#Christians worship the murder of Jesus

[eebie]

man

#no hate like christian love fr fr #idk ive been on the fence forever about what i believe #i don't wan tto call myself christian because i am not fucking associating myself with those people #but i like jesus he was a cool dude #helped the poor and welcomed the oppressed no matter who they were gave the finger to the rich and those in authority #just. im trying to wrap my head around HOW you can claim to worship a guy like this and then have something like christianity as a result #it's heartbreaking #like you people are liars and murderers how can you not see this #your love is a fire fed by the vulnerable #your love is a fire that says embrace me and i will keep you warm. by burning you alive And anyone else who believes us #when people hear the phrase “you will know we are christian by our love” and shudder how do you not question whether or not you are wrong #idk #not trying 2 be controversial here i'm just sorting my thoughts #my rambles

[gay-jesus-probably]

Isn’t that like taking the mick outta Jesus? He’s seen in 3 religions, not one, so isn’t that kinda like disrespect..? 😭

I mean, no? If I'd picked my blog name for the purpose of disrespecting Jesus, I would have gone with something that was... y'know, actually insulting. Like Straight Jesus.

I mostly picked this name because it really brings out the subconcious homophobia in people, and it's very funny to see idiots getting angry over a silly blog name while struggling to avoid outright saying that they think being gay is a negative trait. In the wise words of Yugioh, you've activated my trap card.

Also come on, have you even read the bible? The man was many things, and heterosexual was not one of them.

#and im fascinated by the implication that jesus is a big deal in THREE religions so hes a higher level god or something #not like that loser Zeus who only got to star in two pantheons #and im no religious scholar but buddy i think jesus is only relevant to christianity and its many branches #and you'd better not be counting judaism as one of those three #given that NOT worshipping jesus is literally kind of a requirement. they dont do messiahs #the myth of judaism being just another branch of christianity is extremely antisemetic #and rooted in a long history of jews being forced to convert (or murdered for NOT converting) #idk where im going with this but i do know where im going and that is to bed bcause its like 4 am oops

[highpri3stess]

Happy Good Friday everyone. Please remember the Christians in Palestine who have gone to Jesus in paradise either by bombs or dying of starvation, remember the Christians who were murdered brutally by the IDF in their own place of worship or are going through this remembrance in a man made famine and might be bombed today along with our muslim brethren. As you remember the death of Jesus Christ, remember your siblings in Palestine and pray for the end of this genocide, donate to them if you can. Thank you.

#good friday #palestine #free palestine

[seekers-who-are-lovers]

Religious symbolisms on EP 12 in Christian and Buddhism/Hinduism perspectives

Isn’t it amusing that the final episode, EP12, fell on this year’s Lenten week? Rebirth and resurrection, the anastasis… those themes. Easter Sunday, the Christian Jesus alive again overcoming Death itself.

Isami Ao being reborn as Bravern’s latest persona, Burn Brave Big Bang, to defeat the all-powerful of all the Death Drives. Most of all, Lewis Smith coming back. His own resurrection, his own rebirth.

Burn Brave Big Bang is definitely Isami complete with his standard snarl

Verum Vita. What’s in a name? First off, it is a bastardised Latin that lacks an “e” at the end that means “the truth of life,” which sounds ironic as her lust for murder supersedes.

Upon introducing Verum Vita, a choir-like music could be heard chanting in Latin. (It was reminiscent of Carmina Burana’s “O, Fortuna” or “Dies Irae” by Guiseppe Verdi.) Then a pink lotus 🪷 appeared on her feet/bottom of her tower. A lotus has a significant meaning in different religions. In Christianity, flowers don’t often play an integral part in worship. Though, it represents purity and God’s creation of the universe. However, in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, the lotus signifies purity of the heart, soul, and mind, and also, rebirth. It is an extraordinary exemplary as such that it remains pure and clean when coming out from the murky waters.

Usually, Hindu and Buddhism religious arts consist of deities either seated or floating on a lotus flower.

Verum Vita resembled the deity Kisshōten, the equivalent of Lakshmi in Japanese Buddhism. With a blossoming lotus under her feet, this goddess symbolises fertility, wealth, prosperity and beauty. The lotus under Verum Vita was not just any colour, but pink. In Buddhism, “the pink lotus flower is the supreme lotus and is considered to be the true lotus of Buddha.”

A few frames later, the lotus pedestal where she used to stand on transformed into marsh grass, which could be interpreted as the moment her fallen mask, her real intention, was revealed. Instead of holding a wish-fulfilling jewel called Cintamani, Verum Vita was holding a sword.

It is interesting the way this series subvert everything and use the religious imagery as the forces of evil subjugating the humankind.

Both Isami and Verum Vita both declared that they didn’t want to die. But there lies the difference between the two. When the first one wanted to save the world, the other strived to destroy it.

It feels like a mishmash of all beliefs fused into one huge spectacle to make this episode parts parody, parts fairy tale, and it is interesting to watch.

