#theology — Public Fediverse posts

Something I'm always fascinated with is our human ability to convince ourselves that something is alive and is intelligent.

My first foray into this was obviously nu-atheist youtube. As much as I loathe those types these days, I remember quite frequently encountering their accusations against gods as simply anthropomorphic feelings. The milk jug experiment convincing me of the absurdity of things like prayer and magick.

And I still maintain that humans innately desire to put more meaning into a feeling of presence or warmth or safety than is rationally there, but there is something interesting about the imagination of the irrational mind. I personally have a sense of jealousy for not being able to feel comforted by the gods everyone else can. I simply lack the ability to believe but I have cultivated the skill of empathy. I can see that emotion peak up and I think it's beautiful I just don't think it's gods.

This same concept was pushed further when I learned about the folks on the Paranormal board of 4chan giving themselves a form of paranoid schizophrenia by cultivating tulpas. For the uninitiated, there was a belief on the /x/ board that one could simply start talking to a voice in there head and could cultivate that into an entity they deemed a "tulpa" which they could offload thinking onto or to use as a mental servitor of sorts.

For the same reasons I could never believe in a god for which I could irrationally feel but could not rationally accept, I could also see where someone with a more, let's say, active imagination would believe that this is both a real and dangers practice.

And I did eventually start to talk with folks who were schizo-effective/schizophrenic and they did confirm the dangers of believing such dillusions. It is the playing into of these dillusions that give them power and will eventually harm the mind of the victim.

So it is with this background. This last almost 15 years of my life being interested in the front lines and fringes of religion, that I view my self as keenly aware that where ever there is something magical and fantastical is most like to be just a really intense and real psychological response to something. Which I would like to make clear, I don't find bad inherently. I just want to make it clear that it seems the same mental mechanism that allows us to believe in gods lets us believe in all sorts of anthropomorphic powers that may or may want to hurt us.

And it is this background with which I now interpret the genAI and Techbro world we exist in.

Honestly, I don't think it's novel to accuse the Techbro oligarchy of being a sudo-religious cult. This is just my own personal expression of understanding on what it is we are experiencing.

The only thing new about this modern take on necromancers and demonologists is that in times past selling access to Garbunk the destroyer of Aeons would get the necromancer burned at the stake. Now they sell $100/month subscriptions to Garbunk dot AI while simultaneously promising it will run your SAAS company, be your girlfriend, and probably destroy the Aeons.

#pagan #atheist #occult #esoteric #AI #genai #llm #philosophy #theology

Something I'm always fascinated with is our human ability to convince ourselves that something is alive and is intelligent.

My first foray into this was obviously nu-atheist youtube. As much as I loathe those types these days, I remember quite frequently encountering their accusations against gods as simply anthropomorphic feelings. The milk jug experiment convincing me of the absurdity of things like prayer and magick.

And I still maintain that humans innately desire to put more meaning into a feeling of presence or warmth or safety than is rationally there, but there is something interesting about the imagination of the irrational mind. I personally have a sense of jealousy for not being able to feel comforted by the gods everyone else can. I simply lack the ability to believe but I have cultivated the skill of empathy. I can see that emotion peak up and I think it's beautiful I just don't think it's gods.

This same concept was pushed further when I learned about the folks on the Paranormal board of 4chan giving themselves a form of paranoid schizophrenia by cultivating tulpas. For the uninitiated, there was a belief on the /x/ board that one could simply start talking to a voice in there head and could cultivate that into an entity they deemed a "tulpa" which they could offload thinking onto or to use as a mental servitor of sorts.

For the same reasons I could never believe in a god for which I could irrationally feel but could not rationally accept, I could also see where someone with a more, let's say, active imagination would believe that this is both a real and dangers practice.

And I did eventually start to talk with folks who were schizo-effective/schizophrenic and they did confirm the dangers of believing such dillusions. It is the playing into of these dillusions that give them power and will eventually harm the mind of the victim.

