#religious commentary

I have...a lot of feelings about how this turned out. But there was one unexpected positive, or at least interesting, thing I found in it – how it philosophically approached the conflict’s themes in a world in which a Christian-like god is both real and the source of the problem. Or at least, one way it can be interpreted that I think is OK and works for me.

Specifically, that even without a god to make them and influence them, Aziraphale, Crowley, and everyone else still ended up existing, and world itself still ended up largely the same. Their existence, everyone’s existence, was in fact an inevitable, natural part of the world, developing on their own, god and the supernatural not required. Sure, they’re not exactly the same people they were before, they don’t have the same memories, powers, and experiences that shaped them, but they still have the same personalities, interests, feelings, and connections, and more a part of the world itself than they were before, truly connected to everything like they always wanted. By starting everything over, whether they meant to or not, they proved Crowley's point that people and the world itself, for better or for worse, are self-driven, and beautify things, like two people finding each other, still happen. That a top-down religious-authoritarian system for guiding the world can't be fixed or made better, and its existence only made the people in it suffer, supernatural people included.

I don’t know if this atheistic, humanistic philosophical take was intentional. Possibly, given this show is British and not American, but I’m not sure. What I do know is that how it would thematically wrap up the religious commentary aspects of the overall story was the part I expected the most disappointment from. Somehow it was the part that surprised me the most.

(Using 049 because I relate to them)

Going through & finishing some art pieces to submit for various competitions, I was fondly reminded of Grace Gray-Adams, one of my art teachers in uni.

20+ years on, & she still remains one of my most influential instructors & favourite people!

A lot of christians say “kids need a mother and a father” as an argument against both queer families and divorce rights

But they also say that their god alone is the creator of all life, and that Jesus is his son

By that logic, their god is either: a) a single parent hiding a messy divorce from his kids, or b) a genderqueer icon birthing and raising a baby universe all on their own

Or they resented each other for something that was neither of their faults.

So they were stuck together in a loveless marriage, forced to bear a resentment that ran deep in their bones and hearts.

They hated themselves and each other. They hated their children, their flesh and blood, simply because they bore the blood of the other.

They would spend their days, miserable and lonely, never truly sad and never truly happy.

They stay away from the one that was made for them.

A marriage of convenience. A love of convenience.

They watched as their son killed his brother. Adam watching as eve would scream and mourn for a child that he and she loved, but detested at the same time.

And oh, how it would hurt to admit that admist all the hate they found love.

Eve died shortly after.

Adam stood beside her, holding her cold hand. A single lone tear ran from his eyes.

He wiped it away, confused of why he was in so much *pain*.

But how would he know, that he loved her, deeper than the wells of youth.

So he sat beside her, and weeped. Hating her for not Hating him.

.....

[Image Description: A white page torn out of a book with black ink used for blackout poetry. A pencil and two pens sit on the corner of the page. The title 'God's Love for Man' is printed at the top. "Fuck God" is written in messy black marker in the top left corner. The poem reads -

"God is the adaptation of man.

The rain and seas speak to us in beautiful words,

'Eyes openest and desire living'.

The Creator's hand bore God's law that has brought suffering.

God's love cursed the thorn and the thistle as a part of God's plan for ruin and degradation.

The body being "sacred" has nothing to do with some fucked white European idea of chastity or purity. It has absolutely EVERYTHING to do with making sure people are able to feed themselves and their children, not be straight up poisoned by pollutants, or fetishized and exploited for profit. Holiness has nothing to do with being clean or looking your Sunday best.

It was never actually about "purity" or "virginity" or "cleanliness". If it was, why the hell would Jesus have been crucified? The real historical dude said stuff that pissed off people in power so much they fucking merked him. Nothing pisses off agrarian feudal lords or modern capitalists more than telling the masses that they aren't simply morally justified, but on the side of GOD when they steal medicine and food for their children. If you don't believe me, I highly recommend reading William Herzog's "Parables as subversive speech", read about what theologians actually think historical Jesus was talking about all those years ago. Whether you believe in God or not, think religion is a plague or pray a rosary every night, I think keeping this in mind is like super important.

Christianity becomes dangerous and, in the opinion of this demon girl, blasphemous when it is removed from the context of its social cause, when it's co-opted by those in power and disarmed of the radical rhetoric that it was born from originally. I think that's exactly what we see in broader society. I think that an entirely rational response to this is to equate all of Christianity or even all of religion with evil... But I think there's nuance here.

To be clear, I stand with the satanists who support the fight for separation in church and state by chastising the corrupt institutions who have become the opposite of what they claim to espouse. I stand with the atheists who keep the naive theologians in check, and offer peace to the people who have been ravaged by the monster modern Christianity is to so many. Don't stop doing what you're doing. If Jesus was standing here today he'd be standing with you. You're fighting modern day pherisees out here and I'm for it.

Now, this is not to say there aren't problematic things that were always present in the Christian religion, of course there are. And they're quite abundant. I think Christians need to be very aware of that as well. There's nuance there. What I'm calling for here is a realization that the religion of the oppressed is not the same as the religion of the oppressor, and that the religion of the oppressed, when not stripped of its merit and co-opted by systems of greed, can be a force for good. And when we use that lens to look at this bizarre spectacle we call "Christmas", we can learn some interesting stuff.