#religion of convenience

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

“Believers regularly take opposing positions on such matters as capital punishment, abortion, pacifism, birth control, physician-assisted suicide, animal rights, the environment, the separation of church and state, gay rights and women's rights.

It might be concluded from this that there is either a multitude of gods handing out conflicting moral advice, or a single god who is hopelessly confused.”

-- Dan Barker

#Dan Barker #The Creation of the Sun Moon and Plants #Michelangelo #god's butt #god's moon #religion of convenience #true religion #one true religion #christianity #god of incompetence #incompetent god #religion #religion is a mental illness

[tmae3114]

y'know, given that I am a member of a faith with incredibly important central tenets of compassion and honesty - to the point that I am, technically speaking, forbidden to make promises because my word alone should be just as binding by default - it is incredibly exhausting, sad, and, frankly, painful, that fellow members of my faith are the very first people I have to suspect of dishonesty and deception

#me #at this point the moment I hear 'Christian source' I immediately get filled with doubt and I HATE that #What's worse is that 8/10 times the suspicions ends up being warranted #I'm just. I'm tired. #'the other people who follow the Don't Lie religion are the ones I can't trust not to lie if it's convenient' should NOT be my default #AND YET #ignore me I'm venting #<- my general venting tag you can actually interact if you so desire #I WILL immediately turn off reblogs if this breaks containment though

[mirrorofliterature]

y’all got to stop isolating potential allies by making fun of their religion

also

remember that as religion and queerness is not mutually exclusive, there are religious queer people and - yes, there are queer Christian people who probably would like to not be mocked about one core facet of their identity in either community.

maybe I’m just being facetious, but tumblr seems to treat queerness and being religious - particularly being Christian - as mutually exclusive, and that’s not accurate.

also, american evangelical christians are a small minority of christians.

‘oh, but christianity is the dominant religion in [xyz], so it’s okay to poke fun at it!’ I mean yeah, but you are being kind of a dick.

christians should stop imposing their religious beliefs onto everyone can coexist with random everyday christians shouldn’t be mocked for their religion.

anyway mocking people’s faith is not an effective recruitment strategy! that just people’s barriers up.

#rambles #christianity #queerness #religion #and the intersection thereof #that people conveniently likes to forget exists #idk maybe being generally hostile to people just because they're part of one of the world's largest religions isn't a great position?

[bijoumikhawal]

And the fact that Garak grew up being taught that the service class was a vital part of the Cardassian mosaic and did not think to question that until being sent to Bamarren, when he gradually became concerned with power and status... the fact that when Mila tells him he has the "opportunity" to rise above his class and he tells her he wasn't aware there was something to rise above not long after he asks Tolan if being a service worker bothered him... him remembering the latter in the context that Tolan never had to be (never could be?) forced to do violence the way it was demanded of Garak in order for him to have an "opportunity" to assimilate by committing violence

#Cipher talk #Ds9 #ASIT #Elim Garak #Edosian melancholies #Honestly Tolan and Tain's implied relationship fascinates me #Imagine you are an indigenous man that illegally practices your religion and you work for one of the main heads of the state that's made it #Illegal. He has all the power and influence anyone could want. He's fucking your sister. He knocks her up. You agree to a scheme where you #Pretend to be her husband to spare him the shame because he decides NOT to kill her #He knows where the local chapter of illegal religious meetings happens. Presumably you do too. He never cracks down on it. #He tries to force you to do an assassination or teach someone your gardening methods to do it. You refuse and live. You raise his son as #Your own and you teach him gardening. You know one day he will almost assuredly be made into a killer. You cannot save him. #Is the punishment for denying him? Or is it just convenient that it hurts.

