#religious influence

[alwaysbewoke]

An influential conservative think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration if the former president returns to power, according to documents that we obtained. Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America (CRA). He’s rumored to be a potential chief of staff if Trump returns to the White House. Vought – who served in Trump’s first admin – has remained close to the former president and hopes to elevate Christian nationalism as a focal point in a potential second term, according to two people familiar with the plans, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal matters. One document drafted by CRA includes a list of top priorities for a second Trump term, including “Christian nationalism,” invoking the Insurrection Act on Day One to quash protests and refusing to spend authorized congressional funds on unwanted projects, a practice banned by lawmakers in the Nixon era. Vought also: ➡️ has said immigration requirements should include whether that person “accept[ed] Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history” ➡️ has a close affiliation with Christian nationalist William Wolfe, a former Trump admin official who has advocated for overturning same-sex marriage, ending abortion and reducing access to contraceptives ➡️ is advising the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which would usher in one of the most conservative executive branches in modern American history. Proposals include repealing LGBTQ+ rights, increasing abortion surveillance and defunding Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, CRA is already influencing Trump’s positions. His thinking on withdrawing the U.S. from NATO and using military force against Mexican drug cartels is partly inspired by separate CRA papers, according to reports by Rolling Stone. Trump’s campaign has repeatedly insisted that it alone is responsible for putting together a policy platform and staffing for a future administration. They declined to comment. So did Vought.

x

so many people claim that voting for biden would somehow be immoral given what's happening in gaza, but what these people fail to realize is that there are numerous issues at play. biden is at the top of the hill of shittiness; however, at the same time, we simply cannot allow what the right has planned to be carried out. it would not help gaza, and it would surely make life here worse for everyone, including those who want to see a free palestine.

[tmarshconnors]

"Christianity is not a white man's religion. And don't ever let anybody tell you that it's white or black. Christ belongs to all people! He belongs to the whole world!"

November 7, 1918

Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.Died

February 21, 2018 (aged 99) Montreat, North Carolina, U.S.

Billy Graham was a significant figure in American religious history. Here are five facts about him:

Global Evangelist: Billy Graham was one of the most prominent Christian evangelists of the 20th century, known for his powerful preaching and ability to reach large audiences worldwide. He held numerous crusades in countries around the globe, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and many others.

Adviser to Presidents: Graham served as a spiritual adviser to several U.S. presidents, offering them counsel and prayer. He was particularly close to Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. His influence extended beyond religious matters to political and social issues.

Founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA): In 1950, Graham founded the BGEA, an organization dedicated to spreading the Christian message through various means, including crusades, television, radio, and publications. The BGEA continues to operate today, promoting evangelism and discipleship worldwide.

Author and Speaker: Graham authored numerous books on Christian living, faith, and spirituality. His writings reached millions of readers globally and continue to inspire people with his message of hope and salvation. Additionally, he was a sought-after speaker at conferences, universities, and churches, where he shared his insights on Christianity and contemporary issues.

Interfaith Bridge Builder: While firmly rooted in his Christian beliefs, Graham was known for his efforts to foster dialogue and understanding between different religious groups. He met with leaders from various faith traditions, including Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, to promote peace and cooperation. Despite theological differences, he emphasized the importance of mutual respect and cooperation for the greater good.

[canisalbus]

wait... Machete was inspired by Nine Inch Nails? hell yeah. as a fellow NIN enjoyer i'm curious to know what specifically about NIN inspired Machete, if you don't mind me asking?

Machete as a character wasn't inspired by it, but I've mentioned that he likes NIN in the modern au.

[magnolia-sunrise]

what have you gotten yourself into, lover mine?

~

my homage to the history of homoerotic depictions of St. Sebastian, featuring none other than Bastien <3 this piece is inspired specifically by depictions from Guido Reni and Roberto Ferri, as well as James Clifton's paper on "The Erotics of the Axillary Pose"

[ranminfan]

He was always joyous and cheerful, except when moved to compassion at anyone’s sorrows

This is completely out of the blue but I figured it'd be a peaceful process making this. I'm practicing on his looks.

