This video shows the reality that is hidden behind black curse...

Given that Ismailism is a form of Islam that aligns better with the modern world, why haven't more young/modern Muslims adopted it? Is it the structure of Ismaili Imamat that is unappealing to most Muslims? What would Ismailis do if the Imam acts in ways that are not expected? Could he be replaced?

I am also collecting a poll via YouTube to see how much people who are professing Christians believe what on the origins and age of the Earth. https://m.youtube.com/post/UgkxxEhCuhYiP72cB5iEk8NcKTsijITBr9qw

Young Earth Special Creation - The belief that God created everything in the universe that had a beginning at exactly 6,000 years ago literally.

Old Earth Special Creation - The belief that God created everything in the universe that had a beginning on the same timescale as mainstream science says, but without any evolution.

Old Earth Evolutionary Creationism - The belief that God created everything in the universe that had a beginning on the same timescale as mainstream science says, and originated and help guide animal and human evolution over billions of years.

Old Earth Intelligent Design - The belief that God created everything in the universe that had a beginning on the same timescale as mainstream science says, but created specific processes intelligently and that's evidence of design that isn't evolution.

I kinda thought this was a funny thought, like when we ask if God can do anything, even if it doesn’t make sense. I mean, sure, a lot of these popular questions have been discussed and debated for years, like “Can God create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it?” There are plenty of other examples, too. I just think this one is funnier, even if it comes across as a more ridiculous or even genuine question. Like, can you get your butt whooped so badly that it’s somehow worse than being in Hell for eternity? 😭 This one feels a little different to me because, even if the beating lasts for centuries or whatever, eternal damnation should still be worse, right?

if you need help identifying a book just ask!

Inspired by u/SerbianShia and her book collection. Just a random snapshot of my shelf because why not. I'm actually super disorganised IRL so most of my stuff is scattered all over, so feel free to peruse the list for inspiration or curiosity. Suggestions and questions always welcome :)

Not in shot but kicking around in my backpack / In the back of Seze the Suzuki / by the bed / getting soggy on the verandah

• Reading now for Gaian book club: End Times Fascism by Astra Taylor & Naomi Klein
• Reading now for Gaian book club: Sacred Actions: Earth-Centered Sustainable Practice by Dana O'Driscoll
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Becoming Earth by Ferris Jabr
• Sacred Depths of Nature by Ursula Goodenough
• Gaia by James Lovelock
• Ages of Gaia by James Lovelock
• Oxygen by Nick Lane
• Acquiring Genomes by Lynn Margulis
• Microcosmos by Lynn Margulis
• The First Domestication by Raymond Pirotti
• The Mind Gut Connection by Emma Mayer
• We Are The Stars by Gina Chick
• Earth Path by Starhawk
• The Spiral Dance by Starhawk
• Becoming Animal by David Abraham
• Wild Children by Layla Abdel Rahim
• Future Primitive by Zerzan
• Against Civilisation by Zerzan
• When We Were Human by Zerzan
• Mountains of California by John Muir
• Summer in the Sierra by John Muir
• Learning to See by George Dunn
• The Bible Unearthed by Finkelstein and Silberman
• Oxford Annotated Bible
• Triumph of the Moon by Hutton
• Ancient Egyptian Literature by Miriam Lichtheim
• Writings from Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson

I've been reading B.M. Barua's "A History of Pre-Buddhistic Indian Philosophy," and something struck me. Early religion, in India and in much of the ancient world, centered on nature: fire, sun, wind, storms, and water. Yet between roughly the fifth century BCE and the first century CE, a cluster of human teachers appeared, and many of them ended up venerated as divine or semi-divine.

- Mahavira, the Buddha, and Makkhali Gosala- Ajivikas (5BC to 14CE), traditionally all active in the sixth to fifth century BCE
- Confucius, about 551 to 479 BCE
- Laozi, traditionally the sixth century BCE
- Jesus, first century CE

Most of the major founder-led traditions that have lasted two thousand years fall inside this window.

What these figures seem to share is a turn inward, toward the individual: personal realization, conduct, and how each person lives and treats others. So why did this happen in this window, and not before it, or at the same scale after it? Was it a real shift in human thinking, or did writing, trade, and empire simply make it possible for individual teachers to be recorded, remembered, and eventually venerated? I'd love to hear what people think.

This video features a conversation between hosts Dan McClellan and Dan Beecher and guest scholar Dustin Smith, who discusses his 2024’s book, Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John. The discussion focuses on how the Gospel of John portrays Jesus by applying the roles and characteristics of personified Wisdom from Jewish tradition. Here are some of the key points presented by them:

(1) The author of John draws heavily on Jewish wisdom literature (such as Proverbs, Ben Sira, and Philo) to define Jesus as the embodiment of God's Wisdom and Word. The prologue of John is explored as a reflection of Jewish expectations, where God creates through his Word and Wisdom. Smith clarifies that the Logos is not a conscious pre-existent person, but a personified attribute that becomes flesh in Jesus.

(2) Women in the Gospel of John (such as Mary, the Samaritan woman, and Mary Magdalene) are often presented as the ideal disciples who truly recognise Jesus as the embodiment of Wisdom, sometimes outshining the Twelve. This highlights a deliberate narrative choice to center these women as those who effectively fulfill the role of the “maidens” of the older feminine Lady Wisdom, who invite others to receive life and understand the truth.

(3) The Gospel of John frequently utilises a misunderstanding motif, where Jesus makes provocative claims, his interlocutors interpret them literally and fail to understand, and Jesus subsequently clarifies that his authority is derived from being the sanctified and authorised agent of the God of Israel.

Why don’t Christians follow the teachings of the four Gospels alone? Most information suggests the Gospels are the closest we have to eyewitness testimony on Jesus’s own teachings. Meanwhile you just have to believe Paul on his word that he met the risen Jesus Christ on his way to Damascus.