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Iniquis Afflictisque:

Papal Encyclical On the Persecution of the Church in Mexico

Pope Pius XI - 1926

To the Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.

In speaking to the Sacred College of Cardinals at the Consistory of last December, We pointed out that there existed no hope or possibility of relief from the sad and unjust conditions under which the Catholic religion exists today in Mexico except it be by a “special act of Divine Mercy.” You, Venerable Brothers, did not delay to make your own and approve Our convictions and Our wishes in this regard, made known to you on so many occasions, for by every means within your power you urged all the faithful committed to your pastoral care to implore by instant prayers the Divine Founder of the Church that He bring some relief from the heavy burden of these great evils.

2. We designedly use the words “the heavy burden of these great evils” for certain of Our children, deserters from the army of Jesus Christ and enemies of the Common Father of all, have ordered and are continuing up to the present hour a cruel persecution against their own brethren, Our most beloved children of Mexico. If in the first centuries of our era and at other periods in history Christians were treated in a more barbarous fashion than now, certainly in no place or at no time has it happened before that a small group of men has so outraged the rights of God and of the Church as they are now doing in Mexico, and this without the slightest regard for the past glories of their country, with no feelings of pity for their fellow-citizens. They have also done away with the liberties of the majority and in such a clever way that they have been able to clothe their lawless actions with the semblance of legality.

3. Naturally, We do not wish that either you or the faithful should fail to receive from Us a solemn testimonial of Our gratitude for the prayers which, according to Our intention were poured forth in private and at public functions. It is most important, too, that these prayers which have been so powerful an aid to Us should be continued, and even increased, with renewed fervor. It is assuredly not in the power of man to control the course of events or of history, nor can he direct them as he may desire to the welfare of society by changing either the minds or hearts of his fellow-men. Such action, however, is well within the power of God, for He without doubt can put an end, if He so desires, to persecutions of this kind. Nor must you conclude, Venerable Brothers, that all your prayers have been in vain simply because the Mexican Government, impelled by its fanatical hatred of religion, continued to enforce more harshly and violently from day to day its unjust laws. The truth is that the clergy and the great majority of the faithful have been so strengthened in their longsuffering resistance to these laws by such an abundant shower of divine grace that they have been enabled thereby to give a glorious example of heroism. They have justly merited, too, that We, in a solemn document executed by Our Apostolic authority, should make known this fortitude to the whole Catholic world.

4. Last month on the occasion of the beatification of many martyrs of the French Revolution, spontaneously the Catholics of Mexico came to Our thoughts, for they, like those martyrs, have remained firm in their resolution to resist in all patience the unreasonable behests and commands of their persecutors rather than cut themselves off from the unity of the Church or refuse obedience to this Apostolic See. Marvelous indeed is the glory of the Divine Spouse of Christ who, through the course of the centuries, can depend, without fail, upon a brave and generous offspring ever ready to suffer prisons, stripes, and even death itself for the holy liberty of the Church!

5. It is scarcely necessary, Venerable Brothers, to go back very far in order to narrate the sad calamities which have fallen upon the Church of Mexico. It is sufficient to recall that the frequent revolutions of modern times have ended in the majority of cases in trials for the Church and persecutions of religion. Both in 1914 and in 1915 men who seemed veritably inspired by the barbarism of former days persecuted the clergy, both secular and regular, and the sisters. They rose up against holy places and every object used in divine worship and so ferocious were they that no injury, no ignominy, no violence was too great to satisfy their persecuting mania.

6. Referring now to certain notorious facts concerning which We have already raised Our voice in solemn protest and which even the daily press recorded at great length, there is no need to take up much space in telling you of certain deplorable events which occurred even in the very recent past with reference to Our Apostolic Delegates to Mexico. Without the slightest regard for justice, for solemn promises given, or for humanity itself, one of these Apostolic Delegates was driven out of the country; another, who because of illness had left the Republic for a short time, was forbidden to return, and the third was also treated in a most unfriendly manner and forced to leave. Surely there is no one who cannot understand that such acts as these, committed against illustrious personages who were both ready and willing to bring about peace, must be construed as a great affront to their dignity as Archbishops, to the high office which they filled, and particularly to Our authority which they represented.

7. Unquestionably the events just cited are grave and deplorable. But the examples of despotic power which We will now pass in review, Venerable Brothers, are beyond all compare, contrary to the rights of the Church, and most injurious as well to the Catholics of Mexico.

8. In the first place, let us examine the law of 1917, known as the “Political Constitution” of the federated republic of Mexico. For our present purposes it is sufficient to point out that after declaring the separation of Church and State the Constitution refuses to recognize in the Church, as if she were an individual devoid of any civil status, all her existing rights and interdicts to her the ac quisition of any rights whatsoever in the future. The civil authority is given the right to interfere in matters of divine worship and in the external discipline of the Church. Priests are put on the level of professional men and of laborers but with this important difference, that they must be not only Mexicans by birth and cannot exceed a certain number specified by law, but are at the same time deprived of all civil and political rights. They are thus placed in the same class with criminals and the insane. Moreover, priests not only must inform the civil authorities but also a commission of ten citizens whenever they take possession of a church or are transferred to another mission. The vows of religious, religious orders, and religious congregations are outlawed in Mexico. Public divine worship is forbidden unless it take place within the confines of a church and is carried on under the watchful eye of the Government. All church buildings have been declared the property of the state. Episcopal residences, diocesan offices, seminaries, religious houses, hospitals, and all charitable institutions have been taken away from the Church and handed over to the state. As a matter of fact, the Church can no longer own property of any kind. Everything that it possessed at the period when this law was passed has now become the property of the state. Every citizen, moreover, has the right to denounce before the law any person whom he thinks is holding in his own name property for the Church. All that is required in order to make such action legal is a mere presumption of guilt. Priests are not allowed by law to inherit property of any kind except it be from persons closely related to them by blood. With reference to marriage, the power of the Church is not recognized. Every marriage between Catholics is considered valid if contracted validly according to the prescriptions of the civil code.

9. Education has been declared free, but with these important restrictions: both priests and religious are forbidden to open or to conduct elementary schools. It is not permitted to teach children their religion even in a private school. Diplomas or degrees conferred by private schools under control of the Church possess no legal value and are not recognized by the state. Certainly, Venerable Brothers, the men who originated, approved, and gave their sanction to such a law either are totally ignorant of what rights pertain jure divino to the Church as a perfect society, established as the ordinary means of salvation for mankind by Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer and King, to which He gave the full liberty of fulfilling her mission on earth (such ignorance seems incredible today after twenty centuries of Christianity and especially in a Catholic nation and among men who have been baptized, unless in their pride and foolishness they believe themselves able to undermine and destroy the “House of the Lord which has been solidly constructed and strongly built on the living rock”) or they have been motivated by an insane hatred to attempt anything within their power in order to harm the Church. How was it possible for the Archbishops and Bishops of Mexico to remain silent in the face of such odious laws?

