#the virtue of religion

[akacatholicism]

A Nation Must be Religious

6. There must, then, be a return to Christian principles if we are to establish a society that is strong, just, and equitable. It is a harmful and reckless policy to do battle with Christianity, for God guarantees, and history testifies, that she shall exist forever. Everyone should realize that a nation cannot be well organized or well ordered without religion.

Pope Pius XII, Meminisse Iuvat, 1958

#catholic #pope pius xii #meminisse iuvat #religion #the virtue of religion

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"God creates the Earth with magic then leaves evidence of evolution so you can have doubts and go to hell. Now that's love."

As described by believers, God doesn't want you to be intellectually honest, he wants you to be gullible and believe things other than what can be shown to be true. He wants you to lie to yourself. That's what "faith" means.

#faith #faith vs truth #truth #evidence #faith is not a virtue #religion #religion is a mental illness

[witchescollection]

one of the biggest questions i feel folks on tumblr are always trying to answer is "how do i be better? how do i get to the next level of witchcraft? how do i access advanced stuff?" and the thing is, babes, is that that shit isn't external.

you become an "advanced witch" when you stop categorising topics as beginner or intermediate or advanced! there are no rules.

a lot of people make an effort to warn so-called "baby witches" away from different types of magick - "don't do love magick or hexing ever! don't contact X deity until you've been practicing for a year! you have to have been practicing for at least a month to do a spell!" - why? what does that achieve, apart from perpetuating fear mongering and policing others religion?

it comes from this idea that there's a right way to practice, and more importantly, that if you fuck something up then that's sacrilege. if you give a deity the wrong offering they'll be angry with you (and that's the end of that relationship). if you do a love spell without considering the effects then you'll do irreparable damage and be shamed!! you must follow these ideas, that crystals and tarot and candles (conveniently all the things that require you to spend money) are "beginner-friendly" and everything that our ancestors would have done is too advanced for you.

whatever experience you're on is personal to you. no-one knows more than you about your practice than you. if you wanna do a hex, some post on tumblr shouldn't going to stop you. if you fuck it up, you'll learn!

and frankly, witchblr would be a better place if we stopped looking at everything as a strict guide to follow, and as a place where we all share what our practice looks like, and approach each other with curiosity instead of pride and superiority.

#you are not better because you have never hexed anyone #and you are not worse because you have #you are not better because you have fifty million crystals #or because you work with a deity #witchcraft is not a goddamn competition #and it isnt an organised structured religion #there is no sin or virtue #there is just being #witchblr #wicca #pagan #hearth witch #folk witch #witchcraft #divination #tarot #astrology #paganism

[infinitysisters]

#fr tho #projection #politics is the opium of the asses #politics #complaining #making personal probs into causes #narrativespeak #evasion #denial #examine your own shit before blaming society #punkass route #psychobabble #life is hard #wacktivism #empty activism #activism #pseudo religion #localize your virtue #do real things #come correct #own your own bullshit #you are the cause #take responsibility #hiding behind issues #existential cowardice #culture #real talk #truth #weak #pseudo intellectualism

[tragedykery]

another small detail in adofn that has been haunting me is the fact that wulf takes the newly born princess sabran to the tomb of an inyscan princess. not inysh, inyscan. keeping in mind how eller meant to mould glorian into “a queen of inysca” but failed—how incredibly poignant is it, then, that wulf seeks protection for his daughter in a place that symbolises the death of what she could have been.

#a day of fallen night #adofn #roots of chaos #the ‘seeking protection’ part is also. incredibly befitting of the way glorian—when faced with viewpoints that oppose her religion— #constantly refuses to challenge her own convictions and falls back on the sense of comfort and protection the six virtues provide #not that this is a personal fault unique to her but rather a paradigm of the way the faith of the six virtues functions esp wrt criticism #which is to say it doesn’t! criticism or questioning (whoever it comes from; whether they follow the faith or not) isn’t tolerated #either through fear of not having a place in halgalant or at the threat of being killed for heresy #etc etc I digress #sorry I just think virtudom is incredibly fascinating #though. tbh I just think everything in the roots of chaos series is incredibly fascinating #elli rambles #adofn spoilers #roc #r #a

[itsyaboibananaboi]

Christianity is actually really cool

I just got done binging Wendigoon's old series on Dante's Divine Comedy, and I have to say, it really gave me an appreciation for just how awesome Christian writings, and by extent the bible really are. It's so hard to appreciate the cool aspects of Christianity these days because so many people in Gen Z associate it with right-wing politics and annoying preachers. It's much easier when you are allowed to take in these ideas without people pressuring you to believe a certain thing about it.

