The exmormon sub reddit is so awesome. It gave me a place to not feel alone when I felt isolated and lonely going through my faith crisis. Excited to see you go through it despite the sad/dark stories there just because I think it's the best place to get a vibe of the exmo community online in one spot. 😊
Nothing upsets me more than tithing and the churches wealth. My parents live in my brothers basement and live paycheck to paycheck and have given the church hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout their lifetime as well as countless hours of paid work. It makes me sick.
I think a lot of the lyrics on TTPD are anti-Christian (or more accurately anti-conservative Christian), but it’s super important to not construe that with being anti-religion-it’s so easy to accidentally center Christianity in this discussion!
Preordination, or the idea of it, really screwed me up as a teen convert. At the time, I was struggling with my gender&sexuality, as well as really bad mental illness. It made me feel like id chosen before i was alive to self harm, so because id already made the decision i had power to stop myself from doing it. Obviously thats flawed, but it also made me feel like I chose to be trans and pansexual before i was alive but i wasnt allowed to be it ? I realy didnt understand it because it makes NO SENSE
And I remember one of the MANY times I asked a genuine question in seminary and got shut down super hard and judged was when I asked about preordination and free will and reconciling the two
For what it's worth, my take on Abraham and Issac was that it was a story underlining the fact that G-d _will never_ demand your child: G-d tells Abraham "kill me a son," and rather than thinking, "Okey dokey, no problem Lord!" Abraham's obedience is an act of despair. It's a moment where he's thinking, "I thought my creator brought me out to the desert, but now this, I must be whatever the bronze age equivalent of mentally ill is. None of this was real. I gave up my home in the city to die in obscurityout here. I may as well kill both of us." Importantly, if I remember right, Issac builds a sacrificial fire, and Issac _asks_ his father, "Hey, so, what are we doing here?" And Abraham lies and says, "G-d wants us to sacrifice a ram." And Issac is like, "...and where might this ram be?" And it's after that, before any children wind up on any altars, that a ram appears nearby with its horns stuck in a thicket, and they sacrifice that. I'm sure it was a very unnerving day for Issac, but I don't think it was seconds away from death traumatic. I'm not a literal interpretationist (and this poor LDS mum thinking she might one day be called to murder her children is one of the reasons why I think literal interpretation is false: this is very bad fruit, sorry ma'am, i hope your mental health stays stable!) but if this was a literal event, I think it was more of a dark night of the soul situation than an example of robotic obedience to every burning in every bosom... and lastly, I'm not sure you _could_ tell a story that wouldn't be subject to having its meaning manipulated 1000s of years after the first telling.
Not Christian but I did my undergrad in Religious Studies. Outside of literalist circles, generally the story of Abraham and Issac is that up until that point, Abraham had been reluctant to uphold his part of the covenant. He sold his wife Sarah in Egypt to try to get away! He tried to cheat God a lot, and he primarily submitted because he wanted a son by Sarah so badly. So when he is willing to give up the one thing that was his selfish motivation this whole time, it's more about how he's found value in a religious life for it's own sake rather than because he gets something out of it. He's willing to do something extreme to hold on to the covenant. There's also the aspect that some religions in the region at the time may have practiced human sacrifice, and the Old Testament is full of "we're not like other religions" digs; this might be one of them.
As a MASSIVE swiftie, TTPD (and even some of her older albums like midnights, folklore, and evermore) def uses religious imagery and symbolism to convey certain messages about love , loss, and betrayal. You can tell that she definitely has gone through some deconstruction and therapy. I find it so comforting, but it is far from satanic. It’s not even advocating for a specific stance on religion, again just imagery and symbolism.
If you listen closely, the source of the accusation that Taylor is a Satanist is attributed to people who are also political shrills. There is growing friction between Donald Trump and Taylor Swift because Taylor is becoming more vocal in her opposition to Trump. Trump knows his core supporters are devout Christians. He has carefully groomed (gas lit) this group over the last 12 years to the point many of them now seem to believe he is the tool God will use to save our country. His campaign strategy has always been to attack those who oppose him. Therefore, it is not surprising that Taylor is now seen as s Satanist by politically vocal religiously inclined people. They are responding to their programming. It is also not surprising this idea is becoming the focus of church meetings in some wards as, we learned from the Covid response, some wards seem to have leadership that allow their political affiliations to influence their religious beliefs and responsibilities. It will be interesting to see how "the rising generation" reacts to this duplicity.
There's quite a bit of religious imagery on TTPD. I've mostly only heard people upset over the lyrics in But Daddy I Love Him which are really just anti a specific type of hypocritically judge Christian (imo)
The exmormon sub reddit is so awesome. It gave me a place to not feel alone when I felt isolated and lonely going through my faith crisis. Excited to see you go through it despite the sad/dark stories there just because I think it's the best place to get a vibe of the exmo community online in one spot. 😊
I wish I would have joined sooner. I spent my baby exmo years on exmo twitter. I was exmo for almost 3 years before I joined Reddit.
Nothing upsets me more than tithing and the churches wealth. My parents live in my brothers basement and live paycheck to paycheck and have given the church hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout their lifetime as well as countless hours of paid work. It makes me sick.
