219

Pray
Posted on March 18, 2011 by David M Willis

219 thoughts on “Pray”

  1. Jen Aside

    I always pray that next punch is wussy.

  2. David Herbert

    Yay, Joyce and Walky are sorta-friends.

    And Joe doesn’t like being punched in the FAACE.

    With his penis.

    1. Skye

      I wonder if eventually Joyce will like being punched in the FAAAAAACE with Joe’s penis.

      1. Michelle Alford

        I am disturbed by that image. DISTURBED.

        1. Skye

          And now we all know why I shouldn’t be allowed on the internet. I disturb people.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          The Internet disturbs everbody if they use it long enough.

        3. Icalasari

          That’s disturbing?

          Then clearly I’ve been on a different internet this whole time

      2. Wolf

        I have perverse sexual lust.

        1. deepblueink

          Sometimes the avatar is the funny.

        2. ADHadh

          With Joyce and/or Mike it’s always funny.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Is there any other kind?

    2. Rowen Morland

      Does he dislike it with his penis or does he dislike his face being punched by his penis?

      1. Roborat

        If Joe can punch himself in the face with his penis, I am truly impressed. That boy has a great career ahead of him in the porn industry. . . . with his penis!

        1. Rowen Morland

          Unless it is a third party wielding said penis in a detatched form.

          To his FAAAAAAACE

  3. Seerow

    Is Joyce just forgetting that she essentially paid Mike to punch him in the face multiple times? Even if she believes a girl can’t hurt a guy, surely she knows a guy can. I’m honestly more surprised Joe isn’t sporting bruises.

    1. Ridureyu

      Getting punched by Mike is kind of like getting caught in rayny weather. it’s going to happen, so don’t expect any compensation for it.

      MIKE IS THE WIND AND THE RAIN

      1. Darth Shadow

        Mike is actually The Fallen.

        1. Ridureyu

          I dunno, I doubt Optimus Prime could kill him THAT quickly.

        2. Anonyamos

          Prior to the final blow, Mike would quip about how Prime’s mother was a vacuum.

          For penis.

      2. Semysane

        More like the wind and the PAIN!

  4. Ridureyu

    I got that line, too:

    “It’s never bad if a woman punches a man, because women can’t abuse men, and it’s always a triumph for equality!”

    1. Katosen27

      Naturally. Women are always the victims. Didn’t you know? 😛

      1. Skye

        The sad thing is the truth in this. 🙁 There are a lot of violence crimes against men that go ignored because they’re guys. 🙁

        Anyway, time for silly happy thoughts!

        1. Ridureyu

          Much more recently, my sister and I had a conversation about that Tiger Woods thing. It was still in the news then.

          Sister: “Wasn’t it awesome when she hit him? Just knocked him flat out on the floor when she found out he was cheating!”

          Me: “So, if Angelina Jolie cheated on brad Pitt, would it be good if he just cold-cocked her in the face for it?”

          Sister: “No, that would be abusive.”

          Me: “Why is it different?”

          Sister: “Because when a woman hits a man, that’s like the little kid at the playground standing up to a bully. Everybody cheersw for him becauise those bullies deserve it, and he doesn’t have to take that crap anymore!”

          Me: “But it’s still one spouse physically abusing another one.”

          Sister: “You’re being sexist, and it’s not abuse. it’s not abuse at all!”

          She’s married, BTW.

        2. Wackd

          Her husband better watch his back.

        3. Dean

          So, your sister is saying that being a man in a relationship equates to being a bully?

          I wouldn’t want to be in her marriage.

        4. Katosen27

          I don’t like hitting women either. I think it is abusive for anyone to hit another person. However, to think one sex has the right to hit someone of the opposite sex with no consequence is asinine. Just because status quo says that ladies are ‘weak’ does not mean they should be exempt from the same punishments as men.

        5. Jacquie H

          Wait, you’re the one who was being sexist? 😀

        6. R

          I agree that women hitting men is wrong and shouldn’t happen. The thing that makes men hitting women different is that when a man is abusing a woman, she’s more likely to land in the ER or be killed. Not that abusive women can’t kill their male partners, just, it’s just doesn’t happen as often.

        7. Plasma Mongoose

          When women are doing the abusing, they are more likely to use a weapon of some kind, like cooking pans, knifes, the classic rolling pin and so forth.

        8. zuche

          It gets worse than that. In many places, a man reporting domestic abuse is more likely to be arrested than the woman abusing him. I’ve also noticed that the standard question asked of a man who’s been injured by a woman is still, “What did you do?” even though it’s acknowledged that this is not a relevant question.

          Some agencies fear that acknowledging the possibilty that a man might be abused by his wife will take away some of the sympathy they’ve got going for them, as it’s no longer about defending “the weaker sex”. This isn’t just troubling for missing the point that abuse is wrong. It’s also misogynist, portraying women as natural victims, regardless of their actions. How can you be acknowledged as equal if you can’t be held responsible for what you do?

          That said, the attempt to have Joe insert (don’t go there) a good point into this conversation doesn’t really work in a world where Mike can punch people in the head repeatedly without consequence. Either assault is wrong and should be treated seriously, or it’s part of the comedy and should be treated as such.

        9. Lokitsu

          Another thing is that women who are abusive are more likely to use objects rather than bare hands.

        10. taekwondogirl

          I agree with your thoughts regarding the violence in the comic. Either it’s “funny” and has no real lasting damage much in the way of a Looney Tunes cartoon… or it’s real and has consequences, and because of that people would be less likely to actually do it in that world.

