There is no such thing as necessary evil

There is no such thing as necessary evil. So no. If you know that what you are doing is evil and you are trying to convince yourself that it is worthwhile, you shouldn’t do it. You should never be trying to find benefits in something that you know is evil, because you will literally find anything to deceive yourself with and will purposely ignore catastrophic consequences that are unavoidable with an evil action.

If you are even remotely concerned about good and evil, you should be aware of these consequences in a spiritual sense that transcends mortal understanding. Not because your soul will burn in hell after you die, but because reality is far more complex than you can comprehend and understanding why being good or evil matters is essential to navigating reality effectively.

If you are considering something you know is good but potentially problematic for various related factors, thinking about outcomes like that is different because of how the intention of your mental faculties is oriented. In those cases, you look for problems to find their solutions and justify good. In the former situation you are asking about, you are looking for solutions to justify problems that are evil, which is pointless because you will purposely lie to yourself and then fail at your goal as a result. See what I mean? This should be obvious if your goal was actually good, but because you are even asking this question you seem to have no desire to be good at all. Hopefully reading this will educate you enough so that you start considering the results of your decisions a few steps ahead.

There is no such thing as a necessary evil.

Also, no person wants to be evil. Not a single one. The only reason they think they do is because they don’t think two are three steps ahead, usually on purpose, which is stupid. Being stupid can be funny if there are no consequences and you are making a joke that is intended to make people happy, but being stupid in an attempt to do harm is one of the most dangerous and harmful evils humans can do.

(Some people will say the consequences of being stupid to make a joke are at the expense of self. Depending on the perspective, whether it be from an evil mind or a good mind that can be a loving or hateful thought. However, in either case, there is no expense because that source is infinite. It’s like saying the Monopoly bank has an expense when they pay $20 dollars for a player winning second place in a beauty contest. … What, we ran out of money? … Let’s see… Here’s a deck of Uno cards. We’ll use these in place of money.)

Imagine if when the Jewish high priests in Jesus’ time learned about Jesus, they set their selfish pride about their social status aside, and said, “You know what? I think this guy is on to something. We should probably listen to him and try to adapt to the new age we live in because things are different now. The age had already turned, just like it has now, but they were resistant to it with futile, fruitless, and evil efforts to change the new age to be like the old one. Instead, they should have found ways to adapt the old ways to the new age.

The new wineskins need to be used, not the old ones. How did we make them before? Let’s see how we can apply that process with the new features that are available now and maybe we can do something new and improved, or maybe we can even eliminate stuff from the process that is unnecessary and needlessly expensive so the entire process is easier altogether and more people can enjoy the good wine.

I don’t care how attached you are to the old wineskins because you raised the goat, slaughered it, took its hide, and spent countless hours of craftsman training to be able to turn it into a useable wineskin. Let it go. That’s not what’s important. We don’t make wineskins to have a wineskin. We don’t operate a government and pay taxes to it to have a government.

Public invitation to the wedding feast Matt 22:1-14

The passage where the groom goes out and invites all the random people in his village implies that it is a good village with good people. Psalm 101 states the norm of life for rulers, which involves purging evil from the realm on a daily basis, so in God’s village, there aren’t evil people there. Even when an evil person tries to sneak in because they think everyone is welcome, they get booted out because they don’t have any good in their life to show for themselves.

The “garment” is a metaphor. God sees your soul and knows whether you are good or evil without needing any sign, proof, or whatever. Goodness shines out of a person’s heart when they live a good life. It also something that you have to make an effort to do. You can’t do nothing and still cultivate good, ie. the parable of the three servants given talents, the last one burying it, doing nothing, and getting rejected for doing nothing.

Also consider the part where he says “I was hungry, but you didn’t feed me, so I don’t know you.” or something like that.

The wedding party is a metaphor too for a life filled with joy, love, and happiness where everything is the best that it can be.

(The part where it says “good and bad alike” or something similar depending on your version, is about people who are good people at heart, but probably a little fucked up according to whatever the cultural/societal norms are. Maybe drug users/dealers, maybe local gangsters, maybe disliked people who are rude but honest, maybe prostitutes, maybe people with opposing religious beliefs than the those of the village. These people aren’t condemned to the darkness just because they don’t follow normal social rules and keep to their own instead, so you can even stretch that meaning to apply to the fact that other religions than Christianity aren’t condemned in general. That is actually current Christian doctrine (not condemning other religions like Hinduism and Islam), but maybe not widely known because of the cultural history of Christianity which taught that there was no salvation but Christ for quite some time.)

The moral justification for hating Jews and semitism in general

There is a simple logic to my hatred of Jews that should be easy to understand. Jews believe they are superior as a group by applying a sacred spiritual principle to their justification. Whether that group be an ethnic, national, or religious, or all three, such a claim by sacred spiritual principle is evil because of its unjustified arrogance and antagonism toward others.

Also, the reason by which Jews claim their spiritual principle is itself evil, because their faith was acknowledged by a distinctly evil and only evil act, i.e. the human sacrifice of one’s own child on an altar. So, both the core belief and reason behind the core belief are evil, and I hate evil, therefore I hate Jews. In any case, if a person denies the religious claim of Jews, their ethnic claim doesn’t exist, and any person can deny a religious claim of their own free will. Therefore, the ethnic claim of Jews is entirely irrelevant.

Why pro-circumcision research is pseudoscience

This article was my response to a comment on Quora that attempted to justify circumcision by stating that it eliminates a hygienic burden and prevents the possibility that foreskin can become infected.

That’s my point. You need to do normal hygiene that requires negligible effort so you amputate the part? Just use some soap and water while you bathe! That’s been working even before indoor plumbing was regularly available for most people worldwide. If you are taking such extreme actions to avoid such a minor responsibility of natural human life, then you are being excessively lazy and it’s probably affecting other parts of your life.

Flossing my teeth requires more effort than maintaining my dick, and it’s probably more important too. A problem like you mention is entirely imagined by people who don’t understand the situation. I’m going to be real with you: my foreskin has been inflamed with probably what you would call an infection maybe two or three times in my life (currently 33yo) that I can remember. Why? Idk.

Once when I was out hitchhiking, masturbated, and went on an arduous hike the next day after I had been sleeping in the dirt, on the street, and other random places for some time. The solution? A little bit of soap and water with some careful cleaning (5 minutes tops), and the next day it was back to normal like it never even happened. It didn’t even hurt. This may sound strange to you, but it actually felt unusually good when rubbing against my pants, like satisfying an itch does.

Also, and please refrain from judging me personally, I bathe even less now and still masturbate regularly, and it’s never an issue. Why those things happen is often because other factors are involved. All I have to do to stay mostly clean so that there isn’t any smegma or odor (which isn’t unpleasant or extreme because even if it’s there it’s contained under the foreskin) is wipe myself with a clean paper towel after I am done. It’s seriously not a big deal. I would probably do the same thing even if I didn’t have foreskin.

If you are engaging in sexual intercourse of any kind, you should bathe first no matter what kind of genitalia you have, as well as after because of the kind of thing that is happening biologically with bodily fluids from other immune systems than your own. That’s one of the reasons why ritual bathing before a marriage was a cultural tradition in most places. Now that bathing is a household commodity in most nations, that’s just expected and it’s no longer a formal community ritual that includes all the good stuff that was hard to come by for most people, like special fragranced soap or a big kettle that can heat bath water.

If people are more likely to get stds, like some research claims, it still isn’t a good reason because there is internal medicine that can cure the related stds and measures that can reliably prevent them. If nothing else, advocating abstinence is a better choice than circumcising people without their cognizant consent. In regard to cognizant consent, infant circumcision is unjust for the same line of reasoning that explains why someone can be released from a contractual agreement if they signed it while drunk or otherwise impaired by drugs, especially if the other party knew that and took advantage of the situation.

