South Park

[frostwolf ex]

Sure, but its valid to actually talk about the topic South Park brings up. I mean, despite the fact that show doesn't take itself too seriously, it is the most biting, topical and effective satire in America. The show and the creators definitely have a pretty well defined point of view. Almost all the comedy these guys do is rich with social and political context. South Park works on a simple layer of humor (dick jokes) but it is deeper than that too.

maybe, but you have to understand that south park has been inaccurate in how it showed the various religions as well, its a funny show, and it does have social satire, but i wouldnt consider it as informative as people make it out to be. I know the catholic episode had a large number of inaccuracies, both in how small details were presented, which were understandable, and how major underpinnings of doctrine were presented, which undercut the auhority of the satire. and lets be honest, athiesm has been used as a justification for surpressing religions in the past, the chinese cultural revolution, enver hoxha's campaign in albania, stalinist russia, one shoudlnt assume that its somehow bloodless.

[Mman]

1. Learn to use periods. That is the biggest run on sentence ever.

2. Satires don't really need to present accurate information (often they are enhanced by not). Satire is not a source of information, it is a critical commentary on various things through humor. It is made for those already informed or at least aware. It provokes discussion, which South Park does pretty well (although they do seem to be getting more and more didactic over the years). If you are saying it is just some jokes then you really are not getting it.

[frostwolf ex]

I was kind of responding to both you and gozen, so the mesage got jumbled, and i have made longer run on sentences, sadly. But what i was saying is that if you are doing a satire of a topic, you should try to be basicly representing what you are doing a parody of. gozen thought they misrepresented athiesm, and i was responding it was not the only phillosphy that they had done that too, and not to be so upset about it. And of course I had to jump on the topic of wether athiesm has ever threatened the lives of those who dont beleive it, now didnt i?

as for wether its just jokes, i never meant that, there are very few forms of comedy where jokes are just jokes. but, as with any source of satire, you have to consider the source and decide if they have done a satire of what they were actually aiming at, or wether they were just showing their ignorance of the topic.

[g0zen]

He just can't hold back whenever talk turns toward such enthralling political topics.

I was commenting on the subtext of the episode, if that's somehow off-topic then I'll drop it. But, first, I have to respond to one thing:

and lets be honest, athiesm has been used as a justification for surpressing religions in the past, the chinese cultural revolution, enver hoxha's campaign in albania, stalinist russia, one shoudlnt assume that its somehow bloodless.

Just because revolutionary Marxist movements are violent toward religion and atheistic doesn't reflect on all atheism. There is nothing inherent about atheism that says that all those who reject it must be killed, suppressed, etc. Why you decided to bring this up is beyond me.

gozen thought they misrepresented athiesm, and i was responding it was not the only phillosphy that they had done that too, and not to be so upset about it.

I'm not upset, I just said I didn't agree with it is all.

And of course I had to jump on the topic of wether athiesm has ever threatened the lives of those who dont beleive it, now didnt i?

No, you really didn't.

[AstroBlue]

I'm a total pinko too, but dayum g0zen. Who pissed in your bran muesli with soya milk and sliced organic pawpaw? You've been rabid this week.

Just go knife some SUV tires and free some factory poultry and came back to us much happier.

[bbobb]

Just for the record. Atheism is just as much faith as religion is. You have to truly believe that there is no god. This is just as much religion as christianity. Agnosticism is the shit that us bastards who really don't give a shit for faith go with.

[jyoung]

Just for the record. Atheism is just as much faith as religion is. You have to truly believe that there is no god. This is just as much religion as christianity. Agnosticism is the shit that us bastards who really don't give a shit for faith go with.

Atheism is based on scientific reasoning, not faith. Remember, the term faith entails a belief in something that is not based on empirical/scientific proof.

[g0zen]

Atheism is just as much faith as religion is. You have to truly believe that there is no god.

Not really, no.

This is just as much religion as christianity. Agnosticism is the shit that us bastards who really don't give a shit for faith go with.

Actually agnosticism alone is just a misuse of terminology by college students who don't want to admit that they're atheists. The truth of the matter is that there is a continuum, let me plot it out for you:

Gnostic theist - I KNOW a God exists
Agnostic theist - I BELIEVE that God exists but I have no direct knowledge of this existence
Agnostic atheist - I BELIEVE that God does not exist but I have no direct knowledge of this lack of existence.
Gnostic atheist - I KNOW God does NOT exist

Most atheists (including myself) fall into the category of agnostic atheist. Mostly because we reject the idea of absolute knowledge. To be sure there are those who just flatly disbelieve in God, but most of the time their arguments are just as fallacious as those who absolutely believe. Those who believe in science or scientific naturalism don't discount out of hand the concept that God or anything supernatural exists, but they feel confident in saying they don't due to the lack of evidence. That isn't faith, in fact it is the very antithesis of it.

I'm a total pinko too, but dayum g0zen. Who pissed in your bran muesli with soya milk and sliced organic pawpaw? You've been rabid this week.

Just go knife some SUV tires and free some factory poultry and came back to us much happier.

I'm not 'rabid' at all, I'm engaging in discussion. Just because people don't like my arguments doesn't make them any less valid.

[sedition]

you excluded agnostic nontheist

[Mr-K]

I know the catholic episode had a large number of inaccuracies, both in how small details were presented, which were understandable, and how major underpinnings of doctrine were presented, which undercut the auhority of the satire.

So saying the Cathys worship a giant spider and having everyone shit out of their mouth the entire episode ruined the satire?