[aiscapades]

the unnamed mc believed their curse formed a holy groupmind.

if mc's curse affects everyone the same way, is it too presumptuous to say they may have killed several people? maybe even hundreds if their temple served a larger population?

they may have used their curse haphazardly, convinced distorting the minds of others was somehow a good thing.

but what if the curse doesn't affect everyone in the same way? mr chokey was jeff-the-killer-ified due to it, but maybe that doesn't happen to everyone. if it did, why would any religious organization think it appropriate to use on its patrons? unless it's a very out-there cult, i suppose + it's also not unheard of for sermons to get a little crazy (speaking in tongues, exorcisms, snake churches, etc) so maybe unnamed mc's superiors thought the curse's effects appropriate after all?

so then how many people did they touch? just a few? dozens? hundreds? did all those touched have to be killed, or did they kill others? was every sunday at church a bloodbath???

how much blood is on the unnamed mc's hands????

did the alchemist and the hound have specifics like that in their background? lmk pls!!

[inkperch]

Random headcanon:

Okay, so, I'm firmly on team 'Clara and Odette were adopted in hell' because like... It's a show about found family. Healthy relationship with an adopted family unit being the reason the main cast eventually win seems on brand, and a lot less convuluted than the shananigans it would've taken for both her human biological daughters to end up in hell and managing to find her. (plus I have a shitton of Carmilla hcs that don't have much room for her to be a mum when she was alive, but that ain't the point here)

I was rewatching the scene just before Whatever it takes, and I noticed that Odettes horns seem to be a headband, and obviously Out For Love made it pretty clear that Carmillas are just how she styles her hair. Meanwhile Clara's (as far as I can tell) seem real.

Odette and Carmilla both started wearing horns to make Clara feel better about her real, actual ones.

[thevelaryons]

Addam & Jon Parallels: 3/?

Seeking the Old Gods for guidance

[rongzhi]

kind of a hot take and maybe a bit offensive and blasphemous: confucianism was? is? kinda... off putting,, i find it weird that this guy existed in a point in time irl, and now we've come to think of him as a god figure?? he was real, and was probably a normal dude who got some different ideologies that people supported, and then now there's a religion. it's sus, not like muhammad from islam or moses from the bible, we have no tangible records that those people existed at all, or if they were of real people they dont have dates and times or documentation besides the scripture. perhaps this is something unique to china in the sense that their religions kind of have dates and that existence is not just confined to religious scripture if you know what i mean?? laozi, the founder of taoism, possibly exists in some accounts, and in others he is immortal, but its possible to think the guy existed.. idk sorry if this makes no sense to you.. i'm not even going to open the can of worms that is cultural minorities and their religions that i do not have the authority to even speak of knowledgeablely?? china is a melting pot of socio-cultural stuff i couldnt possibly understand without actually being there and i acknowledge that as an agonostic diaspora with one lone braincell that blasts rasputin all the time

actually wouldnt it be funny if elon musk started his own religion like confucius or whatever i think that would be funny i wouldnt call it a religion itd be a cult and an mlm simultaneously

This took a hot second to reply to because I went down oh so many an unnecessary side quest. But is it really a reply from me if I don't talk about something else instead?

--

I am going to put this in the nicest most neutral way possible because a) I got nothing going on at this particular time, and

b) to your credit, I feel like you could hear yourself in your head sounding dumb as hell but just decided to hit snooze on those alarm bells and sent me this ask instead of turning to google first:

confucianism was? is? kinda… off putting,, i find it weird that this guy existed in a point in time irl, and now we've come to think of him as a god figure??

Confucius (Kongzi) did not start a religion. Confucianism is a school of philosophy first and foremost. He may be somewhat mythologised as a major historical figure, sure, but his primary influence is that of a philosopher and as the "father of Chinese ethics". He is revered as a great thinker, not a god. Comparable example: Socrates.

Confucianism is not a religion the way you might be thinking about it. There may be folk religion/religious practices that go into it, as Confucianism in Chinese society is heavily blended with aspects of folk religion, Buddhism, and Daoism, but Confucianism is not like Christianity where the namesake was/is deified by its followers.

In fact, fun fact, this was so much so the reality that was a point of criticism against Jesuit missionaries in the Ming Dynasty and perhaps a contributing factor (in addition to fundamental culturally-based world view differences) for why the Jesuits failed so hard at converting the Chinese masses to Catholicism/Christianity; they would try to explain Jesus in terms of Confucius teaching, and in turn, Confucius, which those who rejected the Jesuit teachings found incredulous.

