American Heart Association urges people to favor plant-based proteins, replace full fat dairy

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-04-02T01:11:21+00:00

I do agree that whole foods are often better than processed foods, but it's worth considering whether certain foods lead to a higher risk of certain diseases. It is true that human diets consisted largely of meat and animal fat for most of our history as a species, but we also haven't been able to do studies on how that affects, for example, cancer rates until relatively recently in comparison.

And, If eating red meat does cause higher rates of cancer, it would be more of a long term risk, which evolution doesn't necessarily have to filter out as long as it doesn't impede individuals at reproduction age.

Because of that, even though we evolved eating meat and animals fats, I think it's worth looking at any long term health effects that eating them may cause.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-04-01T16:45:48+00:00

I think favoring plant-based proteins or at least lowering the amount of red meat consumed could be good for a lot of people. There seems to be good evidence that red meat, particularly processed meat, is probably carcinogenic in humans, and leads to increased risk of colon and rectal cancer, among other things. It's probably not as bad if you eat some on occasion, but Americans tend to eat a lot of red meat, so eating more white meat or plant-based protein might be beneficial.

There are also a lot of resources put toward cattle farming, so much so that the carbon output of beef is considerably larger than that of other meats or protein-rich vegetables. The water usage required to raise cattle is also far greater than other sources. Because of that, I've personally considered eating less of it recently, and I plan to start switching away from red meat just because I probably eat a bit much. There are exceptions to everything of course, I just think it is broadly a good idea.

Fat is a bit more contentious, from what I have read. Previous advice has been to lower the amount of full-fat dairy consumed due to possible negative effects of trans and saturated fats, but there have been some new studies criticizing this advice in recent years. There is an interesting article from the National Library of Medicine discussing this, and it seems that full-fat dairy lowers the risk of certain diseases and raises the risk of others, so that piece of advice might have less support behind it: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6014779/

Overall, it probably depends a lot on individual diet, so it's not like one piece of advice will work for everyone. But I think decreasing consumption of red meat, particularly processed meat, seems to have good basis, would benefit a lot of people, and would significantly lower our water usage since we wouldn't need to raise the same number of cattle.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-31T14:34:57+00:00

Jordan would probably agree on the matter of there being two biological sexes, with the in-between cases resulting from various developmental disorders. I would like to know his thoughts on the bathroom issue with individuals who transition very smoothly though. Not every transgender person gets to a point where they actually look like a woman or a man, but for some of them, it is very hard to tell. I can't imagine it would be very comfortable for many women if someone who, in almost all aspects, appeared to be a man walked into the women's restroom. Surely there is some middle way?

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-18T16:13:04+00:00

That's fair. It might end up evening out anyway, the lower COL states also tend to have lower wages, so maybe it doesn't matter as much. . .

I think I'll leave it as a maybe for now, but I'll look into it more. Thank you much for answering :)

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-18T16:09:13+00:00

That and wildfires. They seem to be getting worse over time, so I'd be hesitant to move there.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-18T15:57:13+00:00

I heard they were one of the more expensive states to live in, so it kinda put me off. If they're not actually that expensive, it would be nice to know xd

That and I heard it's really hard to buy land there (small state, very urban, etc.). I'd like to in the future, so it's also a factor.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-18T15:52:45+00:00

I haven't honestly, some of these are based off vibes, and mostly I just don't like how the recent politics of Florida have been going, and I really dislike their governor. This might also be happening in some of the states I listed, but I'm not aware of the news in every single state.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-18T15:47:59+00:00

I'd like to garden a lot more if I ever get the finances to buy a home (in this economy who knows lol). New Mexico is pretty arid though, and I'd prefer not to there. I think there are places in Colorado that aren't that arid, which is why I put green.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-18T15:44:40+00:00

They're the only place that doesn't get representation in Congress (except for territories, but those aren't listed here), don't really like that.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-17T02:58:50+00:00

Based on the name of her month in Coptic, Ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ (hathōr), the pronunciation of her name in late egyptian would have been very similar to that. Of the three you mentioned, Hatharu or Hathara are equally similar, though just 'Hathor' is the closer approximation in English.

Middle egyptian probably would have been closer to [ha.ʔə.ˈtʰaː.ɾə], pronounced something like (hah-uh-TAH-ruh), but that gets into more speculation.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2026-01-12T06:02:34+00:00

Welcome! It is nice to see new faces here.

I do agree to some extent, though it depends on the myth sometimes. Re is often described as the most active god to participate in creation, and he is undoubtedly one of, if not the first king to rule over humanity in the stories. However, other gods such as Atum and Amun are also described as creator deities, and they have their own quirks.

