#establishing religion

[vivika-ka]

fixated on the fact that Luffy’s heartbeat is referred to as “drums of liberation,” which means Law not only held the divine instrument of freedom in his hands, he also healed it.

[hezuart]

Something I was curious about is that you say Hazbin and Helluva don’t follow religious or biblical accuracy, but you seem to forget that it’s not supposed too. It’s Viv’s own spin on biblical things so of course it won’t be biblically accurate.

I’m not trying to be mean or degrade you in anyway I just don’t get why you think it needs to be accurate to religion.)

Because Viv's spin on the religion and its figures is like this

[i-want-to-be-a-poet]

God is dead and i wear his skin

[variousqueerthings]

there’s so many ways that queerness exists in texts, unintentionally and intentionally, coded and uncoded and partially coded and baited and confused and limited and expansive, and then there’s whatever is happening with Hawkeye Pierce, M.D. of the 4077th MASH unit

[hippolotamus]

Fuck it Friday 🫦

Starting things early (it’s Friday somewhere, right?) with some more of the Eddie wears lace fic (prev snippet here) since that’s apparently where my brain lives now 🫠

It doesn’t help that Buck is so goddamn confident and sure of his own kinks. Since long before they got together. Eddie’s definitely been on the wrong end of hearing about them played out with past relationships and hookups enough times to know.

Not that he ever thinks Buck said these things to hurt him or make him jealous. Regardless, the point is that he feels like they’re unmatched in this particular department. The sex is incredibly hot and Eddie is usually on board with whatever Buck wants to try. By that reasoning it shouldn’t be a problem the other way around.

But this isn’t lusting after his best friend (which came with its own set of ingrained beliefs to work through). This isn’t even wanting to be spanked or restrained. Or discovering how much of a relief it can be to submit to his boyfriend when the world is too much and he just needs someone else to take over. No, this is something else altogether.

This is Edmundo Diaz — a man raised on the ideology that boys don’t cry, don’t become romantically involved with other boys, and they certainly never show interest in anything girly or feminine — deliberately wanting to cross that imaginary gender barrier. To reconcile former soldier, father, and firefighter with the current iteration who wants to slip on lace panties once in a while instead of his everyday briefs. Even if just to find out if he would like it or not. Though he strongly suspects he will.

no pressure tagging @thewolvesof1998 @daffi-990 @disasterbuckdiaz @wikiangela @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @stereopticons @elvensorceress @giddyupbuck @monsterrae1 @spagheddiediaz @spotsandsocks @forthewolves @chaosandwolves @wildlife4life @heartshapedvows @loserdiaz @your-catfish-friend @statueinthestone @buddierights @911onabc @hoodie-buck @the-likesofus @fionaswhvre @barbiediaz @eowon @ladydorian05 @honestlydarkprincess @spaceprincessem @pirrusstuff @steadfastsaturnsrings @jesuisici33 @apothecarose @rmd-writes @welcometololaland @lizzie-bennetdarcy @watchyourbuck @exhuastedpigeon @weewootruck @underwater-ninja-13 @messyhairdiaz @gayedmundodiaz and anyone else who wants to 🥰

[hoexist]

In another life, where I entered the seminary and became a priest, I would have spent this evening taking confessions. I would have prayed solemnly, given kind words, issued penances, smelled the wood and the candles and the stale incense as I sat in the semi darkness, eyes closed, slowly getting warmer. And when that sweet angel, my last confessor, finally arrives, my eyes will only open when I hear her kneel, smell her through the confessional screen.

"Bless me father for I have sinned, it's been one week since my last confession."

"Let us pray. Tell me your sins, child."

"Father, I confess to the sin of lust, and to adultery. I have -" Her voice catches.

"What have you done?"

"Sir I... I have long desired someone. I have prayed over this desire for many months, asking God to take it from me. And so far I had met God's test with strength. But I - last week, I went to him. I confessed my lust, my sin. And together we gave in."

"You allowed him to take you?"

"Yes. We took each other, Father."

