Kindness Doesn't Mean Weakness and Being Rude Doesn't Imply Strength

Being kind doesn’t equate to weakness, and being rude doesn’t necessarily indicate strength. In my experience, I’ve learned that kindness is a virtue that should never be mistaken for weakness. There’s a common misconception that being kind means being a pushover or lacking the strength to stand up for oneself. But in reality, kindness is a reflection of inner strength and compassion. When I…

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Hi! We're in your neighborhood to bring you religion and self-doubt! We're having a free dinner and indoctrination at the church we're building, so come on over!

People in the desert.

People in the desert.

Photo by Annie Theby on Unsplash Click play to listen to this podcast. It can also be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Poor Moses. He tells those people in the desert, the Israelites, so many times about the God who loves them and won’t leave them. And how quickly their hearts are willing to leave that God. Or Paul who tells us to renew our minds constantly. That we are saved but we’re…

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Church Women Lay Down Across The Road As they Pray For Good Leaders in Umuahia

Church Women Lay Down Across The Road As they Pray For Good Leaders in Umuahia

Video of church women that lay down across the road alleged to be praying for good leaders has been making rounds online. The group of women said to be from Methodist Church Nigeria were spotted at the popular OPET junction in Umuahia, Abia State on Tuesday, September 6, praying for good leaders.   According to the source , the women were wailing in prayer for God to send good leaders to help…

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Like with Scientology people focus too much on the "wacky beliefs" part of Mormonism and not the "billions in shadow money hidden in shell companies" part of Mormonism

Mike Wheeler and Will Byers… Run.

dudes in the beginning of Dracula: oh men and women are so different. men are resilient and bold. women are fragile and susceptible to hysterics

dudes in Dracula now: so we all cried together and we sat on the floor and hugged each other and promised we'd all be best friends forever and-

Romancing Vesper or f!Onyx in WTC is particularly juicy because this way MC gets to hate herself not only because of her 'unholy' powers, but also because she's gay, which is x2 religious trauma combo.

the great thing about having baseball as a special interest is you will appear as an incredibly passionate normal guy in some situations and a complete weirdo in others

Fundamentally Enmeshed Family

For the last several months I have been talking about my experience growing up in the Independent Fundamentalists Baptist (IFB) Movement. Since leaving the IFB, I have challenged myself to learn, grow, and change. I have learned so much about myself and the world around me. I still have a long way to go, but I value the progress I’ve made. I don’t plan to continuously write about this topic…

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Something I appreciate about Hortus de Escapismo is how it portrays the Laterans and non-Laterans, especially in contrast to each other. Guide Ahead already gave us the angel ethnostate vs multi-racial heretics, which made for a pretty effective if blatant commentary on Laterano. And while it might seem Hortus is kind of repeating the same formula, I think it's got something subtler going on with interesting implications.

On one side we have the abbey's inhabitants: sankta, sarkaz and all other races--hell, even a seaborn for a moment. Are there cracks here and there? Of course, that's a whole plot point. But it can't be denied there is genuine camaraderie and self-sacrifice going on between these people who are simply trying to survive together (which is what makes those cracks all the more volatile).

Contrast this with the Laterans, who are dysfunctional as hell. Lemuen, Oren, Richele, and Spuria; I can't say I fully parsed everything happening between them on a moment-to-moment basis, but it was overall apparent that none of these people trust each other. Even though they're friends and classmates and colleagues, even though they're working for the good of the same state, even though they're sankta who can literally read each other's minds. There's just this constant mess of cahoots and conspiracy and treachery and bitter friction, and it takes the threat of an Innsmouth-Jonestown crossover event to get them to finally work together.

I thought it was a nice way to show more of Laterano's flaws. It's one of their core themes that they aren't as great as they say they are, but you'd think they would, at the least, have blessed harmony thanks to their literal hivemind. But evidently that isn't true either. And again, these are agents at the highest levels of the government. If they're this dysfunctional, what does that say for Laterano as a whole?

