Your favorite religious irony?

[douglas]

I was reading this story (http://jesusdynasty.com/blog/2006/11/14/breaking-news-on-qumran/)on the relatively recent discovery of the Essenes shit hole in the Dead Sea and pondering the irony of it.

The Essenes fecal matter was loaded with deadly parasites. After pooping, but before returning to their homes, they were required to bath in a communal pool so they could be "ritually clean in the eyes of the lord." The problem was the water was rarely changed in this pool and became a breeding ground and transfer point for the parasites. Ironically, it was this ritual bathing practice, combined with their extreme puritanical lifestyle, that may have caused the demise and extinction of the Essenes. James Tabor's quote sums it up.

"As a group the men of Qumran were very unhealthy, but I think this would have been likely to have actually fed the Essenes’ religious enthusiasm,” said Tabor. “They would have seen their infirmities as punishment from God for their lack of purity and then have tried even harder to purify themselves further."

What is your favorite religious irony?

[EthnAlln]

Lemme think about this. Off the top of my head,...., the Borgia popes of the Renaissance managed to complete the corruption of the papacy that had begun during the Great Schism a century earlier. Having gotten rid of piety, "just as a prostitute gets rid of love and a politician gets rid of patriotism" (Mencken), the popes saw clearly that what they needed was a magnificent cathedral to provide a suitably imposing monument to their achievement. To finance it, they encouraged the sale of "indulgences," which offended a tight-ass young monk named Martin Luther, and......

[douglas]

And I wonder if the mess in Iraq is not an unfinished irony? George Bush, a Christian fundamentalist, invades Iraq to squash the surge of Islamic fundamentalists. The end result may be a surge in Islamic fundies and much of the U.S. population questioning the wisdom of the Christian fundie agenda.

[ross ewidge]

And I wonder if the mess in Iraq is not an unfinished irony? George Bush, a Christian fundamentalist, invades Iraq to squash the surge of Islamic fundamentalists. The end result may be a surge in Islamic fundies and much of the U.S. population questioning the wisdom of the Christian fundie agenda.
If only! The problem is Americans are too scared to question executive malfeasance and their children are taught not to doubt authority, or indeed any critical reasoning skills at all.

My favorite irony: becoming human made god even better!

[Ruiner]

Our suffering pleases god, who wants us to suffer for his unknown plan. And he loves us, too. Individually. Like a dad. Thank you father, may I have another?

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[purple_kathryn]

We have total freewill but god has a plan for us all....

[Yahzi]

Mine has to be Judas the Christ-killer. It was necessary for Jesus to die, for the salvation of all man; yet Christians loathe and despise Judas.

[Hydra009]

An interfaith soccer match (between imams and priests) was canceled because of disagreement on whether or not women could participate. It was intended to end the conference on a good note. News article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6628929.stm)

That's a good start, but my all-time favorite example of religious irony would have to be this (http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/muslimprotest.asp), in response to the Danish Muhammad cartoons, with one such image depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban with an Islamic creed written on the bomb.

[Biniam Shire]

The current Pope repeatedly referring to "reason" to argue for Christianity.

The many pro-lifers that are strongly in favour of the death-penalty.

God being just and forgiving at the same time.

[David B]

The occasional stories that arise of priests outing Santa as fake, to the consternation of small children and some parents among their flocks, which the priests claim is in contrast to God.

David B

[douglas]

God being just and forgiving at the same time.

Yeah. That "jesus died for our sins" thingy has caused more problems for Christians. I watched an interview with a Catholic priest who had confessed to molesting young boys in the 60's, and his smug self-assurance that his ticket was still punched for heavan, despite all the harm he had caused, made me want to puke.

It is ironic that the cornerstone of this faith, the one that has drawn so many people to it, also makes it a "refuge for scoundrels."

[general_koffi]

God saw fit to give humans free will on Earth, but not in heaven.

Or else free will and infinite/exclusive goodness can co-exist.

[JamesBannon]

That Eve gets blamed for Adam eating the fruit.

[Mike Rosoft]

Perhaps the Catholic Church's claim that discrimination against women is wrong, except when the church does it. To quote Joan Chittister (http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/fwis/fw090706.htm)

From where I stand, the answer is clear. It’s not only what sexism says about women that’s wrong. It’s what sexism says about God that is the problem. Sexism says that femaleness is the only thing in creation before which God is powerless. It says that the God who parted the Red Sea, drew water from a rock and raised the dead to life goes impotent before a woman. It says that the only substance on earth that God cannot or will not work through is a female. Poor God.


Mike Rosoft

[Karalora]

I think "Behead those who call Islam a violent religion!" is pretty ironic.

