Sedevacantism
@LearningthePath “Not enough of you are concerned about the Charismatic Roman Catholic Sedevacantist Dispensationalism of William Tapley, and it shows.” @chamblee54 “too many big words” @LearningthePath “This time, that was intended to help make the joke. Charismatic – Believes in continuing Apostolic Gifts (prophecy, healing, tongues, etc.) Sedevacantist – Believes that the office of the Papacy is Empty.” This is a repost.
Sedevacantism (SV) is weird business, even by Catholic standards. The word literally means the seat is vacant. SV believe that the post-Vatican II has strayed away from the correct faith. The Pope is not Catholic enough to be the Pope. The last legitimate Pope was Pius XII. He died in 1958, after looking the other way during the Holocaust.
This video uses fancier language, to say the same thing. “satyakant ism/said of account ism (you tube transcripts are not inerrant) is the position of those Catholics who refuse to recognize for gay bergoglio (Jorge Mario Bergoglio, aka Pope Francis) as a true Pope. The seed of a canister(?) found that the Copt is vacant on account of the apostasy from the faith on the part of the official hierarchy since the promulgation in 1965 of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.”
If you search for SV on google and youtube, you will find lots of material. Dealing with a Sedevacantist Priest is a video of a radio show. The caller is concerned about some of the things a priest is saying to the flock. Bible verses are trotted out, and used to justify opinions. This is true of all the SV videos. The tone is heavy, heavy Catholic. If you come from a Protestant background, you might think you’re watching science fiction.
Sedevacantism Is Modern Luciferianism is a rather lurid discussion. Alas, there is a bait and switch here. “With the crisis in the Church since Vatican II, many comparisons have been drawn with the Arian crisis of the 4th century, when the majority of the Church’s bishops fell into the heresy of Arianism. … There is the remarkable similarity between today’s sedevacantists and a group of schismatics who were spawned during the Arian crisis: the Luciferians. The Luciferians were less nefarious than their name implies. Rather than being devil-worshipers, they were simply followers of the schismatic Bishop Lucifer of Cagliari.”
There are memes, both SV and anti SV. There is a twitter account: @animesedevacant Anime Sedevacantist ☩ Lover of Pius XII and Anime! SV Singles is another manifestation. Brian-sede is “Seeking Sedevacantist Catholic Woman”. Alas, even here, man just can’t seem to get it right. “Sedevacantist Singles” Employees Not Sure Whether To Recognize Authority. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The spell check suggestion for Sedevacantism is Antisemitism.
Mithras
Mithras is a Persian deity, from the Zoroaster tradition.(That is pronounced Zor uh THRUS ta.) Not much is known about Mithras … did he really exist, or was he a legend? There was a cult of Mithras in the first century Roman empire.
There are supposed to be between Mithras and Jesus. These include the virgin birth, the birth on December 25, and rising from the dead after three days. Some spoilsports say the early Christians grafted Jesus onto the legend of Mithras.
One indication that this might be true is The Catholic Encyclopedia. “Some apparent similarities exist; but … it is quite probable that Mithraism was the borrower from Christianity.” This repost has pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. (more…)
Milo Yiannopoulos Today
This is a repost from 2017. If you ask google what Milo Yiannopoulos is doing today, you see that he is an intern for Marjorie Taylor Greene. In 2021, LifeSiteNews reported “Milo Yiannopoulos, the gay man whose conservative messaging and willingness to speak the truth sparked riots on university campuses may well trigger more outrage now that he describes himself as “Ex-Gay” and “sodomy free,” and is leading a daily consecration to St. Joseph online.” Google does not have a search result for the “daily consecration to St. Joseph online.”
Milo Yiannopoulos is getting attention again. It seems as though the the editor’s notes for his book have been leaked to the press. Many of the comments are unkind. If you have ever wanted to see bad writing dissected and disemboweled, this is the time. PuffHo, which knows a thing or two about recycling free product, has a helpful list of some of the zingers. “Can you really prove a causality between [Black Lives Matter] and crime rate?” “DELETE UGH.” .
