#when God cursed the word with thistles i believes this is what he meant

[wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever]

I am insulted that no one mentioned the only true way to curb a tumble weed outbreak is to blow torch them, which also inadvisable because of the high risk of wild fire. THAT is the reason we can't get rid of them, because in eradicting them we risk eradicting ourselves.

i have some questions yet i find myself too afraid to seek answers

[clandonnachaidh]

Light Across The Seas That Sever (Ch4)

AO3

When he woke the next morning in Amsterdam, his feeling of utter contentment quickly gave way to dread as his hand eagerly searched the space in the bed beside him only to find it empty. Immediately, his eyes snapped opened and he looked around the room for her, for his Claire.

His heart sank at the sight.

The twin bed that she had slept in for the night prior to the one they shared was made, her suitcase gone from its spot by the door. He stumbled as he got out of bed, his limbs not quite awake yet as he burst through the bathroom door and he noticed that her things were gone. It was as if she’d never been there.

If not for the taste of her still on his lips, he’d have wondered if he’d dreamt the whole thing.

He spun around the room in a flurry, unsure of what he was looking for or what he planned on doing once he found it.

Then his eyes fell on the slip of paper that sat on the windowsill, the sun casting its rays down on her pen strokes.

I can’t bring myself to wake you. I have to catch my flight. I’ll let you know when I land in Boston.

Jamie’s heart clenched in his chest and he used the palm of his hand to rub at his sternum without thought. He knew that she was gone. He cursed himself for being such a deep sleeper, wished that he’d had the awareness to know that she had been moving around the room silently, packing her things to leave. But in the afterglow of their love making, having released tension and anticipation that had been building inside of him for years, sleep had taken him down and down until he was oblivious to the world. The last thing he remembered was the ghost of her fingertips on his cheekbone and his jaw as he whispered to her once in his mother tongue, the language of his heart that he knew she didn’t understand but hoped that she could feel the meaning of, before falling into a deep sleep.

“Mo ghaol ort, mo Sorcha.”

He had to find her, had to make her understand that he loved her and had loved her since the moment he saw her. Scrambling into the same clothes from the day before, he tore out of the hotel, not caring that they’d charge him for another night when he would inevitably miss check-out. He rushed to the train station and bought a direct ticket to Schiphol, his shaking fingers calling her repeatedly and his heart falling every time it went to her voicemail.

He left his third message, laying his heart out for her to hear, “Claire, please just answer the phone. Talk to me. I winna ask ye to do anything ye dinna want to do but I have to say it, Claire. And I refuse to say it on your bloody voicemail so answer yer phone, tell me where ye are. I’m on my way to the airport. I’m coming to find you.”

Once he arrived, he pushed his way past the crowds of holiday goers, businessmen in their suits and parents trying to corral their children into order. Suddenly thankful for the view that his height gifted him, he searched frantically for any sign of her. He’d found her flight on the departures board and raced to the terminal, praying to God that something had delayed her and she hadn’t had time to make it through security yet. The panic bubbled in his chest as he began to breathe heavily, black dots appearing in his vision. It took everything in him not to simply start shouting her name in the hope that it would bring her to him.

A furious hysteria was beginning to claw its way into his nervous system, controlling the frantic jerks of his long limbs that felt too heavy for him to carry. He dialled her number again and was astonished when she answered.

“Jamie,” she whispered and he felt his heart shatter at the pain in her voice. “Oh, my Jamie.”

“Claire, where are ye? What were ye thinking running off without saying goodbye?” His voice sounded desperate and angry as he spun on the spot, knowing that the compass in his heart that always navigated him to her side would point him in the right direction. Still, his eyes weren’t able to land on her. “Damn it, Claire, tell me where ye are!”

He heard her let out a sob.

“I’m at my gate. You won’t be able to get through.”

Unable to remain upright at her confession, he slumped against the wall beside him and let his head hang, releasing tears that he had been keeping at bay from the moment he had realised that she had left. He cried with her, not caring if people saw.

“Why did ye do this?”

“I couldn’t stand to say goodbye.”

“Claire, I lo-“

“Don’t,” she cried softly, only speaking when he went to say it again. “I’m begging you, don’t say it. If you care for me at all, don’t make this harder.”

He restrained himself from driving his fist into the cement and pushed his forehead against it as his fingers gripped his phone tighter in his hand.

