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genderqueerpositivity · 2 years

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You are not a bad person if you have made the decision to live your life free of religion.

You are not a bad person for walking away from the religion that you were raised in.

You are not a bad person for questioning the religious beliefs you were taught.

You are not a bad person for thinking for yourself rather than accepting what you've been taught about religion.

You are not a bad person for deconstructing or rejecting religious concepts or doctrine.

You are not a bad person for believing that religious texts are fictional.

You are not a bad person for basing your values on sources other than religious texts.

You are not a bad person for being spiritual but rejecting organized religion.

You are not a bad person for rejecting both organized religion and spirituality.

You are not a bad person for being an atheist.

You are not a bad person for speaking out about the harm that religion did to you.

You are not a bad person for calling out religious institutions or religious leaders who hurt you.

You are not a bad person for acknowledging the ways that religious institutions currently are or historically have been oppressive.

You are not a bad person for being angry at religious institutions or religious leaders who have harmed you or perpetuated your oppression.

You are not a bad person for being happier without religion.

Your choice to live free of religion is not inherently a judgement of those who choose to embrace or follow their own religions.

You have just as much right to express your skepticism and lack of religion as religious people do to express their faith.

You are not obligated to be silent about your lack of religious belief out of fear that it may offend a religious person.

Edit: this post is not only for people who were raised with Christianity or who previously identified as Christians. This post is absolutely intended to be inclusive of non-religious and/or atheist people from other religious backgrounds as well.

#religion #atheism #skepticism #secular humanism #atheist positivity #op #genderqueerpositivity #religion tw #q

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burnt-to-cynders · 4 months

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Being a culturally-Christian atheist, I’ve always been kind of unsatisfied with my inability to purge phrases like “oh my god” from my common usage, but since last year I’ve started used “gods” in place of god and the effects have been satisfying. Here are the benefits I’ve discovered

Really easy to get into the habit of, since it’s just an addition onto the end of a phrase I’ve always used.

Has gotten me into using the much more evocative “Gods Below” and “Gods Above” exclamations(thanks APGTE).

Is much more inclusive of people who believe in non-Christian and especially polytheistic religions.

Probably will make stuck-up Christian very upset when I use it in their presence.

It better reflect my own beliefs that we are all each sparks of divinity that are capable of miracles as mundane as extending kindness to someone who’s grown numb to it and as grandiose as sending one of our own to the moon.

Seriously next time you see something that’s wild or outrageous throw out a “Gods Below and Everburning” people will Twist Their Necks to look at you funny. It’s fantastic.

#cynposting #demonposting

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apostate-in-an-alcove · 2 months

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As an ex Christian, what’s your opinion on the Jedi order and the pro/anti Jedi discourse here? I agree more with the pro Jedi takes especially on mindfulness, but I always get a bit annoyed when they claim that people who hate the Jedi are “culturally Christian” atheists projecting their trauma onto the Jedi which feels like more stereotypes of atheists as white Redditors who bash all religions to look superior. Ironically many of the people I have seen here who are Anakin apologists/anti Jedi are right wing Christians. There are some right wing Christians on tumblr that are pro Jedi but I’ve noticed that the majority of the pro Jedi side is much more inclusive and LGBTQ positive. To you, what makes the Jedi different from evangelicals or Catholics?

I was honestly a little surprised to see a lot of fairly vehemently anti-Jedi discourse on here considering that I never really saw the Jedi as being totally evil or bad. I think it's a little more complicated than that; they were a very useful tool until they were not. I think the assumption that people who hate the Jedi are all angry atheists is baseless and silly, especially since I think being weary of the Jedi can be a reasonable view, even if I don’t necessarily agree with anti-Jedi sentiment completely.

If I recall correctly, George Lucas said that Jedi philosophy was based around Buddhism (which I can definitely see the influence) and they don't worship a deity per say but that non-Christian influence seems to be lost on conservative Christians when they watch Star Wars. But then again, the very obviously anti-imperialist message of the original trilogy seems to be lost on some Star Wars fans. Jedi don’t believe in sin, that people are inherently sinful and broken and need a saviour nor do they seem intent on obtaining union with the Force and abstaining from forming attachments and controlling their emotions and impulses because they think the physical body is unclean and sinful. Their reasoning for discipline and study is different than Christians though Christians could definitely relate to that in some way.

I'm rusty on Star Wars canon and am not too active in Star Wars fandom online so I’m going off of what i can remember but I hope this answers your question in some way.

#tumblr ask

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anfeycare · 2 months

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hello! welcome to my blog!

i'm Anfey Care, a queer non-binary artist and writer! i go by gender neutral words ("they/them" — "elu/ê/-e" in portuguese)

i enjoy art and science. i love specially Undertale, Adventure Time, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Omori, The Owl House and Utena. i'm brazilian, too. by the way, if you're brazilian, you're welcome to follow me if you enjoy:

art, pixel art, animation;

books, comics, mangas;

cuteness, horror, comedy;

games, music;

indie, alternative things;

queer, LGBT+, gay stuff;

shows, cartoons, animes;

thought-provoking stuff;

nerdy things in general.

if you're not brazilian, but you enjoy these, you can follow me, too. that's why i'm speaking english — it's to let you understand me

( ˙ ꒳ ˙ ) [cute face*]

(*texts in brackets like this describe text emojis for screen readers; similarly, i can use texts in brackets preceded by a slash as tone indicators, such as: [/silly] )

💙 PLEASE, READ MY MOST IMPORTANT RAMBLINGS BEFORE INTERACTING!

🐾 ooo, look! you found a boop post! 🐾

💙 my schedule, and ✨ custom art slots open ✨

🖤 i don't believe in concepts like "ugly" and "dumb"

💙 you can support my art on patreon and ko-fi

🖤 i find generative A.I.s and N.F.T.s useless

💙 my art tag here is "#anfey care"

🖤 i don't allow reposts, just reblogs of my posts

💙 main social medias and links: ✨ here ✨

💙✨ about me: ✨

i'm an introverted, shy, and usually asocial person. somewhat antisocial too, sometimes can be completely silent and spend weeks alone when too overwhelmed from socialization. (INFP and pisces, but i don't take these seriously, although i can relate)

completely atheist. i don't mind religion, even if i might take it as stories and thoughts, but i just don't mind as long as it isn't fanatic christian stuff — i was raised around these people and it got me very tired of those things.

