#Finding the truth

[riotkayla]

Finding the truth

Synopsis: Five years ago you and Eddie packed up the van, heading off to start the next adventure of your life only for the relationship to end suddenly one night two years later. After a world tour, Eddie finds himself back in Hawkins and is shocked to find something in your mom’s grocery cart

Based on my post from earlier

Warning/TW: Use of F-word, angst, fluff if you squint 

Likes, Comments, and Reblogs are welcome! Please do not copy my work for your own or I will hunt you down :) 

Gif not mine! 

Hawkins was as bleak as always for October. The last time those boots had been kicking the pieces of gravel across the grocery store parking lot he was younger, packing up a van and tugging his girl into arms before they drove off to start their next big adventure. That was five years ago and his girl had been gone for three of them. 

It had been a nasty fight, at the time that was all the two of you could do. Being on the road was hard. Lots of late nights at dive bars and pretty girls throwing themselves at him after every show. By the time Corroded Coffin started rising, you were done with the whole rockstar scene. You weren’t sure how many more of these nights you could take. It was a frigid December night in Chicago, Eddie was being a little too friendly with the girl hanging out backstage and it was the final straw. There was shouting and the ring he had proposed to you with the year you left Hawkins was flung across the green room in a fit of rage.  For weeks you had been dealing with mood swings on top of feeling nauseous for no reason. You had chalked it up to the stress of being on tour with the boys. It wasn’t until the car was parked outside your mother's house in Hawkins, mascara staining cheeks from hours of crying, that you realized what made you feel like that. The three little plastic sticks you rushed out to buy only confirmed your suspicions. 

------

There had been a day when Eddie was in town to grab up some last-minute items he had left behind. It was late into the pregnancy, literally counting down single-digit weeks until you were due. You had found a job that allowed you to work from home, meaning you didn’t have to go out much. Still, the July humidity kept you housebound for the remainder of the trimester and you could only pray that no one told him about your current state. Dustin had called panicking late on that Wednesday night as you were putting the final touches on the nursery. 

“Eddie wants to talk to you” you didn’t even get a chance to properly say hello. Dustin was trying to warn you that your cover would be blown. “He’s wanting to know why everyone in town is avoiding him like the plague-” 

“Did you tell him?” anxiety crept into your voice as little kicks landed on your ribs. A ringless left hand rubbed over the spot your kid was wiggling in. They could tell you were nervous. 

“No! I tried to act like I didn’t know what he was talking about but he told me he would just go to the source-”  there was a pause “I think he’s headed to your house” 

It happened so fast. You stood up, going to shut the blinds and cut off the lamp when a gush of water left your lower region. You froze, inhaling sharply. 

“Uh, Dustin I’m going to need you to find  Eddie and tell him some big lie. I think my water just broke.”

----- 

Dustin had convinced Eddie of the lie, you told everyone he was cheating while on tour. That’s the reason everyone gave him dirty looks and mumbled behind his back when he went to places. It was enough to not make him want to find you. Instead, he packed up the rest of the stuff from the trailer and drove right out of Hawkins and past the hospital you were laboring in. 

Shortly after leaving town, Eddie went on a world tour for two years but, he would call Wayne every Thursday before hopping on a plane and ask about everything. 

“How’s the shit hole?”  “ s’good. Nothing changed since the last time” “How is she?” He would always ask about you, never being able to help himself. Wayne might have been the one to let it slip that you had returned to town that fateful night but he never gave away your secret. He would only reply with “She’s good,” and change the subject. Not once did he mention the curly-haired baby he would often visit before going to work. 

----- 

Three years of being out of the shit hole since that night and yet here he was, laced up boots marching across the parking lot mumbling about needing smokes. Earlier that morning he cruised in and was confronted with the same mumbles and stares as before. Everywhere he went people still tensed up at the sight of him, had he really broken your heart that bad? He pulled himself from his thoughts and paused, the sight of your mother situating something into the plastic grocery cart next to her car making him cock his head to the side. The wind carried her voice to him and it was softer than he remembered. 

“We’re going to go get you a basket and maybe we can look at the costumes or gran can make you one baby,” His eyes widened as she pushed towards the door, a chunky little toddler sitting in the seat in front of her. They couldn’t be more than two, maybe three. The little tyke was babbling away about what they wanted to be for Halloween, some of it unintelligible but your mom just smiled and nodded. 

She pushed back the copper curls on their forehead and sighed. The little one felt Eddie’s gaze on them and turned to look, brown eyes locking with the identical match across the lot. It caused them to smile and let out a little squeal. Eddie could feel the tears pricking, he was a fucking dad. There was no denying between the curls and eyes, the way the kid is so animated when talking, that it was his. 

He had wanted to start a family for so long, dreamt of coming back here to you and grovel, get you back and settle down. He had no idea you had already started. There was a pang of something he couldn’t name growing in his gut. Jealousy? Rage? Sadness? Joy? It made him sick. The roller coaster just bottomed out and he was trying to stay steady. 

The idea of smoking was long gone, he was backing up toward his car not breaking his eyes on the kid in the cart. There was only one place to go where he knew the answer would be given without much force.  

-----

“You knew the whole fucking time?” He watched Dustin flinch at his words. On the drive over to the Henderson place, he decided his new emotion was rage. How dare you keep this secret from him? “You knew the whole time and not once did you stop and think ‘hey, maybe Eddie needs to know’ ?”

“I promised her I wouldn’t tell you,” Dustin wouldn’t make eye contact with him, the guilt eating at him. He didn’t want to keep Eddie out of the loop but between the lack of communication from the tours and the stories you sobbed out after returning home, Dustin just wanted to protect you. “Man, she was screwed up when she came back. She had finally started to become more like herself when you decided to roll back into town and...” he paused, unsure to spill the rest.

“what Henderson? And what?” Eddie pressed, growing impatient.

