#with how i educate my family on religious topics because they don't know anything i kind of am a priest atp

[livefromtheyard]

do you study theology? you seem to know a lot about religion and it’s hype

i have before and my thesis was about christian satire 💖 it's just good candy for my brain. in an ideal world i'll get my mdiv and i'll talk about it even more somehow 🐻

[nyxsealia]

An example of why LGBTQ+ representation in media matters, especially children's media.

As a child I didn't know LGBTQ+ people existed. There were no queer people in my family, or in family friends. (At least, that I was aware of) I remember one time we went to the library and there was an educational table set up outside with information about pride. I asked my mom what all the rainbows were for. I don't remember what she said, other than I remember her mentioning one of my older brother's friends who apparently had two moms. I was very little. I forgot about that conversation and was no more aware of queer people.

I don't remember seeing queer characters in media. The first time I can remember seeing LGBTQ+ people depicted in anything was in the music video for Avichii's "Addicted to You" the plot of the music video follows a pair of female robbers who are explicitly in a romantic relationship. I was absolutely fascinated by this music video when I saw my brother watching it. I was eleven. This music video follows a lot of the common queer TV tropes. The women are criminals, the "bad guys" and they die in the end. But this was the first time I can remember seeing lesbians.

Even as a teenager, I don't remember seeing much LGBTQ+ characters in media. I was intrigued when the token gay side character would show up in a TV show, but that wasn't really representation. I still knew nothing about queer people. A boy in my art class came out to me as trans. The exact words he used were "I'm a trans guy." and I legitimately didn't know if that meant ftm or mtf. I accidentally misgendered him once because of it.

In my early teens, I said some pretty ignorant things. Luckily just to my family, but still. It wasn't until I started questioning my sexuality in my late teens that I actually started to learn anything about the LGBTQ+ community. I did a lot of research, not all related to figuring out my sexuality, just about LGBTQ+ experiences and identities. I watched videos by LGBTQ+ YouTubers, listened to podcasts, read articles, all by queer creators.

I especially made a point of understanding transgender people, because that was something at the time that greatly confused me. So I looked for videos, podcasts, articles etc, made by transgender people themselves where they talked about their feelings and experiences. It made a huge difference. I wasn't confused anymore, I couldn't relate to how they felt, but I had understanding and empathy. I went from confused and unaware, to understanding and supportive. Just from a bit of research.

But even at this point, there was still little to no LGBTQ+ media representation. When I came out at 18 and felt comfortable picking movies focused on queer characters, I had a heck of a time finding any. I did find some, and while a lot of them weren't great, I did find a few really good ones. (Saving Face and Late Bloomers are two of my favourites)

Things are getting better, slowly. We're starting to see more media focused around LGBTQ+ characters, and children's media including the topic. It's long overdue and we're still not quite there yet. You're gonna have a hard time finding media focused on LGBTQ+ characters that aren't white, able bodied gay, lesbian, or bisexual characters. Representation for trans, non binary, asexual and aromantic identifies, queer people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, religious queer people, and disabled queer people, and any combination of the above, is still lacking. We still have more work to do.

Having these kinds of shows and movies would have made a big difference for me growing up, and it will make a big difference for thousands of other kids who are growing up right now.

This isn't a negative post to complain about the lack of media, it's an example of it's importance and optimism for the future. I do believe this will continue to get better, however slow that may be. This is just my little reminder of why it needs to.

I hope anyone who reads this is having a good day. You're valid and loved, no matter who you are. Stay safe.

[absolutebl]

Hi P'ABL, how are you?

I love to see your analysis and thoughts on different BLs, and you always come off very well educated when it comes to cultural aspects, especially Thailand's culture.

Having this in mind, I think maybe you'll have some answer for my questions. Well, I want to know why Buddism is so heavily portrayed in BLs (like, for example, I Will Knock You). I know Buddism is the biggest religion in Thailand (please correct me if I'm wrong), but it still surprises me how prevalent it is in BLs. Also, I've seen a couple of BLs where the main character gets ordained, and from what I read on the subject, it is a pretty common thing to do, and is a sign of respect both to the religion but also to the family's believes.

Buddism in Thailand

December 2021:

Department of Religious Affairs reported that the population of Thailand identifies as:

92.5% Buddhist

5.% Muslim

1.2% Christian

In other words, a higher percentage of the population of Thailand identifies as Buddhist than the USA identifies as Christian (65% in 2019) or Catholic in Italy (79.2% in 2021).

So Buddism is in Thai BLs because it's in Thailand. It's just very prevalent. One might as well ask why there is so much Christianity in Hollywood's romantic product (oh it's there, language, swearing, modes of address, courting rituals, gendered attire, weddings, etc...).

It's probably unusual and interesting to you, so you noticed it. Also Americans (in particular) - I don't know how you identify but...) tend to be hyperaware of religious/spiritual representation in pop culture because it's so taboo, hyper-politicized, and divisive in the States.

(Appropriate dinner table conversation in different countries is one of the things that fascinates me the most. Like, what's taboo in different countries when you're visiting someone's home for a meal. In larges parts of the US, religion is generally a pretty taboo topic.)

I think it's also prevalent in BL because there's a lot of dead parents, and the death rituals of a culture come into play under those circumstances.

Anything dealing with the spiritual or paranormal, and now weddings and children and blessings and so forth we gonna see religious/spiritual belief rep. As we get more BL delving into different aspects of culture in search of story we will simply see more and more of those aspects of religion that intersect with that aspect of culture, for purely statistical reasons.

Monkhood

I would hazard a guess that the proportion of those in Thailand who chose to be ordained as a Monk is probably the same percent as any other Buddist nation.

Tharn Type 2 takes you through the entire process, if you wanna dive into that franchise.

