(Click the cartoon to make it oh-so-huge)I'm back from out of town and have time to write about this cartoon now. I'm glad so many people liked this one, I got some good comments and quite a few emails on it. It's one of my favorites in a long time and, to answer the cynical question in the comments section, I WROTE IT MYSELF! (As I do the vast majority of my cartoons.)
People's willingness to believe ancient, cockamamie fairy tales over science is a pet peeve of mine, and this is obviously aimed at that ilk. Even more disturbing is the inclination that so many American voters to vote for politicians who believe ancient, cockamamie fairy tales over science. These are politicians who would ostensibly lead us through the increasingly dangerous and technologically advanced world in which we live. Do we really want someone to be making decisions for us all who ignores the intellectual advancement of our enemies and depends instead on faith in an invisible super hero in the sky? We've had that for the past eight years and, well, here we are.
One would think that I don't really need to make this point, since the Bushies made it so convincingly for me. But if that were true, Obama/Biden would have beaten McCain/Palin by 90% instead of the relatively narrow margin they did.
44 comments:
d, this cartoon is awesome, i want it! look at that turbulent sky and the fiery explosion cloud; i love it. i recall you saying you were going to get me bar stools for my kitchen for christmas, screw the bar stools, i want this cartoon!!
brilliant! you should have been a scientist!
That could be the answer. But just try to teach it in schools. :-)
I love the animal/dinosaur expressions and the two gorilla's hanging out.
Love that cartoon.
Enjoy your weekend.
this cartoon is so hilarious! good job Dan
I laughed out loud when I saw this! Is that a mermaid escaping in the lower right corner?
Please, Lord, make sure Sarah Palin sees this cartoon!!!!!
Too-cool gorillas for the win!
Love this!
Certainly explains the whole dinosaurs in the Bible issue.
Even if the Leviathan and Behemoth were dinosaurs, they were shot down by Noah.
brilliant theory! seems as likely as the others... have a great weekend!
Funny comic. Who wrote it for you?
One of my most favouritest in a long time. The smirk on the left giraffe's face reminds me of the Far Side one with the dog and the guys in the boat, and the dog didn't draw the short straw about who gets eaten.
Well Dan, I have a hard time finding humour in this comic. It is probabaly because you are using such a stereotyped image of what the ark is. It shows a lot of ignorance. The ark did not have an open top to it and the animals weren't hanging out of it.
Also, I don't know how you can say that science has disproved the ark and the global flood. Can you elaborate on that?
Uh, Piraro? You do know Obama is a Christian, right? And not just a passive believer...
Jeremy:
People take things on faith be it faith in the Bible, science, or Penthouse forum. It is simply faith. I am both a Christian and a scientist and as such I see the world as the result of God's handiwork, but I do not dismiss the big bang. I wasn't there and God may have said "Let there be a big bang." I believe in the last page of Darwin's Origins of the Species where he states that "species adapt from their creation". Note "adapt" does not mean "evolve into new species". But it is by faith I believe these things.
At the same time I find it very hard to believe a lot of the hype passed off as science. If you read the science articles in the papers you will find that the universe is expanding, the universe is shrinking, that rocks from Mars and no where else landed on Antarctica (the no where part is wrong), and the biggest lunacy that the laws of physics were created during the big bang. I would love to see someone prove that or even disprove it. The reason they want the laws of physics to be created during the bang is they can not explain the bang without violating the laws to some degree. But again no one I know as a human was there to say otherwise.
So Dan, You, I, Shortcake, Jezzka, Anonymous, and more all have faith in something. And no argument on a blog will prove or disprove their faith. If an argument on a blog could shake that faith, they really don't believe it to begin with.
My biggest problem with the cartoon is how did Noah smelt the metal for the gun barrel and holy moly batman, Noah invented gun powder. And if Dan want to step on someone faith in his blog, he can it is his blog. I also thank God I am an American where you can step on someone faith and not have your face chewed off. That is unless you voted again Prop 8 in California.
I am by no means suggesting Dan can't express his thoughts. I am just puzzled by them. I was not aware of any science that disproved Noah's ark. I understand that he has to appeal to the masses and the masses have been fed lies like the picture of a tiny little ark with only a few pairs of a animals on it and that it couldn't possibly have held as many animals as it did, etc.