Milo did not actually write Dangerous. Miloproduct is produced by a crew of interns. One of these drones got in trouble: Milo Yiannopoulos Speaks Out About ‘Bonkers’ Former Intern Arrested for Murdering Dad. Who gets the copyright credit for Dangerous? It might be a good trivia question.
@DALIAMALEK “… Look at the witty editor that worked to normalize white supremacy” Some people think Milo’s book was cancelled for being politically incorrect. Actually, the deal was trashed after Milo opened his mouth once too often, and became too controversial.
Simon & Schuster is not opposed to selling bad books to make money. In 1981, S&S published HOW TO STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS— AND WIN! This tome was written by Roy Cohn. The NYT review notes “Despite his reputation as a playboy bachelor, Mr. Cohn believes that a marriage should be ”kept intact” if there are children.”
Chamblee54 has written about whatshisname one two three four five six seven times. The pictures are usually better than the text. In one episode, Bill Maher said “Stop looking at the distractions and the clown show and look at what matters.” Then, without a trace of embarrassment, Mr. Maher introduced Milo, who is both distraction, and clown show.
The first time chamblee54 wrote about Milo had a prophetic quote. “This is the first time many have heard of Milo Yiannopoulos. Unfortunately, it probably will not be the last. He authored a piece at Breitbart, where he said “… Only by totally ignoring people’s feelings can we end the left’s culture of grievance, offense, and victimhood. …”
Many of the naysayers are calling Milo, and his product, racist. This is a reflex action to many SJW, who seldom miss an opportunity to scream racism. The ironic thing is that Milo talks loudly, and often, about his fondness for black men. On page 96, Milo says “”I love black people. Indeed, I love black people so much that my Grindr profile once said “No Whites.” I’d considered “Coloreds Only Served in Rear,” but that was a little too edgy, and Grindr once deleted my profile once for writing: “Don’t contact me if you’re under seven inches or you know who your dad is.”
Hopefully, Milo’s fifteen minutes will be over soon. There will always someone else to call racist. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Are My Racial Attitudes Your Business?
I was living my life when I saw something on facebook: “And another thing: if you are going to claim NOT to be racist, I feel like you should familiarize yourself with some contemporary writings and definitions of racism, not just what Mirriam Webster says.” The first reaction was to ignore this. If you reply to a comment about racism on facebook, you are asking for trouble. Life is too short to be wasting time on such unpleasantness.
But the thought engine had been kickstarted, and continued to idle in the background. When I pulled into the Kroger parking lot, the idea hit full force. Maybe it is none of your business.
Some people say that white people are not affected by racism. If this is the case, then why should the racial attitudes of a white person affect another white person? If a person treats you fairly, do you really need to know this person’s attitudes about race?
The fbf ex-fbf does not say what the context of this claim is. Did anyone ask you whether or not you were a racist? If not, are you assuming that they are interested? Maybe someone assumed the listener was interested. Maybe the proper response to look bored, and say TMI.
The comment mentioned “contemporary writings and definitions of racism.” Who are the people who set themselves up as arbiters about what we should think about race? What are the qualifications? Who asked them what they thought? How do we know that these people are dependable?.
Maybe the answer is to show compassion and kindness to your neighbor, and don’t worry about their racial attitudes. If you are proud of your racial attitudes, please refrain from boasting. Not everyone is interested. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
#OPKKK
This is a repost from 2015. It was a simpler time. The worst problem we had was choosing a President. The options were a geriatric criminal, and an orange haired idiot. (Democrats still had to pick between BS and HRC, who are both geriatric criminals.) Most of the links in this post no longer work. One exception is Occupy Democrats, which has more toxic spam than ever before. … PG was minding his business when he stumbled onto a tweet. @neonflag “This number on Anonymous’ KKK data dump jumped out at me: 770-499-4633. That’s the Cobb County Sheriff. #gapol.”
There had been rumors. Anonymous was going to release the names of KKK members. The people wearing Guy Fawkes masks were going to expose the people wearing bedsheet hoods. Twitter nation was abuzz with excitement…lets expose the racists. PG was concerned about collateral damage, about innocent people being dragged into the mess. And now it was happening.