Also I would highly recommend He's Coming to Me it's got some nifty death stuff going on. Also it's a great BL.

I have kinda talked about this before - old post:

[loving-n0t-heyting]

hey, so i'm like... at a strange crossroads here. i was homeschooled, it was really traumatic for me, i don't think kids should have to go through the shit i did. at the same time... i was homeschooled because i literally, physically couldn't enter a public school due to disability, and so were the rest of my homeschooled friends. there were a lot of people in the homeschooling scene who were homeschooled for religious abuse reasons, and even the disabled kids were not-infrequently abused due to the structure of homeschooling.

as a result, i'm really... torn. i'm very sympathetic to homeschool abolition, but simultaneously, if i was forced to go to in-person school, it would have killed multiple of my family members--they're immunocompromised, which meant neither they nor anyone they lived with could be in a building with more than a few dozen people daily. i had friends growing up who were immunocompromised themselves, so entering a public school building daily would have killed *them.* in less extreme versions, i had friends who couldn't go to school because they couldn't accommodate their sensory needs and being in a building with those lights and that much sound would have made it impossible for them to do anything but curl into a ball in pain. my sibling couldn't go to school, even if our family wasn't immunocompromised, because he wore adult diapers and aspirated on food, and there wasn't a single school in our city that was willing to accommodate a teenager who needed an aid to change his diapers and feed him.

and in homeschooling abolition discussions... i never really see anyone talking about us and the fact that a significant chunk of homeschooling--including the abusive kind--occurs because of us existing. i don't see a lot of discussion of what happens to us when homeschooling is abolished. and that really worries me, because like... we're a *lot* of the homeschooling population. we're a lot of the *victims* of the kind of abuse homeschooling enables! it doesn't feel right to talk about how we're victimized without addressing the reasons that victimization occurs in the first place and offering solutions for them. and i feel really torn about how to address that, because pointing out those reasons in the first place keeps getting taken as defending abuse. but i don't want to defend abuse, i just want to know that kids who are disabled like i am are being centered in the discussions that directly impact whether they live or die. i want the discussions to directly address what the option that is not public school and is not homeschool is, and how to create the structure for that option. i want to be on the same page that we are *not* talking about sending disabled children to public school.

i absolutely agree that disability accommodations are an extremely important problem to address in education policy, in fact idt ik anyone with my broad attitude towards education who doesnt think they are of paramount importance. whats mystifying to me is why this is somehow an argument against giving priority to public education: the right to inclusion ("sending disabled children to public school") has been a rallying cry of the disability advocacy movt for decades, and is the basis of core federal legislation on the topic like the individuals with disabilities education act (yes, including for immunocompromised students). now, you can fairly complain that this legislation is itself too weak to get the job done and often receives very inadequate enforcement to boot, but this is an argument for expanded protections and more robust enforcement mechanisms, not giving parents free rein to do with their children as they see fit. and there is no more effective incentive for superior enforcement than universal buy-in, which is not going to happen except by force

its also mysterious what the superior alternative is to public schooling for disabled students. traditional private schools, naturally, suffer from the more general accessibility problem that they weed out poorer families by their very nature. homeschooling comes with this hobble (not all families can afford to homeschool their kids), along with the unfortunate reality that even generally intellectually and academically competent parents are not automatically endowed with gifts as special educators and the atrocious shortcomings of disability rights law for homeschooled students. these shortcomings are part of the broader lobby-won trend to curtail otherwise standard rights and protections for homeschooled students, and like other aspects of this trend come with a body count (see link above). the plague of charter schools, finally, is recognised even among sympathetic analysts to fail disabled students especially egregiously—a natural consequence of the "school choice" movts policy priorities of testable "school performance" and general deregulation. again, ik you and other disabled students who have benefited from being homeschooled. there are parents i would actively counsel to homeschool their disabled children. but this is on the level of individual advice, not public policy, and there is no solution to the social problem of disabled childrens right to education by way of privatisation. its a dead fucking end

[random-kazakh-stuff]

Hi! I have followed you for a while and I'm so glad you chose to make this blog and share about your culture. You share so many details that would be difficult to learn about outside of first person experience, especially with the lack of resources about Kazakhstan and Kazakh culture in English.

I am especially grateful for this right now. I have an assignment for a class where I need to right 1000 words about a country I want to go to, and specifically about the deep culture (people’s attitudes, beliefs, and core values, including attitudes towards gender, social status, age, raising children, perception of time, the role of family) and classroom and educational culture.

I am going to dig through your blog and some other Kazakhstan focused blogs on here as one part of my research, and I hope you're okay with me citing you as a source! Additionally, if there's anything more you would like to share about these topics that you think I should include, I would be super grateful for your contribution! It's not a super academically rigorous assignment, but I want to represent Kazakh & Kazakhstani culture well.

Appreciate you so much, hope you have a wonderful day!

Oh wow!!

This is! Unexpected I would say!

First of all I would like to say thank you. Sharing information about my country's culture and history that would usually be unreachable in English was part of the reason why I made this blog, and I am thankful that it inspired so much interest from you.

Also sorry. I might be a bit late to join into your assignment. But, I think one of the main topics I don't usually share about on this blog is the modern state of Kazakhstan as a political space? That's mostly because it is so hard to describe.

Today's Kazakhstan is like waves in the sea. Constantly changing, no direction and always in the same one at once.

Outside mainstream media tends to mainly ignore Kazakhstan in favour of reporting on our more active neighbours, but when it does report it is mainly news like the Bloody January or the continuous autocracy of our government.

But inside it is just a life you know? There is a rise of religious schooling in the south, and the rates of domestic violence don't seem to change, but there are more people disgusted by it, and tenge is always falling.

