#Indian giver

[auntymurda]

art by indiangiver on instagram.

#uploads #indiangiver #Indian giver #artist #photoshop #vintage tattoos #idk #vintage #brittney spears #Marilyn Monroe #pinup tattoos

[billykaren]

#billykaren #music #musica #muzyka #musik #musika #musique #Indian giver #youtube

[biblefruit]

The whole, "being publicly nailed to a cross after making a spectacle of my own torture as a sacrifice to absolve all humanity of sin" is pretty melodramatic for someone who tells you to be humble all the time

Besides he came back and won an award anyway like imagine Robert Downey Jr told you to keep your head down and be grateful while he was accepting an Oscar remotely from a private airplane in the sky

#AND hes got two of the best swear words #honestly fuck jesus that Indian giver

[copperbadge]

Do you have any advice on how to get a "charity" to stop sending me mail solicitations? I keep getting mail asking for donations to a Indian School run by Catholics. No idea how I got on their list, but given the history of boarding schools and the Native American people I certainly don't want to giver them money.

The problem is, really, that direct mailings work -- they have something like a 3% return rate but that's still a pretty solid return on investment, so a lot of nonprofits find it worth it to send people mail even when they know they absolutely don't want it. And a lot of nonprofits tend to ignore "do not mail" directives conditionally -- like, they'll "not mail" most of the year but always include the person in annual campaigns, holiday card mailings, etc.

I've written about this before, but it is very difficult to get set up so that you are never, ever, ever mailed by a nonprofit. Having your record completely removed from their database often doesn't even work, because a lot of nonprofits do "list swaps" and if your name is on some other nonprofit's list, you'll go right back into their records the next time they do a swap. So you need to have your record in their system but marked "do not mail ever under any circumstances" and understand that even that will probably be ignored occasionally. Still, you can make the attempt.

So, to start with, the next time you get a donation request, remove the "coupon" part they want you to send back with a payment, write "Please remove me from your mailing list permanently; I do not wish to support your cause" on the coupon, put it in the envelope, and send it. Make sure your name and address are on the coupon somewhere, or write it on there. That envelope will go to someone who works with a database and can mark you "no mail".

If you get mail after that, you'll probably need to call them and ask to speak to someone in data, or in gift processing. Ask to have your record permanently marked "do not mail" and explain that you do not even wish to receive non-solicitation mailings. Politely explain that you do not support their cause and that it is a waste of time for them to solicit you. Make sure that whoever you speak to, you get their name and extension or job title, so that if you receive mail you can tell the next person who you spoke to last time about having it removed. (This tends to signal that you're serious and the added accountability sometimes helps ensure the person really, really marks you no-mail.)

But yeah, into every life a little junk mail must fall. I've been trying to get the local evangelicals to stop sending me mailings with middling success. It's because, unfortunately, direct mail works. :/

#nonprofits #charity

[verdantlyviolet]

Adeia 2023: Modern Festival to Demeter

On a global scale, we’re dealing with a climate crisis that is putting food sources at risk. On a more local level, conflicts and abnormal weather are creating risks of bad harvests, resources shortages and/or inflations. We are aware that not everyone is impacted directly by the current ongoing issues, but we hope that this festival (or at least the idea) can be useful beyond these and be seen through a wider scope of praying for food security at large.  We named the festival Adeia, from the ancient Greek ἄδεια, which conveniently can signify both “abundance”/”plenty” and “freedom from fear”/”security”. All things the festival aims for. - @thegrapeandthefig’s original post

With El Niño threatening, a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, and record warmest winter almost Australia-wide, the upcoming summer is looking to be dry, hot, and ripe for bushfires.

The gods I am propitiating for my Adeia are Demeter Soteira (saviour), Herakles Alexikakos (averter of evil), Zeus Hyetios (moist/fertilising rain), Hermes Nomios and Apollon Nomios (protectors of pastures and shepherds), Olea (nymph of my garden), and Djarlgarra (local river god).

My menu includes:

Butterflied pork sausages with garden flowers and parsley

Flower shaped oranges with cranberry centres and honey on a bed of barley

Bread on a bed of garden parsley

Rain water in a pitcher

We call upon you in our time of need Benevolent gods, givers of good.

Crises threaten world-over and hardships befall many, and now again we raise our voices in plea.

