Freethought & Rationalism Archive

agapeo · 11-17-2002, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by peekingduck:
agapeo
"The story of Bob" is a pretty strong attack on religious beliefs. What Mr. Payne said makes sense to me even if it is satire and good satire makes one think. I find many story in the bible make no sense at all!

I don't dispute, peekingduck, that good satire will make one think, but one shouldn't think that satire is (pardon the pun) gospel truth.

The story presented by DP is no doubt a strong attack but most satire has that intention. I too am surprised that no theists have attempted to rebutt it. But perhaps that may be somewhat attributed to the sheer volume of issues which it covers. Btw when you say many do you mean that some do?

peekingduck · 11-22-2002, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by agapeo:

I don't dispute, peekingduck, that good satire will make one think, but one shouldn't think that satire is (pardon the pun) gospel truth.

The story presented by DP is no doubt a strong attack but most satire has that intention. I too am surprised that no theists have attempted to rebutt it. But perhaps that may be somewhat attributed to the sheer volume of issues which it covers. Btw when you say many do you mean that some do?

Ops! You caught my error. I thought the story would spark a little more debate, but the religious here avoid it like the plague. I guess they have no answers to the points it raises.

David M. Payne · 11-26-2002, 06:13 PM

From Earl Doherty in the feedback forum today. Made my day.

Quote:

Originally posted by "Earl Doherty":
COMMENT ON DAVID PAYNE'S "THE STORY OF BOB"
<a href="http://www.secweb.org/asset.asp?AssetID=236" target="_blank">http://www.secweb.org/asset.asp?AssetID=236</a>

Parody and satire can be a most effective way of pricking the balloon of irrational doctrine. Reaching the mind of the believer is a daunting task at the best of times, but exposing absurdity is often achieved by presenting it in the context of a different kind of absurdity--one designed to force re-examination of those beliefs. Religious dogma is usually an insult to the thinking person's intelligence, whether it be creationism, original sin through eating an apple, or the claim that the appearance of one man at a single time and place is the sole source of universal salvation. Parody and satire are themselves a form of reciprocal insult to jolt the believer into seeing his ideas in a different light and bring home the irrationality of it all. Clever pieces of parody like The Story of Bob (and they have to be clever, and well-written) can sometimes do more to effect that jolt than even a good academic book on the subject. The truth is, we need both.
I enjoyed David's wit and ingenious repetition of motifs, and I applaud his treatment of the "Isms"--those modern bedevilments of atheism which the believer likes to throw in our faces. Nicely neutralized and deflated in a couple of paragraphs. And yes, the "call to Bob." Too bad it weren't that easy, we could all go home and do something else. It would all be so funny, if it didn't reveal the truly tragic situation the human race has managed to mire itself in as part of a process of evolution that really has no intelligent mind behind it. Rather, evolution, in its own mindless wisdom, has thrown up its own intelligence to create the needed direction. In David's Story of Bob, that force is "the freethinkers."
Perhaps the Secular Web should set up a contest for more good pieces of parody. They're a challenge to do properly, with just the right amount of wit and satire without overstepping the bounds of good tact and taste. Whatever happened to the great tradition of satirists, from Juvenal to Jonathan Swift? We certainly need them today in modern America.

Earl Doherty
Author of "The Jesus Puzzle" and "Challenging the Verdict: A Cross-Examination of Lee Strobel's 'The Case for Christ'"
and The Jesus Puzzle website: <a href="http://human.st/jesuspuzzle" target="_blank">http://human.st/jesuspuzzle</a>

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