“And... the night I told you that she spread the rumor about you sleeping with all those girls she went into labor. It was her idea.” Dustin curled up, protecting his head waiting on a smack.

It never came, instead, Eddie leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until his backside felt the shag carpet underneath his jeans. His dark eyes focused on the rings on his hand, the Emerald you used to wear wrapped around his pinky. He remembered pulling up the house that night, lights off, and no cars in the driveway. Had he been a minute sooner he would have seen you waddle down the porch steps clutching your hospital bag while your mom ran over to start the car. Had he been there he could have been there to go to the hospital.

After a few beats of silence, he finally broke the spell, “So.. they’re three?”

“Yeah, she just turned it,” Eddie's eyes flicked up to meet Dustin’s gaze, tears threatening to spill.

“She? I have a daughter?” Dustin continued to nod, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. The younger boy reached down under the bed and pulled out a shoebox, opening it up and handing Eddie the contents inside.

“Her name is Willow- I tried to talk her into Arwen but she wouldn’t budge. We call her Will though,” Eddie’s thumb and forefinger pinch the first photo, one of you and Willow cuddled up in a hospital bed the day after she was born. Eddie smiled, feeling a hot tear roll down his cheek at the sight. He flips to another photo in the stack, this one of you and baby Willow nose to nose. Her hands are covered in chunks of cake and frosting, both of them placed on your cheeks as the two of you grin at each other. Another photo is of Wayne and Willow, sitting on a hay bale at the pumpkin patch, both of them looking at something in the distance. “It’s crazy man, she’s like your little twin. She has your eyes, your attitude, the other day she threw this tantrum when I went to go babysit her- it was very Munson of her.”

Eddie chose to not say anything, instead pouring over the three years of photos Dustin had collected. The idea that the little fifteen-year-old he had left behind in the dumpster fire of a town would grow to be a protector of his kid warmed his heart. He had managed to capture almost every life moment on film- from crawling to walking and her first tooth there was a polaroid photo for it. He finally set down the hoard of images and looked up at the now grown man.

“I need to see them, can you help?”

[feedingtheflockministry]

Four Criteria the Messiah Must Fulfill

by Jews for Jesus | July 01 2000

So what’s the deal with the Messiah? For many, the Messiah figure seems like an ancient Jewish version of Superman—a childhood hero on whom most of us have long since given up. But according to the Talmud and the Jewish Scriptures the Messiah is not only real, but should have arrived a long time ago.

Maybe a Messiah who never comes is not such a big deal, but a God Who breaks His promises is a very big deal. The detailed messianic timetable in Daniel 9 allows us to explore solutions to these questions. Not only is there much more to be known about the Messiah, but we can know exactly when to expect him!

Fact One: The Messiah would arrive in a certain time frame.

The details of when Messiah will arrive are written in the book of Daniel. This prophet lived during the time of our exile in Babylon and received a vision that the Messiah would come 483 years after the command to restore Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple:

From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an Anointed One [ad mashiach], the ruler [nagid], will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times. (Daniel 9:25, CBS)

The “clock” on these 69 “weeks” (units of seven years) began ticking when Artaxerxes issued a decree to Nehemiah to rebuild the Temple and restore Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-8). While other decrees went out, this was the only one that involved both the Temple and Jerusalem. History records this took place in Nisan (March/April) of 444 B.C.E. That would mean the Messiah would appear by 33 C.E. History does not record anyone, other than Yeshua (Jesus), who was from that time period and claimed to be the Messiah.

Fact Two: The Messiah would come before the destruction of the Second Temple.

Daniel predicted that after the appearance of Messiah, “…the people of a prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26, JPS). We know that occurred when Titus’ Roman legions marched on Jerusalem in 70 C.E., destroying both the city and the Temple. The Talmud teaches that at that time people believed that the time of Messiah had already come, but because of the sins of the nation the messianic kingdom was withheld at the time it should have arrived.

The school of Eliyahu taught: Six thousand years is the duration of the world. Two thousand of the six thousand years are characterized by chaos; two thousand years are characterized by Torah, from the era of the Patriarchs until the end of the mishnaic period; and two thousand years are the period of the coming of the Messiah. That is the course that history was to take, but due to our sins that time frame increased. The Messiah did not come after four thousand years passed, and furthermore, the years that elapsed since then, which were to have been the messianic era, have elapsed. (Sanhedrin 97a and b [emphasis added])

Other passages support the understanding that the Messiah would come while the Temple was still standing. The psalm is one of the Hallel Psalms which praises God for His deliverance of Israel and of Israel’s leader, the king. Israel was rejected by its enemies, as was its king.

Hoshienu—Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord [emphasis added]. (vv. 25,26)

The only way that they could bless the Messiah from the house of the Lord was if the Temple was still standing! Ironically, these are the same words the Jewish people used to greet Yeshua when he rode into Jerusalem the week before Passover (Matthew 21:9–12).

Haggai, who was in Jerusalem as the Second Temple was being built, made the messianic prediction that the “glory of this last temple is to be greater than that of the first” (2:9).1 And Malachi confirmed it: “Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his Temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come” (3:1). Twelfth century Jewish scholar, Rabbi David Kimchi (also known as Radak), equated Malachi’s messenger of the covenant with the Messiah.2

According to Daniel, the Temple would not only be standing at Messiah’s appearance, but it would be destroyed soon after. That Temple, which was originally built by Ezra and beautified by Herod, was where Yeshua did most of his teaching and claimed to be the Messiah. The New Testament records the painful words of Yeshua to those who spoke of how beautiful the Temple looked after its refurbishing under Herod: “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.”3 Yeshua was pointing to Daniel’s prophecy being fulfilled. Less than 40 years later the destruction of the Temple was so thorough that, to this day, the exact location of the sanctuary is unknown.

