So many people in this thread completely missing the satire. The author is clearly also an atheist poking fun at the highschool reddit atheist stereotype. Taking this way too seriously.
this post was submitted on 26 May 2025
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I didn't catch the self-deprecation. What makes it clear?
To me, what this comic is saying is that even if you're able to debate someone out of believing in God it's cruel to do it to someone like your mom who has God as the central pillar of their emotional well-being.
It presupposes that you're able to "prove" that God doesn't exist and to me it doesn't necessarily paint the idea of being an atheist in a negative light, just the neckbeard atheist attitude that you should try to emotionally destroy people who do believe in God.
It's a three panel comic so yeah, it's a bit ambiguous, I just think that people are missing that the punchline is really only funny from an atheist perspective. From a Christian perspective the comic is awkward. The last panel wouldn't be a punchline and wouldn't make sense at all, how would these obviously loser neckbeards be able to prove God doesn't exist?
Hmm, that is a pretty insightful point. On the other hand, I think most people I know who are religious are the sort who can appreciate self-deprecating humour themselves -- they might think it's funny for taking an absurd premise to its logical conclusion.
What suggests to me that this author is trying to paint atheism in a negative light is quite straightforwardly "score one for atheism." It doesn't really have a hint of irony to me. I think the author clearly thinks atheism just isn't cool anymore.
So many militant atheists. Saying so much, all just to prove the comic right.
What a shitty meme to get blocked over
Oh boy, I sure love the ol' "atheists are filthy neckbeards" canard. Haven't heard that one before.
Don't forget the "not believing in god = sadness" one. Realizing it is fake actually brought relief for the ex-religious people that I know (anecdotal, I know. I don't have the actual numbers).
Some people just can't handle being released from Plato's cave.
The first experience for many is crushing despair. It can take time to get out of that slump and learn to find meaning in a meaningless world.
The world has plenty of meaning that doesn't involve any kind of faith or religion.
Not objective meaning, though, it's all subjective. But nothing wrong with subjective meaning!
Faith doesn't have any objective meaning either.
DEAR LORD PEOPLE, SOMETIMES THERE IS NOT A DEEPER MESSAGE AND IT'S JUST A DUMB JOKE!
Seriously, check out the other comics by this artist. They just like absurdist humor, like this one:
Don't be anti-intellectual about this silly comic. People can apply intellectual analysis to stupid things if they want to, and they damn-well may find deeper meaning sometimes.
Let people have their hobbies.
Sure, but that also means that I get to make my own contribution to the discussion. 😀
I mean, you get to make your own contribution because we're on an open platform, not for any other reason. quite often intellectual spaces shut down and deplatform anti-intellectual rhetoric and thought-terminating cliches such as what you've stated. It serves no one discussing the intricacies of any work to have someone yelling "The curtains were fucking blue!", and this comment section literally exists to discuss the above comic and its various aspects.
Example intellectual comments being posted here:
I didn’t realize neckbeard atheists oppressed so many people compared to religion, thanks to the author for opening my eyes
So many militant atheists. Saying so much, all just to prove the comic right.
Having said that, my specific objection is not to all of the discussion taking place here, but to the fact that a lot of the comments seem to be projecting their own personal viewpoints onto the comic.
Also, I was not shouting people down; I was speaking in all caps to be funny. It's fine if you personally did not think I funny, but that was the intent (which in retrospect could probably have been conveyed more clearly if I had also dropped the comma so that it was purely a stream of words), just like it was the intent of the comic author to make a dumb joke rather than to state a strong opinion about atheists. I think that it is useful to separate the intent of what an author was trying to accomplish from your own thoughts on the subject.
So weird to see more than one-third downvotes, when all the comments are atheist-supporting. Maybe many read this comic as anti-atheistic ("what a jerk he is for making his poor mom unhappy!")?
I think it's hard to read the comic itself as anything but anti-atheistic. Or at the very least, anti-vocal-atheist.
delivering someone from a lifetime of sexual and gender oppression, and eliminating their need to tithe a portion of their income to an organization that hides and protects pedophiles and rapists?
Mom's on the floor weeping with joy.
Not every member of a church experiences those things first hand.
Yeah, there are exceptions in every group
I would go as far as to say that experiencing any of those things is the exception.
lucky! they still subsidize the activity if they tithe tho.
So... It's better to live in the matrix, gotcha.
For some people it is. Hell, there's even a character in the actual movie who thinks so.
I'm an atheist but I understand that religion and/or faith makes a lot of people happy and I don't want to take that happiness away from them.
Agnostic here and yeah, most atheists and agnostics I have ever met are about the same. We don't care if YOU believe. We care that you care we don't. Most of us will never utter a word against your religion and beliefs as long as you "do unto others" and all that jazz. This comic reaks of being drawn by a Christian about how they think Athiests behave and feel. This video is ancient now, but I get the same vibes off this comic.
I take this comic to be more poking fun at the portion of atheists who make their entire personality around disproving God's existence - people who try to spread atheism the same way christians spread their own gospel. It's largely not applicable to other atheists.
Yeah, those aren't athiests, they are assholes. Anyone who prosthelytizes is an asshole. Period.
Nobody said reality was all smiles and rainbows. However, it’s entirely possible to find happiness without believing in fairy tales so you can sleep at night.