They’re publishing their data there. In addition to the phone numbers, there were email addresses, many with .ru addresses. There was also a list of politicians. There were lurid articles, like Racists Panic As Anonymous Starts Releasing Details Of KKK Members.
Included on this list was Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson. A conservative Republican that many would not want to defend, Sen. Isakson had been in real estate before he ran for election. This is an image conscious business, that would not lend itself to bedsheet wearing. Nonetheless, facebook was soon crowded with people calling for the resignation of Senator Isakson.
Before long, common sense began to creep in. If You Really Think Four Republican Senators Are in the KKK, You’re a Fool. Relax: #OpKKK Did Not Release Info Linking Elected Officials To The KKK. One division of the hydra headed anonymous tried to back away from another. @Operation_KKK This account has NOT YET released any information. We believe in due diligence and will NOT recklessly involve innocent individuals #OpKKK .
Several questions remain. How will we know who to believe? Was the preliminary *data dump* a false flag operation, designed to damage anonymous credibility? Why are they worried about the KKK? Is genuine evil flourishing while America chases bedsheets?
Despite it’s fierce reputation as a “racist terrorist” organization, the KKK is in bad shape. It has less credibility than the Westboro Baptist Church. The custom of wearing bedsheets makes them the easy target for jokes. The Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center say the membership of the KKK is dwindling.
A good argument could be made that anonymous publicity is helping the KKK. It makes bedsheets look dangerous. While the three digital stooges of anonymous/facebook/twitter are focused on bedsheets, more dangerous white (and other color) hate groups are operating in darkness. With people fascinated with who is under the bedsheets, people that can do damage are buying ammunition, and buying elections. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The “official” data dump on the KKK has hit the ether. Anonymous promised the material at 10 am CST Thursday. It was five and one half hours late, which led to speculation that @Operation_KKK’s #OpKKK Exposed: ‘Anonymous’ was Geraldo the Whole Time!.
In any event, it is here, and less sensational than the widely discredited politician breakdown earlier this week. There are some who still believe that the earlier data dump was real. Some people are very gullible when it comes to fighting racism. Anonymous does not help by including a famous grand dragon, Calvin Craig, who died in 1998. Louisiana celebrity David Duke is also on the list.
The information on the list seems to have been collected through common sense browsing. Many of the facebook peeps shown seem to be proud of being idiots. Others outed themselves in chat rooms and forums. As the report says, “You never know who you are talking to on the internet”.
PG has been clicking on some of the facebook pages. Some of them are amusing. Here are a few highlights. This digest will continue until it gets too long, which probably won’t take too long. (One hour later) This is not that much fun. The names are in alphabetical first name order. After going through the J names, these are the only text items. There are dozens of memes, many of which feature stars and bars, Jesus, Obama, expressions of white pride, and paranoia. It can be discouraging. If you want to look for yourself, there is a link above to the report.
woman Baby I love this picture of you you’re so sexy… man Lmwao woman Not funny!! And before you ask… No baby I have not smoked crack today! Lmmfao *wink emoticon* man Crack head. woman I am not!! man Lmwao
Arianna Wolfe I try to give some ppl the benefit of a doubt when I accept friend requests….. but when I look at what your about I see a lot of men are not true aryan but just womanizing druggies or drunks that act so much like our enemy’s that all that separates you from them is skin color
Chase N Graceland (from report) Buford Forest AKA Don Hall AKA Chase N Graceland East Coast Knights Elvis Impersonator (lulz) Says he does not have enough money to pay his klan dues so he is not a member (In the klan, you pay up or youre not a member) However, he may be a member of Confederate White Knights (out of Maryland) Interesting Fact: 3 or 4 different Elvis impersonators have tried to join the klan. Creepy. … Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
The Golden Calf
When PG was a kid in sunday school, he heard about the the golden calf. It turns out that, splendid allegory aside, he didn’t really know much about the story. With the help of google and Bible Gateway, the text of Exodus 32 showed up. God bless public domain, and copy paste. The Bible is the main source for this tale. It doesn’t really matter if it is the inerrant word of God, it is a pretty good story. And much of the message rings true today.