Btw, the std claim is pseudoscience because the population sample of their research (any study that claims that) isn’t sufficient to make a general claim about humanity, especially not without a full examination of their daily behaviors, choice of partners, and other factors that could affect that statistic, including cultural, economic, and demographic ones. Who people have sex with and why is a very complicated subject.

I’m not saying circumcision itself is what is shameful or wrong, but the way it is most often done and the misconceptions about it are shameful. That physical violence, even if you minimize it, which to me is hard to do because it seems nightmarishly horrible and I’m sure I would feel that way if I was still a newborn infant, does more harm to the psyche of an individual than what it claims to prevent from happening to the body. That’s why I’m saying pro-circumcision research is unscientific; it arrives at an unsubstantiated and illogical conclusion.

Additional comment because I sensed some uneasiness about the topic of smegma: What? The presence of smegma? So what? Your nose has boogers too. Are you ashamed that sometimes after you take a big, nasty shit that doesn’t pinch properly, you probably still have some shit residue around your asshole somewhere, even after going through way more toilet paper than usual? Yeah, it’s gross and you don’t want people to notice so you probably clean yourself instinctually, but that’s no reason to put a plastic hose up your ass whenever you go number two so your poop never touches your sphincter, which is considerably less extreme than removing a body part.

Audibles and Basic Battle Theory

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with American football. Here is a discussion of it:

An audible is an improvised change of plans at the last possible moment. These plans are carried out through a combination of coordinated actions by a team of eleven people (which is substantially more than three or four in practical terms).

This coordination is accomplished without communication to explain what each individual must do in order to synchronize their efforts to achieve a goal, aside from a few key words. Those words, the “audible”, engage their situational awareness of the opposition that is attempting to thwart them from achieving their goal, and modify their actions to adjust for threats and protect vulnerable assets from harm.

It’s vitally important that the opposition doesn’t understand what they are going to do. In this case the evil-minded people are quite literally stupid and can’t comprehend good thinking, otherwise they wouldn’t be evil and the USA would be a better place, so you can talk openly in front of them, and they still won’t understand. My efforts to avert catastrophe over the last six years demonstrate this clearly, and it will be widely known why that is in detail, in time. Suffice it to say that evil is always ignorant. They will never learn because they use their will to block out the reason and goodness that would prevent their malicious and harmful actions. Therefore, they must be punished like an animal, because that’s the only way to communicate to them.

A common audible phrase is something like “blue forty two!” where “blue” “4” and “2” are all parts of a system of operations. They can also be something as obscure as “Margie! Margie! Sophia!” In the field they require a perceptive leader who can read the opposition’s position and anticipate their actions and run a mental scenario of those actions against the current plan. If the outcome isn’t favorable, they can step into the role of the higher authority than themselves to make necessary adjustments with their own judgement.

To be effective with an audible one needs a skillful team who has trained in their roles well enough to understand them thoroughly, as well as able to synchronize with each other through the intuitive bond that teammates form by working together.

So, in short, I don’t need to tell them exactly what to do. They can look at the situation right in front of them and determine their actions on their own. With an understanding of their role in the government, and by cooperating with others who share the goal of ending corruption and tyranny in the US government, they can adjust for how the enemy has rearranged itself in their evil efforts to destroy what is good.

Even with all the plan changing, it takes individual skill and power to carry it through. That’s just the nature of battle. If you aren’t skillful or powerful enough, you may lose the battle even though you are morally correct. Take heart in that scenario, because in moral battles there will always be increasing good forces to fight for freedom, hope, and love against evil, and less and less evil forces who fight for their own destruction and suffering. Also, training is better done with a good master than an evil master, so good forces are potentially more skillful and powerful too.

That’s why evil always resorts to treachery, deception, lawlessness, and all that shady stuff. Good forces can use those tactics too, but you can almost always guarantee that they are an evil force if they are fighting that way and avoiding all forms open confrontation. A method of determining which clandestine agent is good or evil, if you catch two spies, is by examining what their manner of deception is, how it affects others, and what their goal is.

The Prosecution of the US Government

Please don’t misunderstand me. My issue against the USA isn’t against the general citizens, nor is it based on specific individuals, though there is one criminal who has been escaping justice for the past couple years and must be made to answer for his crimes. The source of the issues, which was that individual's problem too, is the way the elected officials understand their roles as positions of power.

They operate like a monarchy of royal nobles with everyone else being peasants of varying degrees. That mind set has weaseled its way into government and gradually corrupted nearly every aspect of society with attempts to subject citizens to their authority. That isn’t the appropriate manner of governing in a Democracy.

They are subject to the citizens and there should be no problem with them accepting advice or criticism from any citizen they serve and should answer when demanded to answer. Furthermore, they shouldn’t have any secret plans without the public being aware of what they are so they can be openly discussed, which they obviously do.

They are also ridiculously obscure and make things pointlessly difficult to communicate via bureaucracy. They should be able to communicate their operations and performance to the average person’s level of understanding on a regular basis. The fact that there was a war in Vietnam when most citizens didn’t understand why it was fought is evidence of extreme corruption and tyranny.

Consider the Vietnam War now. It is still difficult to understand why it was fought, as if no one actually knows the reason and is piecing it together like it is the occasion of a New Testament epistle.

Something like WW2, the Nazis were trying to kill every Jew and take over the world like legitimate evil monsters. Check. Let’s go to war and stop/help stop them. Civil War: the evil South wants to destroy the USA with secession so they can keep Black people enslaved. Check. We need to force them to stop if they won’t willingly do so.

WW1 is a bit obscure because some random dude was assassinated and there was a chain reaction of treaties that got cashed in, resulting in world war. WW1 should have taught everyone how stupid those kinds of treaties are, which it didn’t, because Ukraine is attempting to use the same exploit, having learned nothing about world history or humanity.

After WW2 there is no excuse for any further warfare with violent methods. I find it deplorable that Ukraine was unable to meet Russia diplomatically to prevent war, and instead chose to “write checks in other men’s blood” as Iron Mike would say, by counting on the USA to fight for them.

I don’t speak Russian at all, but Russia expressed themselves clearly with their actions over the past decade or so. “We don’t want to go to war. We don’t intend to be aggressive and force you against your will. However, this issue is so important to us, that if we can’t reach a solution it will result in war.”

They steadily and slowly showed that they were not joking, giving plenty of time for diplomacy, and now they are done being gentle and are going to stop holding back to put Ukraine down because Ukraine is out of control and inhumanly arrogant. Ukraine is sending people to die as if human lives have no meaning to them and are just a means to an end in an evil game that ends only in mass destruction.

Russia could surrender, but the issue is important to them and a lot of soldiers have already lost their lives to resolve it, and I don’t think they should. It would empower evil minded people like Zelenski into feeling justified to use people like disposable objects, and that would cause immense amounts of future destruction and loss of life.

They probably wouldn’t have had so many casualties if the USA wasn’t directly involved in encouraging senseless violence, and therefore the USA should pay war reparations to Russia when it is over, regardless of how the war ends.

No, Russia did not waste their own soldiers by holding back. If they had taken decisive action and immediately struck a fatal blow to Ukraine to reduce causalities as much as possible, which they certainly could have, it would have been manipulated via propaganda into fuel for another war that would have defeated the purpose of minimizing casualties.

Seeing as Zelenski is a Jew and Jews are basically atheists in this day and age. The issue is probably about human rights and circumcision, with Ukraine being on the evil side.

US propaganda is like: “Russia is trying to take over the world like Nazis! Look at them expanding!” Reality on the other hand doesn’t match up. Let’s examine the facts of how Russia has taken action to achieve whatever their goal is, if it isn’t what propaganda claims. That’s my point. No matter how you look at it, the USA and Ukraine are going to be vilified and excoriated throughout history for the violence they’ve been perpetuating.

The USA has a government that rebukes violence so unreasonably and unjustly inside its own walls that they censor video games that employ fictional and playful violence for entertainment and want to ban guns. While at the same time they flood munitions and armaments into an international conflict to meaninglessly perpetuate mass violence in real life. Do you think such a nation is even remotely trustworthy or possessing a mote of moral integrity at all?

