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You really made a difference right there, bud!
So many people in this thread completely missing the satire. The author is clearly also an atheist poking fun at the highschool reddit atheist stereotype. Taking this way too seriously.
I didn’t catch the self-deprecation. What makes it clear?
To me, what this comic is saying is that even if you’re able to debate someone out of believing in God it’s cruel to do it to someone like your mom who has God as the central pillar of their emotional well-being.
It presupposes that you’re able to “prove” that God doesn’t exist and to me it doesn’t necessarily paint the idea of being an atheist in a negative light, just the neckbeard atheist attitude that you should try to emotionally destroy people who do believe in God.
It’s a three panel comic so yeah, it’s a bit ambiguous, I just think that people are missing that the punchline is really only funny from an atheist perspective. From a Christian perspective the comic is awkward. The last panel wouldn’t be a punchline and wouldn’t make sense at all, how would these obviously loser neckbeards be able to prove God doesn’t exist?
Hmm, that is a pretty insightful point. On the other hand, I think most people I know who are religious are the sort who can appreciate self-deprecating humour themselves – they might think it’s funny for taking an absurd premise to its logical conclusion.
What suggests to me that this author is trying to paint atheism in a negative light is quite straightforwardly “score one for atheism.” It doesn’t really have a hint of irony to me. I think the author clearly thinks atheism just isn’t cool anymore.
DEAR LORD PEOPLE, SOMETIMES THERE IS NOT A DEEPER MESSAGE AND IT’S JUST A DUMB JOKE!
Seriously, check out the other comics by this artist. They just like absurdist humor, like this one:
Don’t be anti-intellectual about this silly comic. People can apply intellectual analysis to stupid things if they want to, and they damn-well may find deeper meaning sometimes.
Let people have their hobbies.
Sure, but that also means that I get to make my own contribution to the discussion. 😀
People seem to forget that and think they own the limit in what is related conversation. I could talk about how I knew a group of people that looked exactly like these neckbeards and talk about their hygeine. Somehow acceptable but other works from the artist and a mention of their use of absurdist tone?
It feels it’s not about conversation here often, but an actual competition to be the most analytical and factual.
I’d rather comments be part of the open conversation.I mean, you get to make your own contribution because we’re on an open platform, not for any other reason. quite often intellectual spaces shut down and deplatform anti-intellectual rhetoric and thought-terminating cliches such as what you’ve stated. It serves no one discussing the intricacies of any work to have someone yelling “The curtains were fucking blue!”, and this comment section literally exists to discuss the above comic and its various aspects.
Example intellectual comments being posted here:
I didn’t realize neckbeard atheists oppressed so many people compared to religion, thanks to the author for opening my eyes
So many militant atheists. Saying so much, all just to prove the comic right.
Having said that, my specific objection is not to all of the discussion taking place here, but to the fact that a lot of the comments seem to be projecting their own personal viewpoints onto the comic.
Also, I was not shouting people down; I was speaking in all caps to be funny. It’s fine if you personally did not think I funny, but that was the intent (which in retrospect could probably have been conveyed more clearly if I had also dropped the comma so that it was purely a stream of words), just like it was the intent of the comic author to make a dumb joke rather than to state a strong opinion about atheists. I think that it is useful to separate the intent of what an author was trying to accomplish from your own thoughts on the subject.
That’s somewhat my bad for taking the adversarial tone of your original comment to being serious and about all comments looking into the comic’s unsaid meanings.
At the same time, though, the comic is 100% meant to make fun of militant atheists, as in atheists who make their whole personality atheism. The folks who’s sole goal seemingly is to make everyone stop being religious. And the punchline is that despite achieving his goal, he only managed to make his mother’s life worse by forcing her through an epiphany she wasn’t ready for and then abandoning her with her own thoughts. The comic is partially funny because of it making fun of militant atheists. The other portion of the humor is the absurd nature of the situation.
The first comment you show takes that joke personally and the second resonates with that message. Neither of these are really off the mark, as grating as their tones may be to some.