1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
This is a modern story. The church is begging the people for gold. The sons are wearing golden earrings. The church takes these ill gotten gains, and forge a make believe God. This time, it looks like a cow. Billy Graham will come much later.
7 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Moving down a few verses, the story gets good. 19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies) 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: there fell that day about three thousand men.
Lets get this story right. Moses comes back from somewhere, and sees a naked party by the golden calf. He has a hissy fit, threw the golden calf into the fire, and tells people to start killing each other. Over three thousand men are killed. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Schmoozing My Religion
This is a repost from 2009. Pictures are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library Abraham Piper sold twentytwowords to some terrible people, who ruined it.
Abraham at twentytwowords wrote… “When I asked about churches last week, some of you reminded me you’re not Christian.So…Non-Christian readers, what (non)religion are you?” That is 23 words. The original premise of twentytwowords was that all posts would be 22 words or less.
PG answered the original post “home churched”. He decided to answer the follow up question. Unlike most of the others to answer, PG wanted to keep this under 22 words.
There probably is not a religion that PG could fit into without a lot of shoehorning. Atheist is out, because PG suspects that there is a God. What form she takes is a matter of dispute. As for belief, PG questions that belief is the optimal approach to God.
Agnostic sounds like something you would blow out of your nose. Judaism is a party that PG is not invited to. Buddhism makes some good points, but PG is awfully occidental. As for Christianism, PG sees Jesus in the words and deeds of his believers … not a pretty picture.
As for the Christian obsession with life after death, PG feels pity and disgust. This is not a good focus for a religious practice, nor does it excuse verbal abuse. PG has ideas about life after death, but they are waaay over 22 words. Finally, PG decided to sum up his God-thoughts in 22 words.
1. My beliefs are my business. 2. Practice>belief. 3. God probably exists. 4. God does not write books. 5. Jesus has nothing to do with life after death. This is 24 words. Three words need to go. Part 4 states that God does not write books. This implies that God does, indeed, exist. Part 3 can be eliminated, and the answer reduced to 21 words.
The Ten Suggestions
The popular commandments are found in Exodus 20: 3 – 17. They are considered core beliefs of a religion that values belief over practice. In other words, just believe something, and don’t worry about what you do. There is also Exodus 20: 23. Ye shall not make with me G-ds of silver, neither shall ye make unto you G-ds of gold. This would seem to be worthy of inclusion in the big time ten. It might interfere with the capitalist free market economy, but you can always say you believe it.
When your religion is claimed by a majority of your neighbors, you enjoy #ChristianPrivilege. You can even whine about #WhitePrivilege, while enjoying the benefits of #ChristianPrivilege. One day, the pound sign will go back to meaning number, and #hashtag will be mercifully forgotten.
If you get past the religious whoopeedo, the Ten Commandments hold up as good rules for living. The fact that the self anointed religious people routinely violate many of these fine rules should not be taken into consideration. They believe in the commandments, and can, loudly, explain why their actions are not a problem. After a while, PG just wants freedom from religion.
1 And G-d spake all these words, saying,
2 I [am] the LORD thy G-d, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other G-ds before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy G-d [am] a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy G-d in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy G-d: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:
11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy G-d giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour’s.
A The ten commandos are not meant to be believed. They are meant to be practiced.
B If you take away the religious whoopdeedoo, the ten commandos hold up as common sense rules for living. People of the Book (أهل الكتاب, ahl al-kitāb) is not a compliment.
C If you meet someone who claims to practice all of the commandos, you are dealing with a liar.
D We are all G-d’s children. She gave you a heart and a mind. When in doubt, trust your heart.
E The first commando is powerful and under appreciated. It does not include books about G-d.
F There is an ongoing controversy about the public display of the ten commandos. Some say such displays violate the second commando.
G The third commando is more than G-d’s last name. It is about the proper use of a sacred name. In a perfect world, the word G-d would only be used for worship and respectful discussion. A “pledge of allegiance” to a nationalist symbol is not an appropriate use of a sacred name.
H Sunday is too fine of a day to spend inside a church house.
I When you are discussing religion, it is normal to be a hypocrite.