“I canna believe ye weren’t going to say goodbye,” he whispered with a voice full of hurt and not devoid of anger. “Do ye regret it? Last night?”

Her answer came out in a burst, “No. No, I don’t regret it. But you’re my friend. My best friend and with everything changing… I’m going to need my best friend.”

“Yer being selfish, Claire. To give me hope last night and then to pull it out from underneath me, to leave me wi’out breath,” the words were spilling out of him, not caring if he hurt her. She had hurt him well enough.

“Jamie, I thought-“

“No, ye didna think at all. Only of yerself getting to have a wee bit of fun before running off and settling down a whole fuckin’ ocean away.”

With a man who’s not me, he thought.

The line went quiet apart from the gentle sound of her crying and the odd ragged breath that he drew into his lungs to try and settle his racing mind. He screwed his eyes shut and banged his head lightly against the wall.

“Claire, forgive me, I- fuck, I just dinna ken what tae do.”

“They’re calling my gate, I have to go,” she whispered.

“Please, I didna mean it, I was sore and said more than I meant,” he desperately tried to explain himself.

“I’ll let you know when I land. Goodbye Jamie.”

“Claire—”

When she hung up the phone, he sat on the floor and went to pieces. An hour passed before he was able to bring himself together enough to make his way back to the hotel, gather his things and get his own flight back home. With one look at him, standing on the steps of Lallybroch with the spirit of a broken man, Jenny set her mouth in a straight line. In a feat that would’ve astounded Jamie had he the energy to care, she kept her words to herself and brought him a bottle of whisky as he sat in front of the fireplace, somehow managing to keep her children from pestering their uncle. He spent days moping around the estate, barely speaking a word but she made sure that he knew that when he did want to talk, Jenny Murray would be there to listen.

It was two weeks after Claire had left that Jamie heard from her. It was early evening and he had just punished himself with a 10km run around Lallybroch’s grounds, thinking that if his muscles were screaming in pain then he might get some distraction from the dull ache that had set up shop in his chest. The minute he stepped into the hot stream of the shower, his phone pinged with a message. How he would kick himself afterwards that he hadn’t given it a cursory glance because when he exited the bathroom ten minutes later, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he saw it.

Sassenach: Message

He opened it greedily, desperate to receive any sort of contact since the painful last phone call that would play on a loop in his mind every night as he lay in bed, sleep evading him.

It was a picture of a bouquet of flowers, a huge arrangement made of foliage and sea holly, thistles and white calla lilies that he knew were her favourite. He’d spent more time than he’d like to admit picking out the perfect flowers for her and knew exactly which bottle of whisky to put in with it (the one that they’d drank together the night that he’d teased her that she had no friends before she replied with a blinding smile and said the words ‘I have you’). She had photographed them prettily displayed on a windowsill that was drenched in sunlight. Underneath she had simply written the words ’Thank you!’ and he realised that he had forgotten that he’d even arranged for the gift to be sent. It was meant be a moving in present, a little reminder of home and the people that she’d left. Now it seemed sad and it made Jamie and his bruised ego feel a bit pathetic.

But it was a start, a small plaster on the gaping hole that was their friendship but one that he was determined to improve on. Anything to keep her in his life, in whatever capacity. He replied to her message with hopes of her having had an easy move, asking whether she was settled in yet. Claire replied almost instantly and so begun the back and forth, both of them trying to be painfully normal as Jamie paced in his bedroom, naked as the day he was born and dripping water all over the floorboards.

When he slipped on a puddle of his own making, he chucked his phone back onto the bed and set to rummaging amongst the old clothing in his drawers in an attempt to find something clean. He really needed to help out around the house more, he thought. Jenny had been rushing around after a husband, two children and now her brother and she deserved better. He had started to deal with the pile of unwashed material that had accumulated on the floor by his bed when he heard his phone ring.

Without even looking, he accepted the call.

“Aye?”

“Hi! It’s Claire!”

As if she needed to tell him that. The minute that he heard her voice he felt like he could breathe that little bit easier for the first time since being in that fucking airport, the gentle lilt of her English accent making him picture the shapes that her lips made. The memory of it stabbed him in the gut and he took a calming breath, turning from his discomfort into the humour that they both teased each other with.

“Sorry whoever ye are, I dinna ken anyone with a Boston accent, ye must hae the wrong number.”

