I befriended a lawyer in a online game years ago. When he found out I took the bible literally, we had debates about it, and he’d break down some of the passages in Revelations and try to get me to justify stuff like dragons. It opened my eyes to how ridiculous some things were, and how there was a reason one of the first things we were taught (Baptist) was not to question anything.
How it seems every religion believes they’re the “One True” religion, and the whole rest of the world is wrong. How throughout history, it’s fueled wars, and been used as a method to control people more than a way to help people.
How some priests garb themselves in expensive robes and surround themselves with gold or drive luxury cars, or preach on TV from practically a stadium while passing around the donations plate through a crowd of poor people while promising a afterlife gated by pearls.
I’ll stop here but yeah. It was actually a pretty devastating realisation for me, as religion was a huge part of my life up to that point.
I was already having issues with what the church taught about gay people. One of the priests at my college church likened sex before marriage to child sex trafficking, saying premarital sex directly lead to child sex trafficking. I walked out in the middle of the sermon.
I was still on the fence about if I was Catholic or not afterwards, it was all I knew growing up after all. I went to history class that next semester and learned the Bible was just piecemealed together by a bunch of old white men in the 16th 4th Century during the council of nicea. There is literally no way to tell who actually wrote the stories in the Bible, much less determine their validity because the stories were put together in a single book hundreds of years after they were written. On top of that, if a story didn’t fit what these guys decided the Catholic faith was supposed to be, they threw it out!
The Bible isn’t the word of God, it’s some dudes in the 16th 4th century’s head cannon.
That pretty much sealed the deal for me. If there is some divine force, it certainly wasn’t going to speak to me through this book or this faith.
Then to add insult to injury, in that same class I learned about the history about how the Christian faith came about, and how they basically just chose one of many Mesopotamian gods and decided he was the one true God and propagandized and crusaded their way into making people accept their beliefs. All of it was just decided and shaped by humans, and none of it was “divine” as I was taught. It was all a lie.
Bible was just piecemealed together by a bunch of old white men in the 16th? Century during the council of nicea.
About this…
Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, which became popular in 2003. According to Brown’s fictional (and historically dubious) narrative, the books that make up the Bible were officially selected and put together by the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, under the authority of Constantine I who sought to define Christian doctrine and belief.
Although the Council certainly did meet at a time of crisis within the Church, it did not address the biblical canon, despite what Brown said. This has become a modern myth that has outlasted the book’s initial surge in popularity. In reality, the Council of Nicaea met to debate the nature of the Trinity (that Jesus is the son, and father, and the holy spirit at the same time), among other things.
It seems like influential and powerful individuals and organizations who voiced which texts should the bible include up until the 4th century, and those who disagreed were deemed heretics.
I was raised catholic. When the class at school had their confirmation, I refused as religion felt more like a fairytale then something to really believe in. When I saw they got gifts, I was disappointed and wanted to confirm when my sister was doing her’s (to get gifts as well, wrong reason).
For that confimation I had to do bible study, during which I learned what’s in the bible. As I invested all that time, I went trough with it for the gifts, but I learned my 1st impression was right. To me it’s nothing more then a fairytale. That confirmation was my last volentary visit to a church to attend service. (Played tourist a few times, the buildings are still nice)
Till today, I still prefer to know, not to believe anything that is being told.
This was a long time ago, but I had to go to the methodist version of confirmation. It was not any one thing that made me stop believing, but many little things. What I could not get over was the “virgin” birth of Jesus. They talked for weeks about this and the “miracle” got more and more ridiculous over the lesson. Joseph got played.
The funny part is how that word supposedly may translate better as "maiden" than "virgin", as in "young girl" rather than someone who has not yet had intercourse. I wonder how many people have been beheaded for asking about such things.
