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Possible Return to Africa (Home)
6 years ago
As most of you know, I am currently studying history in Germany, but I thought about going back to Africa to become a monk in a monastery. I really do not like the emptiness of the modern Western World. I always dreamed about seeing the great Western cultures, only to arrive and to find out that most of these cultures I have always envied have ceased to exist a very long time ago. Christendom is gone. People know only care about empty, unsatisfying forms of consumerism and irrelevant stuff such as laying at a beach or drinking until they become comatose. I have felt very ill since a while now. It is not a physical form of illness, but a spiritual form of illness. I feel as if I was getting ripped apart, stretched out and tortured. I have spent more than two years in Germany and the hollowness of the local culture is just very hard to endure. The extremely dominant feeling of dread and despair among many is so strong at days that I feel like one can almost grab it with his hands. There are conflicts and unrests everywhere, because the people have nothing which unifies them anymore. As most of you know, I am from a very poor country, one of the poorest countries on Earth. It is strange to look back to my childhood and my teenage years. I have always felt happy with the few things I had. I for example owned a Bible and the original "Star Wars" trilogy on DVD. Back then, these things meant everything to me. I really deeply enjoyed every second I spent reading the Holy Bible and I felt blessed that I even owned my very own Bible. There was a feeling of very deep humbleness among all people I knew. We had little, but what little we had meant something for us. It is strange to now live in such a rich nation and Germany and see that nothing means anything to the people anymore. The beautiful cathedrals from the medieval period are empty. People view them as curious old building but nothing more. Most modern buildings are unbelievably ugly and dull. Back in Africa, we had the holy liturgy often in the middle of nature, between trees and animals, it was amazing. All people who participated in the holy liturgy did so with their full heart and with deep faith. I have searched long and hard for this type of faith in Europe and while I wish the very best to my brethren in the Lord in the West, I have found very few who really still follow Jesus on his path. What has developed in the West is a weak, pleasure-seeking culture which never spends even a second about contemplating death or meaning. People laugh if you ask them about spiritual things and they think that you are a downer for contemplating death. Death, something which will come to all of us. Why pretend that it will never happen? Because it will happen. People in the West distract themselves from these thoughts with impressive machines and sexual pleasures. It is hard to put into words how strange this is. Maybe being poor but happy trumps being rich and powerful but shallow. I do not wish to sound ungrateful to my Western hosts, I am very thankful for the opportunities which they have provided me, yet I feel sick and I feel that the only thing which can cure me is to return to Africa, at least for a while. I am thankful that my vacation time is close. Time to return home. I seek deep spirituality and a deep connection to nature. I know now that this will be very hard to carry out within the modern West. Who knows, maybe there will be a Brother George Unbutunu in the future. Anyway, I wish everybody who reads this the very best and the Lord's divine blessing!
Hold on to what is sacred, George. May you find the peace you desire.
I used to be more mystical (or I thought I was) but then I had to get a job and be an adult for a decade .. after that I think I was sleepwalking for a while, and now over the past 18 months I've started actually noticing that I'm in the same trap as everyone else.
Am I better off for knowing this? I'm not sure.
This sums it up nicely.
People say that religion is oppressive, but I say it is the modern nihilism that is oppressive. Freedom is having faith (placing value) in something that cannot be owned.
It only got worse in the last few years! These YouTubers with their walls of collectibles that they received for free in order to promote, and sell the company’s products are creepy. It's usually kiddy stuff in the possession of grown adults (which is kinda creepy). Novelty items are overpriced and usually of poor quality for what you’re paying. Those obsessive compulsive collectors have to get them all, and sometimes even multiples of the same item.
(https://books.google.de/books?id=Dm.....amp;q=konsumer
Consumerism also conflicts with various spiritual beliefs. Jesus told the rich young ruler that all he had to do to enter heaven was to give away all that he had, because no one can take his belongings to heaven. Islamic law prohibits earning interest or paying it. Buddhism looks at hard work and steady efforts as a path toward prosperity and progress. Judaism believes in completing God’s creation while being smart stewards of money. Societies which are overly religious tend to avoid consumerism (like the Congolese society you have described). Families who follow spiritual practices are often cast aside when living in consumerist lands. It is difficult to love money and God at the same time, and consumerism teaches that money should come first.
