#purpose of religion

[youweremyversaillesatnight]

okay i don't know how wild of a take this is, but hear me out.

cassandra is not the god. kristen is.

now, in terms of game mechanics, that's not true. cassandra is very clearly a god, and kristen is her cleric and follower. kristen gets her powers from cassandra, cassandra gets worship from kristen (and presumably other people who kristen is recruiting).

but that's not how their relationship works.

gods also get power from their followers, you know? they get power from the worship they receive. except kristen isn't really doing a lot of worshipping right now. but you know who is? cassandra. she is begging, praying, for kristen to talk to her, to take time out of her day and all her responsibilities, to listen to the person that has put their faith in her. as much as kristen has faith in cassandra (even if she isn't actively recognizing it), cassandra has faith in kristen.

You don't have to be sorry. Hey, not too many people believe in me, but I believe in you. You brought me back, and I know you've been having a hard time, but when you're in the dark, I'm there holding your hand, okay?

in the last couple episodes, we've seen a lot about how kristen (and maybe craig) are the only ones keeping cassandra from oblivion. normally, it would be well within a god's power to strike down, to smite, anyone they wished, including one of their own followers. but if cassandra hurts kristen, she dies. meanwhile, kristen holds a very god-like power in her hands. she's already killed one god by rescinding her worship. she could very easily kill cassandra.

I see what you're saying. Yes, we are holding you from oblivion, and we're just kinda not doing a very good job right now. That's what you're kinda trying to tell me.

gods are busy. they try to listen to prayers, but they're so very busy and important. all cassandra has right now is kristen. that is her sole focus (aside from maybe not dying). kristen is busy. she ignores cassandra. cassandra texts kristen's friends to try and get kristen to talk to her. in that first episode or two, cassandra is desperate to be heard, to have a conversation, and kristen, who holds all the power, keeps shutting her down.

20 texts in a row saying, "Is Kristen mad at me?" From a goddess.

it isn't that kristen doesn't care. of course she does. gods always care. but her domain is mystery and doubt. she doesn't have all the answers. she isn't omnipotent. she is a teenager who has been thrust from clericdom to sainthood to godhood and she doesn't even know it.

kristen isn't the one bleeding red light. cassandra is.

if you're a cleric, and you let your god die, that's a failure. if you're a god and you let your cleric die, what is that?

[prokopetz]

Realistically, future archaeologists will probably figure out quite readily that you had yourself buried with a bunch of weird, anachronistic junk in an effort to deliberately confuse future archaeologists.

There is, however, a reasonably good chance that they'll invent a whole religion out of thin air to explain why it was important for you to confuse future archaeologists.

[solargeist]

conman priest scar accidentally finding out the religion is real bc he makes out with god in a confessional

[nobledragonflying]

my two cents on what kashi is that he is krishna. my evidence (as little as it is) is that krishna is often described/depicted as having blue skin and what does kashi wear?

THISSSSSSSSS (I brightened & over exposed the screenshot to see it better)

AND his rings may symbolize his previous lives/reincarnations, which he calls "adventures" because, just like krishna, kashi is a chill and wise dude. Giving out advice and is obviously way more powerful than people assume

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Magic Trick, The Prayer Card, Mikey's message

This is from a reblog on @brokenwinebox post and it was quite genius to say Carmy is holding all the cards.

The show has given us a card trick since 3x01.

This is the beginning of the trick. Chekov's gun. Telling viewers to remember your card.

Then here's the legerdemain: this same prayer card appears in Carmy's Jacket pocket when it should have been Marcus's mom's prayer card.

Carmy looks surprised at the card, flips it, and takes it in for this long moment.

The sleight of hand is that the different prayer cards appear in his jacket pocket—Mikey's card is the one that he needs the most for reflection and guidance.

This could be the card performing a magic trick of its own. Or Mikey. When this card appears, is it Mikey's spirit? Maybe Carmy did not process his grief, and it represents that. It could also represent finding purpose for those who lost their way.

Maybe a serendipitous moment and a magic trick(universe—god—Mikey) caused that Card to land in his pocket. I told someone before on here that this show has spiritual themes.

A prayer card also appears on Richie's mirror, showing that he has yet to process grief about Miky's death and has lost along the way. But later in the episode, he finds his purpose.

The other time the prayer card appears- 2x01, and it appears with the Let It RIp note- with lyrics saying candles at the altar penny in your shoe- that means prosperity in marriage.

Credit to @yannaryartside for noting this, the let it Rip note has become a string to connect Sydney to Mikey, and it started with Carmy texting Sydney before reading the note and asking her if it's okay to have it at the expo station.

Mikey is telling him good luck- go live your life! And Carmy was feeling lucky that day in 2x01. He made a business deal with Jimmy. They can continue building the bear; he wants to ask Sydney out the next moment. Something Mikey would want him to do, but Carmy, being Carmy, is pulling fake lint off his jacket, waiting for the chance. (he often plays it cool with Sydney- you should come moment he acts distracted looking at something while he asks- keep it casual, Carmy)

Sidebar: It's definitely Mikey sending a message to Carmy because in the next episode, Carmy remembers Mikey and says the taste of Chicago was really fun, and Sydney's head pops into the room at the perfect moment.

I think if Mikey is an angel, he's pointing at Sydney, and Carmy hasn't opened his eyes to see she's the one- she's the person Mikey sent. (Open up your eyes! like the song Murder for One says in 3x09 as Carmy reads the prayer card)

When Carmy takes time to read the prayer card, he puts it down. He has lost his way, and the card appears when he needs it most. As he is lost on whether he should say sorry to Claire- he's lost on how he can make it up to Sydney and tell her how he feels. He needs help with Sydney being his muse. As with @vacationship post- Are we surprised one of Sydney's hair scrunchie magically appears in his apartment when he makes a sauce based on another one of Sydney's hair accessories earlier in the episode?

