#reliigon

[simply-buddhism]

[revenant-coining]

btw. i find theology cool and use 2 be chrisitan so. angel hierarchy genders coming soon

[eisdax]

(via https://youtube.com/watch?v=kDOGMM9IaT0&si=oldYAgJRxUdHoYxN)

[swagging-back-to]

i do believe religion should be completely abolished. even spirituality that borders on religion. there is no place for that in reality. there is no place for that at all. it does so much harm, even if we knew everything thats ever happened as a result of reliigon, we wouldnt be able to begin to wrap the scale around our heads. it is so incomprehensible.

[faithfulfeminists-blog]

Shukria Barakzai 

Shukria Barakzai was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1972. Her upbringing heavily influenced her political leanings; from her childhood to her young adult life when she was forced to live in exile due to the Taliban occupation of Kabul. In 2002, she founded a feminist magazine entitled Aina-e-Zan, Women’s Mirror. After facing much turmoil resulting from the political unrest, Barakzai’s husband also secretly took another wife. In 2005, she ran for parliamentary office championing gender equality. Her platform of gender equality was faced by a particularly poignant opponent -- her husband. Shukria won by a landslide, even though her husband was able to use half a million dollars, and she had very little. During her time holding the position, she advocated for human rights, specifically women’s and children’s, attended many international conferences, and has held a few more political positions afterward. Also in 2005, Barakzai was named the International Editor of the Year. In 2008, she co-founded Afghanistan Rights Monitor to keep track of the situation in Afghanistan. In 2014, Barakzai was targeted in a suicide attack, and unfortunately 3 were killed and 17 were injured, but Barakzai survived. 

Want to know more? Check out: 

An article about Barakzai’s work: https://mic.com/articles/121982/meet-the-badass-afghan-politician-who-ran-against-her-husband-and-won#.NAeQFy4Zi

[captainhowdie]

before bed

[thestalkerbunny]

but thats the thing, nocticuals reliigon would basiclly be "just fuck and seduce my dudes", he might not be religious but he probobly volonteers at the church

He already fucking leads that lifestyle day one when puberty and his hormones kicked jn.

He's not religious but he is basically a model for the followers of the religion in that aspect. He's got all the qualities that people of the nocticual faith say 'that gut . he's what you wanna be.'

[simply-buddhism]

[itsadinosaurchickennugget]

Response to A Young Pastor’s View of Drinking Alcohol

This has never happened before, so welcome to a first for this page. I came across an article from a young(er) Southern Baptist pastor arguing for complete abstinence when it comes to alcohol consumption. His arguments were deceptively off base so I decided to try and respond to them here. Disclaimer: I very rarely drink alcohol, so I am not arguing in an attempt to justify my own behavior, I am simply stating what I believe to be true. 

Here is Eddie Wren’s article: http://christianindex.org/young-pastors-view-drinking-alcohol/

He starts with a couple stories involving Al Mohler and Perry Noble. Both simply set the stage for the article and don’t really offer anything in terms of argument so I won’t reference them further. 

He then mentions that he has heard every argument from Christians in support of drinking alcohol. The problem is that he then goes on to ignore every argument and does not refute them or address them at all. All he offers is: “But I am convinced if one does a study of the Bible from beginning to end, he will find an overwhelmingly negative view of the use of alcohol.” Unfortunately, I don’t share his conviction on that and am quite convinced of the opposite. 

The Bible paints a very negative view of dependance on alcohol. It paints a negative view of finding your meaning, your purpose, your fulfillment, or your joy in alcohol. Essentially, it paints a negative view of idolizing alcohol. In fact, it paints a negative view of all idols and every attempt humans make to derive meaning apart from God. That does not make drinking alcohol a sin, it would make alcohol dependency a sin. If drinking alcohol in any measure was a sin, we would have to call Jesus a sinner as he did drink wine. Its a tired argument, but nonetheless true: Jesus did drink alcohol, meaning alcoholic consumption in general cannot be a sin. I don’t think Mr. Wren is arguing that any amount of alcohol is a sin, I think he is claiming that it is unwise. But if Jesus Himself drank alcohol, was He unwise to do so? 

The crux of his argument lies at the end. He asks five questions of Christians who think drinking alcohol is OK. I’ll try to address them. 

1. Where does drunkeness start? I don’t see the relevancy of this question, so I’ll cut my answer short. Even if I admit there is a fine line between sober and drunk, I don’t see that as necessitating that you shouldn’t drink anything. It doesn’t follow. 