“Asshole,” she snorted. “I sound exactly the same as I always have. It’s… it’s good to hear your voice.”

He smiled into the phone, letting his voice soften and convey the sincerity of his words, “Aye, Sassenach, it’s good to hear yours too.”

An hour or so later, when Jenny Murray went up to her brother’s room to let him know that dinner was on the table, the sound of her brother laughing halted her hand just before she knocked. For the past fortnight, Jamie had been dour, sullen and more prone to tantrums than Wee Jamie and Maggie put together. Getting the two of them fed tonight had been a battle, Ian trying his best to wrangle a teething Maggie as Jenny had an entire bowl of mince and tatties spilled down her front by her son. It had been a tiring night but now, the two wee ones were in bed and her brother was laughing again. Her heart lifted at the thought and she sent a prayer of thanks up to her parents for giving him a bit of a reprieve from his heartbreak.

“Sassenach, ye ken fine well…”

As soon as she heard him say it, she spun herself from Jamie’s door, cursing under her breath about her eejit brother who didn’t know what was good for him and definitely not what was bad for him. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Claire, in fact she had been glad knowing that there was someone to look out for Jamie when he’s was away at university. Jenny always knew that her younger brother was more green behind the ears than he was willing to admit. When he had nonchalantly mentioned that he’d be bringing home a friend for the summer of his first year at university, Jenny had pulled Claire into a hug on the steps of Lallybroch, welcoming her with literal open arms and finding Claire to be a quick witted, intelligent woman but with a softness behind her eyes that Jenny hoped would lend her to being a good friend to her brother. The problem, Jenny quickly realised the first night they’d all sat down to dinner together, was that Jamie had fallen head over heels in love with her.

She tried her hardest to lighten her step as she made her way back into the kitchen, knowing that she would not react kindly to any teasing about her ‘stomping’ around the house. Instead Jenny took out her frustration on the chicken curry that was bubbling on the stove, whirling the wooden spoon around with a little more force than was needed.

“Did I miss saying goodnight tae the bairns?” Jamie’s voice rumbled against the stone walls of the kitchen, pulling her attention away from the storm cloud that was brewing in her stomach as she plated up for herself, his large frame appearing over her shoulder. “Smells fine.”

As the full plate slammed down on the countertop, Jamie frowned in confusion as Jenny turned, her hands set at her hips in a way that still put the fear of God in him.

He took a step backwards (out of her reach if she decided to brandish the spoon at him), his eyebrows raised along with a single hand. Jamie knew from experience that it was better to pip her to the post before she got into the swing of an argument, “Before ye say anything, I want tae apologise first.”

“And just what will ye be apologisin’ for this time, mo bhràthair?”

“For treatin’ this place as a hotel, havin’ ye run after me like I’m one of yer bairns,” he had the foresight to look genuinely penitent and it softened her a bit. “I promise ye I’ll start pullin’ my weight.”

“Well, I canna say that I disagree wi’ ye. And I’ll be thankful of the help, Ian was just sayin’ the west gate needs mending. About time ye bucked up and started helpin’ wi’ the jobs around here,” she said firmly. Jamie’s eyes narrowed in at her face, confused. He’d apologised before she even asked but there was clearly something still there that he hadn’t addressed, that she was expecting him to bring up.

“Is there somethin’ else?” He asked carefully, fighting the urge to pull up the door to the priest hole that he was standing on in an attempt to hide from her wrath.

Instead, she sighed and handed a second plate to him. Her hands went from her hips to the table in front of her as she manoeuvred herself to sit. He followed her lead and sat down across from her, watching closely as she began to eat after expelling another pregnant sigh.

“Will ye give me a hint as to what I’ve done tae piss ye off?” He grumbled as he began to eat himself, trying his hardest not to cower as she sent him a death glare from across the table. Suddenly, the space between her brows furrowed and she let the weight of her head slump into an upturned palm.

“I’m worried about ye, Jamie. I’m always worried about ye but still,” she said in a quiet voice.

“I ken I’ve no’ been out of my room much and I’ve been a right miserable sod. But I’m starting to feel better… I think.”

Jenny narrowed her eyes at him, trying hard not to let the judgement seep in as she quickly placed her hand over the top of his, rolling her eyes when he jumped at the sudden contact.

