John Desmarais Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Ever wonder what religion you favorite hero is? Check this out. http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion I like what they have listed for JJJ's religion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion I like what they have listed for JJJ's religion. Why, what is it? LA p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Why, what is it? LA p Religious Affiliation: "hates Spider-Man" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion sigh...no love for Unitarians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion sigh...no love for Unitarians. Nor Wiccans.... Funny.. I coulda SWORE there were at least a couple of praticing Wiccans in the halls of comic book lore. But the author seems to be markedly reluctant to give any of the various pagan and neo-pagan faiths their proper names. meh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion sigh...no love for Unitarians. http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_uu.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Well, that's nice to know. Considering the lack of dogma in the UU faith, several comic book characters might qualify as de facto Unitarians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Also interesting that the poster makes little effort to distinguish between those who practice a given religion versus those who were merely raised in a given religious tradition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted March 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Also interesting that the poster makes little effort to distinguish between those who practice a given religion versus those who were merely raised in a given religious tradition. For the most part, neither does society - so it's not an unreasonable thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted March 17, 2006 Report Share Posted March 17, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Also interesting that the poster makes little effort to distinguish between those who practice a given religion versus those who were merely raised in a given religious tradition. On the side there's a section talking about how some have it as more central, making references, etc. like Nightcrawler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion For the most part' date=' neither does society - so it's not an unreasonable thing to do.[/quote'] That society does something is hardly a guarantee that it's reasonable. Lucius Alexander Trying to be reasonable with a palindromedary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shike019 Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion That society does something is hardly a guarantee that it's reasonable. Lucius Alexander Trying to be reasonable with a palindromedary Repped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion I've got to admit, that is a good site. Could use some work here and there, but they do cover a lot of characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion I'm kind of curious as to how they come to the conclusion that these characters are of thier particular religion. Some of them I know for certain since they've flat out said so in the comics but what of others? Or have I not not read enough comics in my life? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alverant Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion I'm kind of curious as to how they come to the conclusion that these characters are of thier particular religion. Some of them I know for certain since they've flat out said so in the comics but what of others? Or have I not not read enough comics in my life? Agreed. I've also noticed the reluctance to say heroes are atheists. But he seems to have no problem saying "Most super-villains in mainstream comic books are atheists, agnostics, or simply non-religious.Aside from a few major villains, the list below primarily focuses on villains who have a known religious affiliation other than atheism." Then in the following lists includes quite a few who he says are atheists. Why does is assumption made that villains are atheists and not heroes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transmetahuman Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Agreed. I've also noticed the reluctance to say heroes are atheists. But he seems to have no problem saying "Most super-villains in mainstream comic books are atheists, agnostics, or simply non-religious.Aside from a few major villains, the list below primarily focuses on villains who have a known religious affiliation other than atheism." Then in the following lists includes quite a few who he says are atheists. Why does is assumption made that villains are atheists and not heroes? Well, obviously, it's because only god-fearing souls would actually try to help their fellow man, and all of us atheist types are evil. Eeeeeeevil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion I didn't explore the site that thoroughly, but it did look like for each character some kind of "evidence" was cited. As for villains and atheism, possibly the reasoning is that a villain is almost by definition breaking the moral codes of most religions, and so is probably not a sincere practicioner of any such religion. I'd consider such reasoning faulty, but it may be the reasoning used. I'll have to go back and look closer at the site. I wonder what Doctor Doom is listed as? We KNOW he believes in an afterlife, certainly.... Lucius Alexander The palindromedary tells the one about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion As for villains and atheism' date=' possibly the reasoning is that a villain is almost by definition breaking the moral codes of most religions, and so is probably not a sincere practicioner of any such religion. I'd consider such reasoning faulty, but it may be the reasoning used.[/quote'] Breaking moral codes has hardly stopped anyone from not claiming to be a practitioner of a religion. In fact, sometimes it's the excuse for breaking the code...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korvar Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion The stereotypical Mafiosi is usually depicted as paying at least lip service to being Catholic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alverant Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion I didn't explore the site that thoroughly, but it did look like for each character some kind of "evidence" was cited. As for villains and atheism, possibly the reasoning is that a villain is almost by definition breaking the moral codes of most religions, and so is probably not a sincere practicioner of any such religion. I'd consider such reasoning faulty, but it may be the reasoning used. Yeah, that reasoning is pretty week. Actually so is his evidence. About 10% of the US population are atheists, agnostics, etc if their reasoning was correct we'd make up the same amount (or more) in prisons. Yet only 0.1% of prisoners are atheists, agnostics, etc. Anyway, I took another look at the site and just about everyone has links giving evidence EXCEPT for most of the atheists. There is no "pure" atheist villain (not a type of atheist or one who later converted) who is labeled that without explination. Curiously enough, every atheist (and all but one agnostic) hero is given justification. transmetahuman is probably right, the labels are ones given by default based on false stereotypes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casualplayer Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Well, it's good to know God believes in himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauty Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion That's a cool and somewhat funny site. It's fair to estimate what religion a fictional character is based on his/her philosophy - someone who believes in a God that hammers evildoers would lead a tense life but have no problem hammering others. An atheist would be under no such pressure - just behave morally (for the sake of goodness?) and that behavior might be difficult to distinguish from one who sincerely believed in a loving, caring God. I agree that Superman is of the Protestant stripe - I think they had him seeking advice from Catholic priests mainly because of visuals: the priests are easier to distinguish by dress and the churches tend to be more ornate. Protestant ministers wear ordinary clothes, and unless toting a massive bible, aren't obviously religious. And, in a pinch, hopefully all priests/ministers are trained so well that they can give sound moral advice and comfort when called upon. The villains...heh. Most should not be atheists, or if they were, would only claim to be. Where's the fun in being bad if there's no one to be bad to? They might be of the attitude, "If there's a God, he can jolly well show himself. Where was he when (thing that ruined my life) happened? And in the meantime, I'm going to destroy the city! Up yours, God!" A genuine atheist would not be so het up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Follow the Batman link. In the "Year II" storyline when he was asked if he believed in God, he said "I don't see a reason to" or something of the like. [snip] Whether or not Batman believes in God has nothing to do with his religious background and religious affiliation [emphasis added] I think that's enough to dismiss the site as bogus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Re: Superheroes and Religion Breaking moral codes has hardly stopped anyone from not claiming to be a practitioner of a religion. In fact, sometimes it's the excuse for breaking the code...... You’ll notice I’m not endorsing that reasoning – just guessing that it was in play. Yeah' date=' that reasoning is pretty week. Actually so is his evidence. About 10% of the US population are atheists, agnostics, etc if their reasoning was correct we'd make up the same amount (or more) in prisons. Yet only 0.1% of prisoners are atheists, agnostics, etc.[/quote'] I wouldn’t be surprised if atheists and agnostics are disproportionately underrepresented among convicted criminals; most of the atheists I’ve known are good people. But may I ask for a source on your statistics? I’d be interested in looking them up. Lucius Alexander The palindromedary proclaims at one end “Thank God I’m an atheist!†and at the other “Monotheism is a gift from the Gods!†Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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