          The discrepancies and hypocrisy we’re seeing have to do with the fact that the two different ends are being mixed without any clarification as to what’s comedic and what’s not.

        11. Cronomatt

          I agree. Equality should be recognized far more seriously in legal cases. Its kinda like what Shanna mentioned in Fans, that what is ‘right’ in the world is built around the testosterone system, where one guy beats up another guy if that guy hurts a girl, and that situation is never taken seriously in the reverse.

          Even though I’m a straight male, the fact that I worry about these things makes me kind of envy the fictional character, Ranma, from Ranma 1/2, who gets to see from both sides of the gender spectrum. And he becomes pretty observent about things during fights and romance. And the fact that he’s falling in love with a girl, while half girl himself, in a show with almost no lesbian overtones, makes him aware of an enormous amount of social oddities and no-nos and such, especially since he’s a normal high school student stronger then young goku.

    2. Amber

      I believe it’s because women have been beaten and suppressed by men for eons. In a way, it’s men’s fault (like in history-wise, not specifically) for encouraging the idea that women are dainty frail little things that need to learn and keep their place.We are still affected by this even centuries later.

      Thus when women commit violent acts and men complain, it’s like. “What are you? A wussy? They’re WOMEN!”

      I think unconsciously people do actually see women committing violence against a man the same as a little kid standing up to a bully that has been messing with that little kid for years.

      I don’t agree with this. But I think that’s the way it is for the majority of the world on an unconscious level.

    3. Seraph

      FWIW, most feminists I know don’t agree with this. If nothing else, if you agree to the basic principle that it’s OK to hit somebody in a relationship, you open the door to somebody else applying different threshold criteria than you would (“She was being a mouthy bongo” vs. “He was a cheating man”). See Ridureyu’s argument about Brad & Angeline for a perfect example. Of course, they’re more concerned about men beating up women, because 1) it’s far more common, and 2) far more likely to kill somebody, but the idea that someone – anyone – might not be willing or able to get help if they’re being abused is not one that amuses them. The idea that men can’t be abused by women is pretty much exhibit A for the feminist argument that Patriarchy Hurts Men Too.

      1. Blightning

        About your second point – I have heard that domestic violence by a woman is more likely to do lasting damage by virtue that often women feel the need to use a weapon to compensate for a strength difference, real or imagined. That said it is much rarer, although with the social stigma against men coming forward against women committing domestic abuse it’s hard to measure.

        1. Viktoria

          Studies done have said the numbers of men abused and women abused are about the same. Not any rarer.

        2. Ridureyu

          Yeah, it’s just that most people don’t count it as “Abuse.” It’s FUNNY if she wails on her husband with a frying pan, just like how it’s “natural” if she verbally and psychologically abuses him into an empty shell.

          I have no doubt that more men are guilty of abuse than women, but the gap isn’t that big because people are assholes by nature. Thankfully, not even most feminists fall into the “Kill the men! For FREEDOM!” trap anymore, but it’s still an annoying undercurrent in society as a whole.

          So yeah, don’t worry, Seraph, I wasn’t blaming it on feminism or feminists by any means. Technically I’m a male feminist, as I believe that men and women should be treated equally in pretty much everything.

          You want a job? it should go to whomever is the most qualified, regardless of gender.

          You broke your spouse’s arm? Same consequences.

          You broke your spouse’s arm because he/she was coming after you with a butcher knife? That’s self-defense.

          Mind you, there are a few things that are inherently unequal and favor one sex over the other. Men, for example, are terrible at giving birth. Every time I try, I just end up with a kidney stone. So I have to give the trophy to women for that one.

  5. Cha

    I’m curious about what Walky will say to this new development…

    1. NF

      You’re crazy? Neato!

      1. Cratacon

        “You’d know girls can hurt men if you watched the Power Rangers,’

        1. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

          I now think back to the episode where Kim and Tommy are in a battle to see who could be school president. No real harm between the two, but nonetheless it was still weird to see them fight even if they were both under one of Rita’s spells.

  6. Garfunkel

    So it’s been a while since I’ve watched Power Rangers – where’s the Eastern religion bit? Is it the morphing?

    1. Croaxleigh

      Most likely it’s the martial arts, especially when they’re practicing or learning new techniques, or any part where it’s referenced that martial arts should be used by good guys to defeat bad guys but not to incite violence or beat people up (unnecessarily.) Of course, I haven’t watched Power Rangers since way back in the day, so for all I know the 2000 seasons since then might have the Rangers kicking butt and chewing bubblegum for 20 minutes.

    2. Jacquie H

      They’re samurai’s, now. I’m thinking that’s the “eastern religion” bit.

    3. Ridureyu

      It comes from not watching the show, and having a vague understanding that their powers come from something “mystic.” Also, Rita Repulsa is a witch.

      1. Kaolla

        “My mom says that show teaches eastern religion…” GAH Every time I hear her say stuff like that it makes my teeth itch… Probably because she reminds me of… me…

        I was never quite that bad though because I went to public schools so I got a wider view of the world… still that kind of religious indoctrination is hard to break away from. I still don’t have the courage to tell my parents I’m a lesbian because of all the stuff I was taught growing up…

        Not that I have anything against Jesus, he said some really important stuff. Some people just forget little things like context and perspective. When you focus less on the love and more on punishing what you see as evil you end up with people getting hurt… or punched in the face… or penis jokes… No… that last one comes from reading too many comments for this comic.

  7. The Mighty Frogboy

    Apparently Eastern religions worship a giant glowing head that lives in a tube, served by an irritating robot.