Which leads me into thinking about what the future of Laterano might have in store. I've seen some folks point out how these events have these greatly compelling premises that don't actually resolve any of the issues they bring up. Laterano only remains Laterano. And this is true! But I think it's intentional, setting up a slow burn of a regional conflict. The Lateran state is holding together, the status quo remains unchanged, the Law is content. But for how much longer? Guiding Ahead introduced us to the divide in Laterano on a broad level, the state vs heretics. Hortus de Escapismo shows the cracks within the state, narrowing in on individuals who nominally should be on the same side but aren't. The next logical narrative step would be seeing the state finally cracking apart from whatever looming danger the Law sainted Federico to deal with.

Some sort of schism, perhaps; that seems like the sort of existential threat that would directly threaten the Law's directive of preserving the Sankta. Law's awareness of it would also imply it's an internal threat, something festering in the hearts and minds of Sankta and thus one It's able to sense (at least that's what makes sense to me. We don't actually know how the Law works, so it could very well just have random magic prophetic abilities). And especially with the constant background pressure of trying to legitimize their Summit of Nations, what better way to drive that issue to the forefront by throwing Laterano into utter political chaos?

St. Teresa's Church, Anacostia, Washington, D.C. (between 1909 and 1940) - National Photo Company Collection // Youth Group - Semler

It seems we need to have a little chat about theater etiquette, especially concerning "notes"

You do not say a singular bad word about the show until you are in the car on your way home in private. If you're taking public transportation, not until you get home. Not a word.

I wrote little notes (a thing i do as a form of my appreciation for the arts to ensure i keep my full attention on the show and dont zone out. I rarely share them with anyone) during an intermission for a show I saw with my friend at this really small playhouse and he leaned over and read (very loudly) "why did you put *something critical about the opening number*" like DUDE THAT ACTOR'S MOM COULD BE SITTING IN FRONT OF YOU??? DON'T SAY SHIT WHEN YOU DONT KNOW WHOS GONNA HEAR IT

Even if the people around you don't know the cast/crew personally, they could have really enjoyed it. Say you thought an actor was pitchy and you said that out loud during intermission or after the show (God forbid you say it during the show) and the person next to you thought it was incredible. You're now diminishing that person's experience and making them feel stupid for thinking it was good. Their whole night at the show is now devalued because you said something bad and changed their perspective.

And these same people are going to be out in the lobby, by the doors, in the parking lot, taking the same bus as you, walking part of your route, going to the same restaurant... hold your tongue until you're somewhere completely private. It's just respectful.

do you think they asked him to pose like this or did he just do that

If you---like me---are not naturally inclined to walking (just...wandering around, with no defined destination or purpose? why???) your brain may be tricked by thinking of them as ""photography walks""

(you do not need a fancy camera, you can just take your phone)

A photography walk is about pretending that you are an Artist capturing Life, and this involves a lot of stopping and starting and staring; paying attention to people, light, chipping paint, signs, shadows, whatever trees or plants are growing around you, etc. (I like to pretend I'm Vivian Maier, and someday they'll find my flickr account and be wildly impressed.) You take 500 pictures and maybe 50 of them are halfway decent. Then you go home, a little sunburnt and windswept and tired in a satisfied way.

.....are these excursions really an excuse to leave your apartment; get some fresh air and sun; take in nature, the world; rattle you out of any grey funk you might find yourself in? I mean yes of course, but first you have to take a picture of the rust on that railing.

while everyone has the right to raise their child with the ethics they so desire, i do think it’s hilarious when xtians INSIST they aren’t indoctrinating or brainwashing their kids but also refuse to put them in public school (or even private xtian school), only socialize them within xtian circles like youth group or their church’s homeschool co-op, and rigorously vet any secular media so their kids doesn’t “reject the faith.” like uh. if your faith is so weak you have to hide your kids away from anybody on the outside so they never even think to question it…….. it doesn’t exactly sound legit