Mo is a tough read. Not sure I would want to venture into the contemporary word salad of binary/non-binary gender confused trans dressing prophet. Good job Author,
keep us guessing.
The text itself is instructive. If you haven’t followed the link, here it is:
“And those wives whose refractoriness ye fear, exhort them, and avoid them in beds, and beat them; but if they obey you, seek not a way against them;”
And here I quote myself: “The virtue of a group of people is in direct proportion to the extent to which they ignore the worst parts of their religious texts.”
What I find interesting is that there is a current trend toward highlighting and exaggerating the worst parts of many religions. That tells me it isn’t about the religions, really; it’s that cruelty has become fashionable.
It is probably true in some cases that some people point out the fallacies of the Bible or Koran with sneery derision. However, I cannot conflate the highlighting or exaggerating the worst part of the Bible with promoting cruelty. These are statements of fact.
Those who ignore the worst parts of the Bible or Koran and cherry pick the better half provide the foundation for a religious world view that fundamentalists use to justify hostility, sectarian bias and violence against non-believers. They are in essence, the enablers of religious fundamentalism. There is an intrinsic value in pointing out the paradox of the “good” and the “bad” in these holy books so that right thinking people will see it for what it is.
Forteatwo, I don’t follow your reasoning. It is better that people do a good thing for a stupid reason than that they do a bad thing for a slightly less stupid reason. Even if we could magically make people give up religion, this would be far less use than making them choose good over evil, no matter how stupid their reasoning.
Forteatwo, I wasn’t clear. By highlight and exaggerate I meant that believers are pushing these parts over the softer and nicer parts. For example, it seems that in the US, the religious Christian right appears to want to always rail about homosexuality and abortion. I never hear them talk about peace and love which are much more important Christian concepts.
Using religion to punish others has become the trend. That’s why I say it’s “fascionable”.
Laripu: I get it and misunderstood your point. Nice to see people quoting themselves.
Mr P: My point was that people who do good things for a “stupid” reason enable the bad people by supporting a religion that condones bad stuff.
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
January 17, 2006
Hit the road, Mo,
And doncha come back.
No Mo, no Mo, no Mo, no Mo.
Hit the road, Mo,
And doncha come back: no Mo.
As usual, I don’t have anything to add; I just wish, Author, that you could hear me laughing, when the punchline hits.
Hey, maybe that’s why it’s called a “punch” line.
Just wanted to see what icon attaches, if I use one email address rather than another. I hope this one gets the Atheist Mantis.
Mo is a tough read. Not sure I would want to venture into the contemporary word salad of binary/non-binary gender confused trans dressing prophet. Good job Author,
keep us guessing.
It’s if you “fear disobedience” she doesn’t have to actually disobey.
Seems to me Mo can’t decide whether to be a waif or a bitch. I suppose he could combine both and be a witch, but then Moses would have to burn him!
The text itself is instructive. If you haven’t followed the link, here it is:
“And those wives whose refractoriness ye fear, exhort them, and avoid them in beds, and beat them; but if they obey you, seek not a way against them;”
And here I quote myself: “The virtue of a group of people is in direct proportion to the extent to which they ignore the worst parts of their religious texts.”
What I find interesting is that there is a current trend toward highlighting and exaggerating the worst parts of many religions. That tells me it isn’t about the religions, really; it’s that cruelty has become fashionable.
Or should that be fascionable? 😉
Laripu, thank you for posting the quote.
It is probably true in some cases that some people point out the fallacies of the Bible or Koran with sneery derision. However, I cannot conflate the highlighting or exaggerating the worst part of the Bible with promoting cruelty. These are statements of fact.
Those who ignore the worst parts of the Bible or Koran and cherry pick the better half provide the foundation for a religious world view that fundamentalists use to justify hostility, sectarian bias and violence against non-believers. They are in essence, the enablers of religious fundamentalism. There is an intrinsic value in pointing out the paradox of the “good” and the “bad” in these holy books so that right thinking people will see it for what it is.
Dear Author, this has to be your best yet. I pissed myself (don’t judge, I’m 66, it happens).
Ah, Mo is into S&M.
All Moses has to do is trick Mo into saying Jehovah and he can stone him to his heart’s content.
It seems excessive to threaten Mo with a stick; the Koranic verse calls only for beating/slapping a wife whom you fear might misbehave.
Forteatwo, I don’t follow your reasoning. It is better that people do a good thing for a stupid reason than that they do a bad thing for a slightly less stupid reason. Even if we could magically make people give up religion, this would be far less use than making them choose good over evil, no matter how stupid their reasoning.
Forteatwo, I wasn’t clear. By highlight and exaggerate I meant that believers are pushing these parts over the softer and nicer parts. For example, it seems that in the US, the religious Christian right appears to want to always rail about homosexuality and abortion. I never hear them talk about peace and love which are much more important Christian concepts.
Using religion to punish others has become the trend. That’s why I say it’s “fascionable”.
Laripu: I get it and misunderstood your point. Nice to see people quoting themselves.
Mr P: My point was that people who do good things for a “stupid” reason enable the bad people by supporting a religion that condones bad stuff.
“But Master the words are worse than the blows”. – Isaac Bashevis Singer
RE: MR P T SEED
But religion fills people’s truth tables with misinformation distorting reality and lead them to incorrect behavior.