What are you reading?

[DelMarMisty]

Like know *of* them or asking for specific editions?

More knowing of them...

 

[messaggera]

Quick read and very interesting. Talks about indoctrination and behaviour cultivation.

Video Games Are ‘Spiritual Opium’

The dangers of addiction include indoctrination.

www.thetrumpet.com

Like @Atlas Shrugged mentioned Resident Evil; personally it was a great introduction to video game - role playing genre. But games like that and Final Fancy VII are nothing compared to today’s video games for youth.

a significant bank of research links high levels of online gaming with depression, social anxiety, suicidal tendencies and difficulties in holding down relationships, they are not joined up and rarely supported by public health initiatives.

Online gaming

The more direct national security threat is the access to data China has gained from millions of gaming installs. Data harvested from games could be exploited far more easily than TikTok data. In most cases, gamers playing online must provide their real names, payment information, dates of birth and locations, and they create constant voice samples using in-game chats. In the hands of a Chinese gaming company, it’s reasonable to assume that the data are being stored in China, perhaps in an Alibaba or Tencent cloud service, at the whim of an aggressive Chinese intelligence body.

Modern day idolatry

Video games can be an idol. It can actually separate you from God, which is the worst possible consequence for anyone. The evidence shows how video game addiction leads to all sorts of other societal and family issues. It is literally unraveling families and filling young minds with a fantasy they worship, instead of seeking to have a relationship with God.

 

[Lamkins]

Have you read/heard about the Missing411 series?

Im sorry, I went offline for awhile and missed this. Yes, I’m familiar with them. I’ve seen a couple of the movies. I’m intrigued by the mysterious aspects, but I honestly believe animal attacks are far more common than most people believe, especially mountain lions. I’m referring to child disappearances.

 

[Kitty Tantrum]

I read The Art of War a few months back. I actually really liked it. A lot of it was fairly intuitive for me to understand (or things I already understood), and what wasn't easy was still very interesting.

I am currently stalled about three-quarters of the way through Libido Dominandi by E. Michael Jones. It is emotionally difficult for me to read, because it kind of tells my own story (in principle) over and over in a lot of different ways/times/places/etc. But it is also an excellent book that has afforded a lot of insight and perspective into the history and mechanisms of what I frankly always expected: "sexual liberation" is all about controlling people.

I also have a Latin/English Scriptural Rosary (can see some of the pages here: https://www.beholdthymother.com/) that I try to read from regularly. I've always kinda wanted to learn Latin, and this is a beautiful little book that has the Rosary prayers in Latin and in English right next to each other on opposing pages!

 

[Lamkins]

I play Bloons. It’s fun.

I was reading a lightweight Christian mystery until the father stopped to put shoes on before rushing into the burning house where his daughter and wife were trapped. Um, no. I can’t decide what to read now. I’ve been kind of bored, which is unusual for me, yet I can’t seem to settle into a book.

 

[Ah_Tibor]

Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala - Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer (the United Fruit Company was basically a shadow government in Guatemala and asked the CIA to stage a coup to overthrow a president who was trying to create a more egalitarian capitalist style middle-class, not dependent on foreign companies, so they flooded the media saying they were communists for a year and started a "liberation" movement)

Also picked up Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act by Nicholson Baker before. Back to getting yelled at in the library for showing my bare face again. I'm so glad my son is not even two and probably doesn't know what's going on.

 

[messaggera]

Reading a study and came across a statement I find offensive as a Christian woman; and the idea presented [not observing the principles of logic].

Female chastity, wifely duties, and the ideal women are a few examples of the themes within religious texts that endorse patriarchy and contribute to a culture that excuses men’s violence against women (Narasimhan-Madhavan, 2006; Niaz, 2003).

Endorsing patriarchy is not endorsing violence against women.

Chastity
How does chastity contribute to violence against women?

It is promiscuity, on the woman's part, that contributes to violence (against women). Promiscuous women present themselves to be sexual objectified. Promiscuity is embraced as sexual liberation - just look to the social engineering found online, and the entertainment industry's propaganda- both destroying moral standards.