A long silence. I sigh heavily, disappointed, pushing the silence into tight, twisted tension.

"This is a most grave sin, as I'm sure you're aware. Grave sins require serious penance."

Her breaths can be heard now. "Yes Father. I will accept anything you chose to give me."

"Tell me, when you committed your adultery, was there evidence left on your body?"

"Yes Father."

"For your penance, you are to pray a novena. For nice days, you will come to the church in the evenings and together we will pray for your forgiveness. Because you hid your sinful desire from God and the world, you must not be allowed to conceal anything further. You will pray your novena naked as Eve before the fall, and like her you shall become free of all sin."

I can practically taste her by now. Her breathing is hard, eyes wide enough that I can almost see them through the screen.

"Yes, I will. Thank you Father."

"Do you have any other obligations this evening?"

"Only you."

"Then we will begin tonight. Do you know your act of contrition?"

"Yes Father."

"Then let us pray."

And for the first time that day, I would pray in unison with a confessor, our voices layering and mixing.

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen."

Another silence as the Spirit passes between us, the seal of the sacrament settling.

She gives a last shaky breath and stands from the wooden kneeler, not yet sore. The door of the confessional opens and closes, and I hear her deliberate steps towards the front of the church. I sit in the confessional for a while longer, praying, basking, knowing she is kneeling again.

After about 20 minutes, I stand and leave the confessional. The sight that greets me is sublime.

She is kneeling in the front right pew, just off the aisle. Her dress, something long and floral, is draped over the back of the pew. From the confessionals at the back of the church, I can only see the back of her head and shoulders. Visible on one shoulder is a vicious bite, a nasty circular bruise with a reddish patch in the center, just beginning to turn green at the edges. Her hair is twisted tightly into a clip at the back of her skull.

I walk slowly, deliberately up the aisle, wood heeled shoes echoing with each step. She does not move from her prostrated position, hands praying and head bowed. More of her back comes into view, and with it broken blood vessels from a flogging wrapping across her body. They extend all the way down her thighs, and I savor the sight as I stop to stand just next to her lowered head. Her eyes are closed.

Without saying anything, I'd kneel as if to genuflect and reach down behind her and stick two fingers in her wet, hot cunt. She's already soaked, wetness clinging to her public hair and beginning to dampen her thighs, as I know she has been since she left for confession.

She gasps, but her hands stay clasped and eyes stay closed.

"You know, penance is meant to be a punishment. You suffer, and through your suffering and the surrender of your pain to God, come to find redemption."

I twist my fingers, finding that electric spot that makes her weep, and now her eyes are open as she pants up at me.

"Please Father. Ah! I - please Father wash me clean of sin."

With my other hand I grab her hair and bring our faces together, air mingling.

"What am I to do with you? You confess, you complete your penance, you appear sincere and heartily sorry, and yet each week have more to confess. I'm beginning to think you're nothing but a dirty slut, a filthy thing only fit to be used for pleasure by your betters." I give her head a shake. "What do you think?"

"Yes sir, yes please I am a whore, I'm a lusting slut and I can't stop, please, please Father forgive me -"

I pull my fingers out and undo the clip already slipping from her hair to grab a better fistful of it, hauling her to her feet. The only things on her body are her shoes and a small scapular depicting St. Agnes of Rome around her neck. Patron saint of virgins. I love her sense of humor.

Holding her hair at waist level, she is forced to lean over and stumble as I drag her up the steps of the alter, to where the crucifix stands tall behind it. I push her to her knees in front of it.

"Stay. Look only at Him." I pointed to Jesus on the cross.

Obediently she sits, legs apart, staring up. I want to the vestibule, open a cabinet and remove a heavy wooden box. From it, I take two hanks of rope and a heavy scourge. I leave the steel cilice in the box for tonight.

Outside the vestibule she is still staring at the cross, having relaxed slightly.

"Stand."