I also agree with what you said about dystopian outlook on life. We can quite clearly see this mirrored within pop culture: depressive, nihilistic films/novels are very popular, and movies like 1984, The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Fahrenheit 451 all have the same fatalistic and nihilistic outlook on life. I've always liked those movies and books myself, and I feel like the reason they're popular is because we subconsciously know we're headed toward that kind of future if we don't change ourselves. The West is dying.
Nihilism is indeed a poison because a man that believes in nothing, is nothing himself. Pasion and beauty matters in every aspect.
I am Generation Z, but I had similar experiences.
This is sort of why I started distancing myself from the culture by late 2018:
For the longest time, I had felt that being a nerd was about thinking analytically/abstractly about a subject or product: we liked Star Wars because it represented the monomyth, it was the quintessential drama, we loved Star Trek because it displayed a possible utopia and how it would deal with real ethical issues, we loved the Lord of the Rings because it was a masterful homage to the Epic poems of old, and it's allusions to Christian theology.
But instead, all I got was, "OMG I CANT WAIT FOR THE NEW STAR WARS MOVIE AND THIS REALLY COOL FAN FIC AND LOOK AT ALL THIS FAN ART AND ALL THESE PRODUCTS THAT WE MUST CONSUME!"
It all became quite depressing for me. I have since turned away and towards the faith of my ancestors. I have started learning about Norse mythology and about my own family history. I have never regretted walking away from this mindless consumerism which you have described so perfectly.
I agree that it is the natural state of human cultures. Democracy seems unworkable and I agree that democratic systems seem to fail rather quickly (there has never been a democratic system which lasted longer than 400 years). Monarchies on the other hand can last millennia. Egypt, China, Rome, Japan, Germany etc. all had Empires which lasted for many hundreds and sometimes even thousands of years. I must also point out that I have lived in both democratic and monarchist nations and I have found the latter way more stable and operational. There is a much higher form of group cohesion.
Democracy seemingly leads to decadence and defragmentation. My personal preference would be a theocratic Empire with an Emperor, but without a senate. Maybe a mix between the late Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire.
Anyway, your comments about the mindless consumerism and the shallowness of most churches are spot on!
Holy Mother of God, please pray for the poor children of Europe!
https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/1.....osen-nehmen-zu
What I find fascinating is the connection between nihilism and mental illness: the doctors notice a direct connection between the decline of religion and the rise of mental health issues.
"So I do hold both in higher regards. However I still find any religion that deny's Christ and is anything but strictly what He has permissed to be passed down for future generations, as abhorrent any way you look at it."
I agree. Jesus is the only way.
What are your views when it comes to modern day consumer culture ("Nerd Culture")?
"Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison." ― C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns
Man needs God. Just take a look at the alternative.
(Sorry for the spelling and grammatical errors. My auto-correct program malfunctions and changes words without my consent)
The issue is that you are both too extreme on this view. Saint Paul Himself tells us all things are permissible as long as it is done in moderation and if the subject matter does not distract one from serving Christ. Just as Saint Paul also tells us that he wishes we would all be celibate and abstain from sex like he has chosen, he admits it is not possible for everyone to follow exactly by his example, and so if they cannot follow him to the tee, than they need to go about the subject with a Christ-centered mindset and not let it be a distraction. Believe it or not, people can balance things in harmony. The reason being is its exceptionally rare for people to naturally be celibate or live like a monk. Do you realize how small the percentage of the world's populations are anchorites or monks? There's a reason why living such an austere life style is merely a choice and not a strict, dogmatic requirement to be a Christian. Not even in Buddhism is it required for every single practitioner of the religion to abstain from all worldly material. I cannot stress how rare it is that people can live like that. It's literally in our DNA from a scientific perspective. People like that are the exception, not the rule.
I think you misunderstood us. We were not talking about completely denying all worldly pleasures, but about the emptiness and extreme dominance of consumerism. It literally destroys our people and planet. There is no positive aspect when it comes to excessive forms of consumerism. It is quite similar to gluttony.
I also find it incredibly arrogant and rude to claim that both of you can speak about the "true" intentions and mindset of people who choose the "nerd" label.
