Amechania
Daimona of the Helpless
Mocking bad, chiding good.
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Is it OK to make fun of religions?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
Mocking bad, chiding good.
AmbiguousGuy
Well-Known Member
That's the odd thing. I've never claimed to be an atheist. I've just resisted the other guy's personal concept of God.
Refusal to submit... that the crime.
Father Heathen
Veteran Member
No, it should never be illegal to make fun of anything, even if it's considered offensive by others.
Everyone has come to an agreement that I'm the smartest guy on the site. I'm in the process of writing my acceptance speech even as we speak.
Amechania
Daimona of the Helpless
This was never in doubt but if there were a few fence-sitters they have certainly tumbled into your yard by now. I eagerly await your gracious acknowlegement of all the little people who made this possible.
sojourner
Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
No. I don't think that's OK.
McBell
Admiral Obvious
Seriously?
What is most interesting is that those who go on about how it is not comparable and or that there is a "world of difference" suddenly quit the thread or otherwise flat out refuse to support their claims.
Are you yet another one of those?
What I find interesting is that I've asked different people (and the thread in general) three times now about a specific example of ridiculing religion - Tim Minchin's Pope Song - and nobody has even addressed it, let alone said that there's anything wrong with it.
I think this important because if a person is okay with a song that calls the Pope all sorts of profanity and a video that shows the Pope and a chorus line of cardinals flashing their junk, then I think it's safe to say that they're not *totally* against ridiculing religion.
sojourner
Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
No, we simply grow weary of the jejune "nuh-uh" arguments to everything that we've said, completely dismissing the theological implications of belief and faith. This is exactly what I've been stating all along: When one's faith and beliefs are completely dismissed as being "not worth considering seriously," it becomes bullying.
I've said in at least two posts now that the theological implication of Christian belief is that we become Christ's body (and -- for the Trinitarian, by extension -- God). You see, a church isn't simply some group that one "joins" as one joins the Masons or the Rotarians. "Church" is what we become within ourselves and our self-understanding. In other words: we don't have beliefs or faith, we become beliefs and faith.
I am a Freemason, by virtue of my having taken certain oaths and agreeing to abide by the rules of the Fraternity. But I am a Christian by virtue of that identity being part of my DNA, and by virtue of God's call to me. That -- theologically -- is a completely different kettle of fish than simply "joining a club." It is also different from simply adoring a movie star or a storybook character.
Just because some on the forum don't espouse the seriousness of the theological implications doesn't mean that others don't espouse the seriousness of the theological implications. I will respect and defend your right to not espouse the theology, but I will resist your insistence that they are universally unimportant or silly simply because you say so. Your vocalization of such constitutes bullying. It may be legal, but it is not admirable.
sojourner
Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
I'm not familiar with the song, so I can't comment. I will say that, in general, dissing the material parts of religion (such as the Pope, or denominational polity) is fairly harmless. Dissing one's interior life -- the validity of one's faith and belief -- is wrong.
I'm one of those who view the adolescent comparison with the contempt it deserves.What is most interesting is that those who go on about how it is not comparable and or that there is a "world of difference" suddenly quit the thread or otherwise flat out refuse to support their claims.Seriously?
Are you yet another one of those?
As a Jew I would not presume to confidently characterize Christian attitudes toward Jesus. I suspect, however, that he is viewed as an entity wholly worthy of gratitude and the source of meaning, hope, and salvation, not just for the individual Christian, but for humanity as a whole. To suggest that there exists no qualitative difference between this and the adulation of a James Bond fan is sophomoric nonsense.
Only because Mystic could never be classified as a guy ...
I see my fishing-for-compliments is working. I say I'm a fool. I get a positive response saying I'm smart.
Hey....uh....I'm an ugly squat. And I don't smell right.
:beach:
We've dined together sweetheart, and
oh, never mind.
For which I still owe you and your beautiful wife a dinner on my dime.
I haven't forgotten, you know.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
I hear they have anti-fungal creams that can help with that.
Oh, I've heard of facials before. I do those all the time.
.
.
.
Don't look at me like that.
sojourner
Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
Thank you.^^^
I keep wondering if one makes fun of religion; do they believe it's going to change a religious person's mind? Is it going to let the religious person how silly believing in said religion that the mocker believes it to be?
After this long thread, I think those are questions that could be addressed.
After this long thread, I think those are questions that could be addressed.
I think you're making too light of self-identification. It is, after all, how most of us construct our psychological self. That is, who and what we are is profoundly a matter of the self (or selves) we construct through conscious and subconscious identifications.
I see no point, however, in arguing this issue with you any further, because I doubt either one of us is going to budge an inch.