If these smoky offerings please you, and these sweet drinks warm you, look well upon us. Kindly gods, bless our coffers and larders again, and see abundance flow to our house. And should strife visit our doors, grant us the fortitude to endure.

May Demeter’s lawful eye oversee policy development, so great changes can sprout in years to come

May Zeus meter his life-giving rains, so dry or soggy fields remain moist year-through

May Hermes keep a watchful eye on the flocks and farm-hands, that flystrike and heatstroke never hinder them

With outstretched arms I sing praises to you, bold Djarlgarra, he who holds moisture for our sun-stricken land

And to sweet Olea I gift equally sweet fruits, that you may keep my rain barrels at bursting and my garden fertile

#Adeia #adeiafestival #shrines

[incorrectbatfam]

Jason Todd’s book recommendation list? Or at least a list of his favorite Jane Austen books in order? Also, which Pride & Prejudice movie version would he prefer?

Jason's book recs besides Jane Austen and Willy Shakes:

The Catcher in the Rye – J. D. Salinger

Fun Home – Alison Bechdel

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

The Social Cancer – José Rizal

The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde

Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison

The Outsiders – S. E. Hinton

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L'Engle

The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne

Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon

The Handmaid's Tale – Margaret Atwood

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou

Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison

The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin

To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee

The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas

Maus – Art Spiegelman 

The Giver – Lois Lowry

The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan

Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

Chicano! – Francisco A. Rosales

My Sister's Keeper – Jodi Picoult

1984 – George Orwell

The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – Dee Brown

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut

As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Ken Kesey

Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway

The Jungle – Upton Sinclair

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

#ask #jason todd #red hood #batfamily #batfam #batboys #batbros #batkids #batsiblings #batman family #dc comics #headcanon #book rec #banned books

[reasoningdaily]

Even the most nonsensical idioms in the English language originated somewhere. Some terms, like silver lining and tomfoolery, have innocuous roots, while other sayings date back to the darkest chapters in U.S. history. While these common phrases are rarely used in their original contexts today, knowing their racist origins casts them in a different light.

1. Tipping Point

This common phrase describes the critical point when a change that had been a possibility becomes inevitable. When it was popularized, according to Merriam-Webster, it was applied to one phenomenon in particular: white flight. In the 1950s, as white people abandoned urban areas for the suburbs in huge numbers, journalists began using the phrase tipping point in relation to the percentage of non-white neighbors it took to trigger this reaction in white city residents. Tipping point wasn’t coined in the 1950s (it first appeared in print in the 19th century), but it did enter everyday speech during the decade thanks to this topic.

2. Long Time, No See

The saying long time, no see can be traced back to the 19th century. In a Boston Sunday Globe article from 1894, the words are applied to a Native American speaker. The broken English phrase was also used to evoke white people’s stereotypical ideas of Native American speech in William F. Drannan’s 1899 book Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West.

It’s unlikely actual Native Americans were saying long time, no see during this era. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this type of isolating construction would have been unusual for the indigenous languages of North America. Rather, it originated as a way for white writers to mock Native American speech, and that of non-native English speakers from other places like China. By the 1920s, it had become an ordinary part of the American vernacular.

3. Mumbo Jumbo

Before it was synonymous with jargon or other confusing language, the phrase mumbo jumbo originated with religious ceremonies in West Africa. In the Mandinka language, the word Maamajomboo described a masked dancer who participated in ceremonies. Former Royal African Company clerk Francis Moore transcribed the name as mumbo jumbo in his 1738 book Travels into the Inland Parts of Africa. In the early 1800s, English speakers started to divorce the phrase from its African origins and apply it to anything that confused them.

4. Sold Down the River

Before the phrase sold down the river meant betrayal, it originated as a literal slave-trading practice. Enslaved people from more northerly regions were sold to cotton plantations in the Deep South via the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. For enslaved people, the threat of being “sold down the river” implied separation from family and a guaranteed life of hard labor and brutal conditions. A journal entry from April 1835 mentions a person who, “having been sold to go down the river, attempted first to cut off both of his legs, failing to do that, cut his throat, did not entirely take his life, went a short distance and drowned himself.”

5. No Can Do

Similar to long time, no see, no can do originated as a jab at non-native English speakers. According to the OED, this example was likely directed at Chinese immigrants in the early 20th century. Today, many people who use the phrase as general slang for “I can’t do that” are unaware of its cruel origins.