Rude? What do you mean? I was myself a nerd for the longest period of life. I am not talking as an outsider, but as someone who has spent a considerable amount of my life within these circles.
As if you are God Himself and know exactly how "pure" their hearts are.
This was never part of the discussion. We are not saying that they are evil, just that they are living a very unhealthy lifestyle.
Let us not speculate on how truly passionate they are about their hobbies, and let's focus on our own walk with the Lord. It seems to be one of the most inconsequential, and petty things to worry about over one's ownself. I like to collect a few figures here and there myself.
Many people collect things. That was not the point. “Collecting figures” is not your main identity, right? It is not the very core of your life, is it? It is not your religion. Not your main and only identity.
Does that make me anyless of a follower to Christ? I certainly say not, as they are just reminders of the things I find interesting here on Earth, but they are by no more to me idols as a Cross necklace. Please, just do not ever assume that because someone doesn't show outward signs of extreme emotion that it invalidates how passionate they are about something, and don't let things like television or YouTube be your "evidence" for these absurd claims. It would be no different than someone seeing a Fundamental, heretical Christian YouTube channel, and only based on that, come to the conclusion that all Christians must act and believe exactly like that. It's poisonous thinking.
I beg your pardon, Philomaeus. We (I think that I speak for both of us) did not intend on attacking you in any way shape or form. We just pointed out that nerd culture used to be about passionate people who loved the things they did. It has turned in an unhealthy, dopamine-kick obsessed mass movement which is as nihilistic as it is consumeristic (and capitalistic).
I'm less in disbelief that you wouldn't be as familiar with Saint Paul's writing.
Well, I am technically no Christian, you know. Of course I am not very familiar with words in the Bible.
But I am very surprised that for how devout of a Christian and Catholic that "EmperorAugustus" is. That he would completely ignore what Saint Paul or what his own Church teaches on the subject of consumerism.
I think that he is a relatively new convert to the Church.
It baffles me how you both can come to such extreme views despite every single world religion teaching that abstaining from literally everything is not the only, sole way to reach salvation. Least of all Christianity.
Huh? What are you talking about? “Abstaining from literally everything”? We never said anything remotely like this.
You both act as if this very same topic hasn't been discussed in any length from the very beginning of history and mankind. There's nothing wrong with you- yourself from wanting to abstain and live like a monk.
I do not wish to live as a monk. Neither does Augustus if I understood him correctly.
But do not dare dictate it upon others and do not dare to claim you can speak with authority as to knowing the true intentions and heart of a man. That's not our role nor job, that's solely God's.
What? Excuse me, but where does this come from? We never said that we are divine judges or something. Like I said before: the modern West is culturally dead (just visit any modern art exhibition) and empty. Mindless consumerism is de facto the main way of existence and nihilism the dominant religious system, with capitalism being the worldly ruler. We never said that we want to judge over the souls or minds of people. We just pointed out how extremely damaging and unhealthy this modern way of living is. It destroys people and it destroys our planet. The only planet we have. We should buy what we need and love, not what is hip and new. It was a criticism of consumerism in the modern nerd culture, not a criticism of “nerds” (as in someone who passionately loves something) per se.
And as a general rule, don't listen to anyone who substitutes tears for rational argument. That's the lowest and least intelligent form of rhetoric. Accepting the gay agenda has already made relics of the Anglican and Episcopalian Churches. Following suit will do the same for the Republican Party. And it will do the same for the United States of America.
The USA has observably made its choice. It has abandoned faith in God for trust in the god of this world and prince of this age. And once faith has departed from a nation, it seldom returns, as Juan Donoso Cortés observed in his speech to the Spanish Parliament on January 4, 1849:
"There are only two possible forms of repression: one internal and the other external; religious repression and political repression. They are of such a nature that when the religious thermometer is high, the thermometer of political repression is low; and, when the religious thermometer low, the political thermometer—political repression—tyranny is high. That is a law of humanity, a law of history. If you want proof, Gentlemen, look at the state of the world, look at the state of society in the ages before the Cross; tell me what happened when there was no internal repression, when there was no religious repression. That was a society of tyrants and slaves. Give me the name of a single people at this period which possessed no slaves and knew no tyrant. It is an incontrovertible and evident fact, which has never been questioned. Liberty, real liberty, the liberty of all and for all, only came into the world with the Savior of the world; that again is an incontrovertible fact, recognized even by the Socialists.
