#reconstructing Christianity

[thereconstructinggirl]

He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? (‭‭‭Micah‬ ‭6‬‬:‭8‬ ‭NRSVUE‬‬)

[sparrow-the-tired-lesbian]

Sometimes I think about how the vast majority of western Christians that I’ve ever met use their religion as blackmail and really don’t care much about their God nor their people, and the vast majority of Hellenic Polytheists I’ve met have been kissed by the gods and seek to share that joy through love and compassion.

[depressionanddeconstruction]

God is using this podcast to heal me and breathe new life into my queer christianity. Can't recommend it enough.

[exvangelical-christian-nerd]

This journey of deconstruction and reconstruction is so freaking hard. It's painful taking a sledgehammer to walls that I've spent years designing and building with great care and painstaking craftmanship. I know their wood's rotten and they need to go but it still hurts. Then I finally reconstruct, repaint, and redecorate, only to find out that part of the foundation is faulty. Then I have to tear that stupid wall back down. And sometimes...sometimes I just don't want to anymore. Sometimes it's hard to rebuild after tearing something down for the hundredth time.

And then when I do work on it, people that I respect and care about attack it. They tell me I'm doing it wrong, or that the foundation wasn't actually cracked, or throw things at the walls to see if they knock them down. And sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're telling me the wood of my house must be rotten because it looks different than the wood of their house, which stinks of rot.

It's exhausting. It's a fight. It sucks. But I do believe it's important, so I keep going. I keep building.

[00waywardalma00]

When I started my devotion to Santa Muerte, I didn’t want to include any of the Catholic elements to this practice. But after some research and reflection, I was able to come across those who practice Folk Catholicism and seeing how they deconstruct and reconstruct the faith has helped me on my perspective on the matter. On this Easter I would like to think that with the help of Death, Jesus became who he is today. Santa Muerte is not some demon in disguise, she is a Mexican folk saint with so much to offer and teach. For those you observe the holiday, have a great Easter! And for those that don’t, may you have a relaxing Sunday! 💐💀💐

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Modern Digital Reconstruction of Constantine the Great.

Constantine the Great, born in 272 AD, rose to prominence as a Roman Emperor.

His reign, beginning in 306 AD, marked a transformative period in Roman history.

Constantine is renowned for embracing Christianity, a shift that played a role in ending the persecution of Christians with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.

While Constantine did not specifically establish Christmas, his influence on Christianization of the Roman Empire laid the groundwork.

The exact origins of Christmas on December 25th are complex and not directly attributed to Constantine.

The date may have been chosen to coincide with existing pagan festivals or to integrate Christian celebrations with the Roman solar festival of Sol Invictus.

Constantine's role in promoting Christianity, however, contributed to the broader cultural shift that influenced the eventual establishment of Christmas as a Christian holiday, emphasizing the significance of his reign in the development of Christian traditions.

📷: ©King Chronicles

[mali-umkin]

Bha mi a' leughadh postan gnàth mu "pàganachd Ghàidhlig/Cheilteach"- tha fios agaibh uile dè tha mi a' smaoineachadh mu dheidhinn - agus bha na daoine ag ràdh gu bheil tha iad ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig a chionn 's gu bheil iad ag iarraidh "bruidhinn ris na seann diathan anns a' chànan a thuigeas iad". An uair sin bidh iad a' bruidhinn mu dhiathan a bha ann ron chòigeamh linn. Gu dearbh, bha crìonadh pàganachd mean air mhean, ach Gàidhlig? A charaidean, cha tuigeadh diathan pàganach 10 sa cheud den Ghàidhlig, agus tha mi glè fhialaidh

[thereconstructinggirl]

Obligatory Pinned Post

Hey y'all I'm Madeline (she/her). I've created this blog as a way to document my reconstruction journey. I hope that as I write and think that someone who also believed they had to leave because either they are queer or questioning or lost someone dear to them can resonate with my story.

This is a side blog, and I will follow from an old main account called linniewritesficz.

While I often contemplate going to seminary, I only have a minor in Religious Studies. I do not claim to be an expert or a clergy person and will not operate as such.

