Do deities take attendance?

Greetings.

Jewish date:  12 Siwan 5770 (Parashath BeHa‘alothekha).

Today’s holidays:  Feast Days of Venerable Bede, Gregory VII and Mary Magdalene de Pazzi (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Stalin (Church of the SubGenius—and I have no idea what they are thinking), Head of the Forerunner (Greek Orthodox Christianity), Integrity Day (Scientology—and I am aware of the irony).

Today’s topic:  Last night’s episode of The Big Bang Theory, “The Lunar Excitation”.  This clip deals a bit with theology:

Dr. Sheldon Cooper has an agreement with his mother, a serious (probably evangelical and definitely creationist) Christian, to attend church once a year.  His blind date, Amy Farrah Fowler, while having no problem with the notion of a god, objects to the notion of a deity “who takes attendance”.  And Amy has a point.  Your humble blogger is not aware of any religion in which the only thing which matters is showing up for services.  Religions typically expect their members to do specific things, both in terms of morality and ritual, outside of houses of worship.  If you think going to services once or twice a year is all you need to keep your god happy with you, please check with an appropriate clergy-person and verify this is actually so.

Also notable about this episode:  Our culture normally assumes that romantic love and sexual intercourse go hand-in-hand, to the extent that the first may be used to justify the second.  (I am not making up that last clause.  I have heard people justify homosexual behavior on the basis of love.  This is really the wrong way to do it, given that any prohibited relationship, including incest and bestiality, could be rationalized if the participants are romantically attracted.)  However, some people (asexuals) feel romantic love without any desire to engage in sexual intercourse.  Sheldon and Amy both appear asexual, but are quickly attracted to each other.  If this relationship lasts, this may be the first asexual romance in the history of television.

Peace.

Aaron

Beware of Sheldon’s wrath

Greetings.

Jewish date:  26 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holidays:  Feast of Scholastica (Roman Catholicism), Feast of Haralambos the Holy Martyr (Greek Orthodox Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Urgent Request”.

Topic 1:  I am kicking myself over not remembering Monday night’s episode of The Big Bang Theory yesterday, despite its interesting New Testament references.  In this episode, Leonard is chosen to get a free trip for himself and a guest to visit the CERN Supercollider, and he decides to to take his girlfriend Penny.  However, Sheldon notes that his friendship contract with Leonard clearly specifies that should Leonard ever get a free trip to the CERN Supercollider, he has to take Sheldon.  (The friendship contract was Sheldon’s idea.  His thinking is very strange and is an endless source of plots.  But I digress.)  Sheldon is angry that Leonard refuses to live up to the contract and claims that Leonard is worse than a number of infamous historical traitors, including Judas Iscariot.  This last comparison is emphasized later in the episode when they are in a cafeteria:  Sheldon places a tray on the table in front of Leonard containing [[dramatic pause]] 30 pieces of silverware.  (I am still laughing over this one.  Those of you who do not get the joke have some reading to do…)  This may set a new standard gag for underfunded Passion plays everywhere.

Topic 2:  “the Joke is on Us!”  This Dry Bones cartoon deals with anti-Zionism (= anti-Semitism) claiming to be pro-Israel.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor (other than Sheldon’s cafeteria stunt):  “Nooooo, Basement Cat... not cut da rope!”:


Peace.

Aaron

Cows and The Big Bang Theory

Greetings.

Jewish date:  25 Tishri 5770 (Parashath Bere’shith).

Today’s holiday:  Tuesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Protect Ocean Life Through a Comprehensive National Policy!” and “Act Now for Trade Justice!”

Today’s topic:  Last night a religious fallacy showed up on The Big Bang Theory, of all places.  The fallacy showed up in an argument between two characters, Sheldon and Raj.  Sheldon insisted that Hindus consider cows like gods, while Raj, a born Hindu, insists that Hindus consider cows to be gods.  Raj, of course is offended and does not accept Sheldon’s claim.  This is an illustration of the folly of insisting to someone what he/she believes; naturally Raj knows better what he believes than Sheldon.  Furthermore, Raj, being a born Hindu, by default is probably more knowledgeable about Hinduism than Sheldon.  Now, considering that Sheldon is a genius (like many of the characters on the show), he probably has the capability of learning a lot about Hinduism.  If he learns enough, he could conceivably even draw upon enough relevant source material (the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Laws of Manu, etc.) to demonstrate that Raj is incorrect.  However, simply insisting without solid references or at least some reasoning is unconvincing.

Also:  I am not clear on whether Raj or Sheldon is right.  See the Wikipedia article “Cattle in religion” for more information, including references.  The article gives the impression that at least some Hindus believe that cows are inhabited by goddesses.  Perhaps a knowledgeable Hindu will be kind enough to enlighten us.

Aaron