And sure, there are still many ideas I disagree with, but the ideals of virtue in helping others and the way it's explained in the Christian cannon are really inspiring to me. The reputation of Christianity would be so much better with secular people if there were more Christians willing to explain Christianity in a manner that wasn't so pushy and judgmental.

Anyways, I just felt inspired to write this post and put my thoughts out there. Check out Wendigoons videos on Dante's Divine Comedy if you ever get the chance.

#wendigoon #christianity #religion #catholiscism #dante #dantes inferno #religious #religous imagery #gen z #random thoughts #divine comedy #religous themes #virtue #random idea #personal rant #youtube video #youtube

[themoonking]

finally finished the priory of the orange tree after putting it off for like a year, and putting aside the fact that it's insanely boring, way too long, and the romance is lackluster, it certainly was a choice to, in a book at least in part about finding common ground and coming together, basically go "religion a is correct and good and its believers can continue on their merry lives, but religion b is a 100% incorrect wrong bad lie founded by a wrong bad misogynistic lying liar, and everyone who believes in it should convert and in fact we're going to end the book by heavily implying that the recently-converted queen is going to slowly but surely pressure the entire country to convert because their faith is wrong and bad". like that was certainly a decision that samantha shannon made.

#idk i don't love an entire religion being painted as objectively inherently bad and wrong #especially since none of the six virtue's actual teachings are that bad like #and also esp since the only other thing we learn about galian berethnet is that he was fucking r/ped by his own mother #and was so distraught upon learning this that he killed himself #the fact that aside from that its just like 'he was a lying liar who lies and hated women' just didn't sit right with me... #the priory of the orange tree #priory of the orange tree #the roots of chaos #anti booktok #samantha shannon #like the entire time before this was revealed i was like #'ah its so obvious - both faiths are going to end up being a little bit wrong and a little bit right' #'of course it will be revealed that cleolind and galian actually worked together to defeat the nameless one' #'and learning this will really press into the characters that they themselves need to work together to defeat him again' #but instead like???? #and like even with the kalyba stuff it would have been so easy you can say like: #cleolind and galian worked together but kalyba (canonically posessive and jealous and willing to do horrible things to keep galian w/ her) #uses her magic to make cleolind believe that galian betrayed her which she then goes and tells her priory #+ in an effort to keep as low a profile as possible for herself while disguised as cleolind she makes galian believe that he did everything #and when her disguise falls he's so distraught that he kills himself and so the only one who knows the truth is kalyba #who certainly has no motivation to reveal the truth

[biblicalhorror]

#the last of us #tlou #'love is destruction' no #love can be blinding. our care for one another can cause us to forget our duty to protect our communities. but love is healing. #love is all we have. to close yourself off from love is to close yourself off from life itself. #'episode 8 is about how men are scarier than monsters' no. #ep 8 is about how easy it is for dangerous people to put themselves in positions of power if we let them convince us #of their inherent virtue due to proximity to things like religion #& to be wary of someone that pays lip service to goodness while showing you thru their actions that they're really after power/domination #i am so tired of these stupid ass takes #there are so many layers to each episode and literally so much of the discussion im seeing that isnt just 'joel sexy' is so surface level #dig in!! theres so much there!! #but if i see one more take thats like 'this episode is about how men are scarier than zombies 😔' im gonna scream #sorry i know im being a hater lmao #spoilers

[lord-squiggletits]

After I write that new IDW Optimus meta, the next one is gonna be a post of "why I really hate that theory about Rodimus being a better Prime than Optimus and how it doesn't even match the themes of IDW OR canon fact about how the Matrix functions."

But the TLDR that I feel like encapsulates where a lot of this fanwank comes from, is that I feel like ppl don't properly appreciate that the context of Optimus and Rodimus' leaderships are extremely different.

Like, Rodimus only led a ship of about 200+ people. This means that the scale of his leadership responsibilities and the risks/consequences/stakes of his actions as leader were much smaller in scale. However, it also means that just because he only led one ship of people doesn't mean that his choices weren't important/weren't indicative of his personal character (that is to say, just bc it was only one ship doesn't mean that it had no meaning or significance at all).

On the other hand, Optimus led an entire freaking army over a 4 million year war that arose from political tensions that began even before he/most of the people in the war were born. That means that the consequences of his leadership had extremely far reaching consequences no matter what he did, which grants him a large degree of culpability/blame for his actions. HOWEVER, it must also be said that under the pressure of fighting an impossible war, just because OP wasn't able to "stop it sooner" doesn't mean that he was a morally bad/incompetent leader, because a whole galactic war is such a huge burden that one person can't possibly stop it or influence/control everything to make the most morally correct and peace-causing decisions.

