anyone who says “the bible is clear” about an issue, is 100% of the time wrong. the bible wasnt clear once. the bible couldnt be clear about how to make a table if it came in an ikea box
Friendly October reminder not to put Spock or other Jewish characters in costumes with horns
to clarify: it is an antisemitic idea that Jews have horns (dating to a mistranslation of karan (shone) v keren (horns) ) which was perpetuated in art by the likes of Michelangelo. this is not a thing of the past–some gentiles still believe that jewish people have horns, and putting jewish characters in costumes/aus with horns is insensitive at best and also really fuckin gross
also do not depict Jewish characters as demons there is a very long history of Jews being seen as demons and that being used to kill us
please do not dress Jewish characters in costumes that are priest outfit or nun outfit or with crosses
Just to give y’all an idea of how modern the horn issue is: My dad, when he went to college in the early 1980’s, was asked by someone who had never met a Jew before where his horns were. In the 1980’s. My dad was asked where his horns were. This was only 30 years ago. I have been lucky not to deal with that particular stereotype in my lifetime, but that was less than a decade before I was born. And I know other Jews in areas where Jews are scarce have dealt with this much more recently than the 80’s.
Yup. When my mom went to college, her freshman year roommate woke up the first Sunday and started getting dressed for church. My mom was still in bed, so the roommate came over and woke her up.
Roommate: Did you want to come to church with me, or do you have your own church you’re going to?
Mom: Well, I don’t really go to religious services, but if I did I would go to a synagogue, not a church, because I’m Jewish.
(Long silence. My mom opens one eye to see her roommate staring in shock.)
Roommate: You … you don’t look Jewish.
Mom: (Who looks VERY Jewish) What do you mean?
Roommate: Well, my pastor always told me that Jews have horns and a tail.
Long story short: they didn’t end up getting along very well.
Child: *points at a large wooden crucifix replica out front* who is that?
Me: uh, that’s…Jesus…
Child: who is he?
Me: well, in the Christian religion he is regarded as the son of God
Child: is he real?
Me: *internally screaming FUUUUUUCCCKKKK* um, that’s a good question. Evidence suggests there was in fact a historical personage who once lived and that we now know as Jesus. How closely his life resembled the events written in the bible is somewhat unknown, and largely a matter of belief, I suppose, although what isn’t, really?
Child: *long pause* okay.
Child: *points at the statue again* Is he real?
Me: oh. OHH. You mean like, is that a real body???
I was told that at a young age, maybe five or six. We read Bible stories in Church, and they told us how Satan tempted Jesus. How he tried to use Bible verses against him, how he twisted it to say what he wanted. How Jesus won because he knew what the Bible meant by those words, while Satan just wanted to us it for himself.
“Satan will tempt you with the Bible,” they said. “He will twist God’s words. So you have to know what they mean.”
They preach that, but they don’t practice.
Because they know words. They know enough words to justify what they do. They tell us how these verses condemn homosexuality, not knowing or caring that this verse was about sexual slavery and the other was mistranslated. They tell us how women must serve their husbands, not understanding that they’ve taken a verse out of context of a metaphor. They tell us that they know what they’re talking about, it’s right there in the Bible.
They used to tell us it was alright to own slaves. Long ago, they’d point to verses and say that God was telling slaves to serve their masters, not thinking about how in their context, “slave” referred to an indentured servant, one who was paying off debts and could be set free soon, one who wasn’t beaten and dragged and sold. They might have known the original context. They might not have cared.
They say that Jesus hates us for loving, because of a mistranslation or a confused context. They say that God can’t make mistakes, ignoring how if he can put a baby in a barren woman or raise a man from the dead, he can certainly give a woman the body society assumes is a man’s, or vice versa, if it was part of one of his plans. They say that some books’ rules must be followed, ignoring how those books were written for specific societies, written for other cultures, or how some rules are more ritual than ethical.
They say we should follow our leader, because we must give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but our leader goes against God. He claims he doesn’t, but he lies. He lies, he steals, he rips families apart, and he claims it’s because of God. And they listen. Because he tells them it’s alright to hate. It’s alright to judge and persecute. Nevermind that Jesus was an immigrant. Nevermind that Jesus drove moneymakers out of his Father’s temple with a whip. Nevermind that Jesus gave to the poor and told us to give up all Earthly possessions. They’ll take any excuse to hate. Because they know that Jesus told us to love our neighbors. They just don’t listen.