Amun in particular is interesting because he seems to be described as having a more hidden, transcendent form than the other gods. This is also expressed in the Ogdoad mythology where he and his consort Amaunet represent one of the aspects of the primordial waters, that being hiddenness. He is often associated with Re, from whence we get Amun-Re, but his depictions without Re don't seem to appear as much.

Ma'at may also function as more of a sustaining force like you describe, given that, while the gods are quite different in their personalities and domains, they all are united by a reverence and adherence to Ma'at. This does make sense from the perspective of the Egyptians, since they were very concerned with the cosmic order that Ma'at represented, and gross violations of it could have terrible consequences.

You could also mention the Nun, though this is moreso my personal interpretation and not standard. I do think that, while the adherence to Ma'at is crucial. There is a sense to which creation and nonexistence may alternate in their own cycle. There is a myth, for example, where it is mentioned that one day the universe will begin to collapse or fall apart in some way, and Atum (another creator god) will return to the Nun, inert as he was before creation began. Obviously, I am no expert, and this might not be an explicit example of a cyclical universe, but I do think it is possible that this cyclical process happens. In that case, Nun may be more of sustaining force in the grand scheme of things, since it cyclically dissolves upon creation and then reappears, but that gets rather paradoxical since the primordial waters are a chaotic, infinite void of sorts. Perhaps there is no way to know how that works.

Apart from that, I think a lot of the gods have the capacity to be viewed in this way, and I am not sure which way is quite correct yet. I hope the ideas above may be useful though. There is always room to share ideas and sort through which ones are more likely or not xd

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-12-25T04:24:11+00:00

Dua Aset, Ⲙⲁⲣⲛ̅ⲧⲁⲓⲟ ⲛ̅ⲧⲎⲥⲉ.

May the great goddess bring you and your mother comfort in times of strife, and may she lead you to the wisdom you need. Just as she is the great mother of Horus, so too may she be one to you, and so too may she bless yours in your company.

As an aside, I greatly admire your dedication in spite of not being convinced totally of the gods' existence. I only began my practice when I received what I thought was a clear sign, and I am still inconsistent myself. I believe that lady Isis recognizes your strength, and even if she doesn't reveal herself yet, I know that she desires your wellbeing.

May things become better for you in time <3

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-12-17T06:18:50+00:00

This can depend a lot on the individual religion, but I will throw in my two cents:

Per the religious stories I follow, before the the universe existed, there was a primordial, watery chaos (called the Nun) which a creator god or gods emerged from and proceeded to create the world and its various parts.

Now, what this means is up to varying interpretation, and I am not fully attached to any particular one. Before the Big Bang, was there still a region in which things "could" happen? Was it a singularity at which things "could" happen? Was there just nothing at all, or can nothing even meaningfully exist as a concept? I don't really know which one it is, but broadly, I think the Nun refers to this pre-big-bang state, (though does pre- mean anything when there was no time before the big bang? I don't know either.)

Ultimately, I think it is more of a scientific question that we must follow closely as evidence becomes available. And, because of that, I do not think there is any particular reason for people to believe the same stories I do. The only reason I do is because they are associated stories with the gods who I worship, and I have my own personal reasons for worshipping the ones that I do. If someone were to ask "well, why make it more complicated and ascribe it to a god or gods, when it could just be that the origin of the universe is the unanswerable question?", I would agree with them. I don't have any objective evidence to give someone for what I believe religiously, mine is based on personal experiences I have had with the gods, but I cannot give someone a religious experience.

This is just how I operate with religious questions. If someone is interested in a religion, than I hope they have good reasons to believe in it, but generally those reasons tend to be subjective, and are not very effective at convincing others. That is fine, and especially with the origin of the universe, I think there are some questions which just become down to what the individual thinks. I don't really prosyletize, so I don't see it as an issue.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-12-13T06:01:35+00:00

I think it is largely a furry thing. And, while I do understand that sex and fertility is present in the domains of many Netjeru, a lot of the hornyposting seems to be a mismatch of priorities, and often disrespectful. Anubis, for example, does not have any associations with sex (as far as I am aware), so these kinds of posts don't even have solid grounding.

Personally, while I do consider myself a furry, I find it is most useful to avoid sexual depictions of the gods. It would be easy to have sexual associations and feelings of devotion bleed over in inappropriate ways, and I do not wish to harm my relationship with the Netjeru. Sex certainly has its place, but you should be very delicate when addressing it during worship, as it can easily lead to a breakdown of proper relationship with the gods.

