despite our differences, our disagreements, we are all equal and weak in the face of death... but also in the face of the love we can bring to others.

Yes, Eren is a weak hero. Yes, he admits to loving Mikasa. He admits that until the very end, he didn't know how it was going to go. That he was himself a pawn in the divine game of Ymir. Another puppet at the service of a little girl who is also blinded by her duality, by her toxic love for her executioner. One cannot remain insensitive to this remarkable development of the character of Eren whose death was inevitable. For whoever plays with divinities can only lose his humanity, his freedom too. By the ultimate sacrifice of his selfish and human desires finally. Eren alone became the true savior of this world. He will also have kept his promise to his friends, to the beings he loves by offering them last memories through the “Way”.

Selfless Love or True Freedom

As Mikasa said: The world is cruel, but also … Very beautiful.

Whoever sets a glance without hatred on the world, with compassion, with love for his neighbor will be able to claim to touch with the finger this Freedom so sought.. a selfless love, not turned to satisfy one’s own selfish desires.

Because Love, like hate, takes different forms.

Love connecting us to our roots, our family of blood…

Love binding two beings who love each other, desire each other, cherish each other, seek each other….

Love that binds us to his comrades, his battalion, his family of choice, his heart…

Love that life brings to us in all its forms…

Love… this power that is unpredictable and uncontrollable.

And that can become the obsession of a lifetime. It is by becoming an obsession that love becomes as destructive as hatred, and sends us back to our condition as an alienated Man… locked up in his “Path”, in his cage.

It's by demonstrating resilience and self-sacrifice that man can taste freedom. We can find redemption in the love that others have for him, that we also have for him. For a few hours, a few years…

At the cost of a renewal of the cycle of hatred, because man remains selfish, not all are ready to make sacrifices. Therefore, Mikasa and Eren have made the greatest of sacrifices for the survival of their comrades and the world: they give up their chance to be happy together, sacrifice their desire to be together for the rest of humanity. As in tragedies, the main heroes are victims of Destiny, are those who will pay the price so that others can flourish and live. The children have become adults.

Just as Armin is no longer the whiny little boy to protect. Unlike Eren, he managed to learn from his mistakes, grieve, face his own fears, confess his love to the girl he loves. It is finally he who will raise the wounded little boy, who will comfort him.

The frustration

Mikasa is the main character of the story. It's through her that awakening is made, it is through her hand that she closes this long journey. In Eren’s memories, it is always central. It is the key, the final solution.

It's his psychological, his emotional journey that we will follow throughout the manga. Eren is only a complement, the character who crystallizes his goals. In a world where men are “dominant”, the woman must bend her knee, support her prince so that the light shines on him. Isayama knew how to play perfectly on this classic code of narration. Whether one agrees or not with the conclusion of certain female characters, the work often highlights the fact that men are only victims of their passions and obsessions.

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Only women seem to emerge victorious in the face of the cruelty of the world : they take up arms (Historia), continue to fight in the face of despair (Mikasa), enjoy life and bring joy around her (Sasha), support other women in their emancipations ( Ymir with Historia) question their education (Gaby) disobey (Annie), go against the “moral” principles to survive (Ymir Frizt who continues to love his executioner), sacrifice for the common good (Hanzi Zoe)… But of course… without also paying the price of sacrifice and making concessions.

Historia bears a child of a man whom she does not seem to like but assumes the role of the mother whom she would have liked to have while assuming the heavy attribute of the office of Queen in a country plagued by nationalist tendencies guided by fear. With Eren’s help, she did not give in to the temptation of self-sacrifice but decided herself who she would save or not, what path she wanted to follow. Her desire was to be a mother, a good mother. Whatever the father, it was an indestructible motherly love that she wanted to offer to a child. The one she never had.

Mikasa agreed to kill Eren because, if she had given him another answer, their life as fugitives would have been but a fleeting dream and Eren’s death was inevitable.

Despite her powerful love for Eren (as addicted as he may be, explained by the power of the Ackermans?), she will break the chains of her servitude by killing her only Love. She is the light. She accomplished the journey of a true heroine by demonstrating resilience, by giving of herself for the world.

She had only eyes for Eren.. was open to others, to show empathy, a desire to continue living for other comrades who are dear to him.

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Mikasa also leads the way in Ymir Fritz… you can love a monster, you can be a prisoner of a toxic relationship but you can free yourself from it. One can become free, but the price to pay will be to carry this infinite sadness, this frustration of having been able to live another story if things would have been different. By her kiss, she showed what true Love is.

Although the frustration is present, although we would have liked her to turn the page and rebuild her life, she must also pay the price of her “freedom”, of her “survival”: haunted by the sacrifice of Eren, guardian of her memories, from her grave as if to preserve her existence as long as she can live.

Once again, women show that they are stronger than we think. So Ymir was also able to free himself of his toxic link with the King by making the Titans disappear.

In the image of the bittersweet end of the chapter, which shows us that the disappearance of a monster, of a divine force “responsible” for the horrors, is not the long-awaited salvation.

The vices, the human fears will remain the poison, preventing us from reaching this illusory freedom. Men do not need deities to dig their own way to death.

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From "occidental" point of view, it is true that this is a blow to the “strong” women of the work still alive. Reduced to being collateral victims of Love, as toxic as this link may be (Ymir-Mikasa). Reduced to attaching themselves to winning or losing romantic figures depending on whether their love-interests is the villain of the story (Mikasa-Annie). Reduced to their role as mother-benefactor (Historia-Gaby).

It’s awkward, but I think Isayama wanted to show that no one is spared. That no character can claim complete tranquility and sweet freedom.

Everyone has had to sacrifice something to survive, and women and men are equal in this judgment. Women also remain victims in a world that remains dominated also by the cruelty of Men (the human race in general). They are not completely free, they are also trapped in roles.

Everyone carries the weight of his choice. That characters have a duty to remember, to pass on to future generations the horrors they have lived to try not to reproduce the same mistakes. Even if their new life choices are imperfect, disappointing for those on the outside.

Levi sacrificed many of his comrades to fulfill his promise to Erwin in his quest for truth and to continue the fight for Eldian freedom.

Armin and Mikasa sacrificed Eren: their friend, their love, the dearest being to fulfill their promise to discover the outside world and touch that freedom.

Like Levi Ackerman and his love for his battalion comrades. As for Mikasa and his love for Eren (because she saw the human behind the monster). She has been waiting for a sign for 3 years to see him again in order to follow up on “see you later Eren”.

Finally, a bird comes to give him his wrap. To encourage him to go forward again. To continue to live…

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The most free people are those who honestly and sincerely love someone. Those who are able to see the beauty of the world despite its ugliness. Who give without waiting for return. Those who continue to look at the world without hatred, those who do not succumb to its cruelty. Tears are running down…

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demonologist-in-denim · 3 years ago

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Okay, let’s get into this, because I have put off talking about Crowley’s cut monologue from 12x23 for long enough. If you haven’t already, you can read it here, or in this great gifset.

I absolutely see why this was cut. And I’m only acknowledging it here to talk about why I not only think it doesn’t add anything to Crowley’s story or our understanding of him, but how it actually detracts from it. After that, I intend to ignore it and let it fade away into the ether of the spn fandom. That being said, deleted scenes and cut scripts live in a sort of canonical limbo – you can choose for yourself whether to accept them as canon, consider them glimpses from some alternative universe, or do away with them entirely. I’m choosing the latter in this instance.

(This was meant to be a post, but it turned into an essay.)

Whomever wrote this was either unfamiliar with Crowley as a character, or was intentionally twisting the character in such a way as to fit into the convenient narrative that removed him from the show. Blame it on Chuck in text, blame it on the showrunners outside of text, whatever your preference – this doesn’t read like Crowley.

There are very few parts of this monologue that felt in character, that read like something Crowley would say. Not just in the tone or the choice of words, but the openness of it. And that’s coming from someone who writes reformed and/or human Crowley, with his admittance to remorse and shame and love. In this cut script, he is uncharacteristically vulnerable, sharing self-reflections he would never have shared aloud at this point in his character development. His dialogue lacks the layers of meaning or deflection that Crowley would normally employ, that he employed everywhere else in the show, even when being emotionally vulnerable.

That’s not to say that Crowley didn’t think or feel these things – I will argue to the end of my days (in spn fandom) that after the cure, Crowley hated himself. He hated that he was alone and unloved. Some part of that was due to being a demon and the horrible, evil, messy things he’d done, and some of it he believed was due to his inherent lack of worth. And I think this monologue was written in part to have Crowley make that final confession out loud. Final because, if that’s the case and he’s willing to admit it – to his former enemies and now the only people he really has in his life – his story can only take one of two directions: redemption or death. Embrace the desire for change and move forward as a reformed demon and full Winchester ally, or dramatically (and unnecessarily) sacrifice himself.

And there is a way to write that, but with Crowley properly in character and with the emotional complexity we know him to possess, not this blatant declaration. Maybe the line would have worked depending on how Mark Sheppard played it, and it only falls so flat because it’s just a script – I’m willing to allow for that. But this moment, facing down the boys after letting Lucifer loose, in front of an audience of Mary Winchester that he doesn’t know well and isn’t comfortable with, it doesn’t feel like a moment for Crowley to be this open, this vulnerable, about something so personal and so monumental.

I’ve no doubt that Crowley expected the Winchesters would one day kill him, “for good this time.” He was a demon working alongside a pair of hunters; there was always going to be that risk. Crowley was intelligent, one of the smartest characters on the show. He had to know that was how things would play out – either that, or he would die on their behalf, or because of their actions, even if he had ended up leaving Hell and joining Team Free Will. That was what happened to people around the Winchesters. Crowley warned Kevin of that himself. “They use people up, and leave them to die bloody.” Crowley knew. And as he internalized more and more of his blood-born conscience, Crowley had to believe on some level that he deserved it, especially if he hated himself and what he’d done.

But once again, if Crowley was going to say something like that, that’s not how he’d say it. It would be as a dismissive aside, or a knife in Dean’s gut in a moment of intense emotion between the two of them, or as a rebuke that the Winchesters badly deserved. Or better yet, as something remarked between himself and Cas, who Crowley likely suspected would outlast him but also ultimately die in service of the Winchester cause. Words like those have power. And it’s unlike Crowley to lay them down in supplication like this. It doesn’t even feel like a heart-felt confession, like his monologue in 8x23. It reads like someone wrote what was meant to be under Crowley’s words, the intention behind his dialogue, the much-exalted subtext, but failed to add all the layers on top of it, to put it in actual character.

I’m just going to bundle the whole beginning of the monologue together and toss it out entirely. Firstly because I’ve argued more than once that Crowley is an unreliable narrator when it comes to his human life. What we know of it from Rowena comes with an agenda, and what we know of it from Gavin comes from a man who had a difficult relationship with his father. It’s about as reliable as young Dean telling stories to Sammy about their parents’ time together. And there’s canonical errors in this monologue to back that up – we know Crowley wasn’t buried in a pauper’s grave, because we saw it 6x04. The “dying in a puddle of his own sick” is a great detail in terms of storytelling, but it’s almost directly repeated from Rowena, who said it as a belittling comment to a young Fergus. It’s too forced. And we know at least Gavin came to the funeral, because he tells us so in a deleted scene in 12x13 (remember what I said about getting to pick and choose when it comes to cut scripts and deleted scenes?).

But more importantly – and this is the part that really grates – Crowley’s iteration of his human life reinforces the narrative of absolute morality in the spn universe. It supports the argument that if a character becomes a demon, it must be because they were a terrible person. There is no room for human flaws, for characters to have made mistakes – and that doesn’t just hinder characters in terms of backstory, but in character development and emotional growth moving forward. It’s a stance spn takes more than once, and especially with non-human characters, though never in regards to the Winchesters. The Winchesters can become soulless or demons, but they were “always good” before that, so they are deserving of redemption. If Crowley or other non-humans were “always bad,” that absolves the Winchesters from seeing them as people deserving of help, or of their ability to change, or even to be seen as beings deserving of any level of respect or agency. And it absolves the showrunners from writing a character capable of development, of being able to grow beyond their previous flaws.

That’s not to say that Fergus MacLeod wasn’t some or all of those things. But if he was a complex character – if he was a person, as all stories should aim to present their characters – then he was all of that and more, just as the Winchesters are their virtues and their faults all wrapped up in an individual person. And if Crowley had brought this up some other time, in reference to his human life, none of this discussion would be necessary. It would be easy to say: he’s an unreliable narrator, and this provides us with insight into how Crowley feels about himself, and it would be interesting and valuable. But here, it’s used in justification for Crowley’s status as irredeemable – which is not true – and as part of justification for what happens next.

Crowley’s death was written by the showrunners as an excuse to remove him from the show – attribute that to budget costs for the show, or running out of story ideas for Crowley, or creative laziness, whatever you want. And within spn, it can be attributed to Chuck not wanting another character like Cas muddling up his Winchester Brothersᵀᴹ grand narrative. I’ve written before both in posts and in fic about how Crowley’s character-central instinct for self-preservation crumbles into depression after losing Hell and the seemingly-irreversible depletion of his and Dean’s friendship in 12x23. And that this ushers in a desire to End in such a way that achieves revenge against Lucifer (not a significant motivation, in my opinion, you’ve got to outlive your enemies to win against them), earns him the appreciation of the Winchesters, saves the world (proving his capacity for good), and brings about an end to his waiting. Glory through death, redemption in death – tropes that are hard to associate with Crowley unless you buy into his character’s devolvement in the latter half of season 12, but which the writers do their best to smooth into place and the fandom was forced to choke down.

And I won’t argue that Crowley didn’t wanted an end to his waiting – I’d argue the opposite in fact. This blatant preference for suicide, however, is antithesis to everything Crowley. What Crowley wanted in that End wasn’t an end of himself, but an end to existing in a state of perpetual limbo. Be accepted by the good guys, embrace his more human aspects, or return to the full dark depravity of demonkind. An end to the emotional rollercoaster, to continuous and destructive self-doubt, to striving to be both the king Hell needed and the ally the Winchesters refused to admit they benefited from having. That’s entirely different than wanting to end himself. As much as Crowley hated himself, he would never have considered death to be a preferable option – not unless some outside force, be it Chuck or the spn showrunners, decided otherwise for him.

Even if that had been the case, and I am wrong about Crowley’s characterization and his motivations, I still do not think he would have been as open about that motivation as is written in this cut script. It is just not like him. It is too vulnerable, too self-pitying. Crowley was always concerned about the others around him, and especially the Winchesters, thinking less of him. He never would have said something like this to them, not as this is written. Nor would Crowley have gone to the Winchesters with the intention of them killing him. He might have known it was a possibility, once he confessed his actions, (and from his perspective, there was the chance the Winchesters didn’t know of his involvement in Lucifer’s escape anyway), but it would never have been his intention. It’s not unknown for Crowley to encourage abuse from those he’s wronged, and to revel in the attention and emotions of it (here I’m thinking specifically of Kevin beating him in 9x02), maybe considering the punishment just and due. And Crowley at this point likely suspected he would eventually meet his end in some way involving the Winchesters. But death by their hands in this moment would have involved none of the justifying benefits of death by his own hand only a few scenes later – glory, revenge, redemption, a sense of closure.

Compare this cut monologue and its potential death – at the hands of the Winchesters after confessing his role in Lucifer’s escape – to this cut line of dialogue from later in 12x23. “Tell Dean he was right – you bloody fools have rubbed off on me.” This is Crowley. This is emotional complexity, admittance to a change of heart, self-awareness, and a brave act of equal defiance and sacrifice, with his usual smug, snarky dismissal. This isn’t suicide brought on by depression, by an uncharacteristic vulnerability. It is resolved, determined, if reluctant. This is Crowley choosing the greater good and the boys, even if it means sacrificing himself.

