So (onto a slightly more substantial topic..) it occured to me a while back, while writing this comic and the ones leading up to it, that the hotter of my comics (to me, at least) have been the ones with at least a bit of a
meaning. You know, approaching some sort of theme or challenge.
Comic 20 brings together two
themes I've either spelled out or hinted at along the way; ethics around control, and belief.
Belief's a big one for me, and maybe I'll blog about it separately, but I guess it's nice that our crew all have different thoughts on whether there's a God or not. This'll come out a little in comic 20. More interesting to me, though, is that sci-fi traditionally stands against belief that's anything other than science. Maybe there's a clue in the genre title; 'science' fiction. But I don't think science and faith are mutually exclusive, far from it; I honestly think at their most complete and advanced, they're symbiotic.
It is interesting that lots of sci-fi writers tend to depict anyone religious as controlling and basically mental. Which considering that there are a lot of weird churches selectively ignoring the racism and misogyny and backing up Trump over Clinton (or religious types that scream "God hates gays"), isn't too far from the sad reality in a lot of places. Religion is, I think, often used by douchebags to control and mislead people. Such a shame because I love that whole Mystery thing - that nobody really knows, that there's such joy and peace to be had from something we can't explain.
Xho (ie the representation of science) has a bit of a rant about it in comic 20; challenging the assumptions of a few of the crew. I won't give anything away here though, so hey-ho pip and dandy.
What do you internet anons think though? I mean, nobody's perfect, so I think it is possible to both believe in something and be a bit of a twat (speaking for myself there), no judgement here :)
23 comments:
Hey !
First I wanted to tell you how much I love ur comic, its the best one I found on the internet and the characters are just hot af :3. Then, concerning the story behind it, I totally agree it's what makes your comic the greatest cause we really feel them and thus share what they do when they fck each other ^^. But then, I dont know if it is cause of the background story. I believe its more the sex game and everything around it that makes it alive (like when Ix and Xho talk about what they felt when they masturbated thinking of each other). I guess some rivalry, conflict or some great stuff revolving around the desires of all the team would be really erotic to read :p. But thats only my opinion ^^. Good luck for the 20th comic and I hope u change your mind about stop it ;).
I, for one, want to believe in continuation of your comics after the 20th chapter - after all, they pretty much are my favorite out there. Characters are too fun not to miss if their adventures will ever stop. Also you are great with buildups.
As for the topic... I dislike religions but do believe that there should be something like god or gods out there. It makes more sense to me than universe just happening.
As usual, your build up of the next comic is driving me crazy with anticipation and can't wait for your next update.
As for my take on religion, I'm not a religious man but would like to believe that if I lead a good life and be a good man that something good might happen when I kick the bucket.
But I put no faith what so ever in religious books for one simple reason, their written by men, and for hundreds of years every emperor, king, pope and corrupted man of power has rewritten them to suit their own ends so that's why I like to keep an open mind because know one really knows what's going to happen in the end.
You know Religion is one of those things that generate so much pain in the world, and it's not the Religion itself, but the people that seize control of them as a excuse to treat others really crappy and feel justified doing it because their selective take on it says It's So.
Just like Shush..(Gun Control)If you took the gun fanatics take on their right to bear arms 100%, They should be allowed to buy and carry nukes.
In Canada and I think in Britain,(With the odd aberration in both) most buy guns to hunt animals. In the States, they buy guns (For the Most Part) to kill other humans.
Most scientists believe in God or Gods, and are not trying to say there isn't a God or Gods, But are trying to Divine the rules that make up every thing. That's why they are called theories, because they are just that. theories. Until they can be tested again and again, getting the same answer all the time.
What upsets most orthodox Christians is the thought we might have evolved from a ape like creature. It really unsettles their self image. By the Way, I Do Believe in GOD, just not the Church's take.
I prefer stories to well, have stories in them. Which is why I love you Stories so much, with a little SEX on the side to spice things up.
I love discussing things and if you like to too. If you can talk about things with a open mind and not get upset and threaten death or dismembering me, great!
OOPS posted in the wrong box.
ripplechips23 March 2017 at 05:20
You know Religion is one of those things that generate so much pain in the world, and it's not the Religion itself, but the people that seize control of them as a excuse to treat others really crappy and feel justified doing it because their selective take on it says It's So.
Just like Shush..(Gun Control)If you took the gun fanatics take on their right to bear arms 100%, They should be allowed to buy and carry nukes.
In Canada and I think in Britain,(With the odd aberration in both) most buy guns to hunt animals. In the States, they buy guns (For the Most Part) to kill other humans.
Most scientists believe in God or Gods, and are not trying to say there isn't a God or Gods, But are trying to Divine the rules that make up every thing. That's why they are called theories, because they are just that. theories. Until they can be tested again and again, getting the same answer all the time.