“I think ye should stay away for a while. She’s in Boston wi’ Frank and havin’ tae adjust to her new life, ye should give her the space to do it.”

Realising that she’d overheard their phone call, Jamie shifted uncomfortably in his seat, fighting the urge to pull his hand from underneath hers as she tightened her grip.

“She was just phonin’ to say thanks for the flowers,” he mumbled, spooning a large helping of his dinner with his free hand into his mouth to try and shut down any need for a further explanation. Sadly, his big sister wasn’t buying it.

“I ken that yer finding it difficult, mo bhràthair, but maybe this is the opportunity tae find someone. Someone who’ll have ye. Ye’ve pined for Claire for so long but she’s never—“

“We slept together. In Amsterdam.”

The words hung in the space between the two siblings, heavy as lead. Jamie had felt the twist of his stomach at saying the words out loud and shot a glance to his sister’s dumbfounded face as the information permeated her thoughts.

“Ye glaikit bastard,” she finally exhaled softly, earning herself a sad smirk from her brother. “Why would ye dae that tae yerself?”

Jamie shrugged his shoulders, “It seemed… it felt like the right thing to do in the moment. And then I woke up the next morning and she was already gone. Chased her to the airport an’ aw but I was too late.”

Jenny huffed again, leaning back in her chair.

“I just thought if I could tell her that I loved her, that I’m in love wi’ her, maybe she’d have stayed. But she didn’t let me say it.”

“Aye, sounds like Claire,” Jenny scoffed, quickly composing herself at the glare she received. “Suppose it makes mare sense for all the mopin’ ye’ve been doing.”

Jamie humphed and rubbed a hand roughly over his face, sinking his fingers through his hair.

“It’s fine, it’s done and I canna change it, wouldn’t change it anyway. It was a very special night for me.”

“I ken but, Jamie, she is gone. She has made her choice. And it’s coorse of her to dangle herself in front of ye when she’s away living her life and yer here, where she left ye.”

His bright blue eyes bore into her, a warning, “Careful, Janet. Claire is my friend and I wilna let her navigate this on her own—“

“She’s nae on her own, she’s wi’ Frank!”

“Aye, she is. And there’s fuck all I can dae about it so this is where I find myself. I wilna let my feelings get the better of me. I will be her friend, as I have been these past years.”

Jenny knew that there was no point in pushing. It was a Fraser family trait, digging your heels in, more often than not to your own detriment. And if there was one topic that Jamie wouldn’t budge on, it was Claire. She got to her feet and grabbed her plate, moving around the table to press a single kiss into the mop of his red hair before leaving the room.

“Ca canny, mo bhràthair.”

[enormous-moose]

Sexism in Christianity PT2

The bible has been used by straight white men in the past to further solidify oppression. This is a fact. While it may not be a majority fact, it still remains that through the use of interpretations in the bible same-sex couples, minorities, and women have all had their personal rights and freedoms stripped.

Let's start at the beginning.

In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. Seven days went by and god had created everything. From this point on everything went wrong for women. Let's first look at Lilith, she was mainly a figure in the Judaism lore however she is referenced as a demon in Christianity. Often times we see Christians use demons as a way of defining powerful beings, but in this case it was meant to quite literally demonize the first female created. She was independent and refused to bow to Adam's desires. Because of this god decided to kick her from the lore early on and make sure his second female wouldn't be so terrible.

Eve was created from a piece of Adam to be Adam's. She was given the only task of making him happy, keeping him company, and servicing him. Eve of course was tricked by the serpent and convinced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. Let's dive further into these few days.

First: Even is put onto this world as a service to Adam when god saw him wanting. Eve at this point was a prize to Adam for being god's favorite.

Second: The serpent in the garden had to have been created by god. God is all-knowing and all-powerful. So he had to have known the serpent's ill intent, Instead of warning Eve about the serpent, or not making the serpent, he let it mingle with his favorite person and his wife. How is Eve supposed to know any better when she is not even self-aware?

Third: Adam immediately tosses Eve under the bus when god asks what happened. THEN as punishment, he curses the snake to crawl around on its stomach, Eve has to endure the full pains of childbirth and apparently has an unnatural fear of snakes for generations to come. Let's though talk about Adam's punishment:

Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree

whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,

the ground is cursed because of you.

All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

It will grow thorns and thistles for you,

though you will eat of its grains.

