#I DON'T KNOW IF THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THIS MOSQUE ARE HORRIBLE OR NOT BUT OH MY GOD THE AESTHETICS

[dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night]

Eden part twenty-two

TW: stockholm syndrome, religion, referenced murder, referenced kidnapping, pet whumpee, creep/intimate whumper

Note: After nearly abandoning this story multiple times, I've finally finished it. I hope you all have enjoyed yourself reading this far.

The drive home was a long one. Try as he might, Ezra couldn't convince himself to feel anything but joyful.

Reasonable emotions, befitting of a real person, refused to be sown in the garden of his heart. He was too far gone for that.

The music playing from Christopher's car radio was much the same that played in their house, and Ezra recognized it as Tchaikovsky. Funny, how a month ago he wouldn't have known Bach from Mozart.

"I love you," Christopher said, as though Ezra could possibly forget.

"I love you too." Ezra stared at the fields rushing past the passenger side window, blurs of winter tinted whites and grays. "Thank you for bringing me home."

"I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving you."

Christopher drove like any man who learned in the eighties, with one hand over the steering wheel and the other relaxed as his side. Ezra had learned a far different position, requiring both hands on the wheel, but took advantage of their difference in education to hold Christopher's hand.

"I may have told my roommates your name," Ezra admitted. "That was so fucking stupid of me. They don't know where you live though. And neither of them have the brain cells to file a missing person case."

"I know half the sheriff's department personally," Christopher assured him. "They won't suspect me. And even if they find you, I have no doubt that you'll vouch for my innocence. It isn't a concern."

"Thank God." Of course Christopher knew how to handle things. There wasn't any need for Ezra to worry. "I couldn't live with myself if I got you in trouble for the… um, stalking and kidnapping and murder."

Christopher laughed, much quieter than Ezra, who broke into mild hysterics. What a life. What a life.

After he had calmed himself, Ezra texted his friends goodbye. It was a hard thing to write, but he couldn't leave them hanging again. At the end of his message, he thanked them for all the good times they had together, and promised to stay safe.

Pressing send was far more difficult than he had anticipated. But finally it was over. He threw his phone out the window so it couldn't be tracked, hoping it didn't pollute anything too much.

Ezra smiled at Christopher, wishing for a shorter drive home. He wanted nothing more in the world to cuddle in bed, and never have to get up again. Holding hands during a car ride wasn't nearly enough.

"I missed your smile," Christopher said. "You're so… handsome."

This was the first time anyone had bothered saying such a thing to Ezra, and it took him a moment to process his joy before responding.

"Is that all you missed?" he teased. "And here I thought I was good company."

"Of course not. I got so horribly lonely without you. I'm afraid adopting a cat wasn't a very good substitute for human company."

"You got a cat?"

Ezra knew better than to be jealous, but he wasn't pleased that Christopher had tried to replace him. Sure, it had been his choice to run away in the first place. But that didn't mean that Christopher just got to move on with his life. No. Absolutely not.

"Her name is Gale. I found her catching mice in my garden. She's a bit feral, but a sweet little thing."

"My grandparents used to have cats. It's a Muslim thing, I think. Because they're such clean animals. They were always fostering half a dozen cats at a time and encouraging the people at our local mosque to adopt them. Man, I haven't thought about that in years."

"My family had a lot of animals growing up. Farm animals, mostly. Chickens, hogs, turkeys, sheep, honey bees, all the usual suspects. But a lot of the barn cats and herding dogs were quite friendly."

"I didn't know you grew up on a farm. That sounds really nice. My family always lived in small towns."

"We moved around a lot. I spent my younger years in Moscow, Idaho, among other towns, and finally settled down during my teenage and young adult years on farmland my parents bought. I think my younger siblings were harder to herd than our cats and roosters."

Ezra laughed softly to himself. How, in all their weeks of knowing each other, had he never asked Christopher about his childhood?

The numerous gaps in his knowledge of Christopher's life had never bothered him before this moment. But now he wanted to know everything.

"When did we get so casual?" Ezra asked. "This feels so… different."

"I prefer it." Christopher slowed his car to allow a white tail deer to dart across the road without being hit. "You mean a lot to me. I want you to be happy."

Ezra blinked a few stray tears from his eyes. "You're the only one. I guess you know that, but it's still hard. I wish I had known you for years, instead of just this winter. My life would have gone so much better."

Christopher squeezed Ezra's hand, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. "You're worth everything I could ever give you. I just wish I knew what would make you happy."

"You make me happy. I've never felt better than when I'm with you. I never knew what I wanted from life. Just surviving was nearly impossible. Now I can actually want things. Like warm meals and a cozy bed and lavender tea. Thank you, for everything."