J If you disagree with someone, the easiest argument to scream hypocrisy.
K Whenever possible, show kindness to your neighbor.
L The text for Exodus 20 is courtesy of King James Bible Online. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Voodoo Sex Ritual
This is a repost from 2011. The link in the story has gone bye bye, but does lead to this: Five-Alarm Fire Caused By Voodoo Sex Ritual Gone Wrong. The comments below are timeless. Fishwrapper comments used to be fun to read.
In it’s never ending struggle to keep the Cox family in business, the fishwrapper reports what is probably the most important story so far in 2011. (The video about the lost pig is a close second). It seems as though two anonymous sinners in New York decided to fool around, after a voodoo ritual. A candle got knocked over, and the building caught on fire. A 62 year old neighbor died in the fire.
The fun starts in the comments. Some readers got the impression that the 62yo was a participant in the candle burning whoopee. Other readers felt obliged to speculate about the eternal soul of the departed lady, while others commented on the pre mortem condition of her lady parts. A good time was had by all. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress
outspoken1…February 25th, 2011 5:17 pm appears to me that she had it coming. People that do the voodoo will burn in hell anyways. She just got a jump start on her eternal life. Happy ever after, Mary
George… 5:20 pm Ummmm … I clarified the story to let everyone know the deceased was not a voodoo ritual participant.
Peachy… 5:49 pm This is sad … evil was all in that room. Ms. Feagin may have stamped her ticket to hell watching this mess.
justineb… 7:12 pm And we know where their Souls End Up, in HELL. So Sad.
ewwwwww… 7:50 pm “It’s better at 62 than ever!! No swell, no tell, and greatful as hell!!!!!!!” Dont forget that it smells, grandma va j j’s must smell so bad
Dawghuff… 7:52 pm You silly Christians can say that’s someone’s soul is hell, a very offensive thing to say, but then your feelings get hurt when someone says how stupid your religion is as well…
Real man, not a baby boy… 8:56 pm ewwwww: you’re a pathetic fool. Hotness increases with age. The great thing about getting older is that you realize that young people don’t know or have squat when it comes to hotness. I’m 50. We laugh at twenty somethings! You don’t even BEGIN to approach hotness until you’re thirty five. Forties is prime time, 50 and beyond is just damn awesome! You can’t know these things, but if you’re lucky enough to find a b*tch that’ll put out for your baby bit, more power to you. And that smell you’re talkin about? It’s called stank, and it’s coming from your own crotch.
ewwwwww… 9:31 pm Real Man, Thanks grandpa, while your banging the golden girls and remembering the good ol’ days. I will continue to bang women in there 20’s. Just because your balls reach your knees doesn’t make you a real man. So get out that AARP card and hit up the early bird special at Golden Coral. Have a great night and dont forget to take your pills in the F container.
Real man, not a baby boy… 9:54 pm LOL! You couldn’t hope to know what it means to be a man. You go ahead and do your little twenty year-olds. You can HAVE them! I’ve had sex with women my whoe like and I can tell you 20 year old chicks are nothing! Real men aren’t intimidated by your bs talk. These ARE the good days boy, and someday you’ll know that you mouth off knowing nothing. HAHAHAHAHA! Stupid little loser boy.
ewwwwww… 10:22 pm Well Im glad you have had sex with women “your whoe like” (lol). Just because you have a weird fettish for swollen up, dried out rasin Vay J J doesn’t make you any more of a man then I am. I am proud to say I have served my country for 5 years. Was able to go to college and provide a nice life for myself. To call me a loser boy and say I dont know what it means to be a man is sad and just wrong. The fact is your old (Really old), and you can only have what you can get. If your game is women with one foot in the grave then tap it son. But I dont care what you say given the option you would choose a 21 year old over a 62 year old any day. If you choose the 62 year old your just a granny chasser and their is nothing wrong with that. But say it with me “ewwwwwwwwwwwww” Its obvious you cant take humor. Since my first post was a play on words. So grease up with Ben-gay and start popping those magic blue pills. Slip on some solid gold and start tapping grandma in the ballon knot.Im not stupid to not know that women hit there prime when they are older but come on we were talking about 62 here. Thats just awful to think about.