    1. TsunamiJane

      My parents told me and my sister that we shouldn’t watch Power Rangers because they worshipped other gods.

      Then they saw a few episodes and realized it was ok.

      1. gangler

        My parents never let me watch power rangers because it was too violent. They were cool with my unhealthy obsession with Dragonball Z though.

        1. Jules

          LOGIC

        2. Madness

          Yeah…my loving, christian, church-going parents didn’t mind my watching or reading things that worshiped other gods…
          They just tried to keep me away from Power Rangers because…it’s, yanno…dumb.
          Unhealthy obsession with DragonBall Z FTW!

        3. gangler

          Your parents are full of win.

        4. A random reader

          Weird. My loving, church-going, Christian parents were completely fine with me watching Power Rangers as well as a lot of things people like to presume they hate. Heck, they bought me the toys and games enabling my unhealthy obsession with DBZ/pokemon/power rangers/etc. Something about keeping an open mind or what not.

        5. SHAZAM

          Well my parents didn’t mind me watching power ranger’s and they’re christian (and so am I), I imagine they mind now but that’s more because I’, still doing it at nearly 20 than anything.

      2. Anonyamos

        This means both that your parents were spouting things they were told verbatim (which is common) and that they had the good sense to see for themselves (which is unfortunately less common).

        Your parents are awesome people for that.

        A similar concept: Claiming that Pokémon are evil representations of Satan, not because of the ‘evolution’ aspect, the standard cockfighting analogy, or even the whole ‘Pokémon Gods’ shtick, but because they are a product of the Godless East and are being used as a way to send subliminal atheistic messages to children.

        1. gangler

          Truth be told their reasoning was actually much more reasonable than any of that. Every time me and my brother watched the show we’d try out the crazy awesome moves we’d seen on eachother degenerating into an overenergetic catastrophy that would mess up the room in a way that took hours to prepare.

          So I did that thing we all like to do. I learned. I didn’t do that next time I found a show I wanted to watch. Still didn’t get the power ranger privileges back till I was like fifteen though, at which point it just wasn’t as appealing.

          Regardless, I still think the discrepancy is funny. No one ever got killed on Power Rangers. As a whole it was a much tamer show.

        2. gangler

          *hours to clean

        3. gangler

          Shit, that wasn’t even a reply to my post. I’m an idiot.

        4. Madness

          LOLOLOLOLOLOL

          Christian conspiracy theories are the BEST conspiracy theories.

        5. gangler

          Growing up mormon I often heard stories about how the Pope was trying to crush our church because we were becoming too powerful. I have to agree with you there. Somehow they took conspiracy theories and made them more ridiculous.

        6. Crimson Magic

          That president was set from the beginning, with Joseph Smith (the founder) proclaiming that God revealed to him that all other churches were “abomination”s. I remember reading an edition of McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine as a kid, and it straight up defined the “Great and Abominable Church” as the Catholic Church.

        7. Crimson Magic

          Erm, precedent, not president. Slip of the mind.

        8. gangler

          To be fair, if you’re gonna go with the story that God himself spoke to you and told you to start a religion, it doesn’t really work if there were already a couple true ones running around. Why would he need both Joseph Smith and The Pope to be his voice at the same time? Plus it would just get even less plausible once they started saying different things.

          I don’t think the mormons were the first to come up with the “Only our Gospel is the true Gospel” concept.

        9. nitpicker

          It’s not really “Pokemon Gods.” It’s the idea that you’re binding “spirits” to do your bidding, summoning them and dismissing them as you please.

          It doesn’t matter to fundamentalist Christians that you’re doing this via PokeBall technology, rather than a pact with Satan.

        10. Plasma Mongoose

          Pokemon taught me that you shouldn’t worship gods, you get out your Master Balls and catch the buggers.

  8. Digidestined of Trust/Megaligo Ranger-Silver Dragon Knight! (Tim)

    Okay, I’m a Christian and even I don’t know where Joyce’s mom would get that from Power Rangers. Practically a lot of the values they teach in Power Rangers are many values in the Bible.
    I don’t think Joe gets it.
    Um no Walky, though I did always want to be the blue ranger, I’ve kind of changed my mind. (Dr.) Tommy Oliver is the most epic ranger ever! From Green, to White, to Zeo Red, to Turbo Red, to finally black Dino-Thunder Ranger! Yeah, I’m a rangers geek, thus the reason I made up my own ranger powers.

    1. David

      If it’s from Japan, it’s “eastern religion.” One of the things I learned, growing up.

      1. Ian

        Explain the original “Superbook” animated series.

        1. Bill M.

          Ian, Superbook gets a pass because Pat Roberts and the CBN (Christian Broadcast Network) helped fund it so that the Japanese people could see Bible stories. It mainly focused on Old Testament events, except for the Jesus episodes which originally aired around Christmas in its initial airing.

      2. Björn

        So is Joyce still the author avatar, though seen fifteen years in retrospect?

      3. Xelgaex

        I can vouch for this. My siblings and I couldn’t watch Power Rangers or Ninja Turtles growing up because martial arts = yin and yang = eastern religions = demonic influence.

        1. Loki

          Yeah, you just have to have encountered the right flavor of Fundamentalist stupidity to understand this.

  9. Darth Cariss

    “…And then she beat her kids.”

    It’s the next logical step. Y’know, when she has any.

    1. Digidestined of Trust/Megaligo Ranger-Silver Dragon Knight! (Tim)

      Joe really just said something that I know might tick any woman off. Nothing wrong with what Joyce did. Joe obviously didn’t know what he was getting into with Joyce.

