There are less offensive alternatives. ‘Heck’ for example is sure to avoid trouble. Apparently ‘Heck’ is the place you go to if you don’t believe in ‘gosh.’ What could possibly be offensive about that as a concept..?
I’m thinking that the very reason the author lets J&M swear so much, is to show how they too, are not beyond failure, even though they’re supposed to be the ones chosen by god.
Also, JoJo, there’s nothing offensive about it, but that’s not important either. What’s important here is that the author has a choice, and it’s the author’s choice alone.
People being offended by it is no reason to stop doing it. Because in the end, being offended might mean you care, but your caring stops at you as a person, and can not be used to forbid the other people in the world from doing it.
Doing so would be pure dictatorship. You can have an opinion, but that doesn’t mean it matters more than the opinion of someone else, just because you feel bad about people doing things you don’t agree with.
I love it…lol. The whole idea is to be non-PC for God’s (?) sake… I can understand the word ‘fuck’ being offensive in may contexts, but certainly not this one – quite the contrary. I love J&M; may you continue ad infinitum!
I beg to differ w/Oliver in that the comic wasn’t at all predictable in a truly accurate sense. The letter writer could have been told to fuck off or go to hell, there could have been a general admonition for complainers to fuck off or go to hell, or the big twist of leaving out any curse words. And besides, using fuck to anything other than a cheap laugh takes a hell of a lot, especially against so poor a foil.
Given how Frak – the Battlestar Galactica word for fuck has crept into almost common useage – and is used by other tv shows – it’s clearly not what the word means that is offensive – but the hard Anglo-Saxonness of the word itself.
And while fuck is pretty much a comma these days – the only ‘swear’ word with any emotional power left to it is the other Anglo-Saxon one, the “C-word” rhymes with runt.
I’m old-fashioned enough to dislike it. Firstly it’s often used with no motivation other than the wish to offend and, secondly, what do you say when you’re REALLY upset if that word’s in every other sentence you utter? I use it, perhaps, twice a year and then sotto voce. That’s my position and I’m not trying to impose it on others.
Personally I don’t find these words offensive; in that I don’t take offence, however I do think they’re vulgar and most of the time rather unnecessary and crass. On the odd occasion though they can be used to good effect like here and I remember the Parrot Sketch – which is a funny coincidence given how I’ve seen a lot of comparisons lately between fundamentalists and parrots
For some reason this made me think of a ‘Not The Nine O Clock News’ sketch in which a Mary Whitehouse type character was claiming that people were becoming so used to uttering swearwords and vulgarities that they were slipping into their speech without them realising. The MW character at one point uttered the line “You can’t even open your mouth without a great stream of smut coming I’m coming don’t stop I’m coming out of it”.
oh, please, PLEASE go back to the old art. i can’t relate to these guys. now you have a really amateurish cartoon that tries to be professional, the old one actually emphasized the script and was a lot more … “soulful” 🙂 (as in less generic)
a) I love J&M – no problem with anything in any of them
b) Most of the comments (and the site) push the point of freedom of speech
c) The original comment was an example of …. freedom of speech – someone expressing their opinion.
OK so disagree with that opinion (as the strip did) but be careful that you don’t deny the original writer their freedom of speech.
I find it funny when people try to use “freedom of speech” in a manner that implies only the first speech gets it – they don’t seem to realize that just because you’re free and able to say a thing not only doesn’t mean you should say it, but more, it doesn’t mean that others do not get to react negatively to it or you for saying it.
Let me get this straight. Someone is complaining about the f-word being used in a comic largely composed of mocking and demeaning religion. Don’t get me wrong, I love J&M and I think religion really needs some mocking in our society. I am not being critical of the comic in the slightest. My point is that if the author really cared about offending fragile sensibilities, he/she/it would not have made this comic in the first place. I think someone having such a thin skin about language while having no problem when the comic poking fun at people who have a thin skin about religion seems pretty hypocritical to me.
Unfortunately I need to agree with Oliver – This strip, as a lot of them lately, has become predictive. I mean, I am deeply fond of J&M and have been laughing about them for years, yet the wit and creativity of former strips too often appears to be reduced to new versions of one old punchline.
I like a cheap laugh. I also like expensive laughs but they cost more. I’d have to work 28 hours a day to be able to afford an expensive laugh. It’s alright for you rich buggers…………….
I also don’t see what’s wrong with a cheap laugh – humour mainstays are generally cheap laughs – the pies in the face, a kick to the balls or a man in a dress.
I also think that Jesus saying fuck actually elevates it out of the cheap laugh label that would apply to any other non-religious character – but it’s because of who is saying it that the word regains some of it’s former power – the dramatic tension of the word being uttered by a person it’s unexpected from
Ha ha ha!! That’s brilliant!! I can’t believe, though, after reading through these comments, how many people are so offended by a commonly used cuss word which has obviously lost its full strength over the decades.
