Love Me Like You Do

I remember saying this that as the Philippines continually fails to live up to what it says, never repenting in any way and stuff, the more it will turn out to be like other East Asian countries in a way. If you know a tree by its fruits, then it’s going to be obvious that the Philippines repeatedly fails at being a Christian country, that sooner in the future it will become like other East Asian countries in nearly all (perhaps all) regards. If the fruit doesn’t fall too far from the tree, this is what I remember preachers saying this before. The Philippines fails at living up to what it proclaims itself to be, that Christianity might precipitously drop among the Philippine public. Most especially among younger adults as well as teenagers, that it’s turning out to be obvious there’s no use in the Philippines calling itself Christian when it does the opposite as usual, never repenting of it in any way.

To be honest, even as a Christian, I personally feel that the Philippines is too westernised for its own good and I’ve been praying for others (priests, celebrities and close relatives) to cope with this country receiving more East Asian influence, that this will really come true but in a way I didn’t expect. Like the times I prayed to God to get back sermons on a radio station that I listen to that the sermons did come back, albeit at around 5:30 in the morning in Ghanaian standard time and the second time in that hour with a different preacher. So this would be true for the Philippine getting more East Asian influences, especially outside of both Japan and South Korea, but in a way where nearly all western influence is erased here and permanently so for most of them. The only remaining western influences here would be just the surnames, Christianity and writing system, especially in the future.

Filipinos will no longer regularly speak in English and Tagalog, but rather Tagalog and Mandarin instead the more the Philippines comes to rely on China as the US will fail to save it once Uncle Sam gets embroiled in a civil war himself, that the Philippines begins to engage in realpolitik with China in earnest. Philippine preachers and priests might even see this as an opportunity to even evangelise to the Chinese and set up more churches and monasteries there, so the tradeoff in losing western influence might not be a bad thing and it’s about time for the Philippines to evangelise to its closest neighbours more, even China as well. This might lead to a blessing in disguise as more Chinese get to be saved, the more Philippine preachers and priests willingly and dutifully convert them to becoming God’s followers. That due to Philippine influence, Christianity begins to be practised more openly in China and in larger numbers to boot.

Surely western influence may substantially lessen in the Philippines, but evangelising to China as well as Vietnam and Myanmar is something the Philippines really needs to do. As East Asia’s premier Christian majority country, it has to fulfil the Great Commission when it comes to preaching a lot to its neighbours (including China), that if it constantly fails to do so then Christianity might drop substantially in numbers here if the Philippines doesn’t act quickly. There’s no point in bashing China a lot (though this is something I strugle with as well) when the Chinese themselves are in need of salvation, Christianity’s actually growing there and there are even online Chinese lectionaries and devotionals that attest to this. Even if Christianity doesn’t exactly drop this low in the Philippines in the future, between willingly preaching to China and continuining to wallow in sin, if somebody says they love God yet loathe their enemy then they don’t really love him (something that I struggle with as well).

This is a dilemma the Philippines has to confront soon enough, lest Christianity decline significantly there, though this is something I also struggle with from time to time due to my trauma (as what somebody on Reddit pointed out). Even if China does seem annoying at times, it’s not always this bad. It’s not even that consistently oppressive to Christians, though that’s due to God providing for his followers there. There are even Christian websites coming from this country, so there’s really no point in bashing it despite good reasons to chastise it, so the Philippines really has to evangelise to China as well as Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan, Myanmar and Laos. If it wants to live up to its reputation as East Asia’s number one Christian majority country, then it has to act the part as well. Otherwise it’s just lip service, as it usually is for us.

It would be awkward praying for one’s enemies, though this is something that I’ve come to do in my personal life, but if it involves making sure they too will be on the right path regarding whatever sins they might struggle with then it’s for the better. Which is how I feel about a certain cousin whom I’ve been praying for, regarding whatever problems she could have underneath, that it’s good that God put her in my mind not just to reconcile with her one day, but to also help her confront her own struggles since she can’t always do it on her own and needs someone else who’s more experienced in (trying) to overcome their own demons too. Something like lust, which I’ve also struggled with. Maybe on a larger scale the Philippines might help China out with its own problems, if it’s willing to help its enemy out. It would be hard and awkward, given such sentiments in an attempt to overcome (which is what I struggle with).

But ultimately it’s going to be a test to see if the Philippines will even preach to China and others if it wants to remain a Christian-majority country for long, or if it refuses to then it will become like any other East Asian country religiously speaking.

