Discussion (29)¬

1. Silverburn says:

   January 22, 2008 at 3:48 am

   HAHAHAHAHAHA, nice one

2. Jennie says:

   January 22, 2008 at 4:47 am

   You rule. Your barmaid rules. This strip rules. That is all.

3. Alex DeLarge says:

   January 22, 2008 at 4:56 am

   Gotcha!

4. Hobbes says:

   January 22, 2008 at 5:04 am

   Priceless! LOL

   This line of thought reminds me of
   Thomas Jefferson’s Statute of Religious Freedom
   . Every person in high school civics class should have to read it and write a summary for grade.

5. tie says:

   January 22, 2008 at 8:40 am

   priceless!

6. tie says:

   January 22, 2008 at 8:41 am

   on image 3 they even look surprised by the answer! (even though they are always exactly the same image)

   very funny stuff 🙂

7. Hobbes says:

   January 22, 2008 at 10:24 am

   Personally, the only beliefs for which I have no respect are fundamentalist beliefs, whether in religion (all nonbelievers are damnable heretics) or in politics (my country right or wrong, might makes right). Both are closed to contrary arguments.

   —The unexamined belief is not worth believing—

8. Ophelia Benson says:

   January 22, 2008 at 10:28 am

   I knew it. I told you if they tried that she would just ask more difficult questions. Poor Mo – that is a tough one.

9. jONES. says:

   January 22, 2008 at 12:02 pm

   well the answer is obvious…

   “Stop believing what you believe and start believing what I believe and then we can all be happy.”

   Perfectly simple soloution. It’s too bad nobody’s ever thought of it before… umm… wait…

10. Mythbuster says:

    January 22, 2008 at 5:28 pm

    Thinking? Well, it’s about time!

11. MrGronk says:

    January 22, 2008 at 5:47 pm

    Interesting argument, Hobbes. Myself, I can’t really respect a belief I don’t agree with – I suspect the believer would feel just a bit patronised. But absense of respect doesn’t have to be the same as holding that belief in active contempt. I suppose the best term is “tolerance” i.e a sort of benign indifference. More important to me is respecting the believer’s right to believe whatever nonsense he wants, while doing your best to stay connected with whatever humanity and reason he still has in his head. “Love the sinner, hate the sin” as some religious type once said.
    The downside of that, of course, is that the believer might feel a bit ..er.. patronised.

12. Silverburn says:

    January 23, 2008 at 2:52 am

    Ya know, while funny, I would have thought that Mo would start some rant on how he views his views as superior

13. Hobbes says:

    January 23, 2008 at 5:48 am

    Good points MrGronk. I didn’t mean that I value non-fundamentalist beliefs as I value my own. Obviously I didn’t flesh out my position very well. Belief in myths is a right, but I certainly don’t hold such beliefs equal to empirical evidence.”

    So, your point is well taken concerning respecting the right of others to believe as they please. “Absence of respect doesn’t have to mean active contempt.”

    I do, however, try to show respect to every person I meet until they show me that they don’t deserve it. I try to be the friendly sort. “Benign indifference,” to non aggressive beliefs, is a good phrase and well stated.

    I think we are in agreement.

14. Hobbes says:

    January 23, 2008 at 5:53 am

    Ophelia Benson, you’re right. Time for Mo to change the subject as believers always do when hit with a logical body slam.

15. jONES. says:

    January 23, 2008 at 9:27 am

    I find it funny that the bent of alot of readers here is that they seem to think this comic is only about making fun of Mo… But the name of the comic is Jesus and Mo… It’s not just Mo’s beliefs we’re questioning, it’s religion in general… Islam or Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, Judaism or Jehovah’s Witness… even Mormons.
    Author could have named the comic “Zeus & Ra” but the point would still be the same…

16. jONES. says:

    January 23, 2008 at 9:30 am

    I guess what I’m trying to say is lets not turn this into an Islamic Witch-hunt… All religion is questionable. The very basis of “God(s) created me and God(s) rule my existence” is what we’re talking about here…

17. Hobbes says:

    January 23, 2008 at 10:29 am

    Jones is correct. Barmaid slammed them both, and it applies as well to all fundamentalists of every religion.

18. Enobie says:

    January 23, 2008 at 11:04 am

    I love the subtlety–reminds me of my favorite quote about satire:
    “Satire should, like a polished razor keen,
    Wound with a touch that’s scarcely felt or seen….”
    ~ Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

19. Trevor says:

    January 23, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    Only comic I haven’t laughed at.

    The answer to the barmaid’s challenge is violence. Always has been. That the author thinks the barmaid somehow has Larry and Mo- er… I mean Jesus and Mo… over the barrel is shortsighted. Philosophically speaking, sure, but in real life this is the part where Mo’s people wages jihad and Jesus’s followers burns her at the stake.

    Try again.

20. Tasha says:

    January 23, 2008 at 5:06 pm

    Hi, I found a link to this strip on wiki..

    seems pretty funny! I like this feature too.

    🙂

21. Hobbes says:

    January 24, 2008 at 4:48 am

    Trevor, I somewhat disagree. Sure, violence has been the reaction of many fundamentalists, but in debate where there are only a few present, most often the believer, when challenged with such logic, will quickly change the subject. Even so, whether the reply comes in violence or subject change, the questioner did, indeed, win the argument, even though the believers refuse to acknowledge it. A resort to violence simply shows the believers deep insecurity.

22. Hobbes says:

    January 24, 2008 at 4:55 am

    As someone mentioned before, It’s funny how a reader sees appropriate expression in the expressionless faces of the characters.

23. jONES. says:

    January 24, 2008 at 6:51 am

    considering all 4 panels of the comic are identical right down to the little speck to the bottom right of the bar tap (except for the panel where the text covers that spot) and only the text balloons change, I’d have to agree… although it does have the effect of making them look stunned speechless in 2 & 3…

24. Poor Richard says:

    January 24, 2008 at 8:29 am

    He’s thinking! He’s thinking! Rant will follow. Maybe. Wish we could
    see Barmiad’s eyes. On the other hand, imagining her look is easy enough,
    since I have always been surrounded by Uppity Women. Thank Goddess.

    Or, as Poor Richard says [stealing straight from Saint Abbey], “Thank God I am an atheist.”

25. Ketil G says:

    January 24, 2008 at 10:27 am

    this was wery funny.

    jesus and mo Rules for ever 🙂

26. Kristian says:

    January 24, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    “Uppity Women”, ah, yes… the work of the devil – as J&M in the above will probably agree.

27. JohnnieCanuck says:

    January 24, 2008 at 1:22 pm

    Just saw the ‘Well behaved women don’t make history’ bumper sticker again today. It seems appropriate, somehow. Madalyn Murray O’Hair certainly made history.

    There’s humour in this comic, too. It is schadenfreude, but I don’t feel too guilty. Ridicule may be the only way to actually affect their beliefs. Zeus only knows, reasoning with them doesn’t.

28. latsot says:

    January 24, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    “Jones is correct. Barmaid slammed them both, and it applies as well to all fundamentalists of every religion.”

    Why only fundamentalists?

29. Hobbes says:

    January 25, 2008 at 2:39 pm

    Hi Iatsot: although I said “all” fundamentalists, please note that I didn’t say, “only” fundamentalists. It would also extend to a liberal believer who refuses to budge from an illogical argument.

    However, it is the more liberal believers who have already done some thinking and compromised a fundamentalist position. I, myself, became a liberal believer after beginning to think, then jettisoned it all after I studied, argued, and thought some more. With luck, Mo will think hard–Nah, not likely.

    My mantra: The unexamined belief is not worth believing.