Fact Three: The Messiah’s lineage could only be identifiable while the Temple stood.

The coming of the Messiah had another time constraint: it was connected to his descent from the tribe of Judah.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; [emphasis mine] and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. (Genesis 49:10)

This well-recognized messianic prophecy indicated that Judah was to retain its identity until Shiloh (one of the names for the Messiah according to rabbinical literature) was to come.

Apropos the Messiah, the Gemara asks: What is his name? The school of Rabbi Sheila says: Shiloh is his name, as it is stated: “Until when Shiloh shall come.” (Sanhedrin 98b)

According to the book of Ezra (1:5-8), Judah’s position was maintained throughout the 70 years of captivity in Babylon. It was also intact back in the Land, until the Romans made the kingdom of Judah a Roman province. While there was a provincial government in place, about 50 years later (in 70 c.e.) that too ended.

Not only was the Messiah to be from the lineage of Judah, but more specifically from the house of David: “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ‘Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations’” (Psalm 89:3-4 NKJV). This messianic prophecy clearly refers to a descendant of David. Proof of such lineage was destroyed when the Temple was destroyed.

And while we do not have the Temple records, we do have the record of Yeshua’s family tree in the accounts of his life by both Luke and Matthew. They both identify that he is from the house of David. We don’t know anyone else who lived at that time and claimed to be the Messiah, who is descended from the tribe of Judah and the house of David, apart from Yeshua.

Fact Four: The Messiah would be cut off.

The Daniel prophecy (9:26) says that after the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, the Messiah would be cut off, but not for himself. This phrase “cut off” meant to be killed or destroyed, often used in the Tanakh to describe how a sacrificial animal was ritually slaughtered (Gen. 15:18; Jer. 34:18).

The idea that the Messiah would die was not new to Judaism. Isaiah wrote of one who would suffer and die for the sins of the people: “…For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.”4 Psalm 22 graphically portrays death by crucifixion, a method of execution not known to the author writing one thousand years before Yeshua was crucified.

Could it have happened just as Daniel so carefully predicted? Counting 483 years after Artaxerxes’ decree would bring us to 33 c.e. The Temple was destroyed in 70 c.e. That leaves a window of 37 years in which the Messiah from the tribe of Judah and the house of David could come. Not only that, but he was to die a violent death at that time.

Has Messiah Already Come?

God promised our people a Messiah, and He gave us a way of computing the time he’d be coming. Think about it. If Daniel is right and the Messiah came before the destruction of the Second Temple, that means we have to admit that the Messiah has already come. And if he’s already come, then who is he?

He had to arrive before 33 C.E, while the Temple was still standing, needed to be an identifiable descendant of David, and would be killed before the Temple was destroyed. The details of these facts together present some of the strongest evidence that he has in fact already come. The only person who fits that description is Yeshua from Nazareth.

Yes, for a Jewish person to consider the idea that Jesus might be the Messiah seems extreme. But every single one of us has been there and we’ve all come to believe that Jesus is exactly who he claimed to be.

If you’re unsure, why not ask God? The same God who communicated to us about when the Messiah would come and who he would be wants to reveal the truth to you, but it requires an open heart. He says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3). Do you have the courage to call out to Him?

[sys8]

Expecting things to what we want is the door way to unhappiness

[sing-you-fools]

me: this is a background character who's in one scene, has two lines, and is completely irrelevant to the rest of the story. i am going to stop obsessing over what to name him and use the random name generator on behindthename.com. i am going to accept the first thing it gives me and move the fuck on.

behindthename.com:

[autobot2001]

Finding The Truth a Little Too late

Author: Autobot2001 Genre: Fanfiction Fandom: Transformers Rating: T Warning: None Pairing: None Description: Mirage and Sunstreaker find out who Dylan is, but they're too late warning everyone. Note; this is a scene from my story Hidden Killer that I have yet to start, minus scenes inspired by prompts. This contains a spoiler. I debated whether I should post this ( and another scene snippet) or not with no ETA on the story being posted. Uncertain if anyone seeing the posts would read the story and think 'I already know what's going to happen'.

@chaos-company angstpril day 12; a little too late

Mirage’s skills in hacking systems impress Sunstreaker. He knows Mirage does it with good intentions as a spy. The two are aware of the consequences if they get caught doing an unauthorized investigation, but both don’t trust Dylan. They hack briefly to avoid detection, even if it delays uncovering the potential truth. They can only hope they’re not making a mistake by taking a while.

Today, a training mission awaits a few soldiers and Autobots. A simple mission to practice teamwork. For the recruits, this is part of basic training. For everyone else, it’s a refresher course. Mirage and Sunstreaker are concerned about Dylan taking part in the training. The Autobots being in bipedal form isn’t assuring. The concern is training to escalate into a battle. Mirage and Sunstreaker are unsure about Megatron’s willingness to collaborate with humans again, but they suspect that’s who Dylan is working for. "What if that’s true, rather than Dylan being an insider for the anti-Cybertronian group?” Mirage questions. “Either way, we’ve found nothing,” Sunstreaker reminds him, “even if we find something, how do we get the others to believe us? They know you wouldn’t fake data, but Dylan will argue against you.” "We have dedicated weeks to this. I know it’s because we’re not working on this for hours a day like I normally would. I think if we find nothing by the end of the week, that we accept we were wrong.” “Fine,” Sunstreaker says, irritated. Once the rest leave for training, Mirage and Sunstreaker will spend the entire day working on their investigation. They don’t have to worry about getting caught by someone walking into Mirage’s office.