Jesus Himself hated such over-religiosity - "Want religion that is pure and blameless? Take care of widows and orphans!!" - but sadly it seems the natural human condition.:-( The extreme irony is how He went to LARGE efforts to just constantly and consistently give the religious fruitcakes of His day the middle finger ("thou shaltest say to every Karen, fuck ye off"), which ofc got Him killed just like everyone else who tried it previously. So like... was Jesus one of the early atheists then, if you think about it like that...? :-D /s
But I mean, in all seriousness, the gist of Jesus' message seems to me to be to ignore the fruitcakes and just do the right thing, regardless ("the worker deserves his wages..."). So like, wtf does His teenie sexed-up mommy have anything to do with anything?! But Karens gonna Karen, I guess, and get all worked up about whatever drama they can either find or invent.
I went to church as a young kid, but never really believed and by interacting with people from different denominations and religions it became clear that the church I went to claiming to be the right one out of thousands was pretty unlikely. Was able to talk my mom out of taking me around 12 years old, and spent a couple years as agnostic until deciding that science made a lot more sense and if we could prove there was a god, he would just be part of nature and therefore not really a god as taught in church.
So basically thinking critically about it undermined the teachings. I still kept the positive messaging, but also added in the positive messaging from other religions and honestly see them all as more cultural than mystical.
I still kept the positive messaging, but also added in the positive messaging from other religions and honestly see them all as more cultural than mystical.
I kind of relate to this, but I think in certain situations people may feel some spiritual forces akin to schizophrenia, and that religion might also have served for survival purposes since different cultures developed supernatural beliefs. Also, what positive messagings do you keep? Because I also find that Christianism and Buddhism for example have important ethical teachings that I try to follow.
Learn to cook. Learn how to use fresh and pantry ingredients.
I can easily get by on $75 a week at a bougie produce market in the city (pasture eggs, free range chicken, etc). Or, I could get food delivery twice and spend more than that.
I make a place look lived in by living in it. I might leave some small stuff lying around until I get to it. No biggie. Or I get tired of it where it is. Not tidying a whole lot … just enough to be orderly. A magazine or two here or there, half read, waiting. Coordinated furniture? RU kidding? A pet plant (named) that needs water. Some of souvenirs here and there. Pix on the fridge.
If the moon were only one pixel
An accurate presentation of the solar system where the size of the moon is a single pixel. It really makes you realize how big and empty our solar system is. (Be prepared for a lot of scrolling)
Try not to be afraid of “messing things up”. Fixing small holes is a great thing to learn if you own a home. A little bit of mud, sand, and paint for a nail hole really doesn’t take very long and can be learned very easily through youtube videos. And if you still dont want to deal with that, you can get some command strips which are easily removable.
Hang up artwork that represents things you care about - family, travel, movies, nature. Basically, anything you look at that will make you smile when you walk in the room. Put a few indoor plants around, have coffee table books or figurines. Definitely put curtains, and have a rug is nice if you have hardwood. Anything you put up can always be removed if you decide you don’t like it!
We have done some home renovation here and there so that’s always fine, except my spackle jobs aren’t always perfect! I think the hardest part for us is actually deciding which parts we care about the most. Obviously our family will take up part of it, but then we aren’t entirely sure about the rest. I think getting some plants is a great idea a lot of people are recommending. May need to do fake ones but still would be nice to add some color!
I always enjoy going to art fairs and stores that have local artists’ work to look for things to put up. But if you’re not into art, you can also look for “wall decor” or "wall hangings " on etsy or other home furnishing sites and just look for items that will fit the vibe and color scheme of the room.
If you have a lot of space, you can also fill it with things you’ll actually use. Some examples - a bar or snack cart, a nice accent chair/side table/cabinet /ottoman, a musical instrument, small fridge for drinks, an indoor firepit, shoe/coat rack
I have a Home Decoration Guide - Whiterun that I’d let you take off my hands if you want. Definitely recommend filling up trophy cases, weapon and shield racks as well as bookshelves from your favorite plot lines, arcanery or narratives. Have something cooking. And or course, don’t forget the furniture and wall decor.
I’ll have to look that up! Would definitely love a guide for extra info/tips and inspiration. I think wall decor is our largest hurdle, along with making sure to keep clutter to a minimum. Having a toddler makes it difficult sometimes.
asklemmy
Top
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.