I believe in therapy, but I am not a therapist. I will attempt to offer advice when I see fit but please always seek out a professional.

I am about to begin the process of getting confirmed in the Episcopal church! While the trauma I experienced in my teenage years is still there, I haven't felt true acceptance like the kind I feel in my local church. I'm really excited to join it.

I am also a practitioner/mystic/witch and am learning how to syncretize that practice into my re-emerging faith. I'm reading a lot about St. Hildegard at the moment.

I am queer. It is a big part of my identity. This is a pro queer pro trans blog, and I will not tolerate any form of homophobia or transphobia.

This is also a pro choice, pro palestine, pro BIPOC, leftist blog. I believe in healthy discourse and respectful discussion, however zionism, islamaphobia, anti semitism, racism, or any hatred/discrimination for people who are historically marginalized will not be tolerated.

I'm so excited to engage on this journey and document it in a way that makes sense for me. I hope to connect with like-minded people and find the community I needed a long time ago.

[the-hermit-at-midnight]

I used to live my life by a clock. The ticking, relentless march of time marked by Sundays and holidays. It was a life punctuated by guilt and obligation. The pressure to conform, to believe, to behave in a certain way was suffocating. Then, I found myself on a different path. A path that led me away from the noise and into a world of ancient wisdom. A world that revolves not around a man-made calendar, but the rhythm of the Earth itself. Druidry has been a balm to my soul. It's a spiritual path that honors nature, ancestors, and the interconnectedness of all things. At its heart is the Wheel of the Year – a cyclical understanding of time that celebrates the Earth’s journey through the seasons. There’s a profound peace in aligning my life with the natural world. No longer am I a prisoner to the artificial constructs of modern society. Instead, I find myself in harmony with the ebb and flow of existence. Imbolc, the beginning of spring, is a time of hope and renewal. It’s when the land begins to awaken from its winter slumber. Beltane, the peak of spring, is a celebration of fertility and life. Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, is a time for gratitude and abundance. Lughnasadh, the first harvest, is a moment to acknowledge our reliance on the Earth's bounty. Mabon, the autumn equinox, is a time of balance and reflection. Samhain, the end of the year, is a time to honor our ancestors and prepare for the cycle to begin again. These are just a few of the sabbats that mark the Druidic year. Each one offers an opportunity for introspection, celebration, and connection to something larger than myself. It's a way of life that is both grounding and inspiring. Leaving behind the rigid structure of Pentecostalism was a daunting task. But in its place, I’ve found a spiritual path that resonates deeply with my soul. The Druidic Wheel of the Year has become a compass, guiding me through the complexities of modern life. It’s a journey of discovery, a celebration of nature, and a deep connection to something ancient and eternal. Have you ever considered exploring the Druidic path? What resonates with you about the Wheel of the Year?

[mamaangiwine]

hi! i noticed in your pinned post that you said you try to include your hungarian heritage when it comes to your craft. may i ask for some recommendations regaring this? i'm hungarian myself but everything is about catholicism these days and i couldn't really find good books about the old ways.

thank you in advance, hope you have a wonderful day!

Oof. Idk if I can really provide recommendations tbh- at least not comfortably.

This is a tricky question as I am someone who supplements much of her craft with academic literature and research. Things like anthropological studies, folkloric studies, historical papers, etc.

However, there has in fact been an ongoing reframing of history in main-stream Hungary since the 1970s, influenced by nationalist rhetoric and spurred by a romanticized view of that history started by academics as early as the late 1800s .

These academics, inspired by the current European Romantic ideology of the time, sought to uncover the "true" history of Hungary that would illuminate the pre-conquest ethnic and cultural practices of ancient Hungarians. Though there are many notable academics we can trace back to the foundation of this reframing, one of the most well known is Vilmos Diószegi.

