u/BoilerTMill

No, they did not play Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis, but it was playing in my head the entire time.

A lot is made of big winning streaks, but what about conference losing streaks.

2026 presents the opportunity for some history as Purdue can take over second place on the all-time Big Ten losing streak category. As far as I can tell, here are the longest Big Ten only losing streaks ever:

38 - Northwestern 1978-1982

21 - Rutgers 2017-2020

20 - Illinois 2011-13 (ironically broken at Purdue) Also, Illinois has a streak of 20 B1G games without a win 1977-79, but they managed three ties in that time, including a 0-0 tie with a truly awful Northwestern team.

19 - Minnesota 1982-84, Wisconsin 1989-91

18 - Purdue 2024-present

Purdue's last Big Ten victory came over Indiana 35-31 on November 25, 2023. The Hoosiers then fired Tom Allen, hired Curt Cignetti, and have gone an astonishing 27-2 with a national title, while Purdue has gone 3-21 with a single FBS level win over Ball State. (and Purdue could have hired Cignetti before the 2023 season, but picked Ryan Walters in a humongous mistake).

So when could Purdue break the streak?

9/19 at UCLA - Purdue has not won a regular season game in the Pacific time zone since the day my sister was born (October 3, 1970 at Stanford 26-14). That includes multiple non-conference games at California, USC x2, Washington x4, Oregon, UCLA, Nevada, and Oregon State.

10/3 at Illinois - A decent chance. Purdue had won six straight in Chambana before losing in overtime by a point two years ago.

10/10 vs. Minnesota - Purdue led the Gophers in Minneapolis in the fourth quarter last year before fading.

10/16 vs. Washington - Purdue got pounded in Seattle last season

10/31 at Penn State - LOLZ

11/7 vs. Maryland - Non-September Maryland presents a chance.

11/14 at Iowa - Unlikely, but you never know

11/21 vs. Wisconsin - The Boilermakers have lost 18 straight to the Badgers dating back to 2003.

11/28 at Indiana - The Hoosiers have won the last two games over Purdue by a combined score of 132-3.

Anyone else know of a longer conference losing streak in any conference, not just the B1G?

A lot is made of big winning streaks, but what about conference losing streaks.

2026 presents the opportunity for some hisory as Purdue can take over second place on the all-time Big Ten losing streak category. As far as I can tell, here are the longest Big Ten only losing streaks ever:

38 - Northwestern 1978-1982

21 - Rutgers 2017-2020

20 - Illinois 2011-13 (ironically broken at Purdue)

18 - Purdue 2024-present

Purdue's last Big Ten victory came over Indiana 35-31 on November 25, 2023. The Hoosiers then fire Tom Allen, hired Curt Cignetti, and have gone an astonishing 27-2 with a national title, while Purdue has gone 3-21 with a single FBS level win over Ball State. (and Purdue could have hired Cignetti before the 2023 season, but picked Ryan Walters in a humongous mistake).

So when could Purdue break the streak?

9/19 at UCLA - Purdue has not won a regular season game in the Pacific time zone since the day my sister was born (October 3, 1970 at Stanford 26-14). That includes multiple non-conference games at California, USC x2, Washington x4, Oregon, UCLA, Nevada, and Oregon State.

10/3 at Illinois - A decent chance. Purdue had won six straight in Chambana before losing in overtime by a point two years ago.

10/10 vs. Minnesota - Purdue led the Gophers in Minneapolis in the fourth quarter last year before fading.

10/16 vs. Washington - Purdue got pounded in Seattle last season

10/31 at Penn State - LOLZ

11/7 vs. Maryland - Non-September Maryland presents a chance.

11/14 at Iowa - Unlikely, but you never know

11/21 vs. Wisconsin - The Boilermakers have lost 18 straight to the Badgers dating back to 2003.

11/28 at Indiana - The Hoosiers have won the last two games over Purdue by a combined score of 132-3.

Anyone else know of a longer conference losing streak in any conference, not just the B1G.

Is "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis" on the soundtrack, and if not, why?

Anyone else have enough End Times trauma that anytime there is mention of something in the Middle East/Israel your brain automatically shifts into how it is a sign? Like right now Israel is finally being shunned a bit on the global stage and immediately my brain went to, "and this will be the justification for Russia and Iran to attack and that is the Ezekiel 38-39 war and..."