Christopher pulled into his driveway and parked his car. The moment they stepped out of the car, Ezra fell into Christopher's arms, just as he had done so many times before.

It was a welcoming sensation, a sense of security buried within the lack of freedom. Guilt from running away finally melted off Ezra's soul, leaving him to enjoy his life.

When they walked inside, a silver tabby darted up to rub against Christopher's legs. He scratched her behind the ears and left his shoes by the door. Ezra followed his example in both actions.

"Hello Gale," Ezra said softly. "You're a cute little thing, aren't you?"

"I'll start on lunch," Christopher said. "Get settled down."

Ezra wandered through their home, leaving Christopher and Gale alone in the kitchen. Everything was so familiar, the oil paintings hanging on the walls and soft carpet under his feet exactly how he remembered.

But it felt so wrong, seeing the places Jay used to hang around, and knowing he would never see them again. They had sat on the sofa, trusting him to put his arm around their shoulder even after all that torture. It was enough to bring him to tears.

Finally, after all these days of denial and trauma dumping to his roommates, he could process what had happened. Jay was in a better place now. They had to be. Even if Heaven wasn't real, something had to be.

Lunch with Christopher was nice, despite Ezra's melancholy. Even if Jay couldn't have a happily ever after in life, he still could. And he knew they would have been happy for him, in the end.

He finished most of his salad, and let Gale lick his plate clean. Christopher clicked his tongue, but held back on chastising him.

"I want to read Paradiso now," Ezra said. "I know that would be skipping Purgatorio, but I'm in the mood for a tour of Heaven."

"Alright. We can always take a tour of purgatory later. Whatever makes you happy."

Christopher found a leather bound copy of Dante's Paradiso on his bookshelf and sat down beside Ezra on the sofa. His living room smelled more strongly of lavender than the rest of his home, an ornate oil diffuser sitting on the coffee table.

Ezra leaned against Christopher as he started reading. Gale tried to jump on the open book for attention, but settled down on Ezra's lap when Christopher nudged her off.

"The glory of Him, who moves all things, penetrates the universe, and glows in one region more, in another less," Christopher read. "I have been in that Heaven that knows His light most, and have seen things, which whoever descends from there has neither power, nor knowledge, to relate: because as our intellect draws near to its desire, it reaches such depths that memory cannot go back along the track."

Ezra closed his eyes, grounding himself in reality with the aid of fantasy. He had thought, during their reading so long ago, that Hell must smell of lavender. But now he knew that Heaven was much the same.

Unlike Dante in this fictional account of his travels, Ezra would never have to return to earth. He would stay here. In Hell. In Heaven. In Purgatory. Guided not by an ancient poet, but by a kind man who wanted nothing more than to keep him safe.

Blissful eternity had reached them both far before their death. If only Colt and Jay had been half as lucky.

Taglist: @hugh-lauries-bald-spot @thedarkmongoose @whumpsday @whump-by-robin @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @annablogsposts @whumpshaped @seetheothersideofparadise @knittedeyebrowsandcardigans @whatwasmyprevioususername @boonasaurusrex @suspicious-whumping-egg @heavenlyeden @melancholy-in-the-morning @snakebites-and-ink @suck-my-clit-loser @i-eat-worlds @scp-1296 @chiswhumpcorner @skittles-the-whumpee @whumpkinz @dokidokisadness @enbygesserit @canislycaon24 @be-gay-do-crime-ahaha @a-crumb-of-whump @pixelated-whump @whumpytine

#Abraham original: Hot off the press #Whump #Eden #Pet whump #Whump writing #Whump series #Stockholm Syndrome whump #Final chapter #Pet whumpee #Creepy/intimate whumper #Recapture

[newsfromstolenland]

Ho there! I'm Jewish and queer, and I work with a former Baptist who recently converted to Islam. I love this girl but damn she shits on on Judaism all the time now, as she's been allegedly repeatedly told that "Jews killed Jesus". There's definitely more to it than that, and she's also starting to be the kind of person who thinks Jews own and run the world (and has the anti semitism downpat) Plus for some reason I haven't figured out yet she's become wildly homophobic, and says that was Islam tells her to believe. I'm wondering if she was always like this and just uses her new religion as an excuse to be open about it, because I know literally so many practising Muslims who absolutely do not feel or act this way (we had a queer mosque at one point in our city too)

We work with seniors who are very unkind about her recent conversion. I always correct them when they say something rude, because everyone deserves to be respected.

