Posts

The Strength of Blind Faith

(This post is going to serve as a prelude to me reading Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments  and Concluding Unscientific Postscript . I want to see how it changes my perspective on faith, and so before I read those I want to record my current thoughts.)     The term "blind faith" has a lot of negative connotations. "Blindness" presumes willful ignorance in favor of comfortable lies, and that to believe without evidence fundamentally requires rejecting reality. It's natural that people want evidence, something material to cling on to in the face of doubt. For many, that need is filled by apologetics, or by anti-science Biblical literalism, or by the threat of being condemned to Hell making doubt too dangerous to fall into.     However, this fear of doubt is misguided. Ironically, it requires the rewriting and rejecting of reality to fit a certain narrative of faith which requires worldly proof. No faith can be resolute if it contradicts the real world, and ...
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A Gentle Critique of David in HBO's The Last Of Us

      I, like basically everyone, love The Last Of Us. I loved the (remaster of the) original when I played it on my PS4 in 2015. I loved Part 2 when I binged it in the few days after it released in 2020. I've replayed each at least twice. It's no surprise that, also like an even larger "basically everyone," I loved the TV adaptation made by HBO in 2023.     The show made some changes to the script that I generally approve of. I enjoy the changes to Henry and Sam. I enjoy the changes to Jackson, Wyoming. In general I like the show a lot. I want to clarify that so I don't come off as a nostalgia-obsessed fangirl when I complain about how they changed David. There's your premise drop for the post, by the way. I don't like Show David.      David is a fascinating character in the game. Not only is he a selfish, cruel manipulator, hell-bent on control, and not only is he the face of the hundreds of nameless bad guys throughout the game, but he is the t...
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Zona Alfa: Our Antagonists, the Monolith

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     Whew, last post was kinda heavy, huh? What do we say to a palette cleanser?    I'm starting a new campaign of Zona Alfa with my wife! For those who don't know, Zona Alfa is a tabletop skirmish game set in a royalty free equivalent of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe (C.R.E.E.P., maybe?), which my wife and I both adore. She's always wanted to explore the setting, but the video games aren't really her style, so she asked me to come up with the lore and missions for our campaign.      I decided to set up a custom Stalker prequel timeline set in 2008, with new factions, lore, and locations. Today I want to share with you the reimagined Monolith who will serve as our antagonists. Please, enjoy! Premise and Inspirations "Bring death to those who spurned the holy powers of the Monolith!"     For the main antagonists of the whole franchise, we know surprisingly little about what they were up to before the events of the first game. We only get a ...
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Christian Conservatives, and God as a Buzzword

      I should clarify to start that this is an autopsy of a very specific kind of Christian, and for that reason I want to establish a rhetorical difference between the conservative Christian and the demographic / political bloc of the "Christian Conservative." You can believe in conservative economic and social values while being a true, thoughtful Christian. The Christian Conservative, in the way that they will be referred to in this post, consciously or not, conflates Christianity and Conservatism: the type to say that their politicians are acting in God's will, or whose sermons refer to Christian values and Conservative values totally interchangeably. An example: If you think we should support our police, this is not you. If you frequently say things like "God bless our police," this is probably you. Is that established? Cool.     I saw a clip on Twitter today (a mistake, I know) that got me thinking. It was a video of a little girl just saying, "I...
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Is My Autism Sinful?

     After watching the recent episodes of the lovely podcast Christianity On The Spectrum, I've been thinking theologically about my autism and ADHD.      For those who might not know me, hi! My name is Maria, I am a transfem Christian with fairly severe ADHD and ASD2. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of the coping mechanisms my disabled peers have. I was told for most of my life, right up until I moved out very recently, that my disability was something I just have to overcome and ignore. This isn't a claim that my family was abusive, quite the opposite. I know they just wanted to see me happy and successful. Not to mention, I always had food on the table and a roof over my head, and for that I am endlessly grateful.      However, as I got older and realized that this disability is a part of me, and I saw how my inability to meet basic standards of performance was hurting my family, I asked: Am I lesser in the eyes of God?    Do ...
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On the Sin of Empathy

     I'll note that I unfortunately don't have access to Joe Rigny's book, "The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and its Counterfeits." I do have a lot of experiences with empathy, and I've read some interviews with him and other men of faith, both for and against empathy. So I hope I'm coming in with a more educated perspective than, "I feel this way." Myself and Empathy     I n all theology, we're putting ourselves, our values, and who we are as people on the table. I think it's only fair that I explain a bit about myself.      My name is Maria. I am a 21 year old transgender autistic woman. I was born and raised a Quaker, English and American Christians who believe the Light of God exists equally within all people. I have what my girlfriend describes as "low-empathy autism": when it comes to other people's suffering, I don't feel much of anything. I often see beggars on the streets of my city, or deathbeds in the hospital, ...
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