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lilacandladybugs · 3 years

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I was thinking about the election and different ways that we can respond to it. You don't have to agree with this of course this is just kind of me shouting my thoughts into the void because I’m too traumatized to go to Bible study so instead I just tell my little atheist Tumblr following lmao hey guys ily thanks for listening to me rant occasionally i hope you’re all doing ok~

TLDR: Psalm 139:11-12 “If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as day.”

Long version:

Anyway my philosophy professor talked about how Stoicism as a philosophy is becoming popular again because the core tenet of Stoicism is that things can't hurt you, only your response to things can. For a lot of people this is comforting because it kind of combats the feeling of helplessness that can come from something as big and untouchable as the election. Maybe you can't control the event, but you can control your response to it.

I personally find this far less encouraging than I find it invalidating. The idea that comes with humans being the only moral actors in the world (which is an adjacent nietzschian philosophy) is that events themselves don't actually contain any meaning, actions in and of themselves don't have moral value apart from the moral values that humans assign them. Morality and value begins and ends with humanity. So natural disasters, death of loved ones, or doing bad things to other people aren't bad in and of themselves but because we perceive them as bad.

But to me, it seems like things are just really sucky sometimes. It seems like everything on the earth wants to be alive, and everything grieves when things die. There’s videos of chimpanzees crying over the loss of their friends, and empathizing with their caregiver who had a miscarriage. There’s videos of birds calling out and looking for their dead mates and of elephants returning to the graves of their lost relatives. It seems to me like the entire earth groans with the weight of grief. It seems like everything that’s alive cries out and sobs as one in this deep mourning. And it seems like it shouldn’t be this way. I just can’t accept that this is the best possible universe, the best way that everything could be. I can’t believe that these universal values come from only humans, coming from nowhere, moving toward nothing.

If things have inherent value, and value that comes outside of us, then the reason we’re hurt by bad things isn’t because we’re weak. It’s because bad things happened to us. The election isn’t scary because we’re scared, it’s scary because we’re afraid of the ways it could hurt us, hurt our loved ones. It’s scary because it’s evil. It’s this real legitimate external fear with a badness that comes from outside of us, that isn’t just as a result of human invention or imagination. Other people’s actions can be good or bad, evil or wonderful. Things people do can hurt because actions mean something.

In Christian philosophy/theology, this external source of meaning is God. Things are good because God is good, and when I say God is good I don’t mean he contains this character trait goodness but that he IS the definition of goodness and everything that contains this character trait “good” is called good because in a way it looks like him. So things that are good and wonderful are that way because they were made that way, they were written into the very fabric of the universe.

While in Stoicism we are told to simply not look at things that make us sad because they have no real value or power beyond what we give them, the Bible would let us grieve, because God is grieving. God grieves death along with all of creation.

But we also don’t have to carry the weight of the world. We aren’t expected to be able to save the world. That responsibility falls on God. If we believe he is who he says he is, we can rely on that promise. That no matter what happens he is in control. He is in charge. And in the end his purpose will be served one way of another.

This is why Isaiah 55 is my favorite book of the Bible, it goes like this;

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts. [So he doesn’t just say that his thoughts are different from ours because he’s going to do what he wants even if it’s bad, but that he has plans to bless us that are better than we could ever think to ask for, they’re as much higher as the heavens are higher than the earth <3]

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth

And making it produce and sprout,

And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.

For you will go out with joy

And be led in peace; The mountains and the hills will break into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn bush, the juniper will come up, And instead of the stinging nettle, the myrtle will come up; And [f]it will be a [g]memorial to the Lord, An everlasting sign which will not be eliminated.”

In Psalm 139:11-12, David says, “If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as day.”

In the knowledge that God is in control, even when horrible things happen, we can rest in the knowledge that God will do what he wants, and that in the end we will have peace in heaven.

In Job 41 God said, “Can you draw out Leviathan (we think a big animal like an alligator) with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hand on him and remember that battle, you will not do it again! Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?

No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him; Who then is he that can stand before me? Who has given to me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole earth is mine.”

Anyway if you made it this far kudos! Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions.

May you be led forth in peace~

#religion #religion tw #grief #grief tw #trump tw #elections #elections tw #christianity #christianity tw #eslyea

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vicccwrites · 6 years

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This is probably going to be a long post, so don’t read it all of you don’t want to; but the gist of it is that I’m officially going on a hiatus.

It’s been 4+ months since idol producer ended - that’s practically 20% of nine percent’s entire contract - and we’ve gotten practically nothing. No album, no songs, ffs the boys are off doing their own things so much I forget they’re even in a group half the time.

I’m sick of it, I’m tired, and I’m rapidly losing interest. In the boys, in nine percent, in iqiyi and their plans for debut.

Could the boys debut on 9/9? Yes, absolutely.

I was going to wait around for that, before I came to the realisation that I.... don’t care? Sure, they could debut tomorrow. So what?

The idea doesn’t excite me anymore. My only thought is “ughhhh finally.” And, I don’t mean that in a good way.

I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, but it’s true. Send in all the anon hate in the world, but my opinion won’t change.

I want to wish them all the best for their careers, but I don’t think I’m going to stick around and wait it out any longer.

Call me unloyal - it would be true. But I’ve moved on? And I don’t even know if I’m going to write for the boys anymore; if I continue writing in the first place. Sure, I enjoyed it, but I don’t feel the need to continue writing for any of the other groups I stan.

This blog is probably going to sit here for a good long while I guess? I don’t want to delete it or anything but I also won’t be posting anymore.

Feel free to unfollow if you’d like, I won’t take it personally, I promise! I’m sorry if you sent in a request I never got to (if you’re a writer feel free to write them if you want!!) but I really just don’t have an interest anymore. I’ll still be on tumblr and respond to my dms and maybe the occasional ask here and there if any get sent in (or you can find me on my main @slythervic), but i think this is it for the fics for now.

I’m also sorry if you were expecting more from me!!! I know I said I was going to post something last week but I was forcing myself through it and hated where it was going - so I decided to scrap it. All my mutuals are amazing writers and im sure you’ll enjoy their works much more than you enjoyed mine ^^

This is it I guess!! Thanks to everyone who’s been so nice and kind to my throughout my first writing blog, ily all <333

xoxo, vic

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