Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Atheist Penelope
Jackie Blue:
I'm not offended. I don't even believe in any one specific God or concept of God. I believe a lot of things, some of which contradict each other, and I'm fine with that.
But comparing God to Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy, or whatever, is missing the point entirely and also kind of ignorant.
It's everyone's prerogative to be uninterested in theology; but one should not argue for or against it if one hasn't got enough interest to thoroughly research it. Which is why people like Dawkins give atheism such a bad name.
jtheory:
--- Quote from: Jackie Blue on 24 Dec 2008, 15:14 ---I'm not offended. I don't even believe in any one specific God or concept of God. I believe a lot of things, some of which contradict each other, and I'm fine with that.
But comparing God to Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy, or whatever, is missing the point entirely and also kind of ignorant.
It's everyone's prerogative to be uninterested in theology; but one should not argue for or against it if one hasn't got enough interest to thoroughly research it. Which is why people like Dawkins give atheism such a bad name.
--- End quote ---
I was trying to define "atheist" as I use it, vs. "agnostic"; I wasn't making a comment about theology at all, just word definitions. I guess that didn't come across.
If you want to discuss further at any point, I'd be happy to, via PM... I'm feeling guilty for keeping this thread alive when we're now miles away from talking about the comic.
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: Jackie Blue on 24 Dec 2008, 15:14 ---But comparing God to Santa Claus [...] is missing the point entirely and also kind of ignorant.
--- End quote ---
Oh, I don't know; this week's Times Higher Education Supplement tells me that the fifth most cited academic paper on Santa Claus is "A child's Christmas in America: Santa Claus as deity, consumption as religion" by R W Belk (Journal of American Culture, 10(1): 87-100, 1987).
Jackie Blue:
pwhodges, you are perhaps aware that you are sometimes a prick for its own sake, right?
Evander:
while we're talking about Santa Claus and God at the same time, I just want to say that, as a non-Christian, the number of outspoken atheists who still celebrate Christmas bugs me. They ought to be my allies in not being entirely inundated during this season, but instead they compromise their values for nostalgia, like some kind of Vegan who tosses paint on fur coats, but still eats the brand of chicken nuggets that their mother used to serve them.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version