Today’s Jesus and Mo strip, called “alps2” is “A resurrection. . . from 2008”.
And Mo is basically right on the etymology, at least according to this NPR site:
Cretin is a word derived from an 18th century Swiss-French word meaning “Christian.” The connection is basically pious, asserting that a mentally innocent person so-labeled is possessed of a Christian soul by way of baptism and is worthy of our mercy and pity.
As for “rug-butter,” I couldn’t find it but assume it is a derogatory reference to Muslims worshiping on prayer rugs, touching their heads to the ground. But no, Jessus is not literally a cretin as he’s neither deformed nor hails from the Swiss Alps. But I guess Mo literally butts rugs, though I’ve never seen him kneeling in prayer.
Hello, fellow not-a-Cretins!
/memespeak
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The word ‘cretin’ has an very real historical origin. Cretin’s were a consequence of a severe Iodine deficiency. This impacted Switzerland (historically). Wealthy folks (in Switzerland) would send their children to Italy ‘for their health’. They were right of course. What they did not know, is that their children (in Italy) would eat fish rich in Iodine. The problem impacted parts of the US, far from oceans (the upper Midwest). These days Iodine is added to salt, so that essentially no one suffers from the problem.
I did not know that!
I use the NIH ODS website for anything related to nutrient/dietary information :
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iodine-HealthProfessional/
… gonna review it again right now. They have all the basics – invaluable for figuring out what to eat (or not), etc.
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A few links may help you
“Cretinism: The past, present and future of diagnosis and cure” – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2791432/
“The Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Iodine Deficiency in Canadian Adults” – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9268597/
“Iodine deficiency hypothyroidism in children in recent years: a re-emerging issue?” – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11227089/
“Familial nontoxic multinodular thyroid goiter locus maps to chromosome 14q but does not account for familial nonmedullary thyroid cancer.” – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1716029/
The problem was very real in part of Canada and the United States far from the ocean.
Speaking of spirituality-based insults, today I learned that in Chilean slang a term for a New Age-type person who does astrology, crystals, etc. is a “chupacuarzo.” This translates to “quartz sucker”!
I doubt many (anyone?) will read this comment, so I will try to find a way to use it again here in the future!
I read your comment! Good luck using ‘chupacuarzo’!
What is God reading?