#bang brave bang bravern #yuuki bakuhatsu bang bravern #ao isami #verum vita #episode 12 #wall of text #religious imagery #lulu

[hoonvrs]

i saw ppl asking why ppl could even support israel and im not saying this because i do too. israel is a really important place for christians, since it is called the Holy Land as that is where Jesus' life and death happened. some ppl (like my parents) i dont think they think about what is happening but focus on the fact that israel is the Holy Land and the part where the country is important to God. also i think they're mad about bombing churches because it's the religious thing but i don't know why they don't consider the amount of deaths in palestine as well. not saying i support israel nor am i saying them thinking like this is right btw i just wanted to point that out since this isn't even about religion anymore, it's straight up murder

you can support jerusalem and PELASTINE jesus was a palestinian man there is so israel. israel is who’s bombing churches and mosques, destroying olive trees passed from generation to generation. it’s a holy land in nearly every religion no one is special but how could you support anyone who aside from bombing hospitals and places of worship bombs a holy land. no indigenous person would destroy and bomb their own land.

so no. i don’t get how people could support isntreal and i will never be able to see it because at the end of the day people really believe their religion and opinions are above the death of over 12,000 people 5,000+ being children. people are forgetting that palestine is the home of 2million indigenous people of different religions, how dare you think ur religion and ur prophet is above theirs.

#inbox — new msg! #ik ur saying u don’t support israel #but even trying to justify it is bad enough #( anons! )

[claudethecrabdemoness]

Ok so I think I found a way to fix Vox LOLLOLOL. 

And by fix him, I mean make him much, much worse.

🔌 📺😝🎩⚡️

So I was drabbling in my head w Claude and Vox and they got to deep talking about their previous lives and regrets and all sorts of existential meanderings, when Vox surprised me by saying “I was a Christian, ya know. A good one. Never even missed a Sunday- come late night or hangover or hellwater. *chuckle* Fat lot of good it did me, right?”

And then I was like oh. OHHHH. 

He should’ve been a televangelist. 

So now this is canon as far as I’m concerned, and can even make perfect use of the little priest getup from his song number. After all, that is essentially what he’s doing with the V’s: amassing a hell-wide cult through the power of his broadcast monopoly. And explains why Claude had never heard of him before- he’s not your average kind of celebrity. 

I picture he got his start on local access TV, in the early 40s, just right after Al would’ve had his heyday with radio. He was an East Coast boy, no doubt, and mastered the quick-talking pander of the telecasters at the time. He often ran small broadcasts for local churches- fundraisers, telethons, what have you- and the Christian community ate up his All-American boyish charm. Especially the ladies. He married one who went to his church and really believed his words had the power to change lives, urged him to start his own televised worship, and boy did he thrive. They quickly became a household name, and he basically kick-started the whole televangelist movement into high gear. Like the bastard he is. Soon he gained a country-wide following and had money pouring in from the faithful by the buckets, and of course it all went straight to his head. Hence why it’s a TV now as punishment. That’s when he began exploiting his pulpit, believing himself a prophet, staying with his wife only to maintain their image, buying houses and toys and cars all with parishioner’s money, staying awake for days on cocaine and coming back down with barbiturates, the whole nine yards. 

It eventually caught up to him when his followers tried to commit a mass murder/suicide in his name, and a lengthy court appeal didn’t really smooth over their new reputation as a dangerous cult. Which is so unfair. It wasn’t like he told them to go all Old Testament, buuut… it’s not like his message was that far off from it either. Idiots. From then on, he started overworking, overthinking, and overdoing the whole thing right into the ground. His wife left him, he lost a ton of money in legal fees, and he had to hire protection now to keep up with the death threats from angry loved ones of his devotees. All the stress and resentment drove him into religious fanaticism, and his sermons just got more and more ego-driven and manic, asking for larger tithes and claiming it would be help him work the Lord’s magic even faster. He eventually was killed by a hit put out on him by an up and coming newer cult- ironically a spinoff of his original one- proving that he was very much mortal, but his faithful followers still believed he was a messiah of some kind. 

And that’s because- in his haze of drugs and self-destruction- he believed he was one too. He was sure that what he was doing was for all the Right Reasons, even if the methods were unorthodox. But hey- even Jesus flipped tables and rebelled against the Romans, so who’s to say his path is any less holy? He was SURE that he’d still be getting a ticket to Heaven, despite some minor setbacks…

So you can imagine his rage when he very much woke up in Hell. 

All his hard work, all his devotion, all his MONEY- for what?? Damned to live with a TV instead of his beautiful face and nothing to show for his decades of faith??

What the fUCK??

It was then that he realized God was the biggest scam of all and immediately renounced his faith, spending the first few years of demonhood sinning and drinking as much as possible. He had no idea how to cope with it all, and saw no point to trying, really. What good is having a TV head when you can barely stand the thought of using it- just a constant reminder of the empire you left crumbing behind you. 

And that’s when he met Alastor. 

Now here was someone else cursed by his favorite medium and a deer form that boasted anything but the predator he saw himself as- only this man was anything but deterred by it. The Radio Demon’s broadcasts may have terrorized everyone else in Hell, but they invigorated something deep inside Vox. Something he hasn’t felt since his first televised sermon… something like worship. 

He had to seek him out. 

This then ties in perfectly with his one-sided crush/obsession with Al, their doomed stint at friendship, and the impending rejection he receives at the end. AGAIN. First God, now Alastor…? You’d think that second blow would reduce him into an even greater depression than before, but instead, it flips a switch inside him. That’s when Vox decides ENOUGH. He’s done pandering, he’s done negotiating, he’s done elevating anyone else above himself. And why should he?? If anything HE should be the one on that pedestal, HE should be the only one to get credit for all HIS deeds…

HE should be God. 

And dammit, if he can’t join the original up in Heaven, why not try to become one down in Hell?