She looks up at me and stands, mischievous smile brightening her face. I smile back, and with the hand not holding the rope and scourge, gently caress her cheek. She leans her face into my hand, and I kiss her gently, softly, slowly and deeply. She is so tender under my touch.

After a long while, I pull back. Her eyes flutter open, and watched as I draw my hand back and slap her, hard, across the same cheek I held. She nearly falls, but I grab her by the arm and quickly begin a simple single column tie.

"I did not tell you to look away from God." I reach up and tie the tail of the rope to an arm of the cross. "You will stare into the face of Our Lord as he was crucified and you will contemplate his suffering and death. I can only hope it will teach you some reverence." Her other wrist is now also tied to the cross and she stands in front of it, arms outstretched, mirroring and nearly embracing the bloody and tortured body of God.

"Thank you Father."

"Good girl." She whimpers.

Walking behind her, I begin to swing the scourge. She can hear it cutting through the air, and just once I bring it down with an almighty whack on the alter. I laugh cruelly as she jumps and gives a small scream.

I take a deep breath and smile at the ceiling, thanking God and Satan for delivering this lost lamb to me.

"Let us pray."

~ Fr. Marino

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Elizabeth Weiss

Published: Jan 20, 2024

Recently, the Navajo Nation has embarked on a mission to stop flights to the moon, especially those intending to deposit human cremated remains (commonly referred to as “cremains”). The Navajo Nation regards the moon as sacred, arguing that depositing cremains—or any objects, for that matter—constitutes an act of desecration. This controversy centers around the Peregrine Mission 1, a NASA-spon.sored expedition to the moon. Two private companies, Celestis and Elysium Space, plan to use this mission to transport the cremains of individuals who opted for a lunar resting place.

Upon receiving a letter from Buu Nygren, the Navajo Nation’s President, the White House convened a meeting to hear their objections to those flight plans. Although the White House correctly concluded that the government did not have the authority to stop the flight or hinder the private companies’ plans, one may wonder why these religious concerns of the Navajo Nation were ever seriously considered in the first place. Typically, the U.S. government refrains from interfering in scenarios where religious beliefs are at stake, as evidenced by the longstanding conflict between fundamentalist Christian creationists and the teaching of evolution in schools.

Yet, the case appears different when it involves Native American traditional religions—a loosely defined amalgamation of beliefs, often intertwined with Christian elements, and lacking formal sacred texts. In these instances, the US government has been bending the First Amendment of the Constitution so greatly that it is bound to snap.

The First Amendment of the US Constitution clearly states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This means that the federal government should be neutral towards all religions, avoiding favoritism to any denomination. Although the U.S. Government generally avoids supporting or discriminating against specific religions, as demonstrated by the diverse holiday displays ranging from nativity scenes to the Satanic Temple altar in Iowa, traditional Native American religions have been the exception to this strict adherence to the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

This exception is evident in NASA’s collaboration with the Navajo. In NASA’s 108-page education guide, “Story of the Stars,” intended for “Classrooms and Community-Based Educational Events,” Navajo religious beliefs are treated as being of equal importance to NASA’s scientific research. On page 3, the guide contains a statement from the Navajo: “We are the Holy People of the Earth. We are created and placed between our Mother Earth and Father Sky.” Further evidence of religious support in this guide is a story stating, “After the creation of the Earth, sky, and the atmosphere, the Holy people realized the whole university was entirely dark.” It is interspersed with tales of sacred directions, seasons, beliefs, and rules of life. Notably, in the acknowledgements, Leland Anthony Jr. is listed as the project’s “spiritual advisor.”

Given this content on NASA’s website, it’s hardly surprising that the White House would hastily convene a meeting with the Navajo Nation to consider the validity of objections to moon flights. However, these considerations favor one religion and teach one religion, thereby violating the US Constitution.

