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Checkout Lane Religion

September 17, 2007

Spotted in a checkout lane at Schnuck’s in Urbana, Illinois 2 weeks ago…

The comic strip 9 Chickweed Lane has a character who is an alien living among humans.  His God is named “Monty” and the place of Monty worship is the checkout lane of the local grocery store.  Hmm…

Categories: Religion
  1. webs05
    September 17, 2007 at 12:05 | #1
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    It’s the picture that writes itself…

  2. james old guy
    September 18, 2007 at 05:59 | #2
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    Some people seem to take great joy in making fun of other peoples beliefs. I am guessing if the book had been ” Idiots guide to understanding Muslim’s” you would have been all over it for spreading knowledge about a misunderstood faith.

  3. george.w
    September 18, 2007 at 07:29 | #3
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    No, that would be The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Islam.  And who knows if it is spreading mis-information – Islam makes even less sense to me than Christianity.

    This book doesn’t say what religion it’s guiding – if any.  Just some vague “faith in god”, presumably an Abrahamic god.  It’s probably all about “spirtuality”.

  4. webs05
    September 18, 2007 at 07:49 | #4
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    Actually, I would laugh just as hard at an Idiots Guide to Muslims as I would the one above.  Both are just damn funny.

  5. Ted
    September 18, 2007 at 10:55 | #5
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    Actually, I would laugh just as hard at an Idiots Guide to Muslims as I would the one above.  Both are just damn funny.

    Actually at a recent professional conference I ran into a guy reading that book (on Islam). It wasn’t funny at all. We all ate lunch together at a convention-type hotel, and the guy started spouting about how great the book was and passing it around the table. I thumbed through it, and it was particularly disturbing. Written for a very specific demographic.

    Ahh, well—freedom of speech, expression and all that rot. That guy votes too.

    DOF, I read something today that reminded me of your stated/implied philosophy:

    To talk with Herbert is to have that pleasing experience that James Baldwin describes of arguing “with people who do not disagree with me too profoundly.” We discussed disappointment with the Clintons, ambivalence about LBJ, inequities in criminal justice, and the proper way to intervene in foreign countries. Easygoing, decent, and concerned about exactly the right things, Herbert reflects carefully on his words. He projects a winning sort of outrage somehow devoid of bile.

  6. Abhi Sharma
    September 18, 2007 at 16:53 | #6
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    I need idiots guide to idiots now !!!

  7. george.w
    September 18, 2007 at 21:06 | #7
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    Thanks Ted!  I never heard of Herbert before – apparently a lot of people are not familiar with him.

  8. WeeDram
    September 18, 2007 at 21:24 | #8
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    Abhi:  I wrote a very short blog entry asking if anyone could top “Idiot’s Guide to Idiots” … so far no entries, but I think the guide to “faith” comes closest.  I mean, faith is about believing in something that cannot be proved by factual evidence, so why do you need a guide to it?

  9. george.w
    September 18, 2007 at 21:42 | #9
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    For some people, faith is a matter of twisting themselves into a state of denial, away from the guidance of their reason and the evidence of their senses. For others, it is a way of imagining the world – an admittedly imposed meaning but one which is a social commonality or a container for the meaning the person chooses to apply.  But I have a hunch the book shown is of the “I believe in God because of rainbows” variety.

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