By the sweat of your brow

will you have food to eat

until you return to the ground

from which you were made.

For you were made from dust,

and to dust you will return.”

This punishment is to Eve AND Adam. She gets double punished. Now she not only has to endure the fear of snakes and birthing pain, but now she faces starvation and death.

This is where we first see the inconsistencies with how women are treated. They are given the guilt of causing everything wrong, and it's said by god himself, why wouldn't Christians believe the word of god? In my next part, I will be discussing the further offenses created by Eve and how they are still given far worse punishments than others who committed far graver sins.

[things2mustdo]

“If civilization had been left in female hands we would still be living in grass huts.” – Camille Paglia

The Book of Genesis has a warning to men and to civilizations. People typically only focus on certain phrases in the Genesis account and thus, miss the warning. God’s pronouncement of judgement upon Adam and Eve actually tells us some of the problems that will beset men and women and thus, civilization. The Genesis story contains a warning for men and women, individually and nationally. The Book of Genesis established an order, God’s order.

Most people are at least vaguely familiar with the account in the Garden of Eden. However, the details about the expulsion provide more information about one of the continuing events between men and women that would occur after Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden.

Genesis chapter one gives the entire creation account. Mankind is created in chapter one and told to multiply and replenish the earth. The following chapters in Genesis provide additional critical information about mankind and the outcome of certain events. Adam was created first and no suitable mate existed for Adam to fulfill the commandment of multiplying his own kind. God created Eve, not out of the Earth as in the case of Adam, but out of Adam himself. Eve was a reflection of Adam.

The Serpent’s Lie of Equality

After Adam and Eve partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil at the prompting of the beguiling serpent, God came to the Garden of Eden and decreed judgement. The King James Translation is a good translation but many English speakers have a limited knowledge of the definitions of the English language and are typically too lazy to consider additional meanings. The word “desire” in the KJV text is a word that has additional meanings. The following translation from the NLT provides additional clarification.

“Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16, NLT

And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:17-19, NLT

The phrase “and you will desire to control your husband” is translated as “and thy desire shall be to thy husband” in the KJV. While the word desire certainly means that a woman will long for her husband, the word “desire” also means to desire something to control it and to have power over it. The second meaning is clarified by the clause, “and he shall rule over thee”. This clause tells us something about the nature of women that people, neglect, forget, overlook, or disbelieve. The desire of women to control men.

The Bible does not provide the conversation that took place between Adam and Eve concerning the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We know a conversation took place with the intention of convincing Adam to partake of the fruit. God’s statement to Adam makes clear there was a conversation. “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat.” Adam knew the commandment but still partook of the fruit.

Part of the lie the serpent told Eve is that she would be equal to God. Another part of the lie is that she would be happier having more power. The idea that men and women are equal is the same lies told differently. Men and women have different God-given roles. Adam was placed into the Garden to cultivate it and keep it. Eve was created after Adam was placed into the Garden. The populists would have us believe that Adam had no dominion over Eve and that they were “equals”. Eve was provided to Adam so the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth could be fulfilled and to assist him.

Adam named the animals and he named Eve. Naming is an act of dominion. Adam was given dominion over the earth, the animals, and Eve. Part of Adam’s error was he allowed Eve to convince him to break the natural order. Adam allowed Eve dominion over him when he allowed Eve to convince him of the lie of the serpent. Their expulsion from the Garden of Eden meant they had to work harder.

Adam and Eve as a Microcosm of Civilization

The account of Adam and Eve is also a fundamental description of the man and woman’s interaction within the family and the interaction of men and women within civilization. In general terms, we should place ourselves in the position of Adam, the women in our lives in the position of Eve.

The family, man, and woman, is a microcosm of civilization. Consider the following:

Garden of Eden = Civilization

Adam = the majority of the men of that civilization

Eve = the majority of the women of that civilization

The Serpent = Advocates of progressivism, gender studies, that men and women are equal, etc.

Taking into consideration that Adam represents the majority of men in a civilization and Eve the majority of women in a civilization, the civilization fell after the men heeded the promptings of the women and subverted the natural order. The women, flattered by the enticing serpent, taught their sons and daughters that men and women were equals, encouraged the acceptance of homosexuality on par with heterosexuality, encouraged abortion, destruction of the family, and that transsexuality and cross-dressing are acceptable, and in some instances desirable.

