The Big Picture: Nerd Gods

[Naheal]

gnostic church is a good one. too bad they are probably seen as heretics at this point

We are. We get nailed on both sides of the eisle.

 

[Caliostro]

[...] what we if we tried following without necessarily believing[...]

I have an even more revolutionary idea: Why don't we try not to follow at all.

We're constantly misguidedly claiming some sort of intellectual superiority to farm animals but we still can't get over the damn herd mentality.

Why follow? You know who's always following? People who are never leading. People who can't see past the leader because he's always in front, leading the way.

I know, I know. Following is comfortable. It's reassuring. It takes the weight of responsibility from off our shoulders, placing it in the reassuring figure of a, generally, charismatic leader. Following is easy. You don't have to think, you don't have to consider your options, you don't have to live with the decisions and choices knowing you, and you alone are to blame for whatever good or bad came from them, and you can just pull a blanket over your eyes and divert whatever issues arise to the guy in front.

But it's also a trap. You're letting someone else run your life. And these people don't have a magic 8-ball or the power of clairvoyance anymore than you do.

You know what happens when you follow? You never learn the way yourself. Any way.

My suggestion is to stop following entirely. Think for yourselves, and criticize everything. EVERYTHING. No exceptions.

 

[ZeppMan217]

Tom Cruse won't come out of closet. Ever.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Wait, the Church of Haruhi? Sign me up! it'd be interesting to see how people could fit Haruhi into religious sermons

 

[Orthon]

Great video, Bob. Enjoyed the bits about religion as practiced today and your personal feelings about it more than the bits about fictional characters as gods, though.

Also, it made me ponder whether or not I'm agnostic or an "atheist with commitment issues". My belief that God doesn't exist(nor any other deity, for that matter) is conflicting with the knowledge that there's no proof of it.

Therefore, because religion is after all a matter of belief, I'm inclined to call myself atheist. But it's my opinion that it's more logical to be agnostic.

...

Bleh.

Thanks for the existentialist dilemma, Bob.

 

[hermes]

The thing with that is that we have to stop thinking about religion as if it were serious business.

I mean, religion study and discussion would be lowered a few notches if it were George Lucas vs Stan Lee.

 

[wammnebu]

most of your later pagan intellectuals did practice your follow not believe theory. You probably have already read these but if you get a chance take a peak at Celsus, Porphyry, Lucian of Samosta, and Plutarch

 

[Dice Warwick]

I already though out a hole deity and the story around it. But the problem is not with the deity itself, but the people in power because of it. Yes a nerd can start a new god, but you know the jocks will move right in, kick out the nerds, and declare the the new god has chosen them as the champions of humanity, so all the women must now have sex with them.

Religion is like politics, it is used to control people in acting a particular way, and when it comes across another religion they will fight over that control, to the point of even turning their back on their core beliefs and people so to just retain that control. (look at the GOP, and the Taliban)

 

[Crazy_Bird]

Aren't Superheroes like Batman or Spider-man already some kind of modern heroic folklore. Like Odysseus and Perseus for example? i mean it is not such a big leap.

 

[ProjectTrinity]

Objection!

Well, not a strong one, I just wanted to throw that reference out there. Anyways, the major problem with getting something like Spiderman or Star Wars turned into a religion is that every other mainstream religion have believers that firmly believe in the God/god as well as the rules. I'd like~ to think that no one truly believes Spiderman exists in modern day New York, saving lives against crazy villains.

Even so, thank you for breaking the entire crappy argument over the origin of this world into "there's no proof either way" - because that couldn't be any closer to the truth. All the religion bashing in the world won't change that. It just makes good agnostics and Atheists look bad. Like an overly intrusive Christian kind of bad. So yay!

 

[Rainboq]

Haarooohee, Bob? Haarooheee?

You just lost all nerd credibility with me. Stop your preaching now. Right now goddam.

It's Haruhi ffs.

Oh be quiet, he can pronounce it however he pleases.

OT: I was laughing so hard at the end, good one Bob!

He sure can but that doesn't make it right. I don't care one way or the other, just throwing my 2 cents.

*dodges the thrown coins*

Watch it!

 

[Jenx]

Ah, a wonderful video in which Bob shows he has no idea how the hell religion and mythology works. Aside from that, it was a pretty fun watch.

Actually that was a pretty accurate take on religion... Just because it's not yours doesn't mean it's not right.
Multiple people coming together to 'worship' and follow the ideals of a figure, be it believed fictional or real, is the basic cornerstone of religious thinking.

Here's the thing though - There will never be a "Church of Spider Man" or stuff like that. Wonna know why? Because nobody will ever actually believe in Spider Man's divinity. Yeah, this is something of a major point in religion - gods actually having something divine in them. Sure sure, Bob suggests the whole super-heroes thing as closer to gnosticism, but it's still just a laughable concept. One thing that really bugs me is when people say "Man religion is just X". No it's not just X. It's a lot more, it's an absurdly complex concept like a lot of things in human culture.

 

[Ardenon]

what does Godzillaism teach?

 

[angel85]

I think I'm already a member of the Church of Sonic the Hedgehog, its tenants include living your life without regret, always looking to the future and the possibilities it holds, and being a good friend to everyone. Of course I also seek guidance from other pillars of fiction, including Doctor Who, Captain Picard, tons of others. Some may call me silly for living my life like that, but at least I don't clasp my hands together and pretend to talk to them.

 

[Dana22]

Agnosticism is the worst "ism" there is. Be a man, choose your ideology. Dont stand confused in between.

 

[fearofthemind]

"And 'lo the Mighty Godzilla rose from the very depths of the ocean itself to deliver a terrible vengeance on King Ghidorah's faces..."

 

[2fish]

If we are all picking sides for a massive god war I serve the laughing god.

Spoiler

 

[Elec0]

In reply to your comment about XMas: XMas isn't actually a secular deviation from Christmas, it's just a shortening of Christ. To quote Wikipedia:

...while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as "Christ".

 

[AMMO Kid]

Cool video but actually even though the Christian celebration of Christmas came around 300 AD it wasn't necessarily the re-imagining of the pagan holiday cause that's just the day they chose to place it on. It could have been on any day and still been the same holiday.

 

[Cadapalo]

I have an even more revolutionary idea: Why don't we try not to follow at all.

We're constantly misguidedly claiming some sort of intellectual superiority to farm animals but we still can't get over the damn herd mentality.

Why follow? You know who's always following? People who are never leading. People who can't see past the leader because he's always in front, leading the way.

I know, I know. Following is comfortable. It's reassuring. It takes the weight of responsibility from off our shoulders, placing it in the reassuring figure of a, generally, charismatic leader. Following is easy. You don't have to think, you don't have to consider your options, you don't have to live with the decisions and choices knowing you, and you alone are to blame for whatever good or bad came from them, and you can just pull a blanket over your eyes and divert whatever issues arise to the guy in front.

But it's also a trap. You're letting someone else run your life. And these people don't have a magic 8-ball or the power of clairvoyance anymore than you do.

You know what happens when you follow? You never learn the way yourself. Any way.

My suggestion is to stop following entirely. Think for yourselves, and criticize everything. EVERYTHING. No exceptions.

I don't think he meant that we should follow like a bunch of blind sheep but rather to take what some of these religious text say and think of it more like advice. When we take advice our decisions aren't made for us because the final decision will always be ours to make.

Offtopic: Goku would beat superman.