Another example of the Federal government showing a denominational preference appears in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Enacted in 1990, NAGPRA aids in the repatriation and reburial of human remains and artifacts deemed “sacred,” or as grave goods, or objects of cultural patrimony. A specific instance of this favoratism within NAGPRA is the requirement that at least 2 of the 7 individuals on the review committees “must be traditional Indian religious leaders.” Additionally, each NAGPRA meeting begins and ends with a “traditional Indian prayer.” For example, Armand Minthorn’s prayer at the January 5, 2023 meeting started with, “Today, as we come together, we thank our Creator for our life, our family, and our friends. And we ask our Creator today to give us strength and courage to go on and go forward.”

Perhaps most troubling is the acceptance of Native American religious creation myths as evidence for present day tribal affiliation to past populations. These tales have been leveraged to empty museums and universities of research collections–collections that might otherwise contribute to advancements in forensic identification techniques, aiding today’s Native American crime victims.

Final examples of the US government supporting Native American religions involve discriminatory practices based on sex. For instance, at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, religious traditions led Inuit elders to forbid female archaeologists from handling certain artifacts. Similarly, when the California Department of Transportation archaeologists collaborated with the Kashaya Pomo tribe, the tribe’s religious protocols dictated that menstruating women be isolated, prohibited from conducting fieldwork, kept away from Native elders, and forbidden from talking about spiritual topics!

It is time for the US government to stop its unconstitutional denominational preference of Native American religions. Stopping these preferences would uphold the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, protect scientific endeavors, and prevent discriminatory practices.

==

You shouldn't be any more comfortable with the Navajo making demands based on their religion than Xianity or Islam. Being loosely defined and vaguely "spiritual" doesn't change any of that.

Imagine an Orthodox Jew dictating "that menstruating women be isolated, prohibited from conducting fieldwork, kept away from Jewish elders, and forbidden from talking about spiritual topics" and being able to get traction and compliance from the government (and government institutions).

Your religion's rules apply to you, not me. If your religion forbids putting cremains on the moon, don't send any cremains to the moon. If your religion demands the moon be honored, go honor the moon. Over there.

[the-n3w3st-g1rl-g1rl]

I'm realizing that the fact that Rudy and Noelle call Kris "Krismas" implies that Christmas is still a thing in Deltarune's universe. Like, it's not called something else or anything. So even though their religion centres on an Angel, I guess Jesus is still part of at least a religion in their world idk I'm tired

[buttercup-barf]

Under the cut are mostly self-insert doodles of decreasing quality. Again, not much directly tied to Team Fortress 2. Might as well toss these out while I have no access to my puter. Much yapping under the cut and in the tags incoming.

Another self-insert, this time less of a "here's me as a tenth class" and more of a "here's my game experiences translated into the class I would take the place of". The Cleaner. Although I guess they could still be wearing either suit. It doesn't matter that much.

That one Convict's Case taunt with Backup would be extremely funny, because the man would be on the verge of a breakdown (he does not want to go to jail so bad you have no idea). The second image- I owe no explanation. You know what I am. You see the pattern with my favourites.

The duality of the man. Resting face versus "just heard you express interest in religion/Russian folklore" face. He's not that hard to make friends with, when you pull him away from all the explosions.

Some doodles of trying to figure his face out. Unfortunately, the more I stare at him, the more I worry that he looks like A Certain Guy With The Last Name "Kazarin", and the fear of never being original in my life caught up to me.

Don't look at me, don't perceive me, I refuse to explain any of my actions to you.

[vanilladella]

my sisters are making fun of my interests again but like. theyre making fun of the ancient greek instead of warrior cats n like cmon guys. thats one of my cooler interests let me have somethin here

[cringeisfreedom]

People need to stop making up rules for things that don’t need rules

This in general but mostly I mean with moral superiority/purity. With a general decline in religion and with the enforcement of religion people are making up new things to be unnecessarily rigid about. I think this especially because I’ve noticed this in far left spaces and among the same groups that are very anti-establishment and government/religion.

Guilting people for things beyond their control is also wrong and not much better than religion just because it’s less systemic. So hot take maybe people should be less rigid about moral rules and beliefs

[lord-squiggletits]

I know there are as many religious good guys as there are religious bad guys in IDW, but I think I pinned down the reason why it feels like the most prominent religious figures are all bad guys and it's pretty much due to the worldbuilding.