“Trust training?” Megatron asks, intrigued. “A perfect place to attack,” Starscream suggests. “Silence! We stick to the plan to get Jamie away from the Autobots. I want them to discover everything, to witness the Autobots’ expressions. You have your orders, Austin. Do not fail me!” “Yes, sir,” Austin replies and ends the call. Austin knows Jadin can sense Jamie’s energy and that Jamie will protect the Autobots. He needs to get her to leave the base with no Autoots. Austin believes the training grounds won’t allow him to be successful. His goal is to have as few Autobots and soldiers as possible when provoking Jamie to take him elsewhere for a fight.

“You couldn’t tell me this, why?” “I would have, as soon as I had a lead,” Mirage explains, “What good is telling you there’s no one named Dylan Greene Living in DC. without a lead where to take our search next?” “Fair point, so?” “Facial identification. It’s not as easy as identifying a fingerprint, but it’s all we have left.” "That’s why you should have informed me. Too late now to get his cup from breakfast.”

The search takes all day, Several databases to find the correct facial ID match. Hacking the DC police database and the FBI’s most wanted turned up empty. While it seems random, Mirage searches the database of the asylum that burnt down. “Perhaps there’s a second survivor no one knows about,” Mirage explains. As he scrolls through the images, one catches both mechs’ eyes. “Stop, that’s him!” Sunstreaker comments, and gets the photo of Dylan he has, “He dyed his hair and got eye color changing contact lenses, but look at the face. We know Austin has a twin brother, but he wasn’t in the asylum with Austin.” “Frag, we have to warn everyone.” Mirage and Sunstreaker rush to the hangar as it’s time for everyone to return.

The two deactivate their holoforms and transform. They’re ready to explain everything as they know Optimus will ask why are they waiting for everyone to return. It’s uncommon for those returning from a mission to be welcomed back upon returning.

Upon arrival, Optimus questions the two’s reasoning for waiting for the team to return. He listens before arguing about the two’s lack of permission to search Dylan’s records. “You seriously have a jealousy problem,” Sideswipe accuses Sunstreaker, “and you got Mirage involved as well, that’s a new low for you-.” Clapping cuts off Sideswipe. The Autobots, Jamie, and the soldiers see that Dylan is the one clapping with an evil grin. “Well done, Mirage. Even if Sunstreaker convinced you to search my files, as you’d be too stupid to do it yourself,” this angers the yellow frontliner, “I wouldn’t do anything, Sunstreaker.”

[wanderingthedesertalone]

The Religion of Science: Bad Media Bad Grasp on Reality

Before you bang your fist on the desk and accuse me of being in the theist, deist or in the spiritualist camp let me tell you that I am agnostic at worst and an atheist at best, culturally I am a Jew and have respect for my ancestry but find all The Torah says hard to swallow. The universe is governed by detectable forces that require no deity. Yet, I believe it does take faith to believe in so much that us mortals declare a scientific fact, when facts, especially in recent years, have been nothing more than convenient narratives spun by those in power and sold to the youth who, often, take action on this misinformation.

As a skeptic I have to say that to believe much of what is flown under the banner of science takes a degree of faith. Firstly, one must have faith that the results of scientific inquiry haven’t been infiltrated by politics. These days, one would be a fool to believe such a thing, but such fools do exist. These fools don’t bat an eye at the idea of Big Tech, people who in my opinion have no right to declare what’s scientifically accurate, state that like a loving father they will oversee what information is disseminated and that they are the final word on what is disinformation. But, Big Tech isn’t an unbiased party. They tend to, as an example, dislike Israel, support abortion and the Covid vaccine. Make no mistake about it, censorship is political in nature, the ruling party is always the final word on what’s true. I’m not weighing in on any of the above and divulging political affiliation, I’m simply stating a fact. These days, it’s not a monarch who decides what’s accurate, it’s Big Tech, Big Pharma and Twitter’s Social Justice Warriors. Sadly, inconvenient truths are deemed as misinformation and followers of the religion of science blindly accept, although often against their better judgement, that the verdict passed down by those in power is the best possible answer.

To believe in everything that’s said to be scientific, one must have faith in media integrity. Irresponsibly, at the genesis of the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Fauci announced on air that “perhaps there will be a certain number of cases of individuals who [contract AIDS that] are just living with and in close contact with someone with AIDS, or at risk of AIDS, who does not necessarily have to have intimate sexual contact or share a needle, but just the ordinary close contact that one sees in normal interpersonal relations.” This single speculation inspired hundreds of theories and hoaxes about contracting the virus via everything from soda cans to toilet seats. As a result, many died in hospital beds while nurses were afraid to touch them. Yet, the informed knew that the virus wasn’t airborne. It was just the religion of science that swallowed the pill whole and conscripted this media propelled fear mongering into their belief system.

To believe in all that’s presented as science, one must have faith that the experiments were well conducted. For instance, the DSM III Removed homosexuality from its inventory of assessable disorders in 1980, this was largely due to the shoddily designed research of Alfred Kinsey. Kinsey declared that “ homosexuality [is] more common than previously assumed, thus suggesting that such behaviors [are] part of a continuum of sexual behaviors and orientations,” despite his sample being, intentionally or unintentionally, skewed. His methodology of arriving at a conclusion, popularism, as we can see from the above statement, is transparently flawed. But, it’s not just that his declaration is flawed, his research was most poorly conducted. Kinsey’s sample was limited to only 5000 males. Of those surveyed, a disproportionate number came from prison inmates, many of whom were sex offenders, he only interviewed one African American but his data wasn’t tabulated and he over-sampled people recruited via homosexual-friendly organizations or magazines. Like anyone else, homosexuals deserve all of the freedoms granted in The Bill of Right and this is something, when and if push comes to shove, I would fight until my very last breathe for, but, being deserving of rights makes them no less of a mentally ill fragment of society who’s 12% more prone to suicide than heterosexuals, significantly more likely than heterosexuals to abuse substances and have suffered childhood abuse. Yet, the religion of science insists that homosexuality is a healthy lifestyle. Social Media and the news never disclosed that Kinsey’s study was a sham and pushes the political agenda behind Kinsey’s message. The younger generation, being that they were raised on TV and social media, knows no better. They are our future leaders and those who will continue to perpetuate the religion of science.

