A Little Levity
Top Ten Reasons Religion is Like Pornography
10. It has been practiced for all of human history, in all cultures(HT: PZ)
9. It exploits perfectly natural, even commendable, impulses
8. Its virtues are debatable, its proponents fanatical
7. People love it, but can't give a rational reason for it
6. Objectifies and degrades women even when it worships them
5. You want to wash up after shaking hands with any of its leaders
4. The costumes are outrageous, the performances silly, the plots unbelievable
3. There's nothing wrong with enjoying it, but it's nothing to be proud of, either
2. It is not a sound basis for public policy, government, or international relations
1. Its stars are totally fake
13 comments:
As someone who takes his own religion quite seriously, let me just say this:
That was funny! So funny, in fact, that I'm thinking about linking to it.
Thanks for the moment of levity to lighten my day.
Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can. Elsa Maxwell, September 28, 1958
;)
You can easily adapt that top-ten list to atheism:
10. It has been practiced for all of human history, in all cultures
9. It exploits perfectly natural, even commendable, impulses
8. Its virtues are debatable, its proponents fanatical
7. People love it, but can't give a rational reason for it
6. Objectifies and degrades women even when it worships them
5. You want to wash up after shaking hands with any of its leaders
4. The costumes are outrageous, the performances silly, the plots unbelievable
3. There's nothing wrong with enjoying it, but it's nothing to be proud of, either
2. It is not a sound basis for public policy, government, or international relations
1. Its stars are totally fake
If you think about it this list is more like atheists. Larry Flynt who publishes pornography for a living is definitely an atheist. Also, I haven't met an atheist who said pornography was wrong.
Daddy Cool,
Where is your argument? I must have missed it.
Mr. Morgan,
LOL, no kidding.
Hey, Hey, Hey. We all know there's no sense trying to be funny here. So why try? Still they were both good. Why not laugh a little?
Daddy Cool,
That is because pornography is NOT wrong:
http://killtheafterlife.blogspot.com/2006/10/theist-naked-women-worse-than-bombs.html
James, it seems that you understand a strawman of me (your #1-10 list) when all the while you say you don't understand my argument. Figures.
Aaron Kinney, then neither is religion according to Daniel Morgan. You think it's not wrong for women to be degraded (#6 on the list)? Thank God I'm a Christian then!
Daddy Cool,
While you are correct in saying that Larry Flynt is an atheist, at one point he was a Christian, or so he claimed. After he had built his Hustler empire he was befriended by Billy Graham, who convinced him to become "born again." His conversion had no impact on his participation in the porn industry, but it did change they way in which he participated in said industry. He added religious images to his pornography, a move which, while comical (unintentionally so, I think - I suspect that he was seriously trying to show devotion to God in his own way) didn't much help his company's bottom line. The world, it seems, wasn't ready for religious porn.
My point, to the extent that I have one, is that Larry Flynt's religious beliefs (or lack thereof) don't seem to impact his willingness to be a porn mogul. It comes neither from his atheism (as you, hopefully with your tongue firmly embedded in your cheek) nor his former theism, but rather from a combination of (as Confucius - the Latinized spelling of Kongzi, in the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese - would say) his "natural substance" and "cultivation."
But, seriously, we're taking this far too seriously.
Daniel Morgan,
Good quote.
Or, as my Dad put it in one of his songs,
If you can't laugh at yourself,
I'll do it for you
I guess I would have gotten in a few words if you had titled it "Top Ten Reasons False Religion is Like Pornography"
Looks like you got in your words regardless.
Then instead of a religion you'll have a relationship and the relationship is the difference in having a living Savior versus a figure head, like the rest.
So you're saying religion itself, rather than just false religion, is inadequate? Why contest, then, to my leaving off the qualifer of "false"?
If you want levity, put Jehovah God first in your life.
As was mentioned on this blog before, (Dagoods also asked, "Can God laugh? Humor's basis being the unexpected...") the Bible says very little about laughter outside of the Proverbs, and very little positive even then, when it is balanced against the references to "laughers" as fools.
Daddy Cool,
I wouldnt go near the degredation of women if I were you. My moral code is all based on self-ownership, which obviously would be incompatible with degrading women for the sake of which sexual organs they possess.
And since self-ownership, and therefore consent, is a totally foreign concept in the Bible, and since the Bible specifcially degreades women, assigns them less value than men, and treats them basically like property, you should think twice before celebrating your Christian-ness, unless of course supporting the degredation of women is something you WANT to do!
lol....
This is supposed to be a post of "levity" and it is turned into a debate
anywho. Daniel, this list is only slightly amusing, sorry. The best one though is number 3. lol
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