[anders]

Mine has to be Judas the Christ-killer. It was necessary for Jesus to die, for the salvation of all man; yet Christians loathe and despise Judas.
This one prepared the ground for my leaving the faith.
I think "Behead those who call Islam a violent religion!" is pretty ironic.
Source, please!

[Febble]

That anyone thinks that "free will" is a problem for theism. The lack of evidence for free will is the strongest argument against God that I can see.

[Kai]

This one prepared the ground for my leaving the faith.

Source, please!

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/muslimprotest.asp

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/graphics/protest2.jpg

[Marduk]

The hijacking of Christianity by the rich and powerful, how they get the peasants to tow the line. An astounding propaganda piece if ever there was one. Probably the greatest coup in history.

[Berthold]

That the dead are mourned, and killing is a crime, when, according to belief, only the jailterm in this vale of tears is shortened.

Lack of really profound faith :devil1: ?

[Gawen]

The first thing that came to my mind are preachers, especially televangelists that live an opulent lifestyle, quite unlike the Teacher said to do and their followers do not seem to notice.

[Norseman]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/muslimprotest.asp


That was over the depiction of Mohammed, not calling Islam violent.

[Norseman]

That the dead are mourned, and killing is a crime, when, according to belief, only the jailterm in this vale of tears is shortened.

Lack of really profound faith :devil1: ?

I second this. If Christians really believed that good people went to fucking heaven when they "died" (a better term for this would be "went elsewhere, permanently"), and bad people went to hell, why would there any problem with people dying? If you miss them, you can meet them in one easy step, or, depending upon your theology, several easy steps, if you'd rather get shipped off to Iraq, or proselytize to gangs/warlords. Then you go to heaven too. Wouldn't death be a good thing?

[Hydra009]

That was over the depiction of Mohammed, not calling Islam violent.Eh, it's pretty much along the same lines as posted. Depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban (implying that Islam is a violent religion) is greeted with death threats, supposedly on behalf of Islam. I'd consider that ironic.

The "Behead those who say Islam is violent!" image is a photoshop, however.

[Fayzal Mahamed]

The Pope and other religious leaders all holding hands proclaiming with a straight face how they respect each others religions.

Yet as soon as he arrives in Rome the Pope sends his "missionary henchman" to the opposing religious camp proclaiming how horrid such beliefs is and it can only lead to hell.

Some respect, indeed!:devil1:

Fayzal.

[JamesBannon]

Eh, it's pretty much along the same lines as posted. Depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban (implying that Islam is a violent religion) is greeted with death threats, supposedly on behalf of Islam. I'd consider that ironic.

The "Behead those who say Islam is violent!" image is a photoshop, however.
Emmm... I beg to differ. Posters saying exactly that were carried in London and appeared on live TV in the news. Photoshop?

[Hydra009]

Emmm... I beg to differ. Posters saying exactly that were carried in London and appeared on live TV in the news. Photoshop?Yes, photoshop. Check the snopes link. See the guy holding the sign. See the same guy in other images with different messages written on the sign. Obviously, one is a doctored photo. And since the first one is verified as true, that only leaves one explanation for the second version.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/Hydra009/behead_authentic.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/Hydra009/behead_fake.jpg

Okay, for your convience I tracked the photoshop back to its source: here (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19075_Peaceful_Religion_Watch&only). This one also gets passed around in written form as "Behead those who think Islam is violent".

Don't worry, the real one is just as scary, and the irony's still there, it's just a little less obvious - the real one just doesn't make as quite as good of a soundbite as the fake.

[JamesBannon]

Fair enough but I saw that sign being carried by a protestor live on the TV unless my eyes were deceiving me.

[Betelnut]

Historically, once Western philosophers started trying to "prove" God existed (during the Age of Reason) rather than stating belief rested on faith alone, the power of the church started to decline and secularism began to rise.

Trying to use reason to "prove" the existence of a god leads to deconversions.

Quite a delicious irony.

[Styrofoamdeity]

I would have to say a great sample of Christian irony has been over at the ABC News atheism forum. A poster asked why atheists are so "angry", then mentioned how in the near future most people are going to be consumed by flames in the end-time unless they turn to Jesus, while he is "raptured". No anger there...

[Wasted Sapience]

It's hard to think of anything more entertaining than the idea of a communal toilet. It's unpleasant enough sharing one with family members!

God punishing America for its sins on 9/11/01 by killing 3,000 people, the majority of whom were probably Bible-believing Christians. God needs to call Lockheed Martin and order some smart bombs, because his aim is lousy.

We're special creations of God. So special and important that the universe didn't even exist before humans came around (supposedly 6,000 years ago). Ironically, this same ultra-anthrocentric faith claims that we're terrible evil sinners who can't possibly become good people with Super Funky Jesus Man (TM).

How about being an atheist to every other established religion but being so certain that your own is undoubtedly correct?