Diószegi worked incredibly hard to prove that Hungary's spiritual history was tied to a mysterious historical figure called a 'Taltos'. It was Diószegi's belief that the 'Taltos' was a Finno-Urgic-based, Turkic style 'shaman' who assisted in priestly duties in their respective communities and used a drum to enter an ecsatcy induced trance. Diószegi would even go on to theorize what the Taltos 'shamanistic world view' would have entailed. However, many scholars, including Éva Pócs, doubt these theories and have pointed to inconsistencies in Diószegi's research and reconstruction. Though there was undoubtedly Turkic influence, these scholars suggest that the Taltos has more in common with pre-christian Balkan, Bulgarian and Southern Slavic traditions.

Now, overall there wouldn't usually be a problem with that. Disagreements happen in academia all the time. The issue is that Diószegi's work is treated as absolute, and is the basis for most modern Hungarian paganism and reconstruction due to the unique ethnic and cultural identity it can provide. A cultural identity Hungarian Nationalists love to hold up on a pedestal and point to as evidence of a glorious and mystical past that existed before Christianity and, of course, Jewish People.

Therefore, when studying Hungarian paganism and folk practices one has to be discerning. Despite Diószegi's influence on Hungarian Academia as a whole, it doesn't mean it's all without merit (it doesn't necessarily mean all of Diószegi's work is completely without merit either, just that it shouldn't be treated as gospel especially with the inconsistencies surrounding it and the romantic european foundation it was already working from). For instance Mihály Hoppál's work has been known to research not only "modern" (60's and 70's) Hungarian folk practices, but source them by region. I've learned much from his detailing of Hungarian folk practices- I just don't take everything he has to say as fact. I question it and compare it with other research- rigorously.

As for the Catholic element of Hungarian practices, my personal take is this: Embrace it. That isn't to say that you should become a Christian or even agree with Christianity. Despite the fact that I, myself, am not Christian, I personally just find it unrealistic to separate the two. Christianity has been established in Hungary since the year 1000. Over that time the 'old ways' and Christian practices have undoubtedly been syncretized past the point of being able to concretely tell them apart. This is the fundamental problem I have with reconstruction as a whole, because much of it tries to simply omit Christain concepts from folk traditions without, ironically, realizing that in doing so we may be equally erasing pre-christain approaches and philosophies. They're just too entwined. My closest ancestors were catholic as opposed to pagan. Granted, weird catholics who saw things and knew things, but catholics none the less. Their history and traditions are just as valid, and are also just as important as the pre-christian beliefs that undoubtedly found themselves braided into that same history and those same traditions.

I'm sorry if this doesn't really answer your question, but regardless I hope you found it helpful.

[theprodigals]

the more time goes by the less interested i am in ever returning to the evangelical chuch

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

Well, all we know is it's the ancestor of all languages and originated in the Middle East, so maaaaaybe it sounded like Middle Eastern languages. I think it'd be fun to attempt to reconstruct it, even though that'd probably fall short for obvious reasons.

But it’s not the ancestor of all languages. That’s the thing. It was a language, and then God created entirely new languages so unrelated to one another that the speakers could not communicate with each other.

Even in distantly related languages, speakers can pick up bits and pieces of meaning; heck, even German has some Arabic words in it.

I simply don’t think it resembled anything in the ancient world, much less anything we speak today.

[roseverdict]

.

[lukaszmichal]

RIP to all of you Americans who grew up Evangelical and now have religious trauma, but I’ve been raised Evangelical in Eastern/Central Europe and grew up to hear stuff like

“Our church’s doctrine is obviously not perfect”

“There are more things that we don’t know about the Bible than those we do know”

“Conspiracy theories about ‘demonic vaccines’ are an affront to Christ’s power”

[regarding undocumented migrants] “I prefer to be gullible than cruel”

“If you’re gay and came to the conclusion that it’s OK for you to be in a relationship, we cannot force you to think the way we do. You’re still part of the crew anyways”

so yeah, I think being a statistically insignificant minority really helps staying decent.

[olekciy]

A replica of the cross found during the excavation of the sarcophagus in the Vydubychi monastery. Beech.

[fandfnews]

Hungary Helps Jordan: Tristan Azbej’s Mission in Amman Strengthens Peace and Christian Support