Well, everyone knows that a blank white piece of paper depicts a polar bear eating snow, and all fierce defenders of hungry animals are gonna be honked off…
There is actually a real cartoon associated with this – it is posted over at OneGoodMove. The comments are funny – someone really did take it the wrong way!!
Magnus Malmbornsays
Is it a part of the joke that the link won’t load?
I think this one is kind of cute; I must be a wimpy sort of atheist. I can be roused, though: I really don’t like the one about the bear and the atheist. (The bear is about to eat the atheist, the atheist cries out to God, God freezes the action & asks the atheist what he expects him (God) to do; the atheist concedes that it’s presumptuous of him to ask God for help, but suggests perhaps that God could make the bear a Christian; God accepts & the bear (ha ha!) begins to say grace.) Mind you, there is a very nice dig at Christianity in there, alongside the irritating crap…
You mean he’s now Pharyngulaman’s eager young sidekick?
ElGordosays
Why would atheists riot over a picture of someone’s god? Or of the Holy Ghost, as stated above. Hell, I’d be happy if 15,000 atheists would declare themselves in ANY American city!
“I really don’t like the one about the bear and the atheist”
Just ignore it. If you can’t, just point out (to whoever is telling the anecdote) that the thing about fiction is: the ending is made up by the author. How does that prove anything?
Jeebussays
In other news, only theists can be transferred into an insane and unlawful terrorists when shown various cartoons…
Dan S.says
“everyone knows that a blank white piece of paper depicts a polar bear eating snow,”
Global warming denial, now?! It just gets worse and worse!
: )
But does He hear the prayers of agnostics? I just don’t know…
Emilysays
“everyone knows that a blank white piece of paper depicts a polar bear eating snow”
Nooooo, come on. A blank piece of paper is always a picture of a cow eating grass. The grass, of course, is gone because the cow ate it. And the cow is no longer there because after she ate, she left ;-)
Torrissays
Pharyngula sure gets a lot of humorous people making comments! It is such a fun group.
THere’s an invisible, floating, incorporeal fire-breathing embassy in my garage. If you don’t draw something on the offending blank paper, it will burn you.
Why don’t they hold the piece of paper over the toaster to reveal the secret message scrawled in lemon juice?
Shystersays
Cartoonist spills ink on sheet of paper. Blot looks like either a hippo having unprotected sex with a butterfly or the Virgin Mary. Followers claim that touching the Blot will heal warts. Home of cartoonist is turned into a shrine. He charges $10 a head to worship at the blot and retires to the Bahamas. Church takes no position on the blot but refuses to allow it to be carbon date tested.
Jason Powerssays
That Pain Comics guy would like to push the envelope, it seems. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but if you grit your teeth it isn’t bad.
Graculussays
Funny, the version of the bear joke I heard involved a minister.
It doesn’t make sense for an atheist to ask God to make the bear a Xian, does it?
davidsays
Another disrepectful joke.
Q. What do you get when you cross an atheist with a Jehovah’s Witness?
A. Someone who comes knocking on your door for no reason whatsoever.
I just wanted to share one of my favorite quotations from J. Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5, and a man with a name even harder to spell than PZ Myars):
When was the last time you heard of an atheist car bombing an embassy because he thought it would bring him closer to the void? When was the last time you heard of an atheist murdering his entire family because he didn’t hear the voice of god talking in his head?
sally says
heh heh
Roadtripper says
As an agnostic, I’m not sure how I feel about that one.
King Spirula says
very good! so is roadpripper’s.
Rick @ shrimp and grits says
I don’t believe in blank sheets of paper.
King Spirula says
sorry…roadTripper’s
isabelita says
Well, everyone knows that a blank white piece of paper depicts a polar bear eating snow, and all fierce defenders of hungry animals are gonna be honked off…
Steve Sutton says
This concept of blank paper confuses and infuriates me.
Fernando Magyar says
That’s funny, why would all those atheists be so upset about a cartoon of the Holy Ghost?
NonProphet says
There is actually a real cartoon associated with this – it is posted over at OneGoodMove. The comments are funny – someone really did take it the wrong way!!
Magnus Malmborn says
Is it a part of the joke that the link won’t load?
NonProphet says
Hmmm. No. I’ve just clicked on it and it seems to work fine. Anyway, here is the URL… http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/02/atheists_join_c.html
It could be that the site is slow because a horde of angry atheists is clicking through from here… Perhaps OneGoodMove has been “Pharyngulad”.
harv says
roadtripper: As an agnostic, I’m not sure how I feel about that one.
