Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for May 05, 2014

Christmas in May

Can anyone imagine Mary and Joseph in couples counseling?

@JohnHerbisonFirst thing Joseph would say:He’s not my kid!

The entire bible is fiction. So is the koran. No such people.-Maybe, Maybe not, but it was never meant to be taken literally by those who penned it. At least there are those who understand the Vedas (also not meant to be taken literally) in a symbolic, mystical way.-Never fear, Literalists. I’m ready for your counter-arguments (or should I say persuasions, in whatever degree of intensity).

The entire Doonesbury is fiction, yet we still read and appreciate it. Except for those who dedicate themselves to tearing it down.

Remember that Mary was, and will always be, a virgin.

I heard part of a discussion on the radio in which it was believed that Jesus was born in the spring. If the Bible is taken to be accurate about shepherds tending their flocks, it was mentioned, shepherds don’t tend their flocks except when lambs are born, which is spring.

It works out best for business to have Christmas occur near the end of the last month of the year.

It’s Thor! One of my favorites back in the day. And Reverend Scot has been introduced by this point as well.

It is Thor! Reminds me of the joke about the Nordic god named Thor… But everyone has already heard it.

No, Jesus was Jewish. Look to Israel today. They are not Caucasian. Jesus was neither black nor white. If he appeared today most likely he’d be profiled as a terrorist.

lol religious bs. oh well the sheeple need to be led. today we have the Koch bros doing it. the God’s name always change,but getting over is always the same.

A close friend is an ex-pastor who eventually saw the failure of his religion and evolved into a non-believer. He knows the bible inside and out and he assures me that many of the events actually took place, that Jesus was a real person, that many of the events actually took place. He went on to elaborate that there is a whole fantasy world overlaid on top of the real events and that belief in these fantasies became institutionalized and formalized through the centuries and children of believers become compelled to accept the fantasies as truths under threat of parental rejection. Think of Harry Potter if you will. It takes place in England which is real, and there are train stations, and streets and all the features of the real country, but alongside it is this whole fantasy world of witches and wizards and track 9 3/4 and Diagon Alley etc. So saying the bible is fiction is sort of true, but believers will point out the historical truth of events while glossing over the fantasies that were overlaid onto them. So while there may have been a real Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, there was certainly no virgin birth, and while Jesus may have been a rabbi with charisma, he surely never walked on water or did any of the other miracles that believers ascribed to him. In modern day terms, think of the Rev. Moon or some of these Indian gurus who followers ascribe divine powers to but who turn out to simply be con artists. Or Joseph Smith, a convicted con-man who gathered a following who bought into him being a prophet. It’s the followers need for belief that turns fantasy into reality which can then turn very toxic to those outside the group beliefs; see “Holy Wars.”

@StCleve72And add to the fact that the vast majority back then could not read or write and had little knowledge of numbers, such as Methusalah(sp?) and Noah living to the unlikely long years as mentioned. Translations weren’t perfect or even accurate. The message passed from word of mouth becomes changed with each mouth, as I had learned in 5th grade when the teacher whispered a message to one student and it got whispered from student to student until the message had changed when it had reached the last student. But regardless of its accuracy, the Bible is a good read.

About a year ago I read, “The Universe in a Single Atom” by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (2005). In the prologue he discusses what he has learned about science. On page 4 of my copy he states. “…if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.” The Dalai Lama is one hip dude and, unlike most other religious folks, certainly no bigot.

Clark Kent said, about 6 hours ago

The entire bible is fiction. So is the koran. No such people.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ah! A realist! Join the club (it’s growing)

Archaeologists have found many things that back up what is in the Bible. whether or not you believe in God, there is more evidence that Jesus lived and died on the cross than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived.

As a Jewish atheist, I have no problem with those who don’t think as I do – until they start insisting that I think as they do, and that their belief is the one true faith which, if embraced, will get me into heaven.

I love the atheist that said in a go-comic not long ago:“No body is going anywhere in a hand basket.”

Hold on a minute – are you saying that, if a old belief represented a reasonable interpretation of the data available at the time a belief was formulated, judging that belief as false is juvenile? So it’s juvenile for me to say that the believers in the flat earth were flat out wrong?

If montessoriteacher is thinking of the same Thor joke most of us are, it’s not particularly obscene but it is a bit crude, and probably not suitable for inclusion here. .There are many versions, one of which is at http://www.jokebuddha.com/joke/Im_Thor. It’s not graphic but is very suggestive, probably on the borderline between R and PG-13, so be warned accordingly.

@FlyerTomShe may have been a Virgin when Jesus was born (difficult birth unless they cut the hymen) but she wasn’t afterwards. She and Joseph had a bunch of kids. Jesus’s brothers are named, the sisters are not. And, everybody knew Joseph wasn’t Jesus’s biological father..

Mark 6:3 – Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

The Sirius radio satellite Radio Classics channel does a whole segment called “Christmas In July” where they play Christmas themed programming from their classic radio show archives.

Joseph: You’re WHAT?!? Aw, damn, your old man is gonna kill me!

Mary: Don’t worry, I thought up a great story.

“And the part of Baby Jesus is played by a hidden 40 watt light bulb”I still remember that line, albeit probably not entirely correct, after 40+ years.