6. Indian Giver

Merriam-Webster defines an Indian giver as “a person who gives something to another and then takes it back.” One of the first appearances was in Thomas Hutchinson’s History of the Colony of Massachuset’s Bay in the mid 18th century. In a note, it says “An Indian gift is a proverbial expression, signifying a present for which an equivalent return is expected.” In the 19th century, the stereotype was transferred from the gift to the giver, the idea of an “equivalent return” was abandoned, and it became used as an insult. An 1838 N.-Y. Mirror article mentions the “distinct species of crimes and virtues” of schoolchildren, elaborating, “I have seen the finger pointed at the Indian giver. (One who gives a present and demands it back again.)”

Even as this stereotype about Indigenous people faded, the phrase Indian giver has persisted into the 21st century. The word Indian in Indian giver also denotes something false, as it does in the antiquated phrase Indian summer.

7. Cakewalk

In the antebellum South, some enslaved Black Americans spent Sundays dressing up and performing dances in the spirit of mocking the white upper classes. The enslavers didn’t know they were the butt of the joke, and even encouraged these performances and rewarded the best dancers with cake, hence the name.

Possibly because this was viewed as a leisurely weekend activity, the phrase cakewalk became associated with easy tasks. Cakewalks didn’t end with slavery: For decades, they remained (with cake prizes) a part of Black American life—but at the same time, white actors in blackface incorporated the act into minstrel shows, turning what began as a satire of white elites into a racist caricature of Black people.

#The Racist Origins of 7 Common Phrases #racism #idioms #colloquialisms #caricature #mocking phrases #white supremacy #hate speech #how to identify hate speech

[ancientorigins]

Our everyday language is full of colloquial expressions, including persistent racial slurs which are widely accepted as inappropriate. Delving into the history of the term "Indian giver" can help us understand why.

#words #etymology #racism #Native Americans #stereotypes #gifts #ancient #history #ancient origins

[g0j0s]

before india was colonised by the west women didn’t wear blouses. they either covered their breasts with the drape of their sari or didn’t cover at all. the populace didn’t consider it a taboo, it was a natural phenomenon: the body of a woman, the life giver & the feeder.

however, after the Britishers arrived and saw how the women of india dressed, they were appalled. they called it shameful behaviour and forced them to cover up since, “women aren’t supposed to dress so immodestly.”

hence, the sexualisation of the local women began with lecherous eyes running up and down their bodies constantly, they were forced to cover themselves more. when high-class, elite Indian women were denied entry in public places because of the “obscene” attire they were enraged by the persistent insults and resorted to the only solution in their hands, the blouse.

so, the invention of the Indian blouse, directly inspired by the clothing style of the British women took place.

for a community that was labelled regressive and barbaric by the invaders and the terms are even tossed around today, the history of oppression is rarely talked about.

#desi tumblr #desiblr #desi tag #desi aesthetic #desi poetry #india #colonisation #indiansaree #indianclothing #indian women #indian dark academia #indian literature #indian tumblr

[neechees]

Racist idiot calling Native Americans "Indian Giver" on a post showing the decline of Native Land in Canada

#his name is Herbert Zigler by the way. #i found his facebook. and adress. and phone number. and former work place :) #ill be merciful for now but post this

[al-hekima-madara-blog]

Lord Indra, the natural hero who never was

or why Sasuke and Madara always shine despite the whole plot in their disadvantages.

Hero : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability. b : an illustrious warrior. c : a person admired for achievements and noble qualities. d : one who shows great courage.

Going out of my MGA writing retreat cave for a sec and share with you some of my researches...I don't have great knowledges of vedic texts and Indian culture but to what I read so far (correct me if I'm wrong) Indra is the King of the devas and Heaven. In similar fashion, Zeus king of other gods in Greek mythology. Indra controls storm, rain, and uses thunderbolt as one of his most deadly weapon. He is both the archetype of the mighty warrior, the slayer of great evil (asuras) and also the life-giver. Because you know, rain fertilises earth (if you get the metaphor 💦... 👀). One of his most famous story is how he destroys Vritra the monstrous snake/dragon, also called an asura, who was responsible for holding back waters and created drought. And by doing this, Indra slain the archaic forces blocking the creation of new lives.

