There is also what you might call “reverse othering”, where you other yourself (or, more precisely, you other your own people). The classic example would be the anti-Westernism that is so fashionable among Western intellectuals, and the exaggerated deference and respect for non-Western religions and cultures that goes with it. An extreme example might be Susan Sontag’s famous declaration that “The white race is the cancer of human history”. (This goes back further than you might think. Gilbert and Sullivan surely had such people in mind when he had Ko-Ko add “…the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
All centuries but this, and every country but his own” to his little list).
“So this is hell. I’d never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the ”burning marl.” Old wives’ tales! There’s no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is—other people!”
Aye. Human stupidity is my own pet hate….It’s our own fault, allowing people to be delusional and not making people uncomfortable about their personal delusions….
Jesus & Mo (the characters) are absurd, blinkered, and oddly very sweet. J&M (the cartoon) is brilliant: sharp, delicious, irresistible. Salman Rushdie
Jesus and Mo cartoons are wonderfully funny and true. Richard Dawkins
Jesus and Mo make the world a better place, bless their little hearts. Ophelia Benson
In a world defined by outrage and offence and liberal spinelessness, Jesus and Mo is a treasure, whose value we should never fail to recognize. Read them. Laugh. And think. Kenan Malik
The brilliant, celebrated, freaking hilarious atheist comic strip ... Greta Christina
...rays of sanity in a befuddled world. Keri Hulme
The liveliest depictions of Muhammad currently available... Malise Ruthven
J & Mo is the funniest and most consistently thought-provoking cartoon strip on the Net. In a saner world, it would run in a major newspaper. Nelson Jones, Heresy Corner
Consistently amusing, frequently thought-provoking and often heart-warming. New Humanist
Jesus & Mo is one of the most wonderful things on the internet.. JT Eberhard
Wittily captures much of the absurdity of religious apologetics. Mano Singham
I love jesusandmo.net cartoons - witty and sharp! Katha Pollitt
Often hilarious, frequently wry, these cartoons do what all the best cartoons do: they tell the truth through humour. Terry Sanderson, NSS President
...a wonderfully acid British cartoonist... Nick Cohen
I love the scrappy mockery of Jesus and Mo. Freedom of speech
includes the freedom to mock any person, any thing, any activity, and
any belief -- and J&M stands up for this unflinchingly Richard Stallman
...empowering, important and deeply progressive, not to mention hilarious... Council of Ex-Muslims
December 29, 2021
Other comics just don’t compare.
If only, if only others could be the same, like we are!
@Rrr
But then we’d be like them!
Other Bother Brother?
There is also what you might call “reverse othering”, where you other yourself (or, more precisely, you other your own people). The classic example would be the anti-Westernism that is so fashionable among Western intellectuals, and the exaggerated deference and respect for non-Western religions and cultures that goes with it. An extreme example might be Susan Sontag’s famous declaration that “The white race is the cancer of human history”. (This goes back further than you might think. Gilbert and Sullivan surely had such people in mind when he had Ko-Ko add “…the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
All centuries but this, and every country but his own” to his little list).
“So this is hell. I’d never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the ”burning marl.” Old wives’ tales! There’s no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is—other people!”
Aye. Human stupidity is my own pet hate….It’s our own fault, allowing people to be delusional and not making people uncomfortable about their personal delusions….