What upsets most orthodox Christians is the thought we might have evolved from a ape like creature. It really unsettles their self image. By the Way, I Do Believe in GOD, just not the Church's take.
I prefer stories to well, have stories in them. Which is why I love you Stories so much, with a little SEX on the side to spice things up.
I love discussing things. If you can talk about things with a open mind and not get upset and threaten death or dismembering me, great!
This comment has been removed by the author.
Actually scientific theories are not 'just theories'. What you describe is a hypothesis. A scientific theory is different than the normal definition of 'theory'. A Scientific theory has an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting it, examples being: Gravity, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, etc.
Hey, thanks Nat :)
If you mean faith the way most theists mean it, belief despite testable, falsifiable, repeatable evidence which can be confirmed by anyone else, then yes, science and faith are mutually exclusive.
Science doesn't reject things believed by faith, it simply ignores them because they bring nothing useful to the table for doing science.
Also, while not wanting to be pedantic about labels, I thought I'd mention Science Fiction vs Science Fantasy. I agree with you that science fiction is commonly focused on the science. Similar stories which also contain mystical elements, ("The Force," for example) are often referred to as Science Fantasy.
Think I probably disagree with every single one of those sentences, but hey where's the fun if we all agree about everything, eh?! :D
Fair enough. : )
Thanks for being cool about me expressing my views.
Keep being awesome!
You too :)
Now that you're finished, I thought I'd return to this briefly. Yes, I'm being cowardly and doing it here in a long-past post so that it doesn't attract a lot of attention. But I did wish to question you for a bit more detail on why you probably disagree with every one of my sentences. Really? Like, even the science-fiction and science-fantasy labels? ; )
If this is something you don't want to get into, I'll totally respect that and drop it.
But dang I'm curious.
Regardless, let me again say thank you for the 20 issues of great story, characters and art. Inspiring stuff.
Hi! No problem, it's an interesting topic. Here's how I read your sentences, and my disagreement with each:
"belief despite testable, falsifiable, repeatable evidence" - I don't think there is testable evidence that counteracts basics of belief. Unless you're talking about the nutters who think the world is 6,000 years old, in which case I'm totally on science's side with that one as there's clearly evidence the world is much older! Hardcore creationism is mental. I don't believe people rode to work on velociraptors! But I do have to say, with a background in Physics, Engineering and Maths, I really have not ever come across evidence that proves there is no God. Perhaps I misunderstood what you meant.
"Science doesn't reject things believed by faith, it simply ignores them because they bring nothing useful to the table for doing science." - I think if you're talking specific day-to-day science and little lab experiments, then ok I can agree with that. But the bigger more profound theories in science are often faith-linked. Take Quantum Theory, for example; the paradox of something being 'both-and' is an entire branch of theological belief. The two are symbiotic in such a way that I understood more of scripture thanks entirely to Quantum Theory! No jokes; the more theoretical (11-dimensional or whatever) you get with either belief or science, the greater the symbiosis and the more they can learn from each other.
I think at the heart of it we are probably agreeing, but like all good internet debates, we could pick holes in each others sentences. At the end of the day, I believe in God because I totally broke at life and God stepped in and set me free. Which for someone who approaches everything scientifically, is quite a weird thing to say. I realise the whole theory of there being a God is absurd, and the idea that a Creator made 200 billion galaxies is absolutely terrifying haha! But I cannot deny the evidence of the path of Love and some sense of there being a Creator and a Redeemer in my own life, even if I don't fully understand it. Just like good science.
Wow! These are great responses! Thank you for taking the time to articulate your thoughts so well. In response I offer a few more thoughts, again with the mention that if you tell me "okay, let's drop it now," I will.
Paragraph 1: Firstly, thank you for clarifying that you also find hardcore creationism to be mental. I so agree. Science denialism is painfully detrimental.
Secondly, I'm not a bit surprised that you have a background in physics, engineering and maths. Your writing certainly suggests more than a passing knowledge of those fields. I envy you having a brain that can understand maths AND be so creative.
Third, I find your statement, "I really have not ever come across evidence that proves there is no god," interesting. I doubt you understand what I was saying, but you do seem confused about who needs to provide evidence in this case. Here's how I see it, so correct me if I misunderstood you.
A: I believe there is a god.
B: Cool! Can you explain why I should also believe there is a god?
A: Well, no one has ever proved that there is no god.
The problem here is that the person making the claim has the burden of proof. If one needed evidence against a proposition, we'd all be forced to believe countless things until disproved. Things like leprechauns and unicorns and fairies. Magical beings can not be tested, therefore can not be falsified, therefore also can not be confirmed. I feel this is necessary for a god as well.
