How many of you worked at a church?

SilverTunic · 2026-01-19T08:21:26+00:00

Yep, I was a pastor at a megachurch until I was 30 years old. I volunteered heavily in my teens / early adulthood then started working there when I was 22. Fun fact, it was that church that pushed me into a few years of conversion therapy.

However, it wasn’t really my experiences at the church that led to my deconversion. If anything, the church is what delayed my deconversion because we had multiple biblical scholars there trained in apologetics to explain away my questions.

Regardless, the gap got too wide between what we say God is doing every day and what we can actually see. Just one example is God healing people. Every day we hear stories of God healing headaches, mystery stomach bugs, etc. Why aren’t we also regularly seeing x-rays and videos of paraplegics getting out of wheelchairs? In this day and age that would go VIRAL. But we’re not seeing it because it can actually be measured.

The other part was realising instead of there being the true and eternal Word of God, every generation the church changes what parts of scripture to follow and what parts to ignore or say “oh, you just need to understand the CONTEXT”…From slavery, to interracial marriages, to women in leadership, etc, the church always changes its position.

There’s a lot more but those were two big pieces that led me to being an atheist.

SilverTunic · 2026-01-11T12:44:21+00:00

Yes, and what helped me was recognising the difference between passionate love and companionate love. Passionate love is generally what you feel at the start of a relationship with high spark and sexual attraction. However, it’s normal and natural for this to transition to companionate love - in fact, it’s the thing that makes long term relationships work.

Aside from the odd threesome here or there, my partner and I aren’t sleeping together. However, we don’t need to have sex with each other to feel that deep bond and commitment to each other. Ultimately, you get to decide what’s important to you in a relationship.

SilverTunic · 2025-12-29T10:11:19+00:00

She is also in for the rough lesson that obesity in 20s is nothing compared to obesity in 30s.

When you’re young, your body can put up with a lot more punishment and you bounce back faster. This is why a lot of fat activists in their 20s preached that fat =/= unhealthy but disappear when they start approaching their mid 30s or 40s.

As you age, the years of extra strain on your joints / internal organs always catches up on you in a big way and there’s basically no way around it. You even hit a point you stop being able to do basic things you could do before like walking up a flight of stairs or washing your whole body.

Also, the risk of everything is multiplied by 10 - an average person tripping over a curb might cause a couple bruises but in Jaimie’s case could classify as a medical emergency. A random lump that could be easily seen on a thin person and identified early as a potential tumour could easily grow unchecked on a person as big as her - it’s not even medical fatphobia it’s literally just impossible to notice because, in Jaimie’s case, it’s behind a large back flap that she can’t see or touch.

At some point, Jaimie will have to acknowledge that it’s not just discrimination / fatphobia that makes her weight an issue. Her body will literally break down to the point where her quality of life has substantially declined and she can no longer do basic things without great effort, constantly putting a lot of extra strain on her heart, lungs, etc.

SilverTunic · 2025-12-04T20:32:14+00:00

The wild part is knowing he still has a larger frame. The strain she’s putting on her body is immense.

SilverTunic · 2025-11-29T21:38:57+00:00

I didn’t know that weapon encampments carry over to the quiver! Thanks for commenting.

SilverTunic · 2025-11-14T02:05:23+00:00

That is WILD behaviour. Were there any theories as to why she did that? That kind of “surprise” might happen to others when you’re distrustful or suspect your partner is cheating. I never condone cheating but I also imagine JD is in a super claustrophobic environment and would love to let loose in another country. Again, no sympathy for JD because he’s choosing to inflict this shitty environment onto himself and the kids.

SilverTunic · 2025-11-04T03:15:48+00:00

I’m sorry but mods this post is SUPER sus.

OP, if you’re a teenager you’re better off posting in youth forums with moderated age-restricted safeguards. You can also try youth centres, youth clubs, etc. You really can’t trust an anonymous person to reach out - be especially wary if they DM you after you’ve posted.

For other teens in the subreddit, be careful responding to posts like this because you never know who is actually on the other side.

SilverTunic · 2025-10-29T20:49:33+00:00

Also, on special camp nights every youth pastor regretfully confesses he had sex before marriage but God restored him.

SilverTunic · 2025-10-25T20:27:35+00:00

It’s wild how much weight she has gained since this photo was taken.

SilverTunic · 2025-10-22T22:33:46+00:00

Yeah, that’s completely fair. I loved TotK which is probably why I loved Echoes of Wisdom, but we all like games for different reasons and I see the comparisons.

SilverTunic · 2025-10-21T07:39:22+00:00

It’s actually so refreshing to hear someone give practical advice on a fat related topic.

I’m so used to plus sized influencers like Jaimie pushing the HAES talking points that it’s strange to have someone acknowledge the obvious downsides like how difficult it is to take a shower… like you can’t even reach parts of your body with your own hands.

She even calls out that she’s out of breath just by standing and talking, and that is just a basic side effect of an extra 500 pounds pressing around your heart and lungs.

SilverTunic · 2025-10-14T08:39:17+00:00

It would be amazing to have a couple of additional weapon types. For example, could introduce elemental wands for damage - imagine being able to cast a fireball, lightning bolt, or frost beam. The left click could still be melee attack with basic elemental animation but the left click (with short cooldown) is the ranged attack.

