Today’s Jesus and Mo strip ,called “bum,” came with this note:
From a story in The Freethinker, with a hat tip to Zoe Williams.
And the email added this:
There seemed like a feast of potential punchlines lurking in that article, but in the end I plumped for one which included my favourite word beginning with B (not “bum”, or “basically”).
I’m not sure what that word is; you can guess yourself (and I’m not sure which of the two pieces it’s in.)
You can read the two articles yourself, but in short, Tory M.P. Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Catholic, said he took his church’s teachings on homosexuality and abortion seriously, Portsmouth Bishop Philip Egan, who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest (on a family oriented site, I can’t use the words I want to characterize such a stand), supported Rees-Mogg with a series of ridiculous statements, including this one:
When on matters of sexual morality, people do not espouse chastity, they open themselves to deep-seated forces within. They can even unwittingly allow the Evil One to bind himself like a serpent tightly around their hearts.
Shades of Alvin Plantinga—here we go with SATAN again, always ready to appear when somebody masturbates or has illicit sex. At the Guardian, Zoe Williams replies scornfully:
The problem with people who bring religion to their politics is that they’re obsessed with sex. It’s never “I’m a devout Anglican, therefore I couldn’t possibly vote for a cap on social security payments (Acts 4:34).” When a politician’s potted history starts “a committed Christian”, you can bet this isn’t a prelude to a CV full of redistributive tax policies. It’s all sodomy and foetuses,
Williams’s comment is actually more telling than this week’s strip, which seems rather lame to me. Nevertheless, it’s a rare exception, and you should, if you like the strip, donate at least a few bucks monthly to the Jesus and Mo Patreon. 
I’m guessing the word is “buggery.”
I love that line, “it’s all sodomy and foetuses.” Must remember that one. The British spelling of “fetuses” gives it a learned air, as well.
Blastocysts, surely?
Yup, that was my guess, too, considering the article’s subject.
Not sure if you’re agreeing with Larry or Coel, but Coel clearly has it right, since we’re told it’s a B-word in the strip’s punchline.
Oh, when Jerry said he wasn’t sure what the word is, I thought he meant it’s *not* one of the B-words in the punchline. I get it now.
Looks like I just picked a whole bouquet of oopsie daisies.
The Youtube of his comments has been DMCAed but the same video appears to be available here https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2017/sep/06/jacob-rees-mogg-opposed-abortion-video
Mogg seems the type who needs 4 or 5 shots of whiskey to get him to let his hair down. I think ‘prick’ is the term I’d use, if it was permitted.
My word for him would be fu€kwit. This is not just ordinary a$$holery, it’s ignorance, selfishness, prigishness, and stupidity. Imagine being this guy’s wife or daughter?
I do like your creative use of non-alphabetic characters.
Along with my favourite adjective. With which of course I heartily concur. 😉
cr
I concur with your concurrence.
Being used as a baby factory. There was a PR moment which Rees-Mogg seized with both hands a couple of weeks ago, when his sixth child was popped out of the baby factory and he named it “Six” (in Latin, because he’s a snob). (There was no mention of Mrs Rees-Mogg’s opinion on the matter. Presumably she’s not allowed to express one that differs from her master’s.)
Since then, he’s been raising his political profile with the abortion and rape comment, then a few days ago boasting proudly that he’d not changed one nappy on any of his six kids.
From the PR machine activity, I suspect that he’s going to launch a back-stabbing on May at the Conservative Party Conference (Manchester, 1-4 Oct) in the hope of being in Downing Street by New Year. Since he’ll need the votes of the DUP to achieve that, then the comments on the abortion and Christianity dog-whistles suddenly make sense.
If he can’t drum up the support for a Night of the Long Knives in Manchester, then he’ll swim back into the murky waters of politics to bid his time before coming in for another bite at the wounded and bleeding May. We know that theme.
Did I mention the DUP? Did I mention the massive failure of Paisley (pere, with fils in the background) with his 1990s campaign titled “Scotland Against Sodomy”. The DUPs do have a decided anal fixation. Not that there’s anything wrong with a bit of sodomy if your wife likes it.
