Once in a while I write something while under the influence that reveals some murky river flowing through caverns measureless to Man, down to the sunless sea deep in my brain. A couple of weeks ago I replied (while sober) to some moralistic prattle about how the “sin” of homosexuality is still a choice even if it’s an innate predilection, with the following: “Most humans are born with the inclination toward mindless submission to authority; they not only let it rule them and ruin their lives, but also foist that violent authority upon the virtuous others who are not inclined to that sin, ruining their lives as well.” But then later in the evening, when I was already well on my way to my secret Garden of The Unknown, one of my regular readers replied with a comment on the concept of sin, and my inebriated brain responded with the following, which you may find interesting (or not):
That depends entirely on how one defines “sin”; it’s not as cut-and-dried as most people think. Did you ever read this? It’s one the 10 scariest short stories I’ve ever read. Now, a lot of people don’t think it’s frightening at all, and maybe even boring; this is because it’s all suggestion and nuance and shadows and no “the house is haunted because slave children were tortured there” modern pat origin BS. If you don’t have the kind of dark, shuttered rooms and bottomless abysses in your skull that I do, this tale may not take your imagination to the kind of utterly horrifying place that it takes mine. But if you’re a fan of Poe, Lovecraft, Benson, Blackwood, et al, you might find it at least creepy and worth your time, if not in your personal top ten. And if you do like it, here are my other nine; PDFs of 13 more tales are included.
No, we aren’t to Halloween season yet, but IMHO it’s never a bad time for tales of the macabre.
According to Altemeyr in “The Authoritarians” (https://www.theauthoritarians.org) it is only about 30% “authoritarian followers” in the US. The willingness to apply violence (basically as much as they can get away with) to anybody not following what their leader(s) tell them is the truth is a main characteristic though.
And 30% are wayyy too many, as there are also a lot of people that do not follow authority, but will stand idle by and do nothing. The authoritarian followers bring us one fascist catastrophe after another as they are unable to learn. They are completely convinced they are doing it right, regardless of what evidence to the contrary is available. They are simply not capable of understanding evidence if it does not fit the view of their leader(s).
To sin in the Jewish religion means to miss the mark, a reason for atonement on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), not suffering. The Christians, because of the authoritarians like Paul, Clement of Alexandria, Jerome, and Augustine made it into an evil that entitled you to a trip to the Christian equivalent of the Greek Tarterus, Hell. It is a stupid concept–as most authoritarian concepts taken to their logical conclusions are–and contrary to the very idea of a loving Deitiy
You have a very good point, and Christianity, prior to Paul and Constantine, was a pacifist religion akin to Buddhism.
Speaking of horror, Maggie, I know one webcomic that I think you would like: The Invitation by In Case. (He’s also on Newgrounds.)