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Calvin on Religion. (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by animal40

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[–]arh428 82 points83 points ago

calvin on religion

[–]x894565256 8 points9 points ago

I expected a joke on this topic as well.

[–]sericeousburden 0 points1 point ago

Well done. Beaten: if anyone wants a macro of the sentiment.

[–]seluropnek 36 points37 points ago

Calvin on religion is always awesome.

[–]farceur318 2 points3 points ago

The eternal consequences will never be the same.

[–]mancusod 0 points1 point ago

He dun bawked.

[–]horse_you_rode_in_on 90 points91 points ago

He was right about both things.

[–]lucilletwo 77 points78 points ago

There's actually a complementary strip from that same week where he essentially reinvents Pascal's Wager, but for Christmas presents and belief in Santa. Let me see if i can find it...

edit Found it!

[–]horse_you_rode_in_on 36 points37 points ago

You're right, and they're much better seen together. A normal kid would look at the last panel of the second strip and think "... well that's just silly - even if Santa did exist, he'd see right through that."

This is totally amazing, if you think about - six panels, about a hundred words, and Watterson has eight-years olds refuting Pascal's wager for themselves.

[–]LazinCajun 7 points8 points ago

This is making me want to go back and read C&H again, only now with an adult perspective. I used to love Watterson's work as a kid. It always got me thinking.

Edit: I accidentally a word

[–]Quasm 9 points10 points ago

I read C&H as Cyanide and Happiness there for a second, was really confused.

[–]SystemOutPrintln 4 points5 points ago

Cy&H = Cyanide and Happiness

C&H = Calvin and Hobbes

[–]mind_twin 4 points5 points ago

Why is it Cy? Cyanide is CN!

[–]SystemOutPrintln 2 points3 points ago

That's a good idea, I've just seen Cy&H as the accepted abbreviation.

[–]SedditThrowawaybecau 0 points1 point ago

Y is a more memorable letter than N.

[–]wojx 1 point2 points ago

Gotchya.

[–]embolalia 0 points1 point ago

I thought, LazinCajun read Cyanide and Happiness as a kid? That'll fuck you up for life...

[–]TundraWolf_ 3 points4 points ago

I did a read-through of the complete works recently and it's amazing how well it holds up even as an adult.

[–]Joeboxr 0 points1 point ago

Buying this was a good decision: http://amzn.com/0740748475

[–]wouldacouldashoulda 2 points3 points ago

I subscribed to gocomics and receive a C&H daily! The one the OP posted was the one from today actually. Try it!

[–]SirSquidbat 1 point2 points ago

His work ages well. 23 reporting in. I have two books and borrowing one.

[–]angrydeuce 1 point2 points ago

Absolutely, the beauty of Calvin & Hobbes is that, for the most part, it's appealing across all age ranges and works on multiple levels. I've been reading it since it was first published back in what, '86? '87? I used to tear the Sunday paper apart every weekend to get at the comics just to see C&H. When the final strip was published, I actually cried. It was like an old friend was moving away.

I received the hardbound collection of C&H's complete run for Christmas from my family a few years back and it's been one of my prized possessions ever since.

[–]namegoeswhere 1 point2 points ago

Watch out, though. Doing so a couple years ago set me on a path that resulted in me dropping out of school, breaking up with my girlfriend, spending a year finding myself, and going to therapy. Now I'm coming out of it having just applied to at technical college to learn how to work CNC machines and 3D printing software, and wanting to get a C&H tattoo. Reading Calvin and Hobbes as an "adult" makes you (or at least, me) think.

[–]andreylosev 1 point2 points ago

Calvin is, was, and always will be six years old.

[–]swagtech 0 points1 point ago

i kinda always thought they were for an adult audience. Maybe not explicitly FOR adults, but more adult oriented than "OMG NICKTOONS HAVE DIRTY JOKES!!". Lots of philosophy goes on in the strip, especially when theyre in the woods or on the wagon

[–]Shin-LaC -4 points-3 points ago

It's not amazing that an eight-year-old could refute an eight-year-old's understanding of Pascal's Wager.

[–]summerof2010 6 points7 points ago

You say that in a seemingly condescending way, but the Wager as presented in the strip is much the same as it is understood by the lay-person (of any age), and it is still sometimes accepted like that. The moral of the strip is that it's silly to let your beliefs be determined by the consequences of holding them because such beliefs would be automatically insincere. That is still relevant, even if it's not a refutation of Pascal's Wager in it's most fully developed form.

[–]horse_you_rode_in_on 3 points4 points ago

The comic prompts its young reader to formulate a refutation of the Wager from inauthentic belief all on their own, which is pretty sophisticated whether or not you agree with it.

[–]Shin-LaC 0 points1 point ago

We must have a different concept of sophistication. I'd call that superficial, instead.

[–]bilateralchicken 0 points1 point ago

Bill Watterson was/is a genius.

[–]ankyle 2 points3 points ago

these need to be shown to people with the Calvin praying to the cross stickers.

[–]lucilletwo 6 points7 points ago

Which are all counterfeit goods (a form of theft), since Bill Watterson was philosophically opposed to merchandising the series.

