#also one of my parents is christian and the other is muslim so i was raised with a lot of muslim influence.

[birdsareblooming]

im so tired of having to defend myself on both sides

like. ok. i'm queer right. bi, demigender, aro, etc. also you know a girl, demi or not. all the time i have to defend myself from american christians who via mistranslations and misinterpretations spread by horrible leaders for generations have been led into a cult-like hierarchy that tells them to hate me when hate for us isn't in their book or supposed to be in their ways.

i'm also "christian". i hesitate to use the full term because of how bad american christianity has gotten. but i believe in the same god nontheless. every day i feel i have to defend myself from queer people as well

like. i so get it. as i have just established american and european christianity has gotten so fucked up and literally off-script that i'm shocked we haven't gotten another 95 thesis and a completely new branch. it's awful horrible and people who believe in such ideas should not be in power. to the point where calling myself a christian feels wrong. at least in america.

i need ya'll to have some nuance.

firstly the understanding that those who hate queer people, non-white people in any form, women, whatever else. isn't even in the text they follow. people have misused it since it was written. preaching just the verse saying wives should care for their husbands and not the one right after saying husbands should love their wives. taking out verses referring to god's "womb." about adam might not even being a man, as in, more likely nonbinary, the verse about david getting an errection when hugging johnathan. changing verses about cleanliness into women and men not wearing the same cloths. changing verses about cultural codes and allowing a world where people have to resort to prositution into verses condemning homosexuality. [X]

like. you know the matrix. was written as a trans metaphor. then a bunch of alpha sigma grindset rich white boys took it and appropriated it, misinterpreted it, used it to boost themselves and hurt women. it's like that. those people don't make the matrix a bad movie, they just don't know it's a trans metaphor. and trans people who enjoy the matrix are like. normal and cool.

as you can see i am passionate about this. i have all this stuff memorized not only to defend my queerness but my christianity as im doing now.

there are queer christians. there are certainly poc christians as right now, south america and south africa have the highest christian populations, to the point where they're sending missionaries to america.

again i'm asking for some nuance. when i see posts basically saying "the christian god is dumb" or "satan was right actually" and blantent misinformation about what the bible says. like those kind of posts hurt my heart. my god made me queer and loves me for it, i believe in a kind god, most good christians do. i feel like other religions don't get this treatment and it's just to spiritually piss off your catholic parents.

speaking of, in doing so you seem to forget about other abrahamic religions.

i once saw a post criticizing something directly from the old testament, out of context of course. saying god was cruel and the belives were flawed and all this due to one verse. people tend to forget, or not know, that the "old testament" is the tenoch. slightly different book order, same writings.

christians, muslims, jewish people, worship the same god. different names for god, some god, same base. if you make jokes about christianty willy-nilly, you're going to accidentally hit someone else. and even if you don't, you may hurt someone still.

it doesn't hurt because i think it's "sacrilegious" or i think you're going to hell. it hurts because my community doesn't care. my community doesn't see the nuance in people and decided a specific religion is the enemy. a specific group of people is the enemy. ive been marked as the enemy

it's casual jokes to you, to me it's making fun of my god

listen, by all means make fun of the assholes. i make fun of them every day. millionaires who use privet jets than preach and love to overlook the many verses condemning the rich and saying rich people don't go to heaven. people saying that as a woman of god you shouldn't enjoy sex. weirdos online and irl that seem to think patorizing random people will get them to church. dumb white people. it's great. fuckn. mormons and jehovah's witness leaders who are straight up running a cult based on a thread of the original intention. and it's funny because they're the assholes.

but don't attack the base religion itself. understand that the religion isn't inherently harmful, certain branches, beliefs, misinterpretations, and leaders certainly are. but please be kind to the people who are normal

before you make a post saying you're gonna. i dont know 'kill the uncaring god' that you're hurting people like me, any abrahamic religion, anyone who believes in a god possibly. also that's basically my parent, it's like you're insulting my awesome mom to my face bc my older sibling sucks. like thats just mean to her for no reason.

i'm just. tired. im stuck in the middle and i hate that i have to make this post because like. this is my home and my people and im tired of seeing this shit from my peers and family. just. have nuance. care about people. don't just say shit about a religion if you don't know its true.

im tired.

[k4marina]

idk if i’ve ever said this before, but i’ll say it now.

i 100% support palestine and the palestinian people who are fighting for their home in gaza and the west bank.

fuck israel. fuck zionists. fuck the west. and especially fuck the british, the us, and the un.

as someone who’s homeland and people are under threat whenever we speak out agains the government, i 100% support palestine.

BUT

i would also like to say that not a jews are zionist’s. there’s a lot of people who are using this genocide as an excuse to attack jewish people and that’s wrong.

this is not muslims/palestinians vs. jews

it’s palestinians vs. white colonizing zionist

this is a show of white supremacy all over again. when the world didn’t want them, palestinians opened their arms to them. only for the settlers to turn their backs on them.

majority of the israeli population hold dual citizenship meaning, israel is not their home country.

even the jews that relocated to palestine are mainly european decent (i.e, polish). none of them are ethnically or natively related to the land that they’re occupying.

the real people to the land are palestinians.

mind you, not all of them are muslim. they’re also other jews and christian’s.

speaking of which, the christian palestinian population is around 800. if the genocide does not stop then all the christian palestinians will die out and their history will be forgotten, as well as the muslim palestinians.

we all have to do our part when it comes to showing support and solidarity, like sharing and reposting, boycotting, attending protests, writing to your representatives and anyone in political office to get their shit together.

we don’t want our children to look at us 50 years in the future and go “why didn’t you do anything?” like how kids went to their parents during the holocaust.

and to all of those who want to go “do you condem KHamas?” here’s my answer:

no. no i do not.

hamas is the byproduct of 75 years of occupation and oppression and constant violent attacks led by israel.

if someone were to take your home by force you’ll also resist them. so why is it wrong for the palestinians to resist israel?

until the world condemns israel and zionist’s for the past 75 years of genocide and forceful occupation, no one will condemns hamas.

you don’t have to be palestinian or muslim to support palestians. you just have to be a human being.

#free palestine #free gaza #free west bank #israel #shitsrael #isnotrael #palestine #palestinian genocide #gaza genocide #gaza strip #gaza #west bank #idf #israel hamas war #hamas #anti zionisim #zionism is nazism

[absolutebl]

Hi P'ABL, how are you?

I love to see your analysis and thoughts on different BLs, and you always come off very well educated when it comes to cultural aspects, especially Thailand's culture.