Fourth:
I should probably ask you to define what you mean when you use the word faith. It'll help prevent us from talking across purposes.
Second paragraph:
Since you brought up quantum theory and have your maths background, perhaps you are familiar with the names Lawrence Krauss and Sean Carroll. If you are interested, I could provide links to videos where they discuss elements of what we've touched upon here.
Last paragraph:
I do not wish to pick holes in each others sentences, although I agree, that's frequently the gist of internet debates. I actually seek to understand your thoughts. If I'm missing something, I want to know.
Also, I do not seek to diminish any of your personal experiences. The fact that you found what you needed right when you needed it is awesome! I wish more people found such support, be it theological or not.
I love that you are willing to acknowledge that the concept of a god can be seen as absurd. That suggests that you understand why I'm asking questions. I'll also mention that I realize that there are scientists who do believe in a god, for example the leader of the Human Genome Project, Francis Collins. So your science and faith mix is not unique, just less common.
I apologize for the wall-o-text. Thanks again for your thoughtful response. Keep being awesome!
Ah, ok I'll reply in order.
(1) The A-B-A thing assumes that A is driven purely by the idea that there's no proof there isn't a God. Personally I would never be driven by this but I know a few people who are. It is entirely possible that A is driven by coincidental evidence that there IS God. It's never quite enough to prove it once and for all to all mankind (or we would have seen that happen sometime in the last 2,000 years and we'd all know there is a God), but it is enough to 'increase the faith' (sorry, vague non-scientific concept, but lots of science deals in probability as well) of person A. Bear in mind [1] people didn't believe Jesus existed even when Jesus was actually walking the Earth, so we are free to be extremely cynical [2] no amount of anecdotal answers-to-prayer or coincidental evidence will convince people looking for proof - I didn't believe in God because someone else told me their amazing story, I had to have real, tangible answers to prayer myself, so I'm absolutely not going to try & convince you that God exists. [3] The challenge is not to prove nor disprove God (it can't be done; people have tried for millenia; to think we can do it would be arrogant in the extreme), the challenge is to ask the question IF God exists, what should I do about it? What should I hope for? What should I seek? What would submission to this unseen/immeasurable entity be like? These are better, deeper questions than mere 'Why believe?', 'What's the proof?'. I have my own stories of specific, coincidental, measurably statistically very-nearly-impossible things happening as a result of prayer. Not bullshit like "I need a parking space", but "God save me, what should I do?". Trouble is I'm not going to share those stories in this context because I don't want to link this Bellerophon account to the real world (like I don't want you googling me via my personal stories), sorry. Like I said I'm not going to try & convince you anything, but purely state that I've denied God as much as possible while absolutely seeking the truth, and having genuinely sought God, I'm convinced enough that the absurdly terrifying theory is actually true. Which scares the hell out of me haha!
(2) I'm not great with definitions, but I think faith is the scale of belief in 'God' - in something we can't prove either way. A level of trust that there is something there that we cannot see. It's a flexible thing; it can be tiny one day and absolutely massive the next. I have almost no faith sometimes; generally when I'm feeling isolated and angry. Feelings of peace and joy always correlate with my increasing level of faith. So when faith's low I know it, and that's when I need to have hope that the situation will improve. It's a difficult thing to describe.
(3) Lawrence and Sean - no I haven't come across them, please do send links. I'd also like to know more about what you believe, where you're coming from.
Finally, thanks for your questions, I think they're really important to ask (though I don't have the answers). I hate it when people dishonour each others' perspectives in discussion, especially around belief so this is a nice one. I have friends who are deeply into philosophy and we often chat. Strangely it seems philosophy can often lead people into dead-ends. It's very useful when balanced with other understandings, but so often I have found people get into a real logical dead-end thanks to some convincing philosophical construct, and cannot get out. Everything then becomes meaningless, which in a world so abundant and full of meaning, I think is a great shame.
I would add that I've obviously got issues. Clearly, I'm a person who's created a porn comic for years and that doesn't make me a shining example of Christianity! I would reference the fact that Jesus hung out with the worst in society exactly because they were the ones who knew they needed saving most of all. That's me I guess, and I'm fine with that. Perhaps faith is a crutch for some people, and I understand seeking it as such, just like I understand addiction to drugs or sex or alcohol can be a bit of a crutch. But of all the ways I have destroyed myself, and finally in a desperate place called out to God; faith has been the only thing that hasn't been a crutch; it's been the only thing that's challenged me and (over the course of a year or so) set me free. So that's good :)
NICE. Again you honor me with thoughtful answers. Again you can say there are things you don't know (yet.) I so respect that. Thank you.