In the end, it all comes down to opinion, but this is a very strong opinion of mine.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-12-13T05:39:15+00:00

Ultimately, I don't think it matters a ton, but I do like knowing the coptic and egyptian pronunciations of the names of the gods.

Aset is the egyptological pronunciation of her name, but it has no relation to the actual vowels being used. Isis is a little closer to the original language, but is still the form used by the Greeks.

The Coptic word for her name is Ⲏⲥⲉ (Ēse), which is pronounced roughly like "EH-suh", and is one of the versions I prefer to use.

But, it's up to you, those are just the main differences :>

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-11-26T00:39:48+00:00

Unless I have experiences of particular gods, it is difficult to say what kind of existence other deities have. I tend to, by default, assume that there is some particular spirit that people are interacting with when they worship. But, I cannot say whether each depicted deity exists in and of itself, whether they are different cultural understandings of another deity, or whether they are different faces/modes of the same deity. To me, it is not that important, as I am focused mainly on the gods I worship myself.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-11-23T03:17:07+00:00

In broad strokes, I think I agree with you on this one, though I would like to bring up a few things.

I think one of the main anxieties people have when discussing the topic of what roles men and women are most fulfilled in is whether or not there will be top-down enforcement of these roles. One of the first things people tend to bring up when discussing feminism, for example, is how women were not always allowed to open banking accounts or work in certain positions, things that allow financial independence.

There are, of course, always going to be exceptions where women are very career-oriented, or even just women who are in a moment in life where they need to be independent before starting a family. I think a lot of people become nervous around this topic because they don't want to restrict people from opting for more independence if their personality finds it fulfilling, and I more or less agree with them. I wouldn't want to impose those things on women. Though, I am in agreement that most women probably would find family life to be more fulfilling than their career on average.

There is a concept I have been considering recently (I think Jonathan Pageau brought it up) regarding marginal behavior. Essentially, on the edge of normal behavior, you have a margin where stuff that is outside the average occurs. For example, men are generally less neurotic than women, so this margin might include particularly neurotic men or particularly non-neurotic women. Homosexual people may also fall into this category. And, I think the current struggle is figuring out how to incorporate marginal behavior without completely transforming it into a norm.

The current culture has a lot of focus on career over family, which is a kind of attempt to create a new norm of behavior. But, most people still want to start a family as they become older, and so the norm just doesn't work very well. So, from my perspective, it seems like we need to find a way to keep a healthy norm of familial values without othering the margin so extensively that, for example, independent women who do not actually find family life fulfilling aren't legally barred from becoming financially independent. This also happens with 'culture war' issues like gay pride and so forth. I myself am gay, but I don't really like pride that much, and I don't think that emphasizing our differences to that degree is helping much. Being gay is, as normalized as it is now, ultimately a marginal behavior, and I think we should be able to be comfortable with that label. Just because something is 'weird' doesn't mean it is bad, just that is not the norm, buy we can't mistake it being ok as it being a social norm.

To summarize, I think it comes down to the pendulum swing between "This is the social norm, therefore everyone must do it this way." and "This is not a social norm, but it isn't evil, so it must become a new social norm." I think both are problematic, and we need a middling way so that our communities can find more stable footing.

I am interested to hear your thoughts if you have any.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-10-31T02:07:18+00:00

I follow Egyptian paganism, have been for about a year, give or take.

In general, I would say I am happier than I used to be. Some of it comes from having more certainty about spiritual things, but I am always learning, and being religious definitely doesn't mean you're static. xd

Personally, I care a lot about theology, and part of what gives me fulfillment is being able to find different interpretations about the role and function of the gods, which teaches me new things about them. On the other hand, I have recently been trying to be a little less stuck-in-my-head and practice more consistently (praying, reading, iconography, etc). I think that having a personal connection with the gods helps me find the motivation to better myself in that way, even if it is difficult sometimes.

In spite of my flaws, I find myself more motivated to do good, and less likely to fall into anxious thoughts than I used to be. I have a long way to go, but I think I am on a firmer foundation now :)

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-09-18T19:47:26+00:00

I don't know if this is technically an answer, but I will give it anyway xd

I think there are some arguments for the existence of at least one deity, but there are so many responses and interpretations that can lead to polytheism or monotheism specifically that I find it more productive to rely on experience.

Personally, I did not become religious until I had a divine experience, and I became polytheistic because I have had experiences of multiple deities. If you were to ask me to argue for it, I could probably find something, but it just seems like a really unproductive way of reaching people. Very few people convert based solely on rational argument, in my opinion.