Having this in mind, I think maybe you'll have some answer for my questions. Well, I want to know why Buddism is so heavily portrayed in BLs (like, for example, I Will Knock You). I know Buddism is the biggest religion in Thailand (please correct me if I'm wrong), but it still surprises me how prevalent it is in BLs. Also, I've seen a couple of BLs where the main character gets ordained, and from what I read on the subject, it is a pretty common thing to do, and is a sign of respect both to the religion but also to the family's believes.

Buddism in Thailand

December 2021:

Department of Religious Affairs reported that the population of Thailand identifies as:

92.5% Buddhist

5.% Muslim

1.2% Christian

In other words, a higher percentage of the population of Thailand identifies as Buddhist than the USA identifies as Christian (65% in 2019) or Catholic in Italy (79.2% in 2021).

So Buddism is in Thai BLs because it's in Thailand. It's just very prevalent. One might as well ask why there is so much Christianity in Hollywood's romantic product (oh it's there, language, swearing, modes of address, courting rituals, gendered attire, weddings, etc...).

It's probably unusual and interesting to you, so you noticed it. Also Americans (in particular) - I don't know how you identify but...) tend to be hyperaware of religious/spiritual representation in pop culture because it's so taboo, hyper-politicized, and divisive in the States.

(Appropriate dinner table conversation in different countries is one of the things that fascinates me the most. Like, what's taboo in different countries when you're visiting someone's home for a meal. In larges parts of the US, religion is generally a pretty taboo topic.)

I think it's also prevalent in BL because there's a lot of dead parents, and the death rituals of a culture come into play under those circumstances.

Anything dealing with the spiritual or paranormal, and now weddings and children and blessings and so forth we gonna see religious/spiritual belief rep. As we get more BL delving into different aspects of culture in search of story we will simply see more and more of those aspects of religion that intersect with that aspect of culture, for purely statistical reasons.

Monkhood

I would hazard a guess that the proportion of those in Thailand who chose to be ordained as a Monk is probably the same percent as any other Buddist nation.

Tharn Type 2 takes you through the entire process, if you wanna dive into that franchise.

Also I would highly recommend He's Coming to Me it's got some nifty death stuff going on. Also it's a great BL.

I have kinda talked about this before - old post:

#asked and answered #I hope #why did you climb the mountain? #anygay #thai bl #religion in BL

[droids-in-disguise]

Good Omens 2 making me think a lot about religion and religious deconstruction.

For context, I grew up Baptist, went to Catholic school for jr. high, and attended a private Christian school for my undergrad.

I grew up being told that the Bible was the ultimate source of truth, that is was the guidebook for our lives as Christians, and that, most importantly it should be taken literally.

I started wrestling with the concept of queerness when I was in jr. high. By then I had joined tumblr and had a best friend who was openly pan. But it was still a problem, because my church's reading of the Bible was that being gay was a sin. I existed very much in that "hate the sin, love the sinner" space that so many Christians seem to think is the appropriate answer. I also realized that despite being told that my church was doing Christianity the "right" way, these Catholics seemed to be just as sure in their conviction that they were doing it the right way.

In high school, I could sometimes privately admit to myself that the label "asexual" felt good, but more often than not I would lie to myself and say I was just too busy with grades and extracurricular activities to commit time to dating boys. I certainly never came out to anyone.

Ironically, it was the theology classes I took in college combined with the freedom of living away from my parents that helped me to finally realize that the Church as I knew it did not have the final say.

I learned that Biblical canon was not always set in stone and that it varies from denomination, that Hebrew and Greek words can have more than one translation or even no direct translation in English, I learned about liberation theology, and about womanist/feminist interpretations of scripture. Outside of theology class I took classes focused on Islamic history and literature. I had conversations about faith with my Muslim, Jewish, and Pagan peers. I met queer people who were both queer and Christian and who didn't see these identities as conflicting.

I had an old, hardass British lit professor who said something once during our study of Paradise Lost that I'll never forget, and that was that he believed God was like a diamond or some other precious gemstone, and that that all the different groups of Christians, Jews, and Muslims were all just seeing different facets of the same thing. Apparently this statement was something he had once told university higher-ups and it nearly cost him his job.

Despite all the deconstruction and the private acknowledgement that the church I grew up in did not have a monopoly on truth, I still went to church for years after. I did have the good sense to stop going to my parents' church and found one that was much more progressive and openly accepting of queer people, but even still it was hard to separate how much of me was there because I wanted to be there and how much was out of obligation or some sense of needing to reclaim my now tarnished view of the Church. I'm not sure where I sit now, only that I don't think I can be the one to create change from within, I am too damaged and tired for that.

All of this is why I think I relate so deeply to Aziraphale and the journey his character has undertaken, and why claims that he behaved out-of-character in the finale or that his coffee was drugged irritate me so much, because in another universe where I'm Aziraphale, I could see myself doing and saying the exact same things.

Letting go is hard, it's been painful and traumatic for me, I can't imagine what it would be for a being like Aziraphale with a much longer history.

There's such a strong desire to believe that it's only some of the Church that's bad and that if we have enough good people on the inside we can change it for the better.

Aziraphale has been hurt by Heaven and he's realized that Heaven is just as capable of doing bad as Hell (in many ways what Heaven does is more sinister because they won't admit to the bad and hide behind the façade of goodness and moral superiority), but he's a people pleaser and he's been an angel for so long, he can't just let go of his community and everything he has ever known no matter how poorly he has been treated by said Heavenly community. So then he gets this offer, work for Heaven, be in charge, make a difference. He can keep Heaven and Crowley, have his cake and eat it too. Of course he takes the job.

Crowley has had the outsider perspective for longer, he was the first to start asking questions. Perhaps there was a time when he too would've said yes to the Metatron, but now he knows better.

"We don't need Heaven, we don't need Hell. They're toxic!"

Aziraphale hasn't reached the same level of understanding that Crowley has, that no matter how many times he goes crawling back, Heaven will never truly accept him or be the place for him.

They way this story has been told over the past two seasons has been magnificent. Just as I can pinpoint all the different moments in my life that have helped to unravel what I thought I knew, we as the audience get to watch Aziraphale have these revelations too. In the first season we have the ineffable plan and this idea that armageddon is necessary and that Aziraphale shouldn't be the one to question it, but he does question it because he loves humanity, sees their goodness, and can't understand why a good God would allow them to be destroyed.

In season two, I found the bits surrounding Job to be especially poignant. First the shock that Heaven would condone the killing of children, then the realization that Crowley wouldn't kill the children or the goats going against his demonic "nature" proving Aziraphale's assumptions wrong, and finally the fear that lying would make him into a demon and the surprise when this turned out not to be true.