As a Naruto fan, I get now the inspiration for Otsutsuki Indra. Sasuke's preference for raiton and kirin, Madara as a god of war and user of storm release, the symbol behind Sasuke killing Oroshimaru in his white snake shape, susanoo although a japanese god is still god of storm killing an other massive snake...

It's kind of funny because Indra is, based on the Vedas tradition, the allegory of the perfect hero. He comes alone, strong-willed, powerful, and slays any obstacles to the natural cycle of life, and by doing so he saves humanity from chaos. And it's precisely what is despise in the Narutoverse about the characters assimilated to him, namely Uchiha clan and Indra Otsutsuki. Indra opposing his unfair father is bad. The Uchiha clan defending themselves against oppression is devilish, Sasuke seeking revenge is detestable, Madara looking for a world purged of evil is absolutely hideous.

There is as well many shinto inspirations but I'm mostly reading here the story in a Vedic perceptive and you'll notice something else about the asura's. It's not a single god but a group of demons always confronting the devas. They are seen in a negative light, the anti-gods, the power-seekers ect... And it kind of makes sense with Naruto who can't progress on his own. He needs to be constantly help and surrounded by people. He is also notoriously possessed by a powerful demon who manifest himself in the beginning of the story when Naruto is corned to anger. Notice also that the only way to control this demonic force is either the sharingan assimilated to shinto spiritual strength or Mokuton from the Senju being assimilated with Buddhism spiritual strength.

So now you get where I'm going... isn't weird that mostly Narutoverse is respecting mythologies and adapt them to its own storyline. For instance the sannin legend, Kaguyahime story. But for Indra and Asura it's a total reverse of values. Intentionally, the good is bad and the bad is good.

Yeah but the plot Al Hekima, don't forget the plot ! I know, I know... If your main character is a boy possessed by a demon, befriends with 9 others demons and it's apparently normal, it will end up this way.

Maybe I'm not objective after all but even before going deeper into analysing the Narutoverse, Indra and the Uchiha clan being seen as cursed and evil by nature, the people who went astray and needed to be beaten into submission, always left me unsettled. Literally, I couldn't comprehend what was wrong with them which justify so much hate. And in opposite Naruto being possessed by a demon is blatantly black magic. His father is never questioned about doing it to his son, neither Hiruzen to the young Kushina, or Hashirama to his wife (in this case they may have both agree). I know it's just fiction, but art doesn't come out of the blue. It's ingrained in the artist's set of value, cultures, emotion ect... And the author stressed in interviews that he wanted to bring positive value to his younger audience. I'm just questioning sometimes what are actually those values? For the Uchihas the idea was to forgive, to not fall into hate, and move on. But forgive without justice? Putting the pressure of moving on solely on the victim and never put the perpetuator in a difficult position? Never ask any apology or reform from the aggressor? The victim needs to forgive with no assurance that it won't happened again. Believe it, right? and eventually the victim needs to help the system who harmed him to keep going... Anyway I'm rambling at this point but that's always my major philosophical disagreement with Kishimoto.

#Sharing with you some of my researches while writing my fic #madara golden age #it was suppose to be a short post but apparently I can't do that lol #and also those researchs explain why it's so easy to rewrite Madara/Sasuke as heroes because they ARE #Madara #Sasuke #Indra #Asura #Indra in vedic texts #Naruto #Sasuke's popularity almost overshining Naruto is logic #Even Naruto is obsessed with the true hero of the story

[austinem00n]

Hey there! Would you be interested in becoming absolutely enraged? Here are books that are banned!:

In case you can’t see:

Harriet The Spy

The Secret Life Of Bees

The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian

My Sisters Keeper

The Lorax

Charlottes Web

Speak

The Kite Ruiner

The Book Theory

The Handmaid’s Tale

The Poisionwood Bible

Me, Earl, And The Dying Girl

The Great Gabtsy

Out Of Darkness

The Diary of Anne Frank

Fahrenheit 451

To Kill A Mocking Bird.

I cannot stress this enough, this makes me physically ill. Charlottes Web? The Lorax? It’s insane. Anne Frank, Handmaid’s Tale, The Giver (not listed but banned), and Fahrenheit 451 are all cautionary tales, it’s not surprising that they’re banned. The books warn up about what’s happening. And we cannot read them, so we cannot be warned. Liberty dies where books are banned.