For me, this small addition smooths over much of the unevenness in the showrunner’s attempts to justify Crowley’s death. He has lost Hell, he believes he’s had an irreversible falling out with Dean – all of which could be overcome, grown beyond. But then a rift opens, and Lucifer is an immediate danger, and it requires a life to save the day. Crowley knows it can’t be either of the boys – that tends to have world-ending effects – and it can’t be Mary Winchesters or Castiel, because of “Winchester man-pain.” So that leaves Crowley. And having exhausted all immediate alternatives, Crowley does what internalized Winchester logic and conscience tells him is right. It would still require a moment of hesitation, a moment we see him combatting his deeply imbedded trait of self-preservation. But at least that would have been in character and show definitive character growth on Crowley’s part.

So yes, I completely agree with the decision to cut this monologue in 12x23. It doesn’t tell us anything about Crowley that we don’t already know, and is uncharacteristic of him, and provides out-of-character justification for his actions that wasn’t needed. You don’t have to agree with me, obviously. And I’ll end this rather long rant of an essay by saying what I always say: that Crowley deserved better. He deserved better than the mangling of his character’s motivations in the latter half of season 12, and he deserved better than this monologue. I’m glad it was cut from the final script.

#crowley #character analysis #spn season 12 #spn script #crowley deserved better #happy sulphur saturday #this has been your pre-scheduled lunch time rant #not back to your regularly scheduled postings

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flickeringart · 4 years ago

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Neptunian dynamics

In astrology, Neptune represents the image of ideal, refined and divine reality. It represents redemption, of transcending good and bad, of unconditional love – but through the investment in illusion. This is a kind of paradox, because illusions are not ultimate, they are essentially dreams that claim to be reality, yet have no real permanence (even though they can symbolize the very thing that they are not). Love has really nothing to do with what happens and doesn’t happen. Love has no image. Love is not an old thing of the past. Images, even the one’s that are presenting themselves to us at this moment are things of the past. They are essentially part of this holographic 3D experience, a dream that seems very real. The same goes for all the thoughts and images running through our minds. They’re old news, presenting as relevant and important.

The Neptune placement in our natal charts points to the area of life (house) where we seek to redeem ourselves through investment in illusion. For example, someone who has Neptune in the 6th house, behavior that is carried out on a daily basis is of utmost concern. The way the person goes about daily life and organizes activity to be in service of overall health and well-being matters greatly. Usually, there’s enhanced sensitivity in the area of life Neptune shows up in. There’s little tolerance for sober and cold acceptance of reality because one’s hope of redeeming the self and the world depends on upholding the dream of things being ideal. This is an obvious setup for disappointment and disillusionment, which can be very painful. In the case of Neptune in the 6th, perfection is sought through physical life and daily living. It is romanticized, idealized, glorified and treasured to the point of becoming completely inflated. Not to mention that a lot of the time the naïve and innocent investment in the dream of bliss blows up in the face of the person. The world doesn’t reflect the soft, romantic ecstatic blur that one had hoped for most of the time and other people have other Neptune placements that might make them put their faith in other things. The blackness that then follows can take the person into various coping mechanisms with the purpose of escaping the pain of being let down by life. Drugs and alcohol often go hand in hand with this planet.

The Neptune dynamic is usually characterized by a pattern of seeking God, the ultimate and the transcendent through an illusion that sooner or later fails, which throws the person into some kind of existential crisis. In the best of cases, this establishes the person in a more sane, nuanced and anchored perspective that is freed from excessive emotional investments. In the worst of cases, this throws the person into a deep well of sorrow. Loss is only really of illusions, but since illusions are typically invested in; the pain is equivalent to losing something real. People who are Neptune dominant are usually very poetic and dreamy while prone to sadness and melancholy. There’s a lot of emotion to them, but also a distinct vulnerability. Their sorrows run deep because they tend to long to have it all and for everything to be wonderful. There’s dripping, soul-wrenching desperation that lies at the core of their quest. They can’t stand to be separate from the love of the universe. Typically, there’s a dramatization of conditions, such as sickness and lack of any kind. “Tragedy” stands out in their eyes and is usually a secret fetish in the sense that it’s kept intact and wallowed over, much like taking part in a guilty pleasure. People who are Neptune dominant are in general more prone to be existentially saddened by less than ideal circumstances. They have a hard time questioning and letting go of their idealistic tendencies.

For people with Neptune in the 10th house, occupation and career becomes the thing that can provide redemption. The person seeks to ultimately make a living God out of their life as a public figure, to become a hero, a victim, martyr or a savior within society, potentially all at the same time. It’s no wonder that presidents have this placement, Joe Biden, J.F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln for example. They would seek to redeem themselves and the world as part of their life’s mission, to lead with example and keep people’s hopes up, to paint themselves as a beacon of light, as a god send, special and profound. However, when a person is very Neptunian there’s a tendency to be unable to see the self as fundamentally bad. The person might be rude or even insensitive at times, but in their mind they’re only defending the ideal, which makes their destructive actions necessary or even good. The inability to accept badness can be very damaging, but it can also be beneficial. Neptunians are generally prone to let things slide, not only when it comes to themselves but when it comes to others as well. They can’t take the friction that holding a grudge causes, they are wired for softness more than anything. Eventually they’ll let go of all that they’ve caused and that other’s have caused in terms of harm.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is the display of martyrdom and struggle that is very dear to the Neptunian personality. If one hasn’t sacrificed anything, there’s no God quality present. There’s no badge of honor to be received. Needless to say this is a setup for feeling shame relative to one’s own selfish needs and desires. If there’s no giving up of the individual will, no goodness has been earned. In reality, this is just an indirect way of meeting one’s own need for external and internal approval. It’s also a way of thinking that is designed to get one out of the guilt of being separate. Neptunians long for the feeling of greatness and oneness and they try to get closer to it by compromising themselves for some higher ideal. They crave an existence that transcends the limited. Sacrifice is a skewed way of attempting to atone for some kind of “sin” that is inherent in being a separate self. It’s a concept that equates deprivation with goodness, because the more one compromises the needs of the self, the closer one gets to divinity. This is not actually true, but it’s an appealing concept to Neptunians and they usually can’t avoid living this out. In the depths of the mind there’s always some resentment lurking that occasionally comes out in comments designed to instill a little bit of guilt and shame in others. It’s impossible to contain the anger that is accumulated through sacrifice.

Although there’s a clear sensitivity to people with a strong Neptune influence, there’s also a fierceness that is shown through succumbing to something more than the limited self. In a way, there’s a certain death wish imbedded in their psychological make-up. In essence, it’s the death of hardship that is longed for, the death of limitations and restriction that is desired. There’s quite a strong will hidden under the guise of passivity in this sense, aggression is hidden under the guise of receptivity. Paradoxically, by being perpetually non-aggressive and gentle one might fail to assert something of potential value. By downplaying one’s own will one indirectly attacks the principle of individuality.

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giftofshewbread · 3 years ago

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That Time is Here

By Dennis Huebshman Published on: August 21, 2021

From 2 Timothy 4:3-4; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (all emphasis mine)

“Religion” is thriving, and some mega-churches are filled to capacity during regular “services.” The biggest issue is that true Bible teaching is getting hard to find. For some of these churches, the Sunday after the Rapture will not see any change in attendance. They’ll still be putting on light shows, have heart-thumping music, and be giving “ear-tickling” messages for those itching ears. However, Jesus will be conveniently left out. The newer generation doesn’t want to be told they are sinners in need of a Savior but that their earthly lifestyle is just fine.

The one to three hours a week “Christians” are content to be present and support their organized evangelical churches; just don’t expect anything else the rest of the week. Besides, all religions worship the same god, and Jesus was a good person, but not really necessary for us to go to heaven – right? The need here is to read John 14:6.

While true believers’ numbers are declining in America, the places that are seeing increases are in countries that persecute and martyr Christians. Iran, China, North Korea, parts of Africa and other Middle East nations are a few that seek out anyone who calls on Jesus to be their Savior. There have been reports of people being given a chance to renounce Jesus and turn back to the religion of that area, yet many choose death rather than change.

Several countries around the world today are making it a crime for anyone to speak out against lifestyles that God calls abominations. Canada is one of these countries where there are pastors and educators facing prison for calling the “alphabet” lifestyles sinful. Cases of arrests are also being reported in Europe and Scandinavia, and America is just a breath away from this same action.

Luke 21:16:17; “You will be delivered up, even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for My name’s sake.”

Matthew 24:10-13; “And then many will fall away and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Next, Paul’s prophecy about the end of this age in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: “But understand this, that in the last days will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

The last line is good advice, but how is one to avoid such people when they are all around and growing daily in number?

In 2 Peter 2:1-3, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed, they will exploit you with their false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

Going to 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life – is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Continuing to 1 John 2:18-19, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain they all are not of us.”

The antichrists and false prophets that have been around since the time of John’s writings are not the ultimate evil ones of Daniel and Revelation. All that have come, and all that are here now, are a prelude to the era of the 7-year Wrath/Tribulation.

The ultimate antichrist and false prophet most likely are alive today. They may or may not know the role that they are about to play, but they are in Satan’s grip. However, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 explains why the beast hasn’t come forth yet. “And you know what is restraining him now, so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only He who now restrains it will do so until He is out of the way.”

All true believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. For the antichrist to appear, that influence will be removed; and in doing so, the Rapture has to occur first to keep God’s promise to keep us from that coming wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; Revelation 3:10).

Anyone who truly focuses on the world today should be able to see that all the signs are here right now. There have always been evil people and unspeakable, horrible deeds that have been done, but the sheer magnitude today of satanic activity is overwhelming.

Our government, along with the liberal faux news media, are “programming” people to follow whatever they say without question, and sadly, they are gaining a majority of followers. The new world order is rapidly coming together, and eventually, there will be a one-world government just as God said there would be. Prior to this, there will be a coalition that will attack Israel (Ezekiel 38), believing that they will be able to plunder the wealth which that small nation has.

Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars near the end of the age. We are seeing a lot of “saber-rattling” from the coalition of Russia, Iran and Turkey that formed just within the last decade. Ezekiel 38:4 states that God will “put hooks into your jaws” and convince them to attack Israel. The “hook” would be the massive gas and oil deposits that Israel has, as all three members of the coalition are financially strapped.

Nothing that is taking place today surprises our Heavenly Father. All prophecy leading up to these times has been fulfilled with 100% accuracy. Why would anyone think this would be any different?

Knowing what the Bible says about end-time events, one might think this would be warning enough to possibly change the outcome. However, 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

Also, 2 Thessalonians 2:11, “Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.” I believe that delusion has already started.

The best scenario of all this is Luke 21:28, where Jesus tells us to look up when all this starts to take place because our redemption is near. All who have truly received and accepted Jesus as their Savior will not be here for the worst 7-year period of time this world has ever seen.

The mechanics (ABCs) of redemption are found in Romans 10:9-13, which ends by saying that “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” God will force no one to accept His Son, but He will not turn anyone away who truly calls on Jesus. The event known as the Rapture could take place at any moment of any day now.

No one has sinned so greatly that they cannot be forgiven. The absolute unforgivable sin is to take your last breath on this earth without having Jesus as your Savior. All He asks is that you acknowledge you have sinned and ask His forgiveness; He has already paid in full the price God requires – a pure, sinless blood sacrifice. Then, have the faith that God raised Him from the dead to conquer sin and death for us. When you call on Him, the Holy Spirit will come and reside in you until you are with Jesus, either by death or by Rapture.

Call on Him today, right now, and you will be assured of an eternal home with Him in paradise. It will be the best decision you will have ever made.

Maranatha – Come, Lord Jesus!

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whitewolfofwinterfell · 6 years ago

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Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but honestly, I think that people are being unnecessarily harsh on the outcome of the final season. Yes, it was rushed, I don’t think anyone can argue against that, but a majority of the character arcs were consistent and a good culmination of their stories.

Little Lyanna spoke of her loyalty and devotion to the north, her ability and desire to fight to protect her people and her homeland, and she died heroically in battle, fighting until the last second.

Jorah’s heart and soul belonged to Daenerys and he died in battle saving her life. There is no better end for him.

Beric, after being brought back by the God of Light multiple times, finally served his purpose in saving Arya’s life so that she could in turn kill the Night King and save the world.

Edd died protecting the realms of men, just as he swore to as a brother of the Night’s Watch, and saving the life of his best friend.

Melisandre spent seasons talking about destiny and the God of Light, and died after her life’s purpose, having helped win the battle and set Arya on the path to kill the Night King, just as she was destined to do.

Varys spun endless webs, gossiped, schemed, jumped from monarch to monarch and changed his loyalties all in service of the realm. In the end, his own brazenness in trying to assassinate Daenerys resulted in his downfall and he died standing up for what he believed was in the best interests of the realm.

Samwell, one of the most intelligent and kindest characters on the show achieved his dream of becoming a Maester and served under Bran Stark, his best friend’s brother-cousin. He also had a happy ending with Gilly, Little Sam and his unborn child, after having been estranged from his family for years.

Tormund is just well...Tormund haha. After fighting alongside Jon in the Great War, he returned to the north with the Wildings where he belonged. I don’t think anybody can complain about his ending. In fact, it might be the one ending that all the fans agree is a good one.

Theon sacrificed himself in defence of his home and Bran Stark, thereby redeeming himself for the betrayal he committed against House Stark. He believed he should’ve died in battle fighting for Robb Stark, instead he died in battle fighting for Bran Stark. His sacrifice and bravery meant he died a an honourable death and a true Stark.

Gendry grew up as a bastard, isolated and with no family. He got to experience what it was like to be with the woman he loved, if only for a short time, and there’s the potential that he may see her again in the future and have the opportunity to create a family with her. His bravery in going beyond the Wall and fighting in the Battle of Winterfell was rewarded with him being legitimised and being made Lord of Storm’s End.

Brienne was one of the greatest fighters in Westeros who defeated the Hound in combat. She became the first female to be knighted in the history of Westeros and was named Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under Bran Stark, Catelyn Stark’s eldest remaining true-born son, whom Brienne pledged herself to serve. She experienced unrequited love with Renly, but had a taste of reciprocal love with Jaime, a man whom respected, admired and loved her for the incredible woman she was. It may not have lasted, but Brienne’s relationship with Jaime went beyond romance - her meeting Jaime and her experiences with him are the reason why she ends the series where she does as Ser Brienne of Tarth, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

Sandor was so twisted up and consumed with revenge that the only possible ending for him was to die exacting his revenge on his brother, and that’s exactly what he did. He bowed out having achieved his life-long ambition and rather ironically and poetically died by fire. Before he did that, he was able to reach out to Arya, whom he saw himself in, and convince her to choose life instead of revenge, a choice which he was too far gone to make.

Tyrion battled against love and duty, and ultimately chose love. He was willing to sacrifice his life to stand up against injustice and was the puppet master behind Jon’s decision to execute Daenerys for the purpose of the greater good. He was always supposed to play a hand (excuse the pun) in establishing a new political/world order. He’s an efficient, intelligent, cunning and moral man capable of justice and fairness. He’s experienced in politics and has much to offer the realm, and him serving under Bran the Broken is a poetic call back to his love for “bastards, cripples and broken things”.

Cersei has been one of the greatest villains of the series. Her stubborn refusal to relinquish her crown resulted in the decimation of the city and the ultimate price for her arrogance and inability to show mercy was the destruction of all that she held dear, including her life, Jaime’s life and the life of her unborn child.

Jaime kept his pledge to fight for the north and proved that he was honourable. He reconnected with Tyrion and experienced a taste of what healthy love looks like with Brienne. He got the opportunity to bestow the greatest gift he could upon Brienne in the ultimate demonstration of love, respect and admiration. He apologised to Bran for his mistakes and redeemed himself once again. His decision to return to Kings Landing was the only feasible outcome for him, since Cersei (and his unborn child) was ultimately the most important thing in the world to him. Just as Tyrion had a choice between duty and love, so did Jaime, and both Lannister brothers chose love. In the end, Jaime’s story wasn’t about redemption or becoming the better man, it was about him accepting that whether he likes it or not Cersei is everything to him and his fate is bound to hers. That doesn’t automatically undo all of the good that he did, it’s simply him embracing his true self and accepting it wholly. Jaime died in the arms of the woman he loved, leaving the world as he came into it, with Cersei.

