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This is probably one of my more egregious ‘wall of text’ pages lately.
I’m a little busy this week, but hopefully I’ll be able to be a little more involved in the comic and comments soon. Also, if all goes according to plan, I might have some good news next week!
hmm, interesting…
Well, that does sort of bring up the question of how Satan managed to wind up with so many other entities under his thumb. While a lot of old gods and spirits did wind up being incorporated into JUdaism, and then Christianity, as “demons”,, there are lots of other places for them to hang out . Does a wide-spread belief that they’re “in hell” mean that they get dragged there somehow? Or is it the only place that they can tap into what belief is left in them?
Ah, but there aren’t alot of other places to hang out. According to what was said, there is Heaven, and then there is not-Heaven, which is also called Hell. So you’re either in Heaven (with ‘God’ from Christianity) or you are in ‘Hell’ which is everywhere else. It’s kind of like you are either in the USA or you are not in the USA. Except that the USA is called Heaven and everywhere else is called Hell despite how nice it might be.
And as for why Satan has so many of those old gods under him, it is because their power is directly linked (It seems) to the number of people that believe in (not worship) them. This would explain why Lilith has quite a bit of power, and her sisters have power. Despite them not being believed in as spirits, hunger and disease and such are certainly still prevalent.
That’s “there” as in “within Satan’s reach and under his thumb”. Regardless of what the abrahamic faiths call those other areas, Satan is apparently not in charge of most of them – and it’s pretty obvious that he’s not a nice guy to work for . So why are spirits who apparently have plenty of other places that they COULD be staying hanging out with him?
Because Satan took them over when xenophobia rampaged during the middle ages and everything that wasn’t Christian was ‘demonic’?
Xenophobia has always been pretty normal; accepting cultures don’t last for many generations before they absorb enough material from other cultures to become unrecognizable – unless they’re somehow isolated. That still wouldn’t say how in any case; there were plenty of other cultures – each apparently offering their own regions to hang out in – during the middle ages. It just seems likely that no one with a free choice would opt to hang around with Satan. There doesn’t seem to be much preventing them from leaving either. Why are they still there?
“According to what was said, there is Heaven, and then there is not-Heaven, which is also called Hell. So you’re either in Heaven (with ‘God’ from Christianity) or you are in ‘Hell’ which is everywhere else.”
This reminds me of that joke about a small portion of Heaven being set aside as a gated community for Fundamentalists, but your theory (as I understand it, at least) expands this to Heaven being an exclusive, Christians-only gated community of order in the middle of a Somalia-like land of chaos that everyone else gets relegated/thrown to.
Truthfully? It’s a repulsive theology. (Nothing personal. That’s just how I feel about it.) It’s one of the many reasons that I’ve given up on Christianity.
Uhm… where does it say that everywhere else is “a Somalia-like land of chaos”?
Indeed. I even said in my example that it doesn’t matter how nice the place is according to this interpretation, if it isn’t Heaven, it is still Hell. Heck, there could be some exceedingly nice, nicer even than Heaven, areas of Hell, but because they aren’t Heaven, they are Hell. Like my favorite lilithu said (Will we ever get names for them?) “But no one says you can’t get the love of, say, the triple godess”(sic)
Also, no one says that Hell has to be worse than Heaven, just that it -isn’t- Heaven. See my USA example. Being in Europe isn’t necessarily worse than being in the USA, it just isn’t being in the USA.
You’re right. I mis-spoke. In the comic’s “reality”, all that “Hell” seems to be is a separation from the deity that it’s Christian believership worships as “God”; not necessarily a place of eternal punishment. But (and this is for Karadan too because no more replies will nest under his/her name) quite a few Fundamentalists and Evangelicals seem to take the view that I described in my previous post — that Heaven is a blissful (if rather authoritarian) paradise where all the “good” people go surrounded by a lawless, demon-haunted wasteland where all the “bad”* people are sent. And I simply find that particular theological “logic” to be unacceptable to my sensibilities.
*And quite often designated as such through no fault of their own!
This is definitely a super cool rendition of “Hell”. Though I know there is definitely a fire and brimstone portion of it in existence since that’s where Satan is and we’ve seen it.
Dantes “infreno” comes to mind, with so-called punishments increasing with each level depending on what kind of sinner you were based on earthly deeds or misdeeds Gets increasingly worse until you reach the center, where you-know-who supposedly is.
Gasp! Lord Voldemort?
No! It’s Lord Sauron obviously!
You’re both wrong. It’s Michael Jackson.
It’s Chuck Noris, who practices his round house kick on the sinners
Ha! you’re half right Supertwitfan, it’s Chuck Norris… moaning that he’ll never be as good as Bruce Lee.
(this next part is a bit belated but, here goes)
Also, I love how the depiction of this other Earth works not on the facts of religion but the folowers beliefs. It nicely explains how there can be (along with a myriad of smaller {read: more boring}) a single entity known as the Antichrist dispite this little gem.
(2 John 1:7)
“Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the Antichrist.”
NOTE:I’m not religious, just annoying
correction: …myriad of smaller {read: more boring}things…
D’oh
It’s Edward Cullen D: The most freakishly scary of all.