Moreover, to become a believer in the religion of science, one must have faith that the answers provided aren’t merely the correlative events that human’s fallible perception can sense. Most who took Statistics in college are aware that there’s more car accidents when bikinis are on sale, but these two events aren’t related. In 1998, British physician Andrew Wakefield published a study in The Lancet, this study proposed a link between MMR vaccines and increasing rates of autism diagnoses in British children. We now know that there’s no relationship between these events. Despite a correlation, the experiment has been proven to be flawed. There wasn’t a causality. Adherents of the religion of science took to this notion and it became, and for some still is, part of their belief system.

Most of the above issues can be ruled out by peer review, but as with the recent covid vaccines not even peer review uncovered some of the dangers with the vaccine and accurate dissemination of information is a must.

I know what you’re thinking, science is rooted in fact and requires no faith, people don’t believe in science, science, because of the ways in which it investigates measurable occurrences is just correct. I agree, mostly. Yet, there is a religion of science. Adherents of the religion believe anything that fits into the zeitgeist or aligns with their own worldview. For example, The Bell Curve reports this on racial differences in IQ score, Blacks score lower, on average, than Whites. Adherents of the religion of science don’t like this fact and those who tout this may be subject, especially in certain European Countries, to fines and prison terms. I’m not disputing the uselessness of IQ scores, I myself find them of little use and see that there are flaws, although I disagree that the flaw is in the wording of questions (Ebonics and Texan aren’t uniquely codified dialects mutually unintelligible from their mother language, besides, all Americans were educated in the same system and should be able to code switch between ethnic slang and standardized English, as an example, I’m not British but possess the critical thinking skills to infer meaning from unknown British vernacular, but then again, inference in post Enlightenment systems of thinking is considered slanderous assumption). I believe in the science when the science is void of politics.

What caused there to be a religion of science? This phenomenon was caused by the gullibility of man, lack of time to research everything that is presented as science, the how political parties are to use “science” to push their narrative and flaws in methods of research. To be clear, the scientific method is the best we’ve got. Moreover, science isn’t something that requires faith, when done correctly and unadulterated by politics. But, the combination of the above causes there to be a pseudo religion, and even at times religions that exist under the banner of science, of science, like Scientology, blurring the lines between science, science-fiction and pop psychology. Despite my tirade against Gen Z, I don’t honestly expect everyone to sift through scientific articles to find the truth.

The real problem is that the religion of science stifles inconvenient data, data that might be used to find better answers to current questions. Best put in words by Kurt Vonnegut, “new knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become Breakfast of Champions.” As a society, we must be granted, through the education system, media disseminating information with integrity and freedom of speech, the intellect and ability to question all things supposed by the socio-political machine that backs the religion of science, only through this means can we progress. Yet, we are living in an era of retrograde. Empiricism and systems of Enlightenment era thinking have gone out the window for feeling and truthiness (as coined by Stephen Colbert). America is Rome in the final days and the religion of science will be her downfall.

The fact is this, honesty in Big Tech ran media has gone the way of the dodo, Gen Z is gullible, the educational system has let them down, time constraint makes it so that most people can’t read every scholarly article, media readily mixes pop psychology, untested hypothesis along with anything that fits the contemporary narrative, even to the point of changing definitions, and packages it, whether that’s by putting it into law or just causing panic if said new scientific fact isn’t obeyed, and calls it all science. Facts are suppressed by the media for easily digested narratives or those who align with the current cultural zeitgeist.

How are us mere mortals supposed to sift through the sea of information and sniff out that which is accurate and hasn’t been filtered through the cultural-political machine? Besides, we live in an era in which a healthy dose of skepticism might brand one as an outcast and render them unable to work. If one questions the popular narrative they might be branded a Right Wing Conservative. We’ve heard it all before: “mask up, take the jab, join the new religion of science, no question, please.” Those who had questions like “what about herd immunity” or “why do definitions keep changing for immunity” were outcast. Often, it pays to fiend Gen Z gullibility.

But I have a few questions. Was it vaccines that put an end to previous pandemics or was it changing attitudes towards bathing, the fact that most people lived in rural communities and herd immunity that ended past epidemics? There are some observations that make these hypotheses worth looking into. During the Bubonic Plague, for example, it was observed that mortality was significantly lower in the Jewish Ghettos than in Christian populations. The “causes of this more favorable situation, which is very well documented from the end of the eighteenth century, are certainly many, ranging from compliance with hygiene standards prescribed by religion, rooted in moderate customs for eating and drinking, the low incidence of venereal diseases, and an economic level on average higher than average. I’m not suggesting that I know that hygiene is the cure for a viral pandemic. In fact, another author noted that “nor should it be forgotten that, if the environment in which Jews lived in the era of the ghettos was particularly unhealthy, the trades they exercised were among those with lower risks of morbidity and professional mortality, and that their living arrangements, pursuant to religious requirements, were particularly favorable for increased resistance against causes of lethality. Was it a complex combination of standards of hygiene in a filthy ghetto that caused Jews, during the Bubonic Plague, to be less susceptible to death, I don’t know. But, asking questions like these go against the new religion of science. One must blind themself to complexity and nuance: “shut up, masks and jabs work, if you have any doubts you’re just as naïve as those who believed vaccines caused Autism.”

The religion of science, because our youth was raised on all things instant and extreme, is filled with extremely binary false dichotomies. How many times have you heard “get the jab or everyone dies” or “wear a mask or everyone dies?” Sadly, it’s not only the foolish who fall for these, these false dichotomies, the kind that never account for any sort of nuance, are disseminated through media and, more often then not, align with the ruling party. The past 2 generations, Millennials and Gen Z, have been primed to accept extremes without question, this is the era in which racism allows for a Black president after all. Unscientific false dichotomies, like the above, readily intermingle with hard science and become part of what culture perceives as scientifically accurate.