TLDR can we please stop pitting Optimus and Rodimus against each other when the contexts of them being leaders was so vastly different (and they had such different leadership styles in general) that you can't really say "who's the better leader" without minimizing either of their accomplishments/magnifying their respective flaws.

Also, canonically speaking the Matrix can be wielded by anyone who's confident/at peace/self-righteous enough to believe they're worthy of it, which was shown not only by the ending of LL where a bunch of regular ass crewmates were able to use copies of the Matrix, but by the fact that the first Prime/ruler of Cybertron Nova Prime was a massive piece of shit who colonized people, yet was still a Matrix bearer who wielded the true/original Matrix.

And also Primus is literally Just Some Guy and not some omnipotent god who's an objective arbiter of morality that can point at a guy and go "YOU are the Specialest Boy Ever and are Divinely Mandated To Be A Good person"

So the entire premise of why ppl even make theories and debate about this is beyond me lol. In IDW1 the Matrix is more of a social/cultural symbol than it is an actual measurer of morality, which is in line with IDW1's consistent themes of challenging the inherent rightness of authority

#squiggposting #like frex i wouldn't say rod is inherently a worse leader just bc OP was a general and he wasn't #not every good leader needs to be The Top Leader In Charge and small scale impacts are important in their own way #likewise i wouldn't say that OP is inherently a worse leader because bigger and badder things happened under his leadership #bc the problem is that when you're a leader of a whole ass army the scale of all of your actions is much larger #so just as your heroic deeds and victories will be larger. so too will your fuckups and flaws #OP and Rod are also both good people with good intentions so like #which one of them is a 'better person' is generally subjective and more up to how you individually measure their virtues/vices #meta #i mean literally one of the central sources of conflict in idw1 (functionism) was put into place by a religious body #sooooooo why is it ppl are using the matrix as a religious justification for who The Best Prime is? #like bud the last time cybertronians used religion/alleged godhood as justification for their leader/government #they invented a fucking caste system and colonized the galaxy #even if the matrix had some divine power to objectively decide on Moral Goodness it's kind of a shit judge of character

[philosophybits]

The more exquisite any good is, of which a small specimen is afforded us, the sharper is the evil, allied to it; and few exceptions are found to this uniform law of nature. The most sprightly wit borders on madness; the highest effusions of joy produce the deepest melancholy; the most ravishing pleasures are attended with the most cruel lassitude and disgust; the most flattering hopes make way for the severest disappointments.

David Hume, The Natural History of Religion

#philosophy #quotes #David Hume #The Natural History of Religion #good #evil #virtue #vice #joy #melancholy #pleasure #pain #values #humanity

[fsharp]

as i've been slowly making my way through laura lee's scenes, i've come to the realisation that her version of christianity is just ... warm. and it's fitting, with how much of the imagery + symbolism that we get with lauralee is sunlight, sunshine, heat, but like. she's not a bible thumper (excluding the very literal time she thumped lottie with a bible when she was maybe possessed). she has faith, and she's not afraid to express it, but she doesn't push it down people's necks. she doesn't insist that they practice what she does, or believe what she does. when lottie comes to her and asks about when people had visions in the bible, what lauralee says is what she was taught. even that simple way of expressing it – it's not a definitive, she's not saying it IS the case, she's saying that it's one way of understanding it, that it's her way, and i think that's just so beautiful

#religion / #SORRY FOLKS IRISH PERSON HERE THE VAGUE TRAUMA IS UNFORTUNATELY IN MY BLOOD AND IN MY BONES #but idk not to like - overstate the importance of a supporting character in one season of a show but #it's been a little bit? healing? to see a religious character not be portrayed as being a vindictive evil two-faced villain #and i don't say that in a woe-is-me way bc i am Not Religious and that also is sadly how. a lot of religious ppl in this world do be #but moreso that. the warmth with which she practices her faith makes me feel a little more cozy with that faith altogether. #it makes me sad that it's not how the faith is commonly practiced. that it's not the way i was raised w religion. #smth smth about lauralee being a good and true christian and being the kind of christian that her god would approve of #like hers is a pretty effective and profound portrayal of virtue in a christian context if u ask me– #(but then i also have many thoughts abt the home ll was raised in and what her parents were probably like but i feel like they diverge #from what fanon seems to be so perhaps that's a post for another day rip)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"God gave birds wings, but he didn't forbid them from flying. He blessed cheetahs with speed, but he never forbad them from outrunning their prey. He did, however, give humans a brain and insisted that they not use it."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

2 Corinthians 10:5

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ

#christianity #bible #bible study #mindless #blind faith #faith #faith is not a virtue #faith is a vice #blind obedience #mindless obedience #credulity #religion #don't think for yourself #religion is a mental illness