10. Immediately after their publication the hierarchy of Mexico protested in kind but firm terms against these laws, protests which Our Immediate Predecessor ratified, which were approved as well by the whole hierarchies of other countries, as well as by a great majority of individual bishops from all over the world, and which finally were confimed even by Us in a letter of consolation of the date of the second of February, 1926, which We addressed to the Bishops of Mexico. The Bishops hoped that those in charge of the Government, after the first outburst of hatred, would have appreciated the damage and danger which would accrue to the vast majority of the people from the enforcement of those articles of the Constitution restrictive of the liberty of the Church and that, therefore, out of a desire to preserve peace they would not insist on enforcing these articles to the letter, or would enforce them only up to a certain point, thus leaving open the possibility of a modus vivendi, at least for the time being.

11. In spite of the extreme patience exhibited in these circumstances by both the clergy and laity, an attitude which was the result of the Bishops’ exhorting them to moderation in all things, every hope of a return to peace and tranquillity was dissipated, and this as a direct result of the law promulgated by the President of the Republic on the second of July, 1926, by virtue of which practically no liberty at all was left the Church. As a matter of fact, the Church was barely allowed to exist. The exercise of the sacred ministry was hedged about by the severest penalties as if it were a crime worthy of capital punishment. It is difficult, Venerable Brothers, to express in language how such perversion of civil authority grieves Us. For whosoever reveres, as all must, God the Creator and Our Beloved Redeemer, whosoever will obey the laws of Holy Mother Church, such a man, We repeat, such a man is looked on as a malefactor, as guilty of a crime; such a man is considered fit only to be deprived of all civil rights; such a man can be thrown into prison along with other criminals. With what justice can We apply to the authors of these enormities the words which Jesus Christ spoke to the leaders of the Jews: “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” (Luke xxii, 53)

12. The most recent law which has been promulgated as merely an interpretation of the Constitution is as a matter of fact much worse than the original law itself and makes the enforcement of the Constitution much more severe, if not almost intolerable. The President of the Republic and the members of his ministry have insisted with such ferocity on the enforcement of these laws that they do not permit the governors of the different states of the Confederation, the civil authorities, or the military commanders to mitigate in the least the rigors of the persecution of the Catholic Church. Insult, too, is added to persecution. Wicked men have tried to place the Church in a bad light before the people; some, for example, uttering the most brazen lies in public assemblies. But when a Catholic tries to answer them, he is prevented from speaking by catcalls and personal insults hurled at his head. Others use hostile newspapers in order to obscure the truth and to malign “Catholic Action.”

13. If, at the beginning of the persecution, Catholics were able to make a defense of their religion in the public press by means of articles which made clear the truth and answered the lies and errors of their enemies, it is now no longer permitted these citizens, who love their country just as much as other citizens do, to raise their voices in protest. As a matter of fact, they are not even allowed to express their sorrow over the injuries done to the Faith of their fathers and to the liberty of divine worship. We, however, moved profoundly as We are by the consciousness of the duties imposed upon Us by our Apostolic office, will cry out to heaven, Venerable Brothers, so that the whole Catholic world may hear from the lips of the Common Father of all the story of the insane tyranny of the enemies of the Church, on the one hand, and on the other that of the heroic virtue and constancy of the bishops, priests, religious congregations, and laity ot Mexico.

14. All foreign priests and religious men have been expelled from the country. Schools for the religious education of boys and girls have been closed, either because they are known publicly under a religious name or because they happen to possess a statue or some other religious object. Many seminaries likewise, schools, insane asylums, convents, institutions connected with churches have been closed. In practically all the states of the Republic the number of priests who may exercise the sacred ministry has been limited and fixed at the barest minimum. Even these latter are not allowed to exercise their sacred office unless they have beforehand registered with the civil authorities and have obtained permission from them so to function. In certain sections of the country restrictions have been placed on the ministry of priests which, if they were not so sad, would be laughable in the extreme. For example, certain regulations demand that priests must be of an age fixed by law, that they must be civilly married, and they are not allowed to baptize except with flowing water. In one of the states of the Confederation it has been decreed that only one bishop is permitted to live within the territory of said state, by reason of which law two other bishops were constrained to exile themselves from their dioceses. Moreover, because of circumstances imposed upon them by law, some bishops have had to leave their diocese, others have been forced to appear before the courts, several were arrested, and practically all the others live from day to day in imminent danger of being arrested.

15. Again, every Mexican citizen who is engaged in the education of children or of youth, or holds any public office whatsoever, has been ordered to make known publicly whether he accepts the policies of the President and approves of the war which is now being waged on the Catholic Church. The majority of these same individuals were forced, under threat of losing their positions, to take part, together with the army and laboring men, in a parade sponsored by the Regional Confederation of the Workingmen of Mexico, a socialist organization. This parade took place in Mexico City and in other towns of the Republic on the same day. It was followed by impious speeches to the populace. The whole procedure was organized to obtain, by means of these public outcries and the applause of those who took part in it, and by heaping all kinds of abuse on the Church, popular approval of the acts of the President.

16. But the cruel exercise of arbitrary power on the part of the enemies of the Church has not stopped at these acts. Both men and women who defended the rights of the Church and the cause of religion, either in speeches or by distributing leaflets and pamphlets, were hurried before the courts and sent to prison. Again, whole colleges of canons were rushed off to jail, the aged being carried there in their beds. Priests and laymen have been cruelly put to death in the very streets or in the public squares which front the churches. May God grant that the responsible authors of so many grave crimes return soon to their better selves and throw themselves in sorrow and with true contrition on the divine mercy; We are convinced that this is the noble revenge on their murderers which Our children who have been so unjustly put to death are now asking from God.

17. We think it well at this point, Venerable Brothers, to review for you in a few words how the bishops, priests, and faithful of Mexico have organized resistance and “set up a wall for the House of Israel, to stand in battle.” (Ezech. xiii, 5)

18. There cannot be the slightest doubt of the fact that the Mexican hierarchy have unitedly used every means within their power to defend the liberty and good name of the Church. In the first place, they indited a joint pastoral letter to their people in which they proved beyond cavil that the clergy had always acted toward the rulers of the Republic motivated by a love for peace, with prudence and in all patience; that they had even suffered, in a spirit of almost too much tolerance, laws which were unjust; they admonished the faithful, outlining the divine constitution of the Church, that they, too, must always persevere in their religion, in such a way that they shall “obey God rather than men” (Acts v, 19) on every occasion when anyone tries to impose on them laws which are no less contrary to the very idea of law and do not merit the name of law, as they are inimical to the constitution and existence itself of the Church.

19. When the President of the Republic had promulgated his untimely and unjust decree of interpretation of the Constitution, by means of another joint pastoral letter the Bishops protested and pointed out that to accept such a law was nothing less than to desert the Church and hand her over a slave to the civil authorities. Even if this had been done, it was apparent to all that such an act would neither satisfy her persecutors nor stop them in the pursuit of their nefarious intentions. The Bishops in such circumstances preferred to put an end to public religious functions. Therefore, they ordered the complete suspension of every act of public worship which cannot take place without the presence of the clergy, in all the churches of their diocese, beginning the last day of July, on which day the law in question went into effect. Moreover, since the civil authorities had ordered that all the churches must be turned over to the care of laymen, chosen by the mayors of the different municipalities, and could not be held in any manner whatsoever by those who were named or designated for such an office by the bishops or priests, which act transferred the possessions of the churches from the ecclesiastical authority to that of the state, the Bishops practically everywhere interdicted the faithful from accepting a place on such committees bestowed on them by the Government and even from entering a church which was no longer under the control of the Church. In some dioceses, due to difference of time and place, other arrangements were made.

