I've Been Binge Watching

[liralen]

I've been binge watching The King's Avatar on Netflix. It's based on Chinese graphic novels which, in turn, I believe, were based on serial novels, and it's been fascinating seeing so much of what it was like to be on a competitive team. And old friend of mine recommended it and I've been really grateful for the distraction.

It's been a balm after

Comments

[liralen]

Mmm... on the other hand, an actual religious organization allows for a huge amount of leverage with money, time, and talent to do the kind of Good that changes policy and practice for an entire community. I've always felt that "I'm just spiritual" is usually a pass sign for "I don't believe in anything enough to put my money and my time where my beliefs are." That's the other side of all that.

Our church has made huge changes in our community, rebuilding over 40 houses from the last flood, creating permanent housing for six households who have medical disabilities that limit their income, doing a lot of the ground work to have all the churches in our town pool ALL their resources together for a better central organization for a food bank, kid care, and clothes bank that can't preach any one denomination on site, and we're working on doing safe parking lots for the homeless who feel safer in their cars. None of those I would have been able to tackle on my own.

This church is open and affirming with a Lesbian pastor (who has been a true leader for our community in ways she never could have been if she weren't so comfortable here and didn't have all the monetary and volunteer resources our members can bring to bear), a huge presence at Pride (including all the Mom hugs anyone wants), and is actively working in Anti-Racist pursuits. And the support and reassurance for the oppressed and minorities is real when we're all working together for it. As much as it pains a part of me, I'm an active part of this organization. We're not perfect, this organization is made of human beings, so we fail frequently, but we trust each other to call ourselves on it and make us better as we go on trying to do good for everyone.

I agree with you entirely about people who put their "Faith" above and to the exclusion of all else IS fanatical behavior. Faith without connection or community or the checks and balances that actually come from a good religious organization is delusion. Buddhists have their sangha, Christians are supposed to have three or more gathered in Christ's name, etc. There is balance to be had and most people can be balanced, but it takes a community that values all the people around it as well, not exclusivity.

And, yes, given what's comes up in the media about "Christians" I have no desire for the label, but the other part of my brain is like, "Well, if I give up that label to THEM and have to deny myself to do it, is that right either?"

It's complicated. It's also why I love writing Sanzo so much. *laughs* He's pretty conflicted about Gods and Religion too and fighting for what he knows is the oppression by those in Power to keep their Power. And he has his sangha with him, to keep him honest as well as the blessings of the Gods he cares about. And I love that he's fighting the Establishment with tooth and nail.

[2metaldog]

It's always good to hear of a religious organization that actually does good and not just lip service to the good they should be doing. That's probably my biggest bone to pick with a large number of the evangelical mega churches out there. They appear to simply take the money donated to them by their members and it never goes any further than the upper echelons of the church to maintain the lifestyle they've become accustomed to.

I consider myself spiritual but not religious. I am Pagan and while there are some Pagan groups and churches out there, most follow different deities than I do. Because of long time persecution (and some places still have "witchcraft" as an illegal activity on the books) we also tend to be somewhat secretive about meeting in groups or allowing someone new into a group. I tell people when asked directly but other than that I keep my beliefs to myself and am a solitary practitioner. Oddly enough, one of my best friends follows the same gods as me although her patron is different and another very good friend also follows the same gods, but her patron is different from me and my other friend.

I think my views on gods is what makes me enjoy writing my Divine Worship stories so much. The gods in the stories are divine beings, yes, but they also suffer from many of the things that ordinary humans do like jealousy, anger, arrogance, confusion, ignorance, love, etc. Usually those feelings are the result of the mortal who will become the love of their immortal lives.

Ondraeden is a ton of fun to write. He's an Elder God (a god who has simply existed since before time was even a thing) and the God of Fear & Nightmares. All fear that every living thing feels comes from him. He is fear itself. Because of that, he doesn't have a lot of interaction with other beings (fellow gods included) because literally everything feels fear from/around him to some degree. Except Valerian. With Valerian he's feeling emotions he knew about but had never personally experienced like jealousy, guilt, remorse and romantic love. He's arrogant (he is an Elder God) and dominating but also sweetly awkward and caring.

I'm currently trying to finish a different story than The Dire Heart (Ondraeden/Valerian). Wish Fulfillment is Kulfi/Rhyia/Akusuo (Akusuo is the God of Secrets, Wishes & Dreams) and I'm currently a bit over 141K into the story and Akusuo hasn't shown up yet and likely won't for several more chapters yet. Six other gods have popped in as secondary characters much to Kulfi's annoyance. I'm eager to get to Akusuo since he's going to throw Kulfi for a real loop and messing with my boys is my favourite game *muwahahahahah*.

[liralen]

I'm glad you've figured out a way that works for you!! And it's fun seeing how that informs your writing as well. Thank you so much.

I really appreciate knowing more about why you're working on what you're working on as well. So neat... and it's always fun to mess with the characters.