The thing is, Kazakhstan is in a point in it's history where something will inevitably happen. It is undeniable by just looking at history's own old and recent examples. Which is why it is so hard to describe how Kazakhstan seems to be going both forward and backwards, Westernizing and holding onto Soviet values and Traditional values at the same time, youth becoming more open-minded but also kore religious.

It is a mess.

[astertimberwolf]

The sad thing is, I have a "friend" who is so judgemental that she's dissed and dumped on the whole concept of identifying as anything other than what one appears as... This, even more sadly, extends to- and includes non-binary people. I found out in the worst of ways and it was incredibly disappointing, hurtful and anxiety-inducing.

I want to preface this by saying that she's normally nice to people and goes out of her way to help others, though I have started to question if that's really genuine or if she's just doing it to get people to like her...

...I found out about her views while we were having some light-hearted banter in her car, driving back from a flat viewing I went to (she offered to drive me there, which was nice of her).

She was joking that she identified as Ikea furniture- and wished she had an instruction booklet to take herself apart to better understand her own problems- when she suddenly changed the topic to how people identify as anything nowadays, until she ranted and raved about seeing a TikTok story where a girl identified as a cat and came out to her family, who were wholly unaccepting and unsupportive. She called this girl crazy and a furry (I guess she is not familiar with "otherkin" or "therian") because said girl would eat cat food and walk around naked on all fours in the house- Granted, she took the most extreme example of a teen wanting to feel like her past-life self, but the way she snarled and sneered with judgement and hate made me recoil and grow incredibly quiet and anxious...

...Being an otherkin myself AND a furry, it made me more than a little uncomfortable. All I could say was "that is not a furry".

The discussion later moved to her ranting about people demanding respect by using different pronouns and names- at which I asked her if she was trans/enby phobic- and well. I don't know how to paraphrase her answer. It sounded like she was making up some bullshit excuse to pin the blame on enby people, stating that most of them didn't respect her first by using labels like "cis-gender" to define her own identity, which really makes no sense- as that term is just the definition of someone who identifies as the same sex they were born in gender-wise.

I tried to talk to her and tell her that most of my friends were non-binary- and that no matter how much she did or didn't agree with it- did or didn't understand it, she should still try to respect it... but I'm not sure she got the message.

All I know is that I don't feel safe being myself around her, let alone letting her know more about me or us being close friends.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. I don't want to cut her off completely because she will never understand why her friends leave her if I were to do that, but I certainly cannot try to continue post-poning this conversation forever.

For context, she went to a school that was religious and bigoted enough that she hardly learnt anything about LGBT topics- let alone autism or anything outside of the things that people considered "normal" over there.

Before finding out about her views, I had also tried to vouch for her and resolve other conflicts, mistakes and misunderstandings she had caused inside of our larger friend group. She is self-destructive and will definitely go back to self-harming or worse if I were to just up and leave.

I want to try and educate her on the topics she is so opinionated about- as she had (in the past) expressed interest in wanting to become a better person. I know she's a grown adult and not my responsibility, but I want to at least make an attempt before quietly going our separate ways.

How do I approach this without "attacking" her views? Does anyone have any recommendations at all?

be kind to kids (yes, this includes teenagers) who identify as nonhuman, otherkin, fictionkin, therian, alterhuman, or a furry. they are living their life the way that makes sense to them. they don't deserve an "i told you so" if they grow out of identifying that way later on. they don't deserve to be asked "aren't you too old for that now?" they don't deserve to be laughed at and mocked online. children forming a wolf pack aren't hurting anyone. kids who want to meet other kids who identify as nonhuman aren't embarrassing.

kids need a sense of community no matter who they are. kids deserve the right to identify their own feelings. kids are allowed to express parts of themselves adults find "embarrassing". adults are allowed to do all of these things, too, but it's become routine for folks online to mock literal children for embarrassing behavior.

identifying as an animal isn't embarrassing; what is embarrassing is being an adult and picking on literal children. who cares, it's not hurting a singular soul. let them explore identity in ways that make sense to them. identifying as nonhuman isn't a danger to anyone else. they aren't hurting themselves. let them identify as a nonhuman and explore what that means to them. let them live their lives.

[wannaliveattheholidayinn]

fun tag game? fun tag game. ty @janelevy for the tag <3

what book are you currently reading? 

i just finished i'm glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy, so now i'll probably move onto loveless by alice oseman or iron widow by xiran jay zhao

what’s your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year? 

i,,, genuinely cannot remember going to a single movie in theaters this year. i'm pretty certain i never went into theaters this year. although, now that i'm thinking my local theater did host a viewing of goncharov-

what do you usually wear? 

um,,, mainly,,, like dresses or shirts tucked into skirts. i don't own many "masculine" clothes and i'm just generally more comfy in "feminine" clothes

how tall are you? 

uh,,, 5'2 or 5'3 i think. i'm pretty short. i'm the shortest of my friend group

what’s your star sign? 

gemini !

do you go by your name or a nickname?

i'll go by anything if you clear it with me first. hannah? sure. 04? sure. jamie? sure. stan? sure. munchkin? ... sure, fine [redacted]

did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child? 

uh,,, so i'm in (community) college now w an undecided major (which funnily enough, i did not want to go to college when i was little), but i'm pretty sure i'm going into education. little me wasn't exactly sure what i wanted to grow up to be, i flip-flopped around a bit, but i clung onto actor for a while so,,, no, not really

are you in a relationship? if not, who is your crush if you have one? 

i am very single. i do have a crush on someone (two someones, actually), but i'm scared they'll find my tumblr so they'll remain unnamed. i do also have many crushes on celebrities who have no idea i exist

dogs or cats?

don't make me choose... okay fine, cats

if you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favorite picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this year?