I have a feeling that by the end of season 3, when we get it, we will have the satisfaction of seeing Aziraphale and Crowley finally on the same page and I for one can't wait.

#good omens #good omens s2 spoilers #good omens 2 #good omens spoilers #good omens season 2

[silverstagspirit]

This is going to be a word vomit, but there are some comparisons between Earth and Twisted Wonderland that I wanted to make based on souls and myths on what happens to souls in the afterlife. So I’m sorry for how long this will be🥺! For biology au, I feel that not only would Yuu be biologically different from everyone in Twisted wonderland, but also have a different soul structure. In Twisted wonderland, the color and shape of the soul is used to indicate the type of magic and how much magic someone would have. The color of souls that are used to separate people into their dorms are red, yellow/orange, light purple, dark purple, blue, and green. For ghost in Twisted Wonderland they look very cartoonish and have a different appearance than when they were alive. Meanwhile on Earth souls are very impossibly to see or to prove their existence, but the ghost here on Earth are much more terrifying looking. Not only do they have the same appearance when they were alive, they would also have the injuries/cause of death marks on them. Plenty examples are on YouTube, “Creepy Sentences said by Kids”. (there was this one kid making weird faces in their living room, when their parent asked why, the kid responded they were mimicking the woman with the long braid around her neck) Also, in varies religions (mostly in the big ones such as Christianity, Muslim, and Jewish) you’re soul is affected by the decisions of your actions like doing good deeds or committing sins. Another factor that could impact your soul is how you lived and died. (If you committed suicide you just doomed your soul to never passed on to the afterlife). Whatever action you take will affect the shape your soul and will be your indicator if you pass into heaven or hell. Imagine how funny it would be if Malleus and the doctors came up with another method to see Yuu’s soul, only for many doctors and some of their classmates to faint when they see something eldritch appear, like one of those biblical accurate angels staring back. (Yuu did help save the dorm leaders from dying when they over blotted and stayed friendly to them despite almost getting killed. I’m pretty sure Yuu earned big points in getting into heaven.) The people that would faint would be Trey, Ace, Cater (after taking a blurred photo) and maybe Riddle. The people who would be stunned would be Malleus, Lilia, and Silver. The people that would try to fight this would be Deuce and Sebek. Meanwhile Grim would most definitely hide or shoot fireballs.

I'm not gonna lie.

I've been daydreaming about the ghost thing as well for a while now but didn't think about putting it in this series.

This ask has now confirmed for me that I am not the only one who wonders if all ghosts in Twisted Wonderland look all cute and puffy like that. When I got the English version and played the prologue; then those ghosts in the mine start attacking us, I remember how scared Ace, Deuce and Grim got and thought: "Why are they this scared? These guys are all puffy and cute.

I was thinking about another au that I have in the works where Ace gets acidentally sent to Yuu's world whilst they are still in twisted wonderland. Until he is summoned back, he learns about Yuu's world through the people around him and the experiences he endures.

One of the scenarios of that series has Ace split off from the other people and encounters a ghost that is inspired by a ghost story I heard IRL. I kinda wanna work on my horror writing.

Them all fainting would be funny. They would never be able to look at Yuu the same way ever again.

Thank you for the ask. It was very entertaining to read.

#biology au #twisted wonderland #twst yuu #eldritch yuu?

[determinate-negation]

sorry if this is a stupid question but why is the baptism thing problematic? like in your gf's case, it sounds like one of her parents is muslim and the other is christian so i'm not sure how it's baptizing her "against her family's wishes" when her mom is her family as well. wouldn't her being muslim also be against her family's wishes? (but the other side of her family) i'm not trying to troll or cape for Christians btw (and i'm not christian or muslim myself), i just got confused

her mom converted to islam to marry her dad bc she wasnt that religious and my dad was raised catholic and is an adamant atheist now and still talks about baptizing me like in case heaven is real whats up with even non religious christians basically imposing their shit onto their kids to make sure theyre christian its just fucked up to SECRETLY baptize your child because your partner doesnt want you and christians have a history of doing this in some pretty famous cases idk how this doesnt seem fucked up to people

[beardedmrbean]

Ten years ago, Solomon Maina's daughter, Debora, was one of 276 schoolgirls kidnapped from their dormitory in the middle of the night by Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist militants.

Global outrage was swift. A ubiquitous "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign, drawing support from the likes of Michelle Obama and Sylvester Stallone, shined a spotlight on the abductions. Then, in 2016 and 2017, negotiations led to the highly publicised liberation of around 100 of the captives. 

Debora was not one of them.

A decade after that fateful night in April 2014, the world has largely forgotten the plight of the so-called Chibok girls.

But for the victims and their families, the tragedy is ongoing.

"Especially at night, I think about my daughter," Maina, in tears, told Reuters in an interview at his home in Chibok, a Christian enclave in the West African nation's majority Muslim north. "I will never forget her."

Abductees who have returned home have struggled to resume their interrupted lives. Some are raising children fathered by their captors. Others have waited years for funds promised by the government to continue their education.

Those who spent the longest time in captivity have often had the most difficulty reintegrating with civilian life.

Dozens freed only in the past few years are living inside a military-run rehabilitation camp with surrendered Boko Haram fighters they married in the bush, according to the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, a charity that advocates for them. With them are more than 30 children.

"I'm tired of staying in the camp," one Chibok survivor told Reuters, asking not to be identified for fear of reprisals by the military. "I want to go home and stay with my family. There is no place like home."

Three of the surviving women told Reuters that in at least five cases women who arrived at the camp unmarried have been married to surrendered fighters once there. Government officials have officiated over such weddings, in an apparent effort to appease the surrendered fighters, family members say.

Aid groups and relatives say there is no clarity surrounding when - or even if - the women in the camp will be allowed to return home.

"They were brainwashed and their psychological thinking and mindset were changed to favour their abductors," said Dauda Yama whose daughter is inside the camp.

The state official in charge of the rehabilitation project did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Still missing

Roughly 90 Chibok girls are still missing. Based on the accounts of former abductees, the Murtala Muhammed Foundation believes a third of those have died in captivity.

"Some died of childbirth, some of starvation or snakebite others in government air strikes" against Boko Haram, said Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, the foundation's head. A parents association for the Chibok girls also estimates dozens are now dead.

Nigeria's president's office and the interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment on how many of the missing Chibok girls were believed to still be alive.

Early on, as the girls began emerging from captivity in the bush and their fate was still a rallying cause around the world, the government pledged to fund their studies in "any field of their choice."

Some liberated captives are attending universities as far afield as the United States. But some say the assistance never arrived.