That’s your tax money and civil power at work, citizen. Are you happy that your very life is being used in such a way?

If the tyrannical regime controlling the USA succeeds in taking away the right to bear arms and bans guns, they won’t hesitate to gun down anyone who disagrees with them to keep their illusion of control. That’s what their actions say in reality.

They already don’t value freedom of speech or respect public ideas and discourse, so it’s not much of step for them to force us to be quiet with a bullet. That’s especially true when nobody has guns to even fight back with to stop them.

What kind of things are people going to resort to in that society? Real terrorism. The kind of stuff people have forgotten can happen. The kind of stuff that can be done with one’s bare hands.

What will they do? They’ll control more and more and more and more. Every aspect of life will be monitored and controlled and civilization will wither in darkness and stagnation. All while evil acts of terror get worse and worse and worse doing more violence in more concentrated ways.

Eventually, that’s all going to be totally obliterated by someone who either doesn’t want the USA as a neighbor or doesn’t even want to see them because of how horrible that society would be. If it’s the former, it will be more of the same until the earth is uninhabitable. If it is the latter, there may be some improvements.

Biden is just a puppet. A puppet shamelessly serving the ones who put him in the government to do what they want. Not the citizens who voted for him either. That’s just how they maintain an illusion of control. One that is much easier to maintain if there are only two candidates in a society as diverse as the USA is.

There was no election fraud, but there was a conspiracy, and Traitor Trump was part of it. If he had any intention of ending that corruption, he would have revealed the conspiracy instead of trying to use it to his advantage. In doing so, he betrayed all of his conspirators, everyone in the USA, and everyone everywhere at the same time just so he could destroy the USA and become a dictator with nukes.

Hasn’t the USA been trying to stop every dictator with nukes everywhere? What happens to the Traitor though? He gets to retire in a life of luxury with taxpayers continually paying the benefits of a former president to him. No proof for a conspiracy? Open your eyes if you don’t think there is proof and see the ashes falling around you.

Like spoiled children, Biden and Trump were fighting over who gets to hold the gun they aren’t supposed to touch and accidently shot the dog. Now the master is home and wants to know where his beloved companion is. Here’s a hint: he knew what happened the minute he stepped through the door.

If I were the master and we return to reality, I would lawfully hang the one who pulled the trigger and exile the other one.

The theology of good and evil with the meaning life added

Alright, so first consider the topic of “goodness”. The quality of something being good, and us knowing that it is good. Anything. An apple, a paycheck, an altruistic self sacrifice of life. All these things we know to be good (within reason). Therefore goodness as a quality exists and we can know about it.

In short, this goodness that we notice everyday in a myriad of different things, can be traced back to the singular source of goodness in the universe. The only goodness that there is, and the goodness within all that is good. I call this the highest divine.

Humans aren’t the only ones who recognize what is good for them. All living things do. However, humans are different because of a higher concept of goodness we are able to conceptualize. This goodness is what has allowed us to develop civilization and evolve the way we did.

This goodness was given to us directly from the divine, who was the first one to know what is good and what is not. That being principally, creation and existence. There was a big void of non-existent darkness and it was not-good. So, the highest divine brought forth the universe. Consider the concept “not good” because there are three moral values, not just good and evil. There is good, evil, and not-good (which is also not evil). The void of non-existence being not-good.

Our ability to know what is good came directly from the highest divine as the same power the highest divine possesses to create goodness from nothing. It’s a speck of power, of course, the smallest fragment, but it is the same nonetheless. This is how we know what is good, and when we choose good, we bring more goodness into existence.

Notice, how evil hasn’t even come into the picture yet. All that exists is what is good, and what is not good, with existence being good and non-existence being not-good. Stars exploding, meteors colliding, moons forming, all that being good and not-good. The principal forces of darkness and light that you mentioned in your answer are at play here, darkness also being good when it is in a state of existence, such as nighttime.

That explains generally that we can know what is good, and how it is possible. For specific situations there is an infinitely complex multitude of cultures, societal factors, and circumstances at play at any given moment, so there is a degree of relativity between situations and behaviors, despite there being some general guidelines people universally recognize. Killing another person for instance is widely recognized as evil, but in the defense of one’s home, family, and others it can be good.

It’s this preternatural ability to discern good that allows anybody anywhere to know what is good at any time. Sometimes it can be confusing, and people don’t know because of the complexity of situations and other factors involved, but the ability to know is there. Now, this ability to discern good is the product of sentience. Intelligent thinking and higher thoughts derived from free will, which is a corresponding characteristic of the highest divine from which it came.

Yet, when a human being knows in full awareness what is good and chooses the opposite and goes against that, they engender that sentient energy into non-existent darkness, and evil comes into existence. That is what I call the Evil One. It is a frightening thought, because it is a supernatural sentience of pure evil. However, it is highly imperfect and unstable. It can’t stay in existence for long because existence is good and that causes its entropy which ultimately disperses into elemental darkness of not-good.

However, when a human continues to project their will to do evil, the Evil One stabilizes in reality more substantially and brings about the annihilation and destruction of all that is good, namely all that exists, love being the highest form of existence and what it hates the most. Love is the pinnacle of existence.

So when enough of the Evil One substantiates into reality it can of its own volition influence people to do evil, which they should know better than to do. If this is cause for fear, the surest thing that destroys an Evil One wherever one forms, is elemental light, the purest form coming from the soul of a person, often attributed to what they physically see (but not necessarily).

That’s why evil always hides itself in darkness and deceit, because if people see it, it’s destruction is at hand. If someone watches a crime getting committed, not only is the person likely going to feel guilty, but the witness can take action. This is how corruption in the government should be handled; making their unnecessary secret doings public and reveal them to the light of day. If they are good, they should have nothing to fear.

So determining good in any situation requires reason and wisdom. You can explain good. Evil can’t explain itself because it has no right to exist. This is the beauty of argument and free speech, and why I am so upset by all the censorship that happens in public discussion in the USA.

That’s about all I need to say to answer that, but I want to tell you something else, because it is directly related: The meaning of life.

Why do we have this ability to know what is good and create good with our judgment?

Consider mathematical infinity. It is an ever increasing number. It can never be static. It has to always be in motion of increasing and decreasing value. The highest divine is infinite. However, when I write that, it implies stasis. “God is infinite” is a static concept, contained in the word “infinity”.

How can the highest divine continue to be truly infinite then if it is expanding in all directions through all time? By engendering the ability to create more good in living beings separate from its true singular form. Therefore, when a human being recognizes what is good, chooses it, and brings it into existence, the goodness of God expands in a way that is interdimensional through consciousness. So, the meaning of life is basically to continue expanding goodness beyond conventional reality through the independent free will of a multitude of individual beings.

Yet why does the highest divine care? This is where the Story comes in. The highest divine cares because it is a good story at the end of time and creation. A good story from which wisdom is derived. Wisdom that the highest divine uses to recreate existence all over again in a new and better way.

I actually learned most of this by writing an experimental science fiction novel based on my intuitive perception of reality and faith in divine love. Afterwords, I spent years studying, learning, and thinking it through along with my life experiences, until eventually I arrived at solid conclusions like I just explained.

I hope this is of use to you, and also that it is enjoyable to read and contemplate, because this is just the fundamentals. There is an infinite amount of progress to be had by delving further.

The Lawless One

This is a chapter from an unpublished manuscript called Rareville Blues. I hope this answers some of the unexplainable questions that people have.

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Chapter Ten:  The Lawless One

              The next morning Bartholomew gave them permission to use the emeritas to purchase anything they wished from the venders in the area.  Thankful that their clothes were cleaned by the inn staff over the night, and grateful for the sleeping garments provided, they set out to enjoy the warm morning together in somewhat damaged, but at least clean, school uniforms.  The Pit of Final Despair was something of a tourist attraction for the denizens of Hell, and there were a number of residences built in the area housing those who had chosen to make their dwelling in the secluded place.