The rest is canon as we know it, but I just really realllllly love the idea of ex-Christian Vox, and all the disillusionment religious trauma can bring. He went straight from communion to capitalism, and I like that in my hell-bound guys. I will def be using this as his canon backstory for my AU with Claude, bc I needed to bring even more conflicted suffering and RSD to this character before I can truly ship them together hahaa. 

And…. despite what his real backstory actually is…. this is the only one I subscribe to now. 😈

ALSO:

TELL ME THIS ISN’T HIM!!??!??? HELP. CREEPY HANDSOME IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO FOR THIS CURSED TV MAN I HAVE DECLARED IT SO PLS ADJUST YOUR FANART ACCORDINGLY. 

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk I’m going to go rot in my hole now thinking of more hcs for this akskshagaga-

#I've done it #I’ve cracked the code everyone #he’s now appropriately babygirl evil #think frollo without the genocide #and the personality of hades #mmmm what a man #vox hazbin hotel #televangelist vox #religious trauma vox #atheist vox #cult leader vox #1950’s tv cults #backstory hcs #claude x vox #hazbin hotel #the v’s hazbin hotel #alastor hazbin hotel #canon divergence #but I like it more #plotting #rotting #thotting

[apenitentialprayer]

hey, someone i follow here on tumblr recommended me this blog for questions about abrahamic religions, so one thing i always wondered is why is pork a big no for jews and muslims, but seems to be totally ok for christians, afaik they worship the same God and follow a lot of the same teachings, and i know theyre different in a lot of stuff but this one just stands out to me

(also sorry for getting in your askbox with this demonic themed looking blog i swear i just like creepypasta)

Hey! No worries about the blog theme, I'm always happy to interact with anyone interested in genuine dialogue. :)

So, I'm going to put Islam off to the side for now, because with few exceptions (Ibn Barrajan comes to mind), Muslims did not use the shared Judeo-Christian texts to explain their prohibition against pork. Most Islamic authorities would cite verses like Surah al-An'am, verse 145, which calls "the flesh of swine" either "loathsome" or "unclean," depending on your translation. When the issue is discussed among Jews and Christians, on the other hand, they would both cite Leviticus 11:7-8, which specifies that pigs cannot be eaten because any animal that does not both (a) have cloven-hooves, and (b) chew the cud, is ritually unclean. (Pigs have cloven hooves, but they don't chew their partially digested food a second time like cows do)

There are modern Orthodox Jewish perspectives (and very early Christian perspectives, such as that of the author of The Epistle of Barnabas) that explain this prohibition in allegorical terms. The consumption of animals that have both of the traits above are symbolic of traits that the Jewish community is supposed to emulate. But that doesn't explain why Jews who follow kosher laws follow the literal interpretation of the Leviticus verses while most mainstream Christians do not. So let's talk a little about the context in which early Christianity developed.

Christianity started as a movement that developed in a Jewish cultural context, but it did not remain a primarily Jewish movement for very long. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles depicts both Peter and Philip as integrating non-Jews into the nascent Christian community, but the mission of Paul of Tarsus seems to have been a turning point in Christian history. And as more and more non-Jews became involved in the Jesus movement, there was a question of to what extent they were expected to become Jewish in order to be Christian. Paul's answer was: not at all. But this would be an issue for the Christian community for a while, even with councils like the one held in Jerusalem around the year 50.

That council declared that non-Jewish Christians did not have to follow most of the laws listed in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament, but it didn't really give a systematic explanation as to why that was. So from very early on it was understood that large sections of the Old Testament were not applicable to non-Jewish Christians, but it took a few centuries for Christian thinkers to articulate why that was not the case.

In its most mature form, we see the argument as follows: the laws of the Old Covenant (as Christians referred to the Covenant at Sinai) could be broken up into three broad categories.

(1) The Moral Law, which was binding for all people everywhere and for all time, laws that are pretty self-evident like "thou shalt not murder" or "thou shalt not steal." These are laws that are "written on their hearts," in the words of Saint Paul.

(2) The Ceremonial Law, laws God commanded Israel to follow because they had a symbolic meaning that in some way foreshadowed Christ in an allegorical way. These laws are "fulfilled" rather than "abolished" by Christ, but in common parlance that distinction doesn't seem to matter much, because either way Christ's life is believed to have ended their necessity.

(3) The Judicial Law, which were civil laws to be maintained by the Kingdom of Israel. Since the Kingdom of Israel has been non-existent since either 587 BC or 63 BC (depending on whether you count the Hasmonean dynasty as a legitimate successor state to the Davidic kingdom), these laws are essentially defunct.

Among Christians who believe the Law can be divided into these categories, they believe that the prohibition of pork is part of the Ceremonial Law, which has been fulfilled with the coming of Christ and is thus no longer binding on Christians. As such, Christians can eat pork. That's also why they can eat shellfish, wear clothing made from mixed fabrics, and cook meat and dairy together.