Moreover, the religion of science demonstrates cult like behaviors. Those who lack reasoning skills often become, loudly and sometimes violently, the adherents of the religion of science. I for one have enough skepticism in my blood to question all things flown under the banner of science. I vow to listen to others with an open heart and judge their words based on the information I have and in the case that I don’t have any information on said topic, I will look for case studies because new knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth I have to work with, the richer I become.

The believers of the religion of science take these things to be scientific facts:

1) Concepts, although incorrect, that are easily digested and perfectly fit in with the current zeitgeist as touted by the media as scientific facts. As an example, many shouted wearing a mask is harmless although it was obvious to others that continual mask wearing is dangerous and recent study states that a “significant rise in carbon dioxide occurring while wearing a mask is scientifically proven. Fresh air has around 0.04% CO2 masks bear a possible chronic exposure to low level carbon dioxide of 1.41–3.2% CO2 of the inhaled air in reliable human experiments.”

2) Artefacts from popular psychology, those wivestales about mental health that sound correct but aren’t.

3) Concepts from psychology and the social sciences that are either only understood by the masses in part, taken out of context or never were correct but because the fact that they fit into the era’s zeitgeist they were adapted by the masses. For example, the alpha/beta man paradigm, which was discredited by the duo who first discovered it or that Dr. Money indisputably proved that gender is a spectrum.

3) A general misunderstanding of science. For example a belief in miraculous things like superfoods and that said superfoods are scientifically tested. This goes hand in hand with things like natural medicine (the greater the dilute the greater the efficacy), the healing powers of meditation (aside from a placebo effect) or any other sophistry that may have been shown somewhat effective in studies because they have the potential of improving outlook by increasing hope.

4) A belief that studies with few participants have the end answer. We saw this with things like priming and the covid vaccine efficacy.

5) Confusing and mixing philosophy with science. For example, although Pascal’s Wager may be completely rational to some, it isn’t science.

At times, science has been a cultural phenomenon that aligns itself with the current zeitgeist and those in power. This is just one of those times. It’s not a monarch these days who decides what’s accurate, it’s Big Tech, Big Pharma and Twitter’s Social Justice Warriors. Sadly, inconvenient truths are deemed as misinformation and followers of the religion of science blindly accept, although often against their better judgement, that the verdict passed down by those in power is the best possible answer.

In brief, faith in accurate results, along with accurate dissemination of results, is something hard to come by. In reality, this isn’t an article about science, it’s about media integrity and the naivety of the masses. To illustrate my point by returning to the notion of vaccines and Autism, the media in the UK rushed to publish the notion that vaccines cause Autism despite strong evidence refuting it. Moreover, at the beginning of the Pandemic Dr. Fauci said “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is,” but media preferred to report a panic inducing and loyal religion forging and are defending mask wearing until this very day. Even pro-mask studies, like the one conducted in Bangladesh, prey on the masses’ inability to understand basic math. Ten percent efficacy wouldn’t be an acceptable number for anything else. Yet, the religion of science, sycophants for Big Tech, Big Pharma and those who currently run the country, conscripted these false claims into their belief system falsely claiming “it’s the science!”

Bibliography

Brown, M. (2021). Yes, Childhood Sexual Abuse Often Does Contribute to Homosexuality. The Stream. https://stream.org/yes-childhood-sexual-abuse-often-contribute-homosexuality/

ERLC. (2020, June 11). Alfred Kinsey: A Brief Summary and Critique — ERLC. https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/alfred-kinsey-a-brief-summary-and-critique/

Foa, A. (2000). The Jews of Europe After the Black Death. Univ of California Press.

Lovering, N. (2022, January 28). Can Vaccines Cause Autism? Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/autism/do-vaccines-cause-autism#where-did-this-myth-start

Mph, J. D. Q. M., & Larson, H. (2018, February 28). The Vaccine-Autism Myth Started 20 Years Ago. Here’s Why It Still Endures Today. Time. https://time.com/5175704/andrew-wakefield-vaccine-autism/

Researchers Find Disparities in Suicide Risk Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults. (2021, November 9). National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2021/researchers-find-disparities-in-suicide-risk-among-lesbian-gay-and-bisexual-adults

RudeBoyPadilla. (2022, January 24). Fauci, saying kids can get AIDS by just being close to someone with AIDS. Yet people trust this guy! [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj-0woKO0c4

Siegel, E. (2017, April 12). The Real Problem with Charles Murray and “The Bell Curve.” Scientific American Blog Network. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/the-real-problem-with-charles-murray-and-the-bell-curve/

Staff, R. (2020, October 8). Fact check: Outdated video of Fauci saying “there’s no reason to be walking around with a mask.” U.S. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-fauci-outdated-video-masks-idUSKBN26T2TR

Substance Use and SUDs in LGBTQ* Populations | National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2023, February 24). National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/substance-use-suds-in-lgbtq-populations

[bogslob]

I was so sad when they cut Luke teaching Percy sword fighting from earlier episodes, one of the main reasons being because it would have meant that they couldn’t reasonably have Luke giving Percy instructions during the Ares fight, but having sword fighting lesson flashbacks during the fight was genius it tied everything together really well and made so much sense considering Luke hasn’t been in a huge portion of the show and your average viewer wouldn’t necessarily recognise his voice

[jamespoeartistry]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsZnccBOcoK/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

[lets-bob-michael-blog]

Why Americans No Longer Trust The Media

The mainstream media have long been considered a trusted source of news and information in the United States. However, in recent years, trust in the media has eroded significantly, and many Americans no longer see it as a reliable source of information. So, what has caused this shift in perception, and why do so many Americans no longer trust the mainstream media? One major reason for this lack…