Gentlemen, I beg you to pay attention; I am going to present you with the most marvelous parallel which history can offer us. You have seen that in antiquity, when religious repression couldn’t go any lower because there was none, political repression rose until it couldn’t go any higher, because it went all the way up to tyranny. Very well then, with Jesus Christ, where religious repression is born, political repression completely disappears. This is so true, that when Jesus Christ founded a society with His disciples, that society was the only one which has ever existed without a government. Between Jesus Christ and His disciples there was no other government than the love of the Master for His disciples and the love of the disciples for their Master. That is, that when the internal repression was complete, liberty was absolute.
Let us pursue the parallel. Now come the apostolic times, which I shall stretch from the time of the Apostles, properly speaking, to the period when Christianity mounted the Capitol in the reign of Constantine the Great. At this time, Gentlemen, the Christian religion, that is, the internal, religious repression, was at its zenith; but in spite of that, as always happens in human societies, a germ began to develop, a mere germ of license and religious liberty. So, Gentlemen, observe the parallel: with this beginning of a fall in the religious thermometer there corresponds the beginning of a rise in the political thermometer. There is still no government yet, for government is not yet necessary; but it is already necessary to have the germ of government. In point of fact, in the Christian society of the time, there were no real magistrates, but there were adjudicators and arbitrators who form the germ of government. There was really nothing more than that; the Christians of apostolic times engaged in no lawsuits and never appealed to the Courts: their disputes were settled by the arbitrators. Notice, Gentlemen, how the scope of government is enlarged with the growth of corruption.
Then came feudal times. Religion was still at its zenith during this period, but was vitiated up to a point by human passions. What happened in the political sphere? A real and effective government was already essential; but the weakest kind was good enough. As a result, feudal monarchy was established, the weakest of all kinds of monarchy.
Still pursuing our parallel, we come to the sixteenth century. Then, with the great Lutheran Reformation, with this great scandal which was at the same time political, social and religious, with this act of the intellectual and moral emancipation of the peoples, we see simultaneously the growth of the following institutions. In the first place, and immediately, the feudal monarchies became absolute. Gentlemen, you believe that a monarchy cannot go beyond absolutism: what can a government be beyond absolute? However, the thermometer of political repression had to rise even higher, because the religious thermometer continued to fall: and the political thermometer did in fact rise higher. What did they create then? Standing armies. Do you know what standing armies are? To answer that question, it is enough to know what a soldier is: a soldier is a slave in uniform. So you see once again, when religious repression falls, political repression rises, it rises as high as absolutism and even higher. It was not enough for governments to be absolute; they asked for and obtained the privilege of having a million arms.
In spite of this, Gentlemen, the political thermometer had to continue to rise because the religious thermometer kept falling; it rose still higher. What new institution was created then? The governments said: We have a million arms and it is not enough; we need something more, we need a million eyes: and they created the police, and with the police a million eyes. In spite of this, Gentlemen, the political thermometer and political repression had to rise to a higher pitch still, because in spite of everything, the religious thermometer kept falling; so they rose higher.
It was not enough for the governments to have a million arms and a million eyes; they wanted to have a million ears: and so they got them through administrative centralization, by means of which all claims and complaints finally reached the government.
Well, Gentlemen, that was not enough; the religious thermometer continued to fall and so the political thermometer had to rise higher. And it rose. Governments said: A million arms, a million eyes and a million ears are not sufficient to repress the people, we need something more; we must have the privilege of being simultaneously present everywhere. This privilege also they obtained: the telegraph was invented.
Such, Gentlemen, was the state of Europe and the world when the first rumblings of the most recent revolution told us all that there is still not enough despotism on the earth, since the religious thermometer remains below zero. And now the choice between two things lies before us.
I have promised to speak today with complete frankness and I shall keep my word.
