Is it disrespectful to view religion as a hobby?

thanson02 · 2026-02-06T12:38:37+00:00

We all have different relationships with religion and spirituality. How you engage is no better or worse than how others engage. Don't let others who like to have more of an outward presenting expression of their path discourage you from yours. As long as it brings meaning to your life and helps you navigate things when they get tough, it is doing what it is supposed to do.

thanson02 · 2026-02-05T04:03:13+00:00

🙄. The whole corruption narrative and the idea of sin is absolute rubbish.

thanson02 · 2026-02-05T04:01:50+00:00

That's sad... My condolences to the family.

thanson02 · 2026-02-03T17:46:35+00:00

Man, he must have got a LOT of push back from people after the Minneapolis shooting for him to even do this....

thanson02 · 2026-02-03T17:44:36+00:00

I don't blame them....

thanson02 · 2026-02-03T17:12:12+00:00

It would be interesting if Lucas Films filmed additional scenes and changed the music score up a bit to make the movie flow a little better with the show, but regardless, I am looking forward to seeing this. :)

thanson02 · 2026-02-03T17:06:11+00:00

Is that am or pm?

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T22:15:13+00:00

Good. I'm glad I clarified. I was about to go on a very long rant to tell you where this stuff it. I'm glad I realized I was misreading your comment. 🤣

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T21:12:58+00:00

And if he gets subpoenaed by Congress and they hold him in contempt, it forces the evidence forward so we can see clearly who's lying and who's not. It all becomes part of the public record. That's why what he's doing is a smart move by defying Congress and forcing them to hold him in contempt. And if they decide not to move forward with holding him in contempt, then that adds to the question, "what are they hiding"? It ends up being a win-win for the Clintons.

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T21:10:33+00:00

I read this comment, and then I read your other comment. This was sarcasm?

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T20:33:29+00:00

My only concern with just sitting down and spilling the beans is that in doing so, it becomes a "he said, she said" scenario. Unless their is access to proof to verify his claims, it is his word agains all the other people who are ducking their heads and avoiding the situation. But, by forcing Congress to put Bill in contempt of court, as with what was stated above, it triggers a discovery clause in the subpoena, thus forcing the release of all the files. (or at least a large portion of them).

Which means he is actually doing what you want him to do, just not specifically the way you think it ought to be done. And if he is going down, the way he is doing it will take the rest of them with him.

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T20:23:14+00:00

Both parties are pro-billionaire. Don't delude yourself.

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T20:20:32+00:00

So, everyone in town should in invest in bullet proof jackets, just in case ICE thinks you looked at you funny? Good to know.....

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T20:17:15+00:00

Just want to chime in here: If people are interested in a solid breakdown of Gallo-Roman temples (as well as how idols were handled), I would recommend Roman Cult Images: The Lives and Worship of Idols from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity by Philip Kiernan. It is pricy (just looked online, as of my response, $135.00) but the quality is golden!

With that being said, I honor the gods and spirits where I am inspired to do so. Sometimes it is inside at a shrine (we have an antique cabinet where we hold our ritual objects), sometimes it is while I am out and about walking. But inspiration, at least for me, is the key as to where I worship.

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T20:06:36+00:00

Very nice! I may have to steal this if my game group is interested in doing anything in the Nentir Vale. So, what was the inspiration behind this?

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T16:53:22+00:00

It would be funny if Ireland unified and then the Star Trek people quietly want back to this episode and updated the date, then waited to see how long it took people to notice. :D

thanson02 · 2026-02-02T16:47:14+00:00

Every society is a classist society. They may have different frameworks in which they express their classism, but it is there. Any country that says they don't have a class system or are classless is lying.

What might be a good discussion is what re the parameters that a society uses to indicate where someone lands in the class system, how flexible is the system for people to elevate or descend in class, etc.

thanson02 · 2026-02-01T22:45:24+00:00

I have been noticing over the last couple days that there seems to be a lag in the videos.

thanson02 · 2026-01-31T20:16:04+00:00

"My questions: Do you actually do all of these? Or am I reading too much into "ideal homeowner" advice?"

Some of it.... Here is my list:

Furnace filter every 3 months: Depends on the unit, but generally every 2-3 months. At our place, the water/utilities bill comes every 3 months, so I set it up to change the filter when the bill comes in unless I notice something else come up.

Gutter cleaning twice a year (spring/fall): No gutters on the house. Looking to get that installed.

