Category: Uncategorized

uncle-knobheads:

Fic authors deserve more credit.

Story time: I started a book about 23 hours ago and just finished it. Also in that time I slept for 10 hours, spent time with family, was at work, etc. Anyway, I enjoyed the book (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda). But it felt like it flew by, so after I finished I looked up the word count because what are pages? Pages are meaningless. I only function in word counts anymore.

The estimate I found was 58,580. My immediate reaction was “oh, that’s why. That’s nothing!” But what a shitty response. Because no. That’s not nothing. That’s a whole. Damn. Book. An entire novel! And Fic authors regularly bust out 30k, 50k, 100k, 150k words. AND THEY DO IT FOR FREE. WHILE WORKING AND LIVING THEIR LIVES.

So anyway, thank your favorite fic author today because they deserve it. Because they’re amazing. They’re the MVPs.

Why Did God Create Atheists?

rehfan:

naamahdarling:

razairazerci:

religiousragings:

There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson. 

One clever student asks “What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?”

The Master responds “God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all — the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs and act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that god commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.”

“This means,” the Master continued “that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that God will help you.’ Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’”

ETA source: Tales of Hasidim Vol. 2 by Mar

I started reading this and was worried it would be something attacking atheists, or bashing religion, but this makes me really, really happy.

imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’”

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Yes.  YES.

This is lovely and precisely the thing I’ve been trying to explain to my family for ages.

This is exactly why as an athiest I perform regular acts of charity, despite being disabled and on a fixed income myself. I don’t have someone telling me I need to for some eternal, ephemeral reward. I do it because it’s the right thing to do. I don’t have a checklist in my head, ticking off credits with a higher power. I think, “Shit, it’s hot this week and the homeless shelter is giving out lots of bottled water. I’ll buy a few cases and drop them off if I can.” Because it’s something I can do to help that I can afford and manage to do at this current time to help others. That’s not an example I pulled out of my arse – right now I have 3 x 24 bottles of water in my car plus four packs of tube ice blocks ready to freeze, plus a whole bag of sanitary products (they were on sale last week) and it’s 41C outside today. I’ll drop them off at the collection point on Monday. We’re able to do this much because my Christian mother saw us regularly buying things for charity, donating items we didn’t need, or chucking a bit of money in people’s fundraisers and thought she, personally, should do more, and offered to go halves. I’m not saying there aren’t uncharitible athiests – there are plenty – but the idea that those of us who don’t believe in a higher power are amoral, heartless, and devoid of any kind of selflessness is just plain wrong.

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

It seems a bit extreme to say over a sweet, teen romance book, this ruined me but in all honesty, it did. Never have I read a book that fit this facet of my life so perfectly. There really isn’t anything out there for queer LDS and former LDS people like myself. I own Sue-Ann Post’s memoir, and borrowed Saving Alex from the library. I own Latter Days on dvd. I even owned the church-endorsed In Quiet Desperation, a book written by the parents of a gay kid who knew he was suicidal and chose not to intervene despite knowing this (because God told them not to), and the LDS posterboy for the new face of pray the gay away. That’s how thin on the ground representation is.

This book was the book I needed, not just as a teen, but as an adult. This book is going to save the lives of so many queer LDS kids. That’s not an exaggeration. It’s an absolute fact.

As someone born into Mormonism, all the terminology, attitudes, language and doctrine was spot-on. They got it right. So many kids are going to find this book and have something that was written just for them, a candle in the dark. The scene where the hypothetical is mentioned? I did that. It crashed and burned in a slightly different, but still heartbreakingly predictable way. Too many of us die, either at our own hand, actively or passively, or are murdered, actively or passively. Too many of us end up with nothing once the walls are removed and we’re standing in that field for the first time. But for the ones who find this book, be it through libraries, or friends, or illicit ebook… they won’t be standing alone.

copperbadge:

butterflyslinky:

the-absolute-best-gifs:

this naughty kid

@copperbadge, I believe this calls for an RDJ advises.

“I’m not here to tell you how to live your sex life, Chris.”

“Oh, thank god.”

“But as someone with the best wife in the universe…”

“…she is pretty great, but I don’t want to hear about yours – “ 

“I’m here to tell you that a little roleplay can be a lot of fun. I’m not saying wear the costume in bed or anything. The Iron Man helmet is not good for actual sexy times. I’m just saying.”

“Please stop saying.”

“All right. I’ll leave you to it.”

[RDJ Advises Chris Evans on his Life Choices]