Well then, it’s either one of these two: either a religious reaction will come, or it will not. If there is a religious reaction, you will soon see that as the religious thermometer rises, the political thermometer will begin to fall, naturally, spontaneously, without the slightest effort on the part of peoples, governments, or men, until the tranquil day comes when the peoples of the world are free. But if, on the contrary, and this is a serious matter (it is not customary to call the attention of Consultative Assemblies to questions of this nature; but the gravity of events today is my excuse and I think that your benevolence will also excuse me); I say again, Gentlemen, that if the religious thermometer continues to fall, I know not whither we are going. I do not know, Gentlemen, and I shiver when I think of it. Consider the analogies I have put before your eyes; if no government at all was necessary when religious repression was at its zenith; when religious repression is no more, no type of government will be enough—all despotisms will be insufficient.
This is putting one’s finger into the wound, Gentlemen—this is the problem which faces Spain, Europe, humanity, and the world.
Notice one thing, Gentlemen. In the ancient world, tyranny was fierce and devastating; and yet this tyranny was physically limited, since all States were small and international relations between them all were completely impossible; consequently tyranny on the grand scale was impossible in antiquity, with one exception: Rome. But today, how greatly are things changed! The way is prepared for a gigantic, colossal, universal, and immense tyrant; everything is ready for it. Gentlemen, observe that there are no physical or moral resistances anymore—there are no physical resistances anymore because with steamboats and railroads there are no borders any longer; there are no physical resistances anymore because with the electric telegraph there are no distances anymore; and there are no moral resistances because all wills are divided and all patriotisms are dead. Tell me, therefore, if I am right or wrong to be worried about the near future of the world; tell me whether, in dealing with this question, I am not touching upon the real problem.
There is only one thing that can avert the catastrophe—one and only one: we shall not avert it by granting more liberty, more guarantees and new constitutions; we shall avert it if all of us, according to our strength, do our utmost to stimulate a healthy reaction—a religious reaction. Now is this possible, Gentlemen? Yes, it is. But is it likely? I answer in deepest sorrow: I do not think it is likely. I have seen and known many men who returned to their faith after having separated themselves from it; unfortunately, I have never known any nation which returned to the Faith after having lost it."
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”"
- John 20:19-29
The other day, Moonshadow wrote: "I'm looking forward to your Easter blog post. My circumstances are difficult and I'm in need of some hope. My trust in God has been sorely tested over the years, but it still remains."
One of the great misconceptions of the various flavors of Churchianity is that Jesus Christ is some sort of icon, a magic token that will Make Your Life Better so long as the proper incantations are uttered. The Prosperity Gospel proclaims that Jesus will give you a bigger house and a nicer car. The Liberation Theology declares that Jesus is a divine socialist who came to redistribute wealth on the basis of everyone's needs. The Feminist Gospel asserts that Jesus will relieve women of the oppressive burden of household and sexual drudgery. But regardless of his particular flavor, the Churchian is known for neither his love nor his faith, but his tolerance and his conformity.
This is not Christianity.
We are, all of us, infected by the Churchian disease to some extent. We have all listened to women pastors tell us how safe they feel cuddled in Jesus's strong and protective arms, to televangelists with slicked-back hair promising miracle cures and new jobs, to priests who promise that if we only endorse homosexuality with sufficient enthusiasm, the Church will rise in the estimation of the world and both pews and coffers will be filled again to overflowing.
This is not Christianity.
Christianity is about the Divine becoming Man amidst blood and animal shit. Christianity revolves around an innocent man rejected by his people, despised by the elite, declared a criminal by the court, and murdered by the government under the false color of law. Christianity describes a world that is fallen, sinful, and ruled by an evil, sadistic, prideful, immortal liar.
We Christians today are weak. We are soft, fat, and flaccid in our faith. We are the beneficiaries of the greatest explosion of global wealth and one of the longest periods of peace in the history of the world, and we are quite understandably daunted by the sober realization that this Golden Age is rapidly coming to an end. We are lotus eaters, hedonized if not entirely hedonistic, and the soothing whispers of Mammon have enervated our will, our strength, and even our faith. We are the sad and pathetic heirs of the Church Militant, an embarrassment to our predecessors and eminently unworthy of our Lord and Savior.
And yet, we are who we are. We, who worship Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, are the remnants of the victorious Divine Invasion.