20. In spite of all this, do not think, Venerable Brothers, that the Mexican hierarchy lost any opportunity or occasion by means of which they might do their part in calming popular feelings and bringing about concord despite the fact that they distrusted, or it would be better perhaps to say despaired of, a happy outcome to all these troubles. It is sufficient to recall in this context that the Bishops of Mexico City, who act in the capacity of procurators for their colleagues, wrote a very courteous and respectful letter to the President of the Republic in the interests of the Bishops of Huejutla, who had been arrested in a most outrageous manner and with a great display of armed force, and had been ordered taken to the city of Pachuca. The President replied to this letter by means of a hateful angry screed, a fact now become notorious. Again, when it happened that certain personages, lovers of peace, had spontaneously intervened so as to bring about a conversation between the President and the Archbishop of Morelia and the Bishop of Tabasco, the parties in question talked together for a long time and on many subjects, but with no results. Again, the Bishops debated whether they should ask the House of Representatives for the abrogation of those laws which were against the rights of the Church or if they should continue, as before, their so-called passive resistance to these laws. As a matter of fact, there existed many good reasons which seemed to them to render useless the presentation of such a petition to Congress. However, they did present the petition, which was written by Catholics quite capable of doing so because of their knowledge of law, every word of which was, moreover, weighed by the Bishops themselves with the utmost care. To this petition of the hierarchy there was added, due to the zealous efforts of the members of the Federation for the Defense of Religious Liberty, about which organization We shall have something to say later on in this letter, a great number of signatures of citizens, both men and women.

21. The Bishops had not been wrong in their anticipations of what would take place. Congress rejected the proposed petition almost unanimously, only one voting in favor of it, and the reason they alleged for this act was that the Bishops had been deprived of juridical personality, since they had already appealed in this matter to the Pope and therefore they had proven themselves unwilling to acknowledge the laws of Mexico. Such being the facts, what remained for the Bishops to do if not to decide that, until these unjust laws had been repealed, neither they nor the faithful would change in the slightest the policy which they had adopted? The civil authorities of Mexico, abusing both their power and the really remarkable patience of the people, are now in a position to menace the clergy and the Mexican people with even more severe punishments than those already inflicted. But how are we to overcome and conquer men of this type who are committed to the use of every type of infamy, unless we are willing, as they insist, to conclude an agreement with them which cannot but injure the sacred cause of the liberty of the Church?

22. The clergy have imitated the truly wonderful example of constancy given them by the Bishops and have themselves in turn given no less brilliant an example of fortitude through all the tedious changes of the great conflict. This example of extraordinary virtue on their part has been a great comfort to Us. We have made it known to the whole Catholic world and We praise them because “they are worthy.” (Apoc. iii, 4) And in this special context, when We recall that every imaginable artifice was employed, that all the power and vexatious tactics of our adversaries had but one purpose, to alienate both the clergy and people from their allegiance to the hierarchy and to this Apostolic See, and that despite all this only one or two priests, from among the four thousand, betrayed in a shameful manner their holy office, it certainly seems to Us that there is nothing which We cannot hope for from the Mexican clergy.

23. As a matter of fact, We behold these priests standing shoulder to shoulder, obedient and respectful to the commands of their prelates despite the fact that to obey means in the majority of cases serious dangers for themselves, for they must live from their holy office, and since they are poor and do not themselves possess anything and the Church cannot support them, they are obliged to live bravely in poverty and in misery; they must say Mass in private; they must do all within their power to provide for the spiritual needs of their flocks, to keep alive and increase the flame of piety in those round about them; moreover, by their example, counsels and exhortations, they must lift the thoughts of their fellow citizens to the highest ideals and strengthen their wills so that they, too, will persevere in their passive resistance. Is it any wonder, then, that the wrath and blind hatred of our enemies are directed principally and before all else against the priesthood? The clergy, on their side, have not hesitated to go to prison when ordered, and even to face death itself with serenity and courage. We have heard recently of something which surpasses anything as yet perpetrated under the guise of these wicked laws, and which, as a matter of fact, sounds the very depths of wickedness, for We have learned that certain priests were suddenly set upon while celebrating Mass in their own homes or in the homes of friends, that the Blessed Eucharist was outraged in the basest manner, and the priests themselves carried off to prison.

24. Nor can We praise enough the courageous faithful of Mexico who have understood only too well how important it is for them that a Catholic nation in matters so serious and holy as the worship of God, the liberty of the Church, and the eternal salvation of souls should not depend upon the arbitrary will and audacious acts of a few men, but should be governed under the mercy of God only by laws which are just, which are conformable to natural, divine, and ecclesiastical law.

25. A word of very special praise is due those Catholic organizations, which during all these trying times have stood like soldiers side to side with the clergy. The members of these organiza tions, to the limit of their power, not only have made provisions to maintain and assist their clergy financially, they also watch over and take care of the churches, teach catechism to the children, and like sentinels stand guard to warn the clergy when their ministrations are needed so that no one may be deprived of the help of the priest. What We have just written is true of all these organizations. We wish, however, to say a word in particular about the principal organizations, so that each may know that it is highly ap proved and even praised by the Vicar of Jesus Christ.

26. First of all We mention the Knights of Columbus, an organization which is found in all the states of the Republic and which fortunately is made up of active and industrious members who, because of their practical lives and open profession of the Faith, as well as by their zeal in assisting the Church, have brought great honor upon themselves. This organization promotes two types of activites which are needed now more than ever. In the first place, the National Sodality of Fathers of Families, the program of which is to give a Catholic education to their own children, to protect the rights of Christian parents with regard to education, and in cases where children attend the public schools to provide for them a sound and complete training in their religion. Secondly, the Federation for the Defense of Religious Liberty, which was recently organized when it became clear as the noonday sun that the Church was menaced by a veritable ocean of troubles. This Federation soon spread to all parts of the Republic. Its members attempted, working in harmony and with assiduity, to organize and instruct Catholics so that they would be able to present a united invincible front to the enemy.

27. No less deserving of the Church and the fatherland as the Knights of Columbus have been and still are, We mention two other organizations, each of which has, following its own program, a special relation to what is known as “Catholic Social Action.” One is the Catholic Society of Mexican Youth, and the other, the Union of Catholic Women of Mexico. These two sodalities, over and above the work which is special to each of them, promote and do all they can to have others promote the activities of the above-mentioned Federation for the Defense of Religious Liberty. Without going into details about their work, with pleasure We desire to call to your attention, Venerable Brothers, but a single fact, namely, that all the members of these organizations, both men and women, are so brave that, instead of fleeing danger, they go out in search of it, and even rejoice when it falls to their share to suffer persecution from the enemies of the Church. What a beautiful spectacle this, that is thus given to the world, to angels, and to men! How worthy of eternal praise are such deeds! As a matter of fact, as We have pointed out above, many individuals, members either of the Knights of Columbus, or officers of the Federation, of the Union of Catholic Women of Mexico, or of the Society of Mexican Youth, have been taken to prison handcuffed, through the public streets, surrounded by armed soldiers, locked up in foul jails, harshly treated, and punished with prison sentences or fines. Moreover, Venerable Brothers, and in narrating this We can scarcely keep back Our tears, some of these young men and boys have gladly met death, the rosary in their hands and the name of Christ King on their lips. Young girls, too, who were imprisoned, were criminally outraged, and these acts were deliberately made public in order to intimidate other young women and to cause them the more easily to fail in their duty toward the Church.