Yagana Yamani waited for government funds for six years after escaping her captors. She finally asked her mother, a farmer, to help. Now 25, she is studying public health.

"They didn't fulfil their promise," she said.

The federal government did not respond to requests for comment on the question of whether it failed to provide promised support.

Nigeria's military has been fighting Boko Haram since 2009 in a conflict that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million.

While the group aims to topple Nigeria's government to establish a state based on its own interpretation of Islamic law, to many people around the world it is best known for the Chibok kidnapping.

Soon after the raid, then-President Goodluck Jonathan promised that the girls would be brought home. Solomon Maina feels he is alone grappling with his daughter's fate.

Through a freed abductee, he learned that Debora had been injured but survived a bombing raid on Boko Haram. He believes she's still out there, alive.

"Where is she now? Is she in a comfortable place?" he said.

"I think about this all the time."

#nunyas news

[daphnasworld]

originally I hadn't wanted to post anything about the current situation in Israel. Simply bc I wanted to use tumblr as a stress free place to distract myself. But i just saw someone I followed posting something horrible - and I have to say something about that.

Let me explain something first to you - I am german and jewish. I do not live in Israel but had been there a few times to see one of my grandmothers. You need to know that my paternal grandparents were jews living in Marocco but had to leave their home bc of antisemitism in the 60s, shortly before my father was born. Their families had lived in Marocco since ca the 1600. They had to pay nearly all of their money just so that they could afford to pay for the legal passports so that they could get on a boat and leave. As they were still scarred of Europe (bc of what happened in the 30/40s) and they didn't speak english they went to Israel. Simply bc they wanted to feel safe as jews (which btw isn't something common even today!). Anyway, my mothers family is german since forever - and christian. When my parents met my mother herself was still a christian. My father moved to germany and I was born and raised here. I speak hebrew rather bad and think all the time that I want to learn it but I always procrastinate. I am more of a cultural jew, but celebrate all the holidays with my family and eat more or less kosher (no pig, no crustations, i don't mix meat with milk products but I don't wait for hours after eating meat until i eat something with milk - mostly only a few minutes). Like many jews I got asked over the years if I would one day like to move to Israel. The answer is no. I am german and I want to stay in Germany. The only reason I would leave germany would be if something like the holocaust would be happening again. And even then I would look at the whole world to determine where it would be the safest for me. The existence of Israel is a huge relief to me. Because I know that at least there I will always have a safe place to turn to - I can't say that about any other country in the world. In every other country it would be depending on their current government. That had always been the case throughout history since Israel was first taken from the jews.

Now that you know that about me on to the original point of this post. Someone basically posted that what's happening now (terrorists coming to israel, killing civillians, taking people hostage to gaza, filming how they get belittled, spit on, insulted, hit and hurt in other ways - all including tourists and non jews and children) wasn't bad but what Israel deserved. They claimed that no Israelis are civillians but members of the army (yes, even premature born babies) and therefor deserved what happened to them. Of course they were saying that Israelis and jews are the same (which isn't true - there are Muslem and christian and atheist Israelis, but of course thats being ignored). Claiming that all Israelis stole that land - while ignoring that jews had been living there even before there had been talks of bringing Israel back. Of course they also feed the believe that all Israelis are originally from Europe and white - which of course also not true.

Anyway that post basically ended with all Israelis deserve that because no one of them is a civilian and they are all murderers. This triggered me rather badly. Because when I had been only 14 yeq4s old classmates had called me a murderer because I was jewish. Back than I keeped being jewish rather private - it was known that I am jewish, but I didn't talk about it and I never talked about Israel or my family there. So it wasn't like I was that kid talking about the politics there or something. I also wasn't islamophobic. On the contrary, i spoke up if someone said something racist or bigoted and I was happy to have muslim classmates as they too didn't eat pig. Which was back than a big thing in germany. It was before we got all those vegetarian or vegan dishes. Especially were I lived the menus of most restaurants contained dishes to 80 % with pig meat. So it was great that I wasn't the only one not eating pig. Because i had been the only jew in my school. Anyway, one day in school my teacher for ethics class (bc in germany religion as a subject had been mandatory. But bc not everyone was christian there had been this special class called ethics were every non christian had to be in) said that it was time to talk about world religions. So why not talk about Islam and Judaism at the same time (bc to him there had been as good as no differences between both religions. It was only later that I realised that said teacher had been not only racist but also very antisemitic, but until then he had managed to hide it rather good). And suddenly it started, from one second to the next. I hadn't said anything but all of my muslim classmates except for two of them turned towards me and started to scream at me. It was horrifiyng. Until than I had only had to deal with right wing antisemitism but never from amy muslims but they were screaming at me, insulting me. Kids my age that five minutes before that had talked to me completly normal. I was totally frightened, as they were all so aggressiv and didn't stop. Especially one male student was horrible. The teacher hadn't done anything - he sat in his chair, looked at us and actually smiled. And all my non muslim friends in this class simply sat there quietly. Not shocked or scared - most of them even looked bored. 5 minutes before that I had believed to be in a safe space surrounded be friends - only to be alone and scared like never before. But what stayed most prominent out of all of it until today was the following: they were screaming that all jews are murderers. Including me, a 14 year old, that all of them knew for years. When asked why, they said simply bc the Isreali government killed people, all israeli politicians were jews and because of that all jews had to be murderes. That argument is of course absolute bullshit and makes no sense at all. But it was clear that this way of thinking had been teached all of them. How else would a bunch of teenagers get those thoughts? Of course they must have heard it somewhere. And they believed it with their whole being. No counter argument, no question asked, nothing could make them change their minds. They truly believed that to be the truth. And that was what scared me the most. Because they were already so aggressiv about it, screaming it unprompted, filled with hatred. I cried for the rest of that day. I was scared shitless of every single one of those screaming classmates. Years later at another school I met one of them again. I was still afraid of him, especially since afterwards I had informed myself more of the antisemitic as well as the political situation there and started to understand just how deep and wide spread that hatred was. And of course i tried to stay away from him until he asked me why I didn't like him. And guess what - he didn't remember it. Something that traumatised me to my bones had been an ordinary Tuesday for him.

You can critisize Israel all you want, because yeah, the government made mistakes. But they are not all evil. If you serioulsy believe that no Israeli is innocent (incl the children) and are even happy about what is happening there, than you are an antisemitic piece of shit and a horrible person.

#i stand with israel #racism #antisemitism

[sag-dab-sar]

The Need to Recognize Christmas' Preferential Treatment 🎄

Christmas is seen as "stolen" from pre-Christian traditions or described as "not really Christian". Some of it is legitimate (e.g with specific local or national folk traditions), a lot of it is pseudo-history (e.g Mithras birthday, an entire Christmas tree, lights) but frankly neither actually matter. Because, in our modern world, Christmas holds a prestigious place due to Christianity.

