And rationalizing why the believers know more than the unbelievers, reinforcing their much needed sense of moral and spiritual superiority… Not to mention explaining the need for tithing and collection plates…
Beautiful! So elegantly expressed! This one is masterful. It encapsulates the whole absurdity of theology – a non-subject, non-discipline, non-thought, a scam, a refuge of charlatans – in two brief moments. Fabulous.
I clicked on the ‘About Theology’ link. It was about Christian theology versus atheism and discussed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s comments on an atheist book. It seems to neglect the fact that atheism means without god, not particularly without a Christian god. Theists argue for a god and it is very important to them that their arguments sound logical and reasonable, whatever their professed religion. However, that doesn’t change the fact that they all believe in magic.
I’ve seen similar discussions on Usenet, where the participants start by accepting the truth of Star Trek, then proceed to defend the latest episode from charges of implausibility, and iron out any inherent contradictions.
They actually start with things they wish were true and then build from there.
Immortality for oneself, loved ones and friends – afterlife.
Protection from uncertainty and unpleasantness – omnipotent invisible friend.
Rebellious peons and underlings – heaven and hell as carrot and stick.
Intractable women – codified misogyny, by and for the patriarchs.
Interstellar space flight – warp drives.
My favorite argument is when christians say, “But I couldn’t bear the thought of having no life after death!” If you really want it enough, then it will be true. Kinda like that Oprah book, “The secret.” The secret to life is pretense!
Religion is Ego.
“I’m too important to die, therefore I must live forever in one form or another, hence the gospel according to why i must live forever”
It’s the ancient alternative to cryogenics… There’s no way ‘I’ should die…
Or as Q on Star Trek puts it “no more me?”
The evidence for faith is supposed to be lives changed from immoral, dissatisfying ways to moral, gratifying ways. Sadly this is not evidenced consistently by those who call themselves Christians today.
The straw-man in this cartoon is the “perfect and immutable holy scripture”. Holy scriptures are neither “perfect” nor “immutable”. They are subject to interpretations, and these interpretations should not be literal. Not in the age of space travel, anyway.
Someone (I don’t know with certainty who) said that God is the thing/person you love most in your life. Loving requires believing in. A loving Creator God – either you believe in him/her, or you believe in something else – yourself, the unstoppable progress of science, communist or Nazi Parties, absurdity of life, whatever works for you. For me, the loving Creator God works just fine. It’s not about the truth of any propositions.
Tom is mistaken. In some religions, holy scriptures _are_ perfect and immutable. They are also literal truth. I cite any of a number of christian fundamentalist denominations in the southern US. Some of these people build “creationism museums” because they know the earth is only 6000 years old. They know because the Bible is literal truth, and somebody added up all the time that elapsed in all the bible stories.
If you think that is not the core of their religion, go ask them.
Tom, apparently, unless I’m wrong which is always possible, a milliard and a half of people think that the Koran is perfect and immutable. They also think that it is only so in its original language, that all translations are unauthorised and flawed.
And I’m fairly sure the same goes for the LDS lot.
Mags, “Star Trek” is not true … yet. It is after all set in the 23rd Century. Yes, the crews have occasionally been time-shifted back to various recent dates but they usually land in America and no one notices anything strange happening there.
The place is overrun with Zetans, reptilian hybrids, Atlanteans, Go’auld and Jaffa, who is going to take note of a couple of Vulcans and a bloke from Idaho?
Umm … what was the question, again?
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Wittily captures much of the absurdity of religious apologetics. Mano Singham
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March 1, 2006
And rationalizing why the believers know more than the unbelievers, reinforcing their much needed sense of moral and spiritual superiority… Not to mention explaining the need for tithing and collection plates…
LOL! Brilliant! Definitely file this one under “the more you ‘know’, the easier you are to fool”.
brilliant !
Some days this comic is the hilight of my day. This time, however, it is the hilight of my WEEK! Rock on, author, rock on.
Beautiful! So elegantly expressed! This one is masterful. It encapsulates the whole absurdity of theology – a non-subject, non-discipline, non-thought, a scam, a refuge of charlatans – in two brief moments. Fabulous.
I clicked on the ‘About Theology’ link. It was about Christian theology versus atheism and discussed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s comments on an atheist book. It seems to neglect the fact that atheism means without god, not particularly without a Christian god. Theists argue for a god and it is very important to them that their arguments sound logical and reasonable, whatever their professed religion. However, that doesn’t change the fact that they all believe in magic.
I’ve seen similar discussions on Usenet, where the participants start by accepting the truth of Star Trek, then proceed to defend the latest episode from charges of implausibility, and iron out any inherent contradictions.
Isn’t Star Trek real then? What a shock!
They actually start with things they wish were true and then build from there.
Immortality for oneself, loved ones and friends – afterlife.
Protection from uncertainty and unpleasantness – omnipotent invisible friend.
Rebellious peons and underlings – heaven and hell as carrot and stick.
Intractable women – codified misogyny, by and for the patriarchs.
Interstellar space flight – warp drives.
My favorite argument is when christians say, “But I couldn’t bear the thought of having no life after death!” If you really want it enough, then it will be true. Kinda like that Oprah book, “The secret.” The secret to life is pretense!
Ah! Delightful…
Religion is Ego.
“I’m too important to die, therefore I must live forever in one form or another, hence the gospel according to why i must live forever”
It’s the ancient alternative to cryogenics… There’s no way ‘I’ should die…
Or as Q on Star Trek puts it “no more me?”
Interesting artwork, but the clip presents nothing but a straw man, and a silly and vapid one at that. But overall, the whole thing is rather cute.
Peace and mirth,
BG
But, I should also say that I did enjoy it.
Thanks.
BG
Hi Bill, did you read my article that this comic strip is based on? Where is the straw man? Do tell…
The evidence for faith is supposed to be lives changed from immoral, dissatisfying ways to moral, gratifying ways. Sadly this is not evidenced consistently by those who call themselves Christians today.
The straw-man in this cartoon is the “perfect and immutable holy scripture”. Holy scriptures are neither “perfect” nor “immutable”. They are subject to interpretations, and these interpretations should not be literal. Not in the age of space travel, anyway.
Someone (I don’t know with certainty who) said that God is the thing/person you love most in your life. Loving requires believing in. A loving Creator God – either you believe in him/her, or you believe in something else – yourself, the unstoppable progress of science, communist or Nazi Parties, absurdity of life, whatever works for you. For me, the loving Creator God works just fine. It’s not about the truth of any propositions.
Tom is mistaken. In some religions, holy scriptures _are_ perfect and immutable. They are also literal truth. I cite any of a number of christian fundamentalist denominations in the southern US. Some of these people build “creationism museums” because they know the earth is only 6000 years old. They know because the Bible is literal truth, and somebody added up all the time that elapsed in all the bible stories.
If you think that is not the core of their religion, go ask them.
Tom, apparently, unless I’m wrong which is always possible, a milliard and a half of people think that the Koran is perfect and immutable. They also think that it is only so in its original language, that all translations are unauthorised and flawed.
And I’m fairly sure the same goes for the LDS lot.
Mags, “Star Trek” is not true … yet. It is after all set in the 23rd Century. Yes, the crews have occasionally been time-shifted back to various recent dates but they usually land in America and no one notices anything strange happening there.
The place is overrun with Zetans, reptilian hybrids, Atlanteans, Go’auld and Jaffa, who is going to take note of a couple of Vulcans and a bloke from Idaho?
Umm … what was the question, again?
Bones’sDog: First thing that comes to mind from that name is “Dog’s Bonner”?