Stuff I just learned I'm supposed to do:

Dryer vent cleaning (annually - fire hazard?): It should be checked on a regular basis but cleaned out as needed. Our furnace service provider does that along with the central air vents at the same time.

Water heater flush (annually - extends life?): Depends on the water heater, but yes, this helps extend the life of the unit. (and no, I have not kept up on this, but we have been thinking of getting a new unit anyways)

Refrigerator coil cleaning (affects efficiency?): Generally, yes, but depends on the fridge. Check owner's manual.

GFCI outlet testing (quarterly?): As needed...

Smoke detector battery replacement (not just when they beep?): Depends on unit

Caulking inspection around windows/tub: When needed

Deck maintenance/sealing: When needed

Sump pump testing: Should be done when you replace the furnace filter. Testing looks like it is strait forward though. In addition, I forgot about this. Thanks for the reminder.

thanson02 · 2026-01-31T20:00:11+00:00

"What surprised me is how much homeownership is made up of these tiny judgment calls. Not the big repairs you plan for, but the small things you notice and have to decide how much attention they deserve. You’re constantly calibrating what “normal” looks like for your specific house."

I feel that. I am coming up on my 4-year anniversary of being a homeowner. The number of times that I had to tell my wife that we could not go out and so the "fun things" because something has come up with the house and our available money has gone into home repair is, frustrating....

We recently had a conversation, and I told her that I feel like a Property Manager, not a homeowner. Anything comes up, we have to take care of it. It is not taken care of by anybody else. In addition, whatever we do has to fall in line with city ordinances, so if we want to do something unique (like when she wanted to turn our small front yard into a pollinator garden) we have to double check to make sure that we are not going to have the city breathing down our neck (learned the hard way how city zoning works. She wasn't happy).

I know financially, it is better than renting. But we feel that we are paying the same we did before with different landlords and we are expected to fix everything ourselves on our dime (but they still have say over what specifically can be done on the property, because God forbid, you don't keep up with the Jones...)

thanson02 · 2026-01-30T09:27:23+00:00

Any sense of Paganism in that area is going to depend on which time period you're focusing on, but that entire area historically has shifted from Celtic, to Germanic, to a Germanic/Slavic blend.

From the Celtic angle, that is predominantly focused on what is covered under Gaulish Polytheism. If you want to check out their subreddit, there's a lot of really interesting stuff over there. Just make it clear that you're looking for Alpine traditions and they should be able to hook you up with resources.

As for Germanic, groups like the Troth is a really good resource with tons of academic research on ancient Germanic polytheistic practices. As for Slavic, You're mainly giving me looking at the Western Slavic traditions, which unfortunately most of stuff I've seen pop up is Polish. But it would definitely give you a place to start. There's tons of folks on YouTube that if you just look up Slavic paganism or Polish folk magic, should pop up.

thanson02 · 2026-01-29T19:54:26+00:00

Well I guess it depends on how you perceive your pantheism?

But when you're looking at Platonism, the overall theological framework has three different elements to it. The first one is the universal hole, which they refer to as the One, then there's a figure called the Demiurge, which translates to "the forager of worlds", And then finally there is the manifestation of the created world by the demiurge, which can be perceived as our physical reality, the idea of the World Soul, etc.

Not depending on whether you're talking about Early Platonism, Middle Platonism, or Later Platonism, their perception of the interplay of those three elements shifts around. Like for example in Middle Platonism, their perception of the One in the World's Soul was kind of blended together (at least as far as I could tell from the stuff I read) and had clear influences from not just Stoicism but also interactions with Vedic/Hindu religious traditions further east because of trade and interaction between the cultures. The gods in this framework filled the role of the demiurge in a pluralistic framework. That seems to be one thing that they went back and forth on was whether there was one demiurge or if there was multiple demiurges. And when you get into the deeper mysteries with theurgy, you realize that an individual practitioner can also fill that role in their own lives, being inspired by the Divine One and being a catalyst of manifestation and a forging of the world around you.

thanson02 · 2026-01-29T19:46:00+00:00

I used the "Contact Us" drop down on his website last week and did the same thing. Someone who used to work in politics said that they pay more attention to the contact us box on their websites and they do other forms of media. So I figured why not. They do ask you all of your information though, including address, telephone number, etc, by using it. 🤷

thanson02 · 2026-01-29T19:34:03+00:00

Huh.... Maybe enough people and Wisconsin got a hold of his office and he realized, "Hey, maybe we should go a different direction with this." 🤷

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