28. No one, surely, Venerable Brothers, can hazard a prediction or foresee in imagination the hour when the good God will bring to an end such calamities. We do know this much: The day will come when the Church of Mexico will have respite from this veritable tempest of hatred, for the reason that, according to the words of God “there is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel against the Lord” (Prov. xxi, 30) and “the gates of hell shall not prevail” (Matt. xvi, 18) against the Spotless Bride of Christ.

29. The Church which, from the day of Pentecost, has been destined here below to a never-ending life, which went forth from the upper chamber into the world endowed with the gifts and inspirations of the Holy Spirit, what has been her mission during the last twenty centuries and in every country of the world if not, after the example of her Divine Founder, “to go about doing good”? (Acts x, 38) Certainly this work of the Church should have gained for her the love of all men; unfortunately the very contrary has happend as her Divine Master Himself predicted (Matt. x, 17, 25) would be the case. At times the bark of Peter, favored by the winds, goes happily forward; at other times it appears to be swallowed up by the waves and on the point of being lost. Has not this ship always aboard the Divine Pilot who knows when to calm the angry waves and the winds? And who is it but Christ Himself Who alone is all-powerful, who brings it about that every persecution which is launched against the faithful should react to the lasting benefit of the Church? As St. Hilary writes, “it is a prerogative of the Church that she is the vanquisher when she is persecuted, that she captures our intellects when her doctrines are questioned, that she conquers all at the very moment when she is abandoned by all.” (St. Hilary of Poitiers De Trinitate, Bk. VII, No. 4)

30. If those men who now in Mexico persecute their brothers and fellowcitizens for no other reason than that these latter are guilty of keeping the laws of God, would only recall to memory and consider dispassionately the vicissitudes of their country as history reveals them to us, they must recognize and publicly confess that whatever there is of progress, of civilization, of the good and the beautiful, in their country is due solely to the Catholic Church. In fact every man knows that after the introduction of Christianity into Mexico, the priests and religious especially, who are now being persecuted with such cruelty by an ungrateful government, worked without rest and despite all the obstacles placed in their way, on the one hand by the colonists who were moved by greed for gold and on the other by the natives who were still barbarians, to promote greatly in those vast regions both the splendor of the worship of God and the benefits of the Catholic religion, works and institutions of charity, schools and colleges for the education of the people and their instruction in letters, the sciences, both sacred and profane, in the arts and the crafts.

31. One thing more remains for Us to do, Venerable Brothers, namely, to pray and implore Our Lady of Guadalupe, heavenly patroness of the Mexican people, that she pardon all these injuries and especially those which have been committed against her, that she ask of God that peace and concord may return to her people. And if, in the hidden designs of God that day which We so greatly desire is far distant, may she in the meantime console her faithful children of Mexico and strengthen them in their resolve to maintain their liberty by the profession of their Faith.

32. In the meanwhile, as an augury of the grace of God and as proof of Our fatherly love, We bestow from Our heart on you, Venerable Brothers, and especially on those bishops who rule the Church of Mexico, on all your clergy and your people, the Apostolic Blessing.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, on the eighteenth day of November, in the year 1926, the fifth of Our Pontificate.

#catholic #catholic history #pope pius xi #mexico #cristero war #papal encyclical

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Castlevania Hogwarts Houses

1. Lisa Tepes

On the surface, Lisa seems like an easy fit for Ravenclaw: she loves learning and the freedom of truth. She also seems like a clear fit for Gryffindor: she’s got bravery and pluck up to her eyeballs. She’s even got Slytherin resourcefulness and loyalty.

But following a motivation model for Hogwarts Houses, Lisa is a clear Hufflepuff. Yes she loves learning and teaching, and yes she’s brave and has a clear set of morals, but her ultimate motivation is to support people, who she believes in deeply no matter their trespasses -- even to the point of getting burned at the stake. Lisa doesn’t need these people to be “hers” as a Slytherin would, and she’s not in the business of helping them for the glory (Gryffindor) or the pursuit of truth for the sake of finding truth (Ravenclaw).

Lisa does display Gryffindor and Ravenclaw traits as secondary houses. She uses wit and learning to achieve her goal of helping others (Ravenclaw), and her deep belief in the morality of what she’s doing to inspire others to join her (Gryffindor).

2. Vlad Dracula Tepes

At first glance, Vlad seems like a shoo-in for Slytherin: cunning, resourceful, and deeply loyal to his chosen family -- he’s planning to destroy the world for what they did to Lisa.

However, this behavior is only true when he’s dealing with grief. Ravenclaws -- who are masters of systems -- are known to model whatever behavior feels true to them.

We meet Vlad prior to his grief, when Lisa meets him for the first time. In this interaction, Vlad is charmed by Lisa’s wit, and entertains her different model of human behavior as interesting and valuable. It’s Vlad who has the enormous library and consistently references the importance of thought and innovation.

Even when Vlad is performing as a Slytherin in seeking revenge for Lisa’s death, he frames it as a matter of truth, Ravenclaw’s guiding pursuit: he feels he has seen the true pattern of humanity, and must act accordingly, which is performed as a Slytherin.

Vlad’s ability to take in new information, his tendency to pursue truth, and his willingness to change his view based on changes in his map of reality all put him squarely in Ravenclaw.

3. Adrian Alucard Tepes

Alucard is probably the kid who would have to weigh in on his sorting, because he could get along in any house...which is our first indicator that he’s probably a Ravenclaw. He has the resourcefulness, cunning, and loyalty to those close to him of a Slytherin, the concern for humanity at large of a Hufflepuff (and his mother), and the bravery and commitment of a Gryffindor and will use all these approaches as helpful. But, ultimately, he has constructed a view of the world that he constantly updates. This makes him -- like his father -- a Ravenclaw.

The main reason Alucard is not a Slytherin is that he is not motivated by ambition; he has no desire to be credited for his work, or to gain a position of power. He’s doing the right thing because the logical consequences of not doing it are too disastrous to avoid. It is also the right thing to do, but that is a calculated and double-checked right thing, not an instinctual one. This constructed sense of justice can serve a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw, but the ultimate benefit of the greater whole, not those closest to him, leans Alucard toward Ravenclaw.

It’s this same focus on the external, not the self, that makes Alucard Ravenclaw over Gryffindor. He is brave, but he is not reckless. Everything is calculated, including the moral argument for what he’s going to do. If he could find a way to avoid it, he probably would.

Lastly but certainly not a minor item to consider: Alucard has a love for the arts. His appearance is very carefully groomed, he has a broad knowledge of history and an admiration for innovation and skill. Based on his exchanges with Trevor, he values less educated or less introspective people as lower than those who have these capabilities. Those tastes are squarely Ravenclaw.

4. Trevor Belmont

Trevor is almost a Slytherin, because he is deeply loyal to his chosen few. He has a strong sense of what is his and is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his people and accomplish his goal.