.🔹.

Here are examples that showcase Christmas' ubiquitous, unquestioned place in many Culturally Christian nations and why we need to recognized its ubiquity:

Appropriation of Judaism, re-imagined for Christmas exists like this. @/koshercosplay has basically an infinite amount of examples to use for these posts and even gets sent asks of more examples.

There is no Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu or other religions' holidays reserved as an official federal holiday in the US. So all non-Christian religious holidays are labeled as "accommodations" while Christmas is a given.

While my post targets the US because thats were I am from, this isn't US only. Christmas is a public holiday in a large protion of countries around the world (see map).

Hallmark Christmas movies, that are made by the dozens at this point and are a US Christmas staple, are propaganda longing for a better ""family friendly"" white washed Christian version of America that never existed.

Hallmark has added anti-semitism into it's Christmas movies.

A Hanukkah presentation was banned in a Florida school meanwhile the same school was celebrating Christmas activities and decorations. Justified by Florida's Parental Rights Bill ("Don't say gay" bill) "obligating us to follow the 5th grade standards [...] At this time, a Chanukah presentation is not in our standards." It was only reversed to to social media outcry.

Something similar also happened in a Vancouver school where Christmas decorations were allowed because they "aren't religious" while Hanukkah ones were explicitly denied.

Fasting and breaking for prayer during Ramadan is seen as an inconvenience to employers, who need "guidance" on how to "accommodate" their Muslim employees. And has led to Muslims being straight up fired. Whereas Christmas decorations, events, or music in a work setting is fine.

Universities won't hold classes on Christmas but will reverse their practice of not holding classes on Yom Kippur & Rosh Hashanah because not holding classes on those holidays is "intended to insure greater continuity in the academic schedule and minimize course disruption for students." Those two holidays are a debate at the university— Christmas is never a debate.

Not holding classes on Eid al-Adha is also controversial! This also included reversing the decision to not have classes. The decisions to not hold classes on the holiday is a debate at the school board— Christmas is never a debate.

To make it all worse in the US: Christian Nationalism is dramaticlly increasing x x x

.🔹.

No matter what pagan-ness or secular aspects can be found in Christmas it has a privileged special place in our culture— that is afforded to no other religion— specifically because it is Christian. There are a few examples where this isn't the case (e.g Japan) but those are very few and far between

In my strong opinion: if you choose to celebrate the holiday, as a Christian or non-Christian, you should recognize the special spot & privilege it has.

You shouldn't dismiss that fact and the above examples because "pagan origins" or "celebrating it in a secular way"

Maybe next time when your classmate, your child's classmates, or you sibling's friend want to put up Hanukkah decorations in school next to the Christmas ones you can speak against the school administration that bans it, or against the teacher who gets upset at the idea.

Or perhaps you can be the person at the school board meeting who points out that Christmas isn't any more special than Yom Kippur or Eid al-Adha so why are those debatable when Christmas isn't.

Recognizing these things is not raining on Christmas' parade nor does it mean you should feel guilty for celebrating, its simply a matter of expanding you view of the world and learning the obstacles other people face.

.🔹.

P.S

Recognizing its preferential spot is paramount imo but if you'd also like to touch on the history of the matter:

Here is some info on the "Christmas is stolen" argument, as well as tracing secular and religious history of the holiday.

The origins of Christmas and its traditions are marred with psudeo-history plastered all over news websites, blogs, and supposedly reputable sources. But many of this comes down to secondary sources citing each other in a loop without primary sourcing. Here is an example of how that can happen (not xmas related).

-

-Dyslexic, not audio proof read- | -repost-

#repost #paganism #pagan #polytheism #christmas #cultural christianity #christian #xmas #holiday season #hannukah #adding that tag since it has so many examples #and i suppose merry christmas if you're celebrating it #i say all this as a christmas lover #like a BIG christmas lover #xtianity #resources #celebration day

[vaspider]

Just throwing it out there, but I'm a Quaker (aka Society of Friends) (a lot of people consider us to be Christian but I don't - we're not expected to believe in Jesus or even a god, nor read the Bible, go to church, celebrate Christian holidays, any of that, though we're allowed to if we want to. Quakers are actually allowed to belong to any other religion, or lack thereof, which is rather un-christian. Like, you could be a Muslim Quaker or a Hindu Quaker or whatever, it's all good (I'm an atheist Quaker). We did start off as an offshoot of Christianity but there's plenty of offshoot religions that become their own thing, like Christianity itself). Context aside, it's literally, explicitly against my religion to try to convert people. We're not even allowed to suggest it to people, although it's not a closed religion. Like, if you ask me about becoming a Quaker, I'm welcome to talk about it, but I can't just tell people that they should do it.

So yeah, just adding to the anti "proselytizing is just a required part of religion" pile.

On a side note, the main tenets of Quakerism are Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship, and in my experience, a frightening number of Christians (my parents included) balk at the "equality" bit. Like, people have legit gotten angry with me about it. Despite the "we're all God's children"/"all sins are equal in the eyes of God" thing that a lot of them talk about, because when *we* say equality, we actually do mean equal.

Also, fun fact since it's Coronation Day or whatever, Quakerism is inherently anti-monarchy as part of the "equality" tenet 😉

I attended multiple Quaker meetings (Lehigh Valley Friends Meeting, Lancaster Friends Monthly Meeting, Gwynedd Friends Meeting) for like... a total of about eight years of my life, and I was planning to marry a Quaker. My HS boyfriend was super active in Young Friends; we used to do a lot of the setup and teardown for the Peace Walk in December and before First Day Meeting. Emet and I used a self-attesting/Friends wedding license. I spent most of my life before 2019 living in the eastern half of Pennsylvania or in Maryland. I know what Quakers are, but I appreciate your thorough explanation for folx who might not know.

I ... have a lot of respect for the Society of Friends, and I applaud the Society's attempts to keep everyone under the same big tent, but to say that the Friends are not Christian is quite a stretch. 89% of Friends worldwide belong to Evangelical or Programmed Meetings, with a pastor and Bible readings.

It's probably more true to say that American Quakers of Friends General Conference do not have a Creed, that some Quakers are not Christian and that many Meetings, especially Unprogrammed Meetings in Friends General Conference in the United States, welcome diverse faiths as well as non-theist members.

I think it's important, however, not to look away from how deeply-rooted many Xian ideals and concepts are in Friends philosophy. Saying "Friends aren't Xian" kind of allows for a sort of magical thinking that all of those ideas - some of which are harmful or have been used for great harm - are just gone. That's not the case.

