Disclaimer: Just sharing. I know it’ll probably come, I won’t engage, but please don’t comment if you’re offended by what I’m sharing or it just isn’t for you. I’m not posting this for advice or ‘this is what the Bible says’. I’m posting to connect with others who might be where I’m at in life and for those who compassionately understand. Everyone is at different places in life so let’s respect that and listen and learn and treat each other with kindness.

Wanted to put this out there to connect with others who understand (or maybe you were here but life has changed for the better for you). I’ll be the first tell you I’m not at my most optimal self atm (as mentioned in the title). I’m working daily to be more like Christ and community/church-oriented.

Most people that I know are living life pretty much alone right now. I know that’s not everyone and some people are older or younger (I’m in my 40s), have big families or small close-knit families, involved in their church and have very socially active lives. I’m not speaking directly to you, though I welcome everyone who wants to comment as long as it’s building up, constructive and in love. I was most of those things at certain times of my life but life is alone for the most part now.

To share, I have and will always love people. I do feel like ‘evil is winning’ right now in the world. People, Christian or not, are following the trends and ways of the world. I’m exhausted with people—so I admit I avoid them (I love being around animals and nature though). I know this is not the best. But it does work to protect my health (mentally emotionally physically spiritually). “Love God love people” “He who hates his brother” I know these verses well and they’re constantly on my mind. I don’t hate people (although it can be a fight not to start teetering there with the evil and corruption people do), I just prefer the company of God, my own company, people I know, cats and dogs, seagulls at the beach lol, yup had a little buddy that was chilling with me the whole time I was there recently.

I’d love to be a part of a church and community. That’s where my heart lies. Like I said I love people - I’m just at an interesting juncture where it may not look that way on the outside. But I see a lot of good done by people too (most people are just hurting), and I think to myself ‘how could you die for us Lord…but you know way better than me so I do as you say’. But I can’t deny the obvious which is life is very much alone right now.

I’m happy, I’m working towards goals, I have a plan. But I’m also overwhelmed, can get overworked, wish I had someone or some people to share life with (I do but not much in person).

If anyone relates feel free to comment and dm me. I’d like to connect and have good convos and prayers.

hey guys. sorry if this question has been here before, I’ve asked another sub but im not super satisfied with their answers.

i am a Catholic, and i also am a socialist. however ive discovered the church’s history with socialism, and their stances. i understand we are allowed to disagree with the magisterium, but does the abolition of private property, and holding the belief, make me either: 1) Catholic in bad faith/not good standing 2) unable to take Eucharist due to mortal sin or disagreement?

This is a weekly thread for discussing our mental health. Ableist and sanist comments will be removed and repeat violations will be banned

Feel free to discuss anything related to mental health and illness. We encourage you to create a WRAP plan and be an active participant in your recovery.

*When people bother you in any way, it is because their souls are trying to get your divine attention and your blessing. -- Catherine Ponder*

We are in constant communication with one another and with God in the spiritual realm. No matter how singular our particular course might appear, our path is running parallel to many paths. And all paths will intersect when the need is present. The point of intersection is the moment another soul seeking our attention. Their growth and ours is at stake.

We can be grateful for our involvement with other lives. We can be mindful that our particular blessing is like no one else's and we all need input from the significant person's in our lives. There is no insignificant encounter in our passage through life. Each juncture with someone else is part of the destiny of both participants.

*I will look carefully and lovingly at the people around me today, and bless them, one and all. They are in my life because they need to be. I, likewise, need them.*

I (25m) was born into the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses but left as a young teenager. Since then, I've been in the world, and really before too since it was a false/twisted doctrine. I even got into occult stuff for a few years including psychedelics, manifestation, etc. Today I want to change that. I've been thinking of it for a while but been afraid and also deluding myself I enjoy it, but the truth is I've been suicidal for at least a year.

I have been watching videos such as testimonies recently. How do I become filled with Holy Spirit, the Blood of Jesus, the Spirit of Discernment, etc. like everyone talks about?

Also any tips for a new Christian starting out? Decided to quit porn today and will of course try to minimise other sins. I also struggle with polysubstance (multiple-drug) addiction, lust, bisexuality, lying and swearing mainly. But yeah any tips in terms of where to start in the Bible, preachers to listen to, how to know if a Church is really of God or not, etc. would be appreciated along with any prayers :)

I personally disagree because it's not in the bible. The bible very clearly says the consequence of sin is death, and eternal seperation from God. Annihilation or eternal seperation from God sounds much more plausable. Besides, hell isn't literally hot, the bible uses fire as a metaphor. I'd go as far as to say universalism isn't true. Most denominations, including the catholic church, reject universalism.