#america #banned books #unban books #liberty dies where books are banned #unconstitutional #what about free speak? #freedom of the press? #does this not exist? #how is this legal?

[just-in-case-iloveyou]

get to know me tag 🌻

@sugarcoated-lame my darling🧡 thank you so much for the tag 🥰

1. were you named after anyone?

i'm pretty sure y'all can guess my real name, but yeah, i was. my name means "she who will rise again," which was neat, because my parents read about an American Indian woman who worked closely with an ethnologist to record hundreds of hours tapes cataloging her tribe's language. a language that no one spoke, until a cardboard box containing those tapes was found in the Smithsonian Institution the year before i was born. my parents loved the name and were blown away by the story.

2. when was the last time you cried?

two days ago, it's been a rough month

3. do you have kids?

no kids, but i do have a fur baby 🥹 ditto, Kricket

4. what sports do you play/have you played?

i did dance and gymnastics a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. 🩰 after that, i played basketball and softball in middle school, and volleyball from middle to high school. 🏀🥎🏐

5. do you use sarcasm?

at this point, i'm pretty sure it's a coping mechanism for me.

6. what’s the first thing you notice about people?

smile first, then eyes (mostly because i'm nearsighted, so eyes are a little harder)

7. what’s your eye color?

hazel, i guess. they're green on the outside and brown on the inside.

8. scary movies or happy endings?

happy endings, for sure. i'm too chicken for scary movies 🐔 and i like to feel happy 💖

9. any talents?

Kicket, babe, i feel like we're kind of the same person.

i can sing, and if i'm comfortable enough with you, i'll sing along to things in your presence. i used to take voice lessons and do musical theater, but since my anxiety developed later, that's a big no-go nowadays. i'm also a solid advice-giver (but i can't take my own), and i used to stress-bake a TON in university. i suppose i'm pretty good at random trivia! and i'm okay at painting, but i only really do it at those paint and sip places lol.

10. where were you born?

Orange County, California 🍊

11. what are your hobbies?

again, same person, different font

PUZZLES!!! reading, watching movies, singing, baking, thrifting, playing video games (i'm a sucker for the Nancy Drew mystery games). i'm trying to get better at cooking. i used to do creative writing and write poems, but i haven't in a very long time. i feel like i should try to get back into that. and like i said, paint and sip is also fun lol

12. do you have any pets?

at the moment, my sister has a pittie mix named Moose, we've got a lovebird named Peach, and a tortoise (African desert maybe?) named Shelley (we didn't name him). we lost my sweet girl Bell and my baby boy Percy not too long ago 💔💔

13. how tall are you?

5'2" i'm almost pocket-sized!

14. favorite subject in school?

English and Social Studies (history, geography, psych, etc.)

15. dream job?

this is gonna sound insane, but ever since i was 11, i've always wanted to work for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). it sounds squirrely, but long story short, i started watching NCIS and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation around that age, and i just got SO interested in criminology and forensics.

no pressure tags: @lewmagoo @laracrofted @seresinhangmanjake @withahappyrefrain @roosterforme @ohtobeleah @mamachasesmayhem @bobgasm @bobfloydsbabe @attaboylew @attapullman @mjskeletons661 @lostinthefandoms11 @pinkdaisies1106 @mandylove1000 I’m a little late to this so sorry if you’ve already done it 🧡

#anya answers #a rumor in st petersburg

[kiss-my-freckle]

I mean I really don't want to use you as a sounding board but I'm going to.

I don't even know why I look at Reddit fandom. I don't know the age of "them" but wow are they toxic, abuser DEFENDERS with kinda weird thoughts and I regret it every time I engage.

Addiction aside, humanity switch aside, leaving with Klaus to save Damon aside, Stefan was atrocious to Elena. Let's just talk about 3x9 to 3x12. He screams at her after almost driving her off Wickery, tells her he doesn't care what she thinks, angrily says "don't tempt me Elena" about another possible kidnap attempt, is so nasty when she asks him about the medical examiner as if she's crazy for asking him and not Damon after all he's done, and what I find infuriating was when he walked away from her after she admitted 3x10 kiss. I don't know why this bothers me? It was so rude and offensive with all his man pain like please.

Also, when you get a chance can you gif 3x19 kiss? I feel like this episode is rushed but not? Maybe because I've rewatched season 3 so much, but I just saw a Tumblr gif on this kiss and I saw different things when it's slowed down. I can't do it on my own I've tried.