Since women obtained the right to vote, the family, and by extension our civilization, has moved more in the direction of disorder and lawlessness, essentially toward destruction. Giving women the right to vote has been a disaster. Giving women the right to vote pushed matriarchy to the forefront and diminished patriarchy. Most women inevitably vote their proclivities and emotions. A woman should voice her concerns to her husband or other adult male family members.

Left to themselves women are not inclined to build. This dynamic can be seen in the television program of Dutch version of Survivor (titled Expeditie Robinson). ROK has an article from 2014 discussing what occurred with men and women in survival situations. Suffice to say, men started working together to survive and the women squabbled. Towards the end of the program, three men went to the woman’s location and three women went to the men’s location. The men that went to the woman’s location became the women’s workhorses while they continued to be lazy and worked very little. The women that went to the men’s location worked little as well.

Men work with a substantial portion of the fruits of that labor going to their women and children. Ever since women have received the right to vote, they have used that voting power to persuade businesses and politicians that they should still receive the fruits of all men’s labors. Since the rise of feminism and the subsequent confiscation of the fruits of men’s labors, men are now producing less.

The Upside-Down Order

Voting comes with responsibility, which many women have not been able to handle since feminism has prevented and encouraged a childish and responsibility avoidance mentality. There was a reason earlier civilizations did not give women the right to vote. Voting, and thus government were seen as the realm of men because men are the primary builders of civilization and because of the responsibility that comes with voting rights. Women were to receive support from their husbands, fathers, or other male family members.

Feminists would have everyone believe that women have always been oppressed and are still being oppressed while this is not the case, wherever women obtained political power civilization fell. Feminism does not discuss or teach the sharing of power but how women need more power and do not have enough power. This desire for political power is the desire to control men. This is why everything is “sexist” in feminist eyes. There are plenty of articles on the Internet about how feminism is not about equality but about power.

A blogger wrote an article about the rise of feminism in Ancient Rome and Rome’s subsequent demise. The blogger also mentions Ancient Babylon and some of the Babylonian laws. The Bible, in the Book of Isaiah, states:

“Childish leaders [adult children] oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road.” Isaiah 3:12, NLT.

Roosh recently proved an excerpt on ROK from his book, Game. The excerpt is titled, Never Follow A Girl’s Lead. Adam let Eve lead and look what happened. A woman that tells you to be less of a man and less masculine desires power over you. She is trying to control you. Men want to be respected, women want to be loved, but neither is possible with the lies of equality in the picture. Women will be happier when they stop seeking control over men.

We all know when women obtained the vote feminists began moving in the direction of replacing men with another authority, government. Feminists also began pushing for more women in government and other positions of authority. Men, being ostracized and deceived, began letting more and more women lead. This makes men weak.

The more a woman seeks to control the men around her, the more unhappy she becomes. Feminism deceives a woman into believing that having power will make her happy and if she is not happy it is because she does not have enough power. These are lies. This is why the more power a woman attains the more unhappy she becomes, even if she will not admit her own unhappiness. Hillary Clinton is one example of a woman that desires control. An honest person can see that Hillary is clearly unhappy and she believes the solution to her unhappiness is more power, which is not the case.

There are women that realize there are important differences between men and women, and these women are responsible caring wives and mothers. These mature women realize that feminism harms everyone and creates unhappiness and lawlessness.

We are witnessing the demise of our civilization at the hands of weak men and women that desire to control men. Women will be happier when they stop trying to control the men and return to God’s established order. God did not make Eve equal to Adam. Eve was not Adam’s slave; she was a helper to him. She was to assist him in his assigned tasks.

Woman, instead of seeking to snatch control from the man, must do what she was created to do and assist the man. Men must lead, which requires responsibility and masculine strength. A man truly shows he cares for the women and children in his life by leading instead of abdicating his role designated to him by God.

Read More: Who Was The First Man To Be Red Pilled?

[calvinistwoman]

PREFACE: Unless otherwise stated, all quotes regarding LDS Doctrine will be taken from the following:  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics

So in response to a post i saw regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (aka: the Mormon Church), I wanted to make a super quick post about the differences between LDS doctrine and Biblical doctrine. Obviously, I am a Christian and I disagree with a lot of LDS doctrine. I just wanted to outline some major differences since, as you can see in this post, Mormons often refer to themselves as Christians. “Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unequivocally affirm themselves to be Christians.” (Under Topic: Are Mormons Christian?)

