Yes, I get it. I was being facetious. Personally, I think wearing a colander is pretty funny. If you don’t, maybe you’re not getting the joke?
Also related:
1 Like
I think that’s a pretty good definition of satire 
1 Like
I’m not sure that’s a precedent I want to follow:
“The photo was not approved on religious grounds. The only criterion for photos in driving licence applications is that the whole face must be visible,” said Manfred Reinthaler, a police spokesman in Vienna.
and:
After receiving his application the Austrian authorities had required him to obtain a doctor’s certificate that he was “psychologically fit” to drive.
On the other hand -
?
2 Likes
Liked because Daniel Pinkwater has been my hero since I was in 4th grade. His deep weirdness made me feel like my awkward weirdness might not be so bad.
1 Like
Thank you, I cannot agree more. Pinkwater blew my mind in 4th grade with Lizard Music, Snarkout Boys, and Alan Mendelsohn, and I’m glad to have not been the same since.
1 Like
Whether satire or attempt to point out issues with exception cases to civil law for religious observation. even given the fact that it is impossible to define “religion”, I have just the slightest bit of paranoia when theres already enough law fare against carveouts in Europe regarding ritual slaughter, religious garb and circumcision.
1 Like
It feels disconcertingly unclear, at least in the US which way this thpught experiment will push though. With the courts and legislature stacked more and more with conservatives and zealots, we may just be taking the hard road straight through religious inquisition/crusades to get to the non-sectarian enlightenlent, rather than avoiding it.
Not saying we shpuld stop resisting with satire, but it would be foolish to think that these are the only two choices. Things could get much uglier in the short term, particularly if these fools pullnoff the constitutional comvemtiom they are lusting after. Heck Jeff Sessions is doing ekough shitting on the establishment clause without it.
According to the Metro article, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel) accepted their application as a Denomination. I think it’s debatable whether that means “The Netherlands” recognises the Church of the FSM as religion.
1 Like
Yes, I did read it.
“Commercial business organisation accepts new member” doesn’t make a news story 
1 Like
I liked Harari’s definition of a religion in Sapiens: a belief in a superhuman order that prescribes norms for human behaviour.
So the general theory of relativity is not a religion, because while its laws are not believed to be of human origin (i.e., they would still hold whether or not humans ever existed), they do not prescribe human behavioural norms. Association Football, conversely, is not a religion because its laws, although governing human conduct (e.g. do not become involved in active play when in an offside position), are not held to be of non-human provenance (usually, anyway).
Roman Catholicism is a religion, because its laws are held to be of superhuman origin (specifically, divine revelation) and do set rules for human behaviour (e.g. no wanking).
Note that this definition covers institutions and ideologies not typically considered religions, such as capitalism. For Harari, this is a feature, not a bug.
1 Like
That sounds good, I think the Buddhists fit that, but how is it at excluding the border cases?
- Scientology
- Raelians
- Pastafarians
- Jedi
I don’t insist that they all be excluded, but what to do about groups with a made-up tacked-on cosmology that never-the-less probably has some true believers? (And cosmologies created by bronze age sheep flockers shouldn’t get a pass just because they’re old.)
1 Like
I get the feeling that “nihilism” is enjoying a resurgence of late simply because “atheism” has become too politically-charged. Or maybe it’s always been around, and I’m just paying more attention as I’m growing older.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