Arya spent years training to be an assassin in Braavos and is one of the most cunning, quick-witted and skilled fighters and killers in Westeros. The hard-work and training she undertook equipped her with the skills to be able to kill the biggest bad of the series - The Night King - and save the world from death and destruction. She reunited with her family who she had been separated from for 7 seasons. She got to experience tenderness and intimacy with Gendry, a man whom she had a profound connection and history with and who loved her. But in the end, she stayed true to herself and instead of conforming to the traditional expectations of her as a lady of a great house, she pursued her own adventure in the wide world just as she said she would in season 6.

Sansa’s entire arc has been about resilience, overcoming adversity and playing (and winning) the game of thrones. Shaped by her mentors (Cersei, Margaery, Littlefinger etc.) and her experiences, she found pride in her homeland and House Stark’s legacy, and devoted herself to fighting for it. After ruling the northerners for an entire season and struggling for northern independence, she was crowned Queen in the North. There could’ve been no better outcome of Sansa’s story.

Bran is all-knowing, all-seeing, wise, omnipresent, high born and fair. As a child he ruled in Winterfell in Robb’s absence and as the Three Eyed Raven, the knowledge he has would be invaluable in ruling over the Seven (or Six) Kingdoms. Bran is probably the only person in the whole of Westeros that cannot be corrupted by power and his belief in a grander purpose and disregard for the pettiness of traditional politics makes him a fitting king for a new world order.

Jon spent season after season dodging power but being bestowed with it against his will. After being pushed forward as Aegon Targaryen heir of the Seven Kingdoms repeatedly throughout the season, he remained loyal to his queen and rejected his claim. He remained true to his honour in the battle in Kings Landing and refused to partake in the genocide of innocents. When faced with a terrible choice between duty and love, Jon (unlike Jaime and Tyrion) chose duty. He put a sword through Dany’s chest for the sake of the whole of Westeros. Jon returned to the true north, where he always felt most at home, casting aside the Westerosi politics and titles he’d never cared for to live a free life in the wild with Tormund, Ghost and the Wildlings.

Daenerys, oh my sweet, Dany. She spent seasons dedicated to one goal - the Iron Throne - but along the way her dream of breaking the wheel, liberating the oppressed people of the world and creating a new pure world became corrupted by her experiences and her power. She vowed to take what was hers with Fire and Blood, to lay waste to cities and armies with her dragons, and that’s exactly what she did. Her vision for a new world order was not the one that was needed. It was one that would only have led to more war, death, tyranny and fear. Her death was not only necessary, but enabled the rebuilding of a new world with the purpose of being better for all the people of Westeros.

Admittedly, not all of these endings are perfect but all of them are somewhat consistent (albeit rushed and somewhat anti-climatic) with the character development we’ve seen across the series, even if they’re not the endings that we would’ve ideally chosen.

#got spoilers #got s8 spoilers #got s8 #game of thrones #got meta #my meta #mine #text post #yeah....i just thought the fandom could do with more positivity tbh #i'm not happy with a lot of what happened #but a lot of it DOES make sense #and i think if we'd had another season to develop it properly #people would be a lot happier with the finale that we got

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preserving-ferretbrain · 6 years ago

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Harry Potter and the Doctrine of the Calvinists

by Dan H

Friday, 17 August 2007

Dan refuses to just give up on the Potter articles already.~

A lot of people are mortally offended by the ending of the Narnia series, because it seems to suggest that Susan's absolute rejection of all the teachings of Christ prevents her from getting into heaven. I actually like it for exactly that reason: it's got a firm grounding in a genuine religious philosophy which I find significantly more interesting than the usual messages one gets from children's literature, or popular fiction in general.

This, of course, is why it seems so crazy to the secular reader. It's based on some profound assumptions about the metaphysical reality of the world, and if you don't believe the world works like that it doesn't make any sense. Many atheists (and a fair number of Christians, for that matter) have a hard time getting their heads around the idea that you can be a perfectly decent person, but still not go to heaven.

Even more difficult for atheists like me to get our heads around are the doctrines of the Calvinists. Very roughly (from my limited understanding) the Calvinists embrace fully the idea that it is impossible for any human being to be truly worthy of God's love. God is just that great and we are just that flawed. This is actually comparatively uncontroversial - it's just a firm statement of the idea that salvation comes wholly from the Grace of God, and not from your individual virtue. The Calvinists take this idea to its logical conclusion: that since obviously not everybody can be saved, God's grace will only fall on a small proportion of the population - the Elect. Since nobody can be worthy of God, whether one is or is not part of the Elect is entirely outside of one's own control. There are just some people who are predestined towards salvation, and some who aren't.

Now it would be easy here to score cheap points and say that this is just somebody using religion as a control mechanism, pretending that the reason he's so much better off than everybody else is because God likes him better. But that's actually not massively plausible. After all, when Calivinist doctrine was first developed, the Calvinists weren't exactly ruling the roost.

Calvinism is actually a fairly logical extension of one of the more difficult points of protestant doctrine: the idea of salvation by grace. People seem to be uncomfortable with the idea that drawing closer to a supernatural being who transcends all of the concerns of physical reality might actually not be the same thing as being nice to people. Perhaps it's just overexposure to classical mythology at an impressionable age, but I don't find it that hard to understand. I somehow can't imagine a classical theologian saying "but why would the Gods be so angry about Prometheus stealing fire? Why do we worship them if they're so mean?" or a Viking saying "I'm sure that Odin will understand that you wanted to die valiantly in battle."

I think that perhaps the reason people find the ideas expressed in - say - Calvinist theology, or The Last Battle is that, since we live in a secular society, we naturally divorce these kinds of ideas from their supernatural context. For example: burning at the stake was actually supposed to be a merciful form of execution, because it allowed the accused the maximum possible amount of time to repent. If you genuinely believe in an immortal soul, this is actually very sensible. Far better to burn somebody to death slowly, giving them a chance to go to heaven, than to cut their head off and condemn them to hell. To somebody who doesn't believe in an afterlife, though, it's needless cruelty.

When you decontextualise the doctrines or practices of a religion, you invariably make them into something extremely sinister and disturbing.

Which is why Harry Potter freaks me out so much.

JK Rowling self-defines as a Christian. More specifically, she was apparently raised Church of Scotland which, the internet reliably informs me, has strong Calvinist influences. If this is true, then it seems that Rowling has allowed her faith to strongly influence her work. Unfortunately she has also allowed it to become so decontextualised as to be unrecognisable.

Let us take the principle of Election, the notion that there are a fortunate few who, by grace of God, shall be called to salvation. In the Potterverse "Election" is called "Sorting" and instead of being controlled by Almighty God it is controlled by a hat.

Now I know Rowling pays lip service to the houses all being equal, but it's nonsense. Gryffindor is the superior house, all the way. Rowling herself declares not only that she would want to be in Gryffindor if she attended Hogwarts but also that she "hopes she would be found worthy."

So basically at the age of eleven, your fate is already sealed. Either you're Gryffindor, or you're evil, or you're chattel. You can't change, you can't be redeemed (unless you've already had the good fortune to fall in love with a Gryffindor) you are either Good or you are Evil or you Just Don't Matter and none of your decisions, none of your actions, mean a damned thing. No matter how much of a bullying little shit James Potter was, we are never really asked to see him as anything but a hero. Lily treats Snape like dirt, but is still the byword for selfless love in the series. And of course Dumbledore, our epitome of goodness, is a manipulative self-serving bastard who plots world domination and raises Harry to be a sacrificial lamb. But in the end we are expected to view all of these people as heroes because they were Gryffindors and therefore virtuous by definition.

Then of course there is Snape. After nearly twenty years of loyal service to Dumbledore, risking death or worse to spy on the Dark Lord, and incidentally building up a loyal fanbase who for some reason think that being smart is cooler than owning a flying motorcycle, JK Rowling eventually grants him the ultimate accolade. "Sometimes, we sort too soon." If a member of a different house displays courage, it shows that they must really be a Gryffindor deep down.

Rowling clearly subscribes to the philosophy that a person has a fundamental nature. That deep down a person cannot change. Deep down Harry is a hero, Percy is officious, Voldemort is Evil, Snape is a bully, Dumbledore is good but tempted by power. None of these traits will change, none of them can change. Rowling seems to believe it impossible.

This is most apparent, I think, in how she writes about Harry. It is never his actions. which win him praise, but rather the spirit in which he acts. This is perhaps most apparent in the seventh book, when Harry uses the Cruciatus curse on Amycus Carrow and McGonagall responds with the statement that it is "very gallant" of him.

Now I admit I might be a little bit behind the times here, but how is torturing your enemies "gallant"? Presumably in the same way that a single minded obsession with the personal destruction of your enemies has something to do with "love".

But my objections here are based on a false assumption: on the assumption that a person's moral character (their salvation, their redemption) is in any way affected by their actions. In Rowling's world it is not, and this is a deliberate and conscious theme throughout the books. Harry performs the same actions as other characters, but because he is by nature pure, his actions are actions of goodness, not of evil.

Even further proof that Harry's goodness is nothing to do with his actions - or indeed even his personality - but is instead some kind of elemental property comes from this rather interesting quote, regarding the fact that Voldemort had hope of salvation:

"Because he had taken into his body this-- this drop of hope or love (Harry's blood). So that meant that if he could have mustered the courage to repent, he would have been okay. But, of course, he wouldn't. And that's his choice."

Now there's two interesting things here. The first is that Voldemort's hope came literally from Harry's blood. Voldemort is not a person, Harry is not a person. Harry is a vessel full of Hope and Love in distilled form. No matter how many people he tortures or brutalises, he will always have Hope and Love in his very blood. It is physical contact with Harry's blood that gave Voldemort his one chance of redemption.

The second, subtler point is this one:

"But, of course, he wouldn't. And that's his choice."

Notice that she uses the words "of course" and "his choice" in the same sentence. And this is the point I find most interesting.

If you ever try to argue that JK Rowling is a slavering determinist, people always pull out two facts. Firstly, there's the fact that Harry "chose" not to be placed in Slytherin. Secondly, there's this extremely interesting line by Dumbledore.

"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

Now I hope it doesn't look like I'm being obsessive here, but I think it's extremely telling that Dumbledore uses the phrase "show what we truly are" and not " say "decide what we become." Dumbledore is telling us, quite clearly, that who we are never changes, that the decisions we make in our lives serve only to illuminate our natures, which are otherwise immutable.

So Voldemort could never have been redeemed. He was given the chance to "try for some remorse" but there was never any realistic expectation that he would be able to. Indeed we are told repeatedly throughout the series that Voldemort is not capable of love. Not that he hasn't known love, that he has never experienced love, that he is literally incapable of it.

A choice, to Rowling, is not a chance to control one's own destiny, but a chance to show your quality. The outcome of a choice is predetermined. Voldemort would never have chosen redemption, so he had no chance of redemption, no matter how much of Harry's Magic Blood he had pumping through him.

I started this article talking about Calvinist Election, and by mentioning that "atheists like me" find it a rather disturbing concept. I think a big thing that people find uncomfortable is the idea that "the Elect" get to strut around being all superior, just because some random fluke made them God's Chosen. This is of course not how it works. The whole point of Election is that no one man is more worthy of salvation than any other, that any who are saved, are saved by the grace of God, not by their own merits. Within Calvinist philosophy being "chosen" doesn't make you better than anybody else, it just gives you one extra reason to thank God.

Rowling's world, however, really does work the way atheists perceive Calvinist Election as working. Harry is arbitrarily singled out as being "special" or "chosen" and this literally does make him better than other people. Harry is as incorruptible as Voldemort is irredeemable. Harry's choices will always be the right ones, not because of his moral character but because the world itself will change to accommodate him. He can withstand the Imperius Curse, he can see into the mind of the Dark Lord, yet remain uncorrupted by it, he can unite the Deathly Hallows. Even when he actively seeks to bring pain and death to his enemies, it is somehow virtuous. Because Harry is Just That Awesome.

JK Rowling has said, in interview:

"My beliefs and my struggling with religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this book."

And apparent it is. The culmination of the Harry Potter series reads like the scrabbling of a Cultural Christian, trying to construct a moral framework out of fragments of doctrine she does not entirely understand or believe. Half-formed ideas about faith and destiny and redemption and death collide producing a result that is mostly simplistic, and occasionally sacrilegious.

The quasi-Christian overtones make some parts of the book genuinely incoherent. At times Harry's faith in Dumbledore is presented as almost akin to faith in God. He sets forth on his great journey, after all, knowing virtually nothing and Trusting That Dumbledore Would Provide. Indeed the Dumbledore-as-Divinity concept is a strong theme from the very start. It is very frequently Harry's Faith in Dumbledore that truly saves the day (most explicitly in Chamber of Secrets). The entire subplot with Dumbeldore's backstory is presented almost as Harry's last test of Faith.

And of course if Dumbledore is God, then this naturally casts Harry in the role of Jesus: walking amongst the unbelievers, spreading His word, facing persecution and ultimately death. A sacrifice made in perfect Love to redeem the sins of the Wizarding World.

Except that Dumbledore isn't God, he's just a guy, so having unwavering faith in him isn't laudable, it's blind fanaticism. And Harry doesn't sacrifice himself to save Hogwarts, he sacrifices himself to kill Voldemort. Hell, Rowling even admits that after book 6, if Harry looked into the Mirror of Erised he would see "Voldemort finished, dead, gone". His deepest desire is not to protect his friends, or even to live a normal life, but to kill the guy who killed his parents.

It's a mess, and the fact that it's a mess is probably the saddest thing of all. Rowling so clearly wanted to say something big about faith, about love, and about death, but all she has managed to do is communicate her own confuson.Themes:

J.K. Rowling

Books

Young Adult / Children

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Wardog

at 09:34 on 2007-08-17And obviously you have the whole sacramental thing of Voldemort receiving Harry's blood, or rather refusing the salvation contained within it... euw.

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Arthur B

at 11:11 on 2007-08-17I think you can also see attitudes towards predestination in her view of herself and her work. I was watching her original publisher on TV the other day talking about how he advised her to get a day job, because very very few people can actually make a living on children's books, and how she simply said she was very confident that HP would be successful. Which turned out to be right, of course, but there's no way anyone could have predicted exactly how much the HP books took off (and arguably they didn't become

really

massive until

Prisoner of Azkaban

). I know, I know, most authors probably harbour hopes that they'll be able to live off their soon-to-be-published novel and ditch the day job, it's human nature to be optimistic - but it's also human nature to harbour a deep-seated worry that your book might just flop. Rowling has never shown any evidence of the latter.

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Dan H

at 14:49 on 2007-08-17This is, I think, also evidence of Ms Rowling's deeply fucked up priorities. Having faith in yourself is one thing, but she had a fucking *kid* to support. You think she'd give some thought to how the poor bastard was going to eat.

Also: Fun exercise for your spare time. Re-read the chapter entitled "Horcruxes" in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It's as fucked up as all hell. It's where Dumbledore explains that Harry Potter hating Voldemort and wanting to kill him is evidence of his deep capacity for love.

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Arthur B

at 16:08 on 2007-08-17Care to summarise? I don't have the Half-Blood Prince and don't intend to read it - as far as I can tell, it's the big waterslide that dumps the reader in the sewer of

Deathly Hallows

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Dan H

at 16:23 on 2007-08-17Lets see, choice quotes from that chapter include:

"If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have implanted in you a furious desire for revenge?"

And of course

"You have never been seduced by the Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort's followers!"

"Of course I haven't," said Harry indignantly. "He killed my mum and dad!"

"You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!" said Dumbledore loudly.

And

"Imagine, please just for a moment that you had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!"

"I'd want him finished," said Harry quietly. "And I'd want to do it."

That's your shining beacon of love folks: an angry little man driven by pure hatred and the desire for personal vengeance.

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Arthur B

at 16:33 on 2007-08-17That's hilarious. It's like Dumbledore is dozing his way through a speech and isn't actually listening to what Harry is saying.

"So, Harry, what will you do if you defeat Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore.