              The view was breathtaking atop the floating mountain, and a cool, blue waterfall filled a clear pool that flowed into a stream.  The water coursed through the center of the villa underneath a short, arched stone bridge, which they stopped to admire the view from.  There were trees with birds sporting long colorful tail feathers chirping above the patter of water.

              A couple was sitting on a bench talking pleasantly, both of them resembling humans but with sets of ram’s horns coming out of their heads.  They wore fine clothes and looked affluent and well-to-do as far as Hell denizens go.

              The group of teens had the morning and early afternoon to do what they wished, and so they walked around the town exploring and admiring the scenery.  Eventually they came to a cottage with a wooden sign bearing a pair of scissors and thread on it, and they entered.  Inside were several mannequins in male and female pairs, modeling fine garments that looked suitable for a royal court.

              A short, gnomish fellow with glasses and a pointed nose greeted them with a smile when they entered.

“Welcome to my humble shop,” the white-haired shopkeeper said.  He was not more than four feet tall and was wearing a blue vest with a white silk shirt underneath it, blue pants, and polished brown boots with elegant dark brogue.  A gold watch chain looped from a vest pocket and he extended his hands magnanimously.  “I am Friedinger Willoughby Esquire the Third, master tailor.  How may I be of service?”

“We are looking to get some new clothes,” Odys explained.

“Then you have come to the right place!  I have an extraordinary selection of the finest materials for both men and women, as well as for all shapes, sizes, and types.  There is not a better hand that can stitch a garment to size and clothe a body in more magnificent apparel.  Please look at the selection of outfits presented on my stoic models if you are looking for something more immediate, otherwise custom designs will take a couple days.”

“These are nice!”  Skye appraised enthusiastically.

“Seriously,” Cindy added.  “Bartholomew is really going all out for us.  I imagine this stuff isn’t cheap.”

“He seems like he can afford it,” Rachel said, looking at a set of red and black clothes with tall leather boots.  “I think this will match my gauntlets.  It looks pretty versatile too, like I could do a round house kick in it without much trouble.”

“A fine observation,” Friedinger said.  “You are looking at the Brave Scout line, a favorite among travelers for its durability.”  He rolled the ‘r’ at the end.  “You can get it in several colors:  red, blue, and gold.”

“Okay, I’ll take the red,” Rachel said with certainty.

“A woman who knows what she wants!  Right this way my dear, I shall take your measurements and bring you your new clothes.  Grezkella!” he called sharply up the stairs to the second level.  “Will you please come and attend to our guests?  We have a busy morning on our hands!”

There was some grumbling from upstairs, but shortly after he called, a gnomish woman with a green dress and large clouds of curly gray hair tied on the sides of her head walked down with a smile.  “Who’s next?”  She said, attending then to Skye, who had taken interest in the blue outfit from the Debonair Scholar line.

Odys chose the gray and black coat with matching shirt and pants, and Cindy a purple and black outfit with gloves that laced up her forearms.  The tailors had incredible skill and efficiency, and they had the four teenagers garbed and back on their way before the end of the morning.  Odys paid with the emeritas and they carried their school uniforms back to their hotel rooms in paper bags.

Bartholomew went on his own to make arrangements to have Valkorina moved to the Via Austium, as well as to replace his sword.  He assured them he would meet with them later that afternoon and so the teenagers went back out into the villa, feeling buoyant and energetic in their sharp looking clothes and recent victory.

The afternoon passed quickly and without incident for them, and they ended it with a bottle of wine they were sharing on the veranda of the Bickering Boggart.  A chance to drink underage was not something they were going to pass up, not when it had been such a fun experience the other night.  The effects of the alcohol were making them giddy when Bartholomew walked up and joined them.  The waiter brought him a goblet and he filled it with the red liquid.

“You made some fine selections, I see,” he said, setting his goblet down after a drink.  “Master Friedinger is an exceptional clothier.”

“Thank you for paying for us,” Rachel said.

Bartholomew waved his hand.  “You are welcome.  Fortunately for me I have the reserves of the royal treasury at my service and the discretion to spend it how I will.  These are necessary investments for the Infernal Court.”

“Which one of your jobs is for the royal court?”  Cindy asked.

“Count of the Vine Blades,” he said.  “The Vine Blades are a particular sect of royal guard that protect the lineage of the Infernal Court’s members.  The progeny of Lucifer is referred to as ‘fruit of the vine’ in Hell, and though Lucifer no longer rules on the throne himself, his descendants have been doing so for generations.”

“So how is buying us new clothes an investment?” Skye asked.

“Considerate appropriations,” he replied.

“Huh?” Skye replied, not understanding.

“I’m investing in your futures, and frankly I did not want to see you going about looking like school children of earth.  Not when you are in my company at least.  You are Existent Bonded now, each of you wielding one of the relics of the multiverse – the tools that changed the course of survival for an entire universe at one point or another.”

“What’s going to happen to the other Artifacts?  There were four left,”  Cindy asked.

“They will await the ones to claim them.”

“What if no one comes?”

“Then they won’t be used.”

“So, do we have, like, special powers now or something?”  Skye asked.

“If you didn’t realize that already, I don’t know what to tell you,” Bartholomew replied.  “It is nearly time for the Act of Final Despair.  Are you ready to enter the Pit?”

“I’m ready,” Odys replied, and the others added their agreement.

“Then let’s make our way to it.”

The Pit of Final Despair was inside a glass domed building on the far end of the villa.  They had passed by it several times during their meandering earlier in the day, but it had been closed.  Now when they approached, the great double doors were open, and they entered freely along with the other visitors who had come to watch.  Inside was a stadium arena with stone steps that served as seating in descending circles around where the central pit was.  The pit was a wide, dark void that did not seem to have an end.

Spectators cheerfully filed in and took seats on the stone steps along with Bartholomew and his companions.

“So how is this going to get us to Golden Pentacles in order to free Susannah’s soul?”  Odys asked, skeptical of the situation.

“After the Lawless One dances, the Via Austium will open,” Bartholomew replied.

“Dances?” Rachel said with surprise.

Bartholomew nodded.

“You took us to see a dance?” Skye complained.

“Watch your tone,” Bartholomew admonished.  His voice had icy severity, and Skye blanched.  “This is suffering beyond your comprehension.  It is the greatest pain that Hell can inflict on a human soul.  It is sacred.  Do not mock it.”

Skye nodded.

“So, what exactly is the Via Austium,” Rachel asked, trying to change the subject.

“A gateway between worlds.  A soul can go to any realm in existence from it.  Any realm’s Hell at least.  There is a junction to the Hell capital in the Earthverse, which is the realm we are currently in, and where the Lawless One is imprisoned.”

“What sin did the Lawless One commit to deserve the greatest pain Hell can inflict?”  Rachel asked, curious.

“Child,” Bartholomew said, “there have been scholars that have dedicated their entire afterlife to explaining that, and we are still no closer to having a simple explanation than we were ten thousand years ago.  The crime is unspeakable by nature, much like the name of God is unspeakable by nature.”

“I feel kind of bad having to watch him,” Odys said.  “I mean, us being here is part of the torture, isn’t it?  I don’t want to torture anybody.”

Bartholomew laughed heartily.  “This is Hell, child.  You will get used to it the longer you stay.  Torture is a part of life here.”

The lights went off in the arena and a soft orange glow appeared from the central pit, dimly lighting the space.  The light brightened as a circular platform raised out of the pit, leaving several feet of empty space around it.  It hovered just above the bottom ledge in the center of the pit where everyone could look upon it.  The platform was about twenty feet in diameter and made of smooth gray metal.

The sound of a mechanism being operated clanked through the space above them and another, smaller platform only a few feet in diameter lowered from the ceiling with a giant, white tooth standing on its bloody roots upon it.  It was about the size of a small child, was wearing four pairs of sunglasses, one on each of its four faces, and was grinning with four mouths in each direction.

