i know who i am now

caitlin's christianity sideblog probably episcopalian, always socialist likes and follows from caitlin-circuit

[revelations-divinelove]

one day i’ll post a real intro, but for now

caitlin, queer white usamerican, 30s, communist

like and follows from @caitlin-circuit

[psalms-and-spells]

I’m not saying it’s everyone’s job to do this, nor does everyone have the ability, but y’all know that for the revolution to work that some peoples jobs in the revolution is to help your maga republican neighbor unlearn their propaganda right? Like propaganda is one HELL of a drug and there are people whose job is to ween people, who you deem to far gone to work with, off of it.

And this happens with firm kindness, not with gotchas. It happens because most people want to be good people they just get lost and LIED too on how to do that.

1. You need to let this people do their jobs because they will be hanging out with people who you deem as ‘less than’

2. When these people do realize they were wrong, you have to welcome them. I’m not saying you can’t be hurt but you have got let them do good if they want to do good. Preventing them from doing good cause you want to feel morally superior only makes the world a worse place.

[ohholydyke]

American Psycho but it’s a trad cath doing a completely vapid hollowed out historically inaccurate series of Catholic practices in addition to all the other Patrick Bateman stuff—like don’t change anything about him except he’s also going on about TLM and canons and Vatican II and crucially he’s so very wrong in his interpretations and facts and anyone with knowledge on the subject can immediately tell

[ohholydyke]

Hit post and immediately realized I just reinvented JD Vance

[catholic-queerios]

Mind-blowing theology for baby Catholics

hey, new catholics! especially those of you who come from Evangelical and Protestant backgrounds. i just wanted to list some things off that blew my MIND when i learned them during/after converting:

the Rapture is not Biblical--it was an idea invented and popularized around 1830 by a man named John Darby (allegedly to sell more Bibles)

generational curses generally aren't believed in--you are not at fault for the sins of people who died long before you were born

lots of Catholics don't believe in or recognize the validity of glossolalia (speaking in tongues) as it can be too easily coerced, is usually complete gibberish, and there is no way to verify the authenticity. Historically, Catholicism views speaking in tongues as miraculously speaking real foreign languages to preach the gospel, not the unverifiable, ecstatic speech popular in evangelical circles.

There is no "Sinner's Prayer"! In Evangelical circles, repeating a quick prayer to accept Jesus into your heart is often treated as an instantaneous, permanent absolution of sins, but Catholicism doesn't recognize a magic verbal formula for salvation. It is completely wrong to treat faith like a "get out of jail free card" where someone can commit horrific atrocities (like rape, murder, genocide, or child molestation) and think a half-assed 30-second prayer magically wipes away the spiritual and moral debt without deep, agonizing repentance, a transformed life, and real justice. Salvation isn't a one-and-done transaction; it's a lifelong journey of walking with God, receiving the sacraments, and actively living out His love and justice every single day.

As a matter of fact, on that note, if a person gets caught doing something bad, like touching kids inappropriately or abusing their spouse, and then goes to confession for their sins but has no intention of stopping, that itself is a sin--it renders the confession invalid and adds the sin of lying and sacrilege. I was actually told by my priest to never say anything in confession that I didn't feel bad for, since that would put me at risk for sinning (he knew I was queer, which I confessed, but he was pretty queer-affirming and just told me God doesnt care about that but we can still pray about it anyway to help me feel stronger in ALL parts of my identity).

Drinking alcohol is NOT a sin! This is a huge shocker for people from strict evangelical backgrounds. Catholicism has zero issues with alcohol. Jesus's first miracle was literally keeping a wedding party going with more wine! The only sin here is excess (drunkenness/gluttony) because it messes with your free will and reason. If you're drinking responsibly and staying safe, you have the total green light to party on! (This also applies to cannabis and other psychoactive substances such as prescription painkillers after a surgery, in my opinion, but that is just my interpretation).

[apilgrimpassingby]

Additions from an Orthodox person (pretty much all of this applies to both of our traditions):

You're not expected to have a conversation experience; you get born again when you're baptised, and receive the Holy Spirit when you're chrismated (not sure what the equivalent Western sacrament is). Grace is not conferred through subjective internal experiences, but objective external sacraments.