They told me that Satan knew the Bible, too, that he’d twist the words to suit himself and lead people astray.
And never once do they wonder if the version of God’s word they use to justify hate is the version that was twisted.
fuckin PREACH OP
As a Christian myself, shit like this is why I hate Christianity. Because first, any discussion of right or wrong immediately comes to “Don’t question God.” Don’t question His motives or His reasoning, because you won’t understand it. It’s supposed to be reassuring, saying how He has a plan for each of us and wants to work with us to succeed.
Too often though, it’s used to insult and demean and shut down people. Judgemental Christians (oh believe me, I’ve spent enough time in the church to tell you they are everywhere) will immediately go something along the lines of “oh, so you think you know more than God?” And it’s an instant win for them, a catch-22. If you claim to know more than God, you’re immediately ostracized for blasphemy. If you recognize you don’t (and to be perfectly honest, no one knows more than God, that’s physically impossible, no human brain can hold infinite knowledge), then you’re immediately told you’re stupid for asking these questions and wanting to know more.
So I say to you, ask questions! Find fellow believers and ask them about hard topics! Will most of us be able to answer them well? No, because very few people in the church know anything about apologetics. Even pastors may not know. They’re just as human as you are, they won’t know everything. Heck, you can message or ask me if you want a jumping off point! But keep digging for answers. You’ll find them someday. The door opens to those who knock, and knowledge comes to those who search it out. I believe in you. 🙂
Yet when someone tells me that they are going to pray for me, genuinely, with nothing but love in their hearts, I just smile and say thank you….
…because I’m not an insufferable jackass.
I’m an athiest, but I live in the south so there’s always religion being thrown in my face. For context of this story: I had surgery in July, the fifth in a row for a medical issue I’ve had for two years.
One weekend before my surgery I went and got a facial (let me tell you. if you’ve never had a facial, YOU NEED TO). This was the most relaxing experience I’ve ever had, tbh. But my esthetician and I had been talking sometime during my facial that I was having surgery soon. So, at the end, she asked, “Can I pray for you?”
This put me in a damn weird position because I don’t believe in the “power of prayer” as my aunt calls it. So I had two choices: say yes and just go with it, or say no and look like an ass.
So I told her “Yes” and I suppose I expected her to pray for me at a later date? But she prayed for me, with me, right then and there in the room. And honestly?
I bawled.
Look, I don’t believe in a god. I don’t believe that her attempting to contact an entity would have changed my outcome of my surgery at all. But the sheer fact that this woman, whom I’d known for all of an hour while she did my facial, was willing to take 5 minutes out of her day to sit down and use her faith to help me.
Shame on the people who put others down for their willingness to pray for and help them.
New Pope is the best Pope. He doesn’t hate on everyone who doesn’t conform to his faith. He lets tiny children sit in his big official chair. He poses for selfies. He is a good Pope and I hope he is with us for a long time.
this is actually significant because that isn’t just “the official chair.”
that’s the Holy See.
The Holy See is considered the sovereign of Vatican City. No, seriously.
Every other pope has used a throne for the Holy See. Francis replaced the ornate object with THE SAME CHAIR THAT EVERY OTHER LEADER WHO VISITS THE VATICAN USES. This was an action that created a considerable stir, as one might imagine. It was a significant remark, metaphorically, putting the pope at the same level as every other world leader. No greater a man than his peers.
And after all of that, he sees a little kid run past him and lets him sit in the freaking Holy See.
And no one stops him.
Good man. Best pope.
That kid is living the dream and the Pope is just like “Okay” and the guy in the back is like “Ye kid”
isnt this the pope that said fuck during a speech
and the one who blessed a male stripper’s parrot
and the one who used to be a bouncer
and the one who has washed the feet of prison inmates, women, and Muslims alike
and the one who attends soccer tournaments
I love this man
This pope is closer to doing what Jesus would do than any of his predecessors.
¯_( ಠ_ಠ)_/¯ 