The Only Thing Necessary For The Triumph Of Evil Is For Good Men To Do Nothing.

do you think there's a such thing as "overdoing the labels"? qwq I feel like I could be an aroflux demi-lithro-bisexual--"likes 'features' of feminines and masculines, but gets uncomfortable at the thought of someone having or feeling sexual thoughts towards me unless we're partners" but is that too confusing/kinda ridiculous? qwq

Personally, as someone who works with words, I think that if people come up with a word that didn't exist before, it's generally meant to describe a reality that needed to be defined in some way and wasn't before, and therefore it IS needed. So no. I don't think there's such a thing as "overdoing the labels", or "underdoing" them either for that matter. I don't think either is ridiculous. It's a matter of how one wants to define themselves which comes down to a lot of personal self-observation and self-affirmation, and since it's everyone's call, I don't think there's a wrong way to do it (well, except if you're a bigot misusing words to hurt or diminish other groups, but we don't talk about those here... Except to warn against them ig. Anyway. I hope you get my point TwT That's not you're case at all so you're all good)

How many? How much?

My friend is really smart. She also happens to have anorexia. She once said to me, “Anorexics aren’t supposed to be around numbers. The’re just tools humans use to destroy themselves.” As you can tell, the latter statement had a profound impact on me. That’s why I’m writing about it. Numbers define our lives. Our age, height, weight and BMI are measured in numbers. Our academic accomplishments and athletic accomplishments are measured in numbers. Our schedules revolve around the clock - also numbers. “How many calories?” “How many hours did it take?” “How many people were there?” “How much do you make?” “How many pages?” “How many words?” “How many points?” “How many goals? How many assists?” “How many years?” How many? How many? How many? I think that so often, we fall into the trap of thinking that these numbers that measure our bodies or measure the things that we do are also measuring us. And the problem with that is that once you start measuring, you find that you will never measure up. As soon as you put a numerical value on your identity you will find that there will always be someone who has a higher number, or lower number. Here’s the thing: you’re not a number. You’re thinking, “well obviously, Katherine.” But hear me out. You are not your weight. You are not your GPA. You are not the number of points you score or how much money you make. You’re a person. There is absolutely no conceivable way in the known universe, in the limitations of time as we know it, that numbers could logically be used to express a person. We can graph the curve of your face and we can create a function for the way you walk, but mathematically we will never capture you. You’re a person. You were created by God, in the image of God. As He is beautiful, so are you. As He is spirit, so are you. And you are His masterpiece. His piece de resistance. This all-powerful deity, who always was and always will be, who mapped the stars, who knitted the fabric of the universe, who choreographed the dance of the planets, who paints every single sunset, who filled the seas with fish and the skies with birds...He thinks that you are the best thing He made. [Talking about God gets me TURNT but I’ll leave the rest for another time.] He gave you a soul. Do you even know how exciting a soul is? A soul is intangible. It is infinite. It is the part of you that recognizes God’s face and it will last forever. It remembers the beginning of the world and it will see the end. It has the entire universe in it. It has ancient empires in it. It has lost civilizations in it. It has dead languages in it. It has unborn languages in it. It has novels in it. It has symphonies in it. Let me edit that last paragraph: You are intangible. You are infinite. You recognize God’s face and you will last forever. You remember the beginning of the world and you will see the end. You have the entire universe in you. You have ancient empires in you. You have lost civilizations in you. You have dead languages in you. You have unborn languages in you. You have novels in you. You have symphonies in you. Do you honestly believe that a being so majestic, so beautiful, so wonderful, can be MEASURED? The answer is absolutely not. You are immeasurable. There’s no scale or standard or system by which you can be counted. You are invaluable. Your worth is far beyond measure. Therefore, there are only two numbers you can use to describe yourself: 1. That’s how many of you there are. You are unique. You are one of a kind. You can’t be compared to others because you’re in your own category. ∞ ← That’s the infinity symbol. Admittedly, infinity, by its nature, is not a number. It’s mathematical concept. And that’s how valuable you are. This reminder has been brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Katherine. Love y’all! Peace and love! -Katherine

Your opinions on polygamy?