Trevor is also almost a Hufflepuff, in that he feels a deep loyalty to the people he protects (humans, in general), even though he doesn’t particularly like any of them. Hufflepuffs don’t have to be kind; they just have to be fiercely loyal and believe in supporting people. Trevor checks those boxes.

However, Trevor lands squarely as a Gryffindor because of his chivalry and recklessness.

Trevor has a deep need for the approval of others, especially given how much he hates himself. He’s not the lauded hero fighting on morally just grounds. Honestly, Alucard does that better. Sipha does that better.

Instead, he relies on his commitment to a code of conduct, in his case the family obligation to fight vampires and protect the world (hence his overlap with Hufflepuff). He believes in this, unquestioned, the way it’s been handed to him. He also expects to receive a mixture of love and hate for following this code. All very Gryffindor.

Most definingly Gryffindor, though, is his tendency to rush into a situation without thinking and rely on his instinctive behavior and developed skills -- mostly physical strength and an ability to irritate the opponent -- to succeed. He relies on this sense of performed bravery to give himself value, even while worrying he will be abandoned. This need for bravado and outward validation are deeply Gryffindor.

Trevor would absolutely die for you, because he has no idea how to mitigate his extreme behavior or how to otherwise express affection to those he wants to be loved by.

5. Sipha Belnades

Sipha looks like a Ravenclaw on the surface: all that book learning, and hey, her robe is blue. She even has a deep interest in truth and wisdom.

But Sipha has a deep desire for legacy and power, clear traits of a Slytherin. She doesn’t just want to know magic or learn the oral history of her people, she wants to be the best. She also values her ability to adapt and solve problems, and wants the praise that goes with it. She also surrounds herself with powerful people and is constantly angling for how to get the most out of a situation.

Sipha is fiercely loyal to those she decides are hers, but has no qualms burning you to a crisp if you aren’t in that inner circle. She’s the most able to justify morally gray decisions as a means to an end and has no problem calling out bullshit or acting compliant -- whatever it takes to get what she wants. T

#castlevania #castlevania season 2 #alucard tepes #alucard #vlad dracula tepes #lisa tepes #trevor belmont #harry potter houses #sipha

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homophilus1 · 6 years

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Entry #002

Dear stranger

I’m back. Too soon? Well, I don’t care. Time doesn’t exist anyway. We all go round in circles.

It’s time to share some thoughts I had while reading the Philosopher’s Stone (yes, I decided to invoke the holy magic today. I really missed being home.)

We naturally feel a degree of empathy for Harry, so does that mean that we should strive to be more like him? Is that the right path? Is it even about the right path? What does the right path mean? And of course, it’d only be right by Rowling’s point of view, right?

Ah, cynicism. How it slips in naturally these days. They really got to me, didn’t they? And I let them. I guess it’s a choice, in the end, then. If there is no right or wrong, if there is no point to life, then everything is a choice, which has no meaning either.

I envy the lives of religious fanatics. They look happy in their blissful unawareness and blind faith. If blind faith in a text is what it takes to be happy, I’d rather it be something I agree with inherently, than fake it. I’m tired of lying to myself. It’s gonna be Harry Potter for me.

1. "...he didn’t approve of imagination.”

They don’t like imagination, therefore imagination must be good.

2. “Albus Dumbledore didn’t seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.”

Do you see? Anyone who’s different is always unwelcome. That’s part of what it means to be different, I guess. That’s exactly why the people who value your points of difference are so precious. :)

3. “I wouldn’t be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!”

“Exactly... It would be enough to turn any boy’s head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won’t even remember! Can’t you see how much better off he’ll be, growing up away from all that until he’s ready to take it?”

I hate to say this, but I must admit I agree with Albus Dumbledore, at least in this one instance. I’m very conflicted about it, though. Look, Harry did turn out to be a fine young lad. His morals were in the right place. And he was, in general, a nice guy. Someone you’d (I’d) consider to be one of the good people in this world. So, is it because he went through a childhood of humility and pain that he turned out thus? You’d say so, right? So then, is pain necessary to be a good person? Do you see what I’m getting at here? Should we romanticise pain, if it is necessary for good character? Makes me think of what it’s like raising kids in this world. “The broken are the more evoled...”

4. “Scars can come in useful.”

Need I say much more? Will you now stop caring about your face and its flaws that seem so magnified to you whenever you look in the mirror? After all this time? The different ones don’t care about the scars. (A bit of a Joker reference there)

5. “Yes, yes, it’s all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we’ll be found.”

Wizards, even when they’re so powerful, always fear persecution when they are around Muggles. What you’re feeling is normal. You’re different. It’s not your fault you feel threatened around these people.

6. “He had a funny feeling he’d had the same dream before.”

If all our dreams are a reflection of our subconscious, and our subconscious is derived from the distant conscious, then do dreams, in fact, reflect reality? Albeit in a somewhat distorted way? Does every dream mean something? Maybe that you attach importance to a particular memory, person or idea? Or at the very least, that you’re searching for answers?

7. Don’t ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

Ask questions. The curiosity has been snuffed out of you. Maybe by fear of criticism, maybe by laziness. Either way, you have to try and revive it.

8. ‘Little tyke wants his money’s worth, just like his father...’

Look, if you think about it, that’s a perfectly valid, positive way to take this entire situation. Any motivational speaker, for instance, could have derived this message and used it to influence thousands in a ted talk. But is there a clear right and a wrong beneath this ambiguity? Dudley wanting more gifts... Why is this wrong? Okay, no gratitude. Granted. But then, is wanting anything in life considered not being grateful for what you already have? In that case, are all of us in wanting more for ourselves? How is this behaviour of Dudley any different? He isn’t particularly harming someone else’s rights or well being. I mean, wanting to murder someone is wrong because the other person loses his/her/their life. But wanting more gifts? His parents can perfectly well afford to buy him gifts, in fact, they’re happy to do so (at least, externally). “It’s not nice... He’s a spoilt brat.” Why? Why, I just don’t understand why. This matter remains unresolved.