#asks #Christianity #Saint Paul #Torah #Judaism #kashrut #Islam #Ibn Barrajan #Leviticus #Qur'an

[never-was-has-been]

This is True. However, the definition of "god" is so exclusive and otherwise isolated in ALL Western religions. Long ago, the Hindus..specifically the Rishis taught as did Siddhartha Gautama-the Buddha that "god" is not a being. It is a consciousness that is the Universe in its entirety. We need not worship, sacrifice animals or humans, to it nor build temples (unless on a path to enlightenment as a monk) and shrines with statues and images to supposedly reflect its existence. WE are its existence. Put another way, by the Yogi Patanjali: "The Soul does not love, It is Love Itself. It does not exist, It is Existence Itself. It does not know, It is Knowledge Itself. How to know God". Also, in the multiple versions of the Bible, Jesus points to that in a different way telling his disciples and quoting from Psalm 82:6 "Isn't it written in your Law, 'I hath said ye are gods and all children of the Most high?" ..meaning that we are all born in the universe and are part of it and we are ALL gods and exist with divine consciousness within us. Jesus was a mystic not "the" son of God , but "a" son of God as we ALL are. BTW.. this is the reason he was supposedly murdered. Because the people at that time thought he meant he was the Only son of God and no one could say that without the threat of death because of Blasphemy. All of that part of the Bible is LOST on most Christians today, just as it was during Jesus' time. I recommend this page by Alan Watts as a better explanation than I have made here. It's on YouTube to listen to or the transcript can be read.

#Alan Watts #Paul Wallis #Jesus was a mystic same as Buddha

[taylor-on-your-dash]

AN ANALYS OF WOULD'VE COULD'VE SHOULD'VE THROUGH THE LENS OF RELIGIOUS FAITH

Taylor has written a lot of songs (State of Grace, Holy Ground and False God for example) that reference and/or talk about relationships and love through the lens of religion. Would've Could've Should've is one of them too and we can actually say that the whole song is an extended metaphor.

Let's start with these lyrics:

If I was a child did it matter, if you got to wash your hands?

Here, John Mayer washing his hands can signify two things:

He's refusing to take responsibility. This concept comes from Pontius Pilate symbolically washing his hands of the responsibility of Jesus' crucifixion even though he believed that Jesus was innocent.

He's washing away guilt, like Lady Macbeth washing her hands of Duncan’s blood to try to get rid of the guilt for his murder.

All I used to do was pray / You’re a crisis of my faith

We know that Taylor grew up Christian and still considers herself one, as we know from Miss Americana. She had a Bible on her nightstand, according to a photoshoot she did for People in 2007, and now she's not so sure anymore. She must've been taken comfort in praying, but now she's referring to it using a past tense, meaning she has lost her faith. it was an integral part of her identity and now it's in the past.

The chorus continues the metaphor:

I would've stayed on my knees - this is both a reference to praying and to the universal victory and worship of God: "every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance” (Isa. 45:23)

And I damn sure never would've danced with the devil at nineteen - mention of the devil, the ultimate enemy of salvation. she danced with the devil, meaning that she feels like she voluntarily engaged in "immoral" behaviour.

And the God's honest truth is that the pain was heaven - here she mentions of God and Heaven, the ultimate goal for a Christian, but she's actually swearing on God that dancing with the devil felt like Heaven, which is quite the contradiction. In fact, the whole chorus is a chiasmus that reinforces the anthesis: knees/heaven and God/devil.

If you never touched me, I would've gone along with the righteous / If you never saved me from boredom, I could've gone on as I was / But, Lord, you made me feel important and then you tried to erase us

Touch is an important part of humanity and in the Christian religion Jesus heals others through the touch of his hands. In this case, Taylor is regretting the touch of the devil and the fact that he woke her up from boredom, leading her astray. We also have an interjection (Lord), which mentions God through a metonymy.

God rest my soul / I miss who I used to be / The tomb won't close / Stained glass windows in my mind / I regret you all the time / I can't let this go / I fight with you in my sleep / The wound won't close / I keep on waiting for a sign / I regret you all the time

In what could be the best bridge of her career, Taylor is praying God to let her soul rest in peace, which is a way to say that who she was before John is dead, but the tomb still won’t close cause she can't find closure. Taylor sees love as her religion but her old self who believed in love with the innocence of a child died because of her relationship with John Mayer.

The stained glass windows is probably the most interesting lyric of the track and it ties to the other religious themes in the song. She says that the tomb is in her mind, meaning that she feels trapped with and because of her memories. Stained glass windows can also represent the ones in Catholic Churches that depict an important scenes from the Bible, as if this relationship was reflected as a stained-glass image in her mind. The glass distorts the light that passes through it, just as her life experiences after that relationship were distorted by it. She went from seeing life through rose-colored glasses to stained glass windows, meaning that her view on love and relationships is being looked at through memories that “stain” any optimism and faith in new relationships.

They also represent an actual memory of hers… because at the time John Mayer lived in a parish converted into an apartment, which had stained glass windows.

The last subject I want to touch is “I regret you all the time”, because I feel like if you look at some of the songs written shortly after Dear John and/or her relationship with John Mayer, for example, Back To December: it is quite mind-blowing to consider how the tumultuous relationship with John Mayer influenced her regretting Taylor Lautner… but that's for another post.

#taylor swift #would've could've should've #taylor swift song analysis #john mayer #midnights #3am tracks

[orthodoxadventure]

14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem Commemorated on December 29

When the King was born in Bethlehem, the Magi came from the east. Having been guided by the star on high, they brought Him gifts. But in his exceeding wrath, Herod mowed down the infants as wheat; lamenting that the rule of his kingdom had come to an end.