---

Side note time! when it comes to Confucius and what he said about religion/spirituality，he's often quoted as saying "敬鬼神而远之", "respect gods and demons/spirits from a distance", which, fun fact, Matteo Ricci (Jesuit missionary) uses in an argument to piggyback off the Chinese understanding of spirits to explain the Holy Spirit (i.e, the more important spirit to be worshipped who, unlike ancestor (spirit) worship, is the key to salvation) in his book "The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven", written in Chinese. He points to the quote by Confucius as paradoxical because Confucius confirms the existence of spirits and encourages ancestor worship but also says to distance spirits, which, from Ricci's POV makes no sense if the point of ancestor worship is to curry favor with the spirits.

故仲尼曰：「敬鬼神而远之。」彼福禄、免罪非鬼神所能，由天主耳。而时人谄渎，欲自此得之，则非其得之之道也。夫「远之」意与「获罪乎天，无所祷」同，岂可以「远之」解「无之」而陷仲尼于无鬼神之惑哉？(source, 581) So Confucius said: "Respect gods and demons/spirits from a distance". Happiness, position, and longevity and absolution [of sin] can only be handled by God. Yet contemporaries flatter [the spirits of ancestors] to obtain their [favor], but this is not the way to do it. This "from a distance" and "when you sin against Heaven, [there is] no one to pray [to]" are the same. How could "from a distance" and "there is no [gods and demons/spirits" trap Confucius in [the puzzle] that there are no gods or demons/spirits? (^rough translation)

What I feel he takes out of context is that in the source of the idiom, Confucius is responding to a student who is asking him what the meaning of knowledge/wisdom/intelligence is. His full response is "务民之义 敬鬼神而远之 可谓知矣", "The meaning is to serve the people. Respect gods and demons/spirits from a distance—this could also be called wisdom". Confucianism generally holds that ancestor worship and similar rituals are necessary to society but that religious fanaticism and superstition should be discouraged. To Confucius, worship to spirits based on etiquette (which is respectful) are important to creating a stable and peaceful society. Devout belief/zealotry/fanaticism and indulgence in gods/demons/spirits/superstition is profane, so one should keep their distance and stick to rational respect for spirits (ritual). This is how Confucianism can actually be compatible with Christianity, although from Ricci's standpoint, he sees contradictions in Confucius because to him, ancestor worship to curry favor rather than worship to god IS the superstitious behavior and is blasphemous in the face of his god.

Fun food for thought aside, if you're wondering: Jesuits mostly got for milked for hundreds of years for their knowledge of things relating to science and math, which the Chinese considered as being part of knowledge that was once known but then lost in earlier dynasties due to political instability. Then ironically their favor began to decline when the Manchus instated the the Qing dynasty and in an effort to obtain more support from their Han subjects, adopted Confucianism philosophies more strictly.

---

Basically, most of your vague questions here could probably be cleared up if you read up more on what Confucianism actually is and what its relationship to Chinese society is.

I can understand how this might be confusing if you are diaspora but grew up agnostic and only have the vague framework of, let's face it, Christianity in western society to base your understanding of religion off of, but I don't think it's thaaaaat unique to China for historical figures to be mythologised, either as the center of religions, folk religions, folk lore/legend, philosophies, or religious philosophies. Siddhartha Gautama and Jesus of Nazareth, for example. The Catholic saints. (Edit: also, Muhammad did exist historically and there's decent evidence to suggest that Laozi did as well, though these were not their birth names most likely).

[scratching92]

So I mentioned this on the discord, but I was looking up possible inspirations for the name SUMMUM as a name for a decorp group (apparently it was actually a backer suggestion that was also the name of a server for a while? Anyway,) and one of the first results I came across was this wikipedia page for a... religion? Cult? Tax evasion scheme? (admittedly those things have a fair bit of overlap) that was led by a guy who went by the name, and this is not a joke, "Summum Bonum Amon Ra".

I just absolutely lost it imagining some dude who's, like, really into decorp, but it's Okay Actually, Because I'm Actually RA. Like, some guy who either claims to be some manifestation of RA or will eventually join with RA, which is why he needs to - and is perfectly okay to - break the First Contact Accords. I doubt this is what the backer who came up with the name ever possibly intended, but it's pretty funny.

