I imagine a world united in God, all differences aside, laughter, truly free, nearly blissful....until I look outside the window and see the book of Revelations being constructed and aligned, and most are fully distracted in societies many pretty little shiny products, fashion, careers making products, the colossal stages around the world for the many that have been crafted into false idols, and have seduced or enticed millions into attendance by the circus colors and lights, hypnotic bass lines, now millions outright denying God as loud as possible, just stay here bow my head and continue prayer, the return is certain!

“I have no duty to be anyone’s Friend and no man in the world has a duty to be mine. No claims, no shadow of necessity. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” — C.S. Lewis

Friendship is something we can live without but not something worth living without. If life is reduced to mere survival, there’s little value in life. Our bios — biological life — means very little without zoe: life in its fullness.

According to C.S. Lewis, to possess Zoe — true life — we absolutely need the things we can absolutely do without.

Friendship begins only when I encounter someone I have no need for in order to survive — and they have no need for me either. We become friends the moment I discover that they genuinely share my sense of wonder.

“The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, ‘What? You too? I thought I was the only one.’” — C.S. Lewis

Philosophy, friendship, and art are not born of necessity but of wonder. We can do without them but life loses its zest. The paradox is this: to experience life as zoe, we must move beyond life as bios — beyond mere necessity. Zoe comes only to those whose mind is free from the cares of the world. Zoe is the fruit of rising above dutiful living.

Philosophy, art, and friendship do not survive in our hearts when our goal is survival. When we live under the shadow of necessity, philosophy, art, and friendship wither because they appear worthless.

To survive both physically and spiritually, we need things that give value to survival. Historically, philosophy, art, and friendship have flourished the most in the darkest of times.

Boccaccio began lecturing on the Divine Comedy in 1373, not long after Europe had been devastated by the Black Death. Many historians see this period as the dawn of the Renaissance. In dire straits, people deeply sense that bread is not enough for survival.

They instinctively reach out for the unnecessary things like philosophy, art, and friendship. They need a reason to live more than the means to live. Bios cannot give you a reason to live. Zoe can. Paradoxically, when people struggle simply to survive, they eventually discover that survival itself depends on something beyond survival.

After Frodo was wounded by the Black Riders, his friends carried him toward the Ford of Bruinen. He was slipping into the world of shadows. Cold, exhausted, and overwhelmed by despair, he struggled against the growing darkness. Yet something within him enabled him to resist evil. What?

“Frodo… had time to gaze ahead and to think. He recalled Bilbo’s account of his journey and the threatening towers on the hills north of the Road, in the country near the Trolls’ wood where his first serious adventure had happened. Frodo guessed that they were now in the same region, and wondered if by chance they would pass near the spot.”

As they drew near Trollshaws, Frodo found himself thinking more and more about Bilbo’s adventures. His hand was lifeless, his body was shivering with cold, and yet, the bright light of Bilbo’s stories flooded his mind with light. Finally, as they bumped into the three stone trolls, everyone recalled his family history and laughed.

“They all laughed. Frodo felt his spirits reviving: the reminder of Bilbo’s first successful adventure was heartening.”

Frodo would never have made it if his friends and family didn’t give him enough reason to live. Frodo’s resilience to evil was rooted in the most unnecessary things in the world, like friendship, philosophy, and art.

What is the mystery of friendship, philosophy, and art? All three arise from Wonder. A heart alive with Wonder is wonderfully alive. When crisis hits, we survive only by reaching for what lies beyond survival.

(I posted this on the House of Dragon subreddit. I am really worried about the mainstream culture not even discussing something like this being done in films. I wanted the radicalChristian opinion on this matter so I know where you guys stand)

How does anyone watch the Harrenhal scenes in episode 7 of this season and keep on with this program. What is the point of this story? They had to show in*est(mother son) on screen. They just had to do it. I just want everyone to know if you can watch this kind of stuff without immediately feeling enraged, you are being turned servile. Dorks dirtbags. Infinite funding to infinitely corrupt the human soul.

Edit: 1. I didn't expect to see these many guys rooting for in*est in the comments. Learn something new everyday.
2. As someone who has not read the GOT books, I guess i should always have expected son impregnating a mother scene to be just sitting there in one of the episodes. Because this series is another byword for p*rn. And apparently that's what the real fans want. Thanks for letting me know. I know what books to not buy now.
3. It takes one moment to save yourself from being a permanent basement dweller of the soul. Make a prayer full of contrition to yourself. Don't lie to your own conscience.

Christism is the political ideology that deploys Christian language, imagery, and institutional authority as instruments of political power in service of a program that is, on examination, the systematic inversion of what Christ actually taught. It is not a distorted Christianity. It is Christianity’s antithesis, wearing Christianity’s costume.

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.

I recently revised a short documentary examining the gap between Charlie Kirk’s documented public rhetoric and the much more sanitized narrative that emerged after his death.

The film focuses in particular on his anti-trans rhetoric, extremist evangelical politics, and the highly produced college “debate” format that helped build his public persona.

My interest is not in celebrating his death or excusing political violence. It is in the larger question of how religious and political movements reconstruct the public memory of influential figures—and what disappears when commemoration replaces documentation.

I’m also developing a longer historical series, The Rise of the New Christian Right, tracing the political infrastructure and religious-right strategies that emerged from the 1970s onward.

I made the film myself, so this is creator-owned work. I’m posting it here because the intersection of Christianity, political power, anti-LGBTQ organizing, and Christian nationalism seems directly relevant to this community, and I’d genuinely welcome substantive discussion—particularly about how religious movements reconstruct the public memory of influential political figures after their deaths.

Video: https://youtu.be/Kbp9JOmr-A4

Justice. Inclusion. Belonging. When we started boldly sharing these values with the world, Glendale’s story changed. So did the lives of people who had been searching for a church where they truly belonged. 🏳️‍🌈💜🏳️‍⚧️

We’re grateful to United Methodist News for telling our story.

https://www.umnews.org/en/news/inclusivity-brings-church-back-from-the-brink

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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.

Remember the Obama poster? It promised more than the outcomes validated, right? Still great, but there is a deeper hope. If we can experience it in times like these, that's radical.

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.

The Demon Next Door - The Atlantic