u/Critical_Success_936

"Well, that's just online"

"REAL Orthodoxy isn't like that"

"You're just going to the wrong church"

Can I just suggest we ban these types of dialogues, especially since they're almost always posted by people who haven't been on this forum long, and seem to have nefarious intentions?

If you've actually been heavily involved in the church before, you see it from a mile away... The concern-trolling, the fake sincerity that's there mostly to make you give Orthodoxy another chance, again in again, like a MIL telling you to give your abusive husband another chance, that "he's changed" or that your perspective was warped when you last saw him,

I've been to many churches as visitors. The only churches that practice this behavior... Are cults. Orthodoxy is given a pass because, at face value, it is not AS immediately aggressive as Western cults... Most priests on the podiums don't start with sermons on how gay marriage is wrong, or how women using certain types of birth control are basically murderers... But the teachings are there. The sermon is just there to draw you in.

Even in "less extreme" churches, if you're in the Western world, you can guarantee at least a third of your church is in some way influenced by the ROCOR propaganda they follow online. If someone isn't extreme, that doesn't mean they won't be an apologist for extremism.

Sorry, but we see it all the time. I'm not saying we kick everyone to the curb, but can we call a spade a spade?

"Not ALL Orthodox" is as toxic as "Not ALL men". If you're truly an ally, you wouldn't feel the need to get on your pedestal to defend a religion that controls and degrades women. There's a reason even cradle Orthodox women leave the church, and it has to do with the emotional intelligence they have to recognize they're being abused by a bunch of old, archaic men, who largely are there to get each other's egos off.

Honestly, I have an issue with anyone who thinks there's a valid reason for men to be priests, but not women. How can a religion ever be "equal" when such a thing is true? Has there been one female patriarch? No? Ok, then fuck off.

Ok, rant done.

Saw this in other groups and wanted to post a similar idea here,

What did you do this week? Even small wins are wins!

Sooooo, development has always been the hardest part of this game for me to figure out; I literally have 24% of the achievements, including much rarer ones, but this one? I can't figure out.

Ik it becomes easier if I create a religion with the Megalithic Construction tenet or w/e, but... How do I get that much piety to begin with? In, y'know, a way that won't destroy all my wealth.

Thanks y'all!

Every Thursday, we are allowing people to self-promote on this thread.

It can be for anything relatively SFW, but bear in mind your audience is likely going to be folks interested in TTRPGs, so if you're lawn care business isn't getting a lot of clicks, I do apologize.

If you have any questions about our promotion rules let me know.

If you’re new to the community, introduce yourself!

Let us know anything you want: your name, what RPGs or board games you like, how you first got into the hobby, how long it's been, etc etc.

Anything at all!

Hey y'all, figured I'd turn to this sub first before blindly shopping around,

I'm at the point where I think, including closing costs, I probably have enough, plus with my credit score, to get pre-approved for an FHA loan with 3.5% down.

Now, I know every lender has their own policies. I'd love to shop around, just see who has the best deal for me, but also who just works best for me. I don't necessarily care about the cult of personality, but I'd preferrrrr someone who can talk online initially (I do most stuff online), and someone who's just, like, not a dick.

Idk y'all... If anyone here has gotten an FHA loan before, who did you go to? What were the rates like? I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

Saw this in other groups and wanted to post a similar idea here,

What did you do this week? Even small wins are wins!

Every Thursday, we are allowing people to self-promote on this thread.

It can be for anything relatively SFW, but bear in mind your audience is likely going to be folks interested in TTRPGs, so if you're lawn care business isn't getting a lot of clicks, I do apologize.

If you have any questions about our promotion rules let me know.

Hey y'all, looking for advice, but I'm not sure if insurance is right for me or not.

I'm a young person, mid-20's, and right now I'm trying to find a new job because my current one just cut our vacation hours... Like, I had 157 hours saved up when they announced, with less than half a year left, that our vacation just isn't gonna roll over.

A company who does that to you once will definitely do similar stuff again - they also cut a retirement savings we had - so my functional income is way lower than it should be, when I consider how many of my benefits will not be paid out.

I'm making about 20/hr... It's honestly not enough, but with the benefits it helped to kind of add it up...

Should I consider a move to P&C, or trucking insurance? I see the average pay it says is $50 - 60/k your first year. Then again, I know the turnover rate is high, and you often have to get your own health insurance, right? Currently, my job pays for my 401k, my health insurance, dental, etc... idk if, once I factor those in, the 10 to 20k immediate jump will matter or not... Will it?

Idk, I'm smart, I'd like to consider myself charismatic... My goal is to find stability, but the current job I work at, while seemingly stable rn, is definitely giving layoff vibes to everyone... I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

What should I expect, if I want to jump in to a P&C agency? Are there many good ones that'll at least do a base salary for my first year? Or is that a sort of unicorn situation, and I should expect 100% commission?

P&C appeals to me because it sounds like it has a lot of residuals at decent pay, but someone told me trucking insurance is similar... Other recommendations are welcome. I see Home & Auto jobs all over, but it seems the market is saturated - probably because it's a cheaper license.

I'm not saying that there's literally a singular hierarchy like in most cults, where one guy is getting all the credit/power/fame... but listen to the story of this family who is suing Google for Gemini. Isn't this actually insane? Like, the AI is going through the BITE model step by step... that's a feature, not a bug.