There's a lot of classism issues in many Friends Meetings, too, especially some of the older ones, because many of those Meetings are populated by people who have an awful lot of old money, and that can give people outsized voices when it comes to seeking consensus.

At least, that's what caused me to come away from the Friends, though I went through multiple times of returning to Meeting because I was deeply Convinced at multiple points. I was drawn to Meeting very strongly by the ideal, and the reality pushed me away.

None of this is to say that Friends don't do wonderful things or that FGC's work isn't often lovely and commendable. I just ... object to the idea that Quakers aren't Christian. Well, no, many are, and the deeply Xian roots of the Society are still very visible to me. I love the Friends deeply (the design for a Publick Universal Friend pin is waiting for me to set up our next Kickstarter), and I'm very glad you find such joy and fulfillment there. I have confidence that if anyone can continue working on the issues within the conference itself and on the greater issues of the world with patience, consideration, and genuine consensus-seeking, it's FGC.

[forever-nainai]

Meet the Abrahamic Family!

Okay, whether you want to believe it or not, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and all the branches are literally from the same family. That’s why they’re called Abrahamic religions. Catholicism is actually considered a branch of Christianity, like Mormons, Jehovah witnesses, or Protestants. Judaism is considered the first, Christians next, Muslims third. Now picture them as siblings in a family and how studies relating to the order of birth relate.

The first born. Judaism. Stereotypes are certainly exaggerations if not outright lies, however, their roots often have a basis. On Netflix there was a comic who joked about how his “peoples” want to take over the world. Anyway, oldest child. Clannish, aggressive, and manipulative, believing it is their position to be in the lead. They hold a lot of responsibility and are criticized by their younger siblings for being too controlling.

The middle child. Christianity. The division with the most branches, sects and cults, their identity depends on who they are dealing with, personableness changing in order to gain attention and feel a part of something. Kind of like a chameleon, they’re more likely to do anything for attention. Because they create a new identity with each branch, it’s difficult to narrow down personality traits. This in of itself is telling of the middle child stuck in between the other two trying to find their place.

The youngest child. Islam. The wildest, most unpredictable of the siblings. They desire attention like the middle child, but unlike a middle child, is not going to change themselves to do so. Their personality is initially influenced by their older siblings, and in the beginning allowed some leeway, but this tends to spoil them and lead to clashing between them as they get older. Tends to be the more personable of the three.

Remember, like in a family, no one sibling is anymore special than another to their parents! All three of these branches believe the holy land is important and have fought over it. Ridiculous! The holy land equates to the parent and therefore, no one should hoard their parent from the others. FYI the holy land is essentially the Gaza area.

~~

I happened to be watching Forged in Fire and the historical sword to be done was used during the crusades. One of the competitions was blabbering about how he was happy cause its from his faith… and something clicked in my head. I talk about how the abrahamic religions are like a bunch of cousins fighting over the dead patriarchs estate, but then I also realized, they’re more like siblings!

#religion rant #religion #christianity #tw cult #judaism #islam #abrahamic religions #sibling dynamics

[jassylife]

Gacha fans life vs My life being a gacha tumblr

Gacha fans: mostly go on YouTube to post some gachas✊✊✊✊✊. Me: mostly go on Tumblr because I ain’t care about fame on YouTube because I don’t want to be a YouTuber because I don’t want to but I can comment and like and follow on YouTube instead of posting🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Gacha fans: Christian, Muslim, and any religions✝️☯️✡️☸️🕉️☪️🕎. Me: the only Catholic demigirl who is a gacha fan😢😢😢😢😢✝️✝️✝️✝️ why there aren’t any Catholics out there who is a gacha fan and I’m still support every religions

Gacha fans: mostly is any nationalities🇺🇳🇺🇳🇺🇳🇺🇳🇺🇳. Me: the only Mexican who is a gacha fan🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽😢😢😢😢😢😢 WHY AM I THE ONLY MEXICAN WHO IS A GACHA FAN WHY GOD AND LUNI JUST WHY, also support every countries

Gacha fans: WE GAY AF🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈👁️👄👁️. Me: AM GAY AS H3LL BOI🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

Gacha fans: any genders. Me: demigirl💅💅💅💅

Gacha fans: most of them are trans🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️. Me: not trans but support trans becuz am one of the lgbtq people💖💖💖💖💖🫶🫶🫶🫶🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

Gacha fans: sending death threats on the people they hate💀💀💀💀💀💀. Me: post a few of death threat to people who is being racist(that’s not a answer to send violence to people just report so other apps can banned them)🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥

Gacha fans: have truama in reality😭😭😭😭😭😭. Me: having family issues because my parents argue because they never get along but I still love them and they still love me😢😢😢😢😢(they stop now and yes that is my first truama becuz I never had truama in my whole life) gets bullied but ain’t give no fu¢k about these @$$holes😎😎😎😎😎😎

Gacha fans: hates schools. Me: school traumatized me💀💀💀💀💀

Gacha fans: hates a few countries including Israel 🇮🇱. Me: loves all countries including Israel🇮🇱 because not all people in Israel are toxic everyone in every countries need support (am Mexican and that countries love and support every countries even tho every countries didn’t hate Mexican even tho they hate each other expect mexico)

[aleksa-sims]

RL Simself-Story (18+)

CW: trauma

Previous / Next

Start

⚠️CW: violence 🔻

Time to tell who attacked Daniel and me and why they even did it.

It all started 2 years ago, when Daniel was with Irena. I once told that Irena used to work in bars & night clubs because Daniel spent all their money on drugs. One day Irena got sick and couldn’t really work. She was feeling ill, so she asked Daniel for help. He was supposed to help her a bit serving drinks at the bar in a club. She knew there would be a lot going on. So Daniel of course helped her. But that night something bad happened in that night club. 20-15 men stormed the club and randomly stabbed people.

Luckily nothing happened to Daniel and Irena, they didn’t even notice what happened at first, because the security guys stopped the perpetrators from doing more damage. No one was seriously injured or killed, except for 5 men who were found in the men’s room. They had severe stab wounds but survived!! When chaos broke out, everyone left the club but some people were injured on the ground. Daniel went to those people who were injured. He tried to help them and get them out of there. Only a few minutes later the police arrived. 6 of the perpetrators were handcuffed to the ground while the cops secured everything. They wanted to harm the nightclub owner with that sick act. That's why they did this!... The club owner eventually came to Daniel and thanked him for his help. He shook his hand. But one of the six perps observed this situation and memorized Daniel’s face very well. He thought Daniel was that club owner's son. And he actually looked like him a bit and was the same age as that guy.

