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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: March 29th, 2024

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  • I kind of disagree here. The medium is the message, as one said, and I know that I don’t read with the same spirit an e-mail and a snail-mail I received. We are definitively not robots, so the means of communication change drastically the reception of the message itself, even if the actual text is the same. And it’s even more true when I send a message: the very text will be different is I type it on my computer, my phone, or my typewriter as not only my spirit, but also my capabilities and confort of writing will be different.


  • Also, it feels nice to write longhand using decent paper and a decent fountain pen (or with a pencil).

    My problem with that is that I’m incapable to read myself after a few days… that’s why I love my typewriters.

    I mean, exchanging good old letters & postcards (snail mail), journals, fictions, poems, essays, sketches and why not even photography (printed, digital or not, just without any ‘smartphonery’ involved). Stuff we would then have circulating among a group of us.

    That’s very close of an idea I had a few months ago: some sort of fanzine. People interested would send me (I don’t mind giving my address) their typed pages, and I’d order them (using actual scissors and glue!) in a zine that I would copy and send to the people who sent me something. It’s not actual correspondence, as it’s not one-on-one, but there would be time invested and creativity and exchange. I’d love to do it in French, but I don’t know if there would be enough persons interested (the costs of an international zine of this type would be too much for me).

    Find a safe way to share one’s personal address safely and securely in this age of digital weirdos

    Your fear of giving your address made me think about something I’ve read in Richard Polt’s novel, Evertype (if you did not bought it yet, I advise you to do so quickly, the book is good). In it, a character (I won’t spoil anything, but this list is important in the plot) has compiled a list of people interested in corresponding using a typewriter. However, this character only shares an anonymised version of the list, where each member receives a number along with a short description provided by the member themselves. Instead of sending the letter directly to the recipient, the sender sends it to the administrator, specifying the recipient’s number, and the administrator then forwards the letter. This would maintain everyone’s anonymity, but it presupposes trust in the administrator…





  • I looked to first link, and the first biblical reference was Luke 16:23. It’s a parable… not a description of actual hell… I saw enough to know that it’s not theologically serious.

    The rest of your message is cherrypicking. You can’t cite verses without providing any context or analysis, staying on the surface of things, and think you make a point. Again, not theologically serious. You should study the Bible praying, make it resonate with the life of the marginalized people that Jesus came to meet, not just choosing the verses that confirm your preconceptions, or you’ll make the Bible saying the contrary of what it says by cherrypicking and staying too literal. Nobody can make this work for you.

    Imagine someone who’d come to you and say: “the Bible say that God doesn’t exist, look at Ps 14:1 ‘There is no God’!”. Of course this Psalm says the contrary, and it would be easy to prove, just by citing the verse wholly; but what you do is not different, just more subtle.



  • I don’t know. The Bible don’t speak that much after the afterlife. Jesus mainly spoke about the Kingdom, which is within us and not something otherworldly (Luke 17:21), the Old Testament is almost only interested in how to follow God here and now, even the book of Revelation is, if read correctly, more a veiled criticism of the politics of Roman Empire than a prediction. The only one who spoke a lot about the afterlife is Paul, but if he’s clear about who will be saved, he’s not about who won’t. That’s why I spoke about a mystery; but I trust God to make the best decision.




  • Do you believe your wife will go to hell?

    No. I don’t believe in all that “you have to confess Jesus as your personal lord and saviour to avoid hell” crap. It’s in fact something not very widespread outside evangelicalism. I believe the Cross is working mysteriously, far outside the frontier of the visible Church. A God who condemns people that doesn’t recognize him is not a loving God, it’s a pervert. I believe that “to confess Jesus as my personal lord and saviour” is a way to live a better life here and now, and I don’t expect an eternal reward for that.

    Is she agnostic or does she believe there is no god?

    I’d say she’s agnostic atheist. She doesn’t know if God exist, but believes he does not, and in fact doesn’t care.


  • I live in France, where it’s illegal to have a religious marriage without having a civil one first. As a pastor, I have to ask a proof that the people I religiously marries are already married civilly. I agree theologically with that, as protestants don’t marry people, they bless an already existing marriage.

    So we had both. To be honest, in France, civil marriages are quite dull: it takes 5 minutes, the mayor or their deputy reads the law, asks for consent, makes the people sign, and it’s the next couple’s turn. It’s very administrative. There’s a little decorum, but just a little.

    So, even for people without strong belief, the ritual makes the marriage something special. It was the case for my spouse, at least. She’s atheist, but she respects my faith, as I respect her atheism; she knew it was important for me, so that made it important for her.

    I would warn you though: if your girlfriend is Catholic, you’ll have yo promise to raise your children in the Catholic faith. If your girlfriend is evangelical, they may ask you to testify of your faith. I’d say to discuss this with her first very openly, and test the waters with her priest/pastor. 90% are cool people, with whom you’ll be able to be open, and they won’t refuse you as long as they don’t sense that you opposes the whole thing. 10% are assholes; I’d advice you to look for an other one; if it’s the one your girlfriend wants, lie to them (as long as your girlfriend agrees with that). You don’t marry for the officiant, you owe them nothing.