[bleakbluejay]

i am so tired of people referring to din djarin's religion/culture as a cult

oooooh scarrryyy a faith built on helping/strengthening their community, rescuing and protecting orphaned children, carrying weapons and armor (to protect against their ongoing genocide), never taking their helmets off (to protect against their ongoing genocide), and a solitariness from the outside world (to protect against their ongoing genocide)

bo-katan i am coming for your ass for starting this discourse

[solradguy]

I'm so grateful that the only GG fans that care about the light novels are the ones that can be normal about things because Lightning the Argent goes from the rawest scenes of carnage imaginable to Ky Kiske doing something mildly religious like offering a short, silent, prayer for someone that got mangled to death by WMD dragons, and I just know that, in the wrong hands, those brief religious moments would generate the most annoying goddamn memes you could ever imagine

[peggingprowl]

Hi. I've been having Rodimus/Rung thoughts today while at work <3

CW: dubcon/noncon, weird religious stuff

I have a very specific scene in my mind of Rodimus in Rung's office, upset (something bad happened on an away mission? Something 'tramatic' enough for him to be forced by Medical to go)

Regardless, he doesn't want to be there. And he tells Rung just as much. But he feels *very guilty* and insecure about his leadership skills etc. and the LAST thing he wants to do is to *talk to Rung about it*

Rung Does Not Let Him.

He's his favorite after all. He can't leave him like this, so sad and unable to see how brightly he shines. (If I do this right, it should be just a... tad unsettling)

So Rung breaks down those walls. Rodimus tries to bluster and pretend he's perfectly fine, but Rung can see right through him. Rodimus is getting defensive and a bit angry. He gets up to leave, but he's unable to. Next thing he knows, his head on Rung's lap as he soothingly pets him, cooing about how special he is.

And Rodimus is confused, just like, how do you know? What would you know? And Rung gives him a little indulgent smile and tells him that of course he knows. He chose him, after all.

This confuses Rodimus, obviously. But the way Rung is petting him is so nice... And he's practically melting at the praise that Rung is raining down on him. He's never felt so relaxed, it's so nice, he didn't realize he was so tense....

And huh. What do you know. Rung continues to pet him, moving down and soothing him, practically giving him a massage now, and that, combined with the praise he keeps cooing at Rodimus is starting to charge him up.

He feels a bit embarrassed about it, but Rung reassures him that it's okay, he's doing great, he's so beautiful and perfect. He's doing *exactly* what Rung wants. And it feels so, so, nice,and Rodimus is practically floating.

Rung smiles again and asks him something like "Now be my perfect Prime, and open that panel for me. Let me take care of you"

And Rodimus does. In fact, he was only intending to open his interface panels, but whoops, he's opened his chest panel as well and now his spark is showing. He goes to close it, but Rung stops him.

Rung reaches up one hand up to it and remarks about how it's judt as beautiful as he remembers (which, Rodimus doesn't think Rung's ever seen his spark? But then Rung *caresses his spark* and he's completely forgotten about it)

So now Rung is playing with Rodimus' spark at the same time he's slowly fingering Rodimus, all the while he's peppering him with praise. And Rodimus is GONE. He's left orbit. Nothing in his processor except praise and pleasure.

And Rung is *so* delighted. THIS is how his favorite Prime should be, should feel. He's so happy that Rodimus is letting him do this for him. (Is he, really though? Does Rodimus want this? Or has Rung simply forgotten how much his will can influence the world? Does the fact that Rodimus carried the Matrix leave him more susceptible to his influence? Or maybe it's none of these at all.)

Regardless of what the answer actually is, he continues, it doesn't matter in the end when he has Rodimus panting on his lap, overwhelmed with pleasure. And he will gladly lead his precious, favorite Prime into overload. Rodimus has the best, most processor-blowing orgasm of his fucking LIFE. and the last thing he remembers seeing, with how floaty and pleasure-hazy everything was, was Rung smiling above him.

When he next wakes up, he's alone in his berthroom, no evidence of what happened on his frame and uncertain on if it actually happened. The more he wakes up, the less he remembers, until only a vague sense that *something* happened with Rung, possibly? Eh, doesn't matter. what he DOES notice is that he feels... A lot better now? It's like he has a voice in his head whispering his doubts away. It's nice. He's happy, and ready to get into whatever their next adventure is. And when he's racing about the ship, he speeds past Rung, and he takes a moment to wave, his spark skipping at the smile Rung sends back

[femmeidiot]

getting people into the things I like is so crazy like having someone be like introduced to a new kink because of me is wild n crazy actually

[wafffffl]

aziraphale’s actions in the last episode make so much sense when you consider that every fan’s reaction to angel!crowley has been a unanimous “OMG he’s so BABY! HE USED TO BE SO INNOCENT AND HAPPY he didn’t deserve to fall 😭😭💕” because you can bet aziraphale is exactly the same way, but without the audience’s understanding that turning crowley back isn’t going to fix it

[analgravee]

i love danero man