Hey, I'm Matt! I am a very optimistic and lighthearted person who has a very positive outlook on everything and who will most definitely laugh at every joke you tell me. I will be an upcoming 3rd year college student studying Business Management, and I'm also studying environmental science! I have so many interests, so I'm sure that I would be able to easily connect and vibe with so many people, I just ask that you're able to hold a conversation please! Here's a few of the things that I love:
• Traveling! Whenever I'm not busy with school or work, I absolutely love traveling to new places and exploring them. When traveling, the thing I do the most is embrace the culture of that place, whether it be from trying their local cuisines or exploring local hidden gems that are less traveled to. Ask me where I've traveled to and I'll gladly flood you with all of my travel pictures!
• Music! Music is probably the biggest interest of mine, as I use it to relax and escape from my outside worries. I listen to basically every genre of music, so it is very difficult for me to find a song that I won't like, and I openly encourage anyone to send me recommendations for stuff that they like! I have a very soft spot for older music (60s-80s, especially soft rock!), and it would have to be my favorite type of music. In addition, I've just gotten into collecting vinyl and physical music, but my collection is quickly growing! Although it is super difficult for me to pick a favorite artist, I would have to say my favorite artists are either David Bowie or Taylor Swift!
• Going to the gym! I've only recently in the past year gotten REALLY into going to the gym (5-6 days a week), and I look forward to going each day! I consider myself a bit of a "Cardio King", if you may since I basically only work on my legs, but I've been trying to get into lifting recently!
• Gaming! In terms of gaming, I dabble in both physical gaming and online gaming. Recently, I just got back into the Pokemon Trading Card Game after a long absence, and I'm loving it so far! For online games, I love most genres of games and am very open to trying new games with, whether that be the games that I'm really into playing right now (Valorant and OW2) or any other single or multiplayer game, I'm very flexible!
Haven't really had any luck with meeting many people that I've been able to form a meaningful relationship with in the past, so thought I would try and post here to hopefully find that forever person I've been searching for. So if you resonate with anything I've said in my post, I look forward to you messaging me so we can both get to know each other better :)

Today I was about to buy a lovely little model steam engine from a guy on Facebook Marketplace. It was all going smoothly until I checked his profile in more detail and found a picture of him doing you-know-what. I blocked him and thankfully dodged that bullet.

By:Bheria
May 25, 2023
Islam, as a system or way of life that imposes itself as being the obvious truth, necessarily makes many claims and propositions.
One of these is that it is the last revealed religion, as we had discussed in a recent article.
Another claim is that all human communities were greeted by messengers and prophets who taught them Tawhid (pure monotheism) before they innovated and corrupted the original message, birthing the cults and religions we have today.
Among the many Qur’anic verses on the subject, including the following:

Indeed, We have sent forth among every community a messenger [with the commandment]: You shall worship Allah [alone] and shun [all] false deities [and objects of worship]! So among them were those [people] whom Allah guided [aright]. And among them were those who [persistently rejected guidance. Thus they] deservedly remained astray. So journey in the earth, and see how [devastating] was the end of those who belied Allah! (Qur’an, 16:36)

Under the explanation of this verse, Ibn Kathir writes in his Tafsir:

Allah continued sending Messengers to mankind with this Message, from the first incidence of Shirk that appeared among the Children of Adam, in the people to whom Nuh was sent—the first Messenger sent by Allah to the people of this earth—until He sent the final Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ, whose call was addressed to both men and Jinn, in the east and in the west.

The inference from such information is that all communities were taught about Tawhid and that, despite the now deformed message, it may still feature some features of the original monotheism that they were supposed to maintain.
Due to this, many Muslims have sought to “recuperate” some religions and even religious figures. For example, many have supposed that Zoroaster, the founder (or more correctly the Mazdean reformer) of Iran’s main pre-Islamic religion might have been a prophet. Similarly, the late Muhammad Hamidullah—the prolific and polyglot Indian-born pioneer of Islamic Studies in France—famously suggested in the explanatory notes to his translation of the Qur’an into French (the first by a Muslim) that the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) may also have been a prophet (those who speculate regarding the supposed potential prophethood of the historical Buddha tend to look at Surah 95).
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Of course, they all remain cautious and speak only in terms of hypotheticals. This is because we simply cannot assert that any such figure was a prophet or messenger of Allah without the existence of solid grounds for such a claim within the Qur’an or Ahadith (prophetic narrations).
But Muslims are not alone in trying to trace the monotheistic roots of the world religions. Once upon a time, Western anthropologists were immersed in this venture too.