i'm in psychology college (i got a full scholarship), but i made a game development technical course along with high school (public education, got in through an entrance exam, was in first place on the classified candidates list), and am often studying things on my own, like languages. i draw, illustrate, research, write, can animate, design and code, and also make pixel art — sometimes i try making music, photographing and cosplaying. i'm on my way to be an indie game dev (plus a psychologist), but i'm mainly an artist and writer

as for how i identify as LGBT+, i'm queer as in all pan aspec atraction-wise. gender-wise, i identify as pangender, which in my case includes agender, genderqueer, and cassgender; this means i'm trans and non-binary. i usually put it all in short by just saying i'm queer and non-binary, but i don't shy away from saying i'm just gay (as in i'm definitely not straight)

i could be considered legally blind, as i can't see anything a few inches away from my face without glasses (8 degrees in each lens, but i've been needing a new prescription for some years... couldn't afford it yet). i suspect i might be neurodivergent (ADHD and autistic, mainly), and have lots of symptoms of depression, anxiety, some of ASPD and C-PTSD, but also can't afford to look into those. (yep, really ironic how i'm studying psychology before being able to go see a psychologist-)

i know spanish and french, besides portuguese and english. i don't have a lot of practice with those other two languages, but I can understand them well (speaking portuguese helps, heh). i still want to learn more languages — for now, i'm also studying japanese, LIBRAS and ASL from time to time

i aim for diversity, inclusivity and equity, specially for my games. that's a reason why i study a lot, and that's also why i want to make most of my creations available for free. and that's why i encourage you to give me support if you want, as it helps it all to be free of charge, and can give you a custom art or some cool extra content for a low tip (i can also think of opening a shop with prints and stickers to help it all, if you ever get the interest)

i'm a fan of:

Undertale;

The Owl House;

Good Omens;

Omori;

Revolutionary Girl Utena;

The Picture of Dorian Gray;

Deltarune;

Dracula;

Adventure Time;

She-ra and the Princesses of Power;

My Little Pony;

Sonic;

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared;

Welcome Home;

Puella Magi Madoka Magica;

and Dead Plate.

i also play RPG, like D&D, besides liking the RPG video games genre itself. as you see, i'm all over the place — i'm not completely organized and i allow myself to let some things be messy (like tags)

i like lots of things! and, though i enjoy horror, i don't make much art of this kind. plus, i create original stories, art, and characters of my own, like Safey — they're my mascot persona, and they're the fox creature on the pixel art by the start of this blog post. i have a bunch of projects i develop on my own, including ideas of comics and games! and sometimes i write poems, generally in portuguese, but i mix languages and write in english at times

i usually make cute things! whenever i happen to make something scary or with sensitive topics, i let it with the warnings i think it needs. rarely allude to NSFW — it can be there as subtext if i ever include anything like that at all, but i do enjoy artistic nude art, i do like philosophically/sociologically/literarily analytical thoughts and texts that could be about/related to sexual topics, and i also do like (well, you know) horror. i take a different approach on my own art that's around these, but you can avoid it if i ever make it due to the warnings, and i hope you will use the opportunity to avoid it if you're sensitive or don't want to see it. overall, specially for other people like me, i want my space to be a safe space

Undertale is my most favorite piece of media, so i'm drawn towards it most of the time. Sans is my favorite in it (sorry, heh). Flowey is also a favorite of mine

nice to meet you, and i hope you will like what i create!

thanks for reading! see ya! ^꒳^ [cute face smiling]

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boinurmom13 · 1 year

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Warm Welcome to my Blog!

Howdy! My name is Bo, or Davey/Dave, depending on what you’re more comfortable with. I go by He/They/It pronouns. I am VERY immature, so my apologies if that offsets some people. I promise you I have my moments where I’m not. I’m also on the autism spectrum, so, yknow, the more you know! (yknow?)

My blog is centered around my favorite game (Stardew Valley), my Ocs (Mostly sdv centered Ocs), and anything else I deem acceptable.

I do not have a “main blog,” as I really only do fandom stuff.

If you wanna know more about me, check it out here!

ABOUT MY BLOG!!

As stated before, my blog is heavily centered around Stardew Valley and my OCs. (Also a fanfic I’m working on, but is currently on hiatus.)

I also try my best to be a non-harmful environment, which means I try not to spread hate to those who don’t deserve it. (Ppl who deserve it are listed under “DNI.” I’m not nonviolent, I just follow my own moral code.)

On top of a non-harmful environment, I also try to be inclusive! Any reccommendations on how I could do better, please let me know! (AKA send an ask, or a DM when I open them up to the public.)

As for the technicalities of my blog, I’d like to say I’m generally SFW. Are there hints to NSFW elements? Yes. Do I make content on other sites that isn’t SFW? Yes. Am I aware that my blog is more “mature”? Yes. BUT, I label anything that is slightly suggestive (AKA showy clothes/half naked pictures) as suggestive, or anything NSFW as NSFW. I will not be posting NSFW images, just words if anything.

I like to think I make my “political” beliefs apparent. Political is in quotes because basic human right isn’t really political, but everyone has their own definition. This means I’m not afraid to say I think bigots and TERFs should get their skin melted off. So, yknow, if you’re not comfortable with violent words towards wastes of oxygen, then leave or don’t, it’s not like I can force you.

My blog is very LGBTQ+. Like, supidly LGBT. Like, down a rabbithole of xenogenders and neopronouns cuz I think they’re kinda cool LGBT. I have very few non-LGBT characters that I have created, actually.

This is also an art blog.

As for questions, anyone’s free to ask me a question or two. (as long as it isn’t intrusive to my personal life. I will not accept questions on location/age/looks/etc. I will accept questions about my hobbies, the fandoms I’m in/were in, my headcanons for characters, my ocs, and the likes! Don’t be scared! I love answering questions!)

I will utilize this blog to update when chapters of my fic are posted. I PROMISE to those who read it, that once it’s off its hiatus, it will be better than before. Just bear with me here.

SIDE BLOGS!!!

undertale side blog

oc dumping side blog

OTHER SOCIALS

tiktok: @.floweryassistant13 (boinurmom13) used

twitter: @.Fassistant13 (boinurmom13) generally unused

ask for my discord if u want it. otherwise i dont give it away.

DNI LIST!!!

Homophobes

Transphobes

Xenophobes

Sexists

Racists

Proshippers

TERFS+Bigots

Republicans (according to the USA political parties)

People who use religion as an excuse to hate on other groups. (I can understand not being accepting due to your religion, but I will not accept spreading hate because of your beliefs.)

Nazis.

People who hate on other religions. (Poking fun at your own? Ok, sure! Poking fun due to religious trauma, sure I can get that. Being insensitive when there’s no need to be? YeeeOUCH! I myself am an atheist/leaning on agnostic, meaning I don’t really believe in a higher power, but I don’t go out and spread hate on other religious beliefs. If I pick fun at Christianity or Catholicism it’s because I’m picking fun on the toxic side of those beliefs, or the people who overlap previously mentioned categories. I also used to be a Christian/Catholic, which doesn’t FULLY excuse those actions, but if I’m picking fun at how I used to be, then who gives a shit? [honestly, not even sure which one. I just kinda blindly followed what my parents believed, and my mom was a christian, and my dad’s a catholic, so hell if I know what I believed]. I’m cool with any religion as long as you’re cool with me!!)