"I will become an Auror and turn the Ministry of Magic into a terrifying machine devoted to exterminating House Slytherin. I will use Unforgivable Curses like they were party tricks. I will break every single rule regulating magical law enforcement in my pursuit of the Slytherin menace."

"Oh Harry, you truly are a fountain of love and forgiveness!"

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Dan H

at 16:38 on 2007-08-17It's even worse than that: he's paying absolute attention to what Harry's saying, but deep down he's thinking "bwahahaha, see how I have manipulated this boy into believing that his childish desire to lash out at Lord Voldemort is a noble and selfless act! Now he is certain to do exactly as I wish while I arrange his death!"

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Arthur B

at 16:47 on 2007-08-17Yeah. You know how I said how Harry walking to his own death in order to be the messiah was the act of a paranoid schizophrenic? I take that back. Orchestrating your own death and the death of your protege because you firmly believe that a) this will let you defeat the greatest evil in the world and b) this is how you think the Truest Love works is the act of a paranoid schizophrenic megalomaniac.

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lessofthat

at 01:04 on 2007-08-28If only it were. It sounds more to me like the act of a man with no discernible personality traits whatsoever. I wonder how the books would read if you quietly ctrl-H'ed every instance of the word 'destiny' with the word 'plot'.

Hemmens, you've skewered the woman precisely and with brio, and you deserve applause, but how in the name of fuck was all this - except the ugly suicide cult business you mention in the previous piece - not visible from the downslope of book 3?

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Arthur B

at 09:26 on 2007-08-28I think people still had some faith that Rowling would pull off some brilliant plot twist and the series wouldn't go in the direction that it was obviously going, and in fact did. To be fair, for the first four books she was able to surprise me with the endings - I didn't expect Bloke With Turban to have Lord Voldemort pasted to the back of his head, I didn't expect that Tom Riddle was anything other than a horrible sneak called Tom Riddle, I hadn't guessed that the Goblet of Fire would be a teleportation trap. The third book is the best example of this, where the climactic encounter with Sirius Black you're expecting is still fifty-odd pages away happens early, before our heroes are even slightly ready.

Book 5, conversely, is pretty much devoid of surprises. In books 1-4 the titular thing - the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Goblet of Fire - is a mysterious object, place or person which is the key to the mystery the book covers. The Order of the Phoenix, conversely, is carefully explained early on in book 5 and isn't really especially relevant or important.

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lessofthat

at 10:57 on 2007-08-28Even her critics admit that Rowling does a good plot, but her creepy ideology and incoherent philosophy - her apparent belief that moral goodness is something you're born to, like the aristocracy, or that happens to you, like celebrity - has been visible for years.

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Arthur B

at 11:41 on 2007-08-28True, but until now people could always console themselves with the possibility that the whole goodness-by-selection deal was meant to be a Big Lie which was going to be exposed in the last book. In fact, the bit in

Deathly Hallows

where Harry struggles with the new facts he knows about Dumbledore could have been an excellent opportunity for Harry's worldview to be seriously challenged, but Rowling squandered the opportunity by having Harry's worldview be the correct one all along.

There was plenty of reason for bile and invective to be thrown in Rowling's general direction after books 5 and 6, and several decent causes for complaint after 4. I think the reason the flood has happened now, as opposed to earlier, is that with the publication of book 7 there is now no opportunity for Rowling to redeem the series.

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Wardog

at 15:00 on 2007-08-28I'm not actually sure all this stuff *has* been visible; it's been *there* but that's not quite the same thing. A lot of people (self included, at least until 6) assumed it was all building up into something quite dark and interesting. And don't we feel like idiots now.

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lessofthat

at 16:05 on 2007-08-28The more interesting question then is "what rendered it invisible?"

What surprises me is that everyone here dissing Rowling seems to have reached the same conclusions as I did, and articulated them rather better than I ever managed to, but inexplicably read all the way to the end before doing so. What dazzled you in the meantime? Was it just the plot, or were there promises of complexity in Harry and his gang that I overlooked?

I'd particularly like to know because I might then be able to reverse-engineer some kind of cure and inject it into the friend who told me last week '[book 7] is a fucking triumph and we're lucky to have her'. Or at least understand what the hell's going on with that.

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Arthur B

at 16:24 on 2007-08-28For my part, I was assuming (until book 5) that Rowling was going to pull the same start with the overarching plot of the series that she did with books 1-4 - specifically, try her hardest to trick the reader into thinking that a particular thing was going to happen, and then pull the rug out from under them. Sure, it was pretty obvious that we were going to have a ludicrous final battle in Hogwarts between Harry and Voldemort, and that Harry would prove to be the Chosen One by virtue of his amazing feat of surviving to his first birthday, but in the early Potter books whenever something's

that

obvious it usually isn't true.

Rowling's a one-trick pony, but she's pretty good at the narrative misdirection trick. It's why you had fans suggesting with a straight face that Dumbledore was actually Ron from the future; people realise that Rowling often throws out sudden plot twists, especially when the plot seems to be fairly straightforward, and the fans had plenty of fun coming up with convoluted ideas of what would happen at the conclusion.

Rowling's biggest misdirection was tricking people into thinking that the things which were obviously going to transpire in the HP series would not, in fact, come to pass.

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empink

at 03:32 on 2007-08-29@lessofthat

I think that sometimes, you just don't *see* the bad points of a book for whatever reason. Everyone I know can speak to hating or at least disliking a book that they loved a while ago- it's the same sort of thing at work, or at least the same set of forces. For some reason, you may just want to enjoy a book so badly that you ignore its rough corners. Or you aren't yet adept at recognising those rough corners yet, so they pass you by. Or you weren't really paying much attention, and everything seems all right to your friends, and everything seems all right in (faulty) hindsight, so you jump at the next chance to read more from the same author.

All of that is far, far more pronounced when there is a lot of strong emotion sloshing around about a book or story or creative endeavour. You're either caught up in the hype to some extent, invest in it and suddenly realise it matters to you because your investment in it feels a lot sillier if it doesn't matter to you, or you're not and you wonder why the hell everyone's losing their heads over the whole thing.

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Wardog

at 21:17 on 2007-08-29Agreed, empink.

The first three books, at least, have advantages to balance their disadvantages. They're not great literature (but then, what is?) but they're reasonably well-written, tautly plotted, genuinely amusing and occasionally, as Arthur points out above, quite surprising. I remember being quite startled that Snape wasn't, in fact, the bad guy of book 1 and I was quite impressed at the rather morally complex position he occupied in what was obviously a children's a book: at that stage in the game, he's good but not nice which is interesting for a children's book.

Also, as empink observes, the problems aren't really pronounced enough to add up to anything coherently problematic. Dan could never have written this article based off the first few books. I remember Harry seemed rather bland but nobody cared - he was a hero and heroes are meant to Save The World not be interesting and they were plenty of nice secondary characters to shine well when set against Harry's lack of personality. And the fact that Snape *wasn't* the bad guy seemed to suggest that Slytherin - despite the bad press - weren't basically evil, again suggesting a potentially morally layered universe. As the books progresses the houses, for example, become more and more simplified. I always thought well of the potrayal of Cedric Diggory (from book VI). I mean, he's a Hufflepuff, but he's clever AND brave AND abmitious. I always thought that might be trying to say something worthwhile.

Of course it wasn't.

Also the later books are all about shutting down avenues of interpretation - the early books are a glorious free-for-all. Because they're not sprawling information dumps, the glimpses of the world they offer are subtle and intriguing - perhaps it's just evidence of how lame we are but we used to spend hours discussing Harry Potter in the pub, wondering what this and that meant, and what was going to happen, and who such and such a character was.

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Arthur B

at 22:11 on 2007-08-29Slytherin is a particularly good example, actually. From the very beginning, Rowling has been adamant that the Slytherins aren't all evil. The internal evidence of the books seems to correspond with that, right up until the end when whoosh! Basically every Slytherin student and teacher turns Quisling and helps the Death Eaters stomp all over Hogwarts. The one exception is Snape, and it's notable that at the very end Harry names his kid after Snape because of Snape's courage - the Griffindor virtue, not traditionally anything to do with Slytherin.

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lessofthat

at 10:23 on 2007-08-30Fair enough. Looking back, I can remember that sense that though the first three were flawed, there was something a bit different about them; the Slytherins had that aristocracy-of-hell feel that old guard Tories like Heseltine do (they may be scum, but they're engaging scum and you know where you are with them); Snape was, as Kyra says, not bad but not nice. I remember even being faintly impressed that Rowling knew what colour a philosopher's stone would be, but that she didn't feel the need to regurgitate all the matching alchemical background. It suggested she'd bothered to do the research but wore it lightly.

I wasn't that impressed though. I also remember reading a quote by some publishing type on the back of the first book way back in like '98, to the effect that future generations of children will talk about Diagon Alley the way past ones talked about the Hundred Acre Wood or, I don't know, Byker Grove or something. I thought that was ridiculous hyperbole. I suppose that's why he's a publishing type and I'm not, because how wrong was I.

@empink. The hype and social enthusiasm bypassed me, largely for reasons of grumpiness I suppose. So that's a powerful inoculating factor too.

Again, I guess that Harry's abject blandness was less apparent in his pre-teenage years. I don't really understand children, so absence of personality in them is less troublesome. I imagine that's true of other people too.

"the problems aren't really pronounced enough to add up to anything coherently problematic." I still disagree - I think the Choosing Hat alone is a particularly repellent embodiment of the English class system - but I think I have a better idea of why bright, sane people were distracted enough not to be bothered.

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Arthur B

at 13:16 on 2007-08-30On Harry's personality: half the reason book 5 lost me was that Harry became a repugnant, grumpy teenager. He was a well-observed repugnant teen, and I can just about barely remember what it was like being one myself, but there's a reason most people don't want to hang out with such oiks once they get over puberty, and that's because they're completely awful to be around.

In the earlier books his main personality trait was utter confusion and occasional amazement and wonder when regarding the world he'd been thrust into, which worked nicely with his role as the character we see the world through. It's a good device for the first three-or-so books, but it couldn't have been maintained for the entire series - nobody would have bought it if Rowling had tried to have Harry still be completely bowled over by the awesomeness of the wizarding world when he's lived in it for over half a decade - but it's a crying shame she didn't have anything particularly good to replace it with.

Re: the Sorting Hat - in the early books, I could accept the Sorting Hat as being a nice pastiche of the apparently arbitrary nature kids get assigned to classes and houses in secondary school. I could convince myself that the Hat essentially took a quick look at the students' personalities and flung them into whichever House seemed to have the most suitable internal culture for them, and the different characters of the Houses were a result of a self-perpetuating internal culture that the Hat just reinforced. It eventually became brutally apparent that the Hat is essentially a living filter for the Elect, and that being chosen as Gryffindor by the Hat is essentially an absolute vote of confidence in your moral integrity, but it took a while; again, it wasn't until book 5 that I realised that we'd never seen

one

single person who didn't fit in perfectly in their House, and

come on

: just because you're hard-working or brave or ambitious at 11 doesn't mean that's still going to be the case when you're 15.

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empink

at 13:19 on 2007-08-30@lessofthat I don't really understand children, so absence of personality in them is less troublesome. I imagine that's true of other people too.

SO TRUE.

I still disagree - I think the Choosing Hat alone is a particularly repellent embodiment of the English class system

That's what I would have said after reading it. I can't remember how many times I wanted to point at JKR's treatment of the women in her book (married, had babies, or wanted to, or died, or died regardless, or were ugly, unsexy and old) and ask people what they thought was up with THAT. Then again, I remember how much less that would have pinged me a year or two ago, when I was still supposedly not a feminist. Snape's "I see no difference" feels particularly apt in this case. Until you *do* see the difference, or have it pointed out to you in a way you can't bring yourself to ignore, you...don't. And to others who do, you either look like a huge, defensive jackass, or like Stupid of the century. And to others who don't, you are Sane McGrateful for the author's bounty. And even that's simplifying the whole thing, but really, that's how it seems to have worked in my corner so far.

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Dan H

at 00:40 on 2007-09-07Sorry I haven't commented: No internet.

In short, the reason that it took me a while to realise that Rowling was espousing a repulsive moral philosophy is that the series went through a massive genre shift between (roughly) books four and five, and assumptions which are perfectly acceptable in a boarding school romp have no place in a serious story about love and death and choices.

I always saw the Sorting Hat as being a metaphor for the cliques you get at school. The Slytherins are the privileged popular kids, the Ravenclaw are the swots, Hufflepuff are everybody else. Gryffindor - in the early books - was essentially just "the hero and his mates". There's comparatively little evidence that Gryffindors are *objectively* superior in the early books - there's just Harry's natural tendency to side with his friends. Indeed in the early books there's a fair number of dodgy Gryffindors (like Peter Pettigrew) and admirable non-Gryffindors (like Cedric Diggory and, arguably, Snape). In book five we even discover that James Potter was a bullying little shit. By the start of book six, things actually looked reasonably complex, and rather grown up. The last two books, though, took all of that apart. The Slytherins all leave in the final battle, James Potter wasn't a bully at all, he was just mad at Snape because he called Lily Potter a bad name, and we are asked to take Harry's desire for vengeance as evidence of his moral superiority.

Essentially I didn't find the early books morally repulsive, because I didn't think they were trying to make any kind of moral statement beyond "it is good to stick by your friends" and possibly "believe in yourself". The whole business with Sorting and predestination was just a convenient plot device to give the hero a set of allies and enemies. Early Potter doesn't advocate predeterminism any more than the Lord of the Rings advocates genocide.

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https://me.yahoo.com/a/tjLTVHEducFb4rKDHU5DukBHtQcCbTVMEEq55v0CxV4-#5e156

at 11:32 on 2009-08-09Aw come on Hemmens, don't you think getting that level of publicity could have turned your head like it did JKR's? I don't blame her for over reaching herself and her abilities given the phenomenal publicity she received. I shudder to think what it would have done to my mind!

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Robinson L

at 00:30 on 2009-08-11

I don't blame her for over reaching herself and her abilities given the phenomenal publicity she received. I shudder to think what it would have done to my mind!

Sure it's understandable for fame to go to her head. Doesn't make the results any less execrable.

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http://lunabell14.myopenid.com/

at 22:42 on 2010-07-27Actually, in Order of the Phoenix, during the sorting hat song, it sings this line (credit from Mugglenet):

For instance, Slytherin Took only pure-blood wizards Of great cunning, just like him

So basically, Rowling admits even earlier that Slytherins are all racist, and therefore the bad guys. I remember this kind of bugged me when I read it, since there is definitely no relationship between being cunning and being pure-blood. And you would think since Voldemort and Snape could by-pass the pure-blood rule, they would get rid of that criteria.

But honestly, I don't see how she can get credit for complex characterization when there such sweeping generalizations about Gryffindors and Slyterins. Especially when some of the good guys show what I consider some very questionable morality (such as Harry crucio-ing the Death Eater over nothing, Dumbledore being a manipulative dick, etc.)

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http://prue84.livejournal.com/

at 23:06 on 2011-02-20I've avidly read this articol and how hell, how you are right!

I admit I'm never been Harry fan (I'm a "Slytherin" person because I feel I fell in that house - not a fan because they're the evil!), but this articole make me even less fan of Harry.

I'd also like to point out what I feel about Draco/Malfoys and Ron/Weasleys: they are basically the same, as both the families are racist but, when Draco say something nasty about Ron (usually something about being poor), he is labelled as "evil" while when Ron says something nasty about Draco (and Slytherins in general), he is still the good guy (or the Chosen One's biggest friend). What always bugged me is that Slytherin's House has some qualities (if I remember right, the Sorting Hat explain them in the first book), and yet "all in Slytherin are bad". What, why? Why there can't be bad or asses in the other houses? Why there is no Death Eater's son in Rawenclaw? Why Slytherins' students are all "Death Eater's wannabes?": couldn't be that many of them have pressures? Couldn't be that many of these families are simply acting like nobles families had done during the centuries, acting in a way while they wanted nothing more than be free to hug, kiss and reward?

I'm going totally off-topic here, but...