Note the lyrics to the song as Carmy reads the prayer card and walks away.

There's a bird that nests inside you. Sleeping underneath your skin. When you open up your wings to speak. I wish you'd let me in. All your life is such a shame, shame, shame. All your love is just a dream, dream, dream

This is Mikey talking to Carmy in those lyrics. He's telling him to let him in- to guide him. Don't waste your life because right now it's such a shame how you're wasting it. Don't let love be a dream. Love. Don't waste the moment.

This could be the answer and guidance Carmy is searching for but has yet to see. Mikey pointed him in that direction when he inspired him enough to make his original blood orange Hamachi dish. He followed his instinct, and that led him to Sydney. If the card is about finding one's way and the card is next to Sydney's hair scrunchie, it's Mikey giving him the answer—the magic trick. It's Mikey showing Carmy his purpose.

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

I wish that I could forgive as easily

[honeyshome]

actively following the homemaker tag just gives me an easy free block list apparently.

if you see this and are a lgbtqia friendly and non-christian homemaking or homesteading or cottagecore blog, please interact in some way. my dash is in desperate need of good content.

[jitterbugbear]

a very messy linocut christmas card<33

[vlaakithsfinest]

Your tags on that Banite post are so true and perfect and wonderful I want to absorb them into my skin

My thoughts on if Gortash's worship of Bane is genuine ->

[hermes-helpol]

Sitting outside during a storm, watching, listening; enjoying the rain and the lightning and the thunder and thinking of Lord Zeus.

Thinking about his stories; what I know and how much I know I'm oblivious to. Wondering what I can learn from him. Reminding myself to research him later.

Thanking him for the storm. For every drop, every flash; every rumble.

Thunderstorms are something we have always adored both collectively with my system and together with our family/mother. But this one was truly magical because I got to experience it with Lord Zeus in mind.

I love religion 💜.

[craftingcreatures]

I feel like if God didn't want us messing with His creation He wouldn't have made the code open-source

[communistkenobi]

I really need to get more into marxist god-building. As soon as I started reading a review of Lunacharsky’s writings on how Marxism evokes religious emotion and is basically scientific theology it was like discovering what i had believed but didn’t realise it

[txttletale]

do you think a communist can be religious at all? i'm a fairly well read classical-ish mlm but i'm also deeply religious. i make absolutely no concession to or apologism for organized or statal religion of course and think they probably should've been abolished yesterday but i'm one of those creatures who can't get through life without spirituality and hear a lot from other marxists that religiosity and marxism are an untenable configuration of beliefs. not having a crisis over my faith or my marxism by the way they're here to stay as an uncomfortable marriage, i'm just curious what your thoughts on religious marxists might be (and i get a feeling you'd question the fixation on individualism i'm probably hung up on a little bit here) since you're very well articulated and have a lot of interesting things to say.

in the same article i linked, lenin opines as such:

No number of pamphlets and no amount of preaching can enlighten the proletariat, if it is not enlightened by its own struggle against the dark forces of capitalism. Unity in this really revolutionary struggle of the oppressed class for the creation of a paradise on earth is more important to us than unity of proletarian opinion on paradise in heaven. That is the reason why we do not and should not set forth our atheism in our Programme; that is why we do not and should not prohibit proletarians who still retain vestiges of their old prejudices from associating themselves with our Party. We shall always preach the scientific world-outlook, and it is essential for us to combat the inconsistency of various “Christians”. But that does not mean in the least that the religious question ought to be advanced to first place, where it does not belong at all; nor does it mean that we should allow the forces of the really revolutionary economic and political struggle to be split up on account of third-rate opinions or senseless ideas, rapidly losing all political importance, rapidly being swept out as rubbish by the very course of economic development.

so, basically--it is lenin's position that historical materialism necessary leads to atheism if applied fully--but the 'question of religion' is a fundamentally unimportant one to the revolutionary struggle. so, yeah, i think a communist can be religious.

crucially, one of the arguments made in this article is that--again, under the view of historical materialism--all religions that currently exist are the result of the material conditions they developed under. as those material conditions are abolished, the ideologies (including religions) that arose from those material conditions will follow some generations later. so a revolutionary communist can be religious, but should expect (should a revolution be succesful) that their eventual descendents no longer be religious--at least in a way we can recognize.

while i think that abolishment of religion is a goal of communism, i want to draw all attention to abolishment as aufhebung, as a creative rather than purely destructive transformation. we may well see brand new religions develop under communism, or forms of old religions that are unrecognizable in substance because they are the products of totally new material conditions. ultimately we can speculate on but not truly anticipate the religious situation of the future!

ultimately i think that in the present any religion that does not impute any truths to the material is compatible with revolutionary marxism. as lenin said, unity in opinion on the class struggle is infinitely more important than unity in opinion on the soul or heaven could ever be

[euelios]

thinking about kid feeding the puppy and sita telling him not to “give her hope”

and then the rest of the film shows you that hope is the point. maybe it doesn’t immediately change things, or even save you entirely. but hope keeps you going.

hope is what it’s all for, no matter if, when , or how it ends

[the-lesbian-orpheus]

Just thinking about episode 4 of the new doctor who season and how painfully accurate the social commentary is

[primsycoldbottles]

feels correct that porter "paladin of his (raging, conquesting, pillaging) ancestors" cliffbreaker is a white aussie . mhm yeah