Zoophiles and Pedos. i forgot to add these in the last installment. oops. zoophile in my eyes counts as anything or anyone whi wants to fuck/be romantically involved with smth generally non-human/beastlike (eg. obviously anthropomorphic animals, dragons, animals obvi, anything that is SO OBVIOUSLY AN ANIMAL. and is SRS ABT IT. is weird as hell ill b real with u.) (and, of course, pedos are MAPS, anykne who is sexually or romantically attracted to people under the age of 18, while the pedo themself is an adult, and any and all loli/shotacon. yall are equally as fuckin weird dude. get a grip. jus not a grip on children.) generally thought these fell under proshippers bcz i literally dont see the difference between proshippers/comshippers and these things. yall are nasty.

Anything listed on the DNI list is grounds for blocking/unfollowing. If ur wondering why we used to be moots or smth like that, then its prolly bcz i considered these labels applicable to you. Ok great glad we understand.

Tags I’ll frequent:

TGTBT/EIOD fic update (the tag for my sdv fic and when its update)

sve+sdv tags

thats about it tbh

Extras!!

Any extra information I may need to add in the future:

I’m vulgar with words (lots of cussing, which probably isn’t that likable, but oh well!)

If I respond really quick to something please do not think I’m weird it’s cuz I happen to see that notification RIGHT then and there.

And, of course, enjoy my blog! I love it when I see people interacting with my posts or posts I reblog! Makes me feel warm and fuzzy and all that stuff.

#wooo finally got around to actually doing this #can you believe it guys #ill prolly redo this again a couple of months from now #oh i also updated the colors of my blog #mmm itsnt it prettttyyy #i love the purple #and the jadu pfp #i love jadu #unironically i love jadu from sve

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catt-nuevenor · 2 years

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Hiiii! First of all, I love your story and ur writing. The universe is so unique, it's refreshing! And... I have a little lore question? I'm sorry if it's been already asked, but what about... Religion? Does the Myrk Mire universe have a pantheon or something? A unique God? An animist belief? Hope it's not to spoiler-y? Thanks

Religion... okay, deep breath everyone, let's get through this together without drama.

First, let's get one thing out of the way.

I am an atheist.

I was born into a loosely religious family, my great uncle was a canon in the Anglican Christian Church, my father's parents were firm Anglican Christians, but both my parents were holidays and high-days Christians only. I and my two siblings were baptised, we attended Sunday school, and we were often read stories from the bible and watched Christian TV, but there was little to no pressure to actually believe what we were being told.

By about the age of 11 I'd pretty much lost all Christian belief I might have had up to that point, and by my mid to late teens, after dipping a toe into other religions, both organised and disorganised, I found that I derived no comfort in faith and decided to follow no religion at all.

All that being said, I'm a passive atheist. I'm not in the habit of disproving or challenging religious belief. I quite enjoy talking to my local Jehovist Witnesses because I find faith fascinating, but we've come to an agreement that when it comes to their interactions with me 'the lady's not for converting'.

Now in regards to the story...

There is no Organised Religion in the Four Shores region. The realms are largely what we today might call secular in structure.

There are a few organised religious movements to the south on what I'm for the moment calling the Southern Continent (original, I know), but these movements have next to no influence at this stage on the Four Shores.

In terms of non-religious faith, there is one consistent doctrine that unites the Four Shores realms.

We stand weaker alone.

In basic terms this emphasises community, inclusivity, and a strong opposition to outside forces that seek to divide pre-established networks. For better or for worse.

The most important principle in the Four Shores is equity. Individuals should be afforded the opportunity to contribute to their communities to the best of the abilities, regardless of their sex, gender, race, sexual orientation, or creed, so long as they do not cause harm to said communities.

I'm open to well-meaning questions if anyone wants more details.

#MyrkMire #asks #important lore #lore

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snarltoothed · 11 months

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Its pathetic how you're trans exclusionary and also bisexual & agender. Do you think that if transphobia continues they're not coming for you next? You think you're safe from being called a freak or a pedophile or from being accused of invading other people's spaces? From legislation and the dominant social paradigm othering you and making your life hell? You think throwing others under the bus will save you? You're a fucking coward and I hope you get a sense of reality.

i totally forgot that you even sent this ask because guilt-tripping from random strangers really doesn’t faze me — sorry!

anyways, umm, it’s pathetic how you’re sending random feminists hate mail over something that is literally not even true! i fully include trans and nonbinary people within my feminism — just not transwomen and nonbinary males because i believe female people of any gender still face challenges, discrimination, and oppression directly related to the sex we were born as!

…which wait, before you tell me intersex people exist, i know that! but intersex disorders are medically sex-specific and binary, and in the extremely rare case that a chromosomal male was born and grew up with entirely female external genitalia (usually as a result of Sweyer syndrome), i’m fully open to nuance when it comes to their inclusion within the radical feminist movement, especially given that the trans/qu**r movement has repeatedly ignored the requests of both individual intersex people and intersex organizations to stop equating the trans and intersex experience. it’s not like they can turn to you guys for any actual understanding or compassion.

in my LGB advocacy, trans people are also not excluded based on their gender identity! the only people excluded from my LGB advocacy are heterosexuals — which yes, i’m sorry, i do live in the real world where sexuality is based on actual physical sex, so yeah… “transbians” and “gay transmascs” are generally excluded (those open to or exclusively T4T aside) on the basis that they do not experience same sex attraction. but if you’re not straight, congratulations! my LGB advocacy is also for you.

the “agender woman” in my bio is also mostly a joke, “agender” more as in “atheist” — i do not subscribe to the belief system of gender. although, if i did, that’s probably still how i would describe myself because even if i thought that innate gender identity was a thing for other people, i don’t have one. i don’t identify with femininity. i do identify with my lived experience of being female. idk how else i would explain that in your community without being scalped, lol. and it’s poking a little bit of fun at my teenage self for actually genuinely telling the more micro-label oriented of my peers that the best i could describe myself was as a “demibisexual agender girl”.

if anything, though, the people standing in my way of being freely truly agender and living as a woman are BOTH conservatives and the trans/qu**r movement, because i really don’t want to have to have an ideological argument with either of you about what the fuck my leg hair means, i don’t want to be assigned a non-woman for having body hair and not being extremely feminine by EITHER of you! you are both supporting a dominant social paradigm which others me and women like me, it’s only the way in which you shame me and make me feel like a freak that differs.

i’m fully aware how the American political parties have lumped very separate issues into the same bills and are practicing other nefarious political schemes to remove womens’, childrens’, and LBG peoples’ rights by using the decrease in public support of the trans/qu**r movement to pass bills and laws that otherwise wouldn’t be passed… because y’all keep supporting fucking pedophiles? maybe stop doing that or if you personally aren’t, tell your buddies that trans people can be horrific criminals, just like any other subset of people, because all individuals are different, and murderers and rapists and pedophiles don’t deserve public support even if they’re trans. the fact that the most vocal of the trans community keep defending and supporting convincted pedophiles, rapists, and other dangerous violent criminals simply on the basis that they are trans is a large part of WHY many of us “cis” LGB people are publicly separating ourselves from the TQ+, we know how bad that shit looks and have historically condemned the members of our own communities who have been revealed to be pedophiles and rapists. not to mention the fact that the heterosexual TQs are like, wildly homophobic.