oooh i am a fanfic writer (ik, i'm really cool /s), and my favorite fic has got to be this zep fic i wrote (pas de deux) kiss me backstage, in part bc it's just really personal. i'd say my favorite line in it is "She stepped away, wanting to see how he’d react before going. He seemed a little shocked, but slowly, a smile played at the edge of his lips. She smiled and then ran for her life towards the wings, because Jesus, she was late." what can i say, i'm a romantic who spent their final show of dance running to and from the wings

what’s something you would like to create content for?

ooooh um... maybe the west wing or wednesday or the punisher. definitely would like to write something for jessica jones. maybe if i'm feeling daring, derry girls?

what’s something you’re currently obsessed with? 

the west wing. did a rewatch a month or so back bc of hln and i remembered how much i love it. derry girls, abbott elementary, and she-hulk attorney at law have all been taking up considerable space in my head, especially derry girls. also, weirdly, the punisher, which i've only seen one episode and clips of

what’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year? 

... first kill. i tried really hard to like it, but idk there was a lot about it that rubbed me the wrong way and i just couldn't get into it the way i wanted to

what’s a hidden talent of yours?

um,,, it's not very hidden, but i have a pretty good singing voice. idk most ppl on here don't know and it isn't something i talk a lot abt with ppl i don't know... or maybe my hidden talent is the ability to ramble on for any given topic i'm somewhat passionate/invested in for hours on end, which i have done before

are you religious?

i'm not,,, religious, but i am somewhat observant of judaism, and i'd like to be more observant

what’s something you wish to have at this moment? 

um... i guess a friend to hug. idk, i'm kinda sad, i had to leave my family early for the holidays bc my dad caught covid and i just really wanna hug somebody... also, bc we live in a capitalist society, money

tagging @wannabe-etymologist, @pesby, @delphiniumblooms ! obviously, no pressure, if you guys don't wanna participate <3

also open to anyone who sees this and thinks it would be fun to have a go at it <3

[ettawritesnstudies]

hi, etta! you mentioned the word catechist in one of your tags. i've never heard that word before! i did look up the definition but it was such a dry explanation! and honestly, i don't know what a catechism would consist of either. the explanation i found brought to mind a Q&A sheet like you would get for history class, haha. i was wondering if when you have time, you would be able to tell me a little bit about what it means to be a catechist?

Of course!

The Catechism itself is an official book that was compiled by the early church fathers and updated over the years by various councils and popes to include all of the Catholic Church's teachings on all the Big Important Topics. It's not the Bible, but it does include information on how we interpret the Bible, explaining the creed line-by-line, breaking down the sacraments, and tons of other aspects of how to live a good daily Christian life and tackle hard topics. You can read it online but it can be pretty dense to get through without someone helping to explain all the context, which is where catechists come in!

A catechist is anyone who teaches the Catholic faith, usually in a classroom setting. Kids who are born and baptized into Catholic families (sometimes also known as "cradle catholics". I'm one) usually go through some kind of faith formation as they grow up, either through religious education as a class in catholic schools alongside history and literature and math and science, or through something called CCD (which stands for catholic catechetical development) which are once-a-week classes usually in the evenings after school. Adult converts or reverts to the faith also go through a similar program called RCIA. These programs don't have homework or tests or anything, and they're voluntary, but they are structured in a way meant to go deeper into history and theology and give you more context and appreciation for what you're seeing at Sunday Mass and why we believe the things we do.

CCD and religious ed programs usually have a curriculum for each grade, focusing on different parts of the catechism each year. For example, most kids receive their first Holy Communion in 2nd grade, and so that year is learning all about the sacraments and the Eucharist. 8th grade is usually Confirmation, which is the sacrament where YOU decide that YOU want to be Catholic and become an "adult" in the Church, receiving the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and so the curriculum that year focuses on adult faith formation. Unfortunately some of those are dumbed-down waaaayyy too far and as a result, I watched a LOT of my classmates treat Confirmation as a "graduation" from the program and not as a solemn holy eternal vow.

My confirmation year is also when I got serious about understanding other faiths as well as Catholicism because I took that decision seriously, and it's something I love and learn how to share with people. St. Catherine of Alexandria, pray for us! My mom is a CCD teacher and I helped her out while I was in high school. She wrote her own curriculum, which included weekly powerpoints, fill-in-the-blank-sheets, coloring pages, etc. so I'd help her find good pictures, fix formatting issues, check grammar, and occasionally cover teaching the class if she was busy with my sibling's events.

If you're looking for quality accessible resources, Ascension Press is one of my favorites. They have a great youtube channel (highly recommend Fr. Mike Schmidt) and a Bible in a Year podcast. I've used their Chosen, Bible timeline, and Theology of the Body programs myself. Catholic Answers is perfect for quickly finding thoughtful and thoroughly researched responses to almost any question. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops also has some good resources on their webpage. There's also a kids version of the catechism called the St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism which is just as thorough as the original but much more accessible and full of illustrations. That might be a good primer too! There's a copy here on internet archive.

I hope this wasn't too dry lol. Please let me know if you have any more questions! :)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Hello there, I truly enjoy your blog. And I especially like going through your tags that talk about "wokeism", the corruption of education and using logic to find fallacies in an argument.

I am an atheist, raised loosely catholic (my family never was the type to actually practice or preach anything to us youngsters, and I consider my self quite lucky in that regard). What bothers me the most is that even though I consider myself out of religious thinking, I still do indulge in an another variant of magical thinking from time to time. As in "I want to practice witchcraft" kind of thing.

Maybe what got me so hooked is that especially here on tumblr is full of people who proclaim that magic is tangible and has indisputable results... When done right. But that might change from person to person. Because no one has a definitive say in the how-to since it's not, you know, a science. And this sounds suspiciously similar to what religion and especially prayers seem to offer.

