Religion is a set of beliefs, typically in things beyond what we can falsify (hence faith). It’s not inherently powerful to believe people should be treated with respect. A belief in democracy is a belief in giving others equal power to our own (part of my UU faith).
Unitarian Universalism holds very little power in the world. It’s a beautiful faith tradition. Sure, there are powerful religions, but again, that’s power, not religion.
There are several passages that suggest money & Christianity aren’t aligned. Several passages in Acts talk about the disciples selling everything after Jesus passes and living as a commune with no private property. It says they sold & shared everything together.
There’s the camel & needle proverb. There’s Matthew 25:32. There’s multiple passages that speak of selling what you own and giving it to the poor. There’s Jesus throwing the merchants out in the temple.
When did Christianity become like this? Probably when power saw it could abuse faith, so hundreds/thousands of years ago. Your instinct is great, and you should challenge Christians. I mentioned Matthew 25:32 because it seems so diametrically opposed to what many Christians in power say. We’re supposed to care for the homeless, the immigrant, the prisoner—that’s what this book says.
James 2:15 states that belief is not enough. Belief without works of faith is empty, the same as no faith at all. People telling you they are a Christian while behaving otherwise should be made aware of this passage.
I say this as a Unitarian Universalist. I study the Bible to inform my beliefs, but they are not defined by them. I do think Jesus has been commodified and warped, and the people in power who tell us we’re a Christian nation in the US have lost sight of scripture. They quote the Old Testament and ignore John 13:34.
I also studied all this so when ICE / this government comes for me, I’ll have my receipts. Maybe it won’t matter, but speaking truth to power is important. If so many people believe this book, why do we act like we do? It’s power’s fault, not religion.
Note, I was an atheist for 20 years. I know all about the ills of religion. UU is not like my Catholic Church growing up. If you haven’t been to UU or a Quaker org, it’s worth your time.
My best is: just stop. Yes, Lemmy is like the rural version of Reddit. It’s slower, more niche communities, and not a lot of people making content. But screw Reddit. I was a 15 year reader. They’ve destroyed it for corporate greed. I’m all set.
Favorite, compared to other animals, most people in global north / “The West” and many people elsewhere have some semblance of a normal life, even if the global state is a nightmare.
Least, that we cannot recognize we are one species who could solve a lot of problems by working together. Instead, the selfish & rich create spoilage while being short sighted.
Hell yeah, homie.
I’m a millennial, and I keep holding my breath for our generation to show up. There’s plenty of statistics that show a deep blue wave. I think we’ll lose more before we win, but nothing lasts forever.
I don’t have a ton of stock in any data from 2025 voting behavior. There’s some suggestions of vote manipulation from reputable statisticians, so I don’t really trust that voting data.
I don’t want ScreamingMinecraftYoutuber67 on my watch history, and yet, it’ll be there tomorrow morning.
/s
Accounts used by multiple people enter the room.
By kids often use my account on our shared family TV. We have adults in 30s/40s, early teens, and toddlers all using YouTube for different things.
This is a stupid idea.
“Now, I think it’s a wholesale prostitution of America and its values in order to sell weapons. And increasingly profiteer on this stuff.”
9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’
11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.”
Yeah, this feels like correlation vs. causation. I don’t doubt the figures, though.
We are all God’s dream. At least, that’s what I believe.
Thank you for writing and making content.
In this era, I feel like I’m in the Good Place: it’s impossible to make “good” ethical choices while engaging with modern world. Every day, some platform or artist is found supporting blood money, genocide, unfair labor, treats other artist/collaborators like shit, exploitation… Then we all have to pivot to some obscure alternative with its own issues, lest we be immoral internet users.
I’m so tired of all this shit… /rant
There’s a term in art called “authorial control.” Roger Ebert used the term to attack video games as art, saying they lacked “authorial control” and hence invalid for art.
The claim I hear in this is the AI taking away the control of the author. Yes, videos are edited, but there’s a bunch of choices made in that process. If some robot came in & started mucking around with my edits or lighting, especially without my knowledge, that’s a major red flag. YT, as a platform, already has enough problems. Invisible robots “enhancing” videos is perhaps one of the worst features they can add. Unwanted help is not help.
Somewhat irrelevant: omg, this is peak “corporate art sucks.” It’s like corporate art combined with fascist content, more than usual.
The architecture of Doom was specifically designed for portability. If you’d like to learn more, check out this video. For those that don’t know, tl;dr, the game’s structure is compartmentalized with specific connections (interfaces). The game logic runs separate of engine logic. If you write the specific engine hookups, the game logic should then run. Also math & clever level design implementation.
The moral compass bit is hilarious. Large swaths of tech haven’t had morals in decades when it comes to business, if ever. See google’s canary “do good” being gone. People have fully drank the “greed is good” koolaid for years.
I’ll say this: when I go to the doctor, I’m listed as “not smoker.” But, I have my medical card, and it gets lots of use. When I go to ask, the doctor always seems to wave me off, like “It’s not tobacco, so it’s fine.” I definitely feel like I’ll get lung cancer with the amount I vape/toke at the moment 😬
This feels like a grave mischaracterization of what I wrote. I don’t think you’re a good faith actor. Have a good one.
It’s a great community and shares a lot with us. More people should know about faith communities doing the good work in the world, rather than swindling their congregations for mega churches with elaborate shows, while telling people “empathy is not Christian.” It’s absurd what’s happening in those congregations right now.