14,000 Holy Infants were killed by King Herod in Bethlehem. When the time came for the Incarnation of the Son of God and His Birth of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Magi in the East beheld a new star in the heavens, foretelling the Nativity of the King of the Jews. They journeyed immediately to Jerusalem to worship the Child, and the star showed them the way. Having worshipped the divine Infant, they did not return to Jerusalem to Herod, as he had ordered them, but being warned by God in a dream, they went back to their country by another way. Herod finally realized that his scheme to find the Child would not be successful, and he ordered that all the male children two years old and younger at Bethlehem and its surroundings be killed. He thought that the divine Infant, Whom he considered a rival, would be among the dead children.

The murdered infants thus became the first martyrs for Christ. The rage of Herod fell also on Simeon the God-Receiver (February 3), who declared before everyone in the Temple that the Messiah had been born. When the holy Elder died, Herod would not give permission for him to be properly buried. On the orders of King Herod, the holy prophet and priest Zachariah was also killed. He was murdered in Jerusalem between the Temple and the altar (Mt. 23:35) because he would not tell the whereabouts of his son John, the future Baptist of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The wrath of God soon fell upon Herod himself: a horrid condition struck him down and he died, eaten by worms while still alive. Before his death, the impious king murdered the chief priests and scribes of the Jews, and also his brother, and his sister and her husband, and also his own wife Mariam, and three of his sons, and seventy men of wisdom who were members of the Sanhedrin. He initiated this bloodbath so that the day of his death would not be one of rejoicing, but one of mourning.

The Christian Church very rightly proclaimed these murdered children as Saints, because they died at an innocent age, and were, in some way, the first martyrs of Christianity. They may not have been baptized in water, but they were baptized in the blessed blood of their martyrdom.

Last but not least, the relics (or perhaps some) of the Holy Infants are found in Constantinople, in the Church of Saint James the Brother of the Lord, which was built by Emperor Justin. Most of their Holy Relics are at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Portions of their Holy Relics are also to be found in the Pantokrator Monastery on Mount Athos.

As acceptable victims and freshly plucked flowers, as divine first-fruits and newborn lambs, you were offered to Christ who was born as a child, holy innocents. You mocked Herod’s wickedness; now we beseech you: “Unceasingly pray for our souls.”

[Text by OCA]

#Christianity #Orthodox Christianity #Holy Innocents #Prayer #Saints

[argumntativantitheticldreamgirl]

Accessibility statementSkip to main content

Resubscribe

OPINIONSEditorialsColumnsGuest opinionsCartoonsSubmit a guest opinionToday's Opinions newsletter

This Easter, let’s not try to pretend Jesus was a ‘Palestinian Jew’

By Paula Fredriksen

March 28, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Paula Fredriksen, Aurelio professor of scripture emerita at Boston University, is a historian of ancient Christianity and the author of “When Christians Were Jews” and “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus, but this year the holiday comes with a twist: Jesus resurrected as Palestinian. Never mind that Jesus was born and died a Jew in Judaea. From the pronouncement of a member of Congress to the pages of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jesus is now heralded as a “Palestinian” or, more delicately, as a “Palestinian Jew.”

Jesus made an appearance on social media as a “Palestinian” around Christmas, and the meme has flourished since then. The gambit casts 1st-century Jews in the role of an occupying power and “Palestinians” as their victims. Just as Herod, the king of Judaea in Jesus’ time, persecuted the “Palestinian” holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, so, too, goes the claim, is modern Israel an occupying power persecuting Palestinians today.

So caught up were these advocates in their own spin that they mischaracterized reality. In a Christmastime post on Instagram, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) condemned modern Israelis as “right-wing forces violently occupying Bethlehem.” But Bethlehem has been administered by the Palestinian Authority since 1995. Once a significant majority there, the Christian population plunged from 86 percent in 1950 to less than 12 percent in 2016.

As for the Gaza Strip, it is even less hospitable to Christians. As the New Yorker reported in January, a count by the Catholic Church in Gaza, “once home to a thriving Christian community,” found just 1,017 Christians, amid a population of more than 2 million. After seizing control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas ended the designation of Christmas as a public holiday and discouraged its celebration. The dwindling population of Gazan Christians has been harassed, intimidated, even murdered. Were Jesus to show up in modern-day Gaza, he would find an extremely hostile environment.

So how did Jesus end up “Palestinian”?

Roughly 3,000 years ago, on the eastern rim of the Mediterranean, a coastal confederation of five cities stretched from Gaza into Lebanon. The Bible refers to this zone as Philistia, the land of the Philistines. In 430 B.C., the Greek historian Herodotus, translating this term, gestured toward the broader area as “Palaistinē.”

To the east, the region of the biblical highlands was called Yehudah. The name predates Herodotus by centuries. By Jesus’ lifetime, the Romans labeled this whole area, coast and highlands together, as “Judaea,” a Latinization of “Yehudah.” The people living in Judaea were called “Iudaei”: “Judeans” or “Jews.” Their temple in Jerusalem, the focus of their ancestral worship since the first millennium B.C., was sacred to Jesus, which is why the gospels depict him as journeying there for pilgrimage holidays. An ethnic Judean, Jesus was, accordingly, a Jew.

Where, then, did the name “Palestine” come from? From a foreign imperial colonizing power: Rome. Judeans revolted twice against the Romans. The first revolt, from A.D. 66 to 73, reached an awful climax with the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Still, Rome kept “Judaea” as the region’s designation. But in A.D. 132-135, the Jews again revolted. By that point, Rome had had enough. The empire changed the administrative name of the region to “Syria-Palestina” — a full century after Jesus’ death. It was a deliberate way to “de-Judaize” the territory by using the throwback term for the coastal Philistines.