Big Girls Do Cry

There are Christian prophets who say that America is really declining, that if God’s word were more trustworthy than the world, then it’s really on a downhill spiral and may not even return to prominence in any way its people like. It’s kind of telling that Elon Musk turned Twitter into a superapp because it’s trending in China for years, it’s unsurprising that this is what both Tumblr and Substack turned into to keep up with the times. Another is that TikTok/Douyin popularised the short-form video, even when America’s Vine originated it first, but it’s telling that at this point it’s China that’s popularising some of the things pioneered by America. And even when China isn’t always involved in other matters, it’s clear that America is declining as a superpower and may not even live past the 2020s in the future.

Celestial repeatedly said that America is Mystery Babylon, the nation-state said to corrupt the entire planet. One that will be destroyed by its worst enemies and closest allies alike, one that will never return to power in any way. It’s even more alarming that one of its biggest enemies, Russia, may even be given permission by God to rule over Europe and possibly North America to an extent for their own apostasies, that ultimately America as the face of western civilisation will be undone and unseated by its former Cold War rival. It’s kind of bad enough that America succeeded in popularising nearly every vice imaginable in the modern world, even if things like homosexuality’s already legalised for years in Sweden and France, it’s America that gave gay culture form and ammunition.

This is particularly evident when it comes to things like female musicians getting gay male fans for some reason, popularising gay porn in nearly all its permutations and perhaps more than that. It’s kind of surreal that America also boasts a substantial Christian media market, a good deal moreso than in Europe and Canada, which makes for a really spiritually unstable culture. Unsure which stance to stand on, unsure which side to choose and stick to. Even if African, East Asian, European and other American countries aren’t any better in this regard either, America seems to have a disregard for having or rather needing any consistency over such matters that it really is duplicitous. It’s weird that a country that popularises rubbish like Playboy and Penthouse would also house prominent Christian ministries, sometimes under one roof as with Cru and the porn industry being there in California, that it sets the tone for the way American culture turned out to be.

Perhaps it is for the better that America has to decline as it has transgressed beyond that is repairable, beyond what is acceptable and tolerable for long, it’s gone way too far with itself that going into decline is consequential for it. It’s even more horrifying to think that not only will many US states get destroyed, but also that Russia will finally get back Alaska. Alaska was originally Russian territory but given America kind of messed up really bad, that this state will given back to Russia in years. Celestial also said that the entire United States will be made into an extension of Russia proper, the more to humiliate Mystery Babylon with by given it over to its old-time Cold War rival. How much more humilitating if God gives the Philippines and South Korea to both China and North Korea for their own sins, America’s trusted allies in East Asia that will be permanently given over to their enemies.

Same goes for Japan and extra because it repeatedly rejects God a lot, so it will be permanently given over to China just the same. America might lose Hawaii to China in a way, so it will get 48 states from then on. All the more to erase most American influence with as most of it’s corrupting, it’s no good and it has to be revoked, replaced and discarded. This does lead to a kind of existentialist curiosity for me regarding the cultures it has influenced, that substitutes would have to take America’s place, however awkward it may be from the start (which is how I feel about missing sermons, it’s also really traumatising if it’s done repeatedly). It might even be more sensible to embrace realpolitik, even moreso given the implications that America truly is Mystery Babylon and worse than Rome, that perhaps God-given substitues aren’t so bad after all.

Or that China and Russia are very much his tools of indignation against America, alongside both North Korea and Iran, that America will truly be ruined by its worst enemies and so will its allies too. Much of Europe and perhaps part of North America will be permanently given over to Russia, countries like the Philippines, South Korea and Japan will be permanently given over to China due to their own sins and wickedness, America will be utterly alone and totally denuded of its allies that it is bound for destruction. It’s even more telling that both China and Iran are also very ancient nation-states at that, far older than America will ever be and will continue to stand in the future, given their growing Christian populations. Mind you China does have a lot of Christians enough to have this many online lectionaries and devotionals for them to read really (it’s for real), though it does have problems, it’s also not that anti-Christian either.

America, meanwhile, proclaims itself to be Christian but does so much to the contrary that the appellation’s no use. I remember preachers saying that it’s no use for the Philippines to call itself Christian when it does a lot to the contrary, God will in fact undo this reputation in a way by not only permanently giving it over to China but also nearly undoing almost all western influence here. Spanish will become extinct here, Filipinos will no longer be bilingual in English and Tagalog. Rather they’ll be bilingual in Mandarin and Tagalog from then on, their culture will be deeply and permanently Sinicised as well as by the rest of its neighbours that it will become like any other East Asian country in most regards. The Chinese sword will never leave the Philippine house, for they will be one and the same entity from then on. Because the Philippines sympathises a lot with Babylon, that it too will be punished for loving what he hates.