I agree completely that the comic is parodying a particular cliche of a militant atheist. I disagree that the intent was to provide serious social commentary.
And I did not find either of those comments grating; I was merely citing them as evidence that not all of the discussion here is “intellectual”. Honestly, the real avenue of criticism that was left open to you that I was expecting you to take was to point out, correctly, that they were heavily cherry-picked for their unreasonableness; it actually surprises me a bit that instead you called them not “really off the mark” as if they were inherently reasonable responses.
Sure, that’s what satire is. A parody of something to criticise it. Often using clichés to ensure the subject is immediately identifiable.
This comic is a satire of militant atheists, because the author finds that militant atheists are insufferable and deserve to be made fun of, as the comic is doing. Why else would the author choose them specifically to satirize?
You chose those two comments to point at examples of unintellectual discussion. I am pointing out that they are not as unintellectual as you paint them to be. I don’t strongly agree with what they are saying, but that does not immediately disqualify them from contributing from the conversation. Your comment was the only one calling for the termination of the pursuit of deeper meaning in the comic, which is an anti-intellectual stance.
So you’re saying you should just let people believe and leave them be?
Dad’s reaction is exactly what I’d do.
this guys stuff is great. heres a bit more
Throwing a stone is a dick move. Now he’s imperfect Pete!
Dick move… But not a sin! Still perfect pete!
So weird to see more than one-third downvotes, when all the comments are atheist-supporting. Maybe many read this comic as anti-atheistic (“what a jerk he is for making his poor mom unhappy!”)?
I think it’s hard to read the comic itself as anything but anti-atheistic. Or at the very least, anti-vocal-atheist.
At some point you need to ask yourself what you’re releasing people from when there is no (low-effort, low-pain) failsafe individual thought structure to give their life meaning… :'/ so I get both sides…
What’s her replacement meaning vocabulary? Was that part of the talk? Was she an animist or a christian?
delivering someone from a lifetime of sexual and gender oppression, and eliminating their need to tithe a portion of their income to an organization that hides and protects pedophiles and rapists?
Mom’s on the floor weeping with joy.
Not every member of a church experiences those things first hand.
Yeah, there are exceptions in every group
I would go as far as to say that experiencing any of those things is the exception.
lucky! they still subsidize the activity if they tithe tho.
Not every church sends their tithe to the Vatican. Not all christians are Catholic. And not every church has paedophiles.
But I condemn all that do. It’s horrible. Disgusting and despicable. I have two kids, and it drives me insane to think someone would consider doing that to them. 😡
So… It’s better to live in the matrix, gotcha.
For some people it is. Hell, there’s even a character in the actual movie who thinks so.
Yeah, and he doesn’t mind killing other people for that
Which shows he would have been better off living in the Matrix considering how badly he reacted to leaving it.
As long as they aren’t doing horrible things in the name of religion, then I have the controversial opinion that religion isn’t all bad. Not everyone is an intellectual, therefore some religions can be considered a way to promote and preserve morals. While it’s unknown how his mother used religion, the neckband portrayed in the comic had no regard for his mother’s feelings or beliefs, showcasing the bad side of atheism. In the same way, religion could have similar effects. In the end there needs to be balance, a yin and a yang.
I’ve got a somewhat different take, but similar
We are shedding light on the world through science and philosophy. We first figure out the most effective ways to think about things with philosophy, and then we apply that thought process with the scientific method to further our understanding.
Eventually, we will always reach the shadows on the edge our understanding, whether personally or as a society. Past that point, we are really just making up apparitions in the dark, until we can shed light on that edge.
That process of spotting forms in the dark is always going to be informed by some unfalsifiable ideation, either because we can’t test the ideas we have, or because the ideas we have are inherently unproveable.
To me, it really doesn’t matter what kind of ideation you have past that point of shadow, be it religion or nihilism or panpsychism or determinism, but I hope that whatever idea you have faith in brings you solace and makes those dark forms in shadow less daunting.