      1. LiamKav

        “Nothing wrong with what Joyce did. ”

        Nothing wrong with paying a guy to punch him in the face? Really?

        Just… wow.

        1. gangler

          To be fair, she didn’t pay him…

      2. Nexev

        That is where you are wrong. Joe got attacked cause he was looking at Conquests chest.

        Remenber Joe is jewish so Joyce would expect Joe to bee misguided and corrupt.

        Yet all he claimed was that sex is not necessarily evil. And you know, that is entirely correct.

        Because without sex WE WON’T EXIST.

        Its a act of life and thus can’t be considered any more evil then eating, yes it can be abused but so can religon and just about anything.

      3. Nerc

        Nothing wrong with what Joyce did? Really?

        There are many things wrong with what Joyce did!

        1)
        For starters, all Joe did was asking a question:
        “what’s wrong with lust?”
        It’s enterely valid to ask those things, and see what your partner thinks.

        He didn’t ask her “do you feel like sucking my lollipop?”, which would have been an offensive question.

        She had no reason to get mad about that.
        Any woman who gets mad from that question is rather shallow.

        2)
        Hitting him.
        Hitting someone is wrong, no matter what.
        (at least, when it’s not self-defense)

        It doesn’t matter if you are a woman or a man or an alien.

        3)
        Saying women can’t hurt men is also wrong.
        If not, then try offending a woman-boxer and see how that goes.

      4. Katosen27

        ‘Ticked off’ and ‘Violently furious’ are two different concepts. If Joyce was ticked off, she would of just left Joe at the restaurant with Mike in tow. No, she got overly mad at a guy, on their first date, over a sentence and a stare at a woman’s chest.

        The fact she thinks she is justified over the punches she gave him and what punches she allowed Mike to do is what is wrong.

  10. alicemacher

    Joyce is so clueless about human relations outside her little world, I’m beginning to wonder if she’d make a good match for Galasso.

    1. Peace in Our Time

      Never work. She believes in honoring no gods but God, and Galasso believes in honoring no gods but Galasso.

      1. 1Samildanach

        So? Just convince Joyce that Galasso *IS* her God. Problem solved, profit imminent.

        1. goatman95111

          There needs to be a comic at this point where Walky, Sal, and Amber run Joyce through a crash course in pop culture. I imagine at one point or another that will involve Conan the Barbarian, where she will learn the glory of praising Crom for giving man the Riddle of Steel.

        2. Björn

          And no sex will ever ensue.

        3. 1Samildanach

          Mmmmm… if any two characters could invent anti-sex, it’d be Joyce and Galasso.

  11. Dedlok

    oh, it’s possible for it to hurt when a girl hits a guy. She just has to hit him in certain places and he would be in excruciating pain

    1. DaveO

      True, true. Women have that trump card. And pity the innocent man that doesn’t know that his innocent woman has that trump card and doesn’t know it. That is when real pain begins, when innocence turns into jocularity. Remember this, men and women, and respect the trump card!

    2. Jacquie H

      Not even. I left bruises on people who said “hit me as hard as you can. You can’t hurt me!”

      Turns out I can -_-

      1. Mr. Jones

        Then you must be a man.

  12. Rognik

    “Are you crazy? Is that your problem?”
    And just how does Power Rangers preach eastern religion? WHICH eastern religion? Every day, it’s just more extreme than the last.

    1. Wolf

      I’m no Power Rangers expert, but I do know that Spiderman 3 is basically a metaphor for Buddhism. Not that that’s a problem, I actually prefer Eastern religion.

      1. Croaxleigh

        “Buddhism. Because without balance you’ll end up with emo hair.”

        1. begbert2

          That’s the best argument for balance I’ve ever heard.

    2. David Herbert

      I think its the martial arts and stuff. Maybe.

    3. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

      From what I know it doesn’t, though the show in general is based off of Super Sentai from Japan. Many of the elements and values in the Power Rangers Universe actually reflect a lot of what the Bible has to say and not from Buddhism.

      1. Crimson Magic

        There’s much less sexism and murder in Power Rangers. Well, at least murder.

      2. Nerc

        As a matter of fact, moral teaching from religions are not really that different.
        If you take your time to read (and think) about them, you’ll notice that most religions share a lot of things in common.

        So it’s enterely possible that it reflects both, christian and buddist values.

    4. nothri

      Some of the monsters and stuff are taken from mythology of various cultures. That might not SEEM like its preaching eastern religion, but this is coming from the same people that think Harry Potter worships the devil and playing D&D means you’ve joined a cult.

      1. Lokitsu

        D&D is not a cult!

        Magic the Gathering on the other hand…

        1. gangler

          The cult would probably be better. Won’t eat through your wallet as fast.

        2. Rognik

          Interestingly enough, D&D and Magic: the Gathering are owned by the same people now. Curse you, Wizards of the Coast!

      2. >.>

        http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/90046

    5. Kavonde

      You’re assuming that Joyce’s mom has done any research into the subject beyond “it’s from Japan and this other lady I know from church says it’s bad.”

    6. FortMax

      In the ’80s, you got “Only God has the power” in reference to He-Man. The ’90s had “Power Rangers teaches Eastern religion”.

      1. Pagannerd

        …Is it weird that as soon as I read that, I had a sudden vision of He-Man punching Jesus Christ in the face?

    7. Dr. Worm

      Yeah, that comment is just xenophobic hysteria.

      I’ve heard some parents were concerned about the “nakama” concept that Power Rangers carried over from Super Sentai, where a group of friends becomes like a second family to one another, thinking it was some kind of cult induction thing.