Hmm..I have to say that I am not so much a fan of polygamy. 

By way of explanation, I would have to say that it’s because I’m a big believer in the idea of “One Love”. That is to say, I’m not going to have sex until I’m married, and ideally, I plan to be married “until death do us part”. So I personally am not open to the idea of divorce except in the case of abuse or infidelity or some other such extreme circumstances. “Irreconcilable differences”, to me, is not an option. So that being said, my vision for my life is being in love with, being married to, and having sex with, only one person. I want to be so close to someone that I know them inside and out. I want to know all their strengths and all their weaknesses and love them for both equally, because that’s what makes them who they are. I want to be totally open and vulnerable about myself with someone and have them accept me for who I am. I want to have the irrefutable confidence that I want to spend every day until the end of my days with this person. I want to whether the storms of life with this person. I want to fight like crazy with this person. I want a life-partner. Like me and him against the world, you know? And to me, such an intimate experience with only one person makes it all the more valuable and precious. Especially with the sex thing, especially for me. 

But that’s just the romantic in me. Let’s talk about what the bible has to say on the topic of polygamy. 

In the bible, there are many examples of man who had more than one wife. Sure, King Soloman had 700 wives and 300 concubines on top of that! (1 Kings 11:2-3) [Sidenote: what the heck are you gonna do with that many women? I mean even if you slept with a different woman every day, it would take you more almost three years to get through them all! I bet he didn’t know most of their names.] That being said, most theological scholars seem to think that the polygamy was a cultural thing and only tolerated, if not condoned by God.

In Genesis, after God takes one of Adam’s ribs to make Eve, it says “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” (Genesis 2:24) That seems pretty clear. It even says that two become one, so that seems to support the monogamy argument. 

Later on in the New Testament, Paul (who was a pretty funny guy) is talking about how he’s a bachelor because it allows him to focus more on his evangelical mission, but that it’s better to get married than to “burn in lust”. Because, for some reason, the members of the early church in Corinth seemed to think that sex is bad. This is completely false! Sex was created by God and it is a beautiful thing. So Paul is basically saying that sex is not a bad thing, but you shouldn’t really be sleeping around, because that’s not the way God intended it. Paul’s point is that trying to avoid sex completely is almost impossible, painful, frustrating for everyone involved, and a really good way to disappoint yourself. So marriage is the ideal situation here. Paul says, “But because of the temptation of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:2) [Sidenote: The verse after that talks about how husband and wife should fulfill each other’s sexual needs. Well-known pastor and author Rick Warren tweeted that verse, which I think has got to be the most awkward scripture tweet ever. Its awkwardness is surpassed only by Christian comedian Tim Hawkins who mistakenly told someone that his favourite verse is Psalm 38:7, which says “I have a painful disease in my loins”.] 

So anyway, it would seem that the bible supports the idea of monogamy. I personally think that the way God designed sex was for one man and one woman within the bonds of God-consecrated, holy matrimony. (This is a discussion on polygamy. I’ve already talked about homosexuality at length here, here and here.) Therefore, my seemingly romantic “One Love” idea is actually firmly grounded in my religious beliefs. 

In conclusion: Polygamy is not a lifestyle that I would choose, based on my beliefs and personal moral code, but like anything else, I will not condemn another person for choosing that lifestyle. These are the choices I’ve made for my life and will not be arrogant enough to try to extend them into yours. 

Thanks for the question :) Love chatting with you guys! Peace and love! -Katherine 

Whats your opinion of bisexual people?

Hey :) Thanks for your question! How shall I put this? Bisexual people fall under the umbrella of “all people” and I have only one single opinion on all people: All people are beautiful and wonderful and lovely. All people are worthy of love and respect. All people are treasured fiercely and intimately by their creator. All people are loved by God and by me. 

Regardless of age, gender, colour, creed, religious views, sexual orientation. Regardless of their past. Regardless of whatever they might think is wrong with them. 

That is the only opinion I will ever offer on people, in general. And really, it is NONE of my beeswax who other people love/are attracted to/sleep with.