The problem comes, when you chose to be in the dark about something and apply faith-based arguments where light has already been shed, or when you use apparitions you made up as an excuse to do harm to others.
As an atheist I have a deep mistrust of proselytizing.
That includes other atheists who think they need to spread their beliefs like a religion.
I have atheist, christian and esoteric friends and family who keep their beliefs to themselves (unless asked for it) and it’s part of my worldview to (while being able to talk about it) not trying to convert someone to my beliefs.
Live and let live, yeah.
But once they try to convert me I go full out.
As long as they aren’t doing horrible things in the name of religion, then I have the controversial opinion that religion isn’t all bad.
You just described the avg Trump supporter.
And this exact sentiment is what let them spread their cult this far.
I mean it is bad, it’s the base of the pyramid that builds up to the tip which is religious extremism. That said religion can’t be banned out outlawed, it will just dig its self in deeper under the pretense of oppression so it’s more a matter of having to tolerate a minor evil and staying vigilant it doesn’t evolve into its final form by keeping life balanced
I’m an atheist but I understand that religion and/or faith makes a lot of people happy and I don’t want to take that happiness away from them.
I do. It’s such a waste of time. I’m not going to start anything with people, I don’t have the patience or energy for that. And honestly, i don’t have any debate skills. But I really wish I could just take it all away. Isn’t it better to be right than to be happy?
Agnostic here and yeah, most atheists and agnostics I have ever met are about the same. We don’t care if YOU believe. We care that you care we don’t. Most of us will never utter a word against your religion and beliefs as long as you “do unto others” and all that jazz. This comic reaks of being drawn by a Christian about how they think Athiests behave and feel. This video is ancient now, but I get the same vibes off this comic.
I take this comic to be more poking fun at the portion of atheists who make their entire personality around disproving God’s existence - people who try to spread atheism the same way christians spread their own gospel. It’s largely not applicable to other atheists.
Yeah, those aren’t athiests, they are assholes. Anyone who prosthelytizes is an asshole. Period.
I almost feel like he wasn’t actually trying to persuade her but instead he is so insufferable that clearly God couldn’t exist because that would make him horrifically cruel.
These comments sure are something, eh?
The drawing of him kicking in the door is hilarious.
One panel away from being Loss.
Religion may be a lie but it’s a comforting lie and that helps a lot of people get through their daily life.
Thing is it shouldn’t be comforting to anyone if they really take the details seriously. You could do as much damage really educating someone about Deuteronomy and other fun parts of the Bible and ultimately leave them in a worse state than finding a way to make them an atheist.
We forget an atheist is just a non-theist. Someone who doesn’t believe in any specific canonical god. I’m an atheist with a genuine faith the universe has more in store for “me” (whatever that is; I don’t believe it’s necessarily or eternally “ynthrepic”) than a mere human lifetime given what we know about the universe as a whole and how mysterious and seemingly fundamental consciousness is to it all. That gives me some relief and comfort from the existential dread. More than I could possibly get from Yahweh and his totally uncompelling biblical heaven and hell dynamic.
You’re forgetting that some people have coping mechanisms for life around systems containing a kind god that’s there looking after them, and will reunite them with people they desperately hope to see again when they die.
Your coping mechanism is hoping the universe is magical and mysterious and has something more for you when you die. You’re not an atheist, just a non-denominational theist with a different hope for continuing on after you’re dead. I hope it brings you comfort, but don’t shit on people who have a different post death comfort they hope for.
Most people I know who are religious don’t take the bible very literally; most haven’t even read it. The comforting lie is stuff about the after-life, heaven, and a caring universe.
And that’s great so long as it’s a source of comfort and not dread. The fear of God and hellfire is real. We need people who carry faiths to recognize that this is by definition an uncertainty for which no real evidence exists, when it comes to consequences in the real world. Maybe that’s a contradiction to some, but it doesn’t need to be.
