Follow TV Tropes

Following

XKCD: It's more than a comic

Go To

BestOf FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC! from Finland Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Falling within your bell curve
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
#10926: Mar 30th 2015 at 8:29:21 AM

He made a bunch. Was it the "it's gotta start somewhere"?

Yeah, pretty much.

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
entropy13 わからない from Somewhere only we know. Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
わからない
#10927: Mar 30th 2015 at 8:34:58 AM

We had to talk about St. Thomas Aquinas in my Classic and Medieval European History class. St. Augustine too, and he happens to be the topic of my "reporting" in class. LOL

edited 30th Mar '15 8:35:16 AM by entropy13

I'm reading this because it's interesting. I think. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, over.
Quag15 Since: Mar, 2012
#10928: Mar 30th 2015 at 8:42:25 AM

I have a quote of Saint Augustine on my page. It's in Latin, though.

TenebrousGaze Dark Eye from A Shaded Face Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
Dark Eye
#10929: Mar 30th 2015 at 9:02:23 AM

I remember having to learn all the arguments for the existence of God in philosophy. The class as a whole just went "nope" for the ontological argument. Even this one really devout Christian disagreed with its logic.

edited 30th Mar '15 9:03:43 AM by TenebrousGaze

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#10930: Mar 30th 2015 at 1:26:12 PM

[up]Then God rreally did find a flaw in the ontological argument. cool

edited 30th Mar '15 1:26:36 PM by petersohn

The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us.
DeMarquis Who Am I? from Hell, USA Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Buried in snow, waiting for spring
Who Am I?
#10931: Mar 31st 2015 at 6:29:09 AM

"Even this one really devout Christian disagreed with its logic."

This one does too. There are no "proofs" of God.

Every time we find one, he deletes it from our memories.

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#10932: Mar 31st 2015 at 6:50:06 AM

I only really associate Aquinas with the intro to Deus Ex nowadays, sorry

I associate him mostly with the idea of spontaneous generation, myself.

Joesolo Indiana Solo Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Indiana Solo
#10933: Mar 31st 2015 at 11:01:15 AM

"Can we all agree that trying to prove the existence or non-existence of an eldritch abomination beyond space and time such as God is ultimately an interestingly futile exercise?"

Well I can say that calling God an Eldritch abomination is almost hilariously offensive.

edited 31st Mar '15 11:01:38 AM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack
BestOf FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC! from Finland Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Falling within your bell curve
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
#10934: Mar 31st 2015 at 11:10:09 AM

I'd ask why it's offensive but it'd probably launch an ultimately pointless derail. If you want to PM me why you don't think it's OK to talk about religion in the same terms as (other) fiction I'd be interested in your point of view but it's probably better not to start that in the thread.

edited 31st Mar '15 11:10:18 AM by BestOf

Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Quag15 Since: Mar, 2012
#10935: Mar 31st 2015 at 11:15:42 AM

Well, speaking as a Catholic, I mostly call God an eldritch abomination in order to not take things too seriously when in a discussion involving religion. It's a defuse/humourous mechanism, in a certain way.

edited 31st Mar '15 11:27:25 AM by Quag15

Joesolo Indiana Solo Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Indiana Solo
#10936: Mar 31st 2015 at 11:23:49 AM

Abomination generally has extremely negative connotations, but meh. And I guess derailing this into why it's not fiction(our own pages classify religion separately) would probably get messy.

Oh, interesting thing from the other day, I was at the Stevens Institute in Hoboken and their school newspaper actually prints web comics there, including XKCD. Any of you guys seen that else where?

edited 31st Mar '15 11:24:52 AM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack
petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#10937: Mar 31st 2015 at 11:38:47 AM

[up][up]I wholeheartedly agree with you. Not in calling God an eldritch abomination but in not taking things too seriously. I myself am not religious, but I personally find if offensive when people are offended at other people's religiousness (or lack of that). For example, if a televangelist wanted to "save my soul" by trying to convert me to their religion, I would just laugh at him, and if they became rude, I would be offended of their rudeness, not their religion. Or there are those who want to ban people talking about their religion publicly because it "may offend non-religious people". Why? Democracy and freedom of speech don't mean that everybody has to think the same way.