      The Black Ranger is always the cool one, and you know it, Walky! 😛

  13. Wigmy

    I find the comment that girls can’t hurt guys particularly hilarious in a universe with Sal in it.

    1. The Sound Defense

      Let alone Amazi-Girl.

      1. Jillian

        Does this Joyce have brothers?

        1. DaveO

          Three older brothers, yeah, according to the cast page. No idea if she ever tried hurting any of them.

    2. David Herbert

      I want to see Sal fight someone now.

      1. Croaxleigh

        Sal vs. Ruth vs. Amazi-Girl in a 3-way cage match. With Jell-o.

        1. bramblepatch

          That would do nothing to disprove Joyce’s point about female-on-male violence, and yet I cannot bring myself to disapprove.

        2. DrDVD

          I think joe would be tempted to join in that fight if it was the only way he could see it…..

        3. Rognik

          You forgot to include Billie, the glue that makes all three girls fight.

        4. Oruncrest

          Billie and Joe are the color commentators.

  14. The Sound Defense

    I’m glad to see Joyce and Walky talking, such as it is.

  15. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

    Tried to post this earlier, but it didn’t happen.

    Have to disagree with Walky. The blue ranger had always been my favorite, but over time (Dr.) Tommy Oliver has been the best ranger. He’s gone from Green Dragonzord to White Tigerzord, to Red Zeo Ranger V, to Red Turbo Ranger to later on Black Dino-Thunder Ranger. Not to mention his fighting skills are off the charts. So Tommy is the most epic. Ranger geek yes I know, but hey, that’s why I made up my own ranger Power, Megaligo Silver Dragon Knight Ranger.

    Joe just doesn’t get that certain things can tick any woman off. He said something wrong that would tick Joyce off. That’s what he gets for being a pimp.

    1. FortMax

      But he doesn’t talk pretty, or turn around before morphing so the background Morphing explosion blows up an army of Grinders.

    2. Bill M.

      Tim, Tommy Oliver may have been the best ranger ever, based on the actor’s real martial arts potential, but the original Blue Ranger, Billy, was supersmart. When Rita turned the rangers evil by spiking their drinks, Billy shut out Zordon’s communication with them. Later on, he build the Zeo Zords. Basically, despite Zordon having eons of knowledge on how to fight the forces of evil, it was the smart human outsmarting the bad guys and building lots of tech.

      1. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

        Very true, though all the rangers were in fact quite smart, not as smart as Billy but still smart.

        Haha @FortMax- That’s the first time that ever happened in PR history. RPM was something truly new. That Scottish bit for a character was an ingenious idea indeed. Dillon actually is the best ranger in RPM though I really enjoy Ziggy and his antics as Green Ranger. He was like Bulk and Skull and a ranger all in one.

    3. Crimson Magic

      He asked why lust is bad; that’s all Joyce knows – that Joe thinks lust is dandy. Hardly pimp like behavior.

      Though we as readers know Joe has quite the sexual appetite, Joyce has no idea.

  16. Vivvav

    I really hate Joyce in this comic.

    1. Biker Matt

      You aren’t the only one!

      1. Haituri

        I never liked her much.

        1. sarahlost

          well, come all ye faithless, see she’s so over the top in her broken religiosity that how are we supposed to want anything other than bad things to happen to her…

        2. Madness

          I like her…

          It’ll be fun to see how she grows up.

        3. Lesharo

          Can I vote that if someone has to sacrifice themselves in, say, a car accident or something, that it be her this time?

        4. Danny

          Your avatar makes that post.

  17. Zap

    I used to have a female friend who punched me in the gut regularly and I couldn’t hit her back because ZOMG GUYS CAN’T HIT GURLS.

    … looking back, I’m pretty sure she was a lesbian. Interesting what this implies for Joyce…

    1. EmpressTohru

      Sal+Joyce ftw?

    2. Mathew

      i still regularly slap my best friend but then again she is satan…..

    3. Rognik

      My personal attitude is that if the girl throws the first punch, chivalry goes out the window. Admittedly, she wasn’t trying to seriously harm you, but if my life was in danger, she’s going down first.

    4. LiamKav

      Of all shows to tackle this as a subject, Friends once did it when Joey was going out with a girl who kept hitting him. She was only doing it “playfully”, but it was still an… interesting subject for them to chose.

  18. fishamaphone

    Walky is so right. Billy Cranston is the most epic ranger ever, and the writers of the show totally did him a disservice by forcing him to leave Earth forever and marry a fish. His character developed the most out of any character from any series, and had the most potential to grow even further, but they stunted it, ironically by making him age faster.

    Then sending him to another planet so he could marry a fish.

    I stopped watching Power Rangers when David Yost quit.

    1. JWR

      According to what I know about what happened to Billy, they HAD to write him out. Supposedly he was gay and was tried of getting hassle from the other members of the cast about it. He ended up leaving the show and had to come up with a reason for Billy to leave that was permanent. If this is true I can’t blame them for taking home out like that. I’m willing to admit this information may be incorrect, but its what know and I do not have information to the contrary.

      1. Jason

        From what I heard it wasn’t the cast, it was everyone behind the cameras

    2. Nerc

      According to my super relaible sourses, there is a reason why that happened.
      The Blue Ranger actor wanted to quit the show, so they had to make up a reason for the character to dissapear.

      If you wish to know why the blue ranger actor wanted to leave, it was because he was gay and the rest of the cast used to call him “faggot” on daily baises.
      He was so hurt by those comments, that one day he just decided he wanted to quit.