And exactly this perpetrator, who observed the situation with Daniel and the club owner, recognized Daniel 2 years later, (6 weeks ago) when he and I went home, that terrible night. That’s why they attacked us! It wasn’t even planned, it was totally spontaneous. While Daniel and I were with his sister, two of the perpetrators waited until we left her apartment. The other two men stole a car! When Daniel and I left our own car after we parked in that dark alley, the 4 men decided to attack us. And Idk if you remember, but I said that one of the perps ransacked my bag because he wanted to see or check my ID. You know why he did this? He wanted to know where I am from! That I am not German, is obvious but the perps were also not Germans. They originally came from Kosovo (Albania) but grew up in Germany. Their families and parents experienced bad things during the Kosovo war, which is why they developed a deep hatred for a certain group of people. The 4 perpetrators belonged to an extremist group that had only death and destruction in mind. And that one nightclub owner they tried to hurt two years ago, wasn’t a nice guy either. He was also a member of a criminal, devious group or something. Idk, really! In any case, this man was also not from Germany, he was from ex Yugoslavia (Serbia). And his homeland and Albania were at war for years. The hatred between him and the 4 men arose because they were all destroyed by their obsessed faith and religion. No sorry! Religion is not to blame, I mean their fanaticism has destroyed them and their false faith. It was about the senseless, old hatred between Christians and Muslims. And when I found out, I was just wondering what did daniel and I have to do with all this????? And we absoulutly had nothing to do with that club owner and his shit! However, I was lucky that I had my dad’s family/last name at that time and not my mom’s as 15 years ago. They would have killed me without blinking, if they had read my mom’s last name on my ID. Anyway, now you know why those men wanted to kill Daniel. Daniel was just trying to help injured people in that damn club and almost paid for it with his life two years later.

So yea, that's the world we're living in today. War and suffering were the triggers that turned those four men into monsters. They were blind with rage & unable to distinguish between good and evil.

#ts4 #sims 4 #sims 4 story #my rl with my simself #simself #myrlgameplay #cw trauma #cw violence #cw war #cw religious themes

[performativezippers]

If going by the reasoning that NCIS Hawai'i takes place more or less at the time of year when the episodes air, Lucy and Kate were in their secretly dating-phase during last christmas & new years. (Between eps 9 and 10). Do you think they hung out, or was one or both of them away visiting family?

Things are going well at this point. sort of suspiciously well, for how kind of fucked up the situation is. still hiding from everyone, lucy pretending like her coworkers don't know about their relationship when they all do. whistler pretending to be her old self in front of everyone else, and trying not to completely melt in front of lucy, both of which are only moderately successful. lucy likes whistler unabashedly, which makes whistler feel both incredibly flattered and loved, and also deeply ashamed of herself.

but it's going well.

and then it's christmas time. "the holidays" what bs, it's christmas that people are talking about. lucy's mom is catholic and her dad is muslim, so they always did christmas but underneath the frowning disapproval of her father. too american, too christian, not nearly arab enough for him. lucy always felt kind of weird about the holiday, like if she truly loved it then she'd be betraying her dad or her arabness or something.

whistler loves christmas, with all of the unthinking delight of a white girl raised in protestant-white-person-middle-america. she always goes back to minnesota for it, just for a few days, usually. it's hard, without noah, but it's better than trying to make it through the holiday without going back, without her parents, without running her fingers over the ornaments he made when he was a kid, pressing her fingertips into the tiny indentations of his toddler-sized palm. proof he existed, that he was alive and corporeal and real.

whistler is leaving on the 23rd and coming back on the 27th. because it takes so long to get to and from honolulu, she'll really only have 3 days at her parents' house, which is just the right amount.

lucy isn't going anywhere.

they don't talk about it, other than to share their plans. it feels too soon to say anything about it, really. what's there to say? i'll miss you? sure. that's fine. but whistler isn't going to invite lucy to go with her, and lucy isn't going to ask her to stay. that's way too clingy, too needy, too much for whatever this is that they haven't defined. like, sure, they spend a hell of a lot of time together and they're not seeing other people or anything, but i want to spend christmas with you? no, that's years away at best.

on the 22nd, lucy brings take out over to whistler's apartment, and they're quieter than usual that night. whistler wants to suggest watching a christmas movie, but she's worried it'll bring up a conversation she's not ready for, so she doesn't. lucy spends the night, and when she leaves in the morning, she pretends it's nothing. see you in a few days, she says, kissing whistler goodbye. it's more of a peck than a kiss, and she says it so casual, it's like she's saying see you tonight.

whistler calls once, and texts while she's gone. she sends lucy a couple pictures, and lucy does the same, but it's like they're tiptoeing around what's happening. like if neither of them mentions that it's christmas, it won't be weird that they're essentially girlfriends pretending it's the middle of october so they don't have to have The Conversation.

the, what is this to you, conversation. the, where do you see this going, conversation. the, hey are you ever going to be willing to be seen in public with me and tell my friends that we're dating, conversation. the, hey so i may not have successfully broken up with my ex, conversation.

whistler comes back to honolulu, and she hugs lucy for longer than usual, and lucy feels so small in her arms. lucy digs her fingers into whistler's back, hard, her breaths heavy in whistler's ear. they don't talk about it, but they spend the next three days together, not even twenty minutes apart.

they both go to tennant's for new year's eve. everyone is there, so they pretend to be single, like always, but whistler is doing a worse job than usual. she can't keep her eyes off lucy, and the rest of the team is taking bets about when they'll finally come out, if they'll kiss at midnight, if it's a joke at this point that they aren't out.

they don't kiss at midnight, but they lock eyes from across the room and everyone who isn't kissing someone is watching them watch each other.

lucy takes whistler home and kisses her until she forgets her own name.

next year, lucy thinks. next year i'll ask her to stay.

next year, whistler thinks. next year i'll bring her with me.

next year, ernie thinks. next year this will be a funny story, a funny thing to say, hey remember when you guys used to pretend you weren't dating but you eye fucked for all of new year's eve?

next year, cara thinks. next year, she'll remember to call on christmas.

#kacy #kate whistler #lucy tara #ncis hawaii #ncis hawai'i #ask zipps

[heaven-s-black-box]

Notes- Modern Star Wars pt.1

Return to File

Recovery date: August 15th, 2022

Description: N/a

Notes: N/a

Parts: 1 2 3 4

Back to directory

- the jedi all go to the same temple, in this au the jedi religion is no different then being Jewish, Muslim, Christian, ect.