I have talked a bit more in depth about the conflict between homosexuality and the church here, here and here.  In every single one of those questions, I and the question-asker both specifically used the word “homosexuality”. Now that I think about it, I suppose you could generally apply the opinions expressed in those posts to anyone of the LGBTQ community. In conclusion, it doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter what you believe or how you live. My job is to love you. Period. And that’s what I’m gonna do. :)  

Thanks for the question! Peace and love! -Katherine 

How do you feel about the 7 deadly sins?

Hey hey! :) 

You’re definitely getting tired of hearing me say this but……”I’m pentecostal”. And the 7 Deadly Sins were not taught to me in Sunday School or in church…ever. I always thought they were more of a Catholic thing. 

That is absolutely not to say that they’re not biblical. They are never explicitly listed and labeled as such, in the manner of the 10 Commandments, but they are undoubtedly mentioned in the bible on various occasions. 

Proverbs 6:16-19, for example: 

There are six things the Lord hates,    seven that are detestable to him:17         haughty eyes,        a lying tongue,        hands that shed innocent blood,18         a heart that devises wicked schemes,        feet that are quick to rush into evil,19         a false witness who pours out lies        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Or Galatians 5:19-21:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

For anyone out there who doesn’t know, the 7 Deadly Sins are as follows: 

1. Lust (well no worries there, there’s all manner of verses about lust in the bible)

Matthew 5:28

1 Corinthians 6:18

Galatians 5:16

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

Colossians 3:5

Job 31:1

1 Peter 2:11

2. Gluttony (lesser known, and undoubtedly lesser discussed, but no less valid)

Phillipians 3:19

Proverbs 23:20-21

Psalm 78:18

1 Corinthians 16-17

Romans 13:14 

3. Greed (definitely talked about a fair bit in the bible) 

1 Timothy 6:9-10

Proverbs 28:25

Hebrews 13:5

Matthew 6:24

Proverbs 15:27

Psalm 10:3

4. Sloth (otherwise known as laziness, and perhaps a bit surprising that it’s featured with the “deadly” sins, right? Well, let’s go to the good book) 

Proverbs 13:4

2 Thessalonians 3:10

Proverbs 12:24

Proverbs 15:19

Ecclesiastes 10:18

5. Wrath (otherwise known as anger, and given a fair amount of screen time in the bible)

Ephesians 4: 26-27

James 1:19-20

Ecclesiastes 7:9

Proverbs 15:18

Colossians 3:8

Proverbs 14:17

Proverbs 16:32

6. Envy (this one is even part of the ten commandments! Number 10: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17) 

James 3:14-16

Proverbs 14:30

James 4:2-3

Galatians 5:19-21

1 Corinthians 3:3 

7. Pride (this is my personal favourite of the 7 deadly sins, because I think it’s a very damaging vice, and one that I know plagues me)

1 Samuel 2:3

Provers 8:13

Isaiah 13:11

Mark 7:20-23

Leviticus 26:19

2 Chronicles 26:16

SIDENOTE: This method of rhyming off random scripture references is not the best way for me to provide support for my argument. It’s quite incomplete, and I’m only doing it for the purpose of saving time and space. Taking a scripture verse or passage out of context is the quickest way to sow misconceptions, and if this answer were a sermon being preached, I would be disgusted, because I far prefer expository sermons to topical sermons. Expository sermons take a passage or a chapter or a story and really unpack it, delving deep into the historical context and themes and symbolism and ancient greek lexicon. Topical sermons pick a subject and find a bunch of verses that support it. Which is exactly what I’m doing. And I mean, I guess it’s necessary in this situation, because you asked about the 7 deadly sins. HOWEVER, if you really wanna learn about God and the bible, I strongly suggest and even implore you to look beyond a single verse. Effective study comes from understanding the context, scripturally and historically. 