I would love to hear you think abou this topic, because it is kind of sad that I can't really play pretend when I know underneath all of this it's just placebo effects and self-suggestion and whatnot... Sometimes I feel like I am missing out on the fun you know? Especially when it comes from very compelling bloggers, because they have a very good internal system of explanations to this phenomena where everything works perfectly fine... Except for the fact that you can never be sure it *really* works.

I think there is a lot to say, because it seems to me there is a very big overlap between practicing a religion and practicing magic.

Sorry for the rant. I hope this is something you are willing to reply to.

I've talked about Wicca/Witchcraft before, as well as Paganism in general, and a general purpose magical thinking answer. My short answer is that I don't begrudge anyone prancing around in nature doing rituals, dancing naked around a fire, or whatever it might be, for enjoyment, to commune with nature, blow off stress, whatever.

But as soon as they make a factual claim about its efficacy, then that's where they, ahem, conjure a burden of proof. Things that are true and real in reality leave footprints, some detectable effect that can be confirmed. If they want to say that it "works," that they've confirmed it, then they're saying it's both testable and measurable. There's money to be made if they can pass a test to prove it. But even without a financial incentive, who wouldn’t want to change the world by proving that you knew the True™ thing?

To insist that it's real but can't be detected is to contradict oneself. How can the practitioner know it worked if they can't detect it? Yes, this is the same as every other religious insistence on an intangible, immaterial, undetectable god who is nevertheless "real."

Science is not a belief, it's a method. And as a method, it's also extensible, in that new ways of detecting, measuring, describing, evaluating can be introduced. That's how we got Quantum Mechanics, DNA, etc. Repeatable, reliable ways of evaluating a claim that provide universal verification - that is, it doesn't require that a Xian or Wiccan do the test, or a man or a woman, or a Japanese or Cuban person or anything else; anyone who does the test gets the same result, as long as they follow the method.

If no one has a definitive say, then we can conclude it's not verifiable; it sounds like it's not even definable. If there's no agreed upon definition or concept, there's no way the results themselves can be agreed upon. The notion that it must be "done right" implies such a definition does exist, and then can be the basis of such a test.

I wouldn't feel "left out." They're engaging in delusions, whereas you're not.

I will guarantee you one thing though: have you ever seen one of those teen comedies from say the late 90s or the early 00s, where some kids get hold of some "drugs" and take them, but it turns out it's like paracetamol or oregano or something, and some of them are like "ooh, yeah, I feel it," and some of the others - usually the protagonist - are like "um, yep, sure," because they're only pretending?

I guarantee you that some proportion is the same. You'll certainly have people prone to confirmation bias who will validate their expectations based on unremarkable pattern matching (apophenia). But you'll also have people pretending to experience it too so they can be part of the thing, because they don't want to be left out. There's an elephant in the room that they're not talking about, because they don't want to break the, ahem, spell, so to speak.

You're just more honest about it. If you enjoy it, don't worry about it. You don't have to be a Xian to enjoy the elaborate design of a cathedral. And you don't have to believe in literal magic to enjoy the rituals and activities of playing witch.

The irony is that you'll actually be getting something real out of it, while they, thinking they have magic powers, won't.

[theshoesofatiredman]

It's really important for children to receive ongoing age appropriate sexual education and this is definitely one of the reasons why. However, I actually don't think this is why the majority of conservatives actually attack sexual education. It may be why sexual predators do, but I think for many there's a religious rot at the core. When I've seen sex ed demonized, it was because it was "pushing sex on children" or "encouraging kids to have sex" or "teaching kids to sin." Most conservatives would push back against the idea proposed here which frames their ideological position as motivated by pedophilia. It's not.

For the conservative evangelicals I knew and know, sex is both sacred and evil. You can't talk about sex, unless inside a very specific context. Teaching someone the ins and outs of sex is an extremely uncomfortable idea because of the taboo surrounding it and the fear of leading people into sin. An academic discussion of sex and the parts involved could be arousing, producing lust in the heart of a young person. That's seen as dangerous.

Personally, when it comes to sex ed, I think it's important not to other the MAGA folks as pedophiles and instead show them that your motivations are similar to them. They're trying to protect young people's well-being and so are you.

1. Children knowing the proper names of their body parts, understanding what sex is, being able to assert safe physical boundaries with other adults (they don't have to be hugged by grandma if they don't want to!), and knowing that it's not okay for people to touch them when they don't want to be touched (particularly in their 'private parts') could make a WORLD of difference in a child's life if they have a predator in it. There is a strong case to be made here and appealing to the conservative protect the children goal seems like it could create a united front.

2. Sex Ed that includes contraceptive education reduces teen pregnancy and the rate of STDs. This is well documented to the point where it's beyond refute basically. Even though conservative parents don't want teenagers having sex to begin with, they should be able to acknowledge that some will do it anyways. And they wouldn't want those children to get pregnant or get an STD to accompany what they perceive to be a mistake. And if they do, I think it's worth making them straight up say that and have them sit with that rather weird bit of ideological nonsense after they've laid it bare before themselves.

Idk ik I'm certainly guilty of making and sharing posts that would be 'unreadable' to the MAGA crowd and only sow further division if they had to parse them. There's a catharsis in the leftist in-group vent posts and sometimes you need that. My family's conservative Christian praxis destroyed my relationship with them once I accepted myself as gay and hurt me for years since I shared their praxis and didn't accept my sexuality. I get the need to vent. And maybe that's why this post exists, someone fedup and frustrated about fighting conservatives to get better sex education in schools.

For me, I couldn't help but read this post and feel like it missed the mark. Pedophiles would certainly have reason to support late in life abstinence only education because it empowers them to prey on children. But why does this person have to be a MAGA supporter? Is there anything fundamentally right wing about pedophilia? I don't think so. Pedophiles certainly take advantage of existing conservative power structures and ideologies to prey on people, but those structures and ideologies exist because of other motivations.

