deny
January 22nd, 2010
Special thanks to this week’s guest scriptwriter, Chris Mooney.
Update: Oh, I just found out you can vote for your favourite comic of the past decade over at the Washington Post. Chris and I would be most grateful if you could go there and cast your click for J&M.
The thing y’all gotta remember, and I’ve been saying this for decades . . .
A great many people, perhaps the majority, don’t apply reason to their beliefs. Period. It’s like this whole “Obama is a Communist” thing. Someone once told Ted Nugent when he was young that Commies were bad, so now he applies that particular label to anyone whose reputation he wants to trash, simply because he knows that he’s preaching to the indoctrinated. My dad supported Arsenal, don’t blame me, but if a Man U supporter mouthed off to me I would do the right thing by society and ensure he could no longer breed .
Religious scientists may not be wholly scientific in their analyses.
Reconciliations of impossible pairings are always being attempted, that doesn’t mean they will ever be successful. Paedophiles exist and thrive in a protected environment, the Catholic Church does this nicely for them so they are not irreconcilable pairings. However, the belief system of the paedophile will not be that which is purveyed by the Catholic Church and so the paedophile and the Catholic Religion are not compatible though it may look like it to the outside world which merely sees the Church.
Having just read back what I’ve written, I think perhaps, though interesting and thought provoking, this episode of J&M isn’t funny. 🙁
You know what? I’m just going to read J&M, and not bother with the link. It’s always a perfect encapsulation, but a lot funnier and less upsetting.
Here in the U.S. there is a massive advertising campaign, “Come back to the (Catholic) church.”
Funny, no one says, “I left the church after being sexually molested but now I’m ready to come back.”
I think the proper advertisement should be, “Come back to the church. This time we promise not to molest your children.”
Dave, it would be more like, “Come back to the church. We moved that priest to a different parish, so really, what could go wrong?”
Turn the other cheek???? You said???
Ha! Brilliant, author dear.
Bodach, you’re spot on.
It’s not surprising that people that hold such irrational, fantastic beliefs can be bamboozled by the old “out of sight, out of mind” policy of bad behaviour management.
I think I agree with Maggs. Brilliant as ever, but not what I’d call funny. No harm in that now and again, though.
TRiG.
Dear Author .. as a huge J&M fan, I’m most sorry to say this.. but I think you took a backward step when you updated the J & M design detailing a few months back. Thing was, the original ‘scrappier’ characters had a kind of endearing frailty to them, that removed any possible sense of threat.
But now Mo (in particular) has the full rich beard and more piercing eyes, he looks much more serious when he makes a point, and more annoyed. There’s a hint of the aggrieved terrorist about him now. I think it was better when he used to look a bit bewildered.
I wonder if anyone else has had the same impression ?
Aside of that – a brilliant column: thank you for reassuring us rationalists that the whole world is not drifting off into the nonsense of religion. I sometimes wonder..
Another good – though sad one. @davedell @bodach. just read an interesting book called “will your prodigal return?” One key point is that those who leave church may leave because of harm done. The church – and the individuals – need to face up to that, apologise, atone and do something about it.Do we see that happen? Do we b)(*&&)cks
As Poor Richard might say, ” This is all just kid stuff. ”
Fine work, Author. May you ever shine.
the question is, in what area of science do these religious scientists exist?
Science isn’t a know one area and you know them all deal.
As long as the “scientist” does whatever their science is, in according with scientific method and principles – that they are religious isn’t here nor there.
But, if they are being merely sciencey to give an appearance of science legitimacy to their religion – that’s not being a scientist.
Something the believers don’t seem to understand
I think Nina may have hit the nail on the head… er… no offence Jesus.
I used to say, “Science and religion are just as compatible as science and alcoholism.” That was clever, but this is cleverer.
I strongly agree with Flyingchap. The old versions of the boys were funnier and softer. These new ones appear more studied, and are less engaging.
Clearly, the catholic church needs to just come out and say that if God wants his priests to get a little action, then, by gummit, they should get some action! So shut up and bend over!
Because otherwise, they’re saying listen to the priests for they speak the word of god — except sometimes, only you’re not allowed to think and figure it out for yourself (you might reconsider the whole talking snake thing!) so just listen to the priest. No matter what he says. Except sometimes. Or always.
http://www.sinasohn.net/notebooks/200503240800.html
I find Mr. Mooney’s ideas for promoting the teaching of Evolution in American public schools to be dishonest and insulting to all.