“Welcome,” the denticle said with all mouths at once, producing four synchronized voices, “to the Pit of Final Despair!”

Loud fanfare erupted and confetti shot out of the edges of the arena.

“Denizens of Hell, I give to you, The Lawless One,” its voice dropped deep and guttural as it said the name.

Another mechanism opened in the ceiling overhead and a shape fell.  A body hit hard against the metal platform and crumpled into a heap.  His hands were bound behind the back and cloth sack was covering his head.  After a long moment he twitched and slowly got up, pressing himself onto his feet with his shoulder.  The bound man stood there, chains crisscrossed over his chest and shifted uncomfortably.

“Lenfroe, if you will please,” the denticle said.

A seven-foot-tall giant man with overalls and clown paint on his face leapt onto the stage from the crowd, causing it to shake uneasily.  The Lawless One almost lost his balance.  Lenfroe, the clown, walked over to the man and pulled the burlap sack off of the Lawless One’s head.

Underneath was an unshaven man with long, dark hair.  He was smoking a cigarette and took a long drag.

The assistant clown undid the lock on the chains behind the man’s back and they fell to the ground around him.  The Lawless One brought his wrists around, rubbed them, and then removed the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling.  He stepped out of the chains and took another drag.

Lenfroe punched his open palm in front of his chest and bowed.  The Lawless One looked away and exhaled.  Then, the burly clown grabbed the chains and leapt from the stage, tossing them into the pit below.

“Remarkable,” the denticle said, unamused.  “Our special guest tonight is appearing for the first time in the Pit of Final despair.  Everyone please welcome…  America Man!”

Fireworks went off around the stage and a man in superhero tights leapt gracefully onto the stage from a full sprint at the top row, rolled once and sprang upward onto one foot with one arm extended at a downward angle from his side and the other saluting.  His other leg was curling back behind him.  His tights were blue, he had a red belt around his waist, and a white star upon his chest and back.

“I said my name is the The American Sensation!”  He shouted.

“Shut up and dance America Man,” the denticle replied.

The noise in the arena settled down and it became dead quiet.  In the silence, the man danced.  It was impressive and unlike anything Odys and the others had seen before, but it was somewhat embarrassing to watch, and awkward.  When it was over, Odys was relieved.

“Hmph,” the Lawless One said, seeming impressed by the display.  “Your good, but not good enough.”
              Then, the Lawless One danced.  This dance was not embarrassing or awkward in anyway.  It was beautiful, heartbreaking, and compelling.  The crowd was on the edge of their seats and on the verge of tears when The Lawless One suddenly stopped, mid pirouette, cigarette in mouth.

“Somethings wrong,” the Lawless One said, lowering his leg, removing his cigarette and flicking it aside.  “The veil is destroyed.”

There were murmurs in the crowd.

Recognition lit on the Lawless One’s face and he grinned.  “See ya.”  Without warning or sign, he disappeared before their eyes and was gone.

The crowd gasped.

“What happened, is that normal?”  Rachel asked, grabbing at Bartholomew’s arm.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a slight problem,” the voice of the denticle said from overhead.  “It appears the Lawless One has escaped.  This is unprecedented.”

“Does that mean I won?”  America Man asked from the stage.

“The show is cancelled until further notice,” the denticle announced, ignoring the competitor.  “Thank you everyone for coming.  The Via Austium will be out shortly.”

“Ha ha!”  America Man exclaimed. “I w—"

There was a clanking of gears and the platform in the center of the arena lurched, and then fell, carrying the tights wearing dancer screaming into the pit.

They listened until his screams couldn’t be heard.

“Glad that’s over,” Skye said.  “People travel the multiverse to watch this crap?  That was awful.”
              “Yeah,” Bartholomew said.  “I always feel kinda sick after I see it.  I’m not sure what they are going to do without the Lawless One though.  He was really the main attraction.”

“Shouldn’t someone go after him?”  Cindy asked.

Bartholomew shrugged.  “Probably.  We’ve got our own problems to deal with right now.  Besides, the Via Austium is opening.”

At the center of the pit a light flashed into existence and an orb of golden plasma started expanding into the space.  It expanded until it was as large as the platform that was there only moments before.

“Let’s go!”  Bartholomew said and then, without warning, bounded down the stone steps and leapt into the sphere, where he vanished.

“God damnit,” Skye exclaimed running his hands through his hair.  “Are you kidding me!?”

“Looks like we don’t have a choice,” Odys said.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Cindy sighed and then leapt after Bartholomew into the light.

“Ugh,” Rachel grunted as she rolled her eyes.  She then leapt into the light after Cindy.

“Don’t take too long to decide, you two,” Tiffany said before jumping into the light nimbly with her cat’s body.

“Let’s go before it vanishes,” Odys told Skye, who nodded in agreement.  They ran to the edge of the step and leapt into the golden sphere.

He's already here!? The Second Thessalonians Prophecy

So I busted this paper out at the last minute and got it in a few hours late, but I got it in. Hopefully I still manage to pass the course.

Anyway, if you want to read it, here it is. I don’t think it’s too bad.

If you want to better understand a highly interesting passage of scripture a little better, I reccomend you read it. I guarantee you will not regret it if that’s why you approached it.

So…. yeah. I’m just going to copy and paste. Boom.

Nicholas Bylotas

8/15/2022

THY-532 The Life and Writings of Paul

Dr. Marc Pugliese

He’s already here!?: The Second Thessalonians Prophecy

            The Man of Apostasy, the Lawless One, the Antichrist—all names for a single human being who has coursed through the consciousness of humanity ever since his coming was first prophesied in Second Thessalonians.  Theologians, scholars, and laypeople alike have made countless claims over the years as to who this inimical man is, but the mystery is yet unsolved, and the pot is only getting larger as more and more bets are placed.  The first twelve verses of the second chapter of Second Thessalonians contain the prophecy from which this excitement has arisen, and this exegesis will examine them so to ascertain their original meaning as the author intended.

            One of the reasons why 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11 is such a mystery to us today, is because it refers to insider information which the church of Thessalonica received from Paul the Apostle’s direct instruction when he spent time with them.  This is evident from v. 5, “do you not recall that while I was with you I told you these things?”.  The verse serves to complete the information of the preceding verses which anticipate the arrival of the “man doomed to perdition” as a necessary event that must happen before the day of the Lord (2 Thess 2:3).  Unfortunately, we don’t know what it was that Paul said in the instance that is being referred to, making it particularly difficult to arrive at a precise conclusion of what is meant.  What is more obscure is v. 6, “and now you know what is restraining,” which implies an eschatological conclusion that the Thessalonian community arrived at, but as far as we know was never recorded and is now lost.

            Before we peer into the mystery of the new evil characters and forces of darkness at work in the final days, we will begin where chapter two begins, which is both the start of the body of the epistle, and the address of the occasion for writing (Esler).  There is some debate as to what the specific details of the occasion is which are interpreted differently depending on whether it is authentic Pauline or not (Ibid).  These differences refer to which particular group or message and at what time had provoked the false teaching that needed to be addressed, which was the belief that the day of the Lord had already come (Ibid).  The author, whom I will make no claims as to whether he was Paul or not, urges the congregation not to be “shaken” or “alarmed” by a teaching coming from an alleged Christian who announces that the day of the Lord has already come (2 Thess 2:1-2).  Whether it was a notion that emerged from millenarian excitement in the Thessalonian church, or was something a Gnostic brought to them, the author is clear that such a teaching is false (Ibid).

            The proof the author provides to justify his rectification against false doctrine is a reminder of a prerequisite event he calls “the apostasy” which has yet to occur.  He then goes into further detail of what this previous instruction he is referring to means.  His method is to employs a storytelling approach that introduces characters, plot, conflict, and resolution; a classic method of communicating spiritual truth in any culture or community (Gaventa 110).  The story approach serves both as a conveyance of information, but also to generate emotional investment which is charged by a sense of danger which is relieved by the encouragement for hope (Ibid 116).  The characters include the Lawless One, Jesus, Satan, the Restrainer, and the two anthropomorphized concepts of rebellion and the mystery of lawlessness (Ibid 110).