We laugh at Jesus and Mo when THEY take offence when others criticize their religions. Now many of us can laugh at all of YOU for taking offence to a simple cuss word. It is equally ridiculous, and equally funny, and by the way… my irony meter exploded.
I’d say that ‘fucking’ has pretty much lost its power to shock. Far from being a verb, it’s probably the most commonly used adjective nowdays. So different to when I was a nipper, back when a child uttering even that mildest of oaths ‘bloody hell’ would very quickly learn what soap tasted like. even though we had what we imagined to be a watertight defence; working on the theory that if something was contained within the Bible then it must be OK, if caught using the ‘b’ word, we’d recite:
‘Bloody’s in the Bible
It’s in the bloody book.
Don’t you bloody believe me?
Take a bloody look.’
Jesus & Mo (the characters) are absurd, blinkered, and oddly very sweet. J&M (the cartoon) is brilliant: sharp, delicious, irresistible. Salman Rushdie
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I love the scrappy mockery of Jesus and Mo. Freedom of speech
includes the freedom to mock any person, any thing, any activity, and
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March 1, 2006
HA HA HA! This was BIG, CLEVER and extremely FUNNY.
It would be wonderful if it were part of a soon to be issued J&M vol. 5!
There are less offensive alternatives. ‘Heck’ for example is sure to avoid trouble. Apparently ‘Heck’ is the place you go to if you don’t believe in ‘gosh.’ What could possibly be offensive about that as a concept..?
I hate to say it, but this strip became extremely predictable after the opening pane.
I screwed up because I was influenced by the king of Heck? Hmm. Somehow that simply doesn’t have the bite it needs.
I like the strength of colorful words, especially if it pisses off fundamentalists.
“What’s the big deal? It doesn’t hurt anybody! Fuck fuckity fuckfuckfuck!”
I’m thinking that the very reason the author lets J&M swear so much, is to show how they too, are not beyond failure, even though they’re supposed to be the ones chosen by god.
Also, JoJo, there’s nothing offensive about it, but that’s not important either. What’s important here is that the author has a choice, and it’s the author’s choice alone.
People being offended by it is no reason to stop doing it. Because in the end, being offended might mean you care, but your caring stops at you as a person, and can not be used to forbid the other people in the world from doing it.
Doing so would be pure dictatorship. You can have an opinion, but that doesn’t mean it matters more than the opinion of someone else, just because you feel bad about people doing things you don’t agree with.
To the person whose quote gave rise to today’s J&M
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8489137.stm
I find THAT extremely offensive.
I love it…lol. The whole idea is to be non-PC for God’s (?) sake… I can understand the word ‘fuck’ being offensive in may contexts, but certainly not this one – quite the contrary. I love J&M; may you continue ad infinitum!
I beg to differ w/Oliver in that the comic wasn’t at all predictable in a truly accurate sense. The letter writer could have been told to fuck off or go to hell, there could have been a general admonition for complainers to fuck off or go to hell, or the big twist of leaving out any curse words. And besides, using fuck to anything other than a cheap laugh takes a hell of a lot, especially against so poor a foil.
Right fucking on
I found JoJo’s comment extremely amusing. Rather dry humour and I hate euphemisms too.
Given how Frak – the Battlestar Galactica word for fuck has crept into almost common useage – and is used by other tv shows – it’s clearly not what the word means that is offensive – but the hard Anglo-Saxonness of the word itself.
And while fuck is pretty much a comma these days – the only ‘swear’ word with any emotional power left to it is the other Anglo-Saxon one, the “C-word” rhymes with runt.
@Benjamin – Cartman rules!
Oooh.. at least someone got it, then… 🙂
I’m old-fashioned enough to dislike it. Firstly it’s often used with no motivation other than the wish to offend and, secondly, what do you say when you’re REALLY upset if that word’s in every other sentence you utter? I use it, perhaps, twice a year and then sotto voce. That’s my position and I’m not trying to impose it on others.
jojo, nice one.
author, keem ’em coming.
for jojo’s next post, does anyone know an emoticon for sarcasm?
the word euphamism needs it’s own. it’s only right.
JoJo had the best line of the day: “Heck is where you go if you don’t believe in gosh.”
Gosh, I wish I had that on a mug..
You could see it coming right from the first, but it was still laugh out loud funny when you got to it. Great work!
Four panes of a slowly rising middle finger. All the response that letter deserved.
made me think of George Carlin -words you can’t never say…- Then I read the comment section -heck-…made me think even more about George Carlin.
God bless that motherfucker. Of course, if God existed, George would be down in heck (wich, fortunately, isn’t nearly as bad as hell)
Personally I don’t find these words offensive; in that I don’t take offence, however I do think they’re vulgar and most of the time rather unnecessary and crass. On the odd occasion though they can be used to good effect like here and I remember the Parrot Sketch – which is a funny coincidence given how I’ve seen a lot of comparisons lately between fundamentalists and parrots
“…only to get a cheap laugh”. This means, my dear lady, that even according to your (poor) sense of humor it was not “gratuitous” at all.