So it is with this background. This last almost 15 years of my life being interested in the front lines and fringes of religion, that I view my self as keenly aware that where ever there is something magical and fantastical is most like to be just a really intense and real psychological response to something. Which I would like to make clear, I don't find bad inherently. I just want to make it clear that it seems the same mental mechanism that allows us to believe in gods lets us believe in all sorts of anthropomorphic powers that may or may want to hurt us.

And it is this background with which I now interpret the genAI and Techbro world we exist in.

Honestly, I don't think it's novel to accuse the Techbro oligarchy of being a sudo-religious cult. This is just my own personal expression of understanding on what it is we are experiencing.

The only thing new about this modern take on necromancers and demonologists is that in times past selling access to Garbunk the destroyer of Aeons would get the necromancer burned at the stake. Now they sell $100/month subscriptions to Garbunk dot AI while simultaneously promising it will run your SAAS company, be your girlfriend, and probably destroy the Aeons.

#pagan #atheist #occult #esoteric #AI #genai #llm #philosophy #theology

Something I'm always fascinated with is our human ability to convince ourselves that something is alive and is intelligent.

My first foray into this was obviously nu-atheist youtube. As much as I loathe those types these days, I remember quite frequently encountering their accusations against gods as simply anthropomorphic feelings. The milk jug experiment convincing me of the absurdity of things like prayer and magick.

And I still maintain that humans innately desire to put more meaning into a feeling of presence or warmth or safety than is rationally there, but there is something interesting about the imagination of the irrational mind. I personally have a sense of jealousy for not being able to feel comforted by the gods everyone else can. I simply lack the ability to believe but I have cultivated the skill of empathy. I can see that emotion peak up and I think it's beautiful I just don't think it's gods.

This same concept was pushed further when I learned about the folks on the Paranormal board of 4chan giving themselves a form of paranoid schizophrenia by cultivating tulpas. For the uninitiated, there was a belief on the /x/ board that one could simply start talking to a voice in there head and could cultivate that into an entity they deemed a "tulpa" which they could offload thinking onto or to use as a mental servitor of sorts.

For the same reasons I could never believe in a god for which I could irrationally feel but could not rationally accept, I could also see where someone with a more, let's say, active imagination would believe that this is both a real and dangers practice.

And I did eventually start to talk with folks who were schizo-effective/schizophrenic and they did confirm the dangers of believing such dillusions. It is the playing into of these dillusions that give them power and will eventually harm the mind of the victim.

So it is with this background. This last almost 15 years of my life being interested in the front lines and fringes of religion, that I view my self as keenly aware that where ever there is something magical and fantastical is most like to be just a really intense and real psychological response to something. Which I would like to make clear, I don't find bad inherently. I just want to make it clear that it seems the same mental mechanism that allows us to believe in gods lets us believe in all sorts of anthropomorphic powers that may or may want to hurt us.

And it is this background with which I now interpret the genAI and Techbro world we exist in.

Honestly, I don't think it's novel to accuse the Techbro oligarchy of being a sudo-religious cult. This is just my own personal expression of understanding on what it is we are experiencing.

The only thing new about this modern take on necromancers and demonologists is that in times past selling access to Garbunk the destroyer of Aeons would get the necromancer burned at the stake. Now they sell $100/month subscriptions to Garbunk dot AI while simultaneously promising it will run your SAAS company, be your girlfriend, and probably destroy the Aeons.

#pagan #atheist #occult #esoteric #AI #genai #llm #philosophy #theology

Something I'm always fascinated with is our human ability to convince ourselves that something is alive and is intelligent.

My first foray into this was obviously nu-atheist youtube. As much as I loathe those types these days, I remember quite frequently encountering their accusations against gods as simply anthropomorphic feelings. The milk jug experiment convincing me of the absurdity of things like prayer and magick.