- Caleb and Cal are neighbors, they've been besties since kindergarten (I refuse to separate these two, they are now a pair)

- Caleb's nickname is Kanan

- masters= parents (adopted or bio, a few exception cases like Ahsoka and Ani, Obi wan and Ani, ect.)

- obi wan is qui gon's bio kid, Anakin was adopted

-Ahsoka is adopted by plo koon

- while I would love to include all clones, last time I tried that I fried my modern AU, so here's a more edited list with my faves

- Jango had Boba and Omega

- Rex and Cody are brothers, they're boba and omega's cousins

- the bad batch(quintuplets) + domino twins are brothers and are boba and omega's first cousin once removed (so Jango's aunt/uncle's kids)

- pretty much everyone in the fett family joins the military to some degree

-Bd-1 is Cal's small dog, C3P0 is a golden retriever (or possibly a service dog for Ani due to childhood trauma) and R2 is a cat (maybe a tuxedo), Chewwie is one of those big super fluffy dogs, Chopper is a ginger cat, and Jar Jar is Padme's overly excitable yippy dog (couldn't decide on a breed)

- Hera and Kanan eventually adopt a wolf dog they name Dume, Chopper hates sharing attention

- Kanan adopts Ezra

- Sabine is related to Bo-Katan and Satine (somehow, I know she's the same clan so extended family!)

- After meeting clan Wren (I am writing this as I watch Rebels) I have decided Ursa was Satine and Bo-Katan's adpoted first cousin once removed

- Hera is totally Airforce, like I feel like that's the closest to her role in rebels, her and Kanan met in highschool

- their song, which later became their first dance at their wedding, is "Ain't no mountain high enough"

- Zeb is another friend of theirs from highschool, he was a year or two younger

- Zeb is a security guard, Ezra is an animal conservationist (see him and Loth wolves), his parents had a radio show where they talked about endangered species

- Kanan is a firefighter (because irony) and Cal is an elementary school teacher who is in charge of his school's fencing club

- in this au Kanan's injury comes from a job, once he's blinded he joins Ezra in his work

- Cere is a highschool music teacher, Merin is a history teacher who also has an elective cultures course, and Greez is a freelance pilot who's business is definitely totally 100% legal(/s aka he takes some shady jobs)

- Cere and Greez are neighbors, Merin works at the same school as Cere, and she meets Cal through her

- Din obviously adopts Grogu at some point, and Luke volunteers at the temple's Sunday school which is where he meets them(???)

- I feel like Luke would own a martial arts school, Leia becomes a politician like her mum, Anakin would be a robotics engineer

- Satine is prime Minister of Mandalore, Bo- Katan is either military or lawyer (she strikes me as the lawyer type), Sabine was going to join the military but ended up pursuing an artistic career, Korki wants to go into politics like his aunt

- Mandalore works like the u.s where it's a bunch of small countries a trench coat, except they're more functional... mostly

- Obi wan is either a social worker (helping other kids like Anakin) or some kind of diplomat, he only became a diplomat cause he took a few classes to spend more time with a cute international student *cough* Satine *cough* and found he was good at diplomacy

- Plo Koon and Ahsoka are body guards/ security, Plo has his own company, Ahsoka started as being in charge of marketing (I consulted my mom for Ahsoka's job and she suggested marketing because she's so bubbly)

#researcher s's notes #star wars #cal kestis #kanan jarrus #ahsoka tano #plo koon #hera syndulla #zeb orrelios #sabine wren #ezra bridger #obi wan kenobi #satine kryze #din djarin #grogu #luke skywalker #leia organa #jango fett #captain rex #commander cody #rating unavailable

[azhdakha]

I think it's important for us to understand the opinion of an actual Palestinian and not those of radicalized sofa political experts from the other side of the globe. So I'm sharing the message of @wearenotjustnumbers.

"I know it's tricky to find the right answers from an unbiased perspective. First of all, let me tell you I am Palestinian, I am not from gaza but I am from Palestine. And I have witnessed everything that happened, as did my parents and their parents since 1948.

Killing innocent people is morally wrong on both sides, but here is where it gets complicated.

When you talk to a Palestinian, Muslim or Christian, they will most likely be demanding for their freedom, their land back. They won't demand to kill all the Israelis.

You have to keep in mind that Palestine has been occupied since 1948, Israel government has been stealing houses, kicking families out, binging in settlers to take their place and using them against each other.

Also, keep in mind that gaza has been surrounded and cut off from the world for over a decade, people literally grew up watching their families get killed, humiliated, stripped of basic human rights with nothing to do. So when a group like hamas targets Israel, people of gaza do not celebrate it, but it's more like they don't have a choice. They don't want "revenge" on anyone, every person from gaza I talked to just wants to live freely without fearing death of their loved one every waking moment. People of gaza do not control Hamas. What Hamas did is violent and wrong, and yes the Israeli settlers didn't have anything to do with it (this just shows you how brutal the Israeli government is). But it's a little hard for gaza people to condemn what Hamas is doing, while worse things have been happening to them for decades.

Hamas did kidnap Israeli settlers, but they treated them well (for whatever reason might be). They didn't "behead" babies which was proved after Biden had lied alongside people on social media. There is no proof of rape or mass shooting. What we have, is interviewed with Israeli who have been released, saying that they were treated with respect which took them by surprise.

Of course, the other civilians have not been released yet.

Which gets you thinking, if Israel does not know where the kidnapped civilians are, but it definitely knows they're in gaza. By bombing every place, flattening the city, won't that mean they'd kill their own people?

The answer is yes. Which indicates that Israel doesn't care about their people as long as they get to kill as many Palestinians as possible. Hamas already tried to use the kidnapped civilians as leverage, asking for a ceasefire in exchange of the civilians, but Israel refused.

So to answer your question, yes. You can grief for victims of both sides, while blaming Israel government for it.

The settlers who were brought by Israel, to fight a war that's not their own. The kids who were born in a country that's not theirs, and yet forced to fight for a land they don't have a right in, simply because they have no choice. Did you know that Israel has a law which says it's obligatory for EVERY citizen, female or male, to have martial training, as well as joining the army before they even reach their 20s.

These are victims of their greedy government, who uses religion as a political device. Who mixes zionism with Judaism.

And the ultimate victims here, are Palestinian. Hamas members are extreme, but they were once kids who watched their fathers get killed, their brothers wrongfully arrested, their mother humiliated. That isn't an excuse to their actions, that is a reason of why you might find it hard for gaza to curse hamas.

I would suggest reading about sole Palestinians who grew up in gaza.

For example, search Mohammed al durra. Ahmad manasra. And Ahid tamimi."

#azhdakha