Both of the āLamb of Godā albums by Rob Gardner are great. I used to like the concert film (2021) more than the original (2011) but they both have their strong points. The concert film is more emotional, and the original is more detached like a narration.
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Earnest question: if your epiphanies are a major reason for being religious, how do you feel about epiphany-y feelings from other religions? Like such mental states are really well documented in Buddhism, Islam, uhhh shrooms, etc.
(I am atheist who has had emotional Meaningness and Spirit and Divinity strikes and gone well that was fun I guess, not sure why people are so eager to attribute it to stuff that seems to have no relation)
Huh. You know, I also got DMāed about this post. Rarely do I receive asks, especially about serious thoughts, so thanks for reaching out.
Short answer is that while itās one of the major reasons Iām religious and specifically Christian (and more-specifically a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or āMormonā), itās not the *only* one. And Iāve learned to hedge my understanding of epiphanies. It is, largely, just another sensation, and not indicative of anything special about what the epiphany āsaid.ā And, on the religious side, Iāve grown up hearing that while my church is the āright oneā it doesnāt hold a monopoly over truth. I.E. epiphanies that support other religions are just a form of God revealing truth to people in different portions and means, according to their life experience.
A bit longer answer:
I try to think a little clinically about everything. Makes me feel nice and enlightened. A lot of my personal worldview consists of āit dependsā and āwhat do I know (self-dismissive)ā which allows me to roll with the punches when I encounter different/better viewpoints than mine. But that doesnāt mean Iām *actually* enlightened, or capable of really digesting conflicts with my own viewpoints. It also means I lack conviction, which probably dovetails with my general laziness.
Epiphanies have been an outside-and-steady source of conviction for me, helping me to at least hold to a few ideals strongly enough to make a small effort for them. I donāt view them as a guarantee of truth, but instead as a...better approximation of truth than my personal opinionā¦so yeah maybe I do mostly view them that way.
In the DM I received, I mentioned how Iāve been asked this question by peers before, for at least 8 years as far as I remember. In high school, I heard the most-disquieting version: what if people pray and receive a direct answer from God, and that answer is that my church is incorrect? That comes into direct confrontation with my beliefs.
Again, I apply the idea that āepiphanies are a portion of truth, according to what the person needs/can receive at that momentā but itās not entirely enough to address that.
I donāt think Iāve found an answer for that. Dismissing it would be arrogant, but ignoring it isnāt a lot better. But thatās kind of what Iāve done, is ignore it.
Iād like to end this on a pithy statement, but I couldnāt think of one. Have this placeholder to mark the end of my response.
Addendum: also, I believe nearly half or more of all religious experiences are hallucinatory, but in the interest of consistency I have accepted that the ratio of hallucination-to-real events is the same across all religious (and cultural/etc.) demographics, including my church. So it doesnāt really answer the question, and hence why itās an addendum.
Confronted again with how impatient I am on my run tonight. Tried to take it a little more seriously as I sluffed all my homework and other fairly important tasks today.
Listened to less-intense songs and to audiobook scripture, paced properly (just under 9:00/mile from the start), and tried to focus. Did 8.46 miles at an average of 8:26/mile, avg heartrate 166, max hr 183, so I definitely took it easier than usual. Nighttime temperature helped too, lol.
Half the stoplights turned red as I arrived and there were a LOT more cars on the road than I expected for 9-10pm, which got me a little miffed. Jaywalked on a light after turning early at another lightā¦and then at the next light, when I actually had right-of-way, a car nearly hit me turning left. Karma? Idk.
Anyway, this run just reminded me I should quit indulging in cheap thrills like intense music and thousands of memes. I canāt delay gratification at all because I donāt practice it. I need to practice patience, running with proper warmup, working on chores, resting without scrollingā¦youāve seen me say this a thousand times, itās not going to stick this time, but Iām hoping it might do a little something for a day or two.
To all my atheist/etc. mutuals and followers (of which there are quite a few)
This weekend Iām going to be doing a lot of religious posting. Block these tags if you donāt want to see any of it:
#jclds runnerpost
#genconf runnerpost
Also, occasionally, I use the below tag as a catch-all for posts related to religion (but itās usually just Christianity). I may use it a few times this weekend but Iāll always use the first two, where Iāll only sometimes use the below one. Anyway:
Played this one back inā¦I donāt know, middle or high school. Spent time from elementary to high school doing weekly piano lessons, then quit after tapering off practice, and just now started practicing a month ago, etc. This was one of my favorite pieces, I think.
Thanks to Sally DeFord for putting so many free arrangements online. Her FAQ is funny, too; I looked through it for copyright info (i.e. posting permissions). Carveout for YouTube videos but not non-video/non-Youtube posts, but I assume a Tumblr post to a few interested (?) followers is fine.
Link to the sheet music: https://defordmusic.com/song-list/i-stand-all-amazed-piano-solo
Anyway, thereās no video or upload of her playing it that I could find, but hereās this one on YouTube that I liked:
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Draft from Feb. 28, 2025 that Iām finally posting to clear up my drafts folder:
I just came across a reblog by someone I follow (and rather respect), of someone elseās multi-part post thatās very anti-Mormon (i.e. against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). And Iām fine reading posts that criticize the USA, or heteronormative culture, or white cis men, etc. despite belonging to those categories as well. Maybe itās because I donāt feel as much attachment to those things; maybe itās because of history classes I took in school, making me think that itās fine to be criticized for these things without taking it personally. But anti-Mormon posts hurt a little bit more than that.
This post especially hurt because it got so many things right. The things they talked about *are* real, harmful results of the way our church is structured. That post also made a few assumptions that (as far as I know) are incorrect, but that only weakens their argument, it doesnāt negate it.
Anyway, it makes me think of two things: one, how often I fall for hate-mongering propaganda about other groups (and not just religious groups; also about North Korea, European countries, etc. (itās not just āoh these conservative groups are maligned? Better have more sympathy now, only for the conservative groups!ā)). And two, my own complicated feelings about my church.
I guess Iāll just leave this post here with an excerpt from my response on this post:
I don't think of myself as a good person. I think that's why I stay in the church -- for both of the reasons you might expect from that last sentence (i.e. it makes me better the more I participate in it, and in addition I'm not principled enough to strike out on my own). I feel compelled to both defend and criticize the church in the same breath, because doing only one of those things feels wrong.
I just randomly saw your tags on that Mr Incredible post and wha
Why is there linguistics here on a mr incredible post. Internet linguistics. Interguistics. Iām intrigued
Glad you thought that was intriguing!
If youāre looking for elaboration ā I donāt know what else to tell you. I just thought the ābecause of he canāt not be that guyā phrase was interesting enough to comment on.
I really like knowing the details behind why people say things, and I really appreciate you being curious and asking, but I donāt have a long-winded answer for this one.
I do have a couple links though, for similar linguistic quirks. Iād seen these posts first, so they were what got me to decide to comment on the Mr. Incredible post.
Hey @theshitpostcalligrapher thought of a way to continue the other part of the joke across mediums.
Like this is the least good way to con
