I remember working at a photo development place and being asked by a Vietnam vet to develop some pictures that he had taken during the war. He warned me that the photos were disturbing and to make sure that not too many people saw them.

What I saw was piles of heads, piles of hands, with GIs smiling and posing next to them. Bodies of children and the elderly strew across roads. Just the most horrific shit I had, and have to this day, ever seen. I did not confront him about it when I gave him his pictures back, just thanked him for the warning.

There is no amount of suffering that the veterans of any American war (outside of WWII) can possibly suffer that will equate to even a fraction of the amount of damage they clearly caused and enjoyed causing. Americans are barbarians.

[–] kristina@hexbear.net 42 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I would've made copies and sent them to Vietnam's government some of those people are missing since the war and some families may have had "closure" by having final proof of what happened. Death to America

[–] TreadOnMe@hexbear.net 22 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I was like, 20, at the time, I had no idea what to do with what I was looking at or how to even process it.

[–] kristina@hexbear.net 12 points 1 day ago

Yeah I don't blame you at all, its a very shocking situation to find yourself in

[–] EmmiLime@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 day ago

he felt bad for invading and killing innocent people you guys, can we stop being angry at him? :(

[–] FALGSConaut@hexbear.net 82 points 1 day ago

Someone pointed out that the reactions would look a lot different if it said "elderly woman I killed in Florida"

[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 17 points 1 day ago

Standing there like "damn, why does it smell like sulfur and burning shit around this grave"?

[–] FourteenEyes@hexbear.net 64 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Burn in hell GI, by the standards of every Christian denomination a posthumous confession does not confer absolution

[–] Midnight1938@reddthat.com 28 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Why does a confession even confer absolution?

[–] regul@hexbear.net 47 points 1 day ago (3 children)

* flips chair around backwards and straddles it *

Lemme tell you about a really cool guy named Jesus Christ!

[–] Midnight1938@reddthat.com 32 points 1 day ago (3 children)

😆

From what I understand you can just go and say “sorry daddy i killed a bus of children” and the priest goes “its ok bro” and youre good for heaven????

[–] TreadOnMe@hexbear.net 34 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

As an ex-Catholic, that is not the way it works in Catholicism.

There is no such thing as true absolution for confession of mortal sins. The only true way for absolution of mortal sins is through continuous good works, and even that does not guarantee your place in heaven. More than likely the best you can expect is that you will end up in purgatory, in continuous repentance until Judgement Day.

That being said, one of the most common ways to gain this kind of absolution historically is through massive monetary donations to the Church, so let's not give the Church too much credit here, but let's also not flanderize it.

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[–] Krem@hexbear.net 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

i think you also have to accept this Jesus Christ fella as your Big Buddy and Sponsor or something like that. but once you do that it's fine

[–] SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You must let him fill your god-shaped hole. Otherwise he burns you forever.

[–] danisth@hexbear.net 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Is this a reference to the donut man? If so, hello fellow evangelical protestant upbringing survivor kirby-wave

[–] starweasel@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

not the person you originally asked but holy shit a fellow donut man rememberer?? hi! ive literally never found people outside of my specific homeschool cadre who remember this guy lol. did you also have to suffer through psalty the singing....hymnal? prayer book? whatever it was? 😅

[–] danisth@hexbear.net 3 points 20 hours ago

Oh yeah we definitely had psalty as well. Eventually we leaned into Veggie Tales which honestly was a pretty big upgrade.

[–] SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago (3 children)

No, that's new nightmare fuel to me, lol. I'm just frustrated by religious people asserting that any dissatisfaction or frustration is a result of lacking their particular god. But yes, I was raised southern baptist. 😞 Hello! 👋

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh my. That's as bad as Pentecostal/Holiness/Evangelist nondenom in my area, and maybe worse, since at least the holiness recall Miriam as the high priestess, and do suffer women teaching, even if they have to defer to men, but only if the man leads in a biblical manner. There are exceptions here that go both ways. I've listened to women preach at my favorite Baptist church, and a family friend was ordained as a woman preacher into the AME church, back home.

I pretty much won't set foot into a white Baptist church, Church of God, Pentecostal, and I generally avoid nondenom/evangelical churches like the plague. All that said, the last time I was in a church was at a funeral, but I did attend an outdoor holiness service, lately, and was pleasantly surprised to hear a gospel hip-hop artist call out the homophobics, in one of his songs. The world of religion really is struggling to evolve, and the birthing process* can be long, slow, messy, and painful. It seems to me the most judgemental among the Christians are the ones who can't meet their own standards and sweat it, bit successfully hide that part of themselves from themselves.

[–] SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah. Our parents hit us if we disobeyed whatever stupid rules they came up with, including taking too long to get ready for church. Staying home was not an option. But they refuse to acknowledge that it was abuse, they think they were divinely entitled to treat their children like slaves.

Personally, I see more harm than good in religion. Superstition is dangerous. I hope more people can start thinking for themselves instead of trying to outsource it to an unreachable authority.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I and people around me came up similarly. A buddy remarked on a recent neighborhood shooting and said, "If they'd been whipped like we were, these things would stop, wouldn't it?“

I said, "I don't know about that. Whipping never stopped me from a behavior, but it made me slicker. Did it ever stop you?" He acknowledged it surely didn't. It's almost like authoritarianism and overindulgence are both abuse.