Wifely Duties
Wifely duties mean a wife is at home managing and attending to her family and household. Would there not be more oppression in a work place than at home?

Endorsing patriarchy is embracing the natural order; as the Creator intended.

 

[Oda Mae]

I read The Art of War a few months back. I actually really liked it. A lot of it was fairly intuitive for me to understand (or things I already understood), and what wasn't easy was still very interesting.

I am currently stalled about three-quarters of the way through Libido Dominandi by E. Michael Jones. It is emotionally difficult for me to read, because it kind of tells my own story (in principle) over and over in a lot of different ways/times/places/etc. But it is also an excellent book that has afforded a lot of insight and perspective into the history and mechanisms of what I frankly always expected: "sexual liberation" is all about controlling people.

I also have a Latin/English Scriptural Rosary (can see some of the pages here: https://www.beholdthymother.com/) that I try to read from regularly. I've always kinda wanted to learn Latin, and this is a beautiful little book that has the Rosary prayers in Latin and in English right next to each other on opposing pages!

Oh, it does look beautiful! Just ordered a copy of Behold Thy Mother. Thank you!

 

[Leeloo]

Color, A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay. It's more like a travelogue. Who would've thought that pigments and their sources could be so interesting? A yellow from oxen urine, a red used now in cosmetics from a bug, lead white for face paint (!), where blue was first found and why Michaelango never finished a particular painting because this blue was too expensive....etc. etc.



Adding to reading list! I love stuff like that, it’s fascinating. Does she get into the history of the traditional “boy and girl” colors of blue and pink?

Pre-Victorian times for generations associated manliness with pink as a variant of red, the color of blood. Blue was associated with femininity as a more nurturing color. I’m sure Ms. Finley could explain the switch to what we consider typical gender colors much better than I, but I’ve always found that interesting how colors have been associated with different things in different times, mostly due to what people were familiar with in the natural world (access to dyes, pigments).

Thanks for sharing, I’m going to see if my library system has it.

 

[Leeloo]

Color, A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay. It's more like a travelogue. Who would've thought that pigments and their sources could be so interesting? A yellow from oxen urine, a red used now in cosmetics from a bug, lead white for face paint (!), where blue was first found and why Michaelango never finished a particular painting because this blue was too expensive....etc. etc.

Adding to reading list! I love stuff like that, it’s fascinating. Does she get into the history of the traditional “boy and girl” colors of blue and pink?

Pre-Victorian times for generations associated manliness with pink as a variant of red, the color of blood. Blue was associated with femininity as a more nurturing color. I’m sure Ms. Finley could explain the switch to what we consider typical gender colors much better than I, but I’ve always found that interesting how colors have been associated with different things in different times, mostly due to what people were familiar with in the natural world (access to dyes, pigments).

Thanks for sharing, I’m going to see if my library system has it.

 

[IconWriter]

Adding to reading list! I love stuff like that, it’s fascinating. Does she get into the history of the traditional “boy and girl” colors of blue and pink?

Pre-Victorian times for generations associated manliness with pink as a variant of red, the color of blood. Blue was associated with femininity as a more nurturing color. I’m sure Ms. Finley could explain the switch to what we consider typical gender colors much better than I, but I’ve always found that interesting how colors have been associated with different things in different times, mostly due to what people were familiar with in the natural world (access to dyes, pigments).

Thanks for sharing, I’m going to see if my library system has it.

I haven't finished the book yet, but it drove me to research a beautiful pink pigment that I bought recently, "Pipestone Pink". It turns out that is comes from the land on a Native American reservation in Missouri and was traditionally used to make pipes. I feel like I'm painting with history.

 

[messaggera]

Color, A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay. It's more like a travelogue. Who would've thought that pigments and their sources could be so interesting? A yellow from oxen urine, a red used now in cosmetics from a bug, lead white for face paint (!), where blue was first found and why Michaelango never finished a particular painting because this blue was too expensive....etc. etc.

homeschooling
We have been mushroom hunting in our neighborhood, and took pictures of over a dozen different types. We also made some mushroom spore art by placing white caps under a glass jar on top of construction paper.

