Sunday's Pearls Before Swine Toon

[n2doc]

[rug]

1. "This is why I'm an atheist."

I have heard weaker reasons than a talking crocodile in a cartoon.

[Cartoonist]

2. The weakest reasons belong to the religious

[rug]

3. You would find cartoons quite persuasive.

I find "LEMME ASK GOD. HE TALK TO ME ON SPECIAL HEADPHONES" somewhat lacking.

[Cartoonist]

4. As opposed to Moses

Was he the one with the talking bush?

[rug]

5. Indeed he was. But the bush had much better grammar.

[Cartoonist]

6. Bushes don't talk

Headphones do

[rug]

7. Really? What do headphones say to you?

[Cartoonist]

8. Music mostly

What does your bush say to you?

[rug]

9. Nothing. I understand allegory.

[Cartoonist]

10. Weak.

[rug]

11. I'm not the one pimping strawman cartoons with bad grammar.

[Cartoonist]

12. And I'm just pointing out

who has the weaker talking points.

[rug]

13. Well, your finger is moving but I don't think you've done what you said you did.

[Cartoonist]

14. Compare

Talking bush
Talking headphones

Science wins again!

[rug]

15. Compare

Shakespeare

Cartoons


Literacy wins again!

[Dr Hobbitstein]

16. So the bible is fiction? Nt

[rug]

17. No, it's literature.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

18. You likened it to Shakespeare

Who wrote fictional plays.

[rug]

19. I see some basic information is necessary.

http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/shakespeares-plays/play-types/history-plays/

[Dr Hobbitstein]

20. I'm quite versed in Shakespeare, thank you.

Historical fiction is still fiction. If your knowledge of Julius Caesar came from a play, then I'd say you don't know much about Caesar.

Important line from your link:

We should never forget that they are works of imagination, based very loosely on historical figures.

[rug]

21. There was no Julius Caesar.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

22. Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

[Warren Stupidity]

24. Wow. Somebody is having an awful upset over a cartoon.

[rug]

25. Wow.Somebody thinks a cartoon has something to do with religion.

I suppose that's expected when people confuse a caricature with reality.

[Cartoonist]

26. Reality?

Reality and religion are mutually exclusive.

[rug]

29. QED

[anoNY42]

28. C'mon now

Your first comment on this OP ("I have heard weaker reasons than a talking crocodile in a cartoon.&quot seems to be taking this "caricature" quite seriously.

The Mormons and Witnesses who show up at my door are constantly reinforcing the fact that this caricature is not that far off...

[rug]

31. Sounds to me that you take this cartoon as accurate.

That's the only humor here.

[anoNY42]

34. No, Crocs do not listen to God on headphones

but Christians claim to hear God talk to them all the time, even without headphones. The cartoon is a humorous take on the tendancy of some religious folks to claim to hear God or Jesus or Mohammed or whomever...

Considering how we treat people who claim to hear non-God voices in their heads, it is interesting that Christians are generally given a pass. I, for one, feel my atheism strengthened whenever someone claims to hear the voice of God in their head.

Edited for crappy grammar.

[Gothmog]

23. Great cartoon

[anoNY42]

27. The scary part is that religious folks

claim to hear voices without even having headphones on. In fact, those folks even talk back! At least the croc in this cartoon isn't taking it that far!

[LongtimeAZDem]

30. I suppose it's better than a hair dyer :D

Last edited Wed Aug 31, 2016, 07:32 PM - Edit history (1)

"The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I fail to see how the addition of a hairdryer makes the claim more ridiculous or offensive.”

― Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation

[rug]

32. What religious folks?

Biden?

[anoNY42]

35. If Biden claims to hear God talk to him

then yes, Biden.

Just because I vote for Dems doesn't mean I don't snicker at their religious claims.

Furthermore, I suspect that many Dems make those claims just because that is what it takes to get elected. I do not really blame them for doing this, since it ultimately benefits me.

[rug]

36. Do you have any evidence that Biden claims to hear God talking to him?

Do you think snickering at Democrats who are religious does anything to help get Democratics elected?

Or do you do it merely to amuse yourself here?

[anoNY42]

38. I love you man

Your comment two comments above this asks me if I mean "Biden" when I talk about religious people claiming to hear God's voice in their heads. Don't you ask me for evidence of it, you're the one who brought him up!

"Do you think snickering at Democrats who are religious does anything to help get Democratics elected? "

I don't think snickering would help them get elected, no. I also doubt my snickering about Republican Jesus freak politicians would help those Republicans get elected. If my snickering is enough to turn someone's vote, then that person needs help.

I snicker because belief in God is the same thing as believing in Santa Claus. However, if a politician were to come out in support of the idea that Santa actually exists (and not just as a sop to kids, we all do that), even religious folks would think he was insane.