[signum-crucis]

Fight like a good soldier, and if you sometimes fall through weakness, rise again with greater strength than before, trusting in God's most abundant grace. -- Thomas á Kempis

#cross #crucifix #soldier #grace #God #Thomas á Kempis #Catholic #Christian #Christianity #Catholicism #faith #strength #religion #perseverance #virtue

[tragedykery]

[ID: text from a day of fallen night, reading, “‘Farfetched as it sounds, yes. [start highlight.] He was seen in the haithwood, performing a ritual, dressed as if to mock a sanctarian. [end highlight.] His followers, who fled before they could”. the text cuts off there. /end ID]

I know this is such a trivial detail but it’s genuinely been haunting me since I read this part. the clothing of a follower of the original religion of inysca, seeming to mimic that of a sanctarian of the six virtues? “mocking,” through a secret ritual that is not meant to be seen, especially not by those that are supposedly being mocked?

I think it’s the other way around. that the sanctarian robes are based on “heathen” ones. I don’t know if was deliberate or not, whether galian chose it because it was familiar to his people, to ease the (forced) conversion, or just because it was familiar to him. but most likely, the sanctarian robes are a remnant of the original religion of inysca, still visible in the six virtues, and it probably isn’t the only one. how ironic, then, that heathens are persecuted in the name of virtudom, even as their religion lives on the other. that what they now deem “heresy” stands at the very foundations of their own religion.

#a day of fallen night #roots of chaos #the priory of the orange tree #adofn #much in the same way they worship cleolind as their damsel yet scorn her for being a heretic #just. how incredibly ironic the entirety of the six virtues is #their founding legend just being. incorrect. how they worship a long-dead man for his lie. kalyba’s involvement and how ‘the deceiver had #himself been deceived.’ how they scorn and persecute other religions yet wouldn’t exist without them. etc #analysis #<- ish #elli rambles #adofn spoilers #r #a #roc #also it’s obviously logical that wulf thinks he’s mocking sanctarians because that is where he recognises those robes from #because he follows the six virtues (or at least does at that point lol) #also a fun little detail is that while ead calls it a herigaut in priory wulf just describes it as a sanctarian’s robe #which could mean that either the word doesn’t yet exist in adofn or wulf just doesn’t know it #the latter of which would make sense tbh considering that while wulf follows the six virtues he is just a regular practitioner and not #particularly knowledgeable about it #meanwhile ead had to study the faith quite well for her conversion #so it makes sense she knows the term #anyway. conclusion: six virtues syncretism & irony <3

[papirouge]

> Christian woman

> Also unmarried and childless

You do realize most Christian girls get married and start their families as soon as they become legal right?

source? "trust me bro."

#the way you guys constantly rehash the mUh uNmArRied ChriisTiua woMan aMirIte? argument #as if Christianity wasn't the only religion elevating celibacy as a virtue is CRAZY #tell me you got your definition of Christianity from redpill & tradscrotes without tell me you got your #definition of Christianity from redpill & tradscrotes #answered

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I see that usage of the term "toxic masculinity" has waned in the last 3 years. Thanks God it's finally dying. People just aim that word at anything that isn't some super soft a$$ crap.

#overused terms #txt #i hope misogyny and patriarchy are next in the list of “words that are used so damn much they lost their meaning” #it might have been about pointing hypermasculine/macho/ultra-masculine behavior that people back then used to refer to as precisely that #in the beginning but then it became about shaming normal masculinity #because you know men are the oppressor class so everything they do is wrong #the same goes for white people heterosexuals cisgenders able-bodied people “neurotypicals” #they are all part of the oppressor category. f*ck nuance and having basic intelligence. just buy into retarded sh*t #like honestly. people simply used to refer to these kinds of men as a$$holes/jerks #if we go by how it was INITIALLY used. not how it is used now #that behavior had never been accepted by civilized society at large and still isn't #like rap was heavily criticized back then because of the “toxic masculinity” it radiated. people called it “hypermasculine”. this was #going on in the '90s. now we can get into how it was racially motivated but it proves how people have never accepted jerk behavior or the #perception of it. y'all think society accepts that crap when christianity and chivalry actually came about to combat that #cuz the society it resided in was really barbaric and needed it to be channeled for GOOD. they needed virtue and heart and care #it's the opposite of “toxic masculinity”. i mean christianity is still a “patriarchal” (in the actual traditional sense: role of fathers) #but it's the most benevolent that has ever existed and ever will. no society has ever been perfect and christian have still dealt with tons #and tons of issues but christianity is still the most benevolent and fair religion on the whole planet. it's not even up for debate #**culture #rule**