pretending outright that trans people cannot be violent criminals is something that can and rightfully should be criticized — i would criticize the assertion that any protected minority class status makes a person immune to any sort of violent criminology, or otherwise not deserving of facing consequences for committing violent crime, especially sexual violence against children, including the minority classes i belong to. i’m certainly not against trans people recieving proper legal defense, and i believe trans people deserve the same presumption of innocence as anyone else until proven guilty in a court of law… and while i do not believe males belong in female prisons (as inmates OR staff, tbh), i do believe that prisons in general are in desperate need of reform and that that reform should be considerate of the needs of vulnerable male populations such as transwomen and gay men for safety from other men while also maintaining female-only prisons.

i don’t know what you expect me, a poor & disabled woman living in a northern democrat-controlled state, to do about the shady shit happening in Florida and elsewhere in the American south. i’m not even in a position to vote on anything that could be considered “throwing other people under the bus”. the biggest things i’ve voted for were keeping the state democratic, legalizing weed, and protecting the right to abortion. i’m sooo politically evil and throwing so many people under the bus and totally perpetuating a genocide… which i guess if you’re a conservative you could say about the fetuses, but, since you’re barking up my tree for siding with conservatives, i’m hoping that you’re at least fucking pro-choice.

I’m not trying to be mean here, but you kinda came up in my inbox being mean first… so frankly I think you’re the coward for not thinking independently and for needing to harass women who do, and I hope YOU gain some sense of reality, as well as empathy and nuance.

#r #asks #tra hatemail #like… dude i really don’t want personal beef with you #i am genuinely sorry for having to get a little harsh… but you came at me with that energy first #if you have any questions or would like to discuss anything i’ve said further i’m fully open to that #however i’d far prefer the tenor of the conversation to be respectful

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animanightmate · 2 years

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I can’t believe I’m about to write this, and you may well have seen this story elsewhere but...

JK Rowling is currently fighting with the Mormons.

Okay, maybe not all of them, or even their official governing body, or however it works, and maybe fighting is a strong term, but...

Okay, let me start again.

As I understand the longer timeline, it goes:

JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books come out at the beginning of the century and some very hard-line religious types lose their shit because it’s a) popular, b) explicitly got witches in it, c) is for children. So they protest the books and their apparently subversive, Satanic messaging, ban the books, even burn the books. Other Christians deem the books a delightful metaphor, some citing the manner in which other Christian writers like C.S. Lewis used magical metaphor to champion the fight of good over evil. While the Church of Latter-Day Saints doesn’t proclaim an official stance on her work, they seem to be broadly supportive and enthusiastic.

Then, roughly 20 years later (blimey, that feels odd writing that down), the author starts becoming ever more heavily – and publicly – invested in a brand of feminism that deems trans women an inherent threat to cis women (especially lesbians), labels trans men a waste of perfectly good potential lesbians, and nonbinary people hilariously deluded (unless they’re AMAB, in which case they’re also categorised as being as dangerous as trans women). Intersex people are considered a statistical irrelevance.

I summarise very broadly here, of course.

She is generally careful in her language and in the explicit things she says in writing (and has, after all, historically donated to explicitly trans-inclusive women’s charities and LGBTQIA+ charities), but she repeatedly, and with increasing frequency, backs up those people and organisations who are much more direct in their condemnation of anything other than the cis condition (and likewise those who support a progression to wider inclusion of non-cis folk).

My understanding is that this is something some of a particular subset of more hard-line Christians could get behind (Rowling herself apparently defines as a Christian, which surprised me for some reason). They had her back on this particular stance, as it were. (I feel moved to say here that the vast majority of my actively Christian friends, including members of the clergy, are trans-inclusive, supportive allies, but maybe I’m experiencing a skewed sample...)

Then it gets even more interesting, because on Thursday Rowling tweets that people claiming she’s transphobic without supplying explicit enough evidence are akin to “... when Joseph Smith found the golden plates and nobody else was allowed to look at them.” Direct quote there.

(image description in alt-text; please let me know if it’s missing! If you’re wondering why the text is red, it’s down to the Shinigami Eyes extension on my browser.)

And if you scroll a few responses down the thread, Mormons start saying “Now, steady on there, Jo, we’ve been big fans of yours for ages, but you’re dead wrong here, because people did see the plates, and this is frankly a false analogy. You clearly haven’t been reading up on your Mormon history, which is frankly disappointing. Why would you throw us under the bus like this?”

Which could be said to look a bit like

(alt-text should be in there - shout if not.)

The responses are a fascinating blend of vehement trans and trans-allied folk attempting to provide evidence, contemptuous anti-trans folk scoffing at such stances, aggrieved Mormons, amused/ bemused ex-Mormons, some rather aggressively atheist tweeters, and all blending in quite the mélange of sub-threads. They also include JKR expanding on her own post by saying that, having heard people in the replies telling her that the plates weren’t hidden, her research indicates that a few did, but, if it is a retraction, it isn’t exactly couched in the most fulsome terms, let’s say: “Eleven people claimed to have seen the plates, some of them related to Smith, but there's debate as to whether this was a metaphysical experience or they genuinely saw them. And one man was allowed to hold the box but not look inside it.”

I suspect that people will find themselves able to read a great deal of subtext in a number of directions into that message. I find myself wondering where that reading might lead them.

(I hadn’t even heard about these blessed plates until now, so, you know – it’s all definitely been educational!)

I’m honestly intrigued as to where this will go next. As I understand it, Rowling’s LDS fanbase is not small, and Mormons are starting to respond in articles and comments sections and dedicated boards in an interesting variety of ways.

I guess the only other thing I want to point out is that I can’t find the original redacted tweet – I’m assuming that either those more invested in anti-trans vehemence found the original (Twitter’s text search facility is pretty darned efficient, after all) and made things difficult for them, or the original poster was alerted to the fact that someone with nearly 14 million followers had raised awareness of it and pre-emptively removed it. The thing wasn’t exactly doing numbers, so it really makes you think about reach and exposure online, and how we can and need to take responsibility for that and our public wording.