Because of that, you don't need to spend time berating yourself when you sin - you need to go to Confession and receive penance and absolution.

The material world is holy - feast days, blessings of objects, holy water, etc. Because Christ came to save the world, not just our souls.

Your non-Christian friends and family members aren't going to Hell; as C. S. Lewis put it "we know that all salvation is through Jesus; we need not conclude He can only save those who have explicitly accepted Him in this life." In Orthodoxy, it's a sin to declare that someone's going to Hell - specifically the sin of pride (because it presupposes you aren't) and prelest (spiritual delusion).

Penal substitution is rejected, and while it's not been officially declared a heresy, I would personally go so far as to say that a church that teaches it (or at least the crude form found in most Evangelicalism) has no better claim to being Christian than the Jehovah's Witnesses - it states there was a time when the Father rejected the Son, and so implicitly denies that God is One (God is One because the Persons of the Trinity cannot be separated) and that God is Love (God is love because the Trinity is an eternal community of love). The Orthodox view of atonement is that humanity had fallen into Satan's domain through our sin, and so the dead were imprisoned in a realm called Hades, which Christ died in order to enter, and destroyed by being deathless and sinless in the land of death and sin matter-and-antimatter style, freeing humanity from the Devil's clutches. I don't know for sure what the Catholic view is, but I've heard it's that sacrifices for sins generate merit, and, by virtue of being God, Christ's death was a sacrifice of infinite merit sufficient to cover all sins past, present and future, and the merit is distributed through the sacraments of the Catholic Church.

[undertherosary]

Flower Decoration for the Statue of the Virgin Mary, by Josef Kinzel (May 4, 1852 – Aug 4, 1925)

[woodenrosary]

"i know you so well" you don't even know my favourite Marian apparition

[catholic-queerios]

We are the light of the world, a city upon a hill, the salt of the earth.

Light does not need to announce itself, it just shows up and lights up the darkness for others.

A city upon a hill is visible, and others can see it and know they can find a gas station to fill up at, a hotel to stay at if they're on a long journey, or meet up with old friends.

Salt of the earth (like from the ocean or from salt mines) is just really tasty on things and is good for electrolyte absorption! It is fantastic for the body and has many other applications other than nourishment.

Notice the following:

Light does not need to make a sound for people to know it's there.

A city does not need to make a sound for people to know it's there.

Salt does not need to announce itself for a person to know it is there--they can taste it and feel it.

None of the three get angry or violent when people ignore it or are not aware of its presence! So why be angry? This is the day that the Lord has made, so make a joyful noise and be glad! People do not want to look at harsh light that hurts their eyes, nor does anyone want to visit a slummy or gentrified city that isn't fun for anyone but rich folks, nor does anyone want salt that's mixed with metallic and/or toxic substances.

Be pure of heart and kind in spirit. You will win more people over to Christ by being kind than by "lovingly" informing them that they're going to Hell. I don't care how much truth you think you're speaking--"I'm just being blunt" is not an excuse to be a bigoted asshole.

"But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. / With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in the likeness of God; / from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. / Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? / Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh." - James 3:8-12, NASB.

[shoutsofmybones]

picture of myself that is kind of like a poem. trans and Catholic forever and ever <3

[sickydemon-deactivated20250921]

♡ as a trans man who left the church for being trans, this is the kind of healing thing I need to see. God never stopped loving us, the patriarchy just doesn't want us to believe that.

[otherwildplaces]

So I’m a queer cis man who runs a small business, and this is the new bandana I just launched this week:

Trans Cowboy Jesus is here to remind you that trans men are blessed and highly favored, beloved by God. (I left the church and lost my faith a long time ago, but sometimes, falling back on the language of faith and signs and wonders is the only way I can express what’s in my heart)

The text around the border is Philippians 3:20-21, where is says “We also eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

Every bandana purchase helps support our brothers: 20% of gross revenue goes to the illustrator, a trans man, and 10% of net profit is donated to Camp Lost Boys.