Every time. It is like it is hard wired in there.

I feel like I am at a major Crossroads. I am right on the edge of forever leaving the faith that I have in God. It feels like the ultimate sacrilege. The worst thing I could do. 
I am going to fall away.
It is that hopeless moment. That place you can never come back from. You turn away from God and Jesus and all of his angels are pulled from you. You are doomed to spend eternity burning with gay people, Democrats, and anyone who lives in those dens of inequity known as cities. 
But I prayed their magic prayer. 
And I really meant it. 
I mean, isn’t that what we were told? If we gave our lives over to Christ, admitted we were sinners, and asked that we be washed in His blood that was it, right? 
I’m not trying to be mocking here. 
That was supposed to be the end all/be all transaction. You were royally screwed one second, then saved forever and washed anew in the next. Boom. Hell insurance. 
I am not sure how many times I prayed that prayer. Often it was nightly because I had done something that day that was sinful, awful, and keeping me away from God’s full blessing. Of course, this was before I realized that ANYTHING outside of this little bubble was considered sinful. Not only that, if things weren’t going well it was a sign you were out of God’s blessing, even if you weren’t doing anything wrong. Surely it was YOUR fault, right? There was always something to confess in prayer, something that made us less worthy (because if you DIDN’T feel that, you were being too prideful and God doesn’t like that either). 
So we say the magic prayer.
Again.
And Again.
“But I am having doubts about this?”
“Oh, God will give guidance and you are saved… as long as you really meant the prayer.”
Oh, trust me, I did. 
I meant it the day I lost my virginity and felt like I had tarnished myself forever. I would be unworthy of ever being loved by anyone because I was damaged goods now (which I know is unusual for a guy, too). 
I meant it any day that I failed to advance God’s kingdom on earth.
I meant it the dozens of times I wondered if I should just kill myself, often because I was 15 years old when I lost my virginity and clearly took all the purity culture nonsense to heart. 
I meant it the times that I had a beer when I shouldn’t have, and I am sure it had nothing to do with a drinking problem I could barely maintain at times. 
I meant it every time I’d be dishonest, or show my anger, or have any emotion I wasn’t supposed to have because it wasn’t given glory to God. 
So yeah, I have said the magic prayer. By your definition, that seals me forever.
Cool.
I’m out then. 
You see, I just… can’t with your Jesus anymore. I say “your” Jesus because the Jesus that the Evangelical church has raised up is far from the Jesus of the Bible. I mean, empathy is bad now? Jesus is a triumphant warrior and conquering hero… who was prosecuted by the state and viewed as dangerous because he was upsetting the status quo. He is merely a mascot, as the Evangelical church does not practice what He actually taught. 
So I am out. I am done. I can’t do church anymore. I cannot handle the hypocrisy. I cannot handle the moralizing. I cannot handle being told how wrong I am for forming my own opinions after reading the same source material. I cannot handle a church that has helped to perpetuate such evil in this nation all in the hopes that Spaceship Jesus will pull them out of it. 
I’m done with the church, but not with God. 
You see, I still believe in God. I believe there is something more out there for us, but what that is, I don’t know. I cannot begin to fathom what God is truly like. I don’t think we are meant to know, either. 
Those who taught me my faith failed me. The sad part is that they think I failed them because I don’t believe how they believe, but I am where I am because of their teachings. 
I was told to pray for wisdom. I did. It led me here. 
I was told to read the Word for guidance. I did. It led me here. 
I was told to know what I believe in and why I believe it or the world would tell me what to believe and why to believe in it. I did, and the irony is the same people now follow what they are told by false prophets because they believe theirs is a magic way out.
And, more importantly, they can’t admit they are wrong.
As for me? What if I am wrong? 
Well, I prayed the magic prayer, and I Really Meant it, so I am set, right?

I have come to hate Evangelicalism.

I still love Jesus. I love the compassion and mercy he taught. I love that, if the story is true, he is God become fully human to relate to us.

Evangelicalism and the ways it has warped this message can burn however.

I am 46 years old and I feel like it ruined me, only I did not realize it until much later in life. I tried as hard as I could to find the peace that was promised. Instead, I now have a very lonely life. I am estranged from my father. My marriage is in shambles. I have few friends, and all while I tried to walk the path I was supposed to walk.