The mushroom colours are so vibrant in real life that these pictures take away from the true beauty of colour - plus these pictures are screen shots because the original files are too big for uploading on here.

Out and about on nature walks we see so many colours, and I often think I should pick up your book recommendation @IconWriter .

.

 

[guccigirl7]

The last 2 books I just bought, Classic Fairytales by Scott Gustafson and Grimms collection of classic Fairy tales. I haven’t read them in several years and wanted them for my library. I’m curious if my adult perspective will process the story lessons any differently.

 

[christie2]

I'm finishing off 'Philokalia....explained'
By Allyne Smith, G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard and Bishop Kallistos Ware before I take it back to the library.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Quoting Nikitas Stithatos IV, 'On The Practice Of The Virtues, One Hundred Texts', Sec. 15 on page 211 of the In The End:Theosis chapter of this Philokalia->
"If when aroused and active a man's incensive, appetitive, and intelligent powers spontaneously operate in accordance with nature, they make him wholly Godlike and divine, sound in his actions and never in any way dislodged from nature's bedrock. But if, betraying his own nature, he follows a course that is contrary to nature, these same powers will turn him, as we have said, into a polymorphic monster, compounded of many self-antagonistic parts"18

This is hard for me to comprehend until I read the annotation for this by Allyne Smith-->
18 "In Orthodox anthropology, our sinful condition is not our true nature. We are made in the image of God, which is our true nature. We can follow our true nature with the help of God. We are not, as some have taught, 'totally depraved' by nature"

This made me happy and gave me peace.




There is another one, on page 203, from St.Maximos The Confessor II, 'First Century of Various Texts', Sec. 74-->
"God, who yearns for the salvation of all men and hungers for their deification, withers their conceit like the unfruitful fig tree(Matthew 21: 19-21) 10

And Smith's annotation for this is--->
10 "Some Christians believe that God only wills the salvation of some human beings, and further, that the saving acts of Christ were intended only for those destined to be saved. But the Orthodox Church has always believed that God's salvific will is universal; that is, it is God's will that all be saved
(1 Timothy 2:4)

Awww, I was hoping this to be true. I like believing it is God's will that all are to be saved. I don't want any excluded.

I feel better knowing we are all equal under God's will.
He is Good.

 

[Viktor Zeegelaar]

Esoteric Hollywood by Jay Dyer, great book advice all to read it, gives great insight yet is not too heavy. It explains a lot about the elite/world we live in, yet through entertainment/Hollywood/films it gives a soft touch to make it digestible.

 

[Luna Novem]

I recently finished "A Tale of Two Cities". I enjoyed it very much. Then my husband and I watched the movie version from 1935. Also very good.

 

[Ah_Tibor]

I recently finished "A Tale of Two Cities". I enjoyed it very much. Then my husband and I watched the movie version from 1935. Also very good.

I really like movies from the 30s! I watched a lot of TCM growing up, but I always preferred pre-war stuff for some reason. Just had a different vibe.

I started Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem" and "Journey into Madness: The True Story of Secret CIA Mind Control and Medical Abuse" by Gordon Thomas.

 

[BLMeToo]

The Case for Patriarchy by Timothy Gordon. Pretty solid book if you already enjoy his podcast Rules for Retrogrades. I love seeing how he just explains what I've intuitively known; that feminism (and the feminist-tainted culture we live in) is so intrinsically dysfunctional.

 

[Owlet]

'The Station', by Robert Byron. An account of his visit to Mount Athos in 1927 with a couple of friends

(originally three).​

Why 'The Station'? Deliberately obscure, I think, but the final words of the book are "This is the Holy Mountain Athos", station of a faith where all the years have stopped."

 

[Starlight]

I’m reading “Project Hail Mary.” It’s entertaining and an easy read, minimal brain cells needed despite all the “science” jabber (for science/math minded people it will be a more… frustrating, imo).