[–]dextral11 2 points3 points ago

Reddit, where copyright infringement is condemnable as long as it's religious people doing it.

[–]lucilletwo 0 points1 point ago

eh, its more of an ironic hypocrisy thing. redditors love pointing out people's hypocrisy.

[–]TrepanationBy45 6 points7 points ago

Yeah. It always annoys me when I see those, because they're knock-offs of a character that Watterson never licensed out for merchandising. Incidentally, it also seems appropriate to use Calvin for that, because it matches the tendency of religion to trample the rights of others in such blatant self-serving fashion, as well as completely missing the point of the character Calvin.

[–]Seafea -1 points0 points ago

I hate those. Always seems so out of character for Calvin.

They're just using his image because he's a popular, recognizable character. Not because he fits their message.

[–]TrepanationBy45 0 points1 point ago

Well, I think it goes both ways (although perhaps I didn't originally explain that well enough) -- Calvin was a 16th century theologist, which is what I'm assuming they're solely basing their rip-off on. It's just ironic that they use it as a representation of their message (the bumper-sticker), since Calvin and Hobbes are intended to be a rhetorical discussion and exploration of philosophies presented in juxtaposition, not reinforcing the notion of either. As I figure it, anyway.

[–]random_potatoes 31 points32 points ago

Wow, Calvin and Hobbes just gets better every time I read it. I've been reading them off and on since I was about 5, and since then I've probably read each one 4 times, and many of them dozens of times. Every time I read through it, I find more and more deeper, philosophy-related jokes and thoughts. Calvin and Hobbes is such a mature comic, but it appeals to kids to, which makes it perfect to read throughout one's life. I think I got most of my early exposure to philosophical thought from strips such as these.

[–]goose_on_fire 5 points6 points ago

My six year old found all my old calvin books and loves them, which gives me a chance to read them again as a parent, and they're hilarious in a very different way than when I was a kid.

I had to hide my copy of Groening's Big Book of Hell, though, don't think he's ready for that one yet.

[–]lethargicwalrus 8 points9 points ago

Damn, yeah. Bill Waterson was a genius for this, these comics will surely endure for quite a while. I used to just read it for the humor when I was young, and then later I picked up one of my old books and read it and I was amazed by how intelligent the comics were.

[–]TheIllogical 34 points35 points ago

What if God is just a big chicken?

[–]Spire 5 points6 points ago

ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES, THAT'S WHAT!

[–]buzzkill_aldrin 1 point2 points ago

Comment readers: the joke, let me explain it to you.

[–]Speaking-of-segues -3 points-2 points ago

how does this get downvoted??

[–]lisabadcat 6 points7 points ago

For the same reason people riot and die over some stupid indie movie.

[–]bunabhucan -2 points-1 points ago

I don't know that I would call it an "indie movie." It seems more like a deliberate provocation to me. If the films makers had a goal other than inciting a riot, its not clear what that purpose was.

[–]Uniquitous 1 point2 points ago

And the dumb shits let themselves get trolled.

[–]PinballWizrd 0 points1 point ago

If you think the movie was created solely to incite a riot, you have a very twisted world view.

[–]bunabhucan 0 points1 point ago

I'm an atheist and I would say (through gritted teeth) that the filmmaker should have the same right as Fred Phelps to say what he wants or make whatever movie he wants.

That said It seems weird that the author of the script would claim that the movie cost 5 million to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors

and also describe himself as:

"a real estate developer and an Israeli Jew."

When the movie was financed by his wife's (coptic christian) family in Egypt for $50,000-$60,000 and he is a coptic christian, with a conviction for fraud and manufacturing meth

Maybe this is all just a huge misunderstanding. I can understand lying to the actors etc. about the nature of the movie. But why claim to be Jewish? Why claim the movie was financed for "$5m by 100 Jews"? I can't think of a motive for those lies other than to incite muslims.

[–]chrismikehunt 1 point2 points ago

C'mon Calvin and Hobbes fans, we can save this guy!

[–]Trobot087 -1 points0 points ago

What if God was one of us?

[–]scorpion347 2 points3 points ago

Woosh.

[–]Trobot087 0 points1 point ago

The proper response was, "Just a slob like one of us?"

whoosh

[–]scorpion347 0 points1 point ago

Pretty sure it was "ETERNAL CONSEQINCES!!!"

[–]5510 8 points9 points ago

Here's another great one on religion (or at least i think it's on religion, it's not quite as blunt as the others):

http://assets.amuniversal.com/9595b29e2509102d94d7001438c0f03b

[–]mikedfunk 1 point2 points ago

I love it: "All I'm really proving is that I can be bribed."

[–]5510 1 point2 points ago

This is my "go to" when people talk about how religion is a source of morality, and ask how you can have morality without religion. If the only reason you won't kill or steal is because you think your god will send you to heaven, you don't have "morality" at all, you have bribery.

[–]PlNG 7 points8 points ago

YSK /r/CalvinAndHobbes exists.

[–]summerof2010 1 point2 points ago

What does YSK stand for?