Another fantastic episode providing my world with clarity humor and healing all at the same time 👏🏻
I've heard "Jump Humper" used as an alternative to bed shaker.
Also please do this more! I love exmo Reddit! Especially the doctrinal theories!!
The hat gave me the ick BIG time!!! I always thought with all the billowy white robes and hat they looked like the pillsbury dough boy lol
I think a lot of the lyrics on TTPD are anti-Christian (or more accurately anti-conservative Christian), but it’s super important to not construe that with being anti-religion-it’s so easy to accidentally center Christianity in this discussion!
I mean, my journey out of the church started with listening to podcasts about cults, so anti-podcast mom is not completely wrong haha
Preordination, or the idea of it, really screwed me up as a teen convert. At the time, I was struggling with my gender&sexuality, as well as really bad mental illness. It made me feel like id chosen before i was alive to self harm, so because id already made the decision i had power to stop myself from doing it. Obviously thats flawed, but it also made me feel like I chose to be trans and pansexual before i was alive but i wasnt allowed to be it ? I realy didnt understand it because it makes NO SENSE
And I remember one of the MANY times I asked a genuine question in seminary and got shut down super hard and judged was when I asked about preordination and free will and reconciling the two
I think its key that you just FIT IN with the Taylor Swift thing!
I read the tank top story the other day on reddit 😞 its so awful
“Taylor, if you’re listening, and I know you are, drop me a dm and let me know what you think”
For what it's worth, my take on Abraham and Issac was that it was a story underlining the fact that G-d _will never_ demand your child: G-d tells Abraham "kill me a son," and rather than thinking, "Okey dokey, no problem Lord!" Abraham's obedience is an act of despair. It's a moment where he's thinking, "I thought my creator brought me out to the desert, but now this, I must be whatever the bronze age equivalent of mentally ill is. None of this was real. I gave up my home in the city to die in obscurityout here. I may as well kill both of us."
Importantly, if I remember right, Issac builds a sacrificial fire, and Issac _asks_ his father, "Hey, so, what are we doing here?" And Abraham lies and says, "G-d wants us to sacrifice a ram." And Issac is like, "...and where might this ram be?" And it's after that, before any children wind up on any altars, that a ram appears nearby with its horns stuck in a thicket, and they sacrifice that.
I'm sure it was a very unnerving day for Issac, but I don't think it was seconds away from death traumatic.
I'm not a literal interpretationist (and this poor LDS mum thinking she might one day be called to murder her children is one of the reasons why I think literal interpretation is false: this is very bad fruit, sorry ma'am, i hope your mental health stays stable!) but if this was a literal event, I think it was more of a dark night of the soul situation than an example of robotic obedience to every burning in every bosom... and lastly, I'm not sure you _could_ tell a story that wouldn't be subject to having its meaning manipulated 1000s of years after the first telling.
I think I just had a stroke trying to read this
Not Christian but I did my undergrad in Religious Studies. Outside of literalist circles, generally the story of Abraham and Issac is that up until that point, Abraham had been reluctant to uphold his part of the covenant. He sold his wife Sarah in Egypt to try to get away! He tried to cheat God a lot, and he primarily submitted because he wanted a son by Sarah so badly. So when he is willing to give up the one thing that was his selfish motivation this whole time, it's more about how he's found value in a religious life for it's own sake rather than because he gets something out of it. He's willing to do something extreme to hold on to the covenant. There's also the aspect that some religions in the region at the time may have practiced human sacrifice, and the Old Testament is full of "we're not like other religions" digs; this might be one of them.
As a MASSIVE swiftie, TTPD (and even some of her older albums like midnights, folklore, and evermore) def uses religious imagery and symbolism to convey certain messages about love , loss, and betrayal. You can tell that she definitely has gone through some deconstruction and therapy. I find it so comforting, but it is far from satanic. It’s not even advocating for a specific stance on religion, again just imagery and symbolism.
If you listen closely, the source of the accusation that Taylor is a Satanist is attributed to people who are also political shrills. There is growing friction between Donald Trump and Taylor Swift because Taylor is becoming more vocal in her opposition to Trump. Trump knows his core supporters are devout Christians. He has carefully groomed (gas lit) this group over the last 12 years to the point many of them now seem to believe he is the tool God will use to save our country. His campaign strategy has always been to attack those who oppose him. Therefore, it is not surprising that Taylor is now seen as s Satanist by politically vocal religiously inclined people. They are responding to their programming. It is also not surprising this idea is becoming the focus of church meetings in some wards as, we learned from the Covid response, some wards seem to have leadership that allow their political affiliations to influence their religious beliefs and responsibilities. It will be interesting to see how "the rising generation" reacts to this duplicity.
Maybe the “Elders Quorum Presidency” husband is not going with the missionaries! He might be getting ‘some’ on the side! 🤷♀️
There's quite a bit of religious imagery on TTPD. I've mostly only heard people upset over the lyrics in But Daddy I Love Him which are really just anti a specific type of hypocritically judge Christian (imo)
They need him or another male because they where elders not sisters. 39:14