On this day many centuries ago, there was little more than twelve frightened and despairing men. From that small and unprepossessing foundation, the Risen Lord Jesus Christ constructed a Church that brought the Good News to all mankind, that civilized barbarians around the world, that remains the oldest and greatest human institution, and that, despite its corruption and decadence, continues to resist the every-hungry Gates of Hell.
If God could do that with men like Peter, the denier, and Thomas, the doubter who believed only what he could see, what can He not do with those He has blessed because we have not seen and yet have believed?
Jesus never promised us a rose garden on this earth, ruled as it is by the wicked prince who killed him. He promised that we would be hated. He promised that we would be condemned. He promised that we would see our families and our nations divided. He promised that we would be persecuted. He promised wars and the rumors of wars. And yet, somehow, when what he promised comes to pass, we find ourselves troubled and our faith shaken by the very things that should serve to confirm it.
It is not hard to see why so many people of every culture and creed around the world are frightened and losing hope. If you are not concerned, deeply concerned, about the state of the world today, you are either in denial or you are not paying attention. The rule of law is dissolving and the collective illusions upon which our civilization depends are rapidly fading away. We have lost our trust in our institutions, in our traditions, in our icons, and in our leaders. We have lost our confidence in the certainty of the Worker's Paradise, in the exceptionalism of America, in the inevitability of the shiny, sexy, secular scientopia, and in the idea of peace on earth through the good will of the globalist bureaucracies. We have lost our faith in Progress.
We are rapidly coming to understand that there is no hope to be found in Man or the things of Man's making. But the truth is, the observable historical reality is, there has never been any hope but one. And the foundation of that hope is precisely what we Christians are celebrating today: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He is Risen! Christ is Risen!“ – Friedrich von Callow
But the final straw for me, and it appears for many others, was the reveal of Ready Player One directed by an over the hill Steven Spielberg.
I think the best sum up of the reaction might have been this one. The pop culture atmosphere the original book was released in is much different than it is now. It's amazing how fast the climate has changed.
What the criticism boils down to is that nerd culture is really, really embarrassing, and that this generation is starting to realize why. It's the realization that we are little more than grown manchildren refusing to be adults. Our grandparents are gone, and no one is willing to step up to bat for them which leaves the Millennials and Gen X to make up for it. This is really about the growing self-awareness that "nerd blackface" (as a friend of mine puts is) has finally hit the wall.
This has little to do with liking geeky things. It was never about that. A lot of men like geeky movies, comics, and games, but those things are not their whole world. They have families, responsibilities, friends, and hopes for the future. Their entire world is not crying into their pillow about how much they miss the 1980s and their long gone youth. While this book might have been relevant to the zeitgeist when it came out, a lot has changed since 2011 and mindless wallowing in pop culture references have finally started to lose their luster.
People don't want to hide in their man-caves and be talked down to anymore, and constantly reassured that their childhood is where they should stay. It was a nice, comfortable place to be.
But childhood is over. Star Wars movies ended in 1983. Chris Claremont doesn't write X-Men anymore. Kurt Cobain is dead, and so is radio rock. Dr. Who has been treading water creatively since its reboot. These properties have had their stories were told. Now it is time for new franchises and new stories and for the baggage to be left behind. It's time to stop pining for a childhood that is over.
Which brings us to the bigger point. What comes next?
This is where we realize we are standing in muddy waters.
As Razorfist pointed out above, there's always a new trend coming along to replace the old one. It's the way of the beast. But it's different now. The industry has been working overtime to destroy legacy genres and franchises. They've been forcing PC doctrine into every script to make every set of characters interchangeable and every tired plot beat the same. It's not the same as it once was.
If superhero movies do end, then what replaces them? There is no pleasant answer to this, but there's only really one .
The answer, is nothing.
There are obvious reasons. A movie in which Gilbert did nothing but rape Gilbertina, front, back, and sideways, would be intolerable. Physically, for the actors, and economically, for the producer. And it would also be, psychologically, intolerable for the spectator: for the transgression to work, it must be played out against a background of normality. To depict normality is one of the most difficult things for any artist - whereas portraying deviation, crime, rape, torture, is very easy.