Anyway, it may be appropriate to call God "eldritch", given that he fulfills several of the requirements.

The universe is under no obligation to make sense to us.
Joesolo Indiana Solo Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Indiana Solo
#10938: Mar 31st 2015 at 12:00:18 PM

EDIT -Eldritch sure. Abomination, less so.

I posted more than this before but we've got other threads for this.

edited 31st Mar '15 12:01:33 PM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack
Medinoc Chaotic Greedy from France Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Chaotic Greedy
#10939: Mar 31st 2015 at 12:03:59 PM

Given some of the things He did in the Old Testament, including scolding His chosen people for not being thorough enough in their genocide, I'm sure you'll find some who agree on both words.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
Arha Since: Jan, 2010
#10940: Mar 31st 2015 at 12:08:53 PM

Being mean is not the same as being impossible to understand. Though that doesn't seem out of line with much of Christian philosophy in general either.

FuzzyBoots from Outlying borough of Pittsburgh (there's a lot of Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
#10941: Mar 31st 2015 at 12:11:57 PM

{nods} I think that the central argument is that it's potentially incendiary, like referring to President Obama as a "black barbarian". Sure, he's black, and I'm sure you could find people who'd argue that he's barbaric in his proposed policies, but I think all parties involved would agree that it's trying to raise tempers. Perhaps "Alien Intelligence" would work a bit better to indicate that we, as human beings, really cannot fathom what a being with omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence would be like?

Medinoc Chaotic Greedy from France Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Chaotic Greedy
#10942: Mar 31st 2015 at 12:41:39 PM

[up]Not omniscient, Genesis made that clear.

"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
TParadox Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: The captain of her heart
#10943: Mar 31st 2015 at 1:04:11 PM

The common reading is as that of a parent who sees a baseball, a broken lamp, and only one child in the room, and asks what happened. It's obvious what happened, you just want to give the child the chance to confess.

Fresh-eyed movie blog
Quag15 Since: Mar, 2012
#10944: Mar 31st 2015 at 1:04:53 PM

[up][up]That was more due to God failing a spot check (or giving the impression of doing so, in order to make Adam and Eve submit to a Secret Test of Character). It happens to the best of the eldritch entitiesnote 


I also originally said that God was an eldritch abomination in the sense of being unfathomable and beyond mere human logic (and being awesome, in the 'worthy of awe' sense). Besides, eldritch abomination is just the trope name, since there are eldritch beings that could be considered to be good or neutral through human eyes (after all, the contrast between Old Testament God and New Testament God does look jarring at first).

edited 31st Mar '15 1:07:44 PM by Quag15

Arha Since: Jan, 2010
#10945: Mar 31st 2015 at 1:07:20 PM

It's not that you're wrong from that perspective, it's that people rarely focus on that aspect when thinking of eldritch abominations. Plus, abomination is a pretty loaded term. I don't think people really understand that trope very well, including writers.

DeMarquis Who Am I? from Hell, USA Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Buried in snow, waiting for spring
Who Am I?
#10946: Mar 31st 2015 at 1:07:32 PM

He's only an eldritch abomination if you are on the other side...

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
DeMarquis Who Am I? from Hell, USA Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Buried in snow, waiting for spring
Who Am I?
#10948: Mar 31st 2015 at 1:10:20 PM

He did. She didnt listen.

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history."
FuzzyBoots from Outlying borough of Pittsburgh (there's a lot of Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
#10949: Mar 31st 2015 at 1:37:42 PM

On the other hand, given the value of salt back then, she could take some cold comfort in being worth more dead than alive... wink

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#10950: Mar 31st 2015 at 2:08:08 PM

I bring that up as an example because the kind of Supreme Being that would turn someone who disobeys it into a pillar of salt is utterly inscrutable to us.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Total posts: 25,731
Top