#essay #long post #twitter #image #image description #alt-text

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automatismoateo · 8 months

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I inoculated my daughter's school against religious teaching via /r/atheism

I inoculated my daughter's school against religious teaching My daughter started at a new school this semester. It's a scrappy private school in Madagascar, but not super expensive. Before we enrolled her in the school, we had a meeting with the principal. I asked her several things about the school, including whether the teachers were allowed to push their religion. I didn't say, "I'm an atheist, and I'll have none of that crap." I didn't say anything about my non/beliefs. Rather, I said, "If we wanted our daughter to learn religion at school, we'd send her to a religious school." And I told her how at my daughter's previous school some teachers would talk matter-of-factly about Christian beliefs, alienating Muslims and Hindu children in the school. (One of my daughter's best friends at that former school is Muslim.) The principal said, "Of course. We are not a religious school." But, honestly, I'm not sure the principal had ever put much thought into it. Fast forward to last week. My daughter said that some students asked the principal if they could have some extra activities before the lessons started – like maybe praying together. The teacher said, "No. That might make some students uncomfortable. We shouldn't assume that everyone at the school believes the same thing." I don't know for sure, but I think my proactive talk with the principal had something to do with that. And maybe the fact that I mentioned inclusivity for Muslims and Hindus – and left atheism out of it. I'm taking the win. Submitted October 05, 2023 at 05:26PM by HalfHeartedFanatic (From Reddit https://ift.tt/g2rJ9Fb)

#reddit

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classydeandeputymonger · 2 years

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Freedom vs anarchy

Sometimes back the news came from Pakistan stating that a teacher was punished as one of the student saw the teacher to do blasphemy in dream. It became humorous in India until the big blow came from inside.

People supporting Nupur Sharma were killed in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

People are now playing the game of 295A against the people they have grudge without realizing its ultimately the citizen rights that are being curbed. Making state intervene in religious matters is literally killing your freedom from your own hands.

Think it about yourself did Munawar faruqui needed to go to jail for his derogatory remarks against Shri Ram?? A social appeal was enough to give a economic shock but going to jail made him more famous. Although he was protected by big lawyers still the stories of oppression were circulated for him.

It's not about supporting what other people say but rather supporting the right to say. Can you even imagine where this will stop??

It will become a weapon for anarchists and politicians against normal people

Common people don't have the facility of big lawyers defending them. Either they have to become anonymous or stop expressing their opinions on social media.

Let's go one step further, if we keep pampering this sort of behaviour in society where will we reach?? Many religions believe earth was made in 6 days and sea was broken into two halves and also other bizzare stuff what science completely dismiss. If any rational person states these facts it might also hurt someone feelings, should the rational person go to jail??

Should we also stop learning evolution since it might hurt the feelings of creationists??

What about the rights of Atheists who completely oppose religious dictats?? Does s/ he have no right to stay in Indian society??what about that mythical inclusivity what we just don't stop bragging about then??

Many of our elites used to support the non bailable punishment if someone doesn't follow fundamental duties. This is the present pathetic state of Indian intellectualism which used to super critical about religious thoughts.

To make religion better it has to come under criticism, religious feelings are no superior than other feelings. Normalizing blasphemy is need of the hour so atleast the future generations could become mature enough to understand that we always have the option to ignore what we don't want to hear. This political muscle flexing will only make a common citizen a mere prey to huge political powers

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samwisethewitch · 3 years

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An Open Letter to Christian Witches

On this blog, I often champion the idea that witchcraft is a practice, not a religion, and that a witch can practice any religion, provided that religion does not explicitly forbid witchcraft. I still very much believe this, and the point of this post is not to tell Christians that they can’t be witches. However, as a non-Christian witch who has been deeply traumatized by Christianity, I do wish Christian witches would be a bit more mindful of how they show up in witchy spaces.

Recently, I’ve noticed a pattern of self-identifying Christian witches dominating the conversation and centering their own beliefs in spaces dedicated to witchcraft. Now, I wholeheartedly believe that this is unintentional, and most of these Christian witches seem like lovely people. But it’s still deeply frustrating and upsetting to be promised a safe space and support from other witches, only to be preached at.

Or be told that I’m doing witchcraft wrong because my ethics are not the same as someone else’s.

Or be told that I don’t understand Christianity, despite having spent the first two decades of my life fully immersed in it.

Or have my trauma invalidated because, “Not all Christians are like that!”

Or spend the majority of our time together reassuring and comforting a Christian witch who is uncomfortable with the inclusion of pagan and/or occult elements in a ritual.

These are all genuine experiences I have had with Christian witches in 2021. And in every single one of these situations, the Christian witch had a very negative reaction to any kind of constructive criticism or request that they be more mindful of the diverse beliefs and experiences in the space. Any suggestion that their actions may be causing discomfort for others was met with defensiveness, if not straight-up denial. The result is a situation where Christian witches are at the center of every discussion and demand (knowingly or not) coddling or hand-holding from teachers and facilitators, while those of us who are not Christian are left deeply uncomfortable but unable to express that discomfort without upsetting someone or being accused of creating conflict.

And I get it. I really do. Because for most of the people in the above scenarios, this was the first time they encountered a situation where their religion wasn’t the norm. But what I need Christian witches to recognize and be mindful of is that this discomfort of being surrounded by people who do not share your beliefs is something those of us who are not Christian experience every day.

In the Western world, and particularly in the United States, Christianity is a religious hegemony. (A hegemony is a group with total political, social, economic, and/or military dominance in a given area.) Everything in Western society was designed for Christians, to serve a Christian worldview, and to reinforce Christian hegemony. Everything from our government to our business practices to our media reinforces Christian values. For Christians, this creates the sense of comfort and security that comes from being part of the in-group. For non-Christians, it meas being constantly bombarded with someone else’s religion. For former Christians with church-related trauma, it means reliving that trauma constantly.

Here’s a look at an average day in my life as a formerly-Christian pagan with religious trauma. Please note that this is not an exaggeration — this is a description of what I experienced on the day I wrote this post.

I get up and, because I live with Christian family members, I walk past exactly five images of Jesus and/or the Virgin Mary on my way from my bedroom to the front door. On my commute to work, I drive past at least a dozen churches, including the one I used to attend, where my religious trauma occurred. I stop at a red light, and the car in front of me has a bumper sticker with an image of a cross and the message, “If this offends you now, just wait until you see it on judgement day!” I happen to know that these bumper stickers are for sale not at a local church, but at a privately owned, nominally secular business. When I get to work, the woman who greets me at the front gate is wearing a crucifix necklace.

I work in diversity education. When I get to the office, my boss asks me to join the local Interfaith council because I am the only person in our department who isn’t Christian. My current big project at work is trying to get a transgender speaker to visit our organization and help us lead a workshop to work towards amending a history of transphobia in our organization. My boss tells me today the she isn’t sure the speaker I arranged will be approved, because our administration might not think it is in line with our organization’s values. When she says this, I know she means evangelical Christian values. She doesn’t have to spell it out — there’s a chaplain down the hall from our office.

After my lunch break, my coworkers are talking about a church event one of them attended over the weekend. I do not contribute to this conversation. It has been several months since I attended an in-person religious event with people who shared my faith. As I’m leaving the office at the end of the day, I pass a Bible study group that has set up in our recreation area. On my drive home, I pass the funeral home where my grandfather’s memorial service was held earlier this year. The programs for that service had the Lord’s Prayer printed on them. My grandfather was an atheist.