  19. shoeboxjeddy

    I JUST NOW realized that Joe should have been using “No punch” that whole time. Doh

  20. Waspinator

    Sadly, Billy was apparently not very popular with the makers of the show after it was found out that he was gay. Seriously. I remember seeing a video interview with him talking about it. There was apparently some pretty bad discrimination happening off-camera.

    Of course, one of the main characters being played by a gay guy would probably also make Joyce’s family not like the show.

  21. Mathew

    roz in the background hmmm is this foreshadowing?

  22. sun tzu

    Points to Joe for saying precisely the right thing to hit past Joyce’s mental defenses (at least in the middle panel).

    1. Andrew Perron

      Yeah, armor-piercing comment there.

      1. gangler

        Hit the weak point for massive damage!

        Reasoning is her elemental weakness!

        Catching her off guard get’s you the 5x backstab multiplier!

        Quick! Use a finisher while she’s still dazed!

  23. Nyzer

    I’m just glad that Joe isn’t just dropping the whole “punch” issue. It’s a stupid double standard, and I remember a LOT of girls trying to tell me when I was younger that I wouldn’t be able to hit them back if they hit me.

    It never took.

    “Nothing wrong with what Joyce did.”

    Seriously?

    Joe NEVER said anything improper to her. He challenged her viewpoints on sex, yes, but all that happened is that he offered the challenge – “why is it bad?” before the situation devolved. He found Conquest attractive and admitted it, but that was it. He didn’t say anything as crude and blatantly obvious as “nice knockers”, just stared at them for a moment in surprise.
    Not exactly polite, but not an excuse to get knocked to the ground and then have two people whale on him.
    Never mind that at least one of Mike’s punches wasn’t justified Joe: “No, really, what’s wrong with lust? I mean, studies show most guys think about sex once every seven seconds.” Mike: “Really?” WHAM.

    I’m aware that the whole purpose of the date was for him to attempt to seduce her, but he acted gentlemanly the whole time. Even when he saw how she’d looked in her dress, the only comment he said was that he felt underdressed in comparison.

    Just because he’s a horndog doesn’t mean he’s a dick. And as most of us know from the Walkyverse, he’s a pretty decent and genuine guy under it all.

    Joe did nothing on the date to really deserve getting punched, aside from trying to make Mike leave. And he didn’t deserve that so much as it was just made acceptable by the Rule of Funny. It was, in all honesty, probably the best response Mike could have made. And he’d had ample forewarning.

    Joyce, on the other hand, started up a conversation about how she was wanting to try to get Joe’s parents to get back together again, which is just… honestly, that alone was more impolite than anything Joe did before the beatdown, though it’s excusable for her naivete.

    And Joyce STILL acted like she had been on the moral high ground after the date, as the conversation she and Sarah showed. Joe’s motives may not have been the best, but he never once stopped acting like a gentleman. And if it had come to it and she had still said no (which she would have), he WOULD have just walked away. We know this already from his own words in DoA, let alone how he turned out in the Walkyverse.

    If Joe hoping he could get laid alone is fair grounds for him getting a beatdown, despite the fact that he wasn’t seriously hurt, I wonder what would be justified for what he did with Roz?

  24. MeHael

    You make an excellent point, Joe; however, I fear you underestimate the power of Joyce’s sheltered worldview. This will not end the way you want it to.

    1. Nerc

      Or maybe it will. 😉

      *80’s porn music*

  25. Seraph

    And the terrifying thing is, Joyce was the best socialized among the youth of her church.

    1. Madness

      Not the youth of her church, the youth of her homeschooling group.
      I have to stress this. I am a part of my church youth.

  26. Matt of Steel

    Unfortunately this is a very common thought process that Joyce has. Watch sitcoms, read cartoon strips in papers, or just pay attention. Women in popular media are allowed to punch, kick, slap, push, and basically be physically violent to men because “a woman can’t hurt a man like a man can hurt a women”.

    It seriously annoys me how today’s (American) society seems to be working very hard at being sexist towards men, to pay them back for the crap of the last generations. Like we are all a bunch of dogs that need to be constantly smacked on the nose or we’ll piss on the carpet.

    I see it happen way too much when watching even family focused entertainment. Man says something cynical, woman slaps man. Man looks at passing woman, woman hits man with her purse. Woman decides relationship is over, woman destroys man’s possessions in broad daylight while he is trying to apologize.

    What the hell happened to equality again?

    1. Blightning

      Part of me hopes that’s just wish fulfillment on the part of the writers, or sitcom people being ridiculously crazy, but sadly I can see people emulating it.

    2. Nerc

      Let me tell that it’s not only in the USA where this happen.
      I live in South America, and the situation here is the same.

      We (men) are paying the bill of thousands and thousands of generations that mistreated the women…. and that’s far from fair.

      Equality should be in both sides, rights and OBLIGATIONS.

      If a woman hitting a man is seen as something funny, then we’re far from being equals.
      Morever, if the women are allowed to hit a man, they are stated as inferiors. And that’s not what we should try to make.

    3. Rognik

      I think it got thrown out somewhere around when “feminism” meant women ruling instead of having the same rights. I’m not really sure how that happened either, though.

      1. Haituri

        Not everyone thinks it means ‘ruling’ – just the extremes that get all the labels and attention, and end up damaging the many who would otherwise be more bold about stepping up and supporting equality – but fear the label.

        1. Haituri

          So, upon seeing these two avatars side by side, I am now shipping Danny/Dina. Anyone else?