I'm glad you didn't provide specific examples of difficulties in your life. Sure, someone could reverse engineer your life from that, but moreso I feel it's your life, your private experiences and none of my business. Without details I can fully believe that you had difficulties, probably major, and were helped by your faith. Again, I'm glad it helped then and continues to help you now.
You've got issues? : ) I hear ya. Me too. But I'm working on them with some medication and professional help. Even making some progress! So while I don't know your specifics, I can at least in concept relate to what you mean.
I apologize if the A-B-A thing felt like I was making too many assumptions. I was trying to illustrate that the one making the claim has the responsibility of supporting the claim, but I did so more clumsily than intended. However your response did generate a couple of thoughts.
You made the statement, "the challenge is to ask the question IF God exists." While I agree, I'd want to be more specific and start with the question, "if A god exists." One can nail down specifics after that.
Similarly, in your story you called out to God for help. How did you select which god to reach out to? There are many beliefs and every one of them know to their core that theirs is the correct one. As an outsider, how does someone measure if anyone is more correct than the others?
It's a couple hours long, but both men are wonderfully articulate and knowledgeable, so I thought I'd send it anyway. Here's a debate between William Lane Craig and Sean Carroll.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqKObSeim2w
It's still an hour long, but here's another Sean Carroll talk (just him.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew_cNONhhKI
And here's some fun from Lawrence Krauss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo
Of course you never need to view a single frame of any of these. I'm not going to quiz you or anything. You may find some interesting stuff in there because both men are theoretical physicists and ridiculously smart, and both happen to be great speakers as well. If you do watch any, I hope you enjoy.
And lastly, as you've probably discerned from my questions, I'm an atheist skeptic sort of guy. I was raised in the church, but for me it never seemed to take. When I tried to ask questions I was usually shut down, and the rare answers I did receive were never satisfying. In the 1980s when the original COSMOS series ran, that was it. I was hooked on the scientific method. So far it's the best tool humankind has devised for uncovering new models on how the universe works.
Lastly, from my point of view, you didn't create a porn comic. You created a great story that happens to feature porn in it. Pedantic, I know, but I feel you do yourself a disservice by classifying it so casually. It's great work first and foremost to me, and after that it's hot, sensous, wonderful sex between characters I like and care about. Just saying, you likely don't realize how much you've touched people out there. Me among them. So I thought I'd try and remind you. I hope it sounds as sincere as it feels in my heart.
We've probably covered what we intended to. If you wish to respond to my random thoughts, that's cool. Even better, if you have some questions for me, feel free. Regardless, thank you for a most stimulating and polite conversation. I greatly appreciate your time.
Be well and keep being awesome!
Wow. I tried to keep this reply shorter and failed miserably. I even have two "lastly" paragraphs. SIGH. ; )
Dan, you're a good guy. I've enjoyed our chat too, if only more of the internet's serious deep topics were carried out with such respect the world'd be a better place! I agree with the 'If A God exists' clarification - I guess we naturally go to what we know and if I'd been brought up in a Muslim household I'd probably have started there. In Christian scripture there's some leeway to other faiths; the whole "My Father's house has many rooms" symbolism is taken by many (myself included) to mean that many other faiths are part of a greater Kingdom; something we can't judge, nor do we need to. Plenty of wars have been started by people thinking they've got all the answers and their particular system of figuring out God is exactly right, these people generally are idiots who don't understand their own scriptures. Such a shame.
Equally a shame is that you were brought up in a church that didn't have room for questions - so common a thing is that, I've seen it over and over again. I guess people get into a habit of religion that's a comfort to them, and they miss the point and actually (ironically) push people away from a potential relationship with something that might be truly extraordinary! Ah well, I guess we can only forgive and move on as freely as possible in our own paths. We find somewhere else to ask those good questions.
I will check out those videos soon; I'm likely to skip through them to get the gist before honing on a certain thread, but that's just a character-type thing. I will definitely give them a watch though.
Keep being awesome! :D
Man, you rock. Your willingness to explore uncomfortable questions is greater than any I've ever encountered. I agree, a person tends towards the familiar. I also agree that the world would be a better place if people tried to discuss things with greater respect.
Regarding the videos I sent, here's a highlights reel from the 2 hour debate. Obviously the guy making this vid is a hard atheist. His bias is worn on his sleeve. But if you can overlook his commentary the clips he shows do give you a strong overview of that debate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1c_GlAjvy4
It's only 6.5 minutes long, so you'll get the gist of whether it's worth your time to view any more.
You greatly honor me with your compliment. Thank you very much.
I'm stopping now before I end up with another War & Peach length post.
Best wishes for your continued awesomeness. ;)
By the way, we never did tackle the truly important topic here; Science Fiction verses Science Fantasy. :)
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