This is my level of exposure to a religion I not only don’t believe in, but have been actively hurt by, on a daily basis. This is my normal. I’ve learned to live with it, tune it out, and self-soothe, because there is no other option.

When I’m finally able to be around other witches, many of them are coming from similar experiences. I am finally in a space where I can be vulnerable, where I can talk about what I really believe, and where I can receive support from like-minded people. But if there is even one Christian witch in the group, it’s highly likely that this space too will be dominated by Christian hegemony.

It’s a noted fact that a person exists within a hegemony, they have very little ability to tolerate challenges to this hegemony due to a lack of exposure. This is the origin of the term white fragility, which sociologist Robin DiAngelo uses to describe the discomfort and defensiveness white people feel when confronted with “racial discomfort” such as being asked to consider racism as a system they are complicit in and benefit from rather than as the actions of lone extremists. White fragility is something I have personally experienced as a white woman involved in antiracist work, and it’s something I have taken years to work through and am still actively working on. Since DiAngelo popularized this term, similar terms have been used to point to similar phenomena in other hegemonic groups, as in the cases of male fragility/fragile masculinity, cishet fragility, and yes, Christian fragility.

I’m not trying to argue that all hegemony is the same, and I am definitely not trying to say that my personal religious trauma is anywhere near the level of pain caused by the mistreatment of Black and brown people by white supremacist society. My point here is simply that being part of the dominant group breeds a very low tolerance for exposure to other groups.

Christian witches are members of a hegemonic group entering a space historically occupied by marginalized people, which creates an imbalance of power. (And yes, you can benefit from hegemony even if you are marginalized in other areas. Identity is multi-faceted. Queer Christians, disabled Christians, Christians of color, and yes, Christian witches still benefit from Christian hegemony.) The only way things are going to get better is if Christians are willing to do the work themselves of building tolerance for religious discomfort. The rest of us can host as many interfaith and secular events as we want, but if Christians aren’t able to tolerate the inclusion of other belief systems, we’ll never truly be on equal footing. Until Christians stop centering the Christian experience, it will continue to dominate interfaith spaces, including witchy spaces.

TLDR: I’m asking Christian witches to be mindful of the privilege they bring into interfaith spaces. I’m asking you to be willing to feel uncomfortable, and to recognize that your discomfort does not invalidate the work your facilitators have put into creating the space and/or program. If you truly can’t stand the discomfort, I’m asking you to politely excuse yourself instead of demanding emotional labor from other witches.

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toshiirou · 2 years

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do you think gerudo practice polygamy? headcanon/fanon wise? or just monogamy? and how religious are they?

hm. in all honesty i haven't thought about it before this ask. I'm assuming you're asking "is it the cultural norm to practice it" rather than "is it legal to practice" and for the latter i would say yes, i'd like to imagine all the fantasy groups in hyrule are accepting and inclusive of polyamorous people,

i actually don't think the gerudo would practice polygamy as their norm. or i wouldn't worldbuild that into them. there's some real world baggage with how westerners see polygamy that i wouldn't personally choose to tackle with the already fraught associations the gerudo have. furthermore the examples of polygamy that i know about off the top of my head were practiced for a) religious reasons, b) reasons surrounding inheritance, the division of land, and a limited living range, and c) reasons surrounding the lack of opportunities that unmarried women have due to social structures. which isn't to say that monogamy is the ultimate default which requires no reasoning to occur, but in this case i would choose to have the gerudo as a typically monogamous society and i would be actually highly interested in either the rito, or hyruleans, or both, being typically polygamous.

my biggest exception to this decision is that i don't believe and don't write gerudos as having a homogeneous culture/society, and i wouldn't be opposed to a specific group within the group being typically polygamous

this also ties into the last part of the ask because as i said, since there's no such thing as a static, homogeneous culture, i couldn't say that The Gerudo as a whole are religious. i mean, what counts as "religious" is typically determined by the reader and their own opinions on religion. i think spiritual beliefs, superstition, folk tales, cultural stories about the world origin etc exist all across hyrule and i don't personally classify those things as particularly religious so much as i think they would be a part of hyrule itself. i do think there is an endemic gerudo religion that is different from the endemic religion of central hyruleans, and i think that a number of non-religious gerudo would respect these practices as culturally significant, and may even take part in a secular way, but i also feel like atheistic or agnostic gerudo would have their beliefs respected

i have a post i already wrote about how religion is treated in loz by fans that I'll link in the replies, but my takeaways will always be that there exists internal variations within any group whatsoever, and that i think good and thoughtful worldbuilding can establish cultural rules or norms, but should always consider that cultures are never homogeneous, distinct, autonomous, or bound entities that have concrete boarders

#txt #long post #gerudo tag #moya's loz thoughts #ask #asks #religion

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earhartsease · 2 years

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I recently read an article (which of course I can't find again now to link here) that's changed my relationship with being a Jew

Backstory: I was born and brought up in a London Jewish family, where I and my sibling and parents were all non-believers, but I was brought up to think of myself as "not English but of the Jewish race" (my grandparents all took up Orthodox Judaism as sort of a retirement hobby, so I went to orthodox shul a few times with my mum's dad - I was still cosplaying a cis male at the time - until I was 8 and decided I preferred bacon for breakfast)

Even as a little kid I understood that "Jewish race" didn't mean "one race" but included Jewish people of all the ethnicities there are (I don't remember who told me, but by the time I was 4 I already knew there were Sefardim and Indian and Chinese Jews at the very least, probsbly my hyperlexic self was already trawling National Geographic). But I was never comfortable with the (mostly orthodox Ashkenazi) Jews surrounding us, who definitely were racist and misogynist and thought of The Jewish Race as "White People + Israelis Of Course But Not The Really Brown Ones" *shudder*

My family emigrated to Israel when I was 3 (so in '65) and it went terribly, because my parents had self-sufficiency fantasies but were basically a pair of middle-class London Jews who had no clue and mostly just wanted to put a lot of distance between them and their own parents. So we came back in '66 (and thus avoided being in a war) and I avoided growing up a queer trans atheist kid in Israel, thank fuck

I loved Israel in the 60s - we went back for a few summers at the end of that decade - it still felt very multicultural and balanced, we had Druse and Egyptian friends, I wasn't old enough to recognise the inequalities

I went back for a summer in '79 when I was 16, and vowed never to go back again - I hated how the cities were really striving to be European™ and the only Arabs I saw were sweeping streets and the vibe was soooo much more nationalistic than before (or I was just old enough to notice it bloody everywhere now)

Anyway - I became a Buddhist when I was 28 and was unlucky enough to spend nearly 30 years in what was essentially a cult (misogynist, kind of racist, very transphobic and gender essentialist), which I left nearly four years ago - and I've since just begun to re-explore my relationship to Judaism, partly out of a sense of need for a Family I guess?

