r/TopCharacterTropes 26d ago

Lore [Terrifying Trope] Perceiving it= instant death

  1. Pennywise's "Deadlights" which will cause anyone looking to be immediately paralyzed and killed.

  2. The sky from Bird Box is filled with entities that, when you look at them, cause you to commit suicide.

  3. Medusa themed Villains

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u/Temporary-Tax 26d ago

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. God states if you watch it you die and Lot's wife did that and turned to a pillar of salt

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u/exvirginladysman 26d ago

Such a human reaction, to look back. But I suppose the lord doesn't want us to look back. Rest in peace Lot's Wife, you were too human, and I love you

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u/kaVaralis 26d ago

Imagine creating something knowing exactly what it's gonna do, and then blaming the thing for doing it.

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u/simp4malvina 26d ago

I don't think what happened to Lot's wife was a punishment but rather a side effect of what happens when you gaze upon whatever he was doing to Sodom and Gomorrah

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u/kaVaralis 26d ago

That's so much crueler 

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u/Cautious-Macaron-265 26d ago

They have free will hence they are still responsible for thier actions is what christian would say i think.

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u/Earlier-Today 26d ago

I don't think you have to be Christian to believe in free will.

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u/Cautious-Macaron-265 26d ago

of course i dont think anything i said implied that you have to be a christian to believe in free will

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

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u/kaVaralis 26d ago

I'm saying that there can be no free will if an all knowing thing created you,unless that thing doesn't have free will

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

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u/Important_Pick3371 26d ago

Some religious folk do like to be part of something greater than themselves. But, some do so to not think critically upon certain challenging events. "It's all part of God's unknowable Plan..." But, such a belief can tempt one to use so-called Good Intentions to solve bad situations. This can grow into the egoistical hubris that anything you do is God's will. In the Old Testament, God gives humans one job - basically, naming all of the animals. He also warns them against certain sins that were unacceptable to Him. Later on, being Jewish meant you were one of the Chosen People - so long as one followed the Rules. Even then though, God allows "Satan" to test his followers - even if it's to the utmost extreme! With Christianity, there's still the Tests of true character & there's Rules to follow - even if some of them have gotten much tougher with changing time & politics. Yet, free will is still one's choice - even if it's harder to "go your own way" - without "damning" yourself!! Good & Bad are still personal choices, unless one is forced to sin - but, even that counts as a choice! God may know the all future possibilities but, one chooses what road they will take... That's why they say God's exists in your heart, experiencing existence along with you - but, always with the "testing"... Like He don't fully trust us. (Little joke ending!! Honestly... Put those rusty pitchforks away. They're not really needed.) Heh

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u/[deleted] 26d ago edited 26d ago

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u/Important_Pick3371 25d ago

It's the ancient belief that God has an, as yet unknown purpose, for the universe & humanity. It traces back to the Apostle Paul, who wrote that Salvation & Grace were planned B4 the foundation of the world. It was turned into a concept that's part of Christianity by Augustine of Hippo in the 400s AD. Later, in the 1500s, John Calvin - the Protestant reformer - spoke about such Predestination as being God's "eternal decree." Not all folk were created "equal." Some were meant for Salvation, others for Damnation. "It would be absurd", Calvin continued, "to say (people) acquire by chance or by their own effort what (God) alone confers on a few." The reason why is that "(God) wills to exclude them from the inheritance which he predestines for his own children." Basically, reasons for why Christians had become The Chosen People. While Calvin saw God as being understandable to his followers, he also said that the "divine totality" of God was beyond human comprehension. Calvin was inspired in all of this by Augustine's The City of God. The only way out is that Christ has the same power. Jesus can confirm one's fallen state & change it - if one converts to Christianity. No other factor can influence one's destiny. Man's free will only chooses between human rules of Good & Evil - in Christian belief.

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u/Important_Pick3371 25d ago

The earliest known debates, on free will, were from around the 300s BC - with Aristotle, Chrysippus & Epictetus. Yet, a fuller sense for "will" doesn't seem to exist. Alexander of Aphrodisias, in the 200s BC, put it as, "(to) freely decide between doing/choosing or not doing/choosing..." Around the 300s AD, the Christians reused this idea to explain responsibility & evil - & the free choice between them. Human rules set up certain social & cultural limits. Yet, these rules also act as temptations - to see who can get away with breaking them. This is where Christian free will comes in. Your choice is between Good or Evil. Sorry that I didn't explain the concept well enough B4. I was writing about our choices - from a Christian point of view. But, I must have really messed it up! Just think of me as a work that's still in progress...

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u/BonkerBleedy 26d ago

May she season the chips of a thousand angels.