Candles suck… 10:35 pm Don’t mix candles with ANYTHING. I’ve been in a fire because of candles. THEY ARE DANGEROUS. DON’T BUY OR USE THEM UNLESS IT’S AN EMERGENCY.
HENRY… February 26th, 2011 9:13 am YOU’D BE SURPRISED WHAT WE OLD FARTS DO BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, WITH OR WITHOUT CANDLES, VOODOO DOCTORS, GOATS OR SHEEP.
grandson… 12:36 pm Poor old woman, living in a one room sleezbag hotel,on Soc.Sec.& food stamps ( probably had a secret one burner hot plate,that Code Enforcement didn’t know about !!) Just try’n to survive.How many people got out & no one helped? No one cared ? Now 65% of you got nothing to do but talk about but your “pissy ass” sex !!! What a pathetic bunch of humans; some strugeling family lost thier Mom-Grandma:: May GOD forgive you ^999^…
Are You A Hipster Christian?
This is a repost from 2010. If you click on the link in this post, you will see scantily clothed Asian women, and the headline “Kumpulan Link Slot Deposit Pulsa 5000 Tanpa Potongan.” A google search for “Are you a hipster christian” leads to this: “What if Jesus called you to a church home where the pastor’s sermons weren’t available as podcasts? What if the body of believers Christ surrounded you with …” Pictures are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
PG is not a Christian. He does like to take silly quizzes, and see what he scores. When a facebook friend reported taking a test, Are you a hipster christian, PG took the bait. The test is thirty questions, and multiple choice. While this makes the grading easier, it sometimes asks you to choose the answer that you disagree with the least. When you are dealing with a prideful subculture like Christianism, a neutral observer is going to scratch his head a lot.
Question 1 should have been an indication of what was about to happen. “Which of the following books would you consider the most spiritually significant?~Sheldon Van Auken, A Severe Mercy~John Piper, Desiring God~Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ~John Eldredge, Wild at Heart~none of the above.” PG has read none of those books, and only knows John Piper because his son writes a cool blog. (22 words is now a spam nightmare.) PG would have voted for Piper, except the old man likes to trash homosexuals.
Question 3 was the first time that PG agreed with the answer that he checked. “If you are a believer, how would you describe yourself?~Christian~Christ Follower~”Christian, but not in the George W. Bush sense”~Please. Labels are for the over-30 set.” PG chose the last answer, even if he is waaaay over 30. Labels belong on jars, not people.
Question 10 and Question 12 are both yes/no affairs, and PG could answer both honestly. “Be honest: Have you ever gone on a rant about “authenticity,” “narrative,” or “love without strings”?” “In the past 12 months, have you listened to a sermon by John MacArthur and enjoyed it?” Being banned from commenting at a blog, owned by a John MacArthur employee, did not affect this.
Question 18 “What would Jesus’ favorite beer have been?~Pabst~Chimay Red~Some sort of masculine stout~Jesus doesn’t drink!” Out of sheer redneck pride, PG chose PBR.
Question 19 showed a lack of sensitivity. “In the last year, how often have you argued (and significantly disagreed) with your parents about the following: politics, gay marriage, evolution, drinking, or the End Times?~Those topics never come up…because I’ve filed them forever in the “Relationship Ruiner” vault.~Maybe drinking sometimes comes up.~We debate them at every meal. Along with my eternal damnation.~I’m on the same page with my parents on all those issues.~My parents aren’t Christians and we don’t really talk about this stuff.” PG’s parents were Christians while they were alive. Questions like this are not helpful.
Question 27 is mind blowing. “What is your preferred Bible translation?~The Message~The American Patriot’s Bible~ESV~NRSV~NIV~The App I downloaded for my iPhone~none of the above.” The King James Bible was once the only game in town. Today, KJV is “none of the above.”