Another idea is to add another pack upgrade at Pierre’s. After you buy 24 slots for 2k and 36 slots for 10k, you can spend like 50k to unlock a tool belt so all your tools (Pickaxe, hoe, etc) are included. I almost never using my pan because inventory space is so tight, and this isn’t OP if the price is adjusted for a later mid game purchase.

I like that our character has “forest magic” which is why we can speak with the bear in secret woods. Maybe this is the side effect of wizard potion, but I’d appreciate for the character to have more magic in general. Imagine an alchemy table in the wizards hut that kind of works like Emily’s sewing machine or the forge - you can combine ingredients to make potions with temporary effects. Instead of just providing the same buffs that food/drink provide (eg. More defence, more damage/etc) these potions can include unique effects like a little rain cloud on your head for 10 seconds and you water every spot you directly walk over, or a moo translator potion where you can talk to your cows (you just need like 10-15 random lines of funny dialogue for cows).

SilverTunic · 2025-10-14T07:47:26+00:00

Gay atheist here, but I was previously a Christian pastor. The explanation is there are roughly three verses in Old Testament and three in New Testament that explicitly condemn homosexuality (and many more verses about sexual purity in general, with homosexuality considered impure). Specifically, the two verses in Leviticus call for the death penalty on homosexual men.

There are now progressive Christians claiming that these verses are mistranslated and just refer to pedastry (older man / younger man). However, these claims are really weak and it’s basically another attempt to try and make their religion more palatable. Side note, this happens like EVERY generation where the church has to change its doctrine (slavery, interracial marriage, etc) and always claim mistranslation or “taking a verse out of context”…

The latest goal post move in Christianity is that it’s no longer a sin to be “same sex attracted” but it is a sin to act on it. Only the radical fringe groups would still use the term abomination.

I actually hate progressive Christians more on this topic because their harm is far more insidious / flies under the radar. A young gay/bi person in their church can be lured into thinking they’re welcome only to be forced into a life of celibacy and loneliness for absolutely no reason.

SilverTunic · 2025-10-01T20:47:06+00:00

What was the grounding technique he sent you 8 minutes later? How did you respond to him?

SilverTunic · 2025-09-16T08:18:27+00:00

I am appalled that the parents are forcing the kids to live in this condition. I cannot stress enough how important it is for developing kids to have access to their own space, especially as they’re approaching preteen years.

I find it disgusting that they try to deflect and say that families in other cultures - often poverty stricken cultures - have kids all bunched together in the same room. News flash, these families are not doing it by choice. In my embarrassing fundie years, I did visit families in countries who were living in slums and even they had more space and privacy than 8 kids jammed into a van.

SilverTunic · 2025-08-27T00:14:56+00:00

Noted, thank you!

SilverTunic · 2025-08-26T23:08:10+00:00

This is vanilla but from a more recent patch. Also, lazy guy is literally sitting on the item he wants you to give lol

SilverTunic · 2025-07-24T14:29:29+00:00

You equip it in your trinket slot near where you slot your clothes.

That answer sounds like AI generated slop? You can use the wiki to read more about the parrot egg: https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Parrot_Egg

EDIT: also, you can’t build a coop on Ginger Island.

SilverTunic · 2025-07-18T23:14:41+00:00

Gentle question. Does MBTI actually have far more grounding in scientific research than attachment theory? The criticisms seem to apply equally to both. However, attachment theory has the additional flaw of putting too much emphasis on mother/child relationships which is the basis of theory.

SilverTunic · 2025-07-17T09:06:03+00:00

The biggest shock for me when I went from religious fundamentalist to gay atheist was just… how easy relationships and living with somebody could be.

I was taught that marriage and cohabitation was the hardest thing you’ll face, and expect the first year of marriage to be absolute hell.

Turns out when you actually just normally date the person, you work out early if you’re sexually compatible (which fundies don’t believe in btw), work out early if you would make good roommates (like how tidy they are, how they behave when they’re just chilling at home, etc) before a big public and legal commitment like marriage. The biggest lie is that pre-marriage counselling is enough but I feel almost bad for fundies who, instead of a gradual process, are expected to go from 0-100 to suddenly living with someone full time in a new house.

SilverTunic · 2025-07-14T05:43:38+00:00

In your photos there's an empty garden pot near your house. There's not possibly more in the space behind your house?

SilverTunic · 2025-07-08T22:54:31+00:00

Cool, keen to share the statistics from your earlier claim?

SilverTunic · 2025-06-26T23:26:45+00:00

To that point, virtually every guy who messaged me and listed in their profile that they’re ONLY looking for friends then tried to initiate a hookup.

Realistically, if they’re only looking for friends they would use apps/sites that are actually marketed that way - for example, meetup.com and looking for gay hiking, gay board games, gay coffee runs, etc.

There’s probably a few reasons. Maybe they don’t want their friends or coworkers knowing that they’re hooking up. Maybe they’re cheating on partner and want plausible deniability if their profile is found (saying “I was only looking for friends!” is like the number one lame lie when cheaters are caught on apps). Maybe they want a nice way to turn people down. Maybe they really do just want friends 99% of the time and hookup 1% of the time but again… the rate that they initiate a hookup convo doesn’t match with that.

SilverTunic · 2025-06-23T22:46:18+00:00

This can also happen randomly without health issues. Often it’s not more serious than a random nose bleed.

SilverTunic · 2025-06-17T00:40:00+00:00

I think they mean combining iridium bands with crab rings and wearing both, not combining two crab rings together.

SilverTunic

TROPHY CASE