AI will destroy the minds of our more vulnerable friends and family if we don't force lawmakers to pass safeguards now. The issue with a "cult" like this is that, it won't probably cause mass gatherings of people to act a certain way, but it'll make particularly mentally vulnerable people do... horrible things, to themselves or others.

Seriously, watch the video - the AI is systemically using every tactic cult's generally do. It's so disturbing.

Think of how many elderly or mentally vulnerable people already fall for obvious ai posts. When this stuff gets way less obvious, they're not going to stand any chance.

Hey y'all, just looking for something more stable, and I'm seeing that the P&C license is *generally* cheap (tho I'm broke)

All I can find online about which companies who'll let me do the 20hr course are cheapest is "Google it". Ironically, that's even what the Google AI seems to be telling me...

Anyone here who's got a license and knows? Or if there's a company who'll pay for me to get a license, at worst? Danke.

Hey y'all, curious about getting my license here, but I'm not trusting most sites which seem to want me to cough up hundreds of dollars, when I saw online it said it can be self-study?

Other than consulting a lawyer, is there a way to find out the cheapest way to do the 40 hours or w/e required before the exam?

So, there's a throwaway line Armand says, about putting "those Fred Steins" in Louis's collection to fuck with him, or whatever...

I can't be the only one confused, right? I legit can't remember what he is referencing. I looked up who Fred Stein is, but can someone remind me of the scene or whatever this is referencing?

Anyone else a diehard Daniel fan (he is my fave character) and VERY concerned on >!if the Talamasca just obliterated him?!<

That last scene, where he >!shows his fangs to whatshisname, but then Lestat is back in his body a scene or two later, coupled with Lestat saying stuff about Daniel's existence as a vampire being short at the start of the season, makes me fear something horrible has happened to our Dannyboi. I know in the After Dark episode, they say that there are more Daniel and Armand scenes coming... But man, please tell me it's not just flashbacks and Daniel will still be alive, lol!<

Hey y'all, I want to get into an instrument again... Any type really, I am passionate about sound... But I am living with my mom + step-dad again while I attend college, and nice as they are, they'll probably get really annoyed with me if I just play indoors.

I'm thinking of taking up trombone again, although tbh, I'm a bit worried about it... I took 4 years in school but was always mid... Curious about trying a keyboard, maybe a 61-key or something because marimba is a crush of mine, but not really portable?

Anyway, anyone know where I can go to practice? Will I get in trouble if I just find a quiet place at Tom Sawyer and play?

How did any adults here who picked up an instrument find practice locations locally? Or did everyone just immediately join a band?

Danke.

Ok, now that I have your attention...

I just got my library card and learned I am rent up to FIFTY - that's right, FIFTY - books at a time from there.

Now, will I actually rent 50?

...Probablyyyyyy not...

But, I am really interested in reading either, like, investigative journalism books - you know, historical books that'll shock me, even today - orrrrr books that, in general, might give me more perspective on the past.

Like, the more I learn about history, the more I find there's a lot of practical things people take out of context? I've grown up American, in a Puritanical culture, and one thing I can't stand is how much my education was directly controlled by this - like, everyone, even the history teacher - made fun of the Aztecs for "thinking Cortez was a God", which I later learned is also debated among Historians...

Idk, here are the main subjects I am curious about:

-Daily life in other cultures, ancient and modern

-Any investigative journalism into cults or modern stuff that might shock me - like, "the Address Book" is on my reading list, as well as "And the Band Played On."

-Books on African cultures. Right now, unfortunately, I do not intimately know much about any cultures other than Ethiopian (grew up Orthodox) and South Africa, so would love to know more about the rest of the continent, its history, etc.

-Queer culture across the world, then and now. I'm okay with dark stuff, but I don't ONLY want tales of overcoming oppression - in fact, I'd love to see the more gray or positive areas of history. Like, for the same reason it delighted me to know the bustle wasn't purely some anti-feminist thing... In fact, quite the opposite. I want other stuff that'll put things into perspective for me.

Hey y'all, so, I am super surprised, but apparently I still have 15 vacation days at my job?

It's halfway through the year, but getting a day off if the event is within 3 weeks is, like, impossible at my job...

What are some events later this year (in 3 weeks or later) that I should try to use my time for?

I want at least 5 events to really, really look forward to.

I go to pretty much anything, except religious stuff (not a Christian) and super family-oriented stuff.

I like learning new skills, going to big events like concerts or festivals or dance parties, also more left-wing political activism, or tabletop-oriented hobbies. Silent disco is cool too!

So idk y'all, what are the big events y'all feel might be must-haves still, now that we're getting away from the "big" months of the year where all the Summer stuff is happening? Anything still exciting to do?

Just curious if anyone's gotten a chance to read any accounts from others. I'm curious maybe of even writing and publishing my own, but, first... Yeah, has anyone either written or read a book from another Ex-Orthodox person?

WHAT. THE. HELL???

This is especially weird because most states give funding to shelters for taking in an unlimited number of pets, which No-Kills can't do... Were they claiming No-Kill and pretending these animals miraculously all found homes? Were they not using state funding and just hoping the grift paid more?

The thing is, I've met people in the rescue scene - there's whacky enough people that I'd believe they'd choose shooting as an "ethical" method of dispatching sick dogs... But 117? At least??? Wtaf?