The end he is working for is admirable. Too many American public schools minimise or ignore evolution entirely. Parents, school administrators and teachers are variously responsible for or being coerced into doing this.
The means he wishes to employ, however involve deception and censorship. On the presumption that a majority of religious Americans do not know already that Evolution undermines their Creation story or can’t work it out, he wants to avoid telling them that there are in fact people who disbelieve Creationism because of their understanding of Evolution. The goal is to get as many religious believers as possible to support teaching evolution.
According to him, vocal atheists need to censor themselves in order to achieve this deception. How he expects such a conspiracy of silence to be achieved without anyone the wiser is beyond me.
This latest logical fallacy is yet another example of his willingness to compromise himself.
Fact Paedophile Athiests do exist…….oh wait thats not funny now is it, but apparently this is. I pray for your souls, estimated time before this comment will be deleted by a frightened little admin approx. 13 minutes. Have a nice day
Here’s what the (real) Jesus said about paedophiles:
‘It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and be cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.’
-Luke 17:2
Any action by the church that defends these criminals goes against the teachings of Christ.
nina, I agree with your post & for the record I’m an analytical chemist.
What might Mafu Mac An tSaoir’s prayer be? “I pray that people who find this cartoon funny should also find the idea of paedophile atheists funny?” I don’t think it says anywhere in the bible that we should pray for people to have a better sense of humor, though if it did, and if prayer worked, then just imagine how much fun everyone could have making each other laugh!
Your comment’s still there Mafu; it obviously wasn’t frightening enough.
And you’re obviously not praying hard enough – you’re not tickling my soul yet.
Or maybe your god just finds you embarrassing.
Re the Washington Post comic poll: J&M currently third on 12%, 5% behind xkcd. Get voting J&Mers!
Looks like Mafu Mac An tSaoir’s prayers have had no effect so far. Maybe he (she?) should try fast-track prayers as facilitated by the PrayerMAX 5000(TM). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVUfLJVSdjg
My vote was cast! Go J&M!
@nina et al, in case anyone missed it, here is an instance of Behe, a biologist skydaddy-believer, testifying at the Dover trial http://video.pbs.org/video/980040807/ . The cross examination is priceless!
A full transcript of the trial can be found here http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dover/kitzmiller_v_dover.html .
[…] Jesus and Mo provide the answer: […]
@Mafu Mac An tSaoir
It’s not fun for the sake of it. It’s about exposing the fraud of clergy’s moral authority that has been usurped by them for ages.
Therefore joking about paedophile priests DO make sense, and about paedophile atheists do not. At all.
If you wish to maintain that catholic clergy are “just ordinary man” (common defense), then you should be consequent and be the first to tell them to STFU and stop lecturing people about what’s good and what’s wrong. You know, condoms, abortion, in vitro, homosexuality, sexual abstinency, consumptionism, Harry Potter etc.
Which, of course, you won’t do, and we all know why. And even if you did, they wouldn’t listen.
Therefore your case was baseless from the start, thank you very much.
Mafu, Son of Freedom.
An odd title for a theist to bear, I can’t help thinking.
TRiG.
[…] and Mo weigh in on the ongoing (due to certain parties NEVER FREAKING ACCEPTING DEFEAT) […]
C’mon J&M fans – the votes for this strip are barely registering!
Crusader Rabid, have you only just noticed that the Catholic Church do not conform to the teachings of Christ? He said that you should sell everything that you own and give the proceeds to the poor.
He was also pretty hostile toward blindly following rules and hypocrisy.
The Catholic Church is less Christian than I am.
Darn, J&Mo are losing to Perry Bible by 300 miles! I voted but there’s not even 1% showing. And oh noes.. xckd is also in the mix!!
Oh well, it’s all fun and it’s all good.
@stonyground
“He [Jesus] was also pretty hostile toward blindly following rules and hypocrisy”
You own me a new ironymeter
[…] Well, that is ridiculous reasoning. To quote myself, “the mere fact that a majority of people hold two positions does not mean those positions are coherent with one another.†You didn’t respond to that, and I don’t see how you could your position. It’s just a terrible argument. I wish you hadn’t made it, but there it is. Chris Mooney has the habit of making a similar argument, and he’s been picked on so often about it that he guest-authored a Jesus and Mo comic where he made fun of the argument himself (http://www.jesusandmo.net/2010/01/22/deny/). […]
I don’t like to compare Einstein with a pedophile priest…