It's making work super toxic. My manager has never dealt with a Situation like this before and genuinely Doing her best but... It's not really enough. I can't report my coworker to HR without being seen as Islamophobic to my coworkers who aren't religious. I have a couple of VERY CHRISTIAN coworkers who are completely done with her shit and stick up for Judaism and LGBTQ when this other worker starts going off. It's horrible and I don't know what to do anymore. Islamophobia is a really genuine problem in Canada, but so is anti semitism and homophobia and I appreciate the post you made (and I'm sorry for my world vomit)

I've been following you for a long time and I appreciate all that you do❤️

yikes that sounds like a complicated situation

I can't tell you for sure what's making your coworker act like this, it's possible that someone at her mosque has been teaching her this bullshit (as a muslim I don't deny that stuff like that happens) or that she already saw things this way

in my experience, people who are bigoted will often use religion to justify what is really just their own harmful shit- including hating other religions

the antisemitic talking points you mentioned are not the ones that are sometimes spread by muslims, they sound more like the talking points of christian antisemites (especially the "Jews killed jesus" horseshit) which she could have heard in her upbringing or online

I wish I had an answer for you, but honestly in my opinion you're well within your rights to report her to HR, and if you're worried about seeming islamophobic just know that her religion shouldn't be part of your report. it's perfectly reasonable to say "this coworker is antisemitic and homophobic" rather than emphasizing her conversion as a contributing factor

I hope this makes sense!

#asks #anonymous

[thatfunkyopossum]

Nobody ever talk to me about the catholics going off with stained glass again because not one window of jesus has ANYTHING on the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque

Click through this link i’m losing my mind its gorgeous

(A note @ request: whats being specifically refered to is european catholicism)

#LOOK #LOOK AT THIS #FUCKING LOOK OH MY GOD #I DON'T KNOW IF THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THIS MOSQUE ARE HORRIBLE OR NOT BUT OH MY GOD THE AESTHETICS

[girlbossgaslightguillermo]

you talk about Al Aqsa where the police only raided coz Palestinians had stored rocks inside btw nobody died that day but Taliban bombs a mosque in Afghanistan on Eid and 19 people die, but you don't talk about that. You don't talk about Saudi atrocities in Yemen. You don't talk about how Shias have to hide in Saudi why ? is that not Islamophobia ? Why this selective blame ? You're blaming Israel just coz we're Jews.

The reason I feel so strongly about Palestine is because it mirrors Kashmir. I talk about Kashmir a lot too (on other social media though), because I’m Indian. India and Israel are one and the same. As an oppressor, I believe that it is my duty to speak up for the oppressed, which is Kashmir. And now it’s Palestine.

And I do talk about islamophobic hate crimes in my own country a lot too. Does that make me hinduphobic? No it doesn’t.

Anti Zionism isn’t antisemitism. I do not believe all Jewish people are zionists. I have made sure to correct and call out anyone who is saying that kind of antisemitic bullshit or is using anti Zionism as an excuse to be antisemitic. I’ve also been following a lot of Jewish pro Palestinian pages. In fact, one of the largest anti zionist Instagram pages is run by Jewish people! @/jewishvoiceforpeace. anti zionist Jewish people exist. antisemitic zionists also exist. you do know that the UK supported Zionism so heavily in the 1900s because of antisemitism right?

honestly speaking, you don’t deserve a reply to any of your asks other than maybe (maybe) the first. your first one was “not to spread hate” and you proceeded to harass me with seven other asks. that’s a horribly shitty thing to do. and I don’t know any Israeli people personally as I’m Indian, living in India, all my friends are also Indian, so I know that I am just a random stranger to you and you have absolutely no idea what I speak about and what I don’t. I have spoken up about Yemen multiple times before, and I do absolutely hate Saudi. I did hear about the mosque being shot up by the Taliban and it was awful. but you know what makes that different from Israel? Israel has the support of the international community. The Taliban have been condemned internationally and not a single person will defend them on the Internet. What use is it if I say “taliban bad!” Everyone knows this. What people do not know much about is the plight of Palestinians. I didn’t know that much either until recently. But I’ve known about the Taliban since like. the third grade.

Another thing: just because I may not post about something doesn’t mean I don’t care about it. I don’t post much on tumblr about politics anyway. this is literally a shitpost blog where I reblog anything I like- mostly supernatural. Dude I just rebloggrd like fifty comics by the same artist today morning. This is MY blog. I get to choose what I want to talk about. Something I care about deeply and won’t post here for example is caste. I talk about anti caste stuff on Instagram because it’s relevant to my audience, who are mostly upper caste friends of mine. Here? There aren’t any desi people who will see my posts anyway so I don’t post abt them here. You don’t know me personally, you absolutely do not know what I talk about and what I don’t.