#diary #harry potter #philosophical

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mbti-comparisons · 7 years

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ENTP vs. ESTP

ESTP: Se Ti Fe Ni

ENTP: Ne Te Fe Si

ESTPs lead with Se, which is mainly concerned with absorbing information objectively from its environment using the five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste) in realtime. ESTPs are constantly seeking out new sensory experiences. Their weakest function, Ni, means that they will struggle to see the long-term implications of their actions, and are typically very impulsive. They will find the idea of sitting down and planning things out to be stifling and unnatural to their way of being. They may have a vague future goal (“I want to move to Hollywood and become an actor”), but no specific plans on how to achieve that goal - just a sense of “Everything will turn out right in the end if I just go for it”. They may decide to just wing it and hope everything works out when they get there, trusting themselves to be able to handle any complications that should arise. The combination of functions in an ESTP would fit together to create a person who is very skilled at taking advantage of environmental opportunities in the moment, but also having a tendency to be reckless and not very good at predicting long-term consequences. They tend to be quite good at identifying quick and easy ways to turn things to their advantage (usually involved with making money in some way). To an ESTP, “it is what it is”: a tree is a tree, and a church is a church; there is no underlying symbolic meaning there to them. They are frustrated by belabored analyses of ideas without action, and find it unnecessary. One thing that I noticed as a difference between myself (an Ni-dom) and my ESTP brother (Ni inferior) is that he would much rather just go for it and then correct himself in realtime if he makes a mistake or it doesn’t work out, whereas I am more comfortable being careful and planning for all possibilities from the outset in order to avoid making mistakes in the first place. ESTPs also, though they won’t admit it, tend to care very much about their social image, and may have a tendency to do recklessly impulsive things (think dangerous stunts, or that guy who shows off by doing backflips off a tree, or bragging that he can kick anybody’s ass, or buying a round of drinks for everybody present) in order to gain external validation and approval from those around them. ENTPs lead with Ne, which is similar to Se in that it looks outward towards its environment - but then Ne takes it one step further. Ne as a function is highly creative, constantly positing “What if?” scenarios, and intuiting patterns and connections in the outside world. ENTPs are highly motivated by intellectual curiosity, mostly in the realm of the abstract and unproven - they are constantly driven to learn just for the sake of learning. However, due to this thirst for knowledge and novelty, they have a bad habit of having a million different ideas and starting projects on all of them at once, but not seeing any of them through to completion. Often they are reluctant to settle down because they don’t want to feel constrained by society - they have a passion for pursuing possibilities and don’t want to be tied down by obligations (although many ENTPs do eventually end up settling down into a more traditional lifestyle eventually, as they grow older and develop their functions). ENTPs’ weakest function is Si, which can cause them to discard and under-value tradition - often they will seek change just for the sake of change itself, or be reflexively resistant to adhering to social norms. They may struggle to settle down with one partner, or one job, or one group of friends, and just be constantly rotating from one new experience/partner/career/friend group/plan/idea/project to the next. They may also have a tendency to disregard their own past experiences, failing to reflect on their actions, and doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again in favor of seeking out novelty and intellectual stimulation (until they learn better, as they age and develop their functions more). ENTPs also lowkey care about external validation from others; however, they also have a tendency to use their tertiary Fe to ‘push’ people by taunting them socially, in order to satisfy Ne’s curiosity about the patterns in their responses. They may, for example, do something zany or off-the-wall upon first meeting somebody new, or somebody who is very secretive and hard to read, in order to throw them off-guard so they can observe their response to it. Fe users are skilled at being able to 'read’ the energy of the people they’re communicating with, intuitively just knowing how to make that person angry or exactly what to say to make them laugh, and adjusting their responses accordingly.

The main difference in my experience is that ENTPs are highly creative - they enjoy art, tend to be very fluid and original with their language usage, and enjoy debating about abstract and intangible concepts. Although ESTPs are certainly capable of creativity as well (famous author Ernest Hemingway was an ESTP, for example; my own younger brother, also an ESTP, is a very talented lyricist), they would generally rather have physical experiences with their body than intellectual experiences in their mind - they tend to prefer hobbies like dancing, canoeing, martial arts, or gardening as opposed to intellectual pursuits. They are more likely to find writing or art (especially if it takes a long time) to be very tedious. They also seem to not enjoy debating very much unless it’s as a means to an end: debating to solve a problem, as opposed to debating for its own sake. They want to bond with you by doing physical activities together, where ENTPs will bond with you by discussing ideas and concepts with you (“Do you think frogs could ever love?” “How do you think humans came to be?” “Is cloning morally acceptable?” “Do you think mankind has been through several cycles of extinction because we keep destroying ourselves over and over again, and then having to start from scratch?” “If aliens exist, what do you think their society is like?”) ENTPs enjoy playing devil’s advocate, ESTPs don’t really see the point. They also tend to both enjoy using drugs, but ENTPs use drugs to explore their own mind, while ESTPs use drugs just for the pure enjoyment of the physical sensation.

#estp #entp

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theghostwritersstory-blog · 6 years

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“I WAS CHEATED ON!”

SOCIAL MEDIA-TION

Recently, while getting into a heated debate, on a popular social app, a guy decided to throw the fact that I had been “cheated on” in my face. This is a classic case of someone not having enough facts, or words to back up their debate/argument, so instead they throw insults-- what THEY consider to be insults, anyway. This is something I’m used to, being that my debating skills are pretty A1, the only thing that can stop them are usually things that have nothing to do with said topic.

Now, the back-story behind this, is that I happened to ask him about the girl my ex cheated on me with, when it first happened. Because social media makes this world very small (mutuals, subtweets, hints), I had every reason to assume he knew something about the incident. And for those of you wondering why I would ask another person, and why I would go “that far”, or be “that dumb”, just be aware if you were in my situation, and somone was going as far to hide the details from you as my ex did to me, you would understand. The last thing I thought I’d ever be doing at my age was digging for answers from a third-party source, about a man I thought I knew, but life comes at you fast.

Social media has not only made dating harder, but its made the world a lot more transparent, to an extent. And what most people don't realize about me, is that as “private” as I can be, there is really no shame in my game as far as spilling the beans on my lessons learned. In fact, it really motivates me, and lifts a weight off my shoulders.

ONCE IT’S PUBLIC, I’M SHARING

I keep a lot to myself, unless something happens in a public light, to me, or has been discussed publicly (in a way that it didn't happen). I’ve had plenty of falling outs with people that I have never discussed or posted. So what makes a situation post-able for me? If the situation causes me a great deal of trauma, or was done in a way to try and create damage in my world (publicly)... it will be turned into a discussion topic, before it can be fully let go. This is my process, and I don’t expect for everyone to “get it”.

So, the fact that this situation was made public, thanks to social media (where the girl my ex cheated with, posted him on her story for NYE) I can write about it. And as for the guy I was arguing with, that called himself “exposing” my ex? All he did was give me the green light to start my next post.

THE ‘IF I FEEL THIS WAY, YOU MUST TOO’ PHENOMENON

I’ve also learned that if something embarrases others, they assume it must be the same for you, so they project:

“Why is she telling us this?”

“Why do we need to know?”

“Why share your business?”

But their reality is not mine. It took me a long time to realize that what works for some, just doesnt work for me, and vice versa. And that usually the people projecting that onto me were going through their own internal battles and struggles, but they didn't yet feel free enough to release or share that.

Over time, I've just learned to be less judgmental as to how people decide to relieve their traumas, because I’ve realized not everyone will understand how I choose to heal, nor do I see why they care. “They” can’t see the way my life does a complete 180 when I decide to do this one simple thing, release my truth. I’ve even started to see life as a game, every time I do something outside of my comfort zone, I’m rewarded in an external way (job, money, faith). It may sound weird to some, but it’s not for them to understand.

NO SHAME, NO GAIN

I encourage women to say they’ve been cheated on, with pride, in a male chauvinistic world, that creates this double standard, insinuating women are to blame for a man’s infedelities.

And personally, I refuse to feel low because someone I was with chose to cheat, with a girl that... let’s just say was pretty “known”, and not in the best way. Social media is small, and it’s made even smaller if you’re promiscuous, male or female. (This is not me throwing shade, but this is the truth.)

Let’s just say I immediately went and got tested, just to make sure everything was ok, with ME. The only thing that I’m thankful for is going to the doctors, and being told that I was completely healthy. And no, I never got back with this person, but seeing how low he would go, and the lack of standards, made me question what was going on during the whole relationship. And I think it’s very scary how people can have you trusting them, while they simultaneously are out here putting you in danger, for their own selfish gains. But I will say, being aware of how much trusting a person can actually put you in harm’s way is very eye opening.

