The Doubt Monster

"What manner of creature is that? What manner of devil made him?" Part two. I noted that the Creature only responds to violence with violence. He doesn't kill from hate or carelessness or cruelty, but as a reaction to pain or fear. He only attacks the sailors and the farmers because they shoot at him first. He kills the wolves to save his friend. Victor, on the other hand, quickly resorts to violence when he is frustrated, jealous, or angry. He beats his creation when it "refuses" to progress past a certain level - by his standards. He attempts to burn his creation alive because it isn't "perfect" enough. He knows that Elizabeth is perfectly safe with the Creature, yet he grabs and shoots a gun out of pure envy, accidentally ending her life.  The Creature doesn't lie, but Victor lies easily. He pretends to be the priest in the confessional in order to hear Elizabeth's darkest secrets (thankfully she finds him out). He fr...

"Some of what I will tell you is fact. Some is not. But it is all true." Oscar Isaac's Victor Frankenstein begins his tale with these words, and I think they sum up Guillermo Del Toro's film nicely. This 2025 version of Mary Shelley's novel is my new obsession, and I'm not alone. We're in the 2nd week of its Netflix release and it is still #1 on the platform.  I needed an outlet for my thoughts concerning this adaptation, and particularly to deconstruct the artistry and themes of the story.  Films like these come rarely and when they do I feel a need to ring out every last drop of meaning and detail and thought from them, as if it were a life source. The experience is similar to viewing a particular painting that captures your mind and soul, and you can't look into it deeply enough. Or hearing a song you wish you could absorb into your veins.  This will contain many spoilers, so consider yourself warned. Perhaps the backdrop of 2025 helps t...

I'd like to remind you to read the Intro and the previous Parts before reading this post if you would like the full context. The Intro in particular will explain who the heck Rhett and Link are, because I will be referring to them occasionally, and they inspired me to share my story. So I had arrived at the realization that no one knows whether or not God exists. Again, the keyword here is "know". Your faith and your personal spiritual experiences may feel like knowledge, but to know something is to have definitive proof. One person may believe in God, but they can't know he exists - whereas another person may not believe in God, but they can't know he doesn't exist. Arriving at this conclusion among others - like evolution being scientifically proven, despite many Christians teaching the opposite - shattered my trust in the Christian faith and in the Christians who had been teaching me my whole life. When you call someone's bluff on one thing...

I'd like to remind you to read the Intro and Parts One and Two before reading this post if you would like the full context. The Intro in particular will explain who the heck Rhett and Link are, because I will be referring to them occasionally, and they inspired me to share my story. Humans seem to have this innate desire for answers, for knowledge. We also seem to have an innate desire for meaning and purpose.With those desires combined, it makes sense that we would look for signs of a higher power - something or someone with all the answers who has a purpose for us. It would give us a feeling of security and safety, knowing that someone else was in charge; that there was a reason behind everything we experienced, particularly the difficult things. From the time our brains can process questions and our mouths can ask them, we're on a mission to get answers. It starts simply - by asking why things hurt or why the sky is blue - but it progresses to deeper and deeper ...

I'd like to remind you to read the Intro and Part One before reading this post. The Intro in particular will explain who the heck Rhett and Link are, because I will be referring to them occasionally throughout this process. Also, since we're getting to the "doubting God exists" part - which is a very sensitive and triggering subject for some people - I'd like to remind you that this is my story, not yours. I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. I'm not here to "lead people astray". I am merely sharing. Perhaps you can challenge yourself to experience my story without fear in your heart. Listening with fear is not truly listening. I believe I was about 7 years old when I experienced my first "wait a minute ... how do we know God exists?" moment. It was weird. I don't know how it came to mind; it was just there all of a sudden, and it rocked my tiny world. After being born, my reality was taught to me and God was alw...

For context of the story I'm about to launch into, please read the post before this one: "Zoe's Spiritual Deconstruction - Inspired By Ear Biscuits". I will often be referencing to Rhett and Link's own spiritual stories recently told on their podcast. Also, yes that is me in the above photo. I know - I was hideous. Okay. I was raised within the Christian Reformed Church. My dad was a pastor for most of my life. His dad and brothers were pastors (still are). Both sides of my family considered themselves staunch Christians (still do). That's the reality that I was born into. For me, being a Christian meant that you believed in the Trinity - God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It meant that you believed Jesus was the Son of God, sent to Earth through the Virgin Mary to die for our sins and rise again from the dead. Because of him we were what Christians call "saved", meaning that our sins were eternally forgiven and we could have a personal relati...