“Primitive Monotheism” in Western Anthropology

“Primitive monotheism” is basically the idea that all communities essentially began as monotheistic prior to degenerating into different forms of polytheism.
The first modern proponent of this idea was the Scottish poet Andrew Lang, who was active during the second half of the 19th century.
These were the decades in which Darwin and his theories were slowly encroaching the Western intellectual discourse and public imagination. Due to this evolutionary approach, the “simple” religion was viewed as just a form of adaptation to the society itself, and when the society evolved, the religion evolved along with it. Monotheism was thus considered to have followed “primitive polytheism,” which is often equated with tribal cults and animism.
Edward Burnett Tylor—perhaps the foremost acclaimed British anthropologist of his days—was someone who propagated such an evolutionist approach, to the extent that he could potentially be regarded as the spiritual father figure of evolutionary anthropology, if not the entire field of modern anthropology. In fact, it was Tylor who popularized the term animism within the public discourse.
It is not difficult to guess the ideological underpinnings of Tylor’s worldview. He lived at a time when the British Empire was at its peak, and by saying that polytheists are uncivilized by virtue of their belief system, he was essentially justifying British imperialism.
On the other hand, Andrew Lang, who was Tylor’s student and disciple, disagreed. He believed that monotheism is not merely some sort of evolution which tells us about a society’s so-called complexity but rather that it is a concept of its own right. According to him, it was not something to be used for differentiating some “savages” from the “civilized” crowd.
Lang even debated directly with Tylor on this issue, arguing that the idea of a Supreme Being, creator, benevolent, source of morality, etc., is the default position so to speak, not some sort of animism.
Lang looked at the Australian Aboriginals in particular and their concept of the “sky father,” Baiame.
During the 20th century, many would actively promote this idea of primitive monotheism. Included among them were famous anthropologists such as Paul Radin, who was one of the most influential American anthropologists of the first half of the last century, having studied Native Americans in particular.
But the most important figure was someone named Wilhelm Schmidt, a Catholic priest from Germany. Over the course of four decades (1910s–1950s), he compiled a 12-volume work entitled The Origin of the Idea of God.
To get a basic idea regarding the scope of this work, we can read the following summary of its main thesis (albeit with some criticism) by Stanley Arthur Cook, who was a professor of Hebrew at Cambridge. He writes in his article “Primitive Monotheism” (1931), published in The Journal of Theological Studies (p.2):

From the evidence for the prevalence of beliefs in High Gods or Supreme Beings among people who are ‘ethnologically’ primitive, Father Schmidt argues that a monotheism of a strikingly pure character distinguished the very beginning of the history of religion but has been overlaid by the less pure when not degraded cults of peoples living at higher stages of developement. […] From his survey of the peoples who are held to be ethnologically primitive, Father Schmidt constructs a picture of the worship of a Supreme Being, a personality transcending all experience, omnipotent, universal cause and creator, omniscient, beneficent, all righteous, father, giver of moral law, and the centre of cult. These Primitives include pygmies, Tasmanians, Algonkins, Eskimo, etc., and are food-hunters. Above them in the scale are the Primary peoples, living at the stage where man exploits nature. They fall into three classes, each with religious characteristics : (a) matrilineal, agriculturists (with lunar ideas, mother goddesses), (b) patrilineal, totemists (solar ideas; men are prominent), and (c) patrilineal, nomads (sky-gods, social hierarchy). Next, with all sorts of complex crossings come the Secondary and Tertiary cultures, the latter comprising the old civilizations of Asia, Europe, and America.