Benjamin – I second that!!
Fuckfuckfuckfuck
If you’re offended, fuck off.
*yawn*
It’s weird how effectively comic timing can be employed in a series of 4 simple frames, yet it works perfectly. Nice.
(Hope everyone’s signed the petition to get this grasping bigot and paedo-protector to fund his own trip: http://www.secularism.org.uk/petition-the-pm.html)
Umm, 23 across, a four letter word that will,
on occasion refer to a female human?
Four letters, let’s see, and the last three are u-n-t?
Of course, it’s Aunt.
So, where did your filthy mind take you?
For some reason this made me think of a ‘Not The Nine O Clock News’ sketch in which a Mary Whitehouse type character was claiming that people were becoming so used to uttering swearwords and vulgarities that they were slipping into their speech without them realising. The MW character at one point uttered the line “You can’t even open your mouth without a great stream of smut coming I’m coming don’t stop I’m coming out of it”.
oh, please, PLEASE go back to the old art. i can’t relate to these guys. now you have a really amateurish cartoon that tries to be professional, the old one actually emphasized the script and was a lot more … “soulful” 🙂 (as in less generic)
I wonder if the original complaint would have been made if it’d only been Mo saying Fuck?
dang it. i still like the old art. you’d think by now i’d be used to it, but… it really was better. Author! pls reconsider?
in the words of Kathy G, my beloved queen of hags – suck it, Jesus 🙂
a) I love J&M – no problem with anything in any of them
b) Most of the comments (and the site) push the point of freedom of speech
c) The original comment was an example of …. freedom of speech – someone expressing their opinion.
OK so disagree with that opinion (as the strip did) but be careful that you don’t deny the original writer their freedom of speech.
@BJ – yes exactly, it’s a freedom of speech, not freedom from criticism!
Brilliant!
I find it funny when people try to use “freedom of speech” in a manner that implies only the first speech gets it – they don’t seem to realize that just because you’re free and able to say a thing not only doesn’t mean you should say it, but more, it doesn’t mean that others do not get to react negatively to it or you for saying it.
Let me get this straight. Someone is complaining about the f-word being used in a comic largely composed of mocking and demeaning religion. Don’t get me wrong, I love J&M and I think religion really needs some mocking in our society. I am not being critical of the comic in the slightest. My point is that if the author really cared about offending fragile sensibilities, he/she/it would not have made this comic in the first place. I think someone having such a thin skin about language while having no problem when the comic poking fun at people who have a thin skin about religion seems pretty hypocritical to me.
eheeh this was funny. In norway i hear a bad word every day, so i think it’s not so wrong to say a bad word. But some one dont like bad words
Unfortunately I need to agree with Oliver – This strip, as a lot of them lately, has become predictive. I mean, I am deeply fond of J&M and have been laughing about them for years, yet the wit and creativity of former strips too often appears to be reduced to new versions of one old punchline.
Keep it up, Author, you can do better than that!
Jesus used the f-word? When?
I like a cheap laugh. I also like expensive laughs but they cost more. I’d have to work 28 hours a day to be able to afford an expensive laugh. It’s alright for you rich buggers…………….
I also don’t see what’s wrong with a cheap laugh – humour mainstays are generally cheap laughs – the pies in the face, a kick to the balls or a man in a dress.
I also think that Jesus saying fuck actually elevates it out of the cheap laugh label that would apply to any other non-religious character – but it’s because of who is saying it that the word regains some of it’s former power – the dramatic tension of the word being uttered by a person it’s unexpected from
“Its former power”, Nina- *its*. Have you forgotten the lessons of the last strip so quickly?!
Ha ha ha!! That’s brilliant!! I can’t believe, though, after reading through these comments, how many people are so offended by a commonly used cuss word which has obviously lost its full strength over the decades.
We laugh at Jesus and Mo when THEY take offence when others criticize their religions. Now many of us can laugh at all of YOU for taking offence to a simple cuss word. It is equally ridiculous, and equally funny, and by the way… my irony meter exploded.
That’s right, it didn’t go “sprung!” It EXPLODED!
I think we all need to watch our fucking language.
I’d say that ‘fucking’ has pretty much lost its power to shock. Far from being a verb, it’s probably the most commonly used adjective nowdays. So different to when I was a nipper, back when a child uttering even that mildest of oaths ‘bloody hell’ would very quickly learn what soap tasted like. even though we had what we imagined to be a watertight defence; working on the theory that if something was contained within the Bible then it must be OK, if caught using the ‘b’ word, we’d recite:
‘Bloody’s in the Bible
It’s in the bloody book.
Don’t you bloody believe me?
Take a bloody look.’
Oh, how our buttocks glowed!
As someone else posted recently, “Fuck! I said ‘shit’! Shit! I said ‘fuck’!”