Therefore the pornographic movie must present normality - essential if the transgression is to have interest - in the way that every spectator conceives it. Therefore, if Gilbert has to take the bus and go from A to B, we will see Gilbert taking the bus and then the bus proceeding from A to B.
This often irritates the spectators, because they think they would like the unspeakable scenes to be continuous. But this is an illusion on their part. They couldn’t bear a full hour and a half of unspeakable scenes. So the passages of the wasted time are essential.
I repeat. Go into a movie theater. If, to go from A to B, the characters take longer than you would like, then the film you are seeing is pornographic.
Dr Micklewright was surprised by the number of characteristics gamers did share with top athletes. He said: ''Their reaction time, motor skill, competitiveness and emotions were pretty close. Elite athletes have unusually high levels of positive feelings and low levels of negative feelings such as depression and fatigue."
—Marcus Aurelius
1. Embrace the iron. Lifting weights will not only help you stand up straight, it will make you stronger, healthier, and more confident. The iron teaches the weak to be strong and it teaches the strong to be humble.
2. Take the wheel. You are the ultimate architect of your own decisions and actions. Even if you were dealt a bad card by life, even if your genetics are inferior, your upbringing was terrible, and your instincts are suboptimal, you are the only one who can improve yourself. You are driving and only you can determine the destination.
3. Be the friend that you want to have. Smiles are contagious. Loyalty inspires loyalty. Stand by those who stand by you. Give every friend who fails you a second chance. Only abandon those who have repeatedly proven they cannot be trusted and do not wish you well.
4. Envision perfection and pursue excellence. You will never achieve perfection. But if you envision it and you strive for it, you may well achieve success, and perhaps even excellence.
5. Put a ring on it. Marriage is the manifestation of love. Children are the manifestation of hope. Raising a family to serve as the foundation of future generations is how Man rebels against an uncaring universe, a fallen world, and the spirits of despair and destruction. Yes, there are real risks, especially in the current social and legal environment. But they are well worth taking nevertheless.
6. Set your face against evil. You will encounter evil within and evil without on a daily basis. Stand against all of it, without fear, without hesitation, and without remorse. And when you fail, when you give into temptation, when you are defeated, regroup, repent, and rise again.
7. Do what is right. Learn to listen to the still, small voice of conscience. Do what you know to be right, not what you can rationalize, justify, or excuse. If you have to talk yourself into something, then you probably already know in your heart of hearts that you are doing the wrong thing.
8. Tell the truth in kindness. It is too hard and too exhausting to spend all your mental energies trying to keep track of an ever-growing multitude of exaggerations, false narratives, self-serving spins, and outright lies. Just tell the truth, as you best understand it, without taking pride in it or using it to hurt others.
9. Learn the easy way. You will always encounter those who are stronger, smarter, and more successful than you are. Rather than envying them or attempting to tear them down to make yourself feel better, do your best to learn from them and apply those lessons to your own life. It is considerably easier and more efficient to learn from the mistakes of others than it is to make all of those same mistakes yourself.
10. Believe the mirror. The most reliably self-destructive mistake you can make is to lie to yourself about who, what, and where you are, because doing so precludes any real self-improvement. Be ruthless with your self-assessments, without wallowing in self-pity or despair.
11. Get back on the horse. Perseverance is one of the most important skills a man can develop. There is absolutely no substitute for the confidence and the courage that comes from the certain knowledge that you will get up again after an opponent, or life, knocks you down.
12. Find a best friend. Dogs teach us many things, perhaps the most important of which is what unconditional love is. No matter how rich and successful a man may be, there is no life that the addition of a dog would not considerably improve. And yes, all dogs go to Heaven, obviously, because Heaven would not be paradise without them.
I'm glad that God showed me the meaning of life with the book of the Ecclesiastes.
Now to me there is nothing worth living for except what Jesus said to do, ie, announcing the good news and helping those who suffer. All of the rest is unimportant.
You're absolutely right, brother! People think that buying objects can make people happy. The truth is that they can't make people happy. People buy this special new thing but they get used to it very quickly and it loses its magic. I even think that people love the anticipation for a new object more than the actual object itself.
Amen, brother! Our King has offered all of us a divine treasure which is eternal and which no treasure chest on this Earth could ever contain!