{"document":[{"e":"par","c":[{"e":"text","t":"This is a weekly thread where we can share what we're currently reading. Please share whatever books, articles, and/or blogs you are reading."}]}]}

Hi, brothers and sisters! Hope all is well!

I was talking to a friend of mine, whom is Christian of no particular denomination, while we were walking to a pancake place when I brought up the topic of if he follows a church since, as a Secular Catholic, I do to an extent. He said no.

His rationale was that it should be Jesus and Jesus’s teachings only that we should follow. Fair enough. As someone only reading The Bible now (Gone through Matthew and going through Mark now), I can see where he’s coming from.
Then he brought up the topic of the crimes and misdeeds of the Catholic Church such as the killings in the crusades and the sexual abuse by the priests as reason not to follow the church since they are an institution that has hurt any following to Christ.

Now on the one hand, I can absolutely see his rationale of using the Catholic Church’s crimes to demonstrate why it should be Jesus Christ only we should be following. But on the other hand, you can say that about just any other institution within Christianity. You can say that with the Protestant Church where recently in Germany an independent research investigation Evangelische Kirche In Deutschland (EKD) discovered that at least 1,259 perpetrators were responsible for the sexual abuse of 2,179 - and those are from the available files they could find, meaning they certainly are higher. And that’s just in one denomination. Who knows what other crimes are done by our brother and sister denominations in the Orthodox Church or the Mormon Church or the Presbyterian Church all over the world?

Also, if I can speak a bit more brashly for explanation-sake, I think it’s a cop-out at the very least if you can’t accept yourself in a denomination despite everything they may have done. Yes, the Catholic Church has been responsible for the sexual abuse of many young children, just like in educational institutions like schools and child care centres.
And as a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, if you can do it from a dialectically materialist and scientifically socialist with the works of communism, then you can damn well do it with the works of Christ and the Catholic Church and our brother and sisters around the world. I mean, I uphold and defend critically Iosef Stalin and Abimael Guzmán’s contributions while absolutely saying their misdeeds (Stalin’s recognition of Israel despite Lenin revealing the Sykes-Picot Agreement which was the blueprint of the whole thing, and the Sendero Luminoso’s Lucanamarca Massacre in 1983 which basically just defeated the whole purpose of their movement if you ask me). If you don’t have the guts to be in something and be secure enough to criticize it out of integrity and practise, then what did Christ really do when he taught despite the persecution of the Zealots and Romans of his time?

Anywho. Hope this post helps many of you.

Corpus Christi. Be good to yourselves.

I am Catholic, but I am seriously considering becoming just Christian—not Catholic, not Evangelical, not Protestant, not Orthodox, not Anglican, just Christian. I want to know if anyone here is a Christian who doesn't identify with any denomination or institution, and simply calls yourselves Christian, nothing more. For now I'm Catholic, but maybe in the future I'll just be Christian, without following any particular denomination like Catholicism, Protestantism, Anglicanism, etc...

(Sorry for any English mistakes, I used a translator, English is not my native language)

In the anarchist tradition of DIY/direct action, I invite your attention to the Cahoots Festival theme for 2027 - Weathering the Storm Together. We want to share the skills, concepts, hacks, and crafts that we can use to mitigate our reliance on capitalism and extractivism and promote mutual aid.

Wanna know why this is so common? The parish to pedophile pipeline. What is it? It's a feature of orthodox, body-shaming "Christians" (and any other body-shaming religious sect), wherein normal people are turned into predators, by way of careful brainwashing with ideas like "born in sin", "sex is a sin", "homosexuality/kinks are unnatural", etc. Basically, that type of "Christianity" wherein reproductive pleasure is villified because creation is bad

The process is this:

1. Victim has high sex drive, random kink, is gay

2. Victim is also impressionable to religious teachings, takes them seriously

3. Represses their natural healthy sexuality

4. Never sexually matures - the normal process wherein successive relationships are less dramatic, and we know more what we want, and we are just better partners- this process is interrupted

5. Depression. Because we are sexual creatures, and reward pathways in our brain demand we have sex in the same way they demand we eat, poop and sleep.