This will be no more because there’s really no point in the Philippines calling itself a Christian country when it does so much to the contrary that it will become like any other East Asian country in most regards and ways from then on, not that Christianity will entirely disappear here but given there’s really not a lot of practising Philippine Christians who do good by God that the Philippines will truly be given over to itself and idols in particular. How abhorrent for a country like the Philippines to call itself Christian but also constantly blaspheming his name (susmaryosep, Diyos ko) and being so shameless in promoting idols (in both senses of the word) when it comes to P-Pop (derivative of K-Pop, also bad and offensive to God when it’s coming from another East Asian country with a lot of Christians), that one day the Philippines will have a lot of Buddhists, Daoists and Confucianists.

Or that its culture will be more heavily and evidently influenced by the latter two in the future, because there’s really no point in the Philippines calling itself Christian yet barely consistently practising what it preaches, that it would really have to drop nearly all pretenses of being a Christian nation and arguably own this fact eventually. So America was a really bad influence on the Philippines in hindsight, not just when it comes to condoning pornography despite both countries’ Christian reputations, but also if America popularises such evil that the Philippines will faithfully follow suit, that ultimately they never were honest about their Christianities to begin with. America calls itself a Christian nation but encourages such idolatry (historically called celebrity worship syndrome, I’ve had that before), not just when it comes to sports but also and most especially showbiz, that it will drop this pretense and will embrace its authentic self–an anti-Christian culture at that.

Following this logic that the Philippines will also eventually drop all pretenses of being a Christian country by becomng more openly and heavily influenced by both Confucianism and Daoism, owning up to the fact that it doesn’t practise what it preaches and its version of authenticity would involve becoming like any other East Asian country in most ways. No point in seeing yourself as exceptionally Christian when you’re actually below this, perhaps more shockingly way below this to boot. America’s most authentic self is that of a deeply anti-Christian country because it popularises such evil, if not outright originating it itself, that it truly houses so much abominations and filth. So it will be destroyed by its enemies and God himself, that even if it were possible for America to be somewhat recognisable in the future, that will be all there is to it. American culture really has this Jekyll and Hyde character, alternating between piety and reprobation that it’s sickening.

It’s kind of horrifying to think why America persisted as a nation-state for more than a century, despite getting much worse by the minute, that it would feel like a reprieve when it does get removed at all. Nearly destroyed and forgotten to time even, much like the way Babylon (its spiritual predecessor), that it’s shocking to even jog one’s memory to know that a country like America existed. Its parent Britain, which is like the present day Sumer, will also be snuffed out but by dissolved into three separate countries again in years as Northern Ireland will reunite with Ireland, that ultimately we get a kind of return to the past for them. Maybe not quite an outright return but that the United Kingdom as a geopolitical entity will ease to exist, even when the British Isles remain for long geologically and physiogeographically speaking.

But the 2020s will be a decade when these things will be undone, maybe not in the way one would assume it to be, but where what we thought were stable will unravel in many ways more than one. American influence will be the biggest to unravel as it’s corrupting to the core, but British influence will also be revoked to an extent, because Britain is also wicked so it’s practically like father, like son then. Shame on you all, so said the Lord. The one situation where portions of the former British empire will reunite is when these newly independent countries plus a unified Ireland will join Russia out of fear of being bombed, that is on the condition of becoming part of the renewed Russian empire. Russia fancies itself as a third Rome, so if all roads lead to Rome then they also lead to Russia when it comes to the western world.

So this makes America a third Sumer in this regard, which makes sense that Sumer was also really corrupting to God’s people that it got forgotten over time until sometime in the 19th century. And it’s telling nothing’s new under the Sun, so America is a retread of Babylon and it will be destroyed by Persia/Iran just the same. America is the headquarter of Satan on Earth, that it’s been alleged the White House resembles the Satanic pentagram. So it is Hell on Earth, if Hell was given a geographical form at all, and it is Hell on Earth whenever evil gets popularised there. America has lived long enough to become the villain, only to be brought down in the future never to return again. Considering that both Iran and China house very old civilisations still running to this day, that it practically amounts to two pensioners disciplining a very bratty child (America), no wonder why they’re God’s tools of indignation against America.