[inkskinned]

before you know about women, you hear that you do not need to love the man, just that you need to love him through his manhood. which is to say you have seen the future painted in lamb's blood over your eyes - how your mother shoots you a look about your father's inability to cook right. how your aunt holds her wineglass and says i'm gonna kill em. men, right! how your best friend bickers with her boyfriend, how she says i can't help it. i come back to him.

you learn: men are gonna cheat. men aren't going to listen when you're talking, because you're nagging. men think emotions are stupid. they think your life is vapid and your hobbies are embarrassing. men will slam things, but that's because men are allowed to be angry. if you get loud, you're hysterical. if a man gets loud - well, men are animals, men are dogs, men can't control their hands or their eyes or their bodies. they're going to make a snide comment about you in the locker room, about your body, about how you're so fucking annoying. you're going to give him kids, and he will give you the money for the kids, and you're going to be running the house 24/7 - but he gets to relax after a long day, because his job is stressful. the man is on stage, and is a comedian, and says "women!"

and you are supposed to love that. you are supposed to love men through how horrible they are to you - because that's what women do. that's what good women do. wife material. your father even told you once - it'll make sense when you're older. it was like staring down a very lonely tunnel.

it feels like something's caught in your throat, but it's all you know, so. it's okay that you see sex as a necessary tool, a sort of okay-enough ritual to keep him happy, even though he doesn't seem to care about happiness as-applied-to you. it is relationship upkeep. it is kissing him and smiling even though he didn't brush his teeth. it is getting on your knees and looking up and holding back a sigh because he barely holds you as you panic through the night. it's not like the sex is bad and you do like feeling wanted. and besides! he's a man! like... they're another species. you'll never be able to actually communicate, right. he isn't listening.

you just don't get it. you don't feel that sense of i'm gonna climb him like a tree. mostly it just feels fucking exhausting. you play the part perfectly. you smile and nod and are "effortlessly" charming. and it's fine! it's alright! you even love him, if you're looking. you could have good life, and a good family, and perfectly happy.

in the late night you google: am i broken. you google i'm not attracted to my husband. you google i get turned on by books but not by him. you google how to get better in bed.

the first time he yells at you, it almost feels like blankness. like - of course this is happening. this is always how it was going to end up. men get angry, and they yell, and you sit there in silence.

you mention it to your friend - just the once - while you're drunk. she shrugs and says it's like that with me too, i just try to forget and move on. men are always gonna hear what they want to. pick your battles and say sorry even though he's in the wrong. you play solitaire online for a month. you go to your therapist appointment and preach about how you're both so in love.

after all, you have a future to want. nobody lied about it - how many instagram posts say marriage is hard. say real love takes work. say we fight like cats and dogs but the best part is that we always make up. how many of your friends say happy anniversary to the best and worst thing to ever happen to me. if you really loved him - loved yourself too - you'd accept that men are just different from you.

the first time she kisses you, it's on a dare at a party. something large and terrifying whips through your body. you wake up sweating from dreams where her mouth is encrusted with pearls and you pick them off one by one with your teeth. fuck. you sit at the computer and your almost-finished game of sim city. you think about your potential perfect life and your potential future family. you google am i gay quiz with your little hands shaking.

you delete each letter slowly. you don't need to love him. you just need to keep going.

[riotkayla]

Finding the Truth: part four

Synopsis: Christmas is around the corner, and Eddie is trying to ask a very important question. The Wiggles are metal. 

TW/Warnings: none, just fluff and domestic shit

Likes, Comments, and Reblogs are welcome! Please do not copy my work for your own or I will hunt you down :)

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

did i edit this? a lil but not a lot

tagging: @luceneraium @xxhospital-for-soulsxx @marvelforlife2008 @ali-r3n @shenevertricks1831 @luv4fandoms  @waitlalice​

“Will y’gotta hold still,” Eddie sat on the bed wrangling Willow attempting to tame the chaos of curls she inherited from him. “Willow Joan if you don’t sit still-“

“Sowwey daddy,” the girl finally settled between his knees, a Barbie in hand. Eddie took the spray bottle to her hair, the fine mist dampening the copper locks. Another hand gathered the ringlets and attempted to create a ponytail. Every time he thought it would look good, a chunk of hair would fall out of the hair band. Willow enjoyed having her hair played with and didn’t mind it taking ten times longer than when you fixed it.

“God, how does your mom do this,” Eddie huffed, taking the hair bow out of her hair. You turned the water off in the shower and stepped out into the steamed room, Eddie hearing you and calling out “Baby! Can you help?” You let out a laugh. “Jesus Christ you need like three hands to do this.”

You wrapped your robe around you, tying the sash tight while pushing the door open and allowing the steam to drift into the bedroom where the Munson duo sat. Eddie looked relieved to see you. He had tried to help out the best he could but that Munson hair was just hard to tame.

Things had moved fast, faster than you anticipated. After an eventful night of trick or treating, Willow and Eddie had fallen asleep on the couch. You couldn’t bear to tear them apart and instead covered them up in their spot. You thought that would be the only time but slowly Eddie started spending the night. After bath time and stories, you and Eddie would sit on the back porch sipping on something a little stronger than Willow’s apple juice and talk about your day, it was only natural that eventually he would follow you upstairs and fall asleep. “Just like old times,” he would mumble when his head hit the pillow. The few nights in mid-November he had to go to Indianapolis to talk with the record company about the next album, you tossed and turned all night. You couldn’t sleep without him next to you. Definitely just like old times. By Thanksgiving, Eddie had a drawer in your room and with Christmas rolling around he was almost completely moved into the house.

