Recent Comments

1. 9 months ago on Gil Thorp

   And she is the same bartender who watched his wife skip his award ceremony to drink with her gay friend.

2. over 1 year ago on The Meaning of Lila

   I don’t disagree with you: anyone who is into making others believe their religion and forcing them to do what they say is just a bully. For many, many people religion is just an excuse to force their will on others. There is no denying it, there is way too much of that. Anyone who won’t admit that, or thinks it’s true of all other religions but theirs, because they alone know the truth, is a problem.

   I’m just saying, I have met a lot of people who use religion to remind themselves to be more humble and caring and kind. For example, I don’t get the feeling @ladywyntre is out bombing mosques or abortion clinics in her free time. I think she’s probably volunteering and caring for people who need help. And I bet other people in her church are too.

   Both of these things can be true of religion, just as they are about people in general.

   I share your outrage at the Taliban and their counterparts in the so-called religious right in America. But we need some way to build communities and remind ourselves there is more to life than selfishness and consumerism and feuds. I think religion used to do a lot of that, not just enforce conformity.

   I got a feeling of real community at my parents’ Unitarian church. It was a time out from the week when I could think about my values, not just my daily concerns, which can be all-consuming if you let them. But if people base their feelings of community on opposition to other communities, that’s sad.

   Personally I liked ladywyntre’s distinction between orthopraxy and orthodoxy, which I think just means caring more about doing good than being “right.” As she said, “Orthodoxy without orthopraxy is just someone trying to make everyone else fit into little boxes.” I don’t think you can put it much better than that.

   She also said, fundamentalists “alarm and enrage me at least as much as they do you.” How can you not find common ground with a person like that?

3. almost 2 years ago on The Meaning of Lila

   I think it’s easy to get distracted by the literal meanings of religion and miss the point. I don’t believe in God as a literal, external, creator being either. But do you believe in love? If so, what do you make of core, mainstream religious statements like, God is love? Is it really such a bad idea to try let your life be guided by love? And to get together with people once a week to remind yourself and each other that there are more important things in life than work and money and selfishness and cruel, dismissive thoughts about your well meaning neighbors? My parents took me to Unitarian church as a child and I still miss it. I, like you, think religious myths are just stories — and like the poster above, that anyone who approaches religion without humility can become an arrogant, domineering dogmatist. But remember, no human mind or text can ever capture full understanding of anything. We are all just groping to understand life as best we can, and be the best people we can, and some religious communities can be helpful in reminding yourself what is important. Many instead promote intolerance and hatred. As the person above notee. But you can be an atheist or secular humanist without being contemptuous and dismissive of people who seek and find in religions a way to remind themselves to be more loving and kind. If that is what you are getting from religion, I say, God bless you. If not, do what you need to do to become a more loving person. A religious person would say you are seeking god by doing that. I don’t care what anyone calls it — kindness, compassion, empathy, whatever — I am for it. Even if it is just some brain chemicals that evolved because the sensations produced provide a selective advantage to the species, which is what I believe, I still think it is right to try to seek assistance in being guided by those chemicals rather than our fight or flight hormones. I think we are just rational enough to perceive others and decide they matter too.

4. about 2 years ago on Gil Thorp

   I think the inker messed up and made the wrong person’s shirt green. It should still be Cathy Sasaki talking.

5. about 2 years ago on Dilbert Classics

   You can tell it’s an old comic; today bosses make a thousand times more.

6. about 3 years ago on Gil Thorp

   My first thought of course was a Mrs. Robinson thing, but I don’t think the strip is going there. I now think that is Tessie’s mom. She is going to introduce them after the game, and when he mentions how busy she seems to always be with family stuff, her mom will say, Well, Tessie, you have nothing planned this weekend.

   She will be roped into going out with him, and then she will say something awful—it will just slip out.

   And then Corinna will crush her, either physically or verbally or both.

   The only question is, will Corinna then go out with him? I’m thinking, no. He’s still a huge nerd with way too much school spirit. While it would be nice for the two smart, unconventional ones to pair off, in theory, I think it would feel forced.

   I admit, they’ve got me hooked, and I have no idea how this will end!

7. almost 4 years ago on Overboard

   What? The whole thing with this strip is the rivalry between them and “the green ship.” They are the blue ship. How could Charlie wear green, when he is not on the green ship, and the green ship guys are their enemies? I think the colorist just screwed up.

8. almost 4 years ago on Overboard

   He also managed to chase a dog across the top of the ocean to the shore, with one shoe on no less!

9. over 4 years ago on Luann

   Congratulations, you’re officially turning into Cathy.

10. almost 6 years ago on Ripley's Believe It or Not

    Actually it was the first pairs of shoes sold in boxes. I’m pretty sure people always bought shoes in pairs.