    4. Dragonfire

      Okay, right, but just think for a second – those comic creators, sitcom writers, advertising gurus? Pretty much all of them are men. It’s men serving up the idea that women beating up men is funny.

  27. OmegaDez

    Fuck I hope someone ends up punching that Joyce bongo at some point. Especially if that said person yells “WHERE IS YOUR GOD, NOW?” as he/she does so.

    1. begbert2

      Sounds like no fun. 🙁

      I prefer psychological torture and breakage – and she sure has the mindset for it!

      1. Madness

        If it’s a Godless person doing the punching, then God isn’t the one punching me. If a guy says he’s Godly and is punching me, he more likely means “I am God” instead of “I worship God”. If he does mean “I worship God” then he either never learned what it means to worship God, or he is filled to the brim with the Holy Spirit so that if it’s the latter, he is likely punching me for a reason.

        God exists, prayers are answered, and people who do ghastly things tend to have lying at the very top of that list.

        1. gangler

          Not really the point. It’s really more just pointing out that if she wasn’t such a dick to everyone else (in the name of God), then she probably wouldn’t be getting punched in the face right now.

          It’s less about refuting religion and more about being upset with a particular subset of assholes. Obviously there are a great many of religious people who are not Joyce.

        2. Madness

          Granted, but at the same time I see Joyce’s point of view, too. Learning to phrase things the right way, learning to interact with people from all different backgrounds– not just your own. It takes time– trial and error– and it’s a skill that’s postponed (sometimes even till college) when your homeschooled. People who are homeschooled (and sometimes private schooled) just don’t have as much experience as is expected for the social norm, and it can be taken the wrong way.

          There are people who say things like “I’ll pray for you” and shove their own belief down others throats just to feel superior. It’s very selfish and you could call those people assholes, I just don’t think Joyce is one of them. She just lacks the practice with understanding others that is necessary for a faith that celebrates it. She’s naive, plain and simple, but punching her in the face won’t solve that.

        3. Madness

          No offense meant for anyone who is home schooled or private schooled. Even though I grew up in public school, I did spend time in public school, and if I hadn’t then I would have been a real mess. That period of time helped to put my life and grades in focus, and I have had friends in both private and home school. In my experience, I just disagree with complete schooling in one or the other.

        4. gangler

          Oh for sure. Her circumstances are understandable. She’s come to a place where everything she’s been taught to be acceptable is not and all the things she’s been taught are terrible and to be reviled are pretty commonplace, socially acceptable, and at times even actively supported.

          To add to the problem, she hasn’t realized the depth of the differences between here and home yet. Nor does she realize that her own culture is not inherently perfect and thus correct even in these Godless lands. It’s a journey.

          Personally it seems pretty cute to me. Right now her world is still quite small, which is in many ways the essence of innocence. There’s never been any maliciousness in any of her actions or words. She’s a kind an good person who doesn’t happen to have adapted to this foreign environment yet.

          Still, I can certainly see why she’d rub a lot of people the wrong way. There are a lot of her behavior patterns that are well meaning, but which bear a strong resemblance to a particularly unsavory crowd that is actively engaged what would almost appear to be an attempt to pull all the worlds hate onto themselves Gundam 00 style. Plus, she touches on remarkably sensitive issues almost every sentence. Already we’ve got Race, Religion, Gender issues and Abuse, Antisemitism (the twilight remark), and probably others I can’t think of. You can’t make casually offensive or easily misconstrued remarks about all those subjects without earning yourself some detesters.

        5. Ridureyu

          Me? Homeschooled, adjusted to college just fine after the first month or two. Firmly religious, but gets along well with pretty much anyone – I have friends ranging from at least one registered communist to a personal buddy of Jack Chick. Sometimes we debate religion or politics, usually we just kinda don’t. Why? Because there’s more to life than arguing, that’s why.

          That said, I’ve known a lot of Joyce’s. More than enough not to be offended by her, hahaha. Sure, it’d be nice if we saw a reasonable Christian wandering around sometime, but that would also look too much like apologetic tokenism.

        6. Madness

          “reasonable christian”…?

          This is why I put a second disclaimer paragraph. I realize that there are socially adept homeschoolers, but assuming most parents home-school children because they want to protect them from influences they do not agree with– whether that influence be politically funded or religiously backed– the general majority will tend to be not quite so. We were referring to that majority.

          Now, as for the “reasonable Christian” (or lack thereof) comment. I resent and disagree with it, first. Second, Gangler grew up in a Latter-day Saint Church, and I am a Southern-Baptist Christian. I am completely open about my beliefs and perfectly happy to answer any challenge, may they be question or debate. You will never catch me apologizing for my beliefs or pretending to believe anything else. Nor do I “wander”. But I never take anyone’s word for it, as they say– I make decisions for myself and give proof for what my claims. Even if all I have to offer to argue with- like my opinion on home-schooling- is my own experience. I know many, many other Christians, 75% of whom are like myself, this is the majority. For your “Joyce’s” I suggest you really get to know then before you label them a Joyce duplicate, because your most obvious impression of a person is almost never a right one. I write this to be perfectly clear, whether you meant your comment in good humor or not. Judge for yourself how reasonable I am.

        7. Madness

          Scratch out Gangler’s name from that paragraph, I apologize because it wasn’t my right to use it without full consent, which I didn’t get.

        8. gangler

          Lol. No worries about mentioning me. I think he was actually not referring to the commenters though. I think he just meant it would be cool if we got to see a reasonable christian character in the Comic. It’s true that the Walkyverse hasn’t had much in terms of Non-fanatical Christians.