2. Is it worth it? I actually have a huge problem with this question. It’s playing off of fear, which, Biblically, is ungodly, like drunkeness. Because something bad could happen doesn’t mean you should refrain. I could get in an accident that kills my wife, should I refrain from driving? My child could stick a fork in an outlet, should I refrain from electricity? I could drown, are swimming pools unwise? Fear of accidents are not to be our masters, God is. We could live in fear of any possible thing going wrong, but God calls us to trust in Him as our provider and protector, which means realizing that if some tragic circumstance does happen, God is still God of it. Its not our job to protect everyone from every thing that could possibly go wrong. 

In regards to turning someone off of the gospel because I had a drink: God help us if someone’s eternal destiny lies in my actions and my choices. This undervalues the power of the Holy Spirit to an alarming degree. Granted we should strive to advance the kingdom of God in all we do, but our actions can never thwart God or His kingdom. There are examples all over the Bible, ranging from Sarai and Hagar to Nero in the early church (though technically in the Bible, still counts) of how God’s plan prevails despite human action. 

3. The Bible has warnings against alcohol, that’s true. But as I said earlier the warnings are in line with alcohol dependency and abuse. It also has warnings against sex. Does that make all sex evil? Should we run from it because the Bible warns us about it? No. We should be careful and treat it in its rightful place, not despise it totally because it could lead to idolatry. The same is true of money. It definitely has the tendency to be idolized, but I don’t see anyone calling for abstaining from earning an income. Like all of the Bible’s warning, you should tread carefully around alcohol and recognize it as a substance that could cause dependency and idolatry, but that doesn’t mean to immediately reject it as wholly evil. 

4. Is Jesus not enough? I think I’ve adequately covered this and this kind of feels like a filler question, but I’ll counter with my own question: was God not enough when Jesus drank? If it stands that Jesus still drank, even being full of the Spirit, then so can we. 

5. If you’re not drinking to get drunk, why drink? Believe it or not, some people actually like the taste. Some wine is delicious. Some (albeit crazy) people really enjoy the taste of a craft beer (I work with several of them). It could be a tool to socialization and ministry. I’ve heard stories of people sharing the gospel over a beer at a bar. Like number 4, this kind of feels like a throwaway question because Mr. Wren didn’t have enough to fill out all five. 

Mr. Wren then concludes by saying you will never regret not drinking alcohol. Which, honestly, might be true. I’m not advocating that you should drink. As I stated, I rarely, if ever, drink. I’m saying that you can regret having and instilling a pharisaical attitude that I grew up with. I grew up thinking that those who drunk any alcohol were evil and deserved my hate, because I grew up in an elitist tradition that indirectly taught me that. I most likely will not regret not drinking. I would always regret teaching my children to hate other people because they chose to have a drink. 

I would say that abstaining from alcohol is too foundationalist and we need to move on (actually, I’d never say that. What Christianity almost always needs is a return to the basic foundations of Jesus and the disciples at the start of the church), but abstaining from alcohol is a relatively modern thing. It’s born out of morality and religion and not faith in Jesus and it breeds elitism and hate. For years I bought into that and now I think its time to take a stand against it. 

[rainingmusic]

Donnie & Joe Emerson - Baby

[hellomonsterr]

I wish I didn't hate my dad's family sometimes. I want to believe they are good people. I really, really do. When I can ignore their religion, I find that they are very happy, friendly, and sometimes funny people. But then they find stories about Starbuck's CEO telling to sell their shares if they support "Biblical Marriage". Sometime I want to avoid Facebook all together because of posts like these. 

I understand how religion and spirituality (especially the latter) can help someone become a better person. I understand that, sometimes, a believe in something bigger then yourself can be helpful when life gets difficult. I really, really do. What I don't understand is claiming to be peaceful and inclusive, when you can't stand other people's happiness. 

I don't understand how someone willing teaches their children that scientific facts aren't true. I don't understand how someone can preach forgiveness, and then turn around and shame someone for having different believes. I don't understand how some women are willing let their husband's belittle them, or beat them, because God gave them the right too. 

I try very hard to understand why people believe in various things. I try to understand how this works for some people. I will gladly support anyone's religion and spirituality, unless they can not do the same for others. 

[simply-buddhism]

[secularinafrumworld-blog]

Me after I bought "God Is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens

[livebetterj]

Al Pacino about God and Mysterious Ways of practicing Religion ;)

[rainingmusic]

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Mouth Of Ghosts

[awriterwithoutanywords1-blog]

Writing an essay on Buddhism and Christianity; and so far Buddhism is winning.