And I still maintain that humans innately desire to put more meaning into a feeling of presence or warmth or safety than is rationally there, but there is something interesting about the imagination of the irrational mind. I personally have a sense of jealousy for not being able to feel comforted by the gods everyone else can. I simply lack the ability to believe but I have cultivated the skill of empathy. I can see that emotion peak up and I think it's beautiful I just don't think it's gods.

This same concept was pushed further when I learned about the folks on the Paranormal board of 4chan giving themselves a form of paranoid schizophrenia by cultivating tulpas. For the uninitiated, there was a belief on the /x/ board that one could simply start talking to a voice in there head and could cultivate that into an entity they deemed a "tulpa" which they could offload thinking onto or to use as a mental servitor of sorts.

For the same reasons I could never believe in a god for which I could irrationally feel but could not rationally accept, I could also see where someone with a more, let's say, active imagination would believe that this is both a real and dangers practice.

And I did eventually start to talk with folks who were schizo-effective/schizophrenic and they did confirm the dangers of believing such dillusions. It is the playing into of these dillusions that give them power and will eventually harm the mind of the victim.

So it is with this background. This last almost 15 years of my life being interested in the front lines and fringes of religion, that I view my self as keenly aware that where ever there is something magical and fantastical is most like to be just a really intense and real psychological response to something. Which I would like to make clear, I don't find bad inherently. I just want to make it clear that it seems the same mental mechanism that allows us to believe in gods lets us believe in all sorts of anthropomorphic powers that may or may want to hurt us.

And it is this background with which I now interpret the genAI and Techbro world we exist in.

Honestly, I don't think it's novel to accuse the Techbro oligarchy of being a sudo-religious cult. This is just my own personal expression of understanding on what it is we are experiencing.

The only thing new about this modern take on necromancers and demonologists is that in times past selling access to Garbunk the destroyer of Aeons would get the necromancer burned at the stake. Now they sell $100/month subscriptions to Garbunk dot AI while simultaneously promising it will run your SAAS company, be your girlfriend, and probably destroy the Aeons.

#pagan #atheist #occult #esoteric #AI #genai #llm #philosophy #theology

Something I'm always fascinated with is our human ability to convince ourselves that something is alive and is intelligent.

My first foray into this was obviously nu-atheist youtube. As much as I loathe those types these days, I remember quite frequently encountering their accusations against gods as simply anthropomorphic feelings. The milk jug experiment convincing me of the absurdity of things like prayer and magick.

And I still maintain that humans innately desire to put more meaning into a feeling of presence or warmth or safety than is rationally there, but there is something interesting about the imagination of the irrational mind. I personally have a sense of jealousy for not being able to feel comforted by the gods everyone else can. I simply lack the ability to believe but I have cultivated the skill of empathy. I can see that emotion peak up and I think it's beautiful I just don't think it's gods.

This same concept was pushed further when I learned about the folks on the Paranormal board of 4chan giving themselves a form of paranoid schizophrenia by cultivating tulpas. For the uninitiated, there was a belief on the /x/ board that one could simply start talking to a voice in there head and could cultivate that into an entity they deemed a "tulpa" which they could offload thinking onto or to use as a mental servitor of sorts.

For the same reasons I could never believe in a god for which I could irrationally feel but could not rationally accept, I could also see where someone with a more, let's say, active imagination would believe that this is both a real and dangers practice.

And I did eventually start to talk with folks who were schizo-effective/schizophrenic and they did confirm the dangers of believing such dillusions. It is the playing into of these dillusions that give them power and will eventually harm the mind of the victim.

So it is with this background. This last almost 15 years of my life being interested in the front lines and fringes of religion, that I view my self as keenly aware that where ever there is something magical and fantastical is most like to be just a really intense and real psychological response to something. Which I would like to make clear, I don't find bad inherently. I just want to make it clear that it seems the same mental mechanism that allows us to believe in gods lets us believe in all sorts of anthropomorphic powers that may or may want to hurt us.

And it is this background with which I now interpret the genAI and Techbro world we exist in.

