“(…) When everyone spurned him and loathed him, Lan WangJi stood by his side.” [Mó Dào Zǔ Shī]

Sue and Pete Hill (British, based Cornwall, England, Brother and Sister Duo) - The Mud Maid in the Lost Gardens of Heligan, located in Pentewan, St. Austell, Cornwall, England, Living Sculptures

Imagine being so braindead that you think the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world is a good thing 🤡

wtf are you talking about, they didn't "deplete" the nature of their country, they cultivated their wilderness over centuries into some of the most idyllic pastoral landscapes in the entire world. And they did such a good job of it that the phrase "English countryside" is now synonymous with beauty and serenity and peacefulness. They didn't destroy their country's nature, they became its caretaker, they're right to be proud of it. All you're doing is pretending that the only kind of nature that should count is whatever is completely untouched by human hands.

The UK is literally ranked in the bottom 10% of most nature-depleted countries in the world. The 2023 State of Nature report shows just how dire the situation is. A third of UK bird species have declined since the 1990s, 97% of the UK's wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s, raw sewage is constantly being pumped into our rivers and seas with agricultural slurry also causing massive damage to rivers, three quarters of Britain's hedgehogs have been lost in the past 20 years and UK butterfly numbers are at their lowest ever, a sign of impending ecosystem collapse. Plus people in Britain are the most disconnected from nature in Europe.

Not to mention over populated deer destroying what little is left due to a lack of predators, 60 million non-native birds released for sport shooting every year, plus huge amounts of wildlife crime, including large numbers of birds of prey being shot/poisoned.

There is nothing beautiful about a sterile, ecologically damaged landscape that contains nothing but sheep and deer. Don't comment on something you clearly know nothing about. I live in England. I can see first hand just how dire the situation is.

prayers by the ganga: vibha mehta for sunira designs, ph. dolly devi, styled by spardha malik

— bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody

"There is an inherit bias towards 'Israel' that sustains the continual colonization of Palestine. Christian theologians, in few cases consciously but in most cases subconsciously, keep using a 'biblical' language and producing 'theological' concepts whose 'Sitz im Leben' is blunt colonialism. They might do this 'innocently' because their minds are occupied with the Bible on the one hand and with a Western cultural narrative on the other.

For Palestinians, including the Palestinian Christian community, Palestine is a real land with real people; it is our homeland. For Christians in the West, Palestine is an imagined land, a land that they know mainly from the Bible. It has little if anything to do with the real Palestine. When Christian pilgrims visit Palestine, they want to reinvent the Holy Land of the Bible. They are excited about how the Bible comes alive in Palestine. Nineteenth-century archaeologists, while digging in Palestine, were looking for the Bible. This is true also for theologians. When Christian theologians write about Palestine, their minds are occupied with the Bible and a Western dominant narrative. They write about the Land as if it exists in a vacuum; they strip it from its socio-political context, from its real people, and they rarely think about how such a theology has been and is being used to enhance settler colonialism. These occupied minds reinforce the continuing occupation of Palestine. Here, I’m not talking about evangelical theologians or Christian Zionists alone, but I’m concerned about those who are well-regarded, mainline, and accomplished theologians of many denominations. In the last seventy years, many theological concepts were developed and occupied the minds of several generations of theologians worldwide. Many of these concepts might have been well intended at some point, but they mean something totally different in the current context of occupied Palestine. Theologians in their naiveté are still using a language and concepts that support current Israeli settler colonialism. ... It is incomprehensible to me when the occupation of Palestinian land is not seen as part of modern European colonial history, but as part of biblical and thus salvation history. It is very disturbing when theologians ignore the ways in which biblical ideology is used as a political claim with major colonial consequences. ... Christian theologians have been playing, consciously or subconsciously, a major role in aiding the ongoing colonization of Palestinian land and people. The land theology was one of the theological tools used for Palestinian dispossession and oppression. Christian theologians failed to see that the promised land is but the confiscated land."