If you want a logical breakdown of the actual written account and how it is perfectly possible, check out this site: Was There Really a Noah’s Ark & Flood?
i'm not religious at all, i like the cartoon because i like dinosaurs. plus, it makes me giggle to see prehistoric animals floating in a boat about to be obliterated by flamingos and modern day puny animals.
d, i am serious, i would like this cartoon, i will polish cleo's boots for her. does she have cat boots? if she does i will polish them for her! they will sparkle!
we are planning to get a large format epson printer for the office and with your permission, i want to print a single copy so large, it covers the entire length of my living room and next to it, would be the original framed. then below that, i would have a small sign that says, look to the right for a bigger-ized version (just like in your blog - your blog transformed into 3d!). how f-ing cool would that be??!! it would look spectacular above my mammoth couch.
Jezzka: I didn't mean to imply religion when I say you have faith in something. I mean you have faith in something and that something can actually be nothing if that makes sense. Also we all have faith in elevators, electricity, and simple appliances. I have faith my toaster will make toast and not beer. But I am talking about the faith that defines us, not faith in toast, but faith in something like science, religion, cats, malted milk balls, etc... ... however if the faith that defines you is the faith in nothing, well that still is something.
isee3dtoo said...
"If you read the science articles in the papers you will find that the universe is expanding, the universe is shrinking,"
I read lots of science papers and I have not seen a single paper saying that the Universe is shrinking. There is a current interesting question on whether or not the expansion is accelerating, but no suggestion that it is shrinking.
"that rocks from Mars and no where else landed on Antarctica (the no where part is wrong),"
You have this garbled as well. Antarctica is covered with moving ice. That makes it easy to find meteors there (they get pushed by the ice to the edge). Meteors from many places land many places. But the meteors from Mars we have found were in Antarctica.
"and the biggest lunacy that the laws of physics were created during the big bang. I would love to see someone prove that or even disprove it"
Again you got the science garbled, though this may take longer to untangle. Cosmology can take us back to the Horrendous Space Kablooie, but it can't take us back further than that. So the laws are not "created" at that time, simply we can understand to about then, but no earlier.
>So Dan, You, I, Shortcake, Jezzka, Anonymous, and more all have faith in something.
My faith in science is the same faith I use to take a piss in the morning and to eat breakfast. That is, a faith that the rules here and now are there rules there and then. That's it.
isee3dtoo: I'm saddened to hear about the lack of manufacturing and product development taught in current engineering curricula. I simply don't see the sense in it.
But I have to make a counter-point, on faith.
Look, according to the oxford dictionary of english (2nd edition): faith is 1) complete trust or confidence in someone or something
2) strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof
I claim to have neither of these things. I don't think they are necessary for living. To have "faith" in an elevator would mean getting in even if it were sparking and smoking, because you have complete trust in the machine to safely lift you. I for one check on my toast before it put it in my mouth, because I don't have complete confidence that my toaster will produce toast instead of charcoal (or even, perhaps, beer). Complete confidence or unswerving belief is essentially the suspension of your own ability or willingness to question. No one should ever give that up.
Matts2:
I don't like debates on those issues so I will pick one, rocks from Mars.
1. I believe we found rocks on Antarctica.
2. I believe these rocks were from space.
3. I believe that in space there are lots of rocks.
4. I believe that in space there are lots of stars, planets, astroids, and that we have a clue as to what the physical composition of each and every one of these things is. Note I said "a clue" meaning we don't much but we have an idea.
5. I believe that Mars is made of of stuff and some of this stuff is in the form of rocks.
6. I believe we have sent a robot device to Mars and we have a very good indication of what the rocks on Mars are made.
7. I believe we don't know exactly what is under the surface of Mars (i.e. wow that looks like ice, maybe it is salt, no it is ice). How deep have we looked?
8. I believe that some rocks on Mars could have come from other sources which is the same belief as rocks on Antarctica came from another source.
9. I believe that stuff, be if matter that formed after the cooling effects of a big bang or some God like creature pulled it out of his hat, formed the planets, stars, rocks, and other items floating around in space and that this stuff is not unique. This stuff does not include living stuff because if there is living stuff in space it probably doesn't like Zebras.
10. I believe that the stuff that formed Mars or happened to land on Mars is not unique to Mars.
11. Therefore I believe that there is no possibly way to say, without doubt, the the rocks came from Mars but by saying it enough times people will believe in a bazillion-trillion-million to 1 long shot.
Now the big ones....
12. I believe that by saying the rocks on Antarctica were from Mars gave JPL and NASA a little bit of hype to present to science teachers and congress so that they would get funding to send things to Mars. Because they really don't have a clue where those rocks come from and they know that the average high school science teacher will believe anything that says NASA on it. And since the average person in the US stops taking science about age 16 it would be a good bet they will buy into the idea as well and the engineers at JPL and NASA will keep there jobs.