The baby wasn’t named “six” in Latin, but “sixth” (Sextus). Pity, really, as the Latin for “six” is …….. “sex”.
Of course, Jacob Rees-Mogg has no intention of criminialising homosexuality or abortion, even if he became PM.
”I oppose same-sex marriage, but I’d go to a gay wedding’
‘ I wouldn’t get on my moral high horse. If I went, I hope I’d enjoy it.”
That is mighty big of you. Would that opposition have anything to do with religion?
And if so, you know that opposition is meaningless to an atheist.
So you lambast somebody who believes in the separation of church and state?
Why?
If JRM is opposed to gay-sex marriage, how does that harm anybody?
I did not say he harmed anyone. I said his opposition is in his religion and as an atheist, so what? Surprise, Surprise. As far as the separation of church and state, I’ll wait for the vote.
You are exactly right.
He is opposed to gay marriage.
So what?
After the so-what, then say he’s catholic.
Good old Jebus. He gives us that – religion upon which the country was built. Please give us an example?
I thought that Britain was built on the Roman Pantheon, then rebuilt on a hodge-podge of Roman, Celtic and Norse gods before my namesake set about giving people the choice between Christianity and death in the 600s.
From a secular point of view, there is a strong argument for allowing women to make their own decisions about abortion, but I tend to think one can construct a good religious argument for allowing it in cases of rape and incest.
C.S. Lewis in one of his clearer moments said he regarded “sins of the flesh” (a phrase I balk at) as the least serious and as such a self-righteous prude who attends church regularly may be “closer to hell than a prostitute”. A sentiment I applaud from my own somewhat heathen standpoint.
I never knew CS Lewis had ‘clearer moments’, but you pointed out he obviously had. I stand corrected. Thank you for that.
I don’t have normal access to J ‘n’ Mo, so these sharings are quite welcome. Thanks!
On Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 10:01 AM, Why Evolution Is True wrote:
> whyevolutionistrue posted: “Today’s Jesus and Mo strip ,called “bum,” came > with this note: From a story in The Freethinker, with a hat tip to Zoe > Williams. And the email added this: There seemed like a feast of potential > punchlines lurking in that article, but in the end I plumpe” >
Huh? How? Some ISP-block or something? Or are you in Turkey, KSA, Egypt, Iran … (not sure if the Chinese would give a damn either way) … Some of the UAE states, perhaps?
The image seems to be re-hosted on WP’s server, and I can’t see a direct link to jesusnmo.net … oh no, there it is. So the prefetch function on most modern browsers will still have hit any country-level monitors.
Williams: “The problem with people who bring religion to their politics is that they’re obsessed with sex.”
Sorry but no, it isn’t. The problem is that we shouldn’t be making any decisions on the basis of religion. That includes tax policy and social safety nets, even when they align with my preferences. It’s okay to point out the hypocrisy of most religious political blowhards, but we shouldn’t pine for the hypothetical true believer whose religious prescriptions just happen to align with our politics.
I don’t want Rees-Mogg running the government but I don’t want the Pope either.
Those religionist and i am pushing it out here, reminded me of and i’m not sure why apart from getting a chuckle on,
Harold Steptoe grinning and declaring to Albert (his dad) as he leers back at him with a smirky grin…
“you dirty ol’man”
at the very least those two on Oil Drum Lane were more honest and eternally likeable than holier than thou bible belters.
If you know not who they are, here you go:
http://www.albertandharold.co.uk
Sanford and Son starring Redd Foxx was a US copy of Steptoe and Son. I am not sure how they compare. Redd Foxx was notorious for his use of language NSW or the family den.
I saw some episodes of the US version but unfortunately they were up against it, to me Steptoe was a hard act to follow and i was a young boy when it was a (pre colour in NZ) TV show.
I suspect that the final “Basically” is a flash back to John Major’s “Back to Basics” campaign of the early 1990s, which was mortally undermined by the antics (sexual and financial) of his ministers.
When politicians make comments like this, you just know it’s going to end badly. I’m looking forward to finding out what kompromat Putin has on President Smallhands. But we won’t see that until Putin has something in the bag on all of the rest of the contenders to replace him.