[61below]

Oh to be Hob Gadling, fresh in Amsterdam for his shipping business in 1725 and hear the Vivaldi’s Winter beat drop for the first time 🥹

#hob gadling #dear brain this is not the most convenient hyperfixation #my western civ class ended in 1500 and my science religion and philosophy class didn’t discuss trade routes ahhh

[enslaughts]

verse. . . 𝙽𝙴𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷 𝙽𝙾𝚁 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴.

re : doomcoming.

instead of clutching at her cross necklace, laura lee grabs at the door handle. later, she'll blame it on how old and decrepit the plane was rather than the same thing that set leonard on fire. she goes from yanking on the door to elbowing the window until it shatters in a single motion. choking on smoke, she throws herself from the seat moments before the explosion, hits the water hard enough to choke on air too, but it's cool, and dark amid a flash of orange and yellow, and she is alive. leonard, on the other hand. . .

she's been here before ; underwater and bleeding. but nobody saves her this time. nobody saves any of them.

the first crash cracked at her faith— only a little, tiny fissures she could neatly stitch back together, especially with lottie to inspire. others leaning on her faith has always made it seem stronger. but the second crash breaks every last stitch she painstakingly sewed together as if it was never there to begin with. it's the nature of it ; fire from thin air, just as she dared to hope. it's cruel, it's demonic, satanic, to her, which blends fairly easily with her worldview. it's easy to blame her suffering on the source of all evil, but she's devout. she's tried to be good, and kind, and endlessly so, so why isn't god defending them ? not leonard, not her, not any of them. god isn't saving any of them from this darkness ; why ? do they deserve it ? no. laura lee refuses to believe that. she can't think of anyone, not a single soul, who would deserve this.

doomcoming hits her like ripple in the ocean. it isn't much of anything but a meal. she eats, she drinks, and she stares quietly at the fire. she's never been mad at god before. and she's furious, and devastated, and she doesn't have the heart to tell lottie, not after she baptized her herself. moralizing is hardwired to her ; the crash, the food, the lack of it, it all has meaning. it's not an apathetic planet spinning on its axis, without love or hate alike. it's an apathetic god, watching her and her young, innocent friends die slow. watching satan pluck them from the sky like they belong to him instead of god. after she gave herself to him, he doesn't lift a finger.

psychedelic mushrooms don't help with a crisis of religion, turns out ! laura lee is as much of a follower as a leader. she can stand up to their coach if she thinks she has her teammates support, if she thinks it will help them. she's a servant, a purpose waiting to be fulfilled, and she just lost her's. oh, but lottie. lottie's just gained it. laura lee can't hear god anymore, a part of her doesn't want to, but lottie can, so effortlessly certain of it, a candle in the dark, so bright and strong and beautiful. what can laura lee do but follow ?

#study. . .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽⠀:⠀laura lee #verse. . .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝙽𝙴𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝚃𝙷 𝙽𝙾𝚁 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴⠀:⠀laura lee #religion // #ask to tag #doc linked in the title for convenience! #i'll update there and re - post when i add stuff but i feel like this sets the trajectory well #and i haven't rewatched the ep after doomcoming yet so <3 this is all for now #i just think that. lottie becoming laura lee's religion 🧍 #it is not as simple as that though!! can't unmake a christian that quickly (unfortunately) #her morals are what gives her this very crisis so it won't be seamless given the. religious practices the group. goes on to lol #but i feel like her particular faith coupled with the trauma of the wilderness wearing at her would make it like #so easy for her to melt into the hysteria #in those moments anyway. after she comes out of them it's only more crisis from here

[xannerz]

im still debating on rbing the entire thread but this comment was one of many that made me just --

#i gotta believe this person is an american liberal i-- #esp for non-xian or queer ppl growing up in NA our experiences w xianity were likely negative (me 2!) that doesnt cancel out the fact that #westerners constantly n conveniently forget about the fact that if a group exists (even xians!) they are probs gettin fucked somewhere else #westerners also seem to forget that A. not all xians are yt and/or B. not all imperialists are yt either #but it's easy and trendy to just rag on 1 specific group as representative of all so i get it. i get it. #anyway im gonna go decompress after a long day LMAO #and while i doubt it'd happen no discourse please im just yelling at clouds thanks. #religion // #xangoeswah

[somefishycat]

I suddenly find myself researching Puritan burials in order to write a crackfic where Hunter's ghost plans his own funeral. Help me.

#golden ghost au #going with the assumption that belos had a heavy influence on all aspects of religion in the boiling isles #the fact that puritan funerals were silent is really convenient though since theyre also hiding a body. discretion is required

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

The problem isn’t just that it can be interpreted. It’s that it must be interpreted. Since its message and meaning differs depending on the reader, it cannot, by definition, be objectively true.