If Edward Cullen is in charge of Hell, I should have no problem kickin’ his emo ass and taking over when I get there. XD
Anyway, been following this comic for awhile, and i have to say… It’s probably the only place I’ll get my fix for religious debates. Ever. XD
NOTE: I’m neither a total jerk nor a troll, I do not believe Norris has a reason to be in Hell, I simply have a bad habbit of posting during insomnia attacks. Sleep loss causes half iterated jokes that sound mildly retarded. That said what I meant is that between Norris and Lee, Lee is showing how it’s done and Chuck is taking notes.
Laz looks a bit off in the 3rd panel.
Construtive critisim would be inbound but I am far from an artist. I think it’s the shape of the head, but the angle he’s looking at could make it normal… perhaps it’s his mouth and eye combination… along with the head shape… sorry, he kinda looks a little like a watermelon head, if anyone disagrees and thinks I’m just blind and stupid, please say so.
Today’s page looks great despite the “wall of text.” The characters are really popping out of the background and I love the beams of light in the last panel.
You call this a wall of text?! This ain’t nothing!
you think this is a wall of text? read the oswald chronicles several whole pages of nothing but text it gets so boring if i want to read a book i’ll go to the library this aint a wall of text believe me
Surprisingly, everything the Lilitu are saying is scripturally accurate. Laz, at least, has the right idea. They say “knowledge is power” after all.
I LIKE this interpretation of Hell!
Laz kinda looks more mature in the last panel… I dunno why, he just does. o-o
I like it, though. c:
I think i’ll just kick back, relax, and enjoy this top notch comic. Slapping interpretations on every little minute detail and arguing over it takes the fun out of it for me. I have my own ideas of how the story will play out, and over time I’ll see if I’m right r wrong . Note to Dave;
your webcomic is one of the best ones out there in both art and entertainining plot. Great work!
Thanks! I actually enjoy watching civil and rational theological discussion(rarity is value, right?) but I understand preferring to just like the story instead.
WOW! Thats a nice twist on hell, heaven, and the afterlife, even more fun when told by Lilitu cuties! lol, do they have names like their big sis? I love how they keep calling Laz all those nicknames XD
Love this Hell of yours. Maybe this is what AC/DC was talking about
I have a theory as to why other gods are stuck serving Lucifer…. The guy has a LOT of pull. He’s a badass power with a lot of believers. It’s probably a bit like a Mafia don. He might not own things, but he’s got enough power to make life unpleasant for those who annoy him. By the same token, those who make themselves useful to him probably get significant protection and power themselves.
I’ll explain more about his influence as his storyline gets closer to it’s conclusion, but that’s a pretty good take on it!
Right! First, I’d like to say this is a great comic. Magnificent, truly, and I can’t wait to see how the story shapes up. Now, I’d advise the easily inflamed to stop reading my comment at the end of this sentence.
Second, I feel duty bound as a Christian to point out that while, Yes, some of us do agree with Mr. Alighieri about Hell and pagans and so on, many do not. I’m a Christian Universalist, for instance, and my vision of Heaven has a lot in common with the Hindu idea of realizing the unity between Saguna Atman and Nirguna Brahman. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Thank you!
Also I know a few universalist Christians. In my experiences quite reasonable people
I dont know what other christains take on “the noble pagen” is, but the Catholic Church’s view is that you don’t have to be catholic in order to go to heaven. It’s just a really really hard thing to do. Ghandi for instance probably had a good chance of making it.
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0512fea3.asp
Heh, I’m partially taking this off of Dante’s non-canonical tour of hell.
Ok, ignore the confusion think. -beep bop boop- AAAAH THE THINKING IT HURTSS!
Maybe they’ll find a cure fore that someday (kidding)…
A cure for thinking? They already have that. It’s called 24 hour news!
Nope. Not going to dive into theology. I enjoy this comic FAR too much to do that. I love the Lilitu, their attitudes and expressions rock.
I could’nt agree more. After all, it’s only a webcomic, not an all-encompassing cosmic statement of religious philosophies. It’s only my opinion, but we should’nt read so much into it, theres other forums that do better justice to acedemic debate and preserve thier content for posterity. Not likely that webcomics (even as good as this one) will become part of the acedemic record…..
You never know. Our major records from Babylon and Sumeria are shopping lists…
Hee Hee, point taken! Seems history and fate aren’t always kind to humanity. After reading your comment, I remembered reading about an ancient roman bathhouse being excavated in Pompeii. Freeform handwriting and a rather comical drawing of an old man on a wall translated as an old roman centurion having his male anatomy being poked fun at. I got a good giggle out of it. As you implied, history is just as liable to place as much importance on a beer can dug up from a landfill as a scholarly tome from a university library.
Mmmm, Dave, sorry. I don’t watch 24 hr news at nite, Im usually out looking for fresh mice around that time. Would’nt happen to have one, would ya?
Interesting idea.. I guess I never thought about Hell that way, having been raised in a strict Christian home that reminded me with almost obnoxious frequency how hot and terrible Hell is whenever I did something wrong. It makes sense, though.. Being reminded that Hell is also described as any place away from God. Nice detail work.
Now I feel totally late to the discussion =X
I’ll say first that this managed to keep me entertained for some time, good work! I’ll say second that the religious interpretation that has gone into it is quite fascinating. There’s a great deal of misunderstanding in the Christian community about what happens to a person after they die based on Scripture alone. Most of the confusion results from being unable to resolve between Sheol (the realm of the dead) and Hell (final yet-future judgment).
Sheol has a Paradise section for those that have lived upstanding lives based on what knowledge they had. I would imagine it isn’t as drab as Limbo though >_>
Triple Goddess, you say?
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dammit