            Up first is the Restrainer doing the restraining (2 Thess 2:6-7).  This has been interpreted both as a positive character that holds back the mystery of lawlessness and the lawless one, and as a negative one which oppresses the church and restrains her (Elias 288).  The reason there are different interpretations is because of how one may translate the ancient Greek phrase to katechon and ho katechon (Elias 281).  The phrase is what refers to the Restrainer, whom for those who assert is a positive force is given an object noun to identify it as a person i.e. “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time” (2 Thess 2:6, Ibid 282).  Although admittedly I know very little about the ancient Greek language and cannot read it myself, my very brief studies of ancient languages in general have taught me that it is not unusual to need to supply such words to complete a translation.  For those who interpret the restrainer as an antagonist, to katechon and ho katechon are translated as the words oppression and oppressor, based on the various translation of the root word katecho throughout scripture (Ibid 282)

            So which is it?  If the Restrainer is a helpful character, some propose it is God himself, the Holy Spirit, or even the Roman Empire enforcing its laws (Beverly 114).  Those who claim it is an antagonist also point to the Roman Empire but emphasize its oppressive traits that work against the Christian church (Elias 283).  Seeing that I am unable to read ancient Greek myself, I’m inclined to agree with what is written in the Catholic Study Bible before me as I write this, which supplies an object and implies a positive role to the force/person.  However, more than that, it seems to logically flow that if the removal of this agent results in the release of the supernaturally evil Lawless One, then it is probably a force of good, which could be an angel, the Holy Spirit, or God himself. 

            We have arrived now at the Lawless One, whom as I mentioned above embodies evil to a supernatural degree (2 Thess 2:9-10).  The eschatological nature of this figure suggests that he can only be properly identified at the moment of his destruction on the day of the Lord (Gieschen 276).  It is as if saying his true name is the magic that breaks the spell and sends him back into the pit, like Rumpelstiltskin.  Jesus of course is prophesied to do this with the breath of his mouth (2 Thess 2:8).  Who is this great approaching enemy that the ancient author of Second Thessalonians foresaw?  Some interpret the Lawless One as not only predicted in Second Thessalonians, but as the same figure described in Daniel (Beeke 11).  The verse in reference is v.4: “who opposes and exalts himself above every so called god and object of worship…”.

This language that describes a man or king exalting himself in such a way is found in several places throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, those being Daniel 11:36, Ezekial 28:2, and Isaiah 14:13 (Gaventa 112).  The repeated use of this concept as a person becoming the total enmity of God’s people indicates that it is less important what prophecy refers to who, than it is that the language describes a particular human behavior which demonstrates the epitome of faithlessness and sin.  Examples of this happening are identified with Antiochus Epiphanes from Daniel’s passage, an unnamed king of Tyre from Ezekiel’s book, and an unnamed king of Babylon in Isaiah (Gaventa 112). 

The Lawless One is special in this regard, however.  Not only does he do that, but he does so with Satanic power that summons signs and wonders that deceive the people (2 Thess 2:9).  The details of how the Lawless One enters the scene are uncertain, but some propose that it means he is going to impress himself into the consciousness of the people as God, not by claiming to be that, but by performing Satanic signs that deceive people into believing it true (Beeke 12).  According to the author of this epistle, it’s the people who do not accept the truth of the gospel and are thus under the power of death who become this man’s victims (2 Thess 2:10).

The last verse to examine in this exegesis answers a very important question that many people have: why does this happen?  According to the author, God allows the Lawless One to have his way for a time because it is how he is going to differentiate the condemned from the saved (2 Thess 2:11).  This underscores the importance of adhering to the doctrine they hold to be true, and not allowing themselves to be deceived by anything that may come.  Although it appears that the Lawless One is going to totally dominate the world, the passage promises the hope of Jesus’ return which will destroy him, thus the author reassures his readers of the promise that has been made to them.

To sum everything up, I’ll restate the original author’s meaning in a way that holds as true to his intent as possible but doesn’t say it as a direct translation:  “Don’t worry, you haven’t missed your salvation because it hasn’t happened yet.  You’ll know it’s about to come because Satan’s man will take over the world first and be very convincing while he does.  That’s when Jesus will come, and the few who kept their faith will be saved.  So don’t ever give up, no matter how much you may want to.”

This is going to come off as perhaps a bit unusual and definitely heretical, but when I read this passage, I see Jesus as this supernaturally evil man.  These are my reasons: he’s a man, he’s sitting on the throne of God, and he’s propagating idolatrous human sacrifice to himself.  Obviously, the Christian community may find this idea utterly inappropriate and anathema.  Hear me out though, perhaps it is exactly the present version of Jesus that developed over two thousand years of a very bloody and contentious history that is precisely who was foreseen as the Lawless One in the first century.  I find it very likely that what is taught about Jesus today is nothing like what the initial Christians believed, let alone what the real Jesus intended when he walked the earth.

Sources:

Barton, John, and John Muddiman. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press, 2001. Open WorldCat, http://site.ebrary.com/id/10269141.

Beeke, Joel R., and Paul M. Smalley. “The Man of Sin: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.” Puritan Reformed Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 5–30. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLAi5IE190318000396&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Elias, Jacob W., and Inc NetLibrary. 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Herald Press, 1995.

Gaventa, Beverly Roberts. First and Second Thessalonians. Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.

Gieschen, Charles A. “Antichrist in the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions: The Relevance of Reformation Exegesis of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 for the Church Today.” Concordia Theological Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 3–4, July 2017, pp. 263–79. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLAiC9Y180604000036&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Senior, Donald, et al., editors. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible Revised Edition. Third edition, Oxford University Press, 2016.

An old song...

I listened to an old song tonight. A song that played in an old life I used to have. A time when I was alive in bliss, suffering before I even knew what suffering was. The pain comes back in new ways in a life reborn, still hurting, still sweet, still deeper than deep; meaning hidden in itself, suffering on top of suffering like addicted pleasure I can’t stop wanting.

Loving like mad, harder than I should, leaping off cliffs and soaring with wings that love with no limits. An old song that fired synapses dormant and not to be disturbed. Good God what have I done!? The haunting comes, and there is nothing I can do. Such doors when opened do not close, bringing ghosts that don’t go back in.

An old song.

Sacred from beyond the veil, in the realms where words and spirits dwell, the heavens and the hells. All part of the Story— the place where souls go to dwell. A song, a movie, a poem, and next thing you know, you’re in another realm, a place you thought you left, only to find again that nothing’s changed.

An old song and my spirit flies from time, back to my heart and burns me alive.

What have I done? Where have I gone? The truth awakened now renews what was forgotten, not lost but forsaken, for true life itself was at stake when I think of the depth of pain, never once love being a game.

It offers an edge to my heart, a new kind of hurt. It’s different and familiar, the pain more stable, the hurt like whiskey straight, a fire pleasant to take, intoxicating. Memory washes away what isn’t important and when so little was left in my ruinous state, more seems to stay.

They’ve come now, the haunting ghosts of loves gone cold, never answered, never known. So much love wasted on their names. So much wasted soul.

Not wasted, but reminded, and renewed, love returned from the abyss where it was lost, by the very ghosts who came to haunt. I can’t bear to see their face— the pain!

They are here to stay and I’m to blame, my love too much for any one to take, misguided and unfair, too hard for human hearts.

It is okay now. In the place where it belongs, my soul knowing better than I did when I was young.

Love renewed is more than I deserve, selfish as I was. A second chance I won’t mess up. A second chance like an enduring beam of undying light. It’s not for one, but the one. No human soul could possibly contain but the one from who it came, selflessly giving to all it can.

