Posts made by Ganymede

@Ghost said in RL Anger:

I think a big difference is that where Catholics tend to spend a lot of time focusing on matters of conscience, with the need for regular confession, strains of guilt, and a fearful respect for a God who don't suffer no bullshit when he knows what was in your heart at the time, other strains of Christianity have bypassed that into the theory that sudden "re-baptisms" suddenly wash the slate clean, and that you can flaunt your "blessings" as victories and signs of God's approval.

I think the difference between evangelical Christians and other Christian faiths is that the others have a deeper history to contemplate from. For example, what history does Joel Osteen's mega-church have? What's the 700 Club have behind Pat Robertson?

I grew up with a healthy skepticism of religion, thanks to Lisa Simpson. But I also grew up with a healthy individual of faith: my father. He always went to church, and still does go every day. Still married to my mother. This is despite the fact that, as far as I know, he has always been gay.

Faith is a funny thing.

With Pope Francis, I feel as if the Catholic Church is turning a corner and coming back in line with the core of Jesus' teachings: be good to others; love your neighbors; turn the other cheek; sit with sinners; be charitable to the less fortunate. Maybe his continued influence will cause some of the barriers to break further, but we'll see.

@Ghost said in RL Anger:

And yes, there are members of the church, as well as stakeholders in Grand Canyon University, tied to the local Phoenix government. It's the Phoenix government who granted the eminent domain of the poor, low-income housing to provide inexpensive land for GCU to be built.

I don't know of any Catholic pastors who serve as members of local government. At least, not around my parts.

I went to a private, Catholic university for law school. It was run by Marianists. Even in the wake of the War in Afghanistan, the campus had a sizeable population of Muslims who regularly prayed in the central square in the afternoon.

Christians do a lot of disgusting things. Very offensive things. But many of the people Cajun Navy are Christian. I've found that, for every soul-crushing asshole that twists the Bible and the gullible, there are two decent Christians that are as welcoming as you could possibly imagine.

Even over here in Trump Central (according to Dave Chappelle), I know far more good Christians that love their LGBTQ friends and acquaintances, and abhor the Westboro Baptists and neo-Nazis.

As for eminent domain, it's one of the few things I split from many conservatives on.

@Ghost said in RL Anger:

American Christians and Mormons are on the move. They're claiming eminent domain, using tax-free donations to run profit empires, and actively lobbying for the promotion of their own faith as a social standard above the views and beliefs of other cultures and religions.

Wait. Who's using eminent domain? Because it's not the church. It's not any church.

It's the government. The government being corrupted by the church.

I'm Catholic, by the by. Our Pope is a pretty good one right now. It's the dude who washes people's feet now, not the ex-Nazi.

@Thenomain said in RL things I love:

Can you believe that you watched it when it was new, and it's 30 years old?

You're off the Christmas Card list now, you dick.

The complete Married with Children collection for $30 at Best Buy.

Can you believe it's 30 years old?

@Kanye-Qwest said in RL Anger:

As long as there are fringe Christians who choose to be insane, hateful, dark ages LARPers, there will be a strong averse reaction to those fringe splinters of the faith, because those views are not victimless.

And now we know how mainstream Muslims feel.

@WTFE said in RL Anger:

Ever since the 300 Swedes incident.

THIS IS SWEDEN!!!

@WTFE said in RL Anger:

Strangely, though, her ignorance of massive disruptions (far larger than the Houston thing!) half a world away doesn't make her an ignorant, insensitive asshole.

Mm-hmm. People around here are talking about how oppressive the Trump regime is. Or how there's an oppressive war of Christianity. And I'm like: "bitches, do you know who the Rohingya are?"

I get it. You like Christmas. Meanwhile, there are people getting shot in the open between a country that wants to purge them and another that doesn't want to let them in to escape the people trying to shoot them.

@Auspice said in RL Anger:

You should.

Seconded, @Lithium.

@Jennkryst said in Status: City of Fog and Blood?:

Was this the one we had weird Mekhets, or am I mixing you up with other person?

There was nothing at all weird about the Mekhets at issue, but, yes, you're mixing me up with @Caryatid, et al. I played the saucy, insane Nosferatu that everyone seems to like.

Same.

@faraday said in High Fantasy:

"Abdomen" is... y'know, the abdomen. Not the junk.

RuneQuest is much funnier when you make abdomen = junk because it was soooooo easy to get hit in the abdomen.

@faraday said in High Fantasy:

Err... that's not a standard hit location.

It's a standard hit location for me. Erin took a Critical injury there. And Daithi has taken several broadsword injuries there.

Well, to the abdomen. But it's a RuneQuest joke for me.

@Lithium

If you plan to have large battles, use FS3. Please. The engine is very good for getting through long combats with 20+ people in under 2 hours.

Also, brutal as fuck. My poor PC has, like, huge gaping holes in his junk, apparently.

@WTFE said in RL Anger:

The day we view mental health the same way we view physical health is the day we'll start seeing proper training for dealing with breakdowns in it.

Considering the amount of concern the United States has for physical health and well-being, this is a scary thought.

@Lithium said in Fifth Kingdom:

I am still kind of torn about this game. I kind of want to try it because Gany is just making me laugh about what is possible there, but I am still torn due to the lack of politics, and yet somehow it is still a L&L game... it confuzzles mah (admittedly not sober) brain.

Put it this way.

Sure, there are lords and ladies there. Everyone's a lord or lady. But it isn't a high fantasy setting. This is a medieval game.

Not all lords and ladies are first-born and ready to inherit land, or be married to solidify a deal. Many families have many heirs, and the ones whose estates aren't so grand, well, there's little to do but go adventuring. In this context, there's threats from all sides. There are faeries. And there's that Arthurian feel.

About the flagon? Yes. It's a magic flagon of panty-dropping. Seriously. Basically.

The game uses FS3, so it's easy to start up on. Activity tends to be higher on business hours EST and late CST.

@Cupcake said in Fifth Kingdom:

omg I KNEW there was a reason why Daithi was so awesome!

Thank you. He's my surly respite, and no one can resist him. Mostly because he spends most of his time without a shirt on, and does manly things like herd cattle, fix docks, and dig irrigation.

Oh, and he hefts a big axe, wrestles boars, and isn't afraid to dick-swing for fun. Take that, waifish dandy boy.

That's how you win on a "Lords and Ladies" game.

@Bobotron said in Eliminating social stats:

On the note of the 'give a benefit for failure,' how often has that been tried? And how much benefit do you give?

In nWoD 2E games, you generally get 1 Beat for being on the losing end of a stick, from down and dirty combat to resolving a Condition. 5 beats per XP, and XP goes a long way in a linear-progression system.

@TimmyZ said in Fifth Kingdom:

All that being said, we've had many chime check it out then leave. The group sticking around is a damn good group of folks who enjoy a little bit of everything, the adventures, the tourneys, and yes the romance (even if they are holding out against Daithi). The RP is enjoyable to read in the logs.

Daithi cares not for romance. Daithi cares for battle, beer, and busty broads.

@Caryatid said in Cary's Playlist:

And another update. Back to a 2e game, and trying something new with a psychic vampire. Go go, redhead squad!

Stop wid dis.