What does this mean? It means that Jesus was not “Palestinian.” Nor was he a “Palestinian Jew.” This is so for a simple reason: There was no political entity called “Palestine” in his lifetime. If Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he was born in Judaea as a Jew. He certainly died as one, under Rome’s heavy hand — the political condition that led to the two Jewish revolts.

It was Roman colonizers who changed the name of Judaea to Palestine.

Why rehearse this well-known history? Because now, in the current crisis, even Jesus is being enlisted for attacks on Israel. Calling Jesus a “Palestinian” or even a “Palestinian Jew” is all about modern politics. Besides being historically false, the claim is inflammatory. For two millennia, Jews have been blamed for Jesus’ execution by the Romans; casting him as a Palestinian just stokes the fires of hate, using Jesus against Jews once again.

It is, further, an act of cultural and political appropriation — and a clever rhetorical move. It rips Jesus out of his Jewish context. And it rips 1st-century Jews — and 21st-century Israeli Jews — out of their ancestral homeland, turning them into interlopers. This is polemic masquerading as history.

There have already been too many casualties since Oct. 7. Let’s not allow history to be one of them.

#leftist antisemitism #leftist hypocrisy #antisemitism

[fanfic-lover-girl]

‘I agree,’ said Professor McGonagall. ‘And in any case, it is not true to say that Dumbledore never envisaged a situation in which Hogwarts might close. When the Chamber of Secrets reopened he considered the closure of the school – and I must say that Professor Dumbledore’s murder is more disturbing to me than the idea of Slytherin’s monster living undetected in the bowels of the castle …’ (HBP, Chapter 29 – The Phoenix Lament)

Sometimes I wonder why people don't comment on how cult-like the Order of the Phoenix is. At least people like the Malfoys, Snape and even freaking Bellatrix doubted Moldy Voldy at some point. The OotP treat Dumbles like a god, following orders like blind believers. It's disgusting. They act like how pop culture thinks Christians act - brainless puppets. Jesus Christ had more resistance from his disciples than Dumbles ever does from his! And Jesus is God! Let that sink in. Ok, mini Christianity rant over :)

Also, people bash Snape for being a terrible teacher while worshipping 'Queen McGonagall'. She has her moments but she's a crap teacher too. Honestly, as far as I am concerned she's WORSE than Snape. Because just like many other Gryffindor characters, her faults are never acknowledged.

Good to know, Minerva, that a monster threatening the lives of your dear students is less disturbing than an old man being murdered. You certainly have your priorities straight :). With the way how this woman fangirls over Dumbles, if I did not know better, I would believe she had something happening on the side with the old geezer.

Hogwarts truly does not give a single crap about students.

#anti minerva mcgonagall #half blood prince #harry potter series #severus snape #albus dumbledore #the order of the phoenix is a cult #order of the phoenix #anti order of the phoenix #anti gryffindor #hogwarts teachers #anti professor mcgonagall #anti mcgonagall

[sonicasura]

Madness Combat: Analog Horror

I just realized that Madness Combat also has potential in the analog horror category. Like on the surface, it's a web series consisting of simplistic looking creatures being violently chaotic to the point reality breaks. The graphics alone makes it even more comical. Until you realize the potential context.

A post apocalypse realm where reality itself is slowly destabilizing, non-stop violence in every flavor that buying a hot dog could get someone killed, scarce resources where cannibalism becomes necessity, the dead roam the earth and not even purgatory is safe. Either you adapt or die in the madness driven Nevada. Now imagine something like that breaking into our world.

Project: Madness

An advanced survival simulator game meant to craft various scenarios for learning purposes. These situations take place in a digital construct based on U.S's Nevada and are based on the user's input. It was originally meant to be a simple game for public consumption. What Project: Madness became would wrought a horror unlike no other... And this was just the start.

In Osceola, Michigan there's a mysterious stop sign that only appears at night. An odd thing where crimson paint meant to embolden it's warning is instead replaced with dead grey. It never stays in one place as the sign will disappear the next night and emerge halfway across the county.

Should you see this particular sight, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. Do not stop, keep running but never look away. You aren't alone as the sign's owner is always there. Those who invite Tricky the Clown into their homes have a welcome party of blood and horror.

Yalobusha, Mississippi is considered the most religious place in the United States. Churches that worship various forms of Christianity can be found everywhere. Rumors have it there been sightings which revolve the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

A figure who walks the dead of night with a halo that shines brighter than the sun. Many fanatics often sought out their savior in hopes for salvation. The ones who don't find him should be grateful. What they really seek is merely a monster that believes he's a savior. Jebus brings disaster to those who get too close.

In the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, disappearances involving hikers and campers has skyrocketed. Any investigator who gone searching for these lost souls soon follow the same fate. No leads have been as time went by.

That is until an broken VHS camcorder was found in a pool of bloody gore with a intact tape still inside. Officials call off the search immediately and lockdown the area. Now they know the terror that comes when one runs afoul of MAG Agent Torture.

A string of grisly murders ransacks West Virginia's country side. The Mothman Killer Crimson rightfully earn their legendary name. Piercing blood red eyes are the only warning you have to run from absolute disaster.

Very few survivors cannot even describe their assailant lest they die of sheet fright. A reaper who rules over the dark and heart tainted black maddening bloodlust. The moment you enter the sight of Hank J Wimbleton, it is too late.

And these incidents are beginning to spread...