And even then America has transgressed so much that it’s kind of shocking why it persisted for as much as it did, even more shocking that other countries like the Philippines continue to defend it, that it’s about time to really hate what God hates. If it means embracing realpolitik, then he will allow it as it’s in his will really. We might even experience the total loss of America as we know it, but he’ll allow it to happen as America has transgressed so much, he will put it down for good.

No Kazakh mutants

When it comes to underrepresentation, it seems to me that although other former Soviet republics and satellites do show up in the Marvel canon of comics, animation and the like, they generally appear as backdrops for American heroes to do their business there. But there are really no recurring characters (villains, supporting characters and heroes) coming from countries like Moldova, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Armenia and Tajikistan, let alone without resorting to stereotypes that they’re practically underrepresented this way. It’s even weirder to think that given a number of Marvel writers are no strangers to rewriting the characters’ backstories, that it might be feasible to out both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver as Slovenian Romanichals this time.

It’s just as feasible to out Doctor Doom as Croatian or T’challa and Shuri as Cameroonian Bamilekes, there are even Cameroonians who do fanart of things like Looney Tunes and Hunter x Hunter. But I’m afraid there are likely two schools of thought Marvel fans fall into: the one obsessed with the franchise’s canon (or commonly called lore) and the one that dismisses the existence of these countries and cultures, regardless if there are possibly some people in those countries who’d like to see themselves represented in the Marvel world themselves. There are prominent recurring Russians throughout the Marvel canon like Red Guardian, Black Widow, Colossus, Illyana Rasputina and Darkstar, but their Estonian and Armenian counterparts are practically nonexistent. One would hope that given America’s declining stature, that it might be feasible to do a fiction story featuring prominent recurring Estonian characters outside of both Europe and Estonia itself this time.

The only place where you can find recurring Yugoslav representation in any way in the US comics canon is Joe Sacco’s body of work like Sarajevo and Safe Area Gorazde, even if these are nonfiction than the purely fictious tales that predominate the Marvel canon. But it does insinuate a certain message that since Marvel isn’t real, why bother retconning Doctor Doom to be Yugoslav himself? To them, Marvel is escapist. To do is to consciously pretend or ignore one’s desire for any real Yugoslav representation in the Marvel world, there are practically no mutants coming from Uzbekistan so far. There are no mutants who hail from either Baku or Tashkent, just as there are no mutants coming from either Baturi, Georgia or Tbilisi, Georgia. And when I mean by Georgia, it’s a European country next to Russia and Armenia I think.

There are really no mutants from Yerevan whatsoever, there are no mutants from somewhere in either Bucharest, Romania or Chisinau, Moldova without being vampires themselves. There are no mutants from Almaty, Kazakhstan; nor are there any mutants from even Belgrade, Serbia for this matter. As for Romanian speaking countries like Romania itself, there’s a tendency to tie it with vampiric stereotypes if it weren’t for Dracula. But if you peruse Romanian media from this country rather frequently, a different story emerges and one that’s in some regards more ordinary. Like if you use Romanian language websites to read up on things like lectionaries, foxes and more, then Romania is actually rather ordinary or at least much more (normal) than the popular imagination presumes it to be.

This is compounded by that America’s such a superpower, such a hegemon, that it’s going to popularise such misconceptions on a much wider scale than any other country comes close to doing. To get a Romanian or Moldovan character who’s not a vampire themself, despite the writer not being Romanian/Moldovan themself (or yourself), you’d have to regularly consume Romanophone media in any capacity and way to get a vision of either one of them not falling under popular stereotypes, or perhaps both. Even then it’s kind of hard getting a Romanophone character right without falling into popular memes, especially if you’re not Romanophone yourself. Not that Romanian characters are nonexistent in Marvel at all, but a non-stereotypical character is rare at best, nonexistent at worst.

Similar things can be said about the paucity of recurring Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian characters in either DC or Marvel, they might as well be glorified NPCs and mere afterthoughts in the wider scheme of things. A nonstereotypical Kazakh mutant would be nice, a mutant who comes from the European country of Georgia would be nice, an Armenian mutant would be nice, so on and so forth but they never really came to pass as actual, recurring characters in the X-Men canon. But when coupled with America’s declining stature that it’s feasible to create well-known Armenian superheroes outside of Armenia and possibly the rest of the former Soviet sphere itself, or their Estonian and Lithuanian counterparts for that matter. Maybe not immediately but it’s clear where it’s going now that America’s declining.

Mum’s double life

She acts like a good mother

In public, in private she reads

A lot of porn unknown to all.

Immigrants

They came over here in

Search of a better life

Wondering what’s like.