Mitri Raheb, "The Occupation of Theological Minds: The End of Innocence," in Resisting Occupation: A Global Struggle for Liberation (2022)

The main terms Raheb critiques in this essay are "the Temple Mount" and "the Promised Land" (or simply "the Land"). He also touches on the conflation of the biblical Israel and theological concepts of Israel with the state of Israel, the ethnonationalist notion of "God's chosen people," and the narrative that Joshua's conquest of Canaan was divinely ordained and salvatory. He identifies in these concepts an overarching "theology of conquest" that also informs other European settler colonial projects.

Once I was helping a friend help a young, disabled, homeless trans man and we were trying to get him placed in a domestic violence shelter. When my friend called she was told that of COURSE they couldn’t take him, he’s a MAN. She then found out that they wouldn’t take trans women either “for our other client’s comfort.”

If that isn’t a perfect example of how trans people will always be gendered by transphobes in the way that allows them to harm us the most, then I don’t know what is.

This is also why trans people of all genders can experience (different forms of) misogyny. Transphobes will treat all trans people like women when it allows them to harm us with the same ease that they treat trans men and women like men in the example above.

It's also why 'Trans women experience this!' should never be read as 'Trans men experience the opposite!' or vice versa. Things aren't easy for one because they're hard for the other. There's no reliable privilege for one where the other faces harsh oppression. There are differences and transmisogyny is real, but our experiences are not polar opposites in that way. Driving that deep into your head will save you a lot of pointless discourse.

Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse on translating Abdulla Pashew's "Resurrection" (essay here, full poem here) [ID'd]

Help a Displaced Amal's Family from Gaza Rebuild Their Lives 💔🇵🇸

Dear Humanity,

My name is Amal, and I am from Gaza. We are 5 family members. Currently, my family and I are living in northern Gaza under conditions of starvation, shelling, and gunfire. Gaza is experiencing a devastating war that has forced many families, including mine, to flee our homes repeatedly. Each time we are displaced, we are unable to take anything with us, losing the little food and clothing we managed to store.

We are enduring an unimaginable crisis right now, facing severe shortages of food and water tainted with harmful viruses and bacteria. This contamination is causing dangerous skin and respiratory diseases, and we are now also grappling with an outbreak of polio.

The scarcity of food is not just a hardship; it is a relentless torment, leaving us weakened and ill. Our lack of income, or rather its complete absence, is tearing our family apart, leaving us helpless and struggling to survive.

This suffering is beyond what any living being should endure. Imagine spending just one night in these conditions how would you feel? From the depths of our hearts, we desperately implore you to support us, to help us escape this famine and the devastation of war.

Our home, my workplace, and all my sources of income as a software developer have been destroyed due to the war. With no stable place to stay and no source of income, we are struggling to survive.

We urgently need your help to:

Purchase essential food and clothing for my family, Secure a temporary shelter, and Leaving Gaza and seeking a safe place to start a new life for me and my family.

Therefore, I implore you to help us provide food, water, and a safe place outside of Gaza for me and my family. Your donations will make a significant difference in our lives. Every contribution, no matter how small, will provide us with the relief we desperately need and the hope to rebuild our future.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Your support will give us a chance to overcome this crisis and look forward to a better tomorrow.

Dear Tumblr Community,

I am delighted to be part of this comunity and seek your support in sharing a post I've crafted. This isn't merely a collection of words but a crucial part of a fundraising effort to assist my family during these challenging times.

I have faith that you will help amplify this message to reach a wide audience.

Thank you sincerely for your support..❤️🇵🇸

Verified by : @hayanahed

Link to verification post

The Prince of Egypt conceptual art paintings by Paul Lasaine

RIGHT BESTIES

Sara Mrad | Botanical Alchemy

ANDOR Set Details - Ferrix

Chefchaouen 2023

hate coming to terms with things. i should be able to cast a fireball instead