This is in no way meant to belittle anyone’s beliefs, and it’s my apologies if I misrepresent anyone.

(also I know this post talks a little about Jehovah’s Witnesses as well... but I really don’t know as much about them so I don’t feel qualified to speak on that.)

Firstly, I want to say that I do not believe Mormons are Christians. I will back up this statement in a moment. I don’t say it because I dislike Mormons or anything. I say it because when you look at the Biblical parameters for what a Christian is, it’s clear that Mormons do not meet the qualifications. While every single Mormon I've ever met has been extremely kind and obviously devoted to their beliefs, I can not count them as brothers and sisters in Christ. And here’s why...

We have different Scriptures. I am starting here because every disagreement stems from this point. The Christian view of scripture is that the Bible is the Word of God. It is complete and infallible. We stand on the authority of the Bible as being perfect and unchanging. This differs from the LDS view. Yes, the LDS church hold to the Bible as one of their scriptures, however they also add the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, as well as the word of the prophet. All these constitute the words of God. “to claim that the Bible is the sole and final word of God—more specifically, the final written word of God—is to claim more for the Bible than it claims for itself.” (Under Topic: Are Mormons Christian?)

Second, we have different Gods. I know, you’re thinking... “What? No way. They seem so similar.” And they really do when you look at them broadly. Be both believe in God the father, His Son Jesus Christ and His redemptive plan, and the Holy Spirit who indwells us and helps us. So what’s the difference? There are actually a lot of differences. You know how a lot of atheists will say “Yeah Jesus was real, he was just a good teacher.” Well it’s sort of like that. We both believe in the same historical person, but that’s where it ends. It’s a bit like comparing the real Abraham Lincoln to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. They’re both talking about the same guy....sort of.

So how do we view the Godhead, and how are these views contradictory? 

LDS - I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see. (King Follett Discourse)

Christian - Isaiah 43:10 I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

LDS - God and Jesus Christ are glorified, physical beings and that each member of the Godhead is a separate being.

Christian - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are one God in three persons. God is also a spirit, not a man. But for our sake, Christ took on flesh and bone to bare our sins.

(Under Topic: God the Father)

LDS - We are all literally children of God, spiritually begotten in the premortal life.

Christian - We are created beings, made by God for His glory.

LDS - His work and glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man”

Christian - God’s ultimate aim is to put all things under His subjection and to receive all the praise, honor, and glory due Him.

(Under Topic: Holy Ghost.)

LDS -  Through His power, we are sanctified as we repent, receive the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, and remain true to our covenants

Christian - Sanctification is a work of the Spirit making us more like Christ.

LDS -  All honest seekers of the truth can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, leading them to Jesus Christ and His gospel.

Christian - The indwelling of the Spirit is a mark of a true believer. It happens as a result of the hearing of the gospel and a faith in Jesus Christ.

(Under Topic: Jesus Christ)

LDS -  As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life. He also ministered among His ‘other sheep’ (John 10:16) in ancient America. In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised ‘dispensation of the fulness of times’ (Ephesians 1:10).

Christian - I mean we would just reject this entirely. We also understand the “other sheep” to mean gentiles, not ancient Americans. 

Thirdly, we have a different view of the atonement. This makes sense as we have different views of God, and different sources for truth.

(Under Topic: Salvation)

 To be cleansed from sin through the Savior’s Atonement, an individual must exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (see Acts 2:37–38). Those who have been baptized and have received the Holy Ghost through the proper priesthood authority have been conditionally saved from sin. In this sense, salvation is conditional, depending on an individual’s continuing in faithfulness, or enduring to the end in keeping the commandments of God (see 2 Peter 2:20–22).

(Under Topic: Gospel)

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “The first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Articles of Faith 1:4).

The Savior has promised that if we endure to the end, faithfully living the gospel, He will hold us guiltless before the Father at the Final Judgment (see 3 Nephi 27:16).

2 Nephi 25:23 “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”

Articles of Faith 1:3 - We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

As you can see, this is very different from the Biblical Gospel which is by grace, freely given to all who believe. It’s very man-centered and works-based. It relies on several conditions to get and then maintain salvation. 

Fourthly, the LDS church and their scriptures have a different view of the fall.

“Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.

“And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:10–11).