WHEN MEN BRAG TO “FRIENDS”

The night of NYE, my ex went on to brag to one of his “friends” about how this girl was his, “p*ssy for the night”, a disturbing phrase that I will never quite forget. My ex had convinced me that he was spending the holidays with his dying grandfather, meanwhile there he was getting spotted on social media, in other snap stories, etc.

This is where I say social media is made so small, because of course these same “friends” of his ended up getting the info back to me. My ex tried so hard to fit in and “flex” for a group of guys that always treated him like the underdog. He also went so far to attempt to hide this from me, even deleted mutuals that we had, he change his story settings, deleted posts, etc.

This person went so far to “hide” these things from me, not realizing that social media is forever, and that word travels fast. There is no “bro code” when social media is involved. Nor when you have friends that actually wish they had a woman like you had. Also, something I notice of men who openly try and disrespect women, for the attention of other men, usually get the least respect in their friend groups. These men are usually overcompensating to feel that void. He went around bragging to the same friends that told me about him being a cheater, like I wouldn't find out, how ironic.

SEEKING VALIDATION

I think it’s because certain men, especially ones with low self esteem, are constantly looking for that next badge of approval or acceptance, that they handle things the way they do. I had even seen it with the way he constantly posted pics of me on social media. He got so much validation from it, that he wouldn't even take them down once we were over. And I'm not a cocky person at all, but I definately made him look good, in every possible way.

So many people would always try to discredit him for his “looks”, and they would wonder why I was with him, but I always defended him and called these people shallow. At one point, the same friends of his that most-likely encouraged his cheating behavior, were the same ones constantly asking if I had friends for them.

Once the relationship was over and I made it clear I wasn't getting back together with him, this is when he started gas-lighting me for figuring out the truth. This was when he realized that to feel some power in the ending of the relationship, he had to turn it around on me. All of a sudden, I was “crazy” for figuring out all that this person did behind my back. I had to beg for him to take my pics down. He would say I was crazy for hitting him up to take, MY pictures down. I no longer wanted to be associated after the public incident.

GET TESTED

I told him to take down the pictures of him and I, and to post the girl he had cheated with. But this was not something he even felt comfortable even doing. But, he was comfortable when he was bragging to friends about his, “p*ssy for the night”.

He might have wanted to mention the permanent STD his new fling had, or the “bros” of his that she had slept with prior to him. But men won't mention that part will they? ‘Cause the truth doesn't sound as good as the fairytale they make up for the approval. They won't mention the TYPE of girl thy cheat with.

He didn't share the fact that the night after he cheated, when he realized this girl was only jealous of hs girlfriend, and didn't really want him... he was blowing my phone up, covering up lies, bribing me with money, backtracking all his prior statements, like I didnt know. He even tried to lie, saying he hadn't seen this girl since college.

Slowly but surely, the reality of everything I thought I knew about this person came crashing down. I had never dealt with such a pathological liar, nor had I ever seen anything like it in life. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. How do you lie about something that has been seen by so many others via socials? But it was also a relief to finally known the truth, in some odd way.

The oddest thing is, during the relationship I had great times, and shared great memories with this person. But the way a situation ends, says a lot more than what the entire two year relationship could. It took a long time to get over, because part of me was always searching for a glimpse of that loving, sweet, and always caring person that I thought I once knew. It was waking up from that illusion which caused my brief suffering.

DEVIL’S ADVOCATE: WHY SHARE THIS?

Now no one has asked me this question, but I constantly do this thing, where I play devil’s advocate with myself. It helps me get better at debating, overall, as well as having a “comeback” to questions I might be asked. Don't ask why, I just like to stay prepared . Maybe I’ve been conditioned, because I know what to expect from people -- opposition.

The reason I feel it’s so important to share the fact that my ex cheated, is because for far too long its always seemed like this is looked at as a stigma, or burden for the woman to bear. Often times, when a man is unfaithful in a relationship these are the narratives you hear:

NARRATIVES:

”She got played.”

So often in these situations, it truly comes down to the man playing himself. Nine times out of ten, at least in the situations I’ve been in, when a man cheated on me, not only did they end up begging to come back, but they ended up in situations where they actually looked stupid. Situations where they seemed to instantly realize the grass wasn’t greener. And found themselves SOL, when they thought they’d be welcomed back. And this may be my ego speaking, but I don't believe that a majority of women ever get “played”. Even if a man doesn’t attempt to come back, this isn't a measure of your worth. It could mean they have too much pride to admit they have ruined a good thing, and some men aren't mature enough to even face that reality, I'm learning.

I feel like most women uprage after situations like this (mentally, emotionally, and physcially) and end up seeing their true worth. I even used to joke and say I wanted my heart broken so that I can GLOW-UP. I’ve also noticed that in the long-run, the men that do you wrong never seem to fully get over it. Even an ex I pined over in the past, back in college, called me months ago wanting to “talk”, and I was so unfazed by his call. I ignored it. Women may hurt more at first, but men never seem to get over that hurt in the long run, I’ve realized. So who is really “getting played”? I see too many women claim and own this, when in reality it is so far from true.

“Playing” a good woman, who loved you despite your flaws, despite what you did or didn't have, and despite your short-comings, is hard to find. You may not realize it in the them moment, but a good woman doesn’t get played, she just adjusts, and gets better for the right man herself.

“She couldn't keep a man.”

We hear this all the time. It implies that to “keep” a man, you must do a,b,and c, and if you can't keep him, or his interest, you’ve failed miserably, correct? Not exactly. You see, there are women that will do everything they practically can for a man, and they still get cheated on. There is no surefire way to keep a cheater from being what he was, probably before he even met you-- a cheater!

There are even some women that turn a blind eye to cheating, as they feel like it is a prize to keep a man, no matter the cost. And I don't judge that anymore, I think everyone has their own standards, and I've learned not to judge what is acceptable in other relationships or not. Relationships are so hard to judge, because you realize that no matter how much you tell a third-party, no one can truly understand you and the bond you and that person share. I try to keep this in mind before I judge what the next person puts up with.

However, I decided a while ago that if lowering my standards when it comes to unfaithfulness, just to keep a relationship, was just not going to be my portion, no matter how deep I thought our love once was. I put up with that back in college, but I’m grown now. I don't have the same mind I once had, then.

Most men can’t keep YOU. I think most men do realize the qualities of the woman that they have, they just don’t assume that woman will ever leave them. They start to think maybe that kind of woman will come a dime a dozen, and when they see that’s not the case, they rush back. But you can’t keep me, with cheating ways. It took me a long time to realize that very literally and figuratively, men could not obtain the standards they started off with, and couldn't keep ME. A lot more women have to realize this.

I feel like when you decide to sabatoge a whole relationship for one night, that shows me where I am on the list of prioroties, and that’s unforgivable. I just try to stay aware of what I will not tolerate. And I can name a few people that would still love me in their life if I decided to turn a blind eye to their bullshit, but that’s not something my heart allows me to do. And I’m aware of the conflicts that arise form me choosing not to believe that “all men cheat”, but does that mean I stop fighting for what’s right, for me? I just don't think that’s the case.

-”She’s crazy.”