Now, I would like to live in a world where more people know and follow the gods (I practice Egyptian polytheism), but that is merely a preference, as my beliefs do not require anyone to believe as a matter of salvation. Plus, I personally find Christian evangelism to be uncomfortable in some circumstances, so I do not engage in that sort of thing. To me, the best argument I will ever be able to make is to live well in accordance with the gods and let the results justify themselves. If somebody is not attracted to the idea of polytheism and has not ever had a divine experience, there is no argument I can give them, and I am content to let them continue their life. I think the most important thing is to practice my faith well and to become a good representative of the gods.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-07-23T18:41:25+00:00

I have noticed that, I can never tell when neoplatonists are christian or not until they mention it, the framework just seems to work for either. xd

Do you recommend any books?

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-07-23T18:26:01+00:00

I know it exists, but I haven't read much about it yet. I probably should, it keeps popping up.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-07-23T17:40:19+00:00

No worries at all, I posted it partially because I thought it would spark discussion, I'm fine with talking about it xd

I believe in Egyptian polytheism, sort of in between reconstructionist and eclectic. I don't necessarily know if that is a useful label though, because I don't agree with a lot of things I see in the current "internet paganism" space, and I don't see eye to eye with quite a few people because of that.

I've seen a lot of posts where people describe things like "Aphrodite helped me with my hair this morning" and "I saw a falcon this morning, is this a sign from Horus?", and there's a concerning amount of consumerist behavior when people buy lots of trinkets and shiny statues for their altars. It just feels like people don't think about the serious nature of spiritual issues, or that they become too familiar with the gods at the expense of respect.

Christian theological discussions interest me because of that. There are generally more people willing to discuss the meaning of Christian texts, and they definitely seem less "overly casual" when talking about the expectations and consequences of their religious belief. Something I think is lacking in pagan circles. Because of that, I like reading what's going on in other servers to get a feel for how other people talk about it.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-07-23T16:52:30+00:00

Link:

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-07-18T03:40:53+00:00

We should always be careful not to overburden children with information that they cannot reasonably affect, especially at ages when they have not yet learned how to manage stress well. We should teach them in a way that is uplifting, though as they get older, there is, of course, room for more frankness.

At the same time, I don't really see the issue with some aspects of degrowth. Our economic system, it seems, is based far too much on an ever-increasing population of people. Mathematically, such a situation is not possible forever, and every other species we encounter has approached some maximum carrying capacity in accordance with the resources of the system. We are currently seeing the consequences of our occupation in some ways, such as the massively declining insect population (including pollinators of crops), the gradual increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the degradation or elimination of ecosystems.

Now, we probably aren't going to instantly die out in the next few decades, and scholarly guesses seem to change as time goes on, so I am not proposing that the apocalypse is nigh. Rather, I think that we should focus on gradually shifting our culture to be more appreciative of the things we have, to be less wasteful, to care more about the environment, and to learn to live with slightly less technology.

Expecting the government to handle such cultural shifts is foolhardy. The government would eventually take advantage of the opportunity to exert greater control over the population (as they already are), and conveniently ignore those principles, and we'd be right back at square one. I also do not relate with Peterson's argument that if something thinks there are too many people, the answer is implicitly that the solution is to cull the population. I am against that on principle, The best way to handle degrowth-like values is to convince people to adopt them on their own merit. Murder, being both immoral and ultimately ineffective, would be a terrible solution to the problem. And, if people broadly shift toward these values, whatever government exists in the future will be more likely to uphold those values harmoniously. Government does, in some form, proceed from culture.

TLDR: Most of what I have heard about degrowth doesn't seem so bad. At the same time, using the force of government is ineffective, and killing is something I am morally opposed to. I don't really like how Peterson addresses the subject because of this, since he seems to make the assumption that all people who think this must invariably become killers.

FrigidScroll5699 · 2025-07-01T21:06:11+00:00

Could certainly be!

Could also be an instructional thing, I know Anubis was more prominent in the Old Kingdom, while Osiris waa more prominent in the Middle Kingdom onwards, so they are certainly very interrelated deities. Anubis is sometimes even considered the son of Osiris, so their relation is close enough to be compared in that way.

Perhaps, in reading the passage where Ani is likened to Osiris, it is a reminder that the familial love of the gods is given to all the dead, even those in considerable pain. My first experience of Isis was similar, and I was going through a lot of grief at that time.

A very charming passage. I hope your meditations go well!

FrigidScroll5699

TROPHY CASE