Thanxs for this articole! I have read the one regarding Abused Woman in the media and I'll slowly made my way in this site: too many interesting analysis. :)

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http://shrek2be.livejournal.com/

at 14:05 on 2011-12-30I am not too intelligent to say that I understand what you have writtenabove in your post Daniel.I'll try to interpret DH and essentially HP in my own little simplistic way.

The problem for me is Rowling tries to keep Harry as Jesus and then convert him back to a human . Dumbledore ideally should be the Merlin/Gandalf figure (or like GOD with Harry being the son of GOD) but due to poor writing comes across as a bad human being. who shouldn't be preaching philosophy as he still believed in the greater good with the way he treated Harry.

I haven't read LOTR but have watched the movies and even Tolkien understands Frodo has changed irrevocably because he is no longer normal that he has to go to Valinor which I guess is the term for heaven. Rowling doesn't get this part at all. The epilogue validates how naive Rowling is terms of understanding religion. Harry's ideal character growth for me would be accepting that he has never been normal.

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http://ladylazarus1027.livejournal.com/

at 00:38 on 2012-07-12

I'm fairly sure Rowling didn't start attending the Church of Scotland until she was in her late twenties* -- at the absolute earliest-- but I can see why you wouldn't want facts to get in the way of your rant.

* According to wikipedia, she was born and raised in Gloucestershire, quite far from Scotland.

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Jamie Johnston

at 17:27 on 2012-07-13Greetings, unnecessarily sarcastic commenter! I don't know when (or whether) Rowling joined the Church of Scotland, but it's possible for her to have done so without living in Scotland. There is, for example, a Church of Scotland church near where I work in central London.

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Shim

at 20:39 on 2012-07-13A quick googling shows

this article from the Telegraph

which says she was raised as an Anglican. When she joined the Church of Scotland, I have no idea, and the Anglican church is very varied, so it's not that enlightening.

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Dan H

at 21:09 on 2012-07-13

Thanks for the clarification. To be honest, though, I'm not convinced that there is much difference between "was raised" and "was influenced by in her twenties" and I'm not sure whether that particular detail actually has much to do with my central argument, which is that the Harry Potter books present a world in which some people are predestined towards salvation and others not.

What Rowling herself believes, or why she believes it, or when she started believing it is distinctly secondary.

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http://fishinginthemud.livejournal.com/

at 02:54 on 2012-07-14I think people are tripping up on the idea that Rowling's terrible writing is due to her being a deranged Calvinist, rather than just a terrible writer. I don't think this article really pushes that connection very hard, but I can see why people who want to nitpick for the sake of nitpicking would jump on that.

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Dan H

at 10:34 on 2012-07-14I think that's probably the case. Ironically I think the article actually argues fairly strongly that Rowling *isn't* a deranged Calvinist, and that if she was her writing would probably be somewhat improved.

The problem I have with the attitude to Salvation in the Potter books is that it superficially resembles Calvinist Election without any of the theological underpinnings.

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Cammalot

at 11:38 on 2012-07-14

The problem I have with the attitude to Salvation in the Potter books is that it superficially resembles Calvinist Election without any of the theological underpinnings.

Yes, and I'd speculate that seems like that *would* be a product of a later-in-life association with the church, rather than early internalization of the doctrine.

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Ibmiller

at 11:38 on 2012-07-14Rather hilariously, I love this article, and I am a Calvinist (who some call deranged...) Completely agree that Rowling's world would improve from theological underpinnings other than "some people who are pretty are nice and some people who don't have noses are racist."

Hmmm...the Harry Potter series rewritten by a deranged Calvinist...if I were any kind of writer, I might want to take that up as a challenge...

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http://fishinginthemud.livejournal.com/

at 11:55 on 2012-07-14I think this specifically is what's getting people.

If [Rowling belongs to the Church of Scotland] is true, then it seems that Rowling has allowed her faith to strongly influence her work.

That implies a more direct connection than the one I got: that

Potter

and Calvinism both espouse a similar salvation-of-the-elect worldview, the difference being that Calvinists have put a bit more thought and indeed humanity and decency into their version. Their conclusions about how life works aren't the inadvertent result of an overlong fantasy series spinning out of an inexperienced writer's control.

Potter

would likely have ended up the same way if Rowling had never heard of Calvinism.

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http://fishinginthemud.livejournal.com/

at 12:02 on 2012-07-14

I am a Calvinist (who some call deranged...)

I actually don't think Calvinists are any more deranged than any other religious group. What would make Rowling's worldview deranged would be a conscious attempt to decontextualize Calvinist or most other religious beliefs into something secular, which I think everyone agrees probably did not happen.

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Ashimbabbar

at 14:27 on 2014-04-25• It's an extremely interesting and deep analysis ( not that everybody hadn't noticed, but now I have too )

• The "but of course Voldemort wouldn't repent" makes an interesting contrast with LOTR [ Tolkien being a Catholic ]. Here Saruman could really have repented ( after the Ents smashed Isengard ), it is not his 'nature' that prevents him too, only his choice ( I think LOTR would have been much better if he had but never mind that ). Gollum too could have if it hadn't been for Sam's hostility and his own reaction to it… they were really offered the choice.

• This "Rowlingian Calvinism", for want of a better term, sounds like a very good belief for the bad guys in a Fantasy novel…

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Daniel F

at 15:46 on 2014-04-25

it is not his 'nature' that prevents him too, only his choice ( I think LOTR would have been much better if he had but never mind that ).

I'm morbidly curious now...

#Ferretbrain #Harry Potter #J.K. Rowling #Dan H #Religion

8 notes · View notes

nosgothpillarofdeath · 5 years ago

Text

Confession

((This is a re-write of a short scene from my RP with @timedeceiver called The Crossing [Pt one] [Pt two]. I wrote this scene back when Lysander was a fairly new character. This post is my attempt to expand and improve that little scene. It also takes place prior to Moving Forward and this time I’ve included some background to make things easier to understand.

Background: This takes place early in Nosgoth’s history. Moebius has assembled a small army to fight the vampire guardians and they’re currently headed through the mountains toward a town called Helmsburg, where they’re planning to winter before pushing for Willendorf. Months ago Mortanius entered into an ill fated relationship with the current human Mind Guardian, Tove [timedeceiver]. During this time he’s struggled with his sexuality and developed feelings for his close friend, Lysander [my character] a cleric with a troubled past. With Lysander’s help he’s come to terms with his homosexuality and decided to break things off with Tove as soon as they reach the safety of Helmsburg. In this scene he confronts Lysander with his true feelings.))

A shadow cloaked man scurried through the dark camp, invisible boots softly crunching on the snow as he crept toward a particular tent. Puffs of smoky air wafted from his open mouth. This spell allowed Mortanius to travel practically undetected under cover of darkness, However winter exposed a few fatal flaws. Standing outside the entry to Lysander’s tent, he stalled.

They met in late summer, in the apothecary where Lysander worked and lived, stocking inventory and sleeping on a straw mat in the backroom, at a time when Moebius’ small army was desperately in need of healers. The surly cleric joined their cause reluctantly. When he caught up with them on the road, sweating and breathing whiskey fumes, he straightened his back and declared he came for ‘death or redemption.’

Two men could hardly seem more different. Lysander, dogged and cold tempered. Mortanius, faltering and overly sensitive. Yet they found commonalities, namely a mutual compulsion to run head first into danger to protect and lift up the wounded and weak. On somber nights they would sit together under a cloud of unrealized dreams, comfortably sheltered from the rain in each other’s company, even in silence. Lysander understood him on a level he never thought possible.

Even Tove, despite her incredible psychic powers, never understood him. She feared the haunted corridors of other people’s minds. Though only mortal, Lysander did not shrink from knowing him.

But Lysander could also be fickle. He treated most people like opponents in a high stakes game, lying when it suited him, keeping his true intentions close to his chest. Somewhat like Moebius, whom Mortanius felt close to in a brotherly way. There were times - Mortanius felt certain there were times when he saw Lysander’s soul bare before him.

Mortanius entered through the flap in the tent. The shadows retreated from his person, revealing a pale, lanky man midway through his twenties with long dark hair and a well trimmed beard. A grey speck of mage light manifested in his open palm. Just enough light to see inside the dark tent.

He saw Lysander fast asleep in his cot. His dirty blond hair looked like a bird’s nest. Guiltily, Mortanius crouched next to him and whispered, “Lysander, wake up.”

Lysander’s brows pinched as he squirmed. Recognizing Mortanius through squinted eyes, he lifted his head. His breath smelled of the army’s watered down booze. “My Pillar, what’s wrong?”

Shortly after joining the army, Lysander became Mortanius’ disciple when he bore witness to the Death Guardian’s power to ease the tortured souls of the dead. Since then he addressed him as ‘my Pillar’ in public. Over time their private interactions became more familiar, although he still used his personal honorific from time to time.

Even bedraggled and groggy Lysander caused his heart to flutter. “I’m sorry for waking you. It’s all quiet outside, I only need to talk.”

He blinked hazily. “Can it wait until morning?”

“I’m afraid not, if I have to wait another day I think I might burst. It’s important.”

Lysander propped himself up and scratched at his beard as he eyed Mortanius with a knowing, weary look. “Give me a minute… ah, I was having a nice dream. What’s the matter?”

Mortanius clutched the edges of his fur cloak together over his pounding heart and took a deep, chilly breath. He fought the urge to stammer or look away. Sometimes he succeeded. As he ventured forth his anxiety turned to excitement and a timid smile spread across his face.

“Lysander, you… are constantly on my mind. You… are always by my side with encouragement and support. You listen to me - even when I’m being a burden - you understand me and give me courage. You remind me of the noble merits of my Pillar yet never forget that I am human, too. You help me feel human! I… I want to be with you, in Helmsburg after everything is settled. I haven’t forgotten my commitment. Only… I need to know how you feel. That much can’t wait.”

Sitting up wide awake, Lysander listened and stared. The dim light caused his skin to appear ashen. He looked away, strangely sullen. Dread closed around Mortanius’ throat. His voice cracked.

“Please, say something. I need an answer. If you’re going to hurt me, just do it.”

“Stop,” Lysander said curtly, not cruelly. “Just stop and think about what you’re asking.”

Mortanius searched his face. “I have thought about it. How could I come here if I hadn’t thought about it?”

“You know it would be different if you only wanted to sleep with me. You’re asking to love me. That’s not realistic.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Once you’ve been around like I have, you’ll learn. Men don’t want love. They just want to feel special with whoever happens to be there.”

Much of Lysander’s past remained a mystery. He knew that he struggled against the vile Nature Guardian Malanthe in Willendorf, the gruesome slaughter of his comrades hurling him down a pit of drink and self-destruction, then burned ten years on the road to escape his perceived sins. Lysander looked back on those years bitterly. Was this why?

Mortanius blinked and swallowed. No, he would not cry, this was not over yet. He offered, “You’re not like that.”

Lysander sneered. “You are. I may be on your side but I still saw what you did, what you’re doing right now.”

He recoiled, holding the faint mage light close to his chest. The darkness rose around them. Mortanius pleaded, “You’re right, I have made mistakes - I kissed you when I shouldn’t have and I’ve snuck out to see you behind Tove’s back. I should have ended this months ago but I was too afraid. I’m clumsy and naive but I’m trying to do better.”

On that front he did not appear to be off to a good start. He possessed no ill intentions in coming here, he only wanted to express the feelings that had been swelling inside him and learn if they had merit. Regardless, he betrayed Tove’s trust again.

In spite of the indomitable forces Mortanius wielded in battle he remained a coward in private. Of the three human Pillars his resolve was the weakest. He submitted too easily to the authority of others, cringing in the face of his own inexperience. Ordinarily this is where he would have given up. He felt remorseful and pathetic for creeping out in the middle of a cold night to lay his heart at the feet of a cynical tramp.

Mortanius closed his fist around the clasp of his cloak and peered up at Lysander from under his crumpled brow. “I told the truth about my feelings. The day after we kissed you said that had we met sooner you would have gladly stayed the night and more, that you wished to follow me until the end of your days regardless. Is that still how you feel?”

For a moment Lysander simply pressed his lips together, looking vaguely defiant. “I say a lot when I’m shit-faced.”

Mortanius waited. That was not a real answer, it was a misdirection. Lysander could tell flattering lies when he wanted someone to like him, he could lie flawlessly even drunk, but he heard him tell the truth enough to know the difference. Slowly, cracks appeared in Lysander’s armor.

“You still don’t know what you want. The world will have its eyes on you, Mortanius. We could never be together in public, not like you and Tove, I would taint your image.”

“I don’t care about my image, for Nosgoth’s sake! My aspect’s power over life and death is almost as twisted as the vampires themselves.”

“That’s not true!” he blurted. “Your service to the dead is the only real comfort us mortals have.”

Mortanius opened his mouth and smiled, leaning forward with his hand on the side of the cot. “I can always count on you. What more do I need?”

He leaned back and lifted his right arm over his lap dejectedly, away from Mortanius. “It’s not that simple. The people are still skeptical of human Pillars. If you want to establish this order Moebius talks about, you need more than my support.”

That was a valid point. Already their ability to secure funding and men for this army was predicated on reputation.

“I’ll trust my brother to guide Nosgoth’s leaders to our cause, as I always have. If you were such a danger to his plans he would not have allowed you here. You have nothing to fear. Tell me if you want me to leave but I won’t run away for you.”

Rising, Mortanius turned and seated himself on the edge of the cot near Lysander. Lysander’s eyes flickered. He seemed to be out of words now, to his own dismay. Mortanius gently reached out to him. As he closed in Lysander let out a quiet hiss and tried to swat him aside. Mortanius flinched reflexively. However, he failed to commit to the swing and caught the hand instead, holding it by the tips of his fingers as if full contact with Mortanius’ skin would overwhelm him. His fingers trembled.

Lysander shut his eyes, his face lined with dark trenches. He looked older than his thirty years. Although Mortanius remained ignorant of many things in the wider world beyond the vampire’s claustrophobic citadel, he understood loneliness. Out here, on the road, Mortanius saw freedom. Lysander had walked this way before and he saw bleakness. Neither man lived easily. Mortanius tilted his hand and softly caressed his open palm, cooing, “It’s okay, this is what I want.”

His fingers slid into the grooves of Mortanius’ hand. Their palms pressed together and their thumbs stroked one another heavily. Suddenly Lysander arched forward and planted him with a kiss.

Mortanius’ heart thrashed inside its cage. Overwhelmed, he tried to give himself an inch. True to his word Lysander followed his every move, stuck to him like tar. Mortanius’ jittery laughter filled the tiny space between. For once, he was right.

A short time later, Lysander relented from the kiss. His head slumped against Mortanius’ chest. “Forgive me, my dear Pillar. I trust you with my life, with my soul but…”

Mortanius stroked the back of his hand. “Of course I forgive you. Are you all right?”

“I don’t know. You… do things to me. How many days is it again? To Helmsburg, obviously.”

He blinked. “Uh, two days, assuming fair weather. You still haven’t given me a straightforward answer.”

Lysander met his eyes. “Would you stay with me tonight?”

Caught off guard, Mortanius flushed and reluctantly shook his head. “Then I’d be just like those other men, wouldn’t I? I need to settle things with Tove first.”

He looked disappointed. “After all those things you said, if you wanted to, I’d let you use me. Tove would smash my head like a melon over it, I know. At least I’d die happy. That’s the type of man I am.”

Mortanius took back his hand with a sigh. He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck to distract himself from his lustful thoughts. The mage light glowed a little brighter.

Not too long ago he would have taken Lysander up on that. There was a chance Tove might remain oblivious, given her reluctance to know the minds of others, although he would have suffered the guilt regardless. He harbored a lot of regrets. So did Lysander. Since they met he watched Lysander face his vices and fears in pursuit of personal redemption many times, more often than not saw him succeed, at least in a small way. It made him uncomfortable, too complacent in his own self-doubt.

“No, I think we’re both better than that,” said Mortanius. “When I’m ready, I’ll call on you in Helmsburg. All right?”