An old song triggered a detonation years ago set and once more I’ve come awake, my death like wine to taste. New life with timeless love once again at stake, the promise not broken, the oath still true. Whatever it takes. I’ll do whatever it takes. Your junkie, your addict, your freak. True love has taken what long ago was claimed.

On Hellraiser II: Hellbound

While I am a fan of horror movies, the number I have seen is relatively low compared to what I would refer to as the Horror aficionado. Perhaps that may change as I take a more focused interest in the genre.

Anyway, as someone unfamiliar with the Hellraiser series, I recently watched Hellraiser II: Hellbound because it was the only one available on Amazon Prime Instant Video. I think I may have seen part of a cable tv version of the fourth one when I was a youth, but I hardly recall it. As it is, Hellraiser II left a lasting impression on my memory and I am glad I watched it.

There is something exquisite about the special effects of the eighties that remains poignant to this day, and the special effects that were employed in Hellraiser II were marvelous. I think what most impressed me about the film was how creatively the demented horror of Hell was presented in the movie. The grotesque macabre of the genre is one of the qualities that I am most interested in when it comes to horror, and Hellraiser II did not disappoint.

The plot seemed to be loosely strung together leaving much to the audience's imagination as to the hows and whys that certain scenes occurred, but I think it works out in favor of the movie overall. There was a kind of logical consistency between plot gaps that did not disappoint, and having to leap through darkness from horror to horror is part of the fun. So, even though certain matters were not explicitly explained in the film, it seemed clear to me that the creator had thought about the connections that were being made, lending it a sense of genuine creation.

It not only delighted my morbid interest in hellish gore, but it made me feel somewhat uneasy about my own fascination, which is one of the most valuable parts of the horror viewing experience. Not only that, but it left me with a lingering interest to know more about the Hellraiser universe, and I want to better understand the lore and inner workings of the system of malevolence that seems to exist in Hellraiser Hell. Perhaps that topic is further explored in the subsequent films.

If you are in the mood for a wholesome horror film that challenges the borders of the imagination with representations of the grotesque, I recommend this movie. I use the word wholesome, because this movie was not gravely offensive, despite it’s exceedingly twisted imagery. It maintained a sense of dark integrity that does not betray the audience’s sensibilities, and seemed to illustrate a higher truth that was worth considering. There was meaning buried underneath the blood and violence, which redeems it from the seeming senselessness of pure sensationalism.

It is no wonder that it had such a positive review written about it as a worthy sequel to an original film, and I hope to add my own words of praise into the vast galaxy of writing that circulates the internet, whether it find a reader or not.

Merry horror watching, friends.

Telepathic Communion

Just need to get some words out.

Is life not the loneliest endeavor? Somehow, when I write this, I know you’re there. It’s not so bad. There is a reader somewhere in spacetime who keeps me company and the desolation isn’t so bad.

Writing is like that. You can tell when your words are read sometimes as early as before you write them. Maybe that is because I have autism.

Do you think that I should abstain from all endeavors of love because I am autistic?

I don’t think so. I think I can still find love.

It seems like a Nazi thing to tell people like me that just because I got diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder that I should be celibate and go die in a hole somewhere.

Maybe that’s just because of my personality.

I write about circumcision like people want to read about that crap after all.

I don’t know why no one talks about that stuff. Parents should talk about it and help their children find identity in their kind. Mine never did. I think my dad wanted me to cross over to his side on my own, which is ridiculous. I would never do anything like that. One, there is no reason to, being a Christian. Two, it goes against the moral fiber of my being. Three, I think it would give society the wrong impression about what people should do about that.

I don’t have a good relationship with my father though, so who cares? That guy fears me like I’m going to kick his ass whenever he turns his back or something, which would be pretty funny to do, but I’m not a violent person, so I’m just going to leave him alone.

Sometimes I wish that I had friends, other than you of course, beloved reader, who finds me somewhere in spacetime and is here now, as I guess I am there now reminding you that it’s not so lonely, even if it feels that way because love is nowhere to be found in this desolate wasteland we got stuck with.

Well, thanks for showing up. I wish there was something I could offer other than this telepathic compassion, but this is literally all I’ve got to give. Literally, get it. Books are my best friends. They are just… cold and dead, you know? Alive and well, sure, but…. cold and dead.

I wish I had a friend.

Is there even a telepathic connection? Maybe I’m just making believe with schizophrenia and driving myself more insane. Probably that’s the case. It beats being lonely and without a friend.

I had a chance to have friends once, but I screwed it up. I was wild and went crazy. I guess I was autistic too and didn’t know it.

If I would have known, things might have been different.

Now I’m screwed though, stuck with you, who could be hundreds of years in the future, but I doubt it. Why would anyone come back and read this nonsense? Probably it’s just the federal watchers who are watching me. They love me in a twisted sort of way. It’s like a sado-masochistic relationship that I get no say in, except for these gentle protests.

I don’t want to go… I don’t want to break the connection. You’re there, aren’t you? Someone real. Someone other than them.

Well, see ya.

I just remembered what St, Ignatius says about these moments of desolation. Treasure them. Drink it even deeper. Consolation will come from God, and only God. Christ does that you know, consoles us and desolates us like this. I feel better now. knowing it’s from Christ. It hurts worse, but… in a good way.

Jesus plays video games

I wish to tell you something about Jesus: he plays video games.

Video games amaze me whenever I approach them with my thoughts to try and conceptualize what makes such a marvelous experience possible. I mean, how does the order and arrangement of the structures within a processor or hard drive contain the electrons in such a way as to generate a simulation of such lifelike representation? Coders input layer upon layer of complex instruction, creating and then using software engines to develop even more impressive levels of creation, and still I wonder, how the information itself is stored and carried within the essence of an electron. Surely the Higgs Boson has something to do with it.

It is one thing to describe that there are many transistors arranged in a way that allows for the controlled flow of electrons, and another to say that within those electrons is a sequence of signals that carries a human thought.

Video game creation is the mark of culture in the new age, and it is only going to grow in wondrousness as a form of mass media in the coming years. Video games are going to be a regular addition into nursing homes as the aged will be more and more interested in playing as generations grow older. I’m pretty sure I’m going to still want to play when I’m old, and I think the enjoyment of stepping into a virtual world and having adventures is going to be just as appealing in the future as it is now, if not more so.

What we find in video games that is so remarkable is the amount of humanity that contributes to their creation. On the one hand they are the fruit of electrical technology, on the other, they require a large amount of people working together among various disciplines. As a fruit of electrical technology video games have a modern quality that is unique to the current age and a hallmark of the future. As a work of various disciplines, they embody the best of human nature in a way that takes art to a new level altogether.

Because video games combine the works of different artists, they are somewhat transcendent of art as we knew it in the previous centuries.

Art is one of the most fundamental aspects of the human identity and is arguably what is most important in keeping our civilization cohesive and successful when you consider the use of Story for the transmission of information, experience, and wisdom.

When we have an entirely new form of art that has been unheard of in millenniums before it developed, we have something very special that changes the very fabric of our reality. It seems realistic to me that effective use of video gaming can completely supplant the interest of violent warfare. They can fill the void of terror which causes people to go out and kill each other, providing a security of love instead.

This is why Jesus plays video games. Video games, as acts of creation that bring happiness, are ultimately expressions of love, and the world can use more love. Not only is the love that games generate good, but it is new and unique in how it includes the player in the story and in the activity of play. So, I encourage you to look at video games with a new depth of understanding about how special they are, and let them bring joy into your life.

Stay true, Storians.

On Wolfenstein: The New Colossus (minor spoiler)

I completed the main story of this game last night, and was thoroughly impressed. What I enjoyed most about this game was the imagery that it employed so tastefully. I am referring to scene after the last battle which I will not describe, because it is so beautiful it should be experienced freshly in the moment. (For all who have played this game and witnessed the glory I am referring to, may we share a moment of solidarity in having enjoyed such a sight made possible by video games. Viva la revolution.)