Okay, so we’ve established that the 7 deadly sins are definitely biblical. That’s a good thing! And so I would undoubtedly venture to say, you should not do these 7 things. Absolutely. I’m very impressed that someone took the time to compile this list. I would just like to caution you about the name. “The Seven Deadly Sins” sounds quite ominous, doesn’t it? Almost like the Unforgivable Curses in Harry Potter. I don’t want you, or anyone, to get the impression that the committing one of the 7 deadly sins condemns you to hell forever. Nor would I want you to believe that these sins are in any way worse than any other sin. Because as we’ve established before, all sin is equal in the sight of God. Here’s some stuff I’ve said about that in past posts: 

I know it’s really hard for us to wrap our brains around, but all sin is equal to God. Lying is the same as murdering. Envy is the same as rape. It sounds ludicrous to us, because human morals have a measurement of severity, based on the effects the transgressions have on the people around us. God’s only measurement is “perfect” or “not perfect” and any sin, no matter how awful, or how trivial, is in the “not perfect” category. Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” …”fallen short of the glory of God”. That’s what sin is. It literally means not being divine. Well if that’s the definition, then heck yeah everybody has sinned! 

***

But here’s the thing. All sin is equal in the sight of God. (James 2:10). So why are people making this big stinking deal about homosexuality when some of us have so much pride in our hearts, we can’t even hear God anymore and we probably think we wrote the bible! Some of us have so much hate that our souls are corroding away inside of us. Some of us have so much lust and secrets and shame that we can barely make eye contact. And you’re gonna look at me and say “homosexuality is a sin”? No my son (Newfoundland expression). I’ve got bigger things in my own life to deal with than homosexuality. And chances are, so do you.

I think that perhaps, these sins are regarded as deadly because of the corrosive effects they have on the people who commit them. You know how humans have a measure of severity for our sin, decided by social norms and laws? Well I think we also have an internal measure of severity for how much a given sin messes us up. There are some things that can really mess us up. And I would say that pride is absolutely unequivocally one of them. Pride messes me up every single day of my life. So maybe the people who made the Deadly Sins list looked in the bible for sins that mess us up. Lust will definitely mess you up. Porn addictions and cheating come from lust. Wrath could really destroy some relationships in your life. Sloth will make you miss every good opportunity in your life and cheat you of your future. I’ve had a bit of experience with that one. And gluttony can give you heart disease and diabetes and high blood pressure and all sorts of other scary medical problems. As for greed, well the bible says that “love of money is the root of all evil”, so there you have it. 

IN CONCLUSION, the Seven Deadly Sins are no worse than any other sin. But all sin should be avoided, and the seven are no exception. I would totally advise you to avoid them if you can. Just remember: the sins are biblical, the list is human. 

Thanks for the question :)Peace and love! -Katherine

Today is #WorldToiletDay. Did you know 2.5 billion people - 36% of the world’s population - don’t have access to a clean and safe toilet?

Learn how we work with communities around the world to end #opendefecation and provide clean and safe toilets for all: http://uni.cf/1qrPCSk

Insecurity  Four-part Rant of the Day Part 3

Hello Darlings! I'm doing the 30 Hour Famine in a couple weeks, fasting to raise awareness and accepting money to raise money for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Their programs span education, childcare, healthcare, and nutrition. If you would like to contribute to this fantastic cause, it would be much appreciated! Lots of love :)  -Katherine 

With regards to your homosexuality conversation as a gay Christian man, I don't agree with this. For a number of reasons. I believe God would want everyone of his children to be happy. I am not having sex until marriage but, when I marry my boyfriend I want to adopt children and live a normal life. I have always had a very strong devotion to The Lord, I love him, and I know he loves me. He made me this way for a reason. I don't believe he would condemn me for sharing my love.

Cool! It’s awesome to get your input on this; thanks so much for stopping by to chat :)

I think that also makes perfect sense. After all, Psalm 37:4 says to delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. And later on in that same chapter, it says “The Lord directs the steps of the Godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” 

Okay so I have a question, and you totally don’t have to answer it! But if you’re down to answer it, what’s the deal with your church? Are they cool with your life plan, cause that would be awesome, and I haven’t as of yet come in contact with a church like that. So I’m just really interested to find out. 

Thanks! Peace and love :)-Katherine 

Societal Conditioning?  New Rant yayyyy!!!  Today I filmed like four rants and this is the first :)