[rug]

39. Keep it.

You're the one who brought up "religious people". There are millions of Democrats who are "religious folks".

Spare me the Santa Claus argument. It's not 2007 any more.

[anoNY42]

40. If someone were to tell you they were hearing voices,

wouldn't you be at least a bit concerned? Even if you believe God exists, you could not be certain that person was actually hearing God and not just some inner voice.

There are millions of religious Dems, true. Statistically, that number is coming down, thankfully.

[rug]

41. The only ones who've said that to me were schizophrenics I was representing.

Has anyone told you that they're hearing voices?

[anoNY42]

43. Here are some of them now!

"For the last 10 years, I have been doing anthropological and psychological research among experientially oriented evangelicals, the sort of people who seek a personal relationship with God and who expect that God will talk back. For most of them, most of the time, God talks back in a quiet voice they hear inside their minds, or through images that come to mind during prayer. But many of them also reported sensory experiences of God. They say God touched their shoulder, or that he spoke up from the back seat and said, in a way they heard with their ears, that he loved them. Indeed, in 1999, Gallup reported that 23% of all Americans had heard a voice or seen a vision in response to prayer."

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/29/my-take-if-you-hear-god-speak-audibly-you-usually-arent-crazy/

[rug]

44. I'll take that as a no.

You really should not get all your information from the internet.

Unless of course your computer is speaking to you.

[anoNY42]

46. Does it count if he told a newpaper?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/07/iraq.usa

[Angry Dragon]

47. it is 33 AD and 1861. 1908, 1980, and Raygun is a god

[trotsky]

37. Pretty good, though there are clearly people who aren't just "using" a god to justify what they want

They actually believe that's what their god wants. I think if we deny that possibility outright (as many unfortunately do), we are dismissing the seriousness of the problem.

[Lordquinton]

42. Looks like this cartoon hit a deep nerve

hit the nail right on the head.

[trotsky]

45. I see less than 10 posts on this thread.

So I know it definitely hit the RIGHT nerve, too.

[Lordquinton]

48. You're missing comedy gold

Apparently Julius Caesar never existed because cartoons are bad.

[trotsky]

49. LMAO

Sounds like the usual logic peddled by the usual suspects.

[Lordquinton]

50. Oh yea...

Better than the original comic.

I mean, it's true, it's not a comic, it's a mirror.

[MisterP]

51. Pope on Iraq: "you go into Iraq you go without God"

Methodists: "as a Methodist yourself, Mr. President, we implore you to reconsider your role before the Prince of Peace"
New Atheists: "dead Muzzies lolol"

[Act_of_Reparation]

52. "New Atheists"

Funny. I remember protesting the war.

[trotsky]

53. Since you put quotation marks around what the New Atheists said,

I must assume that you can cite where they said those exact words.

Please proceed with the cite. Unless you're bearing false witness, but I would imagine you can't do that because you claim to be a Christian, don't you?

[trotsky]

54. It is interesting that of the "four horsemen" of the so-called New Atheists...

only Hitchens was in full support of the Iraq War.

Richard Dawkins: "Well what I really objected to was the lying about the motives for going into Iraq…it was an act of political opportunism."

Sam Harris: "Perhaps I should establish my liberal bone fides at the outset. I'd like to see taxes raised on the wealthy, drugs decriminalized and homosexuals free to marry. I also think that the Bush administration deserves most of the criticism it has received in the last six years — especially with respect to its waging of the war in Iraq, its scuttling of science and its fiscal irresponsibility."

Daniel Dennett: "It is this, more than anything else, that utterly disqualifies the fiasco in Iraq as a candidate for just war. Saddam Hussein was an extraordinarily evil dictator, and the world is well rid of him, but the steps taken by the USA to accomplish this – unilateral, arrogant, and shockingly ignorant about local conditions – have brought shame on the nation."

You should really stop spreading hateful false information about atheists.

[Lordquinton]

55. You spelled 'US Christians' wrong on the last one.

[muriel_volestrangler]

56. Stats:

Solid majorities of white evangelicals, mainline Protestants, and Catholics favored the U.S.
taking military action to end Saddam Hussein’s rule. Support was strongest among evangelicals,
77% of whom supported war, compared with 62% of Catholics and mainline Protestants. But only
36% of African-American Protestants supported military action, and seculars – respondents who
said they were atheists or had no religious affiliation – divided evenly on the question (44% in favor,
44% opposed).

http://www.religioscope.com/pdf/2003_03%20Religion%20and%20War%20Poll.pdf

Poll taken Mar 13-16, 2003. Props should go to African-American Protestants - the poll also notes 38% of Black churchgoers say their clergy spoke against the war, and just 5% in favour, while 15% of white Evangelical Protestant clergy spoke in favour, and 3% against.

[Lordquinton]

57. Well, would you look at that.

Expecting an apology any minute now....

Any minute...