And the people that promised that peace, the ones that taught me my values? They are complicit in the evil we see today.

And they love it.

I feel like I could have been so much more, done so much more, but I pursued what was supposed to be the right path into nothing because it turns out they are huge hypocrites.

It has cost me so much. I miss my friendships. I miss intimacy. I miss being able to talk to people without feeling so bitter all the time.

I would love to live a life not so dominated by guilt and shame.

Earlier in the week I posted about this past weekend, where I saw my father in person for the first time in 14 months, and it was at my nephew's same-sex wedding.

For background: I grew up Wesleyan, but my dad has always been a hardcore End Times Evangeical. I went through all the fun stuff as a teenager in the mid-90s: Guilt from purity culture, Left Behind, Gay panics, etc. I still tried to stay faithful and be part of the church. I hated Bill Clinton because he cheated on his wife and was "unfit for leadership". I thought abortion was 100% wrong. All that stuff.

What got me out was marrying a Latina that grew up in South Florida. Over time I deconstructed little by little. That went on fast forward starting in 2016, when suddenly Trump, a man whose personal life was more sordid than Clinton's, was a beacon of Christianity and sent by God.

As a result, we have grown apart. I have pointed out the hypocrisy, but it is always refuted. My dad went from relunctant Trump voter the first time to "Prophesy says he will get a second term." in 2020. Over time, we have spoken less and less even though he lives an hour away. I had separated myself, all while still having a relationship with my mother because she is absolutely not an End Times freak.

Before this wedding we had not seen each other in over a year. I try to be civil, as to have at least some relationship with my mother so she can see her grandchild, but the relationship between dad and I has been strained.

For the wedding I handled the travel arrangements for my parents. I booked their flights and made arrangements to get them through the airports (they are in the 70s and not getting around too well). I knew there would be extensive time and I feared I would get cornered into another "This is why current events mean the Rapture is soon" conversations like he has so many times over the years.

We were in town for the wedding for three days. I had been dreading it, but things were... fine? There was no discussion. he was happy to see me and my family, especially my son, but he also didn't try to reach out as much at all. It's like... for allt he talk he has given about being a good Chrstian dad and being a man for his family, he doesn't want a real connection. We barely spoke. He spent more time speaking to a random stranger on the plane than he did to me the entire weekend. A few months ago I had a health scare too. It was an acute situation where i very literally could have died, but was able to recover quickly and just have a new medication.

He, a retired pharmacist, never even asked about it.

I feel like something kind of broke in me, but in a good way. It's like a realized that, as much as I anguish over our relationship, he does not. He is content in his little perfect world where God is in charge. He really, truly believes this stuff and it gives him peace, while I have strived to find that peace my entire life, but never come close. He's never going to change.

He's going to say he loves and supports his family, all while openly voting for and advocating for things that endanger them.

He sat there and happily watched his grandson marry another man, but he supports a court and a party that would love to make that marriage illegal.

He says he loves his other grandson (my kid), but turned a blind eye to everything that happened in Minnesota and dismissed my concerns of my wife and child facing similar circumstances because, "Well, even though they are Hispanic, they were born here and have nothing to worry about."

He speaks for morality and says character matters, but supports Trump.

He is not going to change, and in a strange way there is comfort in that revelation. It's like I don't have to try and change his mind anymore. If he can be cordial and avoid talking about politics or religion, we can exist.

Maybe I am different, but I just can't even start with AI chat bots. I can't get past the whole "I am talking to a machine, which is not a real person" from the beginning. I cannot get past that roadblock even before you get into the whole "Well you have to write the prompts this way to make it do X."

No. It is a machine. Just write something yourself instead of a lengthy prompt.

I don't know if I shjould be relieved that we avoided any discussion of religion and politics or hurt that it clearly was not that important to him to try and figure out why I have been so aloof for so long.

Ironically, this was at my nephew's wedding to another man. It is so confusing to have thim there supporting his grandchild, while at the same time actively supporting and hoping for a world that a man marrying another man would never happen. He has done the milquetoast "I don't agree with it, but you're my grandson and I love you." crap with him.

In the end, he had a longer discussion with a random stranger during an 80 minute flight than he did with me over 3 days.