Here’s the link if you want one — otherwise, just know that in being trans, you’ve been invited to share in the joy of creation, chosen as partners in Christ’s transfiguration as witnesses to the glory of God.

[queersatanic]

If you want to see the world around you get better, you may need to devote one of your days off to that.

[queersatanic]

If you want to stop the descent into fascism, camps, and climate crisis, you probably do have to go to work more than you want to, maybe just at some bullshit job that provides continued access to shelter and calories.

But you may also need to show up somewhere on "your Saturday" or “your Sunday” that involves even more laboring, uncompensated.

[queersatanic]

You do need to rest to keep going.

Experiencing joy and laughter are necessary for prolonged campaigns.

But if you’re just going clubbing to escape, just camping to clear your head, just problem drinking or getting high to take the edge off — do you really believe that things are as bad as you claim you understand them to be?

It can be fun to cook and feed others, or to provide child care for friends doing something not safe for their kids.

You can have a great time writing letters and coordinating prisoner support.

You can clear your head and let off steam spending some time at a picket line.

And your board game nite can be organizing a workplace.

And your sewing circle can be forming a tenants union.

And your camping can be helping people understand how set broken bones or tread gunshot wounds or what you need to get clean drinking water when it’s not out of the tap.

[queersatanic]

“I’m just so tired.”

So true, bestie. Same. But things are not getting better, and they won’t get better on their own. We are the only ones who can do that, who can make anything better by collective effort and mutual aid, by real interdependence that builds our capacities and lifts burdens off of all of us in the sharing.

And we need to be doing it regularly because “next week” will come and go even faster than “next month” and “next year”.

You don’t have to surrender to a life of stoic restraint or be numb to sensation. You don’t have worship suffering or self-denial as if that’s proof of virtue.

Indulge yourself in other people, in doing things that tie you closer and help improve material conditions for one another. Gorge on it.

But you’re going to have to make it part of your schedule. Part of your life-life. You’re going to have to give up at least your Saturday to it.

Because, at this point. no amount of awareness or posting about it or having the most correct takes will get us any closer to what we need, absent that.

[revelations-divinelove]

was thinking about God as a writer, about how as a writer my own characters run roughshod over the narrative I'm trying to create. thought about my characters feeling lost until I can find them their place in the larger Narrative. found some comfort in that.

[magentamaraschino]

Shoutout queer religious people of tumblr and neocities. The femme Quaker and the trans orthodox Christian helped me realize you really can be anything and everything has already been done before so I might as well be myself

[rawcunningmaster]

THE WAY • THE TRUTH • THE LIFE

[queers4christ]

Dearest Mary, star of the sea, shine bright for all your children in times of our hardships so we may find your light and sail back to you, for you will always lead us back to the safe harbor of Christ, your son

Holiest Stella Maris, pray for us

[transingtheeucharist]

i think it's so so funny how many people think of science and religion as antithetical because my approach to this is "wow God made such a wacky wild interesting fascinating world. how amazing is it that i get to partake in the experience of unpacking and understanding it?"

[many-sparrows]

They hate me for my punk sensibilities and Christ-centered devotion

[many-sparrows]

[st-xeniaofgethen]

The creator of this sticker is a queer Orthodox Christian by the title of Art of Marza. Everyone should check out her work, it’s full of amazing things such as this.

[sacredheart-stigmata]

Thank you so so much for providing the source! I checked out her work and it is lovely. I particularly enjoyed her piece on Saint Panteleimon!

Y’all should all go give her a check out!

artofmarza

Orthodox art for misfits of faith focusing on vinyl stickers and apparel.

[rawcunningmaster]

[psalms-and-spells]

I don’t know where Evangelicals are getting the “We are so unworthy of Gods love. It’s so hard to love us” narrative but hear me when I say:

Whether you are Christian, Atheist, Pagan, or something else entirely. Whether you read the Bible every night or you curse out God every night. Whether you think you are a good person or not.

God finds it easy to love you. It is never a challenge. He didn’t create you because it’s a chore but because he wanted your soul to leave its lasting mark on the world. A God doesn’t find it difficult to love you because he MADE you easy to love. You are beautifully and wonderfully made.

THAT is scripture. THAT is a God of unending love.