This almost makes it sound like the fall was a good thing. As though Adam and Eve were happy, and the sin was a blessing. But the Biblical reality is that the sin brought about pain and death. Yes, the fall is apart of God’s redemptive plan, but we should never view it as good. We should view it the way God did.

Gen. 2:16-19 To the woman he said,“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow  you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

God did not view the fall lightly. He cursed mankind, and the world with us. 

I could go on, but it’s clear that we hold very different views. To claim that both these views stem from the same religion seems illogical. They contradict each other constantly. 

Again... as people, I have no issues with Mormons. They are genuinely some of the kindest people I have ever met. But it is a sad reality that they believe in a false God, a false Gospel, and that they ultimately have no hope in their religion. If you have any questions about anything I’ve said here, go ahead and send me a message. 

[chrisbowler]

Rest

In Pixar’s latest film, Incredibles 2, Mr Incredible has a really great experience. Rather than gallivanting around the world fighting super villains, he’s fighting a much harder battle: running the home. This time around Mrs Incredible gets the spotlight and kicks butts in the process, while her husband comes to realize how hard it is to be the homemaker.

The writers of this movie sum up his exhaustion that so many of us parents can relate to in his conversation with Edna:

I haven't been sleeping. I broke my daughter. They keep changing math. We needed double-A batteries, but I got triple-As, and now we still need double-A batteries. Put one red thing in the load of whites, now everything's... pink. And I think we need eggs.

I feel you, Mr Incredible. I feel you!

Productivity Required

All the organization in the world won’t help when you lack margin. As I’ve been working my way through Getting Things Done recently, I can’t help but think our obsession with being productive is necessary because we have so much stuff. Physical stuff, sure, but also stuff of every sort. Digital stuff. Financial stuff. And expectations (real or perceived).

The worst part of having so much on your plate is that you cannot focus on one thing for too long. There are so many projects on the go and I can only make one or two steps of progress before having to move on to the next thing. Having a solid “system” of some sort is required to maintain some semblance of sanity.

This has been on my mind more in the recent weeks. Two changes precipitated this:

My wife started a preceptorship to get back into nursing after 10 years away and 2. Summer holidays started. As a remote worker with a home office, this has impacted me. With a family of six, margin was already in short supply, but these changes have meant I have to be on top of my game.

Not just taking care of the details. But also being more ready than usual to deal with emotion. And relationships. To nurture (not my forté!)

We’re not in the garden anymore, Toto

All of this comes to a head in one word for me: striving. In this world, there is always a pressure weighing on us. There is always more to be done. There is always a need to meet. It has no end. Striving can have a positive sense, but I’m referring to this definition:

to struggle or fight vigoursly

This occurs in all areas of life, but our home is a concrete example. We live on a small acreage with space between us and our neighbours on each side. And the wilderness encroaches. Every year I have to fight to stop the forest from taking over cultivated land. If I were to stop mowing and pruning the back of our lawn, it would quickly be overtaken: trees, wildflowers, invasive weeds of all sorts would move in. Ignore this need for several years and there would be no lawn.

For this reason, the story of Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden hits home for me. In Genesis 3:17–19, God gives delivers this curse to Adam:

Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

I take this literally and symbolically. I see the literal work of the wilderness fighting against human effort. But I also believe this applies to all areas of life: we have to constantly strive against the chaos and, ultimately, death.

But … but!

The Promise

There is good news: rest is possible. Jesus makes this promise so beautifully in Matthew 11:28–30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Rest, true rest, is a promise God makes for his children. And it’s what I cling to the most. I’m not the most charismatic Christian around. But I once experienced a vision early in my walk with Jesus that I’ll never forget.

Somewhere in the early morning when you’re half way between asleep and awareness, I found myself drifting in a wooden rowboat in a lazy pond. Not a breath of air rippled the water. The boat was under a large tree, the kind with droopy branches almost touching the water’s surface. Through its canopy, the light streamed through, dappled and suffusive and not at all too bright. I say “light”, for I had no sense of the sun being there … the light just was. And for all the imagery, the strongest sense was one of absolute peace. Contentment. And a presence.

He was there and I had no need or want of anything. No anxiety, no care, no striving. Just rest and a trust that my Father can and has and always will take care of things.

I often force myself to recall this vision. I need it when I feel the pressure of this world and my inability to do all that needs to be done.