That's it for now! Until next time folks, continue to thrive in the madness.

#sonicasura #madness combat #madcom #madness project nexus #mpn #mpn2 #mpn arena #madness project nexus arena mode #madness combat tricky #tricky the clown #jebediah christoff #jebus #mag agent torture #madcom torture #hank j wimbleton #hank j. wimbleton #hank wimbleton #madness combat:analog horror #analog horror #free prompt #my prompts

[frostyreturns]

Christianity and Anarchy

Anarchy is the only system that is moral and therefore the only system that is compatible with Christianity. If you disagree with this as a Christian then you need to find another system and explain why it’s just as moral as anarchy or you have to explain how Christianity can be compatible with an immoral system. 

The argument I hear a lot is that anarchy will never be achieved, that it’s not practical so then since it’s not practical we need to choose between the lesser of two evils. Now my problem with this is that even assuming this is true and that anarchy will never be achieved the impossibility of a standard does not make it not the best possible standard. Christians should understand this more than anyone else because as Christians we’re not asked to be better and less evil than followers of other religions...we’re asked to be perfect, blameless and to be like Christ. Any Christian will also tell you this is impossible nobody can ever be perfect and nobody will ever achieve being as blameless as Christ...but that is still the standard you are asked to aspire to. 

If anarchy is never achievable...it’s still the only moral way for us to interact in a society, there is no way for a state to be organized or used in a moral way. And so advocating for any government in any system is advocating for an immoral system. As Christians you should not be advocating or supporting an immoral system. Stealing is a sin, taxation is stealing, supporting a government that taxes is support for stealing, supporting stealing is supporting sin, all governments tax therefore supporting any government is supporting sin. And that’s just one of the evils that every government ever has engaged in on a daily basis.

Now am I saying you are morally obligated to topple the government, am I saying you have to shoot at anyone who tries to tax you...no. (which by the way when Jesus said render unto caeser what is ceasers that’s what he meant. he was not endorsing taxation he was saying I am not here to start a rebellion against caesar and take tax money from caesar for myself. Which is what the religious leaders were trying to trap him into saying so they could run to the government and tell on him so that the state would kill Jesus for them. Which is what they ended up doing in the longrun.) 

Now if you live under a government are you morally responsible for what they do...no of course not. If the state steals your money and uses it to drone bomb children in the middle east are you guilty of murdering kids...no of course not because you had no say in the matter. However...if you support the government...then you are morally accountable because you are choosing to support an organization that steals and kills children...which is on you. Ignorance is your only defence...but is there anyone who can honestly say they are totally ignorant of any evil committed by government?

Oh and remember when Satan offered to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would worship him. Do you remember Jesus answer? Did he say that he was offering something he could not give? Did he question the devils absolute control over all the kingdoms (governments) of the world? Did he say no you can’t give that God is who actually controls the government and appointed them to do his will...no he refused because A.) You’re not supposed to worship anyone but God and B.) his kingdom is not of this world.

The state is a false god and is inherently evil. 

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

weird question: i've been an atheist for most my life but grew up with a religious family. What do i do when i see "ex-gays" and those "jesus cured my sons autism" shit propaganda and my brain goes back to being Christian and 12 and therefore having an urge to be "cured/normal"?. it genuinely hurts the biggest religion on earth hates me

The biggest religion on Earth thinks everything was magicked into existence through a spell, humans were created from dirt and a rib and populated through incest... twice, that the Earth is flat and once had giants and everybody speaking the same language, worships a being who murdered millions, regards "objective morality" as coming from a being who endorsed and prescribed slavery, and reveres a magic man who killed a fig tree, called a Greek woman a "dog," and fed 5000 people a satisfying meal with scraps, then died, came back to life and flew up into space like Superman, and will come back to murder and set fire to everyone who isn't his buddy - in that order - and lead a slave colony in a place described as "paradise."

Xianity is stupid. It's very, very, very stupid. People will argue about whether it is or isn't the most stupid, but we need not get into rankings. It's stupid. It's objectively very stupid.

When people believe it, they believe stupid things. They may or may not be stupid themselves - cognitive dissonance and compartmentalization are both real psychological phenomena, and people like genetic scientist Francis Collins do exist - but they believe a stupid thing.

Now, it is possible to believe correct things for stupid reasons. It's possible for someone to believe the Earth is round because anal-probing extraterrestrials told her so. But anything derived from stupid premises - in this case, anal-probing extraterrestrials - we need not put a lot of stock in. Getting the roundness of the Earth correct by accident doesn't vindicate the anal-probing extraterrestrials. (It's actually worse in a way, since this premise is more likely to go unchallenged.) It's reasonable to assume, by default, that any assertion stemming from a stupid premise is itself stupid.

What they're saying is stupid. They start with stupid beliefs and draw necessarily stupid conclusions as a result. You don't need to feel bad that a stupid idea doesn't think very highly of you.

These aren't rhetorical or having a go at you, I mean them more as questions to consider: would Xianity, being a stupid belief, respecting you actually have any meaning to you? Would you actually want the respect of something that is inherently stupid, and why? And if it did, wouldn't that likely be its own red flag?

"Sometimes it's better to be known for one's enemies."

There's nothing wrong with being disliked by those with stupid ideas. Even if they call you names. I've been called all sorts of things by people who think all sorts of stupid things. But their approval isn't something I value or even want.