[–]Professor_L 3 points4 points ago

"You Should Know"

[–]EatMorePangolin 3 points4 points ago

Hah! Speaking of stuff that goes over your head until you're older, I totally never realized that his teacher's name was of any significance.

[–]MarleyandtheWhalers 0 points1 point ago

Hmm? I missed.

[–]raskolnik 9 points10 points ago

Wormwood is the name of the recipient of C S Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. Watterson said in the 25th Anniversary Book that that's the derivation.

[–]Nictionary 0 points1 point ago

Never read that, can someone sum up the significance?

[–]raskolnik 0 points1 point ago

I'm not sure there really is one beyond the name. In The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape is writing letters to his nephew, Wormwood, teaching him how better to tempt humans. So it's Lewis's (indirect) way of showing what might push us away from God. That said, he does remind us that demons are liars, so it's never clear whether Screwtape is really advising Wormwood or trying to get him to mess up and be consumed (Lewis says he imagines a demon as an entity that's always hungry). Wikipedia may be able to give a better analysis than I can, though, as it's been a few years at this point since I read it.

[–]chris_bro_chill -4 points-3 points ago

You. I like you.

[–]raskolnik 0 points1 point ago

I endeavor to give satisfaction.

[–]acapsfosho 1 point2 points ago

such a complicted subject seen through such untampered eyes. calvin and fuckin hobbes

[–]arista80 0 points1 point ago

Upvote for png.

[–]Robeleader 0 points1 point ago

I think this is the only comic I've seen here that I didn't remember right away.

[–]shamoni 0 points1 point ago

Reading this after

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/edge-of-the-abyss-20120820-24h4r.html

is just disturbing.

Edit: http://www.reddit.com/r/TrueReddit/comments/zv1a6/when_janni_schofield_was_not_even_a_month_old_she/

[–]mellowmonk 0 points1 point ago

There's the public school system, shitting on Calvin's freedom of religion.

[–]robbcorp26 0 points1 point ago

I personally love Calvin's back and forth struggle with religion. Many panels depict him praying to snow gods or some other deity from within his own head, but other times he asks his best friend about the existence of a supreme being.

Calvin often seeks answer from Hobbes, and religion is not excluded. I feel Calvin is searching for comfort from his best friend because his fear of the afterlife (or Santa :) ) weighs heavily on his conscience.

One of my favorite comics depicts Calvin threatening a plant with a bucket of water stating that he has control over the plant's destiny.

Then it rains and Calvin is faced with the very idea that his god-complex might be illusion.

[–]TheMieberlake 0 points1 point ago

I don't see why people think comic books are so uneducational. Calvin and Hobbes is more deep than one would think, and uses very big vocabulary. It is more worldly than most bestselling children's books these days.

[–]rodion_vs_rodion 1 point2 points ago

One of the few nationally published comics that managed to combine humor with sharp intelligence.

[–]drunk_otter -3 points-2 points ago

Alternate line for last panel: "Jesus - crucify me, why don't ya?"

[–]detacht69 0 points1 point ago

Off topic and sorry for being an idiot, but why is there no number on up/downvote? Just a bullet in between the arrows..

[–]DBuckFactory 2 points3 points ago

If a post isn't very old, it won't show the up/downvote numbers. I believe this is because the site wants newer posts to be more objectively viewed. A count on the post can sway some users into voting a certain way.

[–]scBaldwin 1 point2 points ago

Calvin and Hobbes is so awesome. Everyone always credits Peanuts with best cartoon but Calvin and Hobbes touched on subjects that no other comic strip would touch. I remember being a kid and laughing at a "Throwing-Shit-At-Suzy-Joke" and then flipping the page and reading something that would make me think for hours. So awesome.

[–]Girraffa -1 points0 points ago

Lol wormwood. Was screwtape the principle?

[–]CouchRadish -1 points0 points ago

Word of God says that to be true.

[–]waxing_gibbons 1 point2 points ago

It's hard to imagine another Watterson. His ability to make such poignant statements within the confines of a small comic strip is amazing. It's unfortunate the criticisms probably often elude those to which they are pointed.

[–]TonySre 1 point2 points ago

Watterson had an astounding ability to make strong statements about controversial issues without really being offensive. pretty remarkable. oh and also it was really funny.

[–]ccrepitation -3 points-2 points ago

i wonder if bill watterson ever got any shit from fundies when he was publishing these comics across the country.

[–]Emergencyegret -4 points-3 points ago

you're a fan of the strip on facebook huh?

[–]animal40[S] 0 points1 point ago

No, go comics, I get one emailed daily.

[–]riderjack1 0 points1 point ago

Was wondering why John Calvin would be in funny

[–]I-hate-reposts -1 points0 points ago

I unsubscribed from your circle jerk subreddit! WHY WILL YOU NOT LEAVE ME ALONE?!?!?!!?!?

[–]CalvinandHobbesSucks -4 points-3 points ago

HURR HURR HA HA DURR SPLAT

[–]wojx -4 points-3 points ago

....Front Page, as expected.

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