Although he tried to hide it at first, a lopsided smile graced Lysander’s scruffy face. “You’re a good man. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

“I p-promise I won’t make you wait too long, if I can help it,” Mortanius stammered. A tremendous feeling swelled in his chest. He leaned over impulsively, hesitated, then hastily pecked Lysander on the lips a last time.

Outside, too exuberant to return to his tent, Mortanius paced around the camp pretending to inspect the night guards. He could barely keep a straight face. As he feigned his rounds through the bracing cold he paused to gaze up at the clear starry sky. Two days.

#v:early life #lysander #closed

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seekfirstme · 4 years ago

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Meditation: What is the purpose of God's law and commandments? The Pharisees prided themselves in the knowledge of the law of Moses and the ritual requirements of the law. They made it a life-time practice to study the 613 precepts of the Torah - the books of the Old Testament containing the Law of Moses - along with the numerous rabbinic commentaries on the law. The religious authorities tested Jesus to see if he correctly understood the law as they did. Jesus startled them with his profound simplicity and mastery of the law of God and its purpose.

God's love rules all

Jesus summarized the whole of the law in two great commandments found in Deuteronomy 6:5 - "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" - and Leviticus 19:18 - "you shall love your neighbor as yourself". God's love directs all that he does - His love is holy, just, and pure because it seeks only what is good, beneficial, and life-giving - rather than what is destructive, evil, or deadly. That is why he commands us to love - to accept and to give only what is good, lovely, just, and pure and to reject whatever is contrary.

God puts us first in his thoughts

God is love and everything he does flows from his love for us (1 John 3:1, 4:7-8, 16). God puts us first in his thoughts and concerns - do we put him first in our thoughts? God loved us first (1 John 4:19) and our love for him is a response to his exceeding goodness and kindness towards us. The love of God comes first and the love of neighbor is firmly grounded in the love of God. The more we know of God's love, truth, and goodness, the more we love what he loves and reject whatever is hateful and contrary to his will. God commands us to love him first above all else - his love orients and directs our thoughts, intentions, and actions to what is wholly good and pleasing to him. He wants us to love him personally, wholeheartedly, and without any reservation or compromise.

The nature of love - giving to others for their sake

What is the nature of love? Love is the gift of giving oneself for the good of others - it is wholly other oriented and directed to the welfare and benefit of others. Love which is rooted in pleasing myself is self-centered and possessive - it is a selfish love that takes from others rather than gives to others. It is a stunted and disordered love which leads to many hurtful and sinful desires - such as jealousy, greed, envy, and lust. The root of all sin is disordered love and pride which is fundamentally putting myself above God and my neighbor - it is loving and serving self rather than God and neighbor. True love, which is wholly directed and oriented to what is good rather than evil, is rooted in God's truth and righteousness (moral goodness).

How God loves us

God loves us wholly, completely, and perfectly for our sake - there is no limit, no holding back, no compromising on his part. His love is not subject to changing moods or circumstances. When God gives, he gives generously, abundantly, freely, and without setting conditions to the gift of his love. His love does not waver, but is firm, consistent, and constant. He loves us in our weakness - in our fallen and sinful condition. That is why the Father sent his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem us from slavery to sin and its disordered cravings, desires, passions, and addictions. God the Father always seeks us out to draw us to his throne of mercy and help. God the Father corrects and disciplines us in love to free us from the error of our wrong ways of thinking and choosing what is harmful and evil rather than choosing what is good and wholesome for us. Do you freely accept God's love and do you willingly choose to obey his commandments?

We do not earn God's love - it is freely given

How can we possibly love God above all else and obey his commandments willingly and joyfully, and how can we love our neighbor and willing lay down our life for their sake? Paul the Apostle tells us that "hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). We do not earn God's love - it is freely given to those who open their heart to God and who freely accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord Jesus to flood your heart with his love through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Love grows with faith and hope

What makes our love for God and his commands grow in us? Faith in God and hope in his promises strengthens us in the love of God. They are essential for a good relationship with God, for being united with him. The more we know of God the more we love him and the more we love him the greater we believe and hope in his promises. The Lord Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, gives us a new freedom to love as he loves. Paul the Apostle writes, "For freedom Christ has set us free... only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [sinful inclinations], but through love be servants of one another" (Galatians 5:1,13). Do you allow anything to keep you from the love of God and the joy of serving others with a generous heart?

"Lord Jesus, your love surpasses all. Flood my heart with your love and increase my faith and hope in your promises. Help me to give myself in generous service to others as you have so generously given yourself to me."

HOPE EVEN NOW

“They have been saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost.’ ” —Ezekiel 37:11

In the last generation, much of the world has engaged in an unprecedented bloodbath through chemical and surgical abortions, starvation, “ethnic cleansing,” and many other atrocities, displaying a blatant disregard for human life. Some have commented that, if God does not destroy us, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Is there hope for our culture?

There is hope because:

• Jesus has already definitively conquered the evil one. He now waits for His enemies to be placed beneath His feet (Heb 10:12-13).

• The Holy Spirit could prophesy new life into our culture, even if it were destroyed (Ez 37:4ff).

• God’s “mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:13).

• Some of those victimized by the culture of death have accepted the miracle of forgiving and loving their enemies. There is great hope in the miracle of forgiveness.

• Some of the countless suffering people in our society have united their sufferings with the Passion and death of Jesus. Redemptive suffering can be a prelude to risen life.

We have hope, for Christ is within us (Col 1:27), and “this hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us” (Rm 5:5). Face reality and dreadful circumstances, then “rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer” (Rm 12:12).

Prayer: Father, make me realistic and extremely joyful.

Promise: “He satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with good things.” —Ps 107:9

Praise: “To restore all things to Christ, in order that Christ may be all in all.” Pope St. Pius X launched his pontificate with this motto. By all accounts, he accomplished his mission, as he renewed appreciation of the liturgy and the Eucharist.

Reference:

Rescript: "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for One Bread, One Body covering the period from August 1, through September 30, 2020. Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio October 1, 2019"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements

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araitsume · 4 years ago

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The Desire of Ages, pp. 621-626: Chapter (68) In the Outer Court

This chapter is based on John 12:20-42.

“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.”

At this time Christ's work bore the appearance of cruel defeat. He had been victor in the controversy with the priests and Pharisees, but it was evident that He would never be received by them as the Messiah. The final separation had come. To His disciples the case seemed hopeless. But Christ was approaching the consummation of His work. The great event which concerned not only the Jewish nation, but the whole world, was about to take place. When Christ heard the eager request, “We would see Jesus,” echoing the hungering cry of the world, His countenance lighted up, and He said, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” In the request of the Greeks He saw an earnest of the results of His great sacrifice.

These men came from the West to find the Saviour at the close of His life, as the wise men had come from the East at the beginning. At the time of Christ's birth the Jewish people were so engrossed with their own ambitious plans that they knew not of His advent. The magi from a heathen land came to the manger with their gifts, to worship the Saviour. So these Greeks, representing the nations, tribes, and peoples of the world, came to see Jesus. So the people of all lands and all ages would be drawn by the Saviour's cross. So shall many “come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 8:11.

The Greeks had heard of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Some supposed, and had circulated the report, that He had driven the priests and rulers from the temple, and that He was to take possession of David's throne, and reign as king of Israel. The Greeks longed to know the truth in regard to His mission. “We would see Jesus,” they said. Their desire was granted. When the request was brought to Jesus, He was in that part of the temple from which all except Jews were excluded, but He went out to the Greeks in the outer court, and had a personal interview with them.

The hour of Christ's glorification had come. He was standing in the shadow of the cross, and the inquiry of the Greeks showed Him that the sacrifice He was about to make would bring many sons and daughters to God. He knew that the Greeks would soon see Him in a position they did not then dream of. They would see Him placed beside Barabbas, a robber and murderer, who would be chosen for release before the Son of God. They would hear the people, inspired by the priests and rulers, making their choice. And to the question, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” the answer would be given, “Let Him be crucified.” Matthew 27:22. By making this propitiation for the sins of men, Christ knew that His kingdom would be perfected, and would extend throughout the world. He would work as the Restorer, and His Spirit would prevail. For a moment He looked into futurity, and heard the voices proclaiming in all parts of the earth, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. In these strangers He saw the pledge of a great harvest, when the partition wall between Jew and Gentile should be broken down, and all nations, tongues, and peoples should hear the message of salvation. The anticipation of this, the consummation of His hopes, is expressed in the words, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” But the way in which this glorification must take place was never absent from Christ's mind. The gathering in of the Gentiles was to follow His approaching death. Only by His death could the world be saved. Like a grain of wheat, the Son of man must be cast into the ground and die, and be buried out of sight; but He was to live again.

Christ presented His future, illustrating it by the things of nature, that the disciples might understand. The true result of His mission was to be reached by His death. “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” He said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” When the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it springs up, and bears fruit. So the death of Christ would result in fruit for the kingdom of God. In accordance with the law of the vegetable kingdom, life was to be the result of His death.

Those who till the soil have the illustration ever before them. Year by year man preserves his supply of grain by apparently throwing away the choicest part. For a time it must be hidden under the furrow, to be watched over by the Lord. Then appears the blade, then the ear, and then the corn in the ear. But this development cannot take place unless the grain is buried out of sight, hidden, and to all appearance, lost.

The seed buried in the ground produces fruit, and in turn this is planted. Thus the harvest is multiplied. So the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary will bear fruit unto eternal life. The contemplation of this sacrifice will be the glory of those who, as the fruit of it, will live through the eternal ages.

The grain of wheat that preserves its own life can produce no fruit. It abides alone. Christ could, if He chose, save Himself from death. But should He do this, He must abide alone. He could bring no sons and daughters to God. Only by yielding up His life could He impart life to humanity. Only by falling into the ground to die could He become the seed of that vast harvest,—the great multitude that out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, are redeemed to God.

With this truth Christ connects the lesson of self-sacrifice that all should learn: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” All who would bring forth fruit as workers together with Christ must first fall into the ground and die. The life must be cast into the furrow of the world's need. Self-love, self-interest, must perish. And the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation. The husbandman preserves his grain by casting it away. So in human life. To give is to live. The life that will be preserved is the life that is freely given in service to God and man. Those who for Christ's sake sacrifice their life in this world will keep it unto life eternal.

The life spent on self is like the grain that is eaten. It disappears, but there is no increase. A man may gather all he can for self; he may live and think and plan for self; but his life passes away, and he has nothing. The law of self-serving is the law of self-destruction.

“If any man serve Me,” said Jesus, “let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.” All who have borne with Jesus the cross of sacrifice will be sharers with Him of His glory. It was the joy of Christ in His humiliation and pain that His disciples should be glorified with Him. They are the fruit of His self-sacrifice. The outworking in them of His own character and spirit is His reward, and will be His joy throughout eternity. This joy they share with Him as the fruit of their labor and sacrifice is seen in other hearts and lives. They are workers together with Christ, and the Father will honor them as He honors His Son.

The message of the Greeks, foreshadowing as it did the gathering in of the Gentiles, brought to the mind of Jesus His entire mission. The work of redemption passed before Him, from the time when in heaven the plan was laid, to the death that was now so near at hand. A mysterious cloud seemed to enshroud the Son of God. Its gloom was felt by those near Him. He sat rapt in thought. At last the silence was broken by His mournful voice, “Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour?” In anticipation Christ was already drinking the cup of bitterness. His humanity shrank from the hour of abandonment, when to all appearance He would be deserted even by God, when all would see Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He shrank from public exposure, from being treated as the worst of criminals, from a shameful and dishonored death. A foreboding of His conflict with the powers of darkness, a sense of the awful burden of human transgression, and the Father's wrath because of sin caused the spirit of Jesus to faint, and the pallor of death to overspread His countenance.

Then came divine submission to His Father's will. “For this cause,” He said, “came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name.” Only through the death of Christ could Satan's kingdom be overthrown. Only thus could man be redeemed, and God be glorified. Jesus consented to the agony, He accepted the sacrifice. The Majesty of heaven consented to suffer as the Sin Bearer. “Father, glorify Thy name,” He said. As Christ spoke these words, a response came from the cloud which hovered above His head: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Christ's whole life, from the manger to the time when these words were spoken, had glorified God; and in the coming trial His divine-human sufferings would indeed glorify His Father's name.

As the voice was heard, a light darted from the cloud, and encircled Christ, as if the arms of Infinite Power were thrown about Him like a wall of fire. The people beheld this scene with terror and amazement. No one dared to speak. With silent lips and bated breath all stood with eyes fixed upon Jesus. The testimony of the Father having been given, the cloud lifted, and scattered in the heavens. For the time the visible communion between the Father and the Son was ended.

“The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to Him.” But the inquiring Greeks saw the cloud, heard the voice, comprehended its meaning, and discerned Christ indeed; to them He was revealed as the Sent of God.

The voice of God had been heard at the baptism of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, and again at His transfiguration on the mount. Now at the close of His ministry it was heard for the third time, by a larger number of persons, and under peculiar circumstances. Jesus had just spoken the most solemn truth regarding the condition of the Jews. He had made His last appeal, and pronounced their doom. Now God again set His seal to the mission of His Son. He recognized the One whom Israel had rejected. “This voice came not because of Me,” said Jesus, “but for your sakes.” It was the crowning evidence of His Messiahship, the signal from the Father that Jesus had spoken the truth, and was the Son of God.

“Now is the judgment of this world,” Christ continued; “now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die.” This is the crisis of the world. If I become the propitiation for the sins of men, the world will be lighted up. Satan's hold upon the souls of men will be broken. The defaced image of God will be restored in humanity, and a family of believing saints will finally inherit the heavenly home. This is the result of Christ's death. The Saviour is lost in contemplation of the scene of triumph called up before Him. He sees the cross, the cruel, ignominious cross, with all its attending horrors, blazing with glory.

But the work of human redemption is not all that is accomplished by the cross. The love of God is manifested to the universe. The prince of this world is cast out. The accusations which Satan has brought against God are refuted. The reproach which he has cast upon heaven is forever removed. Angels as well as men are drawn to the Redeemer. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth,” He said, “will draw all unto Me.”

Many people were round about Christ as He spoke these words, and one said, “We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest Thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.”

“But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him.” They had once asked the Saviour, “What sign showest Thou then, that we may see, and believe Thee?” John 6:30. Innumerable signs had been given; but they had closed their eyes and hardened their hearts. Now that the Father Himself had spoken, and they could ask for no further sign, they still refused to believe.

“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” They loved the praise of men rather than the approval of God. To save themselves from reproach and shame, they denied Christ, and rejected the offer of eternal life. And how many through all the centuries since have been doing the same thing! To them all the Saviour's warning words apply: “He that loveth his life shall lose it.” “He that rejecteth Me,” said Jesus, “and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” John 12:48.

Alas for those who knew not the time of their visitation! Slowly and regretfully Christ left forever the precincts of the temple.

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exquisitelyeco · 7 years ago

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A story of a God who is outside the box.......A story of personal redemption

Please do one thing. Please read this down to the end. It IS mind blowing. But do not give up part way, through in anger, confusion or fear. If you read the WHOLE thing, it may make more sense to you. Trust God in this.

In three days time, over two thousand years ago a woman gave birth to a man who changed the face of the earth forever. Yes, date may NOT be correct, don’t quibble! Jesus, Immanuel, meaning ‘God with us’ was born. Son of God AND son of man. Human and Divine. He came to die. So that those who chose, many have life. None of us deserve this. To me, God has always been Immanuel. No matter how dark the situation or my life choices have been. He has come, and He has saved me. This is the story of just one of many of His personal interventions in my life. This blog will either blow you away or really piss you off. It shows how God does NOT fit into a theological box. Many Christians will either dislike or not believe that God is like this. It will not sit with their theology or understanding of who God is. But the events are true. I do not know why God has done the miraculous in my life. Why He has been so AMAZINGLY outside the box with me. I never knew God like this. I only knew about His anger and feared His retribution. God is NOT who we think He is! As I have said before, we MUST, with URGENCY, begin to see that scriptures are NOT just words on a page. But LIVE and BREATH! Truly! They are ALIVE, because HE is alive! Never forget that! We MUST be open to the fact our theology could be wrong. To be open to the fact WE could be using it to manipulate or hide behind out of fear, control or something else. That our motives could be the very reason we hide behind the bible, but are actually living in deceit.