I feel strongly that it's possible to build bridges on this topic and create a united front for improved Sex Ed. Why can't your child's school teach about how to use condoms and your child's youth pastor say you should save sex until marriage? Genuinely, what's the drawback? A married couple may want to use condoms anyways if the sex is reproductive and they're not ready for kids yet. Hunter and Mckayleigh should know that for when they get married! I know some conservatives suffer from the "your sex must only make babies" idea but that is not the mainstream position anymore. We can and should be able to find an alignment here.

🤔🤔🤔🤔

[fullhalalalchemist]

Black muslims endure a lot of racism and sometimes are ignored by the muslim community. I absolutely agree with what you're saying. After all we are all humans when we see such injustices occurring we should stand up for each other and for each other's rights.

I feel people who are saying how people arent coming together for palestine as they did for blm don't mean to target blm activists and those who spoke up about this and continue to do this despite being ignored so much. I feel they are instead targeting the media who yes were very slow on covering blm and also displayed racism when reporting injustices against the black community but I remember for some time the media were covering the issue (though in many cases misinformation was being spread about protestors being violent when this was not the case). Some of the news coverage where I am from reported the protests more truthfully and people were interviewed about blm and their experiences. However big media outlets in my country havent spoken about Palestine and given a voice to people who have studied the situation and are on the ground witnessing atrocities. When they do report Palestine again like the blm a lot of misinformation is spread and we need people to speak up about this. Through the blm movement some white people came to understand how their silence is harmful and stood with the black community. Whilst people of different backgrounds and faiths have been standing up for Palestine I have also witnessed a reluctance to do so as they believe the situation to be about a religious war or typical middle eastern terrorism and dont educate themselves. Some of those who educated themselves about the struggles black people face are silent now. Perhaps they arent aware of the situation and with the social media like instagram deleting/hiding the coverage etc maybe they havent seen what has been going on.

Just like blm was viewed a controversial topic to discuss (which is a load of bs) some are reluctant to talk about Palestine or even reblog posts as its viewed as siding with muslims and being antisemitic. There was a recent election in my home country and the outcome of the liberal party was bad due to many reasons and yet I frequently saw people on twitter saying it was because the party asked people about their views on Palestine when talking to the public and being obsessed with Palestine was a problem. As well as this celebrities who did a good thing by raising awareness of blm and also about stopping asian hate are silent now. As you said we should be supporting each other. All these issues are important to me as people are being treated unjusticely and cruely without a valid reason. This is why its upsetting to see those who say they advocate for all rights aren't saying anything about Palestine. Each issue is important and we must fight against all racism and hate so that is why I am slightly critical of those who seem to be activists in a performative way and who are silent now. At the end of the day I pray all those suffering from hardship and injustice are relieved from their suffering, finally get their long overdue human rights and be treated fairly and equally and find peace.

I apologise for the long ask. I do not mean to be rude or patronising. I agree that we should supporting each others movements after all muslims are diverse and there are black arab muslims too, instead of degrading one cause as being unimportant. I also feel that even with the blm many people were performative activists and are silent on Palestine. Have a good day.

you’re fine for the long ask!!! sorry it took me so long to get to it. thank you for your perspective. my original post was mostly targeted towards people online who are targeting other people online for their silence on palestine and using how they spoke up on blm as some sort of exchange, which i think isn’t fair and is patronizing to both movements. i haven’t really seen much in terms of asking the media to cover it.

but you are right, a lot of people are hesitant because they think it’s a religious war or your average everyday middle eastern terrorism, which also is an issue but that’s for another day. people don’t really know how deep zionism goes in the west and how much the propaganda works. that’s why spreading it on social media is the most important because western media outlets will NEVER cover this honestly. people have to see the dead bodies and destroyed buildings and grieving families to understand that the violence from israel is real and is colonial and is all one-sided. but to spread that online you shouldn’t have an ego and be entitled and say things like “oh you guys were loud for blm where are you for xyz issue??” like many poc do for their own home countries. like why target blm? why not target the white people or influencers who have large platforms? why single out this movement that will almost always stand with oppressed people everywhere anyway?? that was my thing that annoyed me most

[allsystemsarenotgo]

A friend and I were talking one day, and she shared this with me.

She was much like me, raised with a quarter between the knees, terrified of the things we were taught to avoid and trying to live reasonably noble lives. She wasn't allowed Birth Control for religious reasons (pro-life) as well as to prevent enablism. Her family was much more religious than mile, though I still went to church during my Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years of high school.

She married a guy 10 years older than herself, who was a long-time routine customer of her family's business. They married right after she graduated high school, long before she applied to higher education.

She is a nurse now. She has 3 kids, works long hours at a hospital, and her husband is a successful farmer as he always has been. She struggled at times, but she made it through.

She knows life would have been easier without the first child, but she was innocent and naiive and I think she realizes that she jumped in the deep end of the pool before learning how to swim.

I did the same thing.

All through high school I pledged to abstinence until marriage. I hated everything to do with sex. The topic, the drama, the action, the result. I wanted nothing to do with it.

But I also never dated through grade school at all. I never had a girlfriend. Plenty of crushes (M.S. above being one of them), but just as many denials. Because I didn't drink, smoke, do drugs, have FFA animals, or play athletics, I also wasn't a member of any social group. I was always the kid in the corner of the cafeteria scarfing food down in 5 minutes and sleeping the other 20, or asking to go to a teacher's classroom, where it was serene and quiet.

My freshman year of college, I even wrote an essay on abstinents for English class. That really didn't go over well in regards to having to read it out loud. There might as well have been fruit flying at me.