Maybe my memory of the comics is just really bad, but the religious worldbuilding in IDW is....kind of trash honestly. I'm not sure there's a single religion or religious custom that doesn't exist solely to further the plot along. Like, it's one thing for the Camiens to worship the Primes and that causes a lot of stuff in exRID/OP, but what does that worship actually look like? What are their holidays, customs, religious texts? What about "spectralism" which basically the only thing we know about is the Festival of the Lost Light and some hippie color coding and aura shit? Like sure, there are characters who are religious and their beliefs come into play sometimes, but it honestly feels (especially in MTMTE) more like their religiousness only exists when it's relevant to the plot and it's just kinda. Disappointing eh. Lacking in worldbuilding. Plus the more religious a character is the more it's written as their entire personality and the driving force making them evil so it just kinda made me cringe to read honestly.

[pendragora]

Hello Lena! Decided to drop in to say hi and ask you if the weirwood leaves change colour. Are they always red or do they turn yellow or something too? Do the leaves bleed like the carved faces?

Omg, hi, Zae <33

Thank you for dropping in, that's very sweet of you 🥺

If we talk canon, there is no information of the weirwood leaves changing colour. They are always described as trees with white bark and bloody red sap (hence why the faces bleed). The description of the leaves also uses the "blood-red" colour, so I doubt it does change to any other colour in any other season. I think that it is all symbolic that the sap flows through the tree just like the blood through a person, and the leaves feed on the sap instead of the sun, which allows them to remain red in every region where we see a weirwood tree

My personal headcanon that the leaves do not bleed, but they are very sticky because of the sap. There's also evidence that weirwood trees lose the leaves in freezing temperatures because the haunted forest beyond the Wall where the Nightwatch speaks their vows is bare, only the faces indicate that those are the weirwood trees

[fideidefenswhore]

things that make you go hmmm.

[askdacast]

Just re-read Symposium of Post-Mysticism. Man, it's such a weirdly timeless book, and equally insightful no matter whether you read it as a simple lore book or purposeful commentary on real life.

Also, Miko is really mean, and Kanako is really sassy. Poor Byakuren.

The only thing I ever had complaints about - and still do - is how the three big leaders define religion. Both Miko and Byakuren define it as a philosophy, whereas Kanako defines it as a system of understanding the world with its own internal rules, much like science and magic/the occult. Kanako gets it closer than the other two imo, but all three focus on the idea of religion as being an individual pursuit, rather than also being a system that creates and structures cultures. Which is ironic, considering how much Kanako keeps talking about the transactional relationship between humans and gods, and how all three keep talking about how their presence determines the fate of humans, youkai and Gensokyo!

ZUN is both a STEM guy at heart and as far as everyone knows non-religious, but he always has a lot to say about our modern world's relationship with the unknown and the supernatural, and that's what makes Touhou so strangely insightful. Nevertheless, the dichotomy between the individual and the collective in what constitutes religious practice is a very modern idea, and equally reflective of the new ideals of contemporary society. It feels a lot like SoPM is just as reflective of ZUN's (and our own) modern ideas of what religion means to us, or what the supernatural means to us now in an age of rationalism. I could be talking nonsense here, given that I'm not the Japanese-born person making video games about Japanese culture (and come to think of it ZUN is not wrong in describing general trends regarding the supernatural in Japan). But it still seems like ZUN/Kanako almost underestimate the power of belief in people when they mention humans' wish for the supernatural despite no longer "believing" in them. New religions/cults exist, and are powerful. Belief itself is no longer a straight dichotomy of "I believe/don't believe this is real," especially not with youkai and other supernatural creatures which have created such popular followings and ways of consumption.

Or, you know, the three leaders were purposely written to be arrogant and not really understanding humans. That's also a running gag in the text.

[per1w1nkl3]

yes o'brien must suffer but sometimes,,, he also risks getting some. slay miles slay!