Regarding it as open to interpretation forfeits the right to police how others interpret it, whether that’s fundamentalists who interpret it literally, or non-believers who interpret it as complete nonsense.

And makes divine will subservient to the whims and preferences of humans.

#bible #christianity #bible study #open to interpretation #interpretation #bible interpretation #religion of convenience #religion #religion is a mental illness

[nikatyler]

I really hate how in my country, politicians are like "we belong to the West ☺️" and then we're like "fine what about this thing that is completely normal in the western Europe" and then they're like "noooo not like that, look at Poland and Hungary tho, they have some good laws about it"

#this could apply to a lot of things but specifically i'm talking about lgbt stuff and gay marriage #one political party brought it up again and wants to legalize it #so now there's a wide range of reactions going from 'marriage is only between a man and a woman' to #'they're genetically twisted' (yes that's a title i actually read today) #also i love how this country is mostly atheist but the moment it's convenient people start bringing up god #or maybe the religious people just get really loud idk #but then you listen to them for a bit and you're like oh. well i'm not sure if you're making your god very proud tbh #(not saying religion bad but you know. you can imagine the groups that are.) #anyway i will probably delete this later #i just needed to rant #it's like they waited for pride month to drop the biggest homophobic bombs #nika rambles #don't reblog please

[chubbswithhuggs]

Straight people who have been or are married act like it's something special as if not almost every culture does it and as if it's not viable to most people

#like not even lawfully married tho some of these girls will be only religiously married and talking like this #marriage is no unique and people are allowed to put their two cents in about it esp if their religion culture or country idealizes it #like girl half of you bitches are in marriages of convenience w/ abusive power dynamics and unhappy #a marriage is just a relationship. Everyone can have a relationship so everyone can have input on marriage. #like don't let people talk shit to you about specifically your marriage but stop acting like it's special and unknowable #most people you know have witnessed multiple married people and their dynamics in their social lives personal lives and work lives #jovi talks

[rhaenyras]

ok but what if the universe's ultimate purpose was not the making and preservation of life (towards which we - as sole living self-referential creatures in the infinite wilderness of cosmos until otherwise proven - toil incessantly) ...... but what if the universe existed just for the sake of giving those perfect chaotic humbling gigantic enormous structures of gas and dust some room to expand into instead? wouldn't that be something? if i could have the utmost certainty that this is true and that life was just an unforeseen, unlikely and annoying side effect that we all get to experience collectively, i will literally laugh for the remainder of my silly pathetic petty beautiful breathtaking inconsequential life

#yeah. the new pics from the webb telescope did things to my brain #also. i find it very convenient that our monkey brains evolved to perceive rarities and exceptions like a good thing #our brain labours under the assumption that if something happened only once then it must be unique and precious and worthy #but..... what if it was actually the opposite #we're not special. we are an ugly smear on the pristine white perfection of it all #im not feeling negative tho. im actually beaming as i type this. #why must any given thing have a purpose at all #capitalism truly fucked with our minds beyond repair #isn't it enough to just exist and expand for the hell of it? #sometimes magnificence is its own reward #can't believe we had to invent gods and religions to come to terms with something that's just so.... unyielding and uncompromising #rant.txt

[sun-through-the-trees]

I mean don't get me wrong, direct contact with the divine kinda kicks ass. But like. The extant audacity of christianity notwithstanding, is re proven anyway by leaning heavily on Moses, (+other people who talked DIRECTLY to god). Like, credit to him: he did a bangin' Hero's Journey, and probably did go up that hill, then destroying the evidence is probably the single most dramatic thing conceivable on that planet. Like THATS audacity.

#catholiscism #catholicposting #dont get me wrong i think jesus wasnt that big a deal and god is a convenient story #but like #they did a good job at making a very survivable story #credit where its due #heros journey #religion #cults

[demigodofhoolemere]

25 And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out. 26 Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil. 27 But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth — and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet. 28 Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him. 29 O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?

Helaman 13: 25-29

#bit more intense than verses i usually post #but as i see more and more members praise opinion pieces from people who have a very eat drink and be merry philosophy #and generally gravitate towards ideas that are more convenient for them and their own desires #regardless of how badly it contradicts doctrine or counsel from the living prophet… #it just seems relevant #religion #Christianity #the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints #the book of mormon #scriptures