Plus, I want your opinion.

I blame TVD's demographic. Their target audience. Every social networking site has a certain level of toxicity. While most are bearable, I consider Reddit to be the worst for any fandom.

I agree with your opinion of 3x9 to 3x12. It's not the writing that bothers me. It's the way fans respond to the writing. They like to ignore the pain Stefan caused Damon and Elena, and focus on the pain Damon and Elena caused Stefan. His character bothered me a great deal in their 3x12 scene. The comment he made about having gone too far. The fact that he only apologized for threatening her on the bridge when he did so much more than that. The fact that he waited until she admitted to kissing Damon before he so much as apologized for it. The fact that it took her kissing Damon for him to stop treating her like crap.

I often talk about Stefan treating Elena like a toy before he treated her like a broken toy because he did. In his relationship with Elena, Stefan was written as the awfully termed indian giver. He gave his brother the gift of love, then demanded it back when it suited him. Like a marionette he can pick up and put down whenever he wants. But she's not made of wood. She is blood and bone. A kind, caring, compassionate human being that deserves better. It shouldn't take her kissing Damon for Stefan to stop treating her like a doormat. Especially when she's fighting like hell to save him. Stefan's "man pain" was self-inflicted. It wasn't Damon or Elena who hurt him, it was Stefan himself. Damon and Elena did exactly what Stefan wanted them to do.

Sure, I'll gif 3x19... just give me a few.

[sapphiconoclast]

I think no matter how old I get and how far I distance myself from christianity the christian concept of "well yeah I gave you that gift of my own volition but [now you owe me/I can take it back whenever I want/you need to use it in this specific way or else you're a bad person]" is gonna live in my head rent-free

it comes up a lot in sermons about tithing. when I was 17 I was given this metaphor of "what if your friend gave you ten donuts and then wanted you to give him one back? wouldn't you give it to him?" and I remember thinking "if he wanted a donut he should've only given me nine of them".

again when I was about 21 my pastor had a sermon about how he bought his kid some candy at the movies and when he stuck his hand in the kid's candy box to take some the kid screamed and made a scene, and somehow this adult man who was trying to take candy from a kid when he could've very well just bought two boxes- or even, and I know this may be a novel idea to christians, asked first before sticking his hand in the kid's candy box- this man was portraying the CHILD as the puerile one, to not want to share his candy with his dad.

you also see it in sermons about how jesus "sacrificed himself for us" and now we HAVE to accept his "gift" of eternal life AND ALSO we HAVE to live a certain way to express our gratitude or else it'll hurt his divine feelings or something

like, actually, no! when you give something to someone it becomes their property, same as if they had bought it themselves. they're allowed to use it, abuse it, or disuse it however they like! and sure, you can ask for it back, but they're under no obligation to give it back, no more than if you were asking for something else they owned.

nowhere is this more evident than in how christian parents treat their kids, imo. I'd wager that just about every kid who was born and raised in the christian South of the US has heard the threat "I brought you into this world, I can take you out" from their parents at some point. the idea that giving birth to someone is a gift that can be given and then revoked is so prevalent and so baffling to me and so, so morally outrageous when you think about it for more than two seconds. the fucking temerity!

and don't think the irony is lost on me that these people then use phrases like "indian giver" to describe someone who gives something away and then wants it back. jesus fucking christ.

[magiclilybean]

Whimsically decided on New Year's Day to read 52 books in 2024. Wasn't sure if that was too ambitious, but now it's 15 days into the year, and I'm 4 books in. I like having a reading list so much, I'm thinking about doing this every year.

So far I read:

1. The Sun Down Inn - Pretty meh, although it has a female protagonist and I like that.

2. The Giver - I found this one kind of boring. Not going any further in this series, I don't think.

3. The Book Thief - This one was the most "literary," if that makes sense - abstract and poetic and unique. Different from any other Holocaust book I've read. It's a crime that I haven't read it before.

4. The Only Good Indians - Indigenous horror. Some of the animal related content is difficult to read, but it has a very satisfying ending. You won't have any idea how it's going to end until the last two pages. It was an unpredictable read and I also learned a lot. Found this on Paperbacks and Frybread, cannot recommend her book store enough.

Next up: The 5th Season and Iron Widow.

#reading #reading list #2024 #new year #independent booksellers