We have to learn two things. TRUSTING that God can keep us safe, EVEN if we fall. And DISCERNING that what seems to be a contradiction of the gospel, could possibly be the truth, or another facet of it. TRUSTING that God will protect and keep us, EVEN whilst we LEARN to DISCERN who and what He is. No matter what. Because until we learn this, we are open to the attacks of Satan. This is the story of part of my life. I have lived with fear all my life. First because of my father. Then because of my own foolish choices. This part of my life was the pinnacle of fear and terror. I cannot say how bad this was. It was horrific. I will not give all details. I can’t. But if you read further down, and have not given up already, you will see how God is NOT bound to words of scripture, but interprets them in ways we can never, ever fathom. Always remember, with God, is about relationship. He came to save. That is what He does. But He does it His way. And His way does not always sit comfortably with what we perceive He is or what He does. So the week before last, I told you how deep Gods mercy has been to me during a communion service. That although I was having an affair, He showed me, with a miraculous sign, He would cover my sin and not condemn me, so I could take communion in safety. At that time, I told you God allowed, indeed made sure, I got pregnant with my son. BREATHE here, ok! Just hold Gods hand, trust Him and read on.....The father of my son, was the man I was having an affair with. Before this I was playing around with the occult. I had run from God because of a terrible, terrible betrayal. I was struggling because of a lie I believed that God needed me to be punished. And I must go and be punished. I had also lost all my hair, because of brain surgery. I lost the man I loved. It finished me.

And so I went back to my old ways, back to an old correspondent I had been pen pals with. I was warned about him, but refused to listen. In my pain and lack of confidence, and in my self deceit, at one point I had two of his letters in my hand. One said about his girlfriend, I didn’t know he had. The other had one sentence in that sent me over into my deceit that nearly cost me my life. To be fair to me, I was in such spiritual and emotional pain, and so very vulnerable, and had only just had brain surgery months before. I lost the husband I had loved, because he forced me to choose between him and Christ. I’d lost all my hair due to surgery. I was already mentally and emotionally sick and had no clue. I was in very bad shape! So the sentence of his letter said, ‘I care about you.’ That was it. I was gone. I SO wanted to be cared for. So I started a relationship with him. And I’d been mucking around with the occult. One day, extremely early in the relationship, he had gone out and I spoke to God. Normally if anything goes wrong I blame God. It’s all His fault! But this day, I said, ‘If you let me get pregnant, I will stop reading my occult stuff and get rid of it. And I’ll try not to blame you, if I don’t get pregnant.’ I tell you this. I never even had Ladies time. I got pregnant that month.

Later, after the horror was all over, and I’d run away, and been helped by Gods grace to escape it, because it was the most dangerous and violent relationship I’d ever had, I told my mum what had happened. That God had given me my son. He had let me fall pregnant, when I’d asked Him too. She was vehement. ‘God CANNOT have done this! You were having an affair. He doesn’t bless things like that.’ And she would not listen to it. Now I KNEW God had done this. So I went and asked Him. ‘I know you did this. Why did you do it?’ His answer shows the depth, not only of His grace, mercy and miraculous, but the love, care and intimate involvement He had with my life. Even now, it is amazing. He said ‘Because you wouldn’t fight for yourself. But you would for the baby.’ WHAT a God! To allow me to get pregnant, me, who was offensive and sinful, hurting God in every way possible. Who was having an affair, blatantly. To answer my request, and not bat an eyelid on the situation in which He was blessing me! All because He wanted to keep me safe. He gave me my son to fight for. And that was everything. He was right. I am a selfish, wilful and deeply sinful person. But I do love my children. I have failed them many times. But I love them. And for them I escaped. But even that, showed the intimacy of Gods love, planning and care. I was so filled with terror, so Physically, mentality and emotionally sick. It was horrifying. And at the worst time, Satan tried to take me out. I could not believe, and still struggle too, that God loves me. Even after everything he has done. The depth of damage my father did had totally destroyed all my trust in any man, let alone a God who seemed to be only male!

Some months before I had been reading a book. It was to save my sanity. Literally. In the book the preacher described how Satan had spoken to him. That the voice came from heaven, but sounded just like a tomb. I read it. And forgot it. Events took over. Fear, yet again, became my life. One day, I was holding on to sanity with my fingertips. I knew there must be an angry, revengeful God on one side, wanting to damn me to hell for having an affair. And on the other side, the father of my child wanted to kill me. And had told me. I knew what he was going to do. And I was absolutely terrified. So I was in total and utter panic, horror, and terror. And then I heard an audible voice from heaven. And it said ‘The wages of sin is death.’ The voice was like a tomb. If I had not read that book, I literally would have lost my mind at that moment. But I KNEW it was Satan and not God. Not that I thought God loved me. But I knew He didn’t say it. What a God! To put that book in my path! How intimately this God wants to know ME. Sinful, pathetic, selfish, stubborn, me. Hideously sinful, emotionally, mentally and physically unwell. Yet the God of the Cosmos, who spoke the world into existence, who was and is and is to come, had taken SUCH detailed care of my life! Why? I have done nothing to deserve it. Nothing. I deserve hell. Forever. But this God. This Triune Being. This unfathomable, almighty, amazing God has saved me. Over and over and over and over again. And then He dragged me kicking and screaming to CCD. I have told of that testimony on another blog post. And CCD have walked with me on a journey of redemption and changed my life. God has redeemed my relationship with my children. And is working on redeeming the mess I made of my life. He is helping me. Slowly take personal responsibility and make choices that bring me life and not death. Healthy relationships, not destructive, dangerous ones. Teaching me not all men behave like animals. Some men honour, cherish and value women. And you don’t have to sleep with them to get that kind of treatment!

It’s long, painful and hard. Sometimes I have been so near the end, so near to taking my own life, that I don’t know how I made it to the next day. But God has never given up. I’m always afraid He will. He will stop, get fed up, leave me alone. Or I will go away, and so end in hell. But I hope to get to a place, where I know that I KNOW, this God, who clearly is crazily, madly in love with me, actually means it.

#redemption #saving #saved #Jesus #God #intimacy #love #forgiveness #Immanuel #Christmas #holy #Satan #tomb #rescue #madly #deeply #personal #life

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gossipnetwork-blog · 7 years ago

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Julien Baker on Faith, Touring, New LP 'Turn Out the Lights'

New Post has been published on http://gossip.network/julien-baker-on-faith-touring-new-lp-turn-out-the-lights/

Julien Baker on Faith, Touring, New LP 'Turn Out the Lights'

Julien Baker is a geek, and she doesn’t care what anyone has to say about it. “I’m a big Tolkien nerd,” she says with a laugh on the phone with Rolling Stone, a month after her three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand. “We had to go to Hobbiton,” she says, “the Lord of the Rings set. Because I’m a giant dork.”

Baker compares herself to Frodo Baggins’ character in Lord of the Rings, “in a constant state of transit.” The 22-year-old Memphis native was studying audio engineering at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro when she self-released her 2015 debut, Sprained Ankle, on Bandcamp. The subsequent wave of acclaim led Baker to put her schooling on hold, pack her bags and hit the road in support of major acts such as Paramore, the Decemberists and her Matador labelmates Belle and Sebastian. (On October 10th, she plays a high-profile gig at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, opening for Jason Isbell.)

A close examination of Baker’s interior life as a queer Christian woman, Sprained Ankle also took on her personal struggles with faith, anxiety and substance abuse. She expands further outward on her upcoming album, Turn Out the Lights, out October 27th, a series of softly spun meditations on conflicts between her and her loved ones. Strings and organs mingle with her cyclic flutters of guitar, strengthening the impact of Baker’s redemption songs.

“The record’s less just about a single person’s journey through feeling or coping with mental health,” she says, “and more about how, [in spite] of those afflictions or challenges that every person encounters … trying to advertise the capacity for empathy.”

The first single, “Appointments,” trails a relationship running on the fumes of a healthier time; in the video, Baker tries to go about a regular day in town, while dancers circle around her like specters. “Maybe it’s all gonna turn out all right,” Baker reflects, “and I know that it’s not, but I have to believe that it is.”

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“Why is mental health stigmatized in our society?” she asks in reference to the song. “How awful and crushing of a thing is it that one of the most destructive issues a person can have is something that’s so mysterious and imperceptible. You can’t just Vulcan mind-meld yourself to them and feel their feelings. You can only come in as a guest. I could say I’m sorry, or I could say I understand, but I may not, and I may not ever. All I can say is I support them.”

The new album was recorded in Ardent Studios in Baker’s hometown of Memphis – currently managed by Jody Stephens of Big Star fame. Baker met Stephens while recording Turn Out the Lights: “He popped his head into the studio and was like, ‘Can I come in here and listen to a few things?'” They wound up having a lengthy conversation. “He said, ‘Everywhere else it seems like people are trying to kick each other off of the ladder, and in Memphis, everyone is just on their own ladder.’ And I was like, wow, that’s so brilliant, and true!”

Now residing in Nashville, Baker lovingly refers to the relationship between Nashville and Memphis as a friendly sibling rivalry. “I am a die-hard Memphis representative,” says Baker. “Grit ‘n’ grind – I love my city! There’s so many rich, cultural, musical aspects of Memphis. We don’t get all the commercial A-circuit tours that Nashville gets, but we got the genius of Stax Records, we got Ardent, we got rock & roll. And there’s such a vibrant contemporary scene here too. I have a support system in both cities, but in Nashville, it’s kind of like a fishing net, and in Memphis, it’s like chain mail. I want to be the chain mail.”

Many of her collaborators on the album are childhood friends and artists she knew from her old stomping grounds at Memphis’ Smith7 Records, an all-ages space where in her younger years she first flaunted a rainbow-colored mohawk and performed in an emo band called Forrister. At the time she spoke to RS, she says the last time she had been back home was to shoot an upcoming music video on a friend’s farm. “I’d come back from tour and been in Tennessee for all of one hour,” she laughs, “And we’d already managed to hop up on a tractor. Nothing had changed.”

“When I get to perform … that’s like church to me,” Baker says. Scott Dudelson/WireImage.com

She says the album couldn’t have come together without her friends’ support. “I believe so much in my friends’ art, all the time,” she says. “So much of the record is collaborative with my friends – instead of consolidating all of the control and creative power in my individual vision, you need to delegate that out.” She cites the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer: “All the prayers are written as ‘we,’ because it’s not just about you,” she says. “Everybody is seeking some peace. And so, you don’t just say, ‘Lord help me.’ You say, ‘us.’ And ‘we.'”

With a tour schedule like Baker’s, prayer is mostly a solitary exercise, although she tries to attend church wherever she can, regardless of denomination – whether it’s an LGBTQ-friendly Unitarian Universalist congregation in San Diego, or a French service in Brussels. “People say, ‘Church is not a building, church is people,'” she says. “I would never impose my beliefs on someone else, especially an audience. But when I get to perform, and I get to share for a moment, all these strangers together singing the same thing? … That’s like church to me.”

Baker sometimes pleases crowds with covers of Jawbreaker, Elliott Smith and Death Cab For Cutie songs; yet she felt the divinity of music most potently on election night 2016, while on tour with Kevin Devine and Petal, when she sang a hymn. “We were in Houston, Texas,” she says. “Kiley [Lotz] from Petal is kind of in the same boat as me, negotiating her identity and [being] a person of faith in a non-traditional faith community. We were sitting backstage and watching the election results roll in, and we were just … really bummed out. So I thought, ‘Let’s sing a song together, just something to celebrate or comfort each other.’ I was like, ‘Hey, Kiley, do you know, “It as Well”?'”

“I [considered whether] some people were coming to escape the ever-present conservative Christian rhetoric that they’re surrounded by,” she continues. “I have a had a remarkably privileged experience with being queer. I have friends who have been excommunicated from their church, who have been ostracized by their family. … What if I had ruined the safe space for them by singing a song from church? I was fearful, but I got out there [with Kiley] and said, ‘The first line is “When peace like a river attendeth my way.”‘”

By the time the chorus kicked in, Baker says, “Kiley and I couldn’t hear ourselves in the monitor over all the people singing. And to re-contextualize that song, which is about trying to find peace and happiness no matter what your circumstance … both of us just started bawling. That moment was more worship to me than some sermons I’ve been to – when human beings just all came together to comfort each other out of love and support, and not knowing what the future holds.”

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truthandlove · 8 years ago

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The Predator vs the Giving Father

Lucifer (devil, satan) is a PREDATOR, thus everything of the beast-system (aka Babylon system), is WEAPONIZED. Sexuality becomes predatory. Air/Water/Food becomes weaponized. Social services and governments become predatory. Everything is dressed up as if it is good, and wants to GIVE to you (to protect or care for your needs), but satan is only capable of TAKING AWAY from you. The devil has nothing to give, only to impart its emptiness, despair, fragmentation, corruption, deadness, etc..

Luciferians / Satanists only TAKE from their devotees. Their followers (in their secret clubs and secret societies) are promised WHATEVER it is that appeals to the fleshly way to compensate for unmet human needs of the heart (promised power, control, comfort, status, sex, money, big cars and houses, etc.). The Luciferian way is to set a person up to NEED, to be in WANT - to need love, belonging, validation, acceptance, money, etc. It is all scarcity-based driven-ness. It is all loveless-ness reactions. It is all trauma/wound based control systems. Now we ALREADY are designed by God to need things like love/security/belonging/purpose. But the Lucifer/Devil (and its beast minions in both demonic and human forms), PRETEND they are capable of delivering those needs to you WITHOUT having to go to Father God to get them. They lie that their FALSE god can deliver better than Father God can.

Like a psychopathic politician will PROMISE anything to win your trust, only to deliver the OPPOSITE once elected, lucifer/devil spins the narrative upside down, to LURE YOU IN with whatever bait you will fall for (your flavor of neediness, codependency, or your brand of fear) and then SWITCH. So it is bait and switch. Bait you with offering something good, then switch it to degrade/destroy and take from you.

This is what the serpent did with Eve, the fruit looked good and beneficial to her life. Eve had no wounds. Eve had no lack. No bad childhood. No addictions. No experience with compromise. Eve had no self-destructive desires, guilt or shame to leverage against her. So the serpent took her LEGITIMATE DESIRE for self-actualization (become wise like God), to BAIT her with that, when SWITCH it to achieving that positive intention through ILLEGITIMATE means (link it to the action of eating the forbid fruit, link it to disobey God and cross his line to take that which you should not take). And how does this Beast System (these institutions like healthcare, banking, etc.) promise to give and then take from you? By getting you to DOUBT THE HEART OF GOD.

If Eve was in need, in lack, she could have asked God for anything. No, serpent/satan caused her to DOUBT if God was implicitly trustworthy (if His instructions were true / good / loving) and get her to IMAGINE she was in lack and that God was holding out his best and not giving it to her. Thus creating a “need for something MORE”.

Once you just begin to doubt that God is indeed loving authority, you can legalize in your mind stepping outside of His instructions to GET MORE - to get the thing you imagine you lack. This is the form satan/devil/lucifer constantly uses, to cheat, to do evil, to lie, to backstab a colleague, etc. in the name of GETTING what you "need", what will compensate for the LACK you imagine you suffer from.

What overcomes this evil? Faith. Loving trust to Abba Father will GO STRAIGHT TO GOD with our every need. And it will trust what God instructs and put it into practice, CONFIDENT that God wants your best, because His Heart is 100% good.

To sum up what we’ve said thus far: Evil must first get you to believe that you need to operate OUTSIDE of God's instructions to meet some need (real or imagined need makes no difference). Evil pumps up the anxiety to “get more” because you “lack” something essential to your well-being that you mistakenly believe God WON'T provide. A love-relationship with God as your Father (the EXACT thing Jesus constantly demonstrated for humanity through His own life on Earth), is the ANTIDOTE to evil. Go TO God, not around God, for your every need, for clarity on what your actual needs are, and for HOW to best receive the goodness/provision from God that God ACTIVELY LONGS to give you. This is universally true; it applies to your need to pay that next bill as equally as it applies to enjoying a great marriage.