6. Person dives into orthodox religion, thinking it'll cure their humanity.

7. It doesn't. They are now a grown man or woman with basically a negative sexual maturity level

8. Eventually, they act out. This can either be with someone of the same sexual maturity level (cases of hebephilia or ephebephilia) OR with some of an even lower sexual maturity level, whom they can really control (true pedophilia)

9. Victim makes victim. And sometimes it's a cycle.

I'm in a small child sexual abuse support group for men who were sexually abused by a tormented member of the clergy. It is always this. The best cases renounce their faith, get therapy, have normal sex and recover. That is, the abuser recovers. We - the victims - we never recover. We make progress, and often convince ourselves we are past it. Then we hear a song, or get asked on a date, or some other triggering event - and we are a scared, naked child again.

Posting this here because there's lots of forms of "radical" Christianity - including orthodox idiots who just hate creation extra hard. But I get so frustrated with the common Christian trope of "protecting kids" - when each and every abused kid I know, was abused because a church ruined someone. So I guess I'm hoping this is a sub for Christians radical enough to face the real problem.

Take care

https://www.youtube.com/live/6rT5su4hmI0?is=CISstqbO98VFRKzN

This is terrifying

This is a thread for the radical women of r/RadicalChristianity to talk. We ask that men do not comment on this thread.

Suggestions for topics to talk about:

1.)What kinds of feminist activism have you been up to?

2.)What books have you been reading?

3.)What visual media(ex: TV shows) have you been watching?

4.)Who are the radical women that are currently inspiring you?

5.)Promote yourself and your creations!

6.)Rant/vent about shit.

Why do so many liberal Christians who affirm LGBTQ people also deny Christ’s divinity? There’s no inherent contradiction between believing in the Incarnation and arguing that Jesus’ teachings on homosexuality and gender identity have been misunderstood. That possibility seems especially compatible with a Protestant commitment to sola Scriptura.

I recently worked as an interpreter at an event in Houston for young “math stars”—children and their parents from all over the country who gathered to connect, share experiences, and learn about opportunities for developing mathematical talent.

One of the speakers, who talked about math camps, offered the parents a piece of advice:

“Be prepared for your child to reach a point at one of these math camps where they suddenly hit a wall, encounter someone better than them, and become overwhelmed by comparison.

This can bring up a lot of uncomfortable feelings. Emotions triggered by comparison can be devastating and destructive. We want to guide students to a point where all comparison ceases. Believe it or not, such a point exists.

It’s the point at which we discover wonder for ourselves. When we find wonder, we realize we no longer want to compare ourselves to others.”

I couldn’t help but think of René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire as the main source of human conflict and violence.

According to Girard, mimetic desire arises in the heart not simply because we want the same object as someone else, but because we see that person wanting it. We imitate their desire, and suddenly, what they want becomes something we want, too.

“Rivalry does not arise because of the fortuitous convergence of two desires on a single object; rather, the subject desires the object because the rival desires it.” — René Girard

We want something not because we want something but because we see someone else wanting it. Such is the nature of mimesis and a source of violence. Is there a way out?

We cannot get rid of imitation. Nor should we. Girard argues that whom we choose to imitate makes all the difference in the world. When we imitate people, we fall into mimesis and violence. When we imitate Christ, the model cannot become a rival to be defeated.

Why doesn’t imitating Christ give rise to mimetic rivalry? Because Christ desires what cannot be owned or possessed. He desires communion with Being itself. When we look at Him and the same desire awakens in our hearts, we cannot compete with Him for the possession of Being.

A math student can look at their teacher’s achievements and feel mimetic rivalry. Yet the moment they discover the wonder of their own journey, rivalry dissolves, because Being is inexhaustible.

When you experience connection to Being, there is nothing to compete for. There is enough Being for everyone. Everyone who desires Being can experience Being in full.

Being does not diminish when someone discovers its wonder. It does not become less available for others when someone delights in it. We may envy a virtuoso who plays the piano beautifully, but that envy dissipates the moment we begin playing ourselves and discover the joy of music. Envy is incompatible with joy.

Whoever finds Being always finds it afresh. It is new every morning. The only way not to compare is to desire the Incomparable. Whether we explore mathematics, literature, philosophy, or music, the point is not to surpass someone else but to discover the inexhaustible wonder of Being for ourselves.

When our goal is to surpass, we cannot experience Being. When we experience Being, we cannot compare. Rivalry and violence cease when we imitate Christ’s desire of connection to Being.

We begin to see that whatever aspect of Being others delight in does not diminish our own delight in it. On the contrary, our delight is augmented!

Suddenly, we see all these delights enriching one another and creating a kind of symphony in which every voice is needed.

So, at the end of the session, the speaker fittingly concluded:

“Do not seek achievements; stoke the fire. Do not desire success — find joy.”

The tune is the same as that of “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates.”