And her son completely failed to demonstrate any of that. She presumably spent her life trying to take care of her kid, (the quality of which can only be guessed at, but she cared enough to listwn to his points about atheism) and as soon as her child shows her a new way of thinking he completely abandons her without giving her any ways of handling it.
Whew. Must have been hard work carrying all those assumptions in.
Name three.
There are two big ones, both of which imply other assumptions like she didn't argue or tell him he was going to hell or a ton of other negative stuff that religious people tend to toss out when someone anknowledges atheism in their presence.
She presumably spent her life trying to take care of her kid
she cared enough to listwn to his points about atheism
People are far more receptive to listening to someone they trust over someone they don't. It therefore follows that the mom was far more likely to have trusted/respected her son enough to hear what he had to say than the opposite. It's all the same assumption.
But sure, let's go with the alternative; she's a complete asshole who used religion as her crutch to do horrible things to her son all her life, and her son finally talked her into realising that she is the monster who has been causing issues this whole time. This is its own assumption too; we don't know what their relationship was like.
Her son, after showing her how horrible she has been her whole life, runs off to celebrate this victory with his friends, and leaves her to cry on the floor, alone.
He cared more about being right than anything else, including helping her through this discovery or damn, even just calling someone she trusts to talk her through it.
So the point of the comic stands regardless of this assumption. The son abandoned his mother after turning her worldview over completely. The consequence of that was his mother lying on the floor, devastated. (Whether she deserved it or not)
Does anyone really deserve that? Did you enjoy having to figure out what to do with yourself when you realised that it's entirely likely that nothing outside of this single life exists, all on your own? Would you have appreciated a friend or family member walking you through the way to handle that?
A little bit of empathy goes a long way.
I'd be happy knowing our family wasn't financially enabling organizations that hide and protect rapists and pedophiles.
YMMV.
I mean, the celebration was not unwarranted. It's just that he left quickly enough that all the emotional breakdown happened to her while she was all alone, instead of with him there to support her.
Or they just talked it over calmy and respectfully and she didn't break down crying until well after he left and the reality of all of the time she wasted not being herself because of being told her natural attraction to women was a sin hit home. The son is happy when telling his friends because his mom can be herself!
Or he could be an evil, heartless athiest like you apparently want him to be.
I mean, I guess that's one interpretation. If you go with those assumptions, the takeaway is that, what, changing changing your views can be devastating? Where's the value in that? 'Big worldview changes can be stressful' is not at all a valuable takeaway from this.
My point really has nothing to do with his atheism. Obviously he cares too; he wouldn't bother talking with her if he didn't care. My point is that there are better ways to care, and it's worth keeping them in mind whenever this sort of situation comes up.
changing changing your views can be devastating? Where’s the value in that?
In my example the mother can be herself if she lets go of the chains of religion. That seems like a solid value to me.
You seem to be saying changing worldviews is a negative thing, even when the example is positive.
She's crying because she's now free of religion and is able to go off and be herself, while also being sad about all the missed chances she lost when she was religious.
Just to be clear, this is the takeaway you got from this comic? It's absolutely not the one I got from reading it.
You seem to be saying changing worldviews is a nagative thing, even when the example is positive.
No, just very stressful. Growing as a person is a good thing.
Just to be clear, this is the takeaway you got from this comic? It’s absolutely not the one I got from reading it.
I assume the author meant atheists sre jerks for ruining someone's belief in god because of the whole neckbeard theme.
But I do know someone who fits my reading, and it was because they were gay and in the closet and they lost faith for a few years. It was both soul crushing and a relief for them, and they kept their composure when talking about their faith, but did end up crying a lot while they worked it out. They ended up going to a Unitarian church to get the sense of community
But my overall point is that assuming the athiest is a shitty, uncaring person is a crappy stereotype that leads to a lot of assumptions.
That looks like a healthy cry. She will go through much self reflection and come about as a better person.
Nope! She has spent her life with a religious as her backbone and now will seek it as a crutch with greater desparation. Trauma...survival mode...etc...
Basically.. my reaction to hearing the good word of Atheism was to cling to New Age as hard as possible and believe the Skeptics were just miserable and calling anything inconvenient to their beliefs "Psuedoscience"
That lasted... a while... thankfully I'm not on the Spirit Science train anymlre
Now I'm a Buddhist and am learning to be cool with the temporary nature of existence and am looking forward to rebirth in the Pure Land.
The Problem with New Atheism is that humans need hope and hope isn't something Dawkins offers.
Soo what is the message here? Atheists are incel neckbeard basement dwellers and god is as real as one of their mother?
Edit: Oh wait I misread the comic in the most funny way! I read it as "my mum god" as if he stopped believing in his mum as a deity. Tired brain plays weird tricks.
It's about atheists who make atheism their whole personality.
In other words, “anti-theists” instead of just atheists.
Most people whose personalities revolves around being anti-something are insufferable. It’s far better to be for something than against something.
Like, I grew up Mormon, and left when I grew old enough to think for myself. Among my friends who also left the church, there are two major categories: the “post-mormons” and the “anti-mormons”. The anti-mormons are miserable to be around while the rest of us decided we’d rather build our lives around what we love, not what we hate.
Soo what is the message here?
That proselytizing about atheism without considering the needs and character of your audience can be just as bad as religion doing the same.
Love is more important than being right, and the son in the comic very clearly didn't show any. As soon as he proved his point, he left to go celebrate with his friends rather than spend time with his mother. He failed to show her that just because there is no big sky god doesn't mean that is no love.