My dorm was set up such that we had 3 private bedrooms that shared a living space and bathroom. One of the roommates always had girls over, and he never tried to be quiet (or if he did, he failed...badly).

So those two things were my indoctrination to college life. Getting judged and leered at for writing an abstinence essay, and having to listen to a roommate multiple times a week.

Towards the very end of my freshman year, a girl from high school messaged me. We started talking, and she admitted that she had always had a crush on me and was too shy to ever say anything.

Error #1: For no good reason whatsoever, I agreed to formulate a relationship with this female

So when I moved home from the dorms, I hung out with the lass a few times, but my parents were moving out of the country and closer to my school, so I could live at home. That meant that this would now be a 1.5-hour-each-way medium-distance relationship.

So every 4th or 6th weekend during the remainder of that summer and into the fall semester, I would drive up and spend a day with her. Sometimes, I would drive her out of the country and into the city to give her a glimpse of escape (it was very impoverished where we grew up).

Error #2: Doing whatever made her happy

I really enjoyed the time that we spent together. She got me a purity necklace for Christmas that year. She said she understood that my preference meant something to me.

But then, something changed. She would start dropping enuindos and jokes and send me photos that I didn't ask for.

Error #3: Not standing up for myself

She said that I meant something to her, and asked me if she meant something to me. At the time, I did not comprehend that as a trap...but I wanted to make her happy, so I said "yes".

The next thing I know, she is booking a hotel for us for Valentine's day. Wherein, I learned a thing or two or five or ten that I really wasn't interested in learning in the first place.

-Provides Clorox to help scrub the thoughts from your mind-

After that, she wanted me to come see her more and more often. But I was tied up with school and life.

Mind you, we usually had a phone call every night, or at least every other night. Same time, right before bed. Sometimes we would fall asleep on the phone with eachother.

Error #4: Accepting anything as fact

Well one night, I called her, and she answered...but it was noisy in the background, like she was driving. But she never talked while driving, and wouldn't answer the phone with family in the car.

She said she was in a friend's car and they were going to the beach for the night, which was completely reasonable for the time of year and her group of friends. She cut the conversation short saying they had arrive, so we bid our greeting. But she didn't hang up, and something told me that I shouldn't either. So I didn't.

"Who was that?"

"Don't mind him. He was just calling to check on me. He's controlling like that."

"He sounds like a jerk"

"Enough about him. He won't do this."

-Provides more clorox-

And that's how I found out that her primal needs were more important than our "relationship".

Unfortunately, shortly after I broke up with her, I was sent a photo of her quite visibly pregnant. Fortunately, the timetable did not add up to Valentine's day (aside of the fact that it was physically/biologically 95% impossible).

That summer, I started a job at the student newspaper. Right off the bat, one of the graphic artists and I got along very well. We spent way too much time at work talking to eachother and goofing off, instead of working. Enough so that our boss took notice and things got tense for a bit with him. We still cranked out work no problem, but we were both too young to understand workplace policy and procedure when it comes to "dating but not dating", which is basically exactly what we were doing. We spent alot of time together. I would go to her dorm after class and we would watch movies and just goof off or do whatever. We enjoyed time together.

Error #1: So cliché. So, so cliché.

So Valentine's day rolls around, and she asks 'the question'.

So something in biology: There is a term called "Once an animal has the taste of blood, they will always hunt for it." Unfortunately, humans can sometimes be considered a sub-species of the animal kingdom.

Like the dumbass that I am, I accept to the terms and conditions.

And at the end of the night, she asks: "So are we officially dating now?"

"I...I guess?", I answered nervously.

Errors #2 to #457: Not escaping

And just like that, I was suckered into nearly 2.5 years of having a FWB while having to, very creatively at times, mask it as a legitimate relationship.

We enjoyed the time we spent together.

We enjoyed going places together.

My mum liked her, her parents liked me. (Dad was skeptical at best and thought I could do better)

The small issue: I struggled to communicate at times. I didn't know how to find my voice, so there were times that I would have to text her how I felt. Sometimes I would hide in a corner just so I could cry. (I later learned of my autism, and it all made sense and I learned how to resolve this)

The big issue: I was completely burned out on intimacy. After almost 2.5 years of emulating laboratory rabbits, I was done. My usefulness had expired.

The biggest issue: We were both suffering academically. We had no common interests at all anymore, and we had put eachother ahead of our own academics so much that we were both risking academic expulsion.

So we mutually agreed to break up.

She dropped out of university (and never went back or finished her schooling), and I changed majors twice before getting my Bachelor of Science.

My first relationship lasted from June 2009 to April 2010.

My second "relationship" lasted from February 2011 until May 2012 (Although we started spending time together in significant amounts starting August 2010)

I have not had a girlfriend since May 2012.

I had one friend in my senior year of college, who gave me some non-physical affection while also keeping me firmly locked in the friendzone. But quality time, by itself, only goes so far.

I have not had any physical affection since May 2012.

I have not spent quality time with a female since May 2013.

For most of that time, from May 2013 to August 2019, I really didn't mind it at all. I have been so tied up in working, hobbies, and life in general, that I completely ignored women.

But as my birthday loomed near in October 2019, it donned on me....I was on a crash course to being eternally lonely.

So I have tried online dating. I have gone on a few first dates, but no second dates.

Sometimes, I want to give up. The fight just doesn't seem worth the reward.

And honestly?

Sometimes I feel exactly like my friend's remarks at the top of this post. Sometimes I wish I would have been a little more rebellious, a little more care-free, a little more out-there.

But at the same time, ...

Sometimes I wish that neither relationship would have ever happened.

That I would have never learned the true definition of intimacy.

That I would have never done whatever it took to make the other person happy.

That I wouldn't have been such an easy push-over.