I’ve always said there’s nothing an agnostic can’t do if he really doesn’t know if he believes in anything or not. -Graham Chapman …
Bryson Brown says
I think this one is kind of cute; I must be a wimpy sort of atheist. I can be roused, though: I really don’t like the one about the bear and the atheist. (The bear is about to eat the atheist, the atheist cries out to God, God freezes the action & asks the atheist what he expects him (God) to do; the atheist concedes that it’s presumptuous of him to ask God for help, but suggests perhaps that God could make the bear a Christian; God accepts & the bear (ha ha!) begins to say grace.) Mind you, there is a very nice dig at Christianity in there, alongside the irritating crap…
BronzeDog says
You mean he’s now Pharyngulaman’s eager young sidekick?
ElGordo says
Why would atheists riot over a picture of someone’s god? Or of the Holy Ghost, as stated above. Hell, I’d be happy if 15,000 atheists would declare themselves in ANY American city!
John Marley says
“I really don’t like the one about the bear and the atheist”
Just ignore it. If you can’t, just point out (to whoever is telling the anecdote) that the thing about fiction is: the ending is made up by the author. How does that prove anything?
Jeebus says
In other news, only theists can be transferred into an insane and unlawful terrorists when shown various cartoons…
Dan S. says
“everyone knows that a blank white piece of paper depicts a polar bear eating snow,”
Global warming denial, now?! It just gets worse and worse!
: )
AndyS says
The worst thing that might happen to a blog on a small server is that Pharangula links to you. :)
coturnix says
Have you seen this – quite similar.
bad Jim says
Everyone agrees that God doesn’t hear the prayers of atheists.
Jess says
But does He hear the prayers of agnostics? I just don’t know…
Emily says
“everyone knows that a blank white piece of paper depicts a polar bear eating snow”
Nooooo, come on. A blank piece of paper is always a picture of a cow eating grass. The grass, of course, is gone because the cow ate it. And the cow is no longer there because after she ate, she left ;-)
Torris says
Pharyngula sure gets a lot of humorous people making comments! It is such a fun group.
Mike says
Time to get organized :-)
http://www.thepaincomics.com/weekly060215a.htm
just john says
Well, before I can become properly offended, I have to examine the evidence.
Now, which side of this paper is supposed to be the offending blank side?
(Seriously, I just dropped by to post an url to another comic: http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/2006-02-21/index.html )
UrsulaV says
Hmm, now what embassy are we supposed to burn in outrage? Can I pick one at random? (Lichtenstein’s been gettin’ uppity lately…)
Dan S. says
I don’t believe in embassies .. .
aiabx says
Won’t somebody think of the unbelieving children?
UrsulaV says
You don’t believe in embassies, or you consider the question of the existence of embassies to be fundamentally either unknowable or unimportant?
Bro. Bartleby says
I would prefer not to …
Rick @ shrimp and grits says
THere’s an invisible, floating, incorporeal fire-breathing embassy in my garage. If you don’t draw something on the offending blank paper, it will burn you.
Kristine says
Why don’t they hold the piece of paper over the toaster to reveal the secret message scrawled in lemon juice?
Shyster says
Cartoonist spills ink on sheet of paper. Blot looks like either a hippo having unprotected sex with a butterfly or the Virgin Mary. Followers claim that touching the Blot will heal warts. Home of cartoonist is turned into a shrine. He charges $10 a head to worship at the blot and retires to the Bahamas. Church takes no position on the blot but refuses to allow it to be carbon date tested.
Jason Powers says
That Pain Comics guy would like to push the envelope, it seems. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but if you grit your teeth it isn’t bad.
Graculus says
Funny, the version of the bear joke I heard involved a minister.
It doesn’t make sense for an atheist to ask God to make the bear a Xian, does it?
david says
Another disrepectful joke.
Q. What do you get when you cross an atheist with a Jehovah’s Witness?
A. Someone who comes knocking on your door for no reason whatsoever.
Alon Levy says
Hmm, now what embassy are we supposed to burn in outrage? Can I pick one at random? (Lichtenstein’s been gettin’ uppity lately…)
Well, we’re supposed to burn all embassies.
arensb says
I just wanted to share one of my favorite quotations from J. Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5, and a man with a name even harder to spell than PZ Myars):