My advice is, for starters, to give yourself a break. You've grown up surrounded by this messaging. It's not always easy to shake, even if you don't actually believe it anymore. There are going to be things which bring it, and all those feelings, back.

It can be more helpful than you realize to simply recognize, acknowledge and name it. "That's that feeling again. That's that stupid ex-gay crap that made me feel deficient." (Insert your own words.) Because it can help you identify where it's coming from, or if it's unclear, what might have caused those thoughts to return. And then push back on it: "no, that's stupid. That comes from the same religion with a magical zoo boat with billions of animals and nothing for the carnivores to eat but the other animals." (Again, insert your own words.)

Don't let stupid things have power over you. Because they're stupid. Recognize that they're stupid, and call them stupid.

#ask #christianity #ex gay #stupid ideas #stupid beliefs #religion #christianity is stupid #religion is a mental illness

[tanadrin]

This one neat trick deities HATE

Pascal’s wager is dumb because it assumes the only two possibilities are “no god” or “Christian god.” Here’s how you can hedge your bets on salvation much more confidently:

According to legends concerning Amitābha, he was so concerned with the plight of souls trapped in the cycle of reincarnation, he resolved to become a buddha so he could create a buddhakṣetra, a a paradisiacal realm beyond ordinary reality that souls could be reincarnated into in order to learn to escape the cycle of rebirth. Since his goal is to help souls escape saṃsāra that otherwise would be unable to, all you have to do to ensure reincarnation in Amitābha’s buddhakṣetra is to call upon his name ten times, with a sincere desire to be reborn there. I don’t know about you, but if Amitābha is real, I would sincerely wish to visit his buddhakṣetra, so this one is easy!

Keep the Noahide laws. Since only Jews are required to keep the commandments of Judaism, even if you fully believe in the Jewish religion, you do not have to keep all six hundred odd commandments if you are not a Jew. All you have to do is keep to a broader definition of good behavior. The Babylonian Talmud lists seven of these laws, and they’re basic things like don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, establish courts of law. Do that, and you’ll have a spot in HaOlam HaBa. Pretty standard if rather conservative stuff--definitely easier than converting to Judaism. How to interpret “not worshipping idols” is a bit trickier, since presumably this commandment is not “be irreligious,” or “be a Jew.” Perhaps it’s meant literally--do not worship statues, do not treat statues as gods? Or perhaps it’s an instruction about generally being monotheistic. But that’s fine, because we don’t need to worship Amitābha, or any other figure, in statue form or otherwise, to complete this list.

Other dharma-based traditions like Jainism and Hinduism have no afterlife as such, just a cycle of reincarnation. You will want to try to accumulate merit and avoid accumulating demerit, but even if you fuck it up, any resulting state or world you end up in will, at least, be temporary. Depending on how “merit” is defined, donating some money to a temple or monastic organization might help. Helpfully, this dovetails somewhat with Zoroastrianism, which requires good thoughts, words, and deeds of you, but not (as far as I know) actual belief in order to attain the House of Song once you cross Chinvat. No anal sex, though, because Angra Mainyu invented that; but N.B. the Noahide Laws require avoiding “sexual immortality,” and I suspect the Babylonian Talmud frowns on that, too.

Next, you’ll need to memorize the Qur’an, to become a hafiz or hafiza. This is admittedly a bit harder--the Qur’an is long--but there is a tradition of memorizing it that perhaps you can draw on for advice and support. Maybe a YouTube video or two. And at least some traditions of Islam maintain that if you memorize the Qur’an, you are guaranteed entry to Jannah. This opinion is not universally held, but all other possibilities of getting salvation under Islam are likely to be voided if you are not, or are a bad Muslim when you die. And you can’t simply recite the Shahada on your deathbed, because that’s when you’ll need to...

Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and get baptized as a Christian! Do not do this until you are actually, literally about to die. Try to time it, if possible, so that your unavoidable death happens immediately afterward. Baptism is a washing-away of sin and is valid only once; otherwise, most Christian traditions hold that the only way to be absolved of sin is to confess your sins (possibly to a priest, if Orthodox or Catholic), and if you die without confession or last rites, you’re hosed. And so, so many things are sins. You will fuck up, and that’s the point: in Christianity, we all suck ass, and you are almost always (but not quite) screwed. Christianity is by far the strictest one here; there are some Christian denominations that believe it’s only necessary to be baptized as a Christian, while others believe you must hold to their specific doctrines or you count as an unbeliever. Since there are too many of the latter to appease them all, we must content ourselves that if any of them are correct, we stood no chance, practically speaking, anyway; God just wanted to fuck with us on our way down. Some Christians, the universalist denominations, believe all are saved regardless, because God is indeed loving, and not a malicious bastard; fortunately, if they are correct, this whole list is superfluous! But we want to hedge our bets. If you’ve already been baptized, you’ll have to confess your sins and sincerely ask for absolution, which is a bit harder than just renouncing Satan and so forth, especially if you don’t regret all the anal sex Angra Mainyu tricked you into. If you don’t think you can manage a sincere repentance, there is one other escape clause--martyrdom. Dying for Jesus is a guaranteed one-way ticket to redemption, but hard to manage now that all the lion pits are closed. You could always try to proselytize to the Sentinelese, hand out Chick tracts in a rough neighborhood, or, if you’re really desperate, try the Circumcellion way--get a big stick and charge someone who’s armed yelling “Praise the Lord!” and hope they martyr you right then and there. But frankly. this is dubious at best and I don’t recommend it.