That I would have stuck to my initial pledge in life

That I would have spoke up more and defended myself.

All I am now, is damaged product.

I don't truly know how to love.

I don't truly know how to feel.

I don't truly know how to be myself.

I don't truly know how to be intimate.

I am human, I am male, so of course I have my moments. But I don't want that to be the reason for a relationship. I want it to be the least-important factor, or not a factor at all.

I want a relationship founded on trust, honesty, fortitude, common interests, personality, maybe even a little faith.

Not intimacy.

I just want to not be invisible, or to only have one attribute visible.

I want to be seen for all the other attributes.

I am not A-sexual. I still feel emotions and feelings. I just don't want to let them out of the locked box which contains them. Not without lots of context and preparedness.

[pingnova]

A large portion of Protestants, particularly Evangelicals and Adventists, take every single word of the bible literally. As in a factual account of what actually happened, like a police report. And further, that it is a directive or model for us to follow. Word for word. By and large Christians are uneducated about religion, their holy book, and their history, and many denominations and churches actively suppress critical thought and learning, because it makes them easier to control. Many of them believe the bible literally says they should be in total control over people. Like a shepherd over sheep.

Now all of that is totally bogus but millions will say this is how they see it and live their life accordingly. How do they reconcile contradictions? They don't.

They are not actually taught the Bible, or are actively indoctrinated with only certain parts of it, and so do not know those contradictions exist.

They know those contradictions exist and make up their own mind, typically in a conservative way, to "solve" the contradiction in a way that is not consistient with biblical scholarship. Protestants are told they are their own authority on the Bible, which they take to mean it says whatever they personally think it says.

Catholics believe whatever the Pope says, which isn't based on a Bible-adjacent book per se, but a complex canon of tradition, religious law, and ongoing scholarship. Frequently this is also a literal interpretation with a little more wiggle room.

This article on hermeneutics will help explain the academic paradigms these beliefs come from. https://www.britannica.com/topic/hermeneutics-principles-of-biblical-interpretation

But you have to remember that Christians are not Biblical scholars, those are two entirely different things in Christianity. Most cannot answer hard probing questions about their religion, which is part of the reason they get so incensed just by being asked. They're defensive. There is really no universal mandated education in Christianity. Most people learn it from their family and community. In America anyway. There isn't any need to even actually read the bible yourself so long as you are doing what your Christian leader says. For example, for hundreds of years Christian church services were held only in Latin, which very few could speak. But you were supposed to understand anyway. And if you didn't, at least do what the pastor or local Christian leader says.

Christianity becomes a kind of folk religion really, that varies by location and culture and community. There are more than 45,000 declared Christian denominations and each one believes the bible says something patently different. And their followers will believe their own version. A lot of that has to do with the rise of individualism, but it was still a big enough thing to cause the early church schism into Catholicism and Protestantism.

Mostly what unites all Christians is a short simple list. And then it can become almost anything beyond this list.

There is only one God, and Jesus is God.

Jesus was crucified because of human sin and was revived.

An afterlife, particularly heaven and hell.

A denomination will typically have their members reiterate their list of beliefs every service, almost in the form of a prayer. Because Christians get mixed up by all of these versions too! My denomination the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (not actually Evangelical, they tried to reclaim the term and failed) typically uses the Apostles' Creed and part of the time the Nicene Creed. I have also said the Athanasian Creed a few times. This is about all that churches expect you to really learn, their creed. Here's a fun long list: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_creeds

Also I want to mention that yes there are many different kinds of Christianity, but you can break them down into broad groups.

Catholicism (OG Christianity)

Mainstream Protestantism (the more quiet and bland version of churches)

Evangelicalism (big productions and always trying to get people ensnared)

Adventism (pretty much not Christianity, this originated on the American frontier about ~150 years ago and so is very distinct, think M*rmons)

Megachurches and cults - this isnt an official group but we all know churches that are huge and have their own world it seems like, and there are many cults based on Christianity that thrive due to how uninformed Christians tend to be

Basically Christinaity can be whatever you want it to be. And many people know they have that freedom and choose to make it cruel.

I may regret asking this, but I have an interdenominational, interfaith question about the literalness of the Bible for folks who are familiar with the doctrine of the more conservative denominations of Christianity.

So in the more traditional branches of Judaism, it is generally held that the Torah was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, word-for-word. However, the other two sections of the Tanakh are not literally the Word of God, but rather the words of the prophets and import sacred writings (poems, histories, etc.) Now, obviously there is a spectrum of beliefs and more liberal Jews will attribute the five books of Moses to more earthly sources, while still holding them as very sacred. However, even the strictest of orthodox Jews still interpret the Torah and base their understanding of halacha on the Talmud and commentaries. Bottom line: in Judaism, the absolute *most* amount of sacred texts that form the Hebrew Bible that are attributable to God as God's direct words are the books of Torah, which are still interpreted by human beings to be able to be put into practice.

However, I have come across an alarming amount of Christians who say they take the [whole?] Bible literally. I genuinely don't understand what is meant by this, as only the first five books were ever attributed to God as direct revelation, and so even if you assume that the New Testament is also 100% verbatim word-of-God revelation (which I don't know for certain if these Christians do assume that) you're still missing the vast chunk of the Prophets and Writings from the Old Testament.

So I guess my questions are: When Christians say they 'take the [whole] Bible literally,' what do they actually mean by this in practice, since even the Hebrew Bible (never mind the whole Christian Bible) has tons of apparent contradictions that can only be resolved through interpretation? Is this actually common and/or historical doctrine? Or is this American Christianity being bizarre, especially in the last 50 years?

Do Christians who hold by this concept make a distinction between the books of Torah and the rest of the Bible? If not, how do they get around the fact that the other books were not verbatim revelation?