[–] SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today 2 points 15 hours ago

"My parents hit me, and I turned out fine." - person advocating for physical child abuse

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[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 17 points 1 day ago

Yeah that's pretty much the Americanized Christian viewpoint and is why American fundies are a cult of the grand individual because "all is forgiven as long as I believe Jesus loves me and fuck everyone else". At least the Catholics have down the repent and self pain part correctly (still doesn't forgive them for being a pedophile shielding ring drapped in rosaries).

[–] TreadOnMe@hexbear.net 14 points 1 day ago

Confession for absolution of sins within Catholicism comes from the ideas of St Augustine. While Jesus Christ has forgiven all original sin in Earth through his sacrifice (supposedly), the absolution of sin in your life only comes from an accounting with God's representatives and contrition for your actions.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Lemme tell you bout a really cool merkavist named Hermes trismagistus...

[–] kristina@hexbear.net 4 points 1 day ago

The original brainworm

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Can you explain the reference? I did a quick search on those terms and now I'm even more confused.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 1 day ago

It's just a blend of kabbalah lore (Hermetic and Jewish) https://lemmygrad.ml/post/12538409/8594703 and lore that's arisen from Dylan's All Along the Watchtower lyrics, as a result.

It gets pretty deep and intricate, I've been interested and studying it for several years, as time and interest waxes and wanes, but if you're inclined, here's a crash course that almost scratches the surface:

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ__PGORcBKxbM4y3wcYSObaUsr4guYAn

[–] Florn@hexbear.net 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I only get this because I've been listening to a lot of Esoterica at work. Hermes Trismegistus, Thrice-Great Hermes, is a sort of character invented by medieval occultists and treated as an author and founder of Hermetic mysticism. He's also both Greek Hermes and Egyptian Thoth.

Merkavah mysticism is something different but possibly related if you go way back.

[–] QuietCupcake@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ah ok, thanks for the context. I take it he was also a figure to whom the medieval occultists directed their confessions and sought absolution from? I'm still not clear on what Maeve was implying with that comment, but that's ok.

When I see "merkava" I tend to think of Judaism and now of course the infamous Israeli tank, but that's probably not relevant to the reference.

[–] Florn@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago

Merkavah is specifically a kind of Jewish mysticism.

[–] TreadOnMe@hexbear.net 29 points 1 day ago

Confession confers absolution because God has infinite love for us, as we are his children. However, much like a child must come to their father to confess of a mistake that they have made and be forgiven, so must we with God.

At least according to St. Augustine. This whole thing was never originally a part of Christianity until he popularized the practice in North Africa.

[–] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 20 points 1 day ago

You know how cults like to keep dirt on their members?

[–] Enjoyer_of_Games@hexbear.net 16 points 1 day ago

Religion targets vunerable people for recruitment. People with overbearing guilt are emotionally vunerable and offering them some means to absolve themself within the framework of the religion is an effective strategy. The confession part can also provide a bit of leverage to the recipient of the confession which can be wielded as a kind of soft power by local priests or used as straight up blackmail material as the Church of Scientology does.

[–] FourteenEyes@hexbear.net 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Because God forgives sins if you are truly remorseful and strive to correct your error, at least according to Catholic doctrine

If you're not actually sorry it doesn't do shit

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 5 points 1 day ago

A broken and contrite heart will not be despised...

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[–] quarrk@hexbear.net 46 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

(directed @ reddit OP)

Vietnam Veteran

No, no. Don’t sugarcoat it. Imperial War on the Vietnamese People Veteran.

Just because the mere name Vietnam is enough innuendo for your guilty conscience, doesn’t mean you get to slander the country’s name.

[–] redparadise@lemmygrad.ml 29 points 1 day ago

Holy shit, the reddit comments are genuinely radioactive Wow.

[–] Aradino@hexbear.net 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Gene is Simmering in hell

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[–] 30_to_50_Feral_PAWGs@hexbear.net 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

As if the "Music From 'The Elder'" album weren't enough of a crime against humanity

[–] moss_icon@hexbear.net 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That’s Gene Simmons, which is a whole other story itself

[–] 30_to_50_Feral_PAWGs@hexbear.net 15 points 1 day ago

Yeah, Gene Simmers, the guy with the tongue who threatened to sue King Diamond and murdered a lady in Vietnam

[–] AbidingOhmsLaw@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Wrong Gene, Gene SimmONS from kiss is still alive

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And a Zionist genocide supporter

[–] 30_to_50_Feral_PAWGs@hexbear.net 4 points 1 day ago

You mean to tell me that the man who wrote and sang "Christine Sixteen" was a raging piece of shit? Say it ain't so, Joe!

[–] quarrk@hexbear.net 10 points 1 day ago

kitty-birthday-sad

[–] 30_to_50_Feral_PAWGs@hexbear.net 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Uhm, ackshually sweaty, this is his headstone and OP says he died in 2022. Good riddance, too; dude was a bigot and kicked their first guitarist out of the band for coming out as asexual.

[–] AbidingOhmsLaw@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Well I don't know about Kiss controversies or such, I don't doubt that and if that's true, he needs to rot in hell.

But, this memorial stone is from this guy who has a normal Headstone as well (go to the last pic).

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/246048914/eugene_marion-simmers

And if you check out the tour dates for the "Gene Simmons Band" you can still go see the living genocidal bigot.

[–] 30_to_50_Feral_PAWGs@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago

When Gene Simmers died, they swapped in a new dude and gave him Gene's "demon" makeup and axe bass.

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