I could pretend it was Tumblr’s latest set of “issues” that have made me swear off using the platform any further. And that’d be plausible, because… (gestures at everything). But let’s be real.
I basically left Tumblr with no fanfare at all at least twice. Last time was around 2016, when I decided to stop partitioning my public selves between here and Facebook (which is where you should really look for me these days). I probably would’ve left sooner if I hadn’t had a webcomic to promote.
Even on my way into this platform, I confessed to myself that starting this Tumblr up was partly motivated by David Willis envy. I was never entirely comfortable here. I am never entirely comfortable with social media, with its ephemeral nature, the way it discourages patient thought and nuance. I sometimes wonder if I should be using any of the blue platforms at all. But the alternative in today’s world is often simply not to be heard.
At the very least, though, I figure I can use these platforms in a way that aligns better with the things I like making most. Next week, I’ll have an Amazon release, my fourth in the last six months, and a long-overdue update to my personal site. And after that, well, I’ve got a few ideas for serial projects, some new, some retooled! But if you want to find out about all that, again, your best bet is Facebook… not Twitter and definitely not here.
Well, heck, I was feeling kind of burned-out about Tumblr anyway, but now that there’s a deadline…
Tumblr users have been almost exactly where we are now four years ago. Or maybe I should say “where THEY are,” because this is my first post in two years. And I’ll probably be leaving Tumblr soon but not (or not just) for the obvious reasons. More on this once I decide.
BEHOLD– All the merch available at huge discounts RIGHT NOW at http://gumroad.com/guildedage! Not a hoax, not a drill, not an alternative fact! Get in the guild TODAY, before the series (and possibly Arkerra) comes to its explosive conclusion!
Black-Small-Cyber-Press Long Weekend Axemas Sale
If you follow me, there’s a pretty good chance you won’t want to miss this weekend’s opportunity! We’ve got special deals on books, ebooks, stickers, postcards, charms, and buttons at http://guildedage.net! Use the hashtags #justfriggmeup or #thebestdeals to vote on which of our characters is the better salesperson. We hope you take this opportunity to enjoy what we’ve made!
Seriously, how can you resist an appeal like this? We’ve been building to this sale a very long time and how well it does will mean big things not only for Guilded Age, but for our future careers. So if you wondered when was a good time to signal that you enjoyed our work (or just pick up something of ours at a deep discount!), well, that time is now.
Hey just wondering what's with representing white, straight people and Christians in DOA as the devil? Every antagonist (Ryan, Mary, Blaine, Toedad)? Coincidence or pandering to SJWs?
Here’s what gets me. Look at how “Christians” and “SJWs” are positioned as enemies, as counter-arguments to each other. SJWs are apparently the nemesis of the Christian and vice versa.
Jesus is the most famous Social Justice Warrior of all time.
He was a poor, marginalized man who preached for the literal upheaval of society, pushing for a world where the first are last and the last are first. Where the rich and powerful are unfit for paradise, and the meek shall inherit the earth. He wanted honest-to-god wealth redistribution, and personally demanded the rich sell all they have and give the money to the poor. A literal thought policeman, claiming having sinful thoughts is just as bad as enacting them. And all of this was aimed at Jesus’ own religion, the dominant force in his area at the time. The ruling class, the status quo.
Two thousand years later, someone on the Internet casts this exact same behavior as antithetical to Jesus’ own movement.
Gonna drop some relevant C.S. Lewis quotes to dispel this nonsense:
“Christianity has not, and does not profess to have, a detailed political programme for applying “Do as you would be done by” to a particular society at a particular moment. It could not have. It is meant for all men at all times, and the particular programme which suited one place or time would not suit another. And, anyhow, that is not how Christianity works. When it tells you to feed the hungry it does not give you lessons in cookery. When it tells you to read the Scriptures it does not give you lessons in Hebrew and Greek, or even in English grammar. It was never intended to replace or supersede the ordinary human arts and sciences; it is rather a director which will set them all to the right jobs, and a source of energy which will give them all new life, if only they will put themselves at its disposal.“ - Mere Christianity.
“About the general connection between Christianity and politics, our position is more delicate. Certainly we do not want men to allow their Christianity to flow over into their political life, for the establishment of anything like a really just society would be a major disaster. On the other hand we do want, and want very much, to make men treat Christianity as a means; preferably, of course, as a means to their own advancement, but, failing that, as a means to anything—even to social justice. The thing to do is to get a man at first to value social justice as a thing which the Enemy demands, and then work him on to the stage at which he values Christianity because it may produce social justice. For the Enemy will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of Heaven as a short cut to the nearest chemist’s shop.
” - Screwtape Letters.
Do you have any actual quotes from Jesus here, or is this just all some white dude from the 20th century?
I bet you’ve read these passages a dozen more times than the actual New Testament because it has the right keywords and seems to have the political stance you desire. Which, amusingly, is exactly the behavior C.S. Lewis was speaking out against here. You’re using the superficial trappings of the Bible to support a personal political position – wait, no. You’re using the superficial trappings of C.S. Lewis’s writings to support a personal political position. Not even the Bible. This is helping you plant up a convenient border wall in your mind so you don’t have to consider anything Jesus actually said about feeding the poor. You’ve quarantined Jesus’ teachings of mercy and empathy because you’ve decided those are political ideas. These C.S. Lewis passages are your idol, your altar of worship in lieu of the teachings of the actual Savior.
Your tumblr bio says “Christian. Libertarian. Brony,” in that order. But when you have to quote somebody else to refute the life of Jesus in order to salve your religious cognitive dissonance, I think maybe you should start putting “Libertarian” up front.
It might be worth adding that The Screwtape Letters is a novel of letters written by Screwtape, who is an actual demon from Hell, and that passage is about how to tempt Christians to do evil. When the quote says “
the establishment of anything like a really just society would be a major disaster,” that’s not C.S. Lewis citing his own beliefs, that’s C.S. Lewis writing dialogue for a character who is capital-E evil.
“Most of us are not really approaching. the subject in order to find out what Christianity says: we are approaching it in the hope of finding support from Christianity for the views of our own party.”–C.S. Lewis,
Mere Christianity
You can now enjoy all of my short films on Amazon Fire TV (see low resolution photo included)