And this article I read said essentially "please stop using the word 'race', we are a people - the language of race is way too easily false and toxic and divisive and exclusive" and I finally feel like I can identify with my Judaism, as a member of a people that spans many ethnicities and nationalities and ranges from ultra-orthodox to people like me who are of the people but not of the religion that comes with it for many - and ranges from rabid zionists to anti-zionists too (I am very much the latter, from the relative comfort of England)

So that's all I wanted to say - you may not feel the same way I do about all this, but I feel I'm now comfortable with describing myself as "feral buddhist/animist, of the Jewish people" - I did a dna thing recently and confirmed that I'm mainly a mix of "East European Jewish" and Central Asian (my mum's dad was very visibly the latter, I would guess descended from the Kazakhi Jewish community ending up in what's now Ukraine)

It's probably pretty self-indulgent of me writing this, but it came out of recently meeting a fellow non-religious autistic nonbinary Jew and being able to compare notes on how to feel part of a community that mostly doesn't acknowledge or accept nonbinary people - I still don't know how to do that, but I have a lifetime of complicated connection with judaism, the joyful and the awful of it, the inclusive and the exclusive of it, the terrible history (I'm old enough to have grown up among people who got out but who remembered family and friends who didn't, and some people who survived being children and young adults in the camps), and I still don't know how to manage this sense of connection, how to find more people like me in there

#secular judaism #jewish people #not a zionist #long post

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ladylee13 · 3 years

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All right, y'all, I've had enough with shitty society. I say we start a cult called "Actual Inclusivity."

Instead of the center of the cult's teachings being some manipulative bullshit, it's literally just love, acceptance, and respect.

We buy some land and start a communal living situation but instead of the money going up to whoever is on top and making them rich, all the money goes toward upkeep and improvement for the whole community. The finances are transparent and available for anyone to see and anyone shown to be corrupt or messing with the money gets kicked out.

We keep a farm to feed everyone. We have high speed wi-fi and some apartments (maybe with communal kitchens, maybe with private ones, idk logistics aren't my strong suit but I wouldn't be the only one running this, so we'd work out the kinks)

Everyone gets to do what they enjoy. Artists make art (and they could do commissions and freelance work and stuff like that to help raise money for the community in addition to art for art's sake), scientists can do their science thing, people who enjoy gardening can tend the farm. Tech people can do tech stuff (idk, I don't do much stem stuff, but we wouldn't be amish, so there'd be upkeep for tech stuff needed, so y'know). Whatever else. Autistic people can spend loads of time focused on their special interests. Non-verbals are not expected to talk. Depressed people or people with anxiety are not expected to work on days when getting out of bed is too difficult. Anyone having a panic attack or PTSD episode while working immediately gets to put down their work, walk away, and come back when they are again capable of giving their work their attention, be that in an hour or not until the next morning. Everyone uses whatever pronouns they prefer, and everyone else uses the appropriate pronouns when addressing or referring to them. If swearing makes someone uncomfortable, people will be expected to respect that and filter their language around them. Everyone gets to love whoever they want with zero societal repercussions. If two people want to get married, they get to. If two people want to live together without getting married, no prob (living together pre-marriage is against my religious beliefs, so I wouldn't do so, but that doesn't mean no one is allowed to. Live according to your own beliefs as long as they don't hurt anyone else. The goal here isn't to make everyone believe same thing or act the same way. It's to respect each other, and hopefully foster more understanding for others and lower discrimination and hate). In that vein, polygamy makes me feel weird, (admittedly, I don't really understand it,) but if some people in a polygamous marriage wanted to join us and were willing to follow the rules, great! Hop in! Let's even have a talk about it. You can help me be more understanding. No one is allowed to force their beliefs into anyone else and if someone feels pressured by someone else, all they have to do is say so and the other person will stop. I've had enlightening and wonderful conversations about religion with people of other religions/also atheists (once even with a drunk atheists and that was great). And all those conversations were great because in no way did they expect me to change my beliefs and vice versa. There was just a sharing of perspectives. And afterward, I felt like I understood them better and they understood me better. And that's what I'm aiming for here.

We can have a few sensory deprivation tanks and weighted blankets available for people with anxiety/PTSD. We can have tons of fidget toys for anyone who needs them to help them focus. We can have anything people need to function their best (I don't know much about what people with neurological disorders that I don't also have need, but whatever they need we'd have). Everything written is also written in braile. There's elevators and ramps in every building. Guide dogs and ESAs are accepted anywhere except in the space of people with animal allergies (Like, the communal areas are regularly cleaned to prevent hair causing allergic reactions and such and there are signs designating pet-free zones). We could maybe have like an animal shelter in a nearby town that anyone can come into to help with and spend time with animals. There would be a prayer room for quiet meditation (with whatever anyone needs for their best prayer environment, like I know Muslims pray toward Mecca and I don't know if there's any ornamentations or anything that they would prefer to have, but if so, it would be there). There'd be a gym to give people access to exercise equipment. There'd be a big old clock tower with bells to indicate prayer times for anyone who needs them. There would be a church building for use by any religious denomination. There'd be regular community activities to give people the chance to have leisurely social interaction and also sometimes exercise in small or large groups, but no one is expected to take part. Everyone with any form of neurodiversity or from any minority group gets to be treated fairly and have their needs accommodated.

No proving you have a disability like you have to to get accommodations from colleges. No one telling you it's all in your head or it's not natural or you should try harder or you just haven't met the right person yet or treating you as being under them for your gender or skin color or anything else you have no control over. Just actual acceptance on every front.

Basically, you'd pretty much be able to live your best life under the principle I learned as a kid: "your agency ends where the next person begins." As long as your actions do not harm anyone, you are free to do as you like.

The rules for living here? Everyone will be expected to contribute however they can (no punching a time clock, but contribute to the best of your ability). There will be no discrimination or hatred toward others. That's pretty much it. It's not that complicated. You will be expected to respect others and they will be expected to respect you. Any crime of any kind would be punished (and I mean things like theft, which I expect would be far less likely to happen given that everyone would have their basic needs fulfilled, and not like things like drug addiction because criminalizing addicts doesn't really prevent people getting addicted and just makes the problem worse.)

I figure the system would be run by committee. Any issues would be put to a vote, and given the size of the group, everyone would get a vote and everyone's vote counts. There would be no one person in charge of the community. Not me, not anyone. Everyone is equally in charge. Issues of things like accusations of discrimination would be handled by a court type situation where a mediator is chosen and both people get to explain what happened (in case of false accusations, which hopefully wouldn't happen, but y'know), and if the problem is based on a misunderstanding or an unchecked or unevaluated privilege, maybe the discussion alone could help the two people work it out, and if not, they get a big meeting with everyone there, and they get a chance to give their side to the group and the group votes on whether or not the accusation is solid and if the accused person will be punished (idk 100% how the punishment would work, but I figure depending on the severity it could be like a first offense would get community service and some kind of lesson in bridging cultural differences or something and a second offense would get something harsher and a third offense would be getting booted from the community. And then something like rape would get an immediate boot.).