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This idea of “primitive monotheism” is no longer popular in Western anthropology, due primarily to the secularization of the West. The concept of primitive monotheism is considered to be too indebted to a Eurocentric and even Christianized definition of religion. What is preferred now is the “phenomenological” approach. This is the idea of learning a religion directly from its adherents, without superimposing Western concepts onto it.
Such a methodologically secular and even postcolonialist approach is quite clear in James L. Cox’s 2014 book, The Invention of God in Indigenous Societies.
Yet even if the interpretation were to differ, the ethnological data remains. Furthermore, the interpretation of the adherents themselves may itself indicate towards primitive monotheism. For example, this was the case with Hehaka Sapa (also known as Black Elk), a Native American religious figure who said that the concept of Wakan-Tanka (“The Great Mysterious”)—found in varying forms in virtually all Native American shamanism—contained a belief in the Supreme Being, though in a pantheistic way. This is quite clear in his discussions with ethnologist Joseph Epes Brown.
In Black Africa, the Shona people of Zimbabwe believe in Mwari, a Supreme Creator (though one that has a sort of internal duality); in Latin America, the Aztecs have Ometeotl; and pre-Islamic Iranics who didn’t accept Zoroaster’s reforms have Zurvan. All of them believe in a sort of unique Supreme Creator. However, their belief in this Supreme Creator includes a belief in there being some sort of internal duality within them. This would, of course, mean that their initial beliefs had already been corrupted.
We could go on providing numerous other examples—and Schmidt has already covered pretty much all he could for every continent—but the point is this:
Despite this belief having been polluted in many cases (with that pollution later degenerating into different forms of polytheism, including animism), every civilization and culture seems to have held a belief in the idea of some kind of unique Supreme Being.
It thus seems that the Qur’anic claim of every human society being graced with some divine message resonates with anthropological research. Of course, this is not to say that there was ever any doubt regarding the veracity of the Qur’an’s claims to begin with; or that the Qur’an needs any sort of support or validation from contemporary sciences.
But, that being said, all of this should serve to make us more conscious and appreciative of Tawhid and Iman (faith), along with our own individual and even societal approach to them. Let us be grateful to Allah for endowing upon us these great blessings by increasing in our worship and devotion.
RELATED: The Genius of Islam Episode 3, The Curse of Polytheism

I keep seeing ads pop up on social media for this event at the convention center on July 8-9. Looks like the same company that does this does a dinosaur themed one too. Anyway glad I searched for it on Reddit because other cities are saying it’s a big time scam. It’s $30 just to get in then everything is extra, such as paying a ticket PER TURN on the unicorn ride and bounce house. Pictures of the event are misleading. I figured post was worth making if I can rescue one person from this disappointment and cash grab operation!
https://theunicornworld.com/

Going to build my first PC. Have watched tons of videos on YouTube. Would love to get some options from you all. I am by no means a competitive gamer. Just like to have a little fun. I am perfectly happy with the picture quality playing my PS5. I do play on a LG C2 42" Unfortunately, i don't have 4k gaming money, lol What would be some good mobo, cpu and gpu options? I'm ok with 12th gen and AM4. Seems to be a good way to get alot for the money Thanks in advance Happy Memorial Day!

The Floyd Rose tremelo on my old Ibanez S540 LTD from 1994 is looking pretty worse for the wear.
Picture: https://imgur.com/a/1m07HTe
In some spots, the gold plated finish has worn off, revealing the metal beneath. Although the tremelo looks old and real worn out, it works perfectly — dives are smooth, there are no intonation problems, and overall everything feels as it should. It just looks worn.
Personally, I’m fine with the work look. I mean, it’s a 30 year old guitar that I’ve had since high school. I like the “battle scars”. But someone I know said that the corrosion on the bridge will get significantly worse and ultimately cause issues with the trem itself, and given the condition of it, suggested I get it replaced soon.
So, I’m wondering if I should replace it? Or is there a way I can clean it while not messing up what’s left of the gold finish? Is there something like wax or something I can put on it to prevent further corrosion?
It doesn’t need to look new or whatever. I never plan to sell the guitar as it was a high school gift from my father and holds immense sentimental value.
Thanks!

Hi, I've been pornfree for about 7 months, but in the last two months have been starting to maturbate to sfw (usually seflies, non-revealing) pics. I did that because masturbating with absolutely no porn was impossible for me at the end. Recently I had urges to do it, and having thoughts throughout the day, just like when I used to watch porn. That's pretty much the thing that made me want to quit porn, so I don't crave jacking-off in the middle of the day. Also, I guess i've been using masturbation as a motivation tool, especially for working out. When I come back from work, tired of my day and I have to work out, I usually jack off to get me out of my vegetative state. Idk why, maybe the post-nut clarity makes me focus on my work out goals. Anyway, are picture too much ? And should I try to cut maturbation to only when I really need it ?