You shooed Eddie from the spot on the bed, spritzing her hair a few times and gathering the hair into a ponytail, setting down the spritzer, and grabbing the comb. You raked the teeth through her roots, gathering every strand into your grasp. Finally, you wound the pink elastic around the curls a few times until it was secure. Eddie stared, his mouth hanging open in disbelief at how easy it was for you.

“Why can’t my hair look like daddy,” Willow patted at her smoothed-out mane, pouting at you.

“When you get back from gramps house today I’ll take it down and show you how to headbang, ‘Kay?” Eddie crouched down to her level, offering her his fist. Willow butted her tiny fist against his with an enthusiastic head-bob.

——-

“What about this?” Eddie held up a little denim jacket with a grin. “I can put patches on it. Start her own little punk jacket.”

“Yes because the Wiggles are so punk rock,” you rolled your eyes as he placed the jacket in the buggy. “Seriously Ed. What are we getting her for Christmas this year?”

The two of you had been to every toy store in the area. Searched high and low for a toy she didn’t already have, or a type of clothing article she would wear. At the moment she was very into trying to look like her dad. It was adorable.

“I dunno,” he shrugged, moving to another clothing rack to look through the pink frills. “We could give her a brother or sister.” He offered with a smirk.

“Oh no, she just got potty trained. I am not about to start changing diapers again so soon Munson,” you lightly shoved the shopping cart into his leg. “Besides, I’m going to be married the next time I have a kid.”

“S’that so?”

“Plus, I am not about to go through another pregnancy in the god-awful Indiana summer,” you hadn’t been paying attention to Eddie as you rambled. All you could think about were dirty diapers and the exhaustion that came with being heavily pregnant during the hottest months of the year. “It’s pure torture, absolute- what the hell are you doing?”

Eddie was caught, emerald stone in the palm of his hand when you turned to face him. He had his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth trying to concentrate on holding the ring and clasping the necklace around his neck. “Give me a minute,” he struggled and eventually got the clasp fixed. He extended his hand, your old ring sparkling. “Y’said so yourself- you wanna be married before we have our next one.”

“So you thought it would be a great idea to propose to me in the Walmart toddler section?”

“I figured I’d give it a shot.”

“You are unbelievable Eddie,” you shook your head, leaning back and gazing at your ring. “I’m not accepting, you’re gonna have to do better than this.”

“Oh c’mon bug, you know you wanna,” he taunted you, pushing the stone closer to you. “Pretty sure everyone already thinks we’re married anyway.”

You pushed his hand away, frowning. “Seriously Eddie. I want you to propose to me for real. Not just offering me my ring randomly. Make it count this time…”

You watched him frown, lips turning into a pout as he placed the ring on his pinky finger. All you could do was roll your eyes, pulling him in for s tiny peck on the lips. “Don’t propose on Christmas either, you’ve already done that one.”

“Jesus Christ, why are you making this so hard?”

——-

Multicolored lights wrapped around the tiny front porch banister, reflecting in the eyes of Willow and Dustin as they sat outside watching Eddie shovel the driveway. Dustin was supposed to be helping but of course, the minute Will laid eyes on him he couldn’t do anything else.

“Y’know I would appreciate it if you would, I dunno, grab a shovel and help out,” Eddie barked, leaning against the Station Wagon.

“Who’s gonna watch the little princess?”

“Her mother, who happens to be inside.”

“I wanna be out hewe with you,” Willow shifts in Dustin’s lap, trying to look at her dad. “Daddy?”

“Yeah, princess?”

“Awe you almost done?”

“Almost baby, I gotta few more feet to go. Y’wanna go inside where it’s warm?” He could see the pink creeping up her nose as she shook her head. Recently she had become clingy to both of you, you weren’t sure what it was. This week it was Eddie’s turn, she only wanted him to cuddle and play with. Sighing Eddie put back the shovel where he found out, bounded up the stairs and scooped his kid out of Dustin’s lap. “C’mon kiddo let’s get you some hot chocolate.”

You were curled up in the chair, a fluffy blanket pulled into your lap delving into a book when the front door burst open, bringing in wintery air. “Fair maiden, would you be so kind to make a hot beverage for us wearily travelers?” Eddie called from the doorway, stepping out of his boots. You glanced up smiling at the sight. Willow was wrapped in different blankets, only her fave could be seen. Eddie had snow in his hair and all over his jacket. Dustin looked fine, just a little cold.

“There’s some ready in the kitchen with some marshmallows ready for you.”

Willow yelled out what you assumed is a “huzzah” as the trio trampled into the tiny space. You turned your attention back to the book in your hand and tried to reinvest yourself into the story.

“So how’re you gonna propose to her?” Dustin asked, looking at the calendar on the wall. It had started to fill up with dates, December 31st circled in red and in Eddie’s sloppy handwriting ‘Corroded Coffin playing @ Hideout 4 NYE show’

“Well I was going to do it on Christmas morning but she shot that idea down real fast,” he sighed, watching Willow sip her drink. “I dunno, maybe it’s too soon. Maybe I should wai-“

“Do it New Year’s Eve, at the Hideout. See if Wayne or her mom will watch Willow for the rest of the night and when the countdown starts to happen, propose.” Dustin shrugged finally peeling his eyes from the calendar on the wall.

Eddie turned to Willow, eyes bright with the idea. “You can’t tell mommy what you heard, ‘kay?”

“Okay daddy,” she nodded her head, curls bouncing everywhere.

[feedingtheflockministry]

Ashes to Beauty - Sara

Presented with the teachings of the Quran and the Bible, Sara had to decide which path she would choose.

[sys8]

We feel pain inside, we feel fear inside, we feel sad inside, we feel happy inside, we feel love inside, when we feel everything inside than when it comes to see truth we search outside???

[lucabyte]

siffrin starts the game with oddly empty pockets for a rogue who has a habit of stashing away every little trinket that isn't nailed down

and a hardy pocketwatch is an indispensable tool for oceanic navigation