Straight/white/cis/NT/any other non-minority people would also be accepted and welcomed so long as they treat everyone there with respect.

And anyone who says or does something homophobic or misogynistic or racist or ableist or anything else along those lines gets first a gentle warning and a chance to re-evaluate their prejudice and if they refuse to check themselves they get kicked out with whatever money they came in with.

I know that no matter what system is in use, there will always be someone ready and willing to find holes and take advantage. So we'd run on a spirit-of-the-law system instead of a letter-of-the-law system, and with everyone getting a say and everyone basing their decisions on that foundation of respect, it would be easier to enforce.

And sure, maybe this is just a fantasy-land-pipe-dream, but come on. How cool would it be? No more forcing our triangle or star or pentagon or splatter-shaped peg asses into circular holes? I don't believe in humanity at large to implement large-scale actual acceptance, but a little mini-society? That seems a little less impossible, right?

This is all spitballing, but the more I think about it, the more I love it. Feel free to add on.

#admittedly that science part would probably suck up a decent chunk of money and we'd still have to apply for 3rd party grants and such #but like having a meal on the table and a roof over your head would almost certainly be a weight off their shoulders #and that would raise general happiness and make work stress seem less threatening and more managable #I'm sick of society #let's all go live in a mini-society of love and acceptance #fuck prejudice #neurodivergent #all inclusive #love and acceptance #lgbt pride #actuallyadhd #social anxiety #depression #a step in the right direction #i dont have all the kinks worked out #the criminal justice system probably needs some work #and I'm not a member of all minorities so I don’t know what other important cultural or religious things everyone would need

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helpful-hierophant · 4 years

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Pagan Religion in Media

@phemonoi wanted to discuss:

I would like to discuss our exposure in media and pagan integration to society. To be more concise, I would like people to know we exist.

***(key points if you have no spoons to read it all are in bold!)***

This topic has been discussed many times among almost all pagan groups. One way or another we have all been portrayed in films or movies or books. But while trying not to repeat many conversations before mine, I also want to go into how it is GOOD that we are in the media, and why it is BAD.

Almost always the portrayal has been either completely disrespectful, or using our gods or stories as dark villains or just completely false. We see this in examples such as Supernatural; with many Native American figures being used as monsters; Marvel using Norse gods like Loki, Thor, Hela, etc.. We also know that Marvel will be bringing Hercules into the MCU very soon as well (forgive me my true love in life is Marvel and I recognize the hypocrisy. Ultimately I want to see change in the media when talking about pagan faith not just complaining about these media). But to bring the conversation to the Hellenic side of portrayals, i think we all know of the Percy Jackson series and Heroes of Olympus or Wonder Woman and the….far more disgusting media that's popular right now I will not name.

The biggest issue with all of these are the exact same, and ties into the second part of the discussion of pagan integration into society. Christianity has fought and enforced the pressure and normality of our society on their terms. being pagan, you see it more than a christian or even an atheist would, as the damage done to pagan history and culture is completely different to that of atheism. Since the crusades the church has basically forced subconscious actions into our society top to bottom. And when you point out these things, people scoff and say you're reading into it, or there's nothing that bad about it and you shouldn't be so sensitive. This attitude is aimed towards minority religions, because we as religions aren't taken seriously. Think of why it's even called MYTHology. It’s to enforce the idea that our stories and faith aren’t anything more than just make believe. You don’t call it Bible myths do you? Or Christian mythology. No, you call it stories. Even our vocabulary and language is formed around what the church has formulated over centuries of control. Let me be clear that I love and support Christianity as a faith, but things like this can not go under the rug and by not talking about it; avoiding this and other history of the church is to let it go without correction, especially because it is within the subconscious of society.

So what the hell does this have to do with my movies and books? Well, with this mindset, that these gods are simply fictional characters, content creators aren't thinking about it being disrespectful at all. And even ones that have been forced to acknowledge us, oftentimes won't change the behavior just because ‘well i'm just using them for entertainment not the actual gods.’ you're forcing lions into a circus and you're not the ringleader, you're a clown. Straight out. I think it’s very different when we as Hellenics make our own content vs. other people. This is not including artists, as artwork is mostly alright! When media goes over the line is taking our gods and using them as a black and white villain, or creating a ‘personality’ and treating them as dumb, just a plot point, mindless, stupid, etc. The issue is HOW you portray the gods, not the inclusion of the gods.

As this pushes others to believe in this narrative and also pushes the fiction belief of these gods. One could argue that even the stories we have of ancient times was like the fanfics of the ancient Greeks about the gods, as most of the myths are not actually what happened, aside from translation issues.

So to change the direction of this post with that last bit being said; I mentioned above how it could also be GOOD. Now after that speech of how terrible it is, how can I give you a reason it could be good also? Well there's only one reason that I can find in it all that I can say is good. I always think something good can come from anything, even if you can’t see it in the moment. I think pagan religions being used in the media help the community by helping others find their way to pagan religions. I know a lot of gate-keeping elitists get all huffy if anyone dares finds the religion through such a source. I can promise you so many Hellenics can testify that they found the religion through talking to people about the books or maybe they just really like it and look into Greek stories more and are like ‘wow!! I really connect with this!” I think the big issue these gatekeepers have with people who are exposed to the religion this way is they think that these people take the media as truth, thinking that just because you were exposed to the faith through media, that you haven’t done any research and that all your knowledge of the gods is from a fandom. How sad to think they think so little of their fellow Hellenics. I have met many people who have found Hellenism through fandom outlets and are diligent in their studies. The media, for a pagan heart, is nothing more than a door to the faith, it is not the box anyone serious about the religion is taking as real information. But the treatment of people coming in this way is not only terrible but damages their connection to the Hellenic community and ultimately their feelings of being comfortable reaching out for assistance in learning how to practice. The issue is non Hellenics taking this as fact, and certain media with the gods that are not at all okay, and vile treatment of the gods.

I think I will make a part two to cover the pagan integration, as that in itself is quite the box. This was just my thoughts typed out as I thought them. I am in no way a perfect source, this is simply from the perspective of someone who's been a hellenic for 3 years and loves discussing topics with others to grow! I hope this gave some insight and, to remind everyone, this is an open discussion! Not a debate thread or discourse invitation. For the sake of everyone being comfortable please refrain from naming L**e Olympus as it is very triggering for most Hellenics and I avoid saying its name when I can. We are here to grow and who knows, maybe my mind will be changed by one of your thoughts! Let me know, hail the gods!

#hellenic polytheism #hellenistic #hellenic #l*re olympus #tw lore olympus #percy jackson #marvel #pagan #pagan gods #pagan media #greek pagan #talk theoi to me

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