Now understand this: The devil is out to CREATE PAIN (and trauma and extreme neediness) in your life, so as to manipulate you into merely reaching for RELIEF (for some sin action to reflexively compensate for a feeling of un-wholeness — maybe you find a bit of relief in getting drunk, in promiscuity, in that pill, in that next cigarette, in overeating, in gossip, in binge TV watching, in whatever it can trick you into seeing as relief). God is true love, and in true love gives you not bitter lures of relief, but is your source for REDEMPTION -- for wholeness.

God calls Himself, El Shaddai, for this very reason: He Himself is your provider for every need. His ample bosom is ready to give into your every situation. The world system (the beast) is constantly attacking the truth that God's heart is fully good, and thus trustworthy. We go TO God, not around God or away from God to flourish, to enjoy deep satisfaction, connectedness, belonging, significance, and our soul's EVERY need.

We were designed to draw our life from God — our heart-connection to Father God’s heart. This is what Adam's sin lost - the faith-connection that let us experience harmonious intimacy with God as our perfect Father. Thus it is this FATHER WOUND that is the core of our deepest needs. We need a fully safe and good source to turn to - to find provision and comfit and strength/security throughout our lives. Satan’s lies say that God must be a bad father — untrustworthy and holding out on you — SO THAT you won't go TO Abba Father with an open and trusting heart ("as a child", to use the Bible's wording) so that you can receive the assurance, the comfort, the security, the confidence, etc. that you need to be your best you in this life moment.

Jesus showed us how to trust the Father's goodness implicitly, no matter the message and lies the outwards circumstances were trying to manipulate and pressure a person into believing. We need to Trust the Father like Jesus did. Pray and ASK your Daddy Father God for a Christ-like Faith.

Then you will enjoy LIFE and POWER to shun the fake lures of satanic agendas designed to get you to go astray (like a foolish sheep) into danger, deception, degradation and death. Choose restoration and life through constantly choosing to draw your life and your needs from Father God through the connection that the Cross and Resurrection of Christ made possible. Choose faith in the good heart of God so that anxiety and arrows of false neediness don't pierce your life unnecessarily. God wants to GIVE you what you truly need. Trust that and act on it by keeping God's voice at the center of your actions. Yes, it is hard with all the propaganda the devil constantly throws at us, and its false interpretations of our life experiences, designed to break our hearts. But God is your LIFE. God is your STRENGTH. God is the RESTORER of your Heart and your destiny. As Psalm 73:25-28 declares to Father God:

Whom do I have in heaven but you?

And with you, I lack nothing on earth.

My mind and body may fail; but God

is the rock for my mind and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who adulterously leave you.

But for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have made Adonai Elohim (The Lord God) my refuge,

so that I can tell of all your works.

Here we see the Psalmist finding security, finding provision, finding strength for LIFE in His lyrics. We see him TRUSTING God and thus going TO Father God for security and provision. Yes! This is the answer!

In conclusion: your choice, each moment in small and big ways alike is to turn to the false narrative of the PREDATOR serpent the devil, ever a manipulative taker, OR to the TRUE LOVE of Father God who has already GIVEN you His very best in His beloved son, Jesus the Christ. Each moment you are already choosing which one you are drawing from, each with its respective consequences. Now choose wisely, friends.

Go TO Father God in Trust. Faith tenaciously trust's God's heart to be good and safe, and thus is the victory that overcomes Babylon’s predatory tricks and traps.

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seekfirstme · 5 years ago

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Meditation: Who doesn't desire the praise and respect of others? We want others to see us at our best with all of our strengths and achievements - rather than at our worst with all of our faults and shortcomings. God sees us as we truly are - sinners and beggars always in need of his mercy, help, and guidance.

The prophet Isaiah warned both the rulers and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah to humbly listen and submit to God's teaching so they could learn to do good and to cease from evil (Isaiah 1:16-17). Jesus warned the scribes and Pharisees, the teachers and rulers of Israel, to teach and serve their people with humility and sincerity rather than with pride and self-promotion. They went to great lengths to draw attention to their religious status and practices. In a way they wanted to be good models of observant Jews. "See how well we observe all the ritual rules and regulations of our religion!" In their misguided zeal for religion they sought recognition and honor for themselves rather than for God. They made the practice of their faith a burden rather than a joy for the people they were supposed to serve.

True respect for God inclines us to humble ourselves and to submit to his wisdom and guidance. We cannot be taught by God unless we first learn to listen to his word and then obey his instruction.

One Father and Teacher

Was Jesus against calling anyone a rabbi, the Jewish title for a teacher of God's word (Matthew 23:7-8), or a father? The law of Moses in Scripture specifically instructed all fathers to be teachers and instructors for their children to help them understand and obey God's instructions (Deuteronomy 6:7)? Why did Jesus rebuke the scribes and Pharisees, the religious authorities of the Jewish people, in the presence of his disciples? Jesus wanted to warn both his own disciples and the religious leaders about the temptation to seek honors and titles that draw attention to ourselves in place of God and his word. Pride tempts us to put ourselves first above others.

The Scriptures give ample warning about the danger of self-seeking pride: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; Proverbs 3:24).

Origen (185-254 AD), an early Christian teacher and bible scholar, reminds those who teach and lead to remember that they are first and foremost "disciples" and "servants" who sit at the feet of their Master and Teacher the Lord Jesus Christ:

"You have one teacher, and you are all brothers to each other...Whoever ministers with the divine word does not put himself forward to be called teacher, for he knows that when he performs well it is Christ who is within him. He should only call himself servant according to the command of Christ, saying, Whoever is greater among you, let him be the servant of all."

True humility

Respect for God and for his ways inclines us to humility and to simplicity of heart - the willing readiness to seek the one true good who is God himself. What is the nature of true humility and why should we embrace it as essential for our lives? We can easily mistake humility as something demeaning or harmful to our sense of well-being and feeling good about ourselves. True humility is not feeling bad about yourself, or having a low opinion of yourself, or thinking of yourself as inferior to all others. True humility frees us from preoccupation with ourselves, whereas a low self-opinion tends to focus our attention on ourselves. Humility is truth in self-understanding and truth in action. Viewing ourselves honestly, with sober judgment, means seeing ourselves the way God sees us (Psalm 139:1-4).

A humble person makes a realistic assessment of oneself without illusion or pretense to be something one is not. A truly humble person regards oneself neither smaller nor larger than one truly is. True humility frees us to be ourselves as God regards us and to avoid falling into despair and pride. A humble person does not want to wear a mask or put on a facade in order to look good to others. Such a person is not swayed by accidentals, such as fame, reputation, success, or failure. Do you know the joy of Christ-like humility and simplicity of heart?

Humility is the queen or foundation of all the other virtues because it enables us to see and judge correctly, the way God sees. Humility helps us to be teachable so we can acquire true knowledge, wisdom, and an honest view of reality. It directs our energy, zeal, and will to give ourselves to something greater than ourselves. Humility frees us to love and serve others willingly and selflessly, for their own sake, rather than for our own. Paul the Apostle gives us the greatest example and model of humility in the person of Jesus Christ, who emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and... who humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8). Do you want to be a servant as Jesus loved and served others? The Lord Jesus gives us his heart - the heart of a servant who seeks the good of others and puts their interests first in his care and concern for them.

"Lord Jesus, you became a servant for my sake to set me free from the tyranny of selfish pride and self-concern. Teach me to be humble as you are humble and to love others generously with selfless service and kindness."

LEARN HUMILITY FROM JESUS

"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, but whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:12

Jesus probably emphasized humility more than any other person who has ever lived. Jesus, God Himself (Jn 1:1, 18), emptied Himself and became a man (Phil 2:7). This act of humility is beyond comprehension. Jesus chose to be born in a stable at Bethlehem. As a baby, he was a Refugee in Egypt. He lived in the obscure village of Nazareth. He had the menial job of a carpenter. During His public ministry, Jesus had nowhere to lay His head (Lk 9:58). "He was spurned and avoided by men, a Man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity" (Is 53:3). He humbled Himself even to death on a cross, the death of a slave (Phil 2:8). Jesus continues to be present with and within us. His most powerful and intimate presence is His Eucharistic presence. God so humbles Himself to look like bread and wine.

During this Lent, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to the truth (see Jn 16:13) about your humility. What we call humility may be much different than what Jesus means by humility. True humility is a mystery, a joy, a share in the redemption. It is a grace and a privilege to humble ourselves. Let us accept this grace now.

Prayer: Father, give me "a humble, contrite heart" (Ps 51:19, our transl). Promise: "Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool." —Is 1:18 Praise: Herbert humbled himself and apologized to his brother. (To learn humility from Jesus, read the Bible everyday. Order, listen to, or download our CD series An Introduction to each Book of the Bible beginning with or our beginning with on our website.)

Rescript: In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") for One Bread, One Body covering the period from February 1, 2020 through March 31, 2020.

Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 8, 2019.

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araitsume · 6 years ago

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The Desire of Ages, pp. 31-38: Chapter (3) “The Fullness of the Time”

“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, ... to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Galatians 4:4, 5.

The Saviour's coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joyfully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer. But the fulfillment of the promise tarried. Those who first received it died without the sight. From the days of Enoch the promise was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping alive the hope of His appearing, and yet He came not. The prophecy of Daniel revealed the time of His advent, but not all rightly interpreted the message. Century after century passed away; the voices of the prophets ceased. The hand of the oppressor was heavy upon Israel, and many were ready to exclaim, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.” Ezekiel 12:22.

But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God's purposes know no haste and no delay. Through the symbols of the great darkness and the smoking furnace, God had revealed to Abraham the bondage of Israel in Egypt, and had declared that the time of their sojourning should be four hundred years. “Afterward,” He said, “shall they come out with great substance.” Genesis 15:14. Against that word, all the power of Pharaoh's proud empire battled in vain. On “the self-same day” appointed in the divine promise, “it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:41. So in heaven's council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son.” Providence had directed the movements of nations, and the tide of human impulse and influence, until the world was ripe for the coming of the Deliverer. The nations were united under one government. One language was widely spoken, and was everywhere recognized as the language of literature. From all lands the Jews of the dispersion gathered to Jerusalem to the annual feasts. As these returned to the places of their sojourn, they could spread throughout the world the tidings of the Messiah's coming.

At this time the systems of heathenism were losing their hold upon the people. Men were weary of pageant and fable. They longed for a religion that could satisfy the heart. While the light of truth seemed to have departed from among men, there were souls who were looking for light, and who were filled with perplexity and sorrow. They were thirsting for a knowledge of the living God, for some assurance of a life beyond the grave.

As the Jews had departed from God, faith had grown dim, and hope had well-nigh ceased to illuminate the future. The words of the prophets were uncomprehended. To the masses of the people, death was a dread mystery; beyond was uncertainty and gloom. It was not alone the wailing of the mothers of Bethlehem, but the cry from the great heart of humanity, that was borne to the prophet across the centuries,—the voice heard in Ramah, “lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” Matthew 2:18. In “the region and shadow of death,” men sat unsolaced. With longing eyes they looked for the coming of the Deliverer, when the darkness should be dispelled, and the mystery of the future should be made plain.

Outside of the Jewish nation there were men who foretold the appearance of a divine instructor. These men were seeking for truth, and to them the Spirit of Inspiration was imparted. One after another, like stars in the darkened heavens, such teachers had arisen. Their words of prophecy had kindled hope in the hearts of thousands of the Gentile world.

For hundreds of years the Scriptures had been translated into the Greek language, then widely spoken throughout the Roman Empire. The Jews were scattered everywhere, and their expectation of the Messiah's coming was to some extent shared by the Gentiles. Among those whom the Jews styled heathen were men who had a better understanding of the Scripture prophecies concerning the Messiah than had the teachers in Israel. There were some who hoped for His coming as a deliverer from sin. Philosophers endeavored to study into the mystery of the Hebrew economy. But the bigotry of the Jews hindered the spread of the light. Intent on maintaining the separation between themselves and other nations, they were unwilling to impart the knowledge they still possessed concerning the symbolic service. The true Interpreter must come. The One whom all these types prefigured must explain their significance.

Through nature, through types and symbols, through patriarchs and prophets, God had spoken to the world. Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity. The Messenger of the covenant must speak. His voice must be heard in His own temple. Christ must come to utter words which should be clearly and definitely understood. He, the author of truth, must separate truth from the chaff of man's utterance, which had made it of no effect. The principles of God's government and the plan of redemption must be clearly defined. The lessons of the Old Testament must be fully set before men.

Among the Jews there were yet steadfast souls, descendants of that holy line through whom a knowledge of God had been preserved. These still looked for the hope of the promise made unto the fathers. They strengthened their faith by dwelling upon the assurance given through Moses, “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.” Acts 3:22. Again, they read how the Lord would anoint One “to preach good tidings unto the meek,” “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,” and to declare the “acceptable year of the Lord.” Isaiah 61:1, 2. They read how He would “set judgment in the earth,” how the isles should “wait for His law,” how the Gentiles should come to His light, and kings to the brightness of His rising. Isaiah 42:4; 60:3.

The dying words of Jacob filled them with hope: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.” Genesis 49:10. The waning power of Israel testified that the Messiah's coming was at hand. The prophecy of Daniel pictured the glory of His reign over an empire which should succeed all earthly kingdoms; and, said the prophet, “It shall stand forever.” Daniel 2:44. While few understood the nature of Christ's mission, there was a widespread expectation of a mighty prince who should establish his kingdom in Israel, and who should come as a deliverer to the nations.

The fullness of the time had come. Humanity, becoming more degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and heaven. By his falsehoods he had emboldened men in sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish His love for man, so that He would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction.

Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. It is true that in every generation God had His agencies. Even among the heathen there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from their sin and degradation. But these men were despised and hated. Many of them suffered a violent death. The dark shadow that Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.

Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had implanted this principle. Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.

The message of salvation is communicated to men through human agencies. But the Jews had sought to make a monopoly of the truth which is eternal life. They had hoarded the living manna, and it had turned to corruption. The religion which they tried to shut up to themselves became an offense. They robbed God of His glory, and defrauded the world by a counterfeit of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction.

The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth had become representatives of Satan. They were doing the work that he desired them to do, taking a course to misrepresent the character of God, and cause the world to look upon Him as a tyrant. The very priests who ministered in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels. The whole system must be swept away.

The deception of sin had reached its height. All the agencies for depraving the souls of men had been put in operation. The Son of God, looking upon the world, beheld suffering and misery. With pity He saw how men had become victims of satanic cruelty. He looked with compassion upon those who were being corrupted, murdered, and lost. They had chosen a ruler who chained them to his car as captives. Bewildered and deceived, they were moving on in gloomy procession toward eternal ruin,—to death in which is no hope of life, toward night to which comes no morning. Satanic agencies were incorporated with men. The bodies of human beings, made for the dwelling place of God, had become the habitation of demons. The senses, the nerves, the passions, the organs of men, were worked by supernatural agencies in the indulgence of the vilest lust. The very stamp of demons was impressed upon the countenances of men. Human faces reflected the expression of the legions of evil with which they were possessed. Such was the prospect upon which the world's Redeemer looked. What a spectacle for Infinite Purity to behold!

Sin had become a science, and vice was consecrated as a part of religion. Rebellion had struck its roots deep into the heart, and the hostility of man was most violent against heaven. It was demonstrated before the universe that, apart from God, humanity could not be uplifted. A new element of life and power must be imparted by Him who made the world.

With intense interest the unfallen worlds had watched to see Jehovah arise, and sweep away the inhabitants of the earth. And if God should do this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan for securing to himself the allegiance of heavenly beings. He had declared that the principles of God's government make forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would have claimed that his accusations were proved true. He was ready to cast blame upon God, and to spread his rebellion to the worlds above. But instead of destroying the world, God sent His Son to save it. Though corruption and defiance might be seen in every part of the alien province, a way for its recovery was provided. At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassage of divine grace. Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited. And when the fullness of the time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled.

Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came to lift us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory.

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