Honestly, I don't think it's novel to accuse the Techbro oligarchy of being a sudo-religious cult. This is just my own personal expression of understanding on what it is we are experiencing.

The only thing new about this modern take on necromancers and demonologists is that in times past selling access to Garbunk the destroyer of Aeons would get the necromancer burned at the stake. Now they sell $100/month subscriptions to Garbunk dot AI while simultaneously promising it will run your SAAS company, be your girlfriend, and probably destroy the Aeons.

#pagan #atheist #occult #esoteric #AI #genai #llm #philosophy #theology

I find it fascinating that the concept of hell varies so much across cultures, from eternal fire to separation from the divine. It's a deep reflection of human beliefs about justice and morality.

#hell #afterlife #theology #religion #faith

I find it fascinating that the concept of hell varies so much across cultures, from eternal fire to separation from the divine. It's a deep reflection of human beliefs about justice and morality.

#hell #afterlife #theology #religion #faith

I find it fascinating that the concept of hell varies so much across cultures, from eternal fire to separation from the divine. It's a deep reflection of human beliefs about justice and morality.

#hell #afterlife #theology #religion #faith

I find it fascinating that the concept of hell varies so much across cultures, from eternal fire to separation from the divine. It's a deep reflection of human beliefs about justice and morality.

#hell #afterlife #theology #religion #faith

I find it fascinating that the concept of hell varies so much across cultures, from eternal fire to separation from the divine. It's a deep reflection of human beliefs about justice and morality.

#hell #afterlife #theology #religion #faith

Why I’m Not Upset About Meryl Streep as Aslan

As a huge Narnia fan, I can’t wait to see The Magician’s Nephew in theaters!

I’ve seen a lot of posts going around lately where people are enraged that Aslan is played by Meryl Streep, but I’m not overly bothered by it. We’ve had over a year to consider Greta Gerwig’s artistic decision on this front. If you’re just hearing the news for the first time, here are some theological, allegorical, and artistic thoughts to consider:

1. God is not a man or a woman. He is God. Remember that both women and men image God, and therefore both genders show us what God is like.

2. There are a few passages in Scripture where God is likened to a mother. There are several allusions in Scripture to Jesus being the famous “Woman Wisdom” of Proverbs 8. The Holy Spirit is grammatically feminine in the Old Testament and gender neutral in the New Testament.

3. Considering God in a motherly light can be healing for people with various hurts, especially for those with trauma around men, or loss around women.

4. Lewis said that Aslan was known by different names in different worlds. In his lore, Jesus shows up to deal with these worlds, as each must be addressed. His other fictional works imagined how God might interact with other worlds, like Mars and Venus.

5. Some are offended that Jesus would be represented by a female voice, but not by the fact that he’d be represented by a lion. I understand the literary change can feel jarring, but it may be worth doing some soul-searching on that.

6. Lewis said that “Good allegory exists not to hide, but to reveal.” In that light, Gerwig is practicing the same art that Lewis set out to do. Her decision may not be faithful to Lewis, but it is faithful to the literary genre of Narnia.

7. We haven’t seen the movie yet. Remember when the church canceled Rob Bell over a book they never read? Let’s not do the same here. Gerwig has done a good job at getting us to think about gender issues in her past works. Let’s see what she has to teach us here.

8. Aslan is ruined by a misunderstanding of his character, not his gender. Liam Neeson’s depiction brings me to tears. Focus on the Family’s depiction made me scared of God. Though they said many of the same words, Neeson’s voice wanted to protect me, and Focus on the Family’s voice wanted to maul me.

9. “Meryl Streep can do anything.”

The Magician’s Nephew is a wonderful origin story for Narnia. I’ve hoped for years that it would one day become a movie, and now that time is drawing near. Lewis was a professional at using story to bring spirituality to life in a vibrant way, and Gerwig is a sharp director who actually has something to say in her movies. Let’s be glad this book ended up in the hands of someone who wants to help us think, and not just someone who wanted to create entertainment.