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and she joked to me,”Men will drive you to crazy, drop you off at the destination, and then CALL you crazy,” and I felt that. I’ve realized, since it’s almost expected for women to be “crazy”, this is a good word to use whenever a woman is actually being logical about something that the man doesn't want to deal with. Rarely do women wake up one day and decide to be “crazy”, out the blue. Most times, the man will just leave out all the ways in which he triggered a woman to get to that “crazy” point.

In conclusion, women go through a lot at times. Including being made a villain in situations that a lot of us are actually victims to. And no this isn’t insinuating that all men are bad, and women are good. It just seems like on a large scale, men forget that women often get tired of them too. Women lose interest and feel like cheating, and sometimes we’d like to see how other guys differ from the man we are with, but most times I see us women staying loyal. And it’s just assumed that “men will be men”, and have their fun.

To any woman that relates to my story, just know you aren't alone.

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ramialkarmi · 7 years

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San Francisco biohackers are wearing implants made for diabetes in the pursuit of 'human enhancement'

Paul Benigeri, a lead engineer at cognitive enhancement supplement startup Nootrobox, flexes his tricep nervously as his coworkers gather around him, phones set to record the scene. He runs his fingers over the part of the arm where Benigeri's boss, Geoff Woo, will soon stick him with a small implant.

"This is the sweet spot," Woo says.

"Oh, shit," Benigeri says, eyeing the needle.

"Paul's fine," Woo says. "K, ooooone ..."

An instrument no bigger than an inhaler lodges a needle into the back of Benigeri's arm. Woo removes his hand to reveal a white plate sitting just above the implant. Benigeri smiles.

"You are now a tagged elephant," Woo says, admiring his handiwork.

"A bionic human," says Nootrobox cofounder Michael Brandt.

In San Francisco, a growing number of entrepreneurs and biohackers are using a lesser-known medical technology called a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, in order to learn more about how their bodies work. They wear the device under their skin for weeks at a time.

CGMs, which cropped up on the market less than 10 years ago and became popular in the last few years, are typically prescribed by doctors to patients living with diabetes types 1 and 2. They test glucose levels, or the amount of sugar in a person's blood, and send real-time results to a phone or tablet. Unlike fingerstick tests, CGMs collect data passively, painlessly, and often.

For tech workers taking a DIY approach to biology, CGMs offer a way to quantify the results of their at-home experiments around fasting, exercise, stress, and sleep.

"The main thing I want to better understand is, how different things I do affect my glucose levels," Benigeri says. "I noticed when I fast or eat a low or controlled amount of carbs, I don't get into that state of sluggishness and fullness. I feel light and crispy and on my feet."

His new CGM is just one way Benigeri is making his way towards "human enhancement," as he puts it.

Nootrobox is developing a direct-to-consumer line of nootropics, or "smart drugs," that claim to improve cognition. Instead of drinking coffee to wake up, customers might swallow a pill that supposedly boosts clarity, energy, and flow, according to the company's website.

The startup's San Francisco office doubles as a makeshift laboratory where employees run biohacking experiments on themselves. For example, about a year ago, the majority of the company's 13 employees stopped eating on Tuesdays.

The team subscribes to an increasingly popular diet called intermittent fasting, which involves going without food for anywhere from hours to several days. Woo and Brandt talk ad nauseam about its benefits, from weight loss and increased focus to disease prevention and longevity.

"I thought it was impossible until I actually tried it," Woo told Business Insider in 2016.

He explains that it's one thing to read "don't eat added sugar" on the internet, eat sugar, and feel crummy. It's a whole different experience to wolf down a Double Whopper, a side of fries, and a Coke and watch your glucose level spike in real-time via a continuous glucose monitor.

That's exactly what happened on a recent trip to Boston. When Woo's glucose level spiked to nearly triple his average reading between meal times, he excitedly texted Brandt. It seems obvious that eating Burger King would flood his system with sugar, but the instant feedback he got from seeing the monitor validate this hypothesis filled him with delight.

"I think there's enough things in the world that just kind of tell you, 'Do X thing and you'll live longer.' As engineers, it's always — test hypotheses and measure," Woo says.

In the same way that wearing a Fitbit can be motivational for meeting daily fitness goals, Woo believes wearing a CGM might reinforce good behaviors around eating.

"Actually quantifying a lot of the conventional wisdom around diet is super valuable for me to be like, 'OK, this is not just some snotty doctor trying to tell me something,'" he says.

The devices are relatively small and inconspicuous. Brandt compares the pain of installing a CGM to getting pricked by a Christmas tree needle. The fear of the pain is worse.

Getting a CGM isn't easy if you're not diabetic. Patients usually need a doctor to prescribe them the device. They also have to go over the results with their doctor. The FDA has approved only a small handful of CGM models as replacements for fingerstick tests for diabetes patients.

Most entrepreneurs I spoke with said they bought their CGMs from European vendors on eBay or got them under the table from friends working in health.

Kevin Rose, the cofounder of Digg and a serial entrepreneur, was prescribed and wore a CGM for a brief time. Like Nootrobox's Woo and Brandt, he got one for the love of data. Rose fasts for 16 hour a day and recently created an app, Zero, to help others do the same.

excited for you all to see the next Random Show (out soon) — @tferriss and I get super geeky into real-time blood glucose/ketone levels

— Kevin Rose ⛩ (@kevinrose) April 22, 2015

"I'm somewhat a little bit of a 'body hacker.' I like to try out different things to see how it impacts my overall wellbeing," Rose told Business Insider earlier this month. "I put [the CGM] on and I wore it for about a month. When I did, I would throw everything at it."

He drank a glass of pulp-less juice just to watch his glucose level go "through the roof."

Patrick Collison, CEO and cofounder of mobile payments startup Stripe, said on Twitter in 2016 that he bought a FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System in Europe. Collison does not live with diabetes, he said, but has become interested in glucose monitoring since learning how different foods affect insulin response, which is regulated by blood sugar levels.

This quantified-self continuous-blood-glucose-monitoring malarkey all sounds so great 'till you face it up close. http://pic.twitter.com/aTJrrerw11

— Patrick Collison (@patrickc) August 3, 2016

At Nootrobox, the team calls out their glucose levels like they're reporting high scores on a video game they all play. Benigeri knows the new head of operations is the person to beat.

Woo turns to me and says, "It's not a competition."

"But it is," says an employee sitting at a desk behind him.

Vicky Assardo, director of public affairs at Abbott, a biotechnology company that manufactures the CGMs used by Nootrobox employees, said she could not comment on the use of the FreeStyle Libre in the US, where it is currently under review by the FDA.

The early adopters believe if they can access the data around their own glucose levels and take action to lead healthier lives now, their efforts may help them stave off obesity, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases in the future. They expect CGMs to become more common.

Benigeri, who typically fasts for 36 hours twice a week, is used to inquisitions from family whenever he starts up a new routine. He sheepishly admits that his mom made him see an "external doctor," outside the physicians at Nootrobox, before installing his CGM.

"I think a lot of this plays into what we're seeing come true: humans are the next platform, which is something we've been saying since we started the company," Brandt says. "We are generally pretty healthy people, and we want to be even better."

SEE ALSO: This CEO of a 'smart drug' startup fasts for 36 hours straight every week — here's his routine

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