Question 29 was about Christian music, with the answer “I haven’t listened to any “Christian music” of the last 20 years.” Finally, it was time to know the score. “Your Christian Hipster Quotient: 65 / 120 – Low CHQ. You probably belong to the purpose-driven, seeker-sensitive, Hawaiian shirt-wearing Christian establishment, even though you are open to some of the “rethinking Christianity” stuff. You seem to like edginess in some measure but become uneasy when your idea of Christian orthodoxy is challenged by some renegade young visionary who claims the virgin birth isn’t necessary.”
Apatheism
This is a repost from 2015. There is a tasteful feature today, Former homeschooler on the Duggar family’s horrifying fundamentalist “education”: “It’s literal rape culture”. It is about what you would expect. A young man was raised by well meaning parents. They home schooled him using bizarre materials. The young man grew up, and did not agree with his parent’s religion.
“I call myself an “apatheist.” I just don’t care anymore. When it comes down to it, I guess I’m pretty much agnostic. I don’t think that anyone could really know the truth and I don’t care to really find the truth. Going to church for me is still traumatic. I just have a very visceral triggered reaction to everyone singing the same song. I always find myself criticizing and critiquing the sermon, but it’s weird because I won’t only criticize it from a fundamentalist point of view — “Oh this guy is totally not doing his Bible right” — but I also criticize it from a secular point of view — “This is all horseshit.”
This may be tough for some believers to understand, but not everyone is obsessed with God. Maybe she exists. Maybe she doesn’t. Maybe the world would be a happier place without God. It is entirely possible to live without a firm answer one way or the other. Many say that your opinions/beliefs have nothing to do with what happens to you when you die.
Many people have bad experiences with religion. Some see this trauma as an invitation to abuse the non believer more. Maybe, if you hear the scheme for life after death ten thousand and one times, the last recital is going to do the trick.
What many believers do not comprehend is that not everyone gets off on talking about life-after-death. Church has devolved into a high pressure sales meeting for a life-after-death scheme. If you don’t agree with this concept, then there is no point to Jesus. Some Christians think that their ideas about life-after-death justify the emotional abuse they heap on others.
The young man is the article talks of a homeschool survivor community. (The article links to an inactive blog.) If this can help him with his trauma, then good for him. Many people who have been abused by Jesus worshipers… and, by extension, by Jesus… do not have this community to fall back on. The struggle with Jesus abuse can be a lonely one.
Pictures from The Library of Congress. All things are possible in a world without God.
Grace
I was listening to Disgraceland while sitting in the sauna. DGL is a podcast, about musicians who behave badly. Host Jake Brennan is fond of working the word “disgrace” into the last line of the script.
Today’s show was about the late Jeff Buckley. He had a mystical streak in his craft, and titled his album Grace. Jake talks about Jeff’s music, in the last line of the show: “Listening to it now can lead to a trance like state. A state of ecstasy. A state of eternal life. A state of grace.”
I heard Jake say that, and turned my head to the side. The young man next to me was shaking his head, and pounding his thighs, in response to the sounds going through his ear buds. I saw this, and my first thought was “this is grace.”
I got the young man’s attention, and told him the story. He enjoyed hearing what I said. Some would say “And your point is?” Others would have told me what their pastor says about grace. Instead, the young man smiled, and gave me a fist bump.
I will not have a quote today about what grace means, either from the dictionary or the Bible. Grace is something Christians talk about, when they are not nabbering about life after death. It is telling that Jake said eternal life, between ecstasy and grace.
Eternal life … I am dictating this with a voice typewriter. When I said “eternal life” the microphone kicked off. I had to turn it off and restart. It was a glitch in the system, or a metaphor … for the way talk about “salvation” can get in the way of grace.
There is a Sunday School story. A man dies, and goes to the pearly gates. Saint Peter says that we have a test. You need one hundred points to get into heaven. The man begins: I was a loving husband to my wife of many years. We raised our children to be fine people. St. Peter said you get one point.
The man said, I was a born again Christian, saved by faith in Jesus Christ. St. Peter said that’s one more point. The man said, I was a businessman, and was respected by my employees and customers. St. Peter said you get a point for that.
The man starts to get flustered, and says it is only by the grace of God that I am here. St. Peter said that’s ninety seven points. Welcome to heaven.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Chamblee54 
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