A Helpful Slideshow Created By My Friend @the-celestial-bitch And Her Sister Who Can No Longer Access

a helpful slideshow created by my friend @the-celestial-bitch and her sister who can no longer access her blog from her country and has asked me to post in her stead instead

this is what she said:

this is a direct response to all the people whose reaction to what’s happening in iran is a calling them islamophobic and blocking them, furthering the oppression they’re experiencing by the government’s hands. please read this, and repost it on Twitter or Instagram and stop the misinformation from spreading

Art by  supichu

The Five Solas of the Reformation

Scripture Alone | sola scriptura

That Scripture alone (the 39 books of the OT and the 27 books of the NT) is the sole rule and standard for faith and practice before God. (Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27, 44; 2 Tim. 3:15-16; John 5:46-47)

Christ Alone | solus Christus

That Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. (Isa. 42:1; 1 Peter 1:19-20; Acts 3:22; Heb. 5:5-6; Psa. 2:6; Luke 1:33; Eph. 1:22-23; Heb. 1:2; Acts 17:31; Isa. 53:10; John 17:6; Rom. 8:30)

Grace Alone | sola gratia

That by God’s good pleasure alone, some men are saved to the praise of Christ’s glorious grace; others are left in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice. (1 Tim. 5:21; Matt. 25:34; Eph. 1:5-6; Rom. 9:22-23; Jude 1:4)

Faith Alone | sola fide

That grace of faith where people are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily worked by the ministry of the preached Word. (2 Cor. 4:13; Eph. 2:8; Rom. 10:14, 17; Luke 17:5; 1 Peter 2:2; Acts 20:32)

Glory of God Alone | soli Deo gloria

Knowing that man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever, all holy duties Christians accomplish are exercised for God’s glory, by which He may pursue His own glory in us to the uttermost. (Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 10:31; Psa. 73:24-28)

Idk how to phrase this but Gay Lord of the Rings and Straight Lord of the Rings are two completely different trilogies. hilariously different. I hear straight people talk about lord of the rings and it’s like they watched the movies in a bizarre funhouse mirror alternate reality 

Tolkien’s writing style gets criticized so much because of his heavy use of descriptions and imagery, especially of nature, but I just adore how he conveys images. Each time I reread his works, I find myself amazed once again at how beautiful, lush, and evocative his writing is. These are some of my favorites I’ve noticed as I’ve been catching up on the newsletter:

“Away eastward the sun was rising red out of the mists that lay thick on the world. Touched with gold and red the autumn trees seemed to be sailing rootless in a shadowy sea.”

“The West wind was sighing in the branches. Leaves were whispering. Soon the road began to fall gently but steadily into the dusk. A star came out above the trees in the darkening East before them.”

“After a time, as the stars grew thicker and brighter, the feeling of disquiet left them, and they no longer listened for the sound of hoofs.”

“It showed grey and pale, a line of fading light through the wood. Above it the stars were thick in the dim sky, but there was no moon.”

“But at that moment there came a sound like mingled song and laughter. Clear voices rose and fell in the starlit air.”

“They passed slowly, and the hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes. They bore no lights, yet as they walked a shimmer, like the light of the moon above the rim of the hills before it rises, seemed to fall about their feet.”

i think the world doesn’t know what it really means to live in a theocratic dictatorship. Let me tell you about our experiences living in the islamic regime of iran.

1. Your parents were born to muslim parents so they’re automatically muslim. You’re automatically a muslim too. You didn’t choose your religion and you can’t opt out of it or you will be executed.

2. The compulsory hijab law makes you a criminal if you choose not to wear hijab even tho you didn’t choose to be a muslim and you don’t consider yourself a muslim but the regime has forced you into that role whether you like it or not. And when you ‘break that law’, they can do with you as they please.

3. little girls as young as 7 yrs old are forced to wear hijab at school even tho the islam itself says the age is 9. and all the schools are gender segregated so imagine how they force you to get used to hijab even when you’re just surrounded by other girls. And all day long at school they tell you horrible stories about what will happen to you in hell if someone sees even a strand of your hair.

4. the regime modifies all the textbooks, story books, cartoons and movies to represent the ideal woman with full on hijab. The iranian media is ordered to photoshop every photo of a woman that may be showing a little skin. And if they’re iranian, no hair is supposed to be seen or that will be photoshopped away. Women are mostly excluded from billboards and tv commercials.

5. imagine going to work or meeting up with a friend when suddenly the morality police kidnap you in broad daylight and force you into a van to take you to a station where they will treat you like a criminal and if you don’t agree to get humiliated and do as they say, they will put you in prison. And in case of Mahsa Amini and so many more before her, they will beat you to death. My sister was barely 18 when she got kidnapped and they didn’t let her call home and she’d been so fucking scared and we had no idea where she was. Imagine all the psychological trauma.

6. If you’re in a car and not wearing hijab they will fine you and seize your car. So when u get into a taxi the driver will ask you to keep your hijab on otherwise they’ll get fined. And if you refuse they’ll ask you to get off the car.

7. And its not just about hijab. In Ramadan, they get even more vicious. If they catch you eating or even drinking water on the street they will give you lashes as punishment and even imprison you for breaking the law. If you work in a state-owned company it’s even worse. They will close the cafeteria and take away the water dispensers. All restaurants are banned from delivering food before iftar. It’s a fucking mess. Everyone has to pretend they’re fasting or they’ll be severely punished.

8. And how could I forget about this! iranian women are banned from singing! the islamic regime prohibits women’s singing voices to be heard by men so imagine the horror of having 50% of the population banned from ever becoming a singer. If they identify a female singer in iran, they will take her to jail and force her to repent her sins in the most humiliating way so that she will never dare sing again.

9. And every time the regime gets wind of a private gathering of men and women trying to have fun and live their fucking private lives, the police crash the party and take everyone to jail bc the Islamic regime bans iranian men and women from having fun.

So if you see Islam has become for many iranians a symbol of oppression and torture and discrimination, that’s why. The regime uses islam as a weapon to silence and punish anyone who opposes them. You can love islam all you want from the safety of your home in a free country and talk about how kind and benevolent the religion is, but in iran, it’s a whole different story.

Our economy is fucked. All govt officials are corrupt as fuck. Most websites are banned in iran. Even tumblr is banned. The world has cut the iranian ppl from many services. We don’t have intl credit cards like visa card. Amazon doesn’t do delivery to iran. We cant get netflix, spotify or even a gamepass subscription. we don’t get any Apple services here. iran isn’t listed as a country you could choose when signing up for a lot of services. and when we decide to leave iran and escape this hellhole, every country out there will make it sooo much harder for us to get a visa just bc we had the misfortune to be born in iran at the wrong time.

This is the story of iran for the past 44 years. Held hostage by a corrupt regime that uses religion to suppress and torture the people and being abandoned by the rest of the world bc our lives don’t matter.

Please be our voice. Once they shut down the internet completely and silence our voice, they will start slaughtering us to stifle the protests just like they did in 2019. Please help us. We want this fucking regime gone.