13. I believe we see this hype on a weekly basis in the newspapers because NASA knows if they keep reminding up of how important they are their funding will not dry up like it did in the late 70's and early 80's.
14. Disclaimer: I worked in the space industry and I support the space industry. However, I know hype when it I see it because when I worked in the space industry the PR people would come by and write articles about what we did. Those article glorified things that never happened but what we wanted to happened. But by allowing them to write it we got funding.
Robert:
Definition 1) says faith is complete trust in something.
And I say that something can be nothing. So if you claim to have neither 1) or 2) doesn't that mean you don't have complete trust in nothing. Which implies you have a little faith in something. :-)
People who say they believe in nothing, believe in something which happens to be nothing.
I am beginning to believe in nothing....
This conversation is not very informed.
Hi Dan, I`ve been reading your blog and enjoying your cartoons for quite a while, and this one is one of my top ten.
In my opinion, I think it´s an awesome joke. A joke, people, JOKE.
If you take things so damn serious your whole life, you won`t live long enough to realize how much laughter can help you look forward to the next day.
So come on, breathe in, you liked it? Awesome. You didn`t? Same thing.
I DO really think it`s a great cartoon.
Congrats :)
Andrea,
I know its very exciting for you to finally post and stop lurking, but let's settle down with the tough talk.
NAV - What's wrong with lurking?
Lurking?
At least I use my real lurker name and not an anonymous one.
I don't see anything wrong about lurking. But I do see something wrong about not signing what you write.
Great cartoon (or is it a comic -- I can never remember...?!)!
Be silent, Andrea. You have said enough. Go back into the background where you belong.
I demand to know why there wasn't a unicorn on the dinosaur ship . .. .
I absolutely love this comic. I couldn't help but think of this Farside clssic -
http://trilobitessawstuff.vox.com/library/photo/6a00cdf3acc9b3cb8f00e398a587610003.html
What's with the stuff floating in the water in the foreground. pie... K2... dynamite... some sort of "pie in the sky" reference??
isee3dtoo
You can't be a *real* christian and a *real* scientist at the same time.
It's easy to tell from your post that you aren't a real scientist because you don't seem to even grasp how "science" works. Hint, it doesn't involve faith.
Please tell me Jeremy is kidding!
isee3dtoo, other people seem to be disagreeing to most of what you said so i'll just stick to disagreeing with this:
"no argument on a blog will prove or disprove their faith. If an argument on a blog could shake that faith, they really don't believe it to begin with."
that would mean that everyone's beliefs are either untrue or set in stone from the day they're born? if they can't be changed. they can, not by one blog entry but by several, by taking in different versions, different theories and beliefs.
i've been raised to believe there might be a god cos my parents are (cultural) catholics and felt obliged to raise me that way. since then i have gradually doubted more and more and finally came to the conclusion that i can't accept that at all. all thanks to different pieces of disbelief around me.
(i make it sound like a good thing cos i feel i've came to a conclusion i'm happy with. don't mean to pass judgement. except on jeremy)
I meant "culturally catholics" and "obliged"
I find that whenever anyone quotes something like Answers in Genesis to make their point, I tune out -- completely. That is probably a character flaw, but I am of the view that someone who takes AiG seriously is not someone I can have a meaningful conversation with: our words simply do not have enough common referents.
Having now put in my two cents, I want to say "great cartoon," and I like your blog very much. Thank you.
nice post
love your blog good stuff
nike work
Never mind about Homo religious, humor is humor, a joke is a joke, a god is an invention.
Great information, thank you for this nice post.
@ Alex, great point, I am agree with you,
nice post!
- John Devis
Magento Themes
Science is the pet fever now every one is suffering from it and it also gives us
http://bittergreensgazette.blogspot.com/2005/04/archer-daniels-midlands-man-at-usda_29.html
http://bittergreensgazette.blogspot.com/2005/08/monsanto-to-bitter-greens-cease-and.html
http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2008/11/ark-theory.html
http://blackpearlgsm.blogspot.com/2006/10/haier-america-launches-black-pearl-gsm.html
http://blog.netflix.com/2008/10/upgrade-to-watch-instantly-on-your-pc.html
Actualy they would of had more but it would die away through generations.
It ain't two of every freeking animal, 2 pairs of all clean animals and two pairs of all known unclean animals.
Post a Comment