There is another scene though that I think is fair to describe, where an aged Adolf Hitler enters the stage. At one point the maniacal old man vomits and then lays down on the floor beside his puke and reposes. The player, disguised as an actor in an audition has an opportunity when walking by to administer a melee attack and can kill Hitler with a kick to the head.

Unfortunately, the giant robot behind you immediately engulfs you in flame for doing so, but the satisfaction is well worth the video game death that results. There are some things that are only possible in video games; some things that are satisfying in a way that only a simulation can produce. I don’t condone violence, but kicking Hitler in the head and killing him was immensely relieving and refreshing. I suppose this has always been possible with stories, and plays have often demonstrated various imaginary outcomes and events in a like fashion, but video games are different. Video games take input from the player and are propelled forward in such a way, immersing the audience in the story and making the decision to kick Hitler all the more satisfying.

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is a wonderfully enjoyable game and I recommend playing it, especially if you have never played a video game before.

On Final Fantasy VII (Remake)

For those of you who don’t know, Final Fantasy VII is a Playstation game that was released in the nineties and was well liked by gamers around the world for its exceptional story. It was so well liked that years later it was remade with more depth, graphical improvements, and gameplay innovations that make it an even more enjoyable experience.

The aspect about the game that I like the most is that it is placed in the viewpoint of the terrorist who seeks to reclaim the world from the grip of tyranny. The game opens with a terrorist group planting a bomb in a power reactor within a city that derives its energy from the planet’s ‘lifeblood’ as the terrorist cell calls the energy source.

This theme of violence used to resolve problems does not ever sit well with me, and generally extremes have to be made clear within the story before violence can be justified, which I think skillfully remains a gray area in Final Fantasy VII (remake). That is to say that the line between good and evil centers less on the struggle between the little man and big business, and more so on the extremes of ideological pursuits, leaving a lot of moral ambiguity which reflects reality more than starkly defined good and evil.

The inhuman degrees of violence that ideologies will go to resonates with the horror of the 20th century, in which the Nazis take center stage for most directly and intentionally using violence to further what they believed was a rational and reasonable idea. The nuclear bomb itself shows how dangerous the reach of science can be, and after its destructive capacity was released on Japan, allowed for the dangers of ideology to manifest in a different way, as the threat of total planetary collapse became a reality in the face of nuclear war.

The theme of taking an ideology beyond the reasonable limits of moral ethics is recurrent throughout Final Fantasy VII in a number of different ways and rewards the player with poignant drama as the boundaries of reason are reached.

Not only is the storytelling superb, but the action packed gameplay is challenging, fun, and enjoyable and this game is well worth the time. Most excellent is the character development that reveals the human face of the struggle between opposing ideologies as it presents itself throughout the game.

An undercurrent in the game is also the theme of faith, and how it too takes up the struggle of conflict between ideas. Faith is an important theme to discuss because faith involves a transcendent perception to reason. It goes beyond ideology and rationalization and embodies a higher truth that is inexplicably good, and although it exceeds boundaries by its very nature, is present in daily life in a practical way that can be said to serve as an energy source of its own.

Faith is not passive, it is active. It inserts itself into the world and makes a difference. That effort is marked by the suffering of conflict, but it is efficacious and generates real results that are undeniably good. Faith, and its real power, are not without dangers, as the scientist Hojo represents in his abuse of faith in order to further his own goals. What constitutes the difference between the faith that is good (Aerith) and the faith that is evil (Hojo), you ask? The answer would be the truth. The faith that is true faith, selfless and loving, is what opposes the false faith, which is selfish.

As you can see, Final Fantasy VII is rich with meaning and evocative storytelling that the player can gain much from. I highly recommend this game, and would like to see a greater percentage of the world take up an interest in video games.

There are other themes present in the game that I have not discussed, and it seems realistic to me that a person could make an entire study of it considering how much human effort goes into making a game, but I will leave the reader at the juncture where true faith meets false faith at the ideological battleground and wish them well.

Remember, the beauty and power of reason and rationality is that it can lead to truth, and when coupled with an ideology that promotes moral and ethical goods, this can be invaluable to humanity and civilization, but when reason has a marriage with false faith, it can degenerate an ideology into what ultimately destroys humanity and civilization. In light of the terror that disordered ideologies can produce when supported by massive populations, it is hopeful to know that such ideologies eventually turn in on themselves, making them weak to the forces of good, which will ultimately triumph over evil in the end.

We can bring about the future in two ways: with the conflict of good, or with the conflict of evil, and how humanity chooses to progress is dependent on the ways that individuals choose to progress with their own lives. Playing games like Final Fantasy VII (Remake) can help one discern their own path in life by offering an image of reality that reflects our own in ways that we cannot experience without the aid of the imagination. I am not only glad to have played it, but being able to see the work of masters within it, am thankful.

May the blessing of Christ be with you all, and may you enjoy happy and fruitful gaming.

Why I do what I do

Tell me now and do not delay. Do not dance with words like you do, tipping toes along written notes, expressing the steam that builds from inner heat. Tell me why you are the way you are. Tell me what drives you to the mystic’s route.

As a Roman Catholic I am fond of tradition and I enjoy the mystical spirituality of sacred moments of will woven intellect invoking powers beyond the human’s nature. I receive the Eucharist in full faith, believing and knowing it is good. There are other features that go along with this religion, but that is not why I have chosen to sit down and write.

What drives me to mysticism, and what do I hope to accomplish? How can I justify the arts of spirit I seek and practice when already the fullness of the Lord is revealed in Christ, made manifest in his Church, requiring only to proclaim the gospel and to love thy neighbor in the spirit of his holy name — a name unspeakable yet named, and when spoken is motion, eternally begetting itself in truth.

It makes me human, and humanity I crave. It is like a sickness of love that constantly pulls away only for the joy to return. Let me not sin in my search for words. Let me not stray from the path as I make a narrow way from here to what I want to say, creating newness by the grace of Love itself.

It is enough to stay. I am different. I am special. I want more and the power to do more I have. For I was given much and more I shall receive. Ever-hunger ever-thirst, the constant search, I seek and find and am satisfied; again and again I’m sent, going and never content.

The hidden Lord reveals to those with eyes to see, and innumerable ways await, eternity beyond every gate. Heresy I embrace, and doubt I do not hate. In such as these the Lord awaits before shadows in the forms that take themselves away, confident and unshaken, certain of their fate, truth in their grasp to shine by the very light they’ve found inside. They live their Self and in the darkness they are, anguished presence accosted by the void, chaos at every face, and still they hold their place. Lights in darkness alone, bearing truth for those with eyes to see.

In pain I learned our fate. Tasting death I found escape. Guiltless I ran outside the gate, and became myself, learning what it means to hate. Hatred I knew and hatred I became, all at once to give it all away. It was a bitter cup to drink, but such tastes fade away, and stronger than blood came redeeming love, the truth of Christ the gate, who lets us stray for our own sake, no matter how far or how grave.

It wasn’t for a fault. It wasn’t given all to rot. There is purpose in every form; in every word the Creator spake.

So why then do I seek, what do I hope to accomplish, and what can I hope to do? Did not the Terror itself teach you the truth already? Do not dare lead others away! Do not give sin for others to say! Nay, it is not for Satan that I am in darkness where I am, for there is only one master that I serve.

I have come all this way and will go further still. Beyond the veil of death my journey goes; for she the rest, who is God, Sophia, Wisdom, One; that alone which is worthwhile, the very source for which all time is piled.

Child of the void draw near. Do not listen to me for who I am, or see the form from which I stand on fingertips from callused hands. Let me teach you what cannot be taught. That is why I do what I do. That is why I tie the mystic’s knot. There are souls like me, who can learn to see. Souls like mine, treasured by the divine, unforgotten and remembered, reminded and embraced.

A torch of love ignites another and burns brightly just the same.

For you I’ve come to give a light. A special kind of wine, for a special kind of night.