As those of you who have been paying attention around here are already aware, Eric has asked me to do some guest blogging for him while he is on vacation. So, in the hallowed spirit of substitute teachers everywhere, I’ve decided to kick things off by assigning some homework.
Assignment: Fill in the blanks.
[BLANK] is a religion of [BLANK].
No, this is not another of those dried out, overwrought swipes at the old “Islam is a religion of peace,” canard. Just pick a religion and a noun. Here, I’ll provide you with a few sample potential answers:
- Christianity is a religion of contradictions
- Judaism is a religion of guilt
- Jainism is a religion of obsessive-compulsives
- Baha’i is a religion of stoners
- Zoroastrianism is a religion of re-invigoration
- Sikhism is a religion of high fashion
- Islam is a religion of cauliflower
- Shintoism is a religion of alcoholics
- Budhism is a religion of suicide-worship
- Taoism is a religion of peace, justice, and the American Way
And you know what the best part is? There are no wrong answers!
Extra credit: discuss the implications of the above assignment in the comments, with special attention devoted to asking what in hell I’m getting at. Bonus points awarded for suggesting that I am, in fact, a cretin.
Comments
4 responses to “Fill in the blanks”
Well, for one thing, you forgot that important religion, Cao Dai (q.G. [my abbrev for “go Google”, like “q.v.” for “which see”]).
Cao Dai is a smorgasbord.
(Unfortunately, that might lead people to believe it’s Swedish, but there it is.)
We could leave the other 1000 or so religions to the other commenters.
Atheism is a religion of blind faith.
I should qualify the above. By Atheism I don’t mean “I don’t think G-d exists” or “I don’t believe G-d exists” which I would qualify as Agnostic, but “I believe G-d doesn’t exist, am going to sue anyone who even makes me listen to the word and will scream in the face of anyone — even not speaking directly to me — who is discussing religion.” I often find myself gravitating towards Agnosticism, (depends on the month. And the year) but I’ve never mustered the needed faith for “I believe there is nothing beyond the physical.”
P.
Good stuff. Reminds me of one of my favorite George Carlin quotes: “Faith is the last refuge of a failed mind.”