Another thing: I never said I was pro-Hamas. you just assumed. I’m for the liberation of the Palestinian people. I don’t support everything the Hamas do, as some of their leaders have been openly antisemitic. I won’t condemn their rockets however, because Israel has a state of the art billion dollar system to protect you guys and the deaths and casualties are minimal compared to those of Palestinians. Condemning the Hamas for being violent doesn’t make much sense when Israel is just. so much worse. My first reply was just information regarding all this and I do hope you read through it.

Please do not send me any more messages on Anon. I will be deleting them. Unless it is an apology for saying “no hate” and then proceeding to send me like 7 completely unwarranted messages. Feel free to do that/srs

[putabourqueinit]

For the Victims of New Zealand

May 25, 2018

In my quest to step outside of my comfort zone and learn about all religions/ethnicities, I am attending my very first mosque visit tonight at the Islamic Center of Lafayette. I am so very curious and also eager to soak up all of the knowledge I can from the Muslim religion. This is such "foreign" territory for me and to be honest I have no idea what to expect.

We will always have fear of the unknown until we are brave enough to say "show me your way."

Tonight I look forward to being shown another way than what I know. My eyes are open and I have no doubt this will be an amazing experience.

*and btw it is 1,000 degrees outside and women must cover their arms and legs. Please deodorant don't fail me now!

Life-changing

A human can never understand the journey of another human.  We don't know each others stories or the why of who we are.  Some stories we carve out for ourselves.  They are our choices-- our friends, our professions, our passions, our livelihoods.  Some are not and we are born into them (like it or not)- our race, our ethnicity, our religion, and our culture.  

Why do we judge something we don't have any concept of?  Because the media or our parents or friends tell us to?  How do we bridge the gap between fear and ignorance?  Is it possible to do that with so much misinformation and an incredible amount of fear-based false narratives?

Tonight a friend of mine Beth Stauffer and I were invited by Donia Hanaei to be a guest at her mosque at the Islamic Center for Lafayette.  We were going to witness how Muslims honor their culture.  The celebration was in observance of Ramadan (which I have never heard about until recently):  "Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (Sawm) to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic belief.  This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon, according to numerous biographical accounts compiled in the hadiths."

Basically, it is a month of fasting from sun up til sun down (no water included.)  Each night for a month they have a dinner to break the fast.  A family sponsors the dinner and they sit around on the floor with an abundance of food and water and wait until 7:59pm.  Men and kids in one room and women and kids in another.  At this time they begin to eat.  Casually.  They eat and chit chat.  Kids are running all around.  They do this until it is time to pray.  They leisurely find their way to the prayer rooms and for about 5 minutes are led in prayer, loosely.  Again, people coming in and out and kids running all around.  They finish praying and resume eating and mingling until the next prayer session.  Beth and I noticed how quickly the prayer rooms become play rooms.  There is nothing valuable in these rooms, because they believe there is nothing more reverent than a life.  The kids laugh and play games.  More food.  This continues through out the night and then everyone goes home happy, tired and very full.  

I learned the nuances between all of the different religions.  I learned why women wear the hajib and how each religion wears them differently and the reasons behind it.  I learned why they don't wear nail polish, because when they wash their hands they want to make sure all of their hands are clean.  I learned why the women pray on the side or behind the men, because the men are the weaker sex and they bow and bend over a lot to pray (men just aren't exactly ready for that temptation.)  I was told so many explanations as to why they have the rituals that they do and they were all common sense.  

These religions are complicated to us, because they are foreign.  They are simple when you realize how basic their needs are-- family, food, fun and a devotion to their religion.  It parallels exactly to the cajun culture, but not with crawfish and boudin.  The people were warm and welcoming.  Literally just short of saying "who's your mama; who's your daddy..."  They were curious about who we were and where we came from.  They were thankful we wanted to experience their culture and they really wanted you to eat and take some to go.   The Imam- their religious leader- asked us to go talk in his office.  He inquired about who we were and where we came from.  He was thankful we came and had a glimpse into his world.  His 2 year old daughter came in and sat on his lap, wanting to take off his "hat" and wear it herself.  His beautiful pregnant wife came in and shuffled her daughter back to the rambunctious kids running around in the prayer room.  

This was a night of pure joy.  This was an in depth understanding to why I am fighting for the rights of minorities.  If we keep our blinders on to things that scare us "the unknown", we will never rise above as a civilization.   Yes there are bad, horrible Muslims that do horrific acts of devastation and that sucks. However, until we can say as white Americans we aren't committing crimes that parallel to these, then we need to quit being the elitist judgers of all.  We as Americans are far from knowing the answer to being the perfect human. 

#mosque NewZealand terrorist whitesupremist muslim islamic domesticterrorist religion fear acceptance understanding