          I think the best way to avoid the token problem he mentions would be if we just found out that a character we already see a lot of happens to be christian. It just doesn’t come up very often because (s)he doesn’t do a lot of sermonizing and such.

          To a certain extent, it’s only such a strong part of Joyce’s character because she acts the way she does. Danny, Amber, Dina, Dorothy, Sarah. All these characters could be Christian. It just hasn’t come up what their religious orientation is because they’re not crazy.

        9. Madness

          Aah, that was definitely a misunderstanding, then. Sorry, and thanks Gangler. 🙂

      2. Nexev

        Suddenly, The sound of music.

        XD

  28. Enkai

    What’s sad? I heard that “Eastern Religion” line a LOT growing up, mostly in elementary, but some in high school as well. My school was like that… I don’t think anybody took it seriously, as my friends and I, primarily consisting of the “good kids,” were all super nerds into anime and the like, but it DID stop my high school Japanese teacher from showing Princess Mononoke in class. We were sad.

    1. begbert2

      I’d think the hella-lot of violence in Princess Mononoke would have done that on its own.

      1. Anonyamos

        Barring that, Billy Bob Thornton.

        1. Enkai

          Bah, we were watching the original dialog before Sensei had to stop. It WAS a Japanese class. 😛

          For that matter, we didn’t even have the subtitles on.

      2. Enkai

        You’d think, but the reason given was Eastern Spirituality and related nonsense. Our sensei was super annoyed when she told us she couldn’t continue showing it.

        She was able to get away with showing Totoro, but it’s possible that nobody that would have had a problem with it found out.

  29. Robert in San Diego

    Does “Jewish” still count as an “Eastern Religion?”

    1. Andy

      Technically, yeah. Unfortunately, she means “Oriental” for Eastern, though, which would refer more to East Asian. Otherwise someone could point out that Christianity is technically an Eastern religion as well.

  30. Paul1963

    It’s 1983, and I’ve made some friends who play D&D. Being unemployed at the time, I’ve decided to see if I can scare up a used Player’s Manual. I go into the same little used-book store I’ve been visiting for years and ask if I might find such a thing there.
    The reply:
    “Oh, no, we’re Christian, we wouldn’t carry anything like that…with all the spells and curses and such.”
    Which, of course, instantly makes it crystal-clear that the nice lady in the bookstore has no knowledge of D&D beyond what she’s heard from people at church…

    1. nitpicker

      It’s 2011. You go online to read a webcomic that has regular, accurate and entertaining commentary on fundamentalist Christian beliefs, small-mindedness and ignorance.

      Then you go to the comments section and read a pile of vitriolic small-mindedness and ignorance aimed at fundamentalist Christians, along with many people proudly proclaiming how they hate the fundamentalist Christian protagonist.

      What progress we’ve made!

  31. Shift

    I wonder which Blue Ranger Walky is talking about. I mean there’s been like… 20 of them, I think.

    I really look forward to the time when Joyce starts to grow up and stop being such a sheltered zealot. Yeah, it’s making for some interesting stories, but I’m really finding Joyce unlikable at times. I know she’s sheltered, but how can she not realize that hitting a person is not cool, regardless of gender?

    1. Zack

      There is only ONE true blue ranger. And he wore overalls.

      1. Kaixa

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBEuzH1OQKI

        But he’s not Scottish now is he?

    2. gangler

      So many times I’ve said “Can’t we all just agree that violence is distasteful?”

      …We never can.

      1. Rognik

        Them’s fighting words! :p

  32. aaron_bourque

    Power Rangers doesn’t teach eastern religion. It teaches AWESOME.

  33. agentksilver

    Joyce will eventually become a playa. I have forseen it. She is less shaken by a relationship gone wrong than Joe — of Joeing — is. She will date every guy in the cast and maybe a few of the girls too, before settling down with some random whitewash kid from her hometown.

  34. T Campbell

    “Also, yes, women CAN hurt men by punching them in the face. Also, YOU DIDN’T PUNCH ME IN THE FACE, YOU HIRED A GUY TO DO IT. ARRRRGH YOU KEEP SAYING CRAZY THINGS I DON’T KNOW WHICH CRAZY THING TO STEP ON FIRST”

    Roz (to herself): “Well, that explains why he wanted me to wear the wig.”

    1. Rognik

      Your mind is a scary playground, T. I guess that explains all the comics you write, though.

  35. Nexev

    You mean that violence is against Ghristian faith? Nah, thats silly. Turn the other cheek CLEARLY means “beat up people for looking at chests”, this is no way hypocritical.

    Nope, not at all.

    (seriously, if Joyce doesn’t get a grip she will go to hell according to her own faith. I count atleast 3 deadly sins she is guilty of)

    1. Nerc

      You are wrong, there is only one deadly sin, which is Lust.

      I’ve read somewhere that in some book, there were 6 more deadly sins listed, which included being lazy, easily angered, proud or a big-eater.

      But I’m probably wrong since I’ve never seen any christian organization worry about any of them.

      1. Mkvenner

        Greed, lust, sloth, gluttony, pride, envy and wrath. The six deadly sins.

    2. gangler

      To be fair, there’s also a whole lot in the bible that could condone violence, murder, and all sorts of nasty shit. Not to mention that, depending on which sect of christian she is, there could be a whole lot of supplementary dogma to support Divine Wrath at the hands of humans.

      At that point it’s really not hypocritical. It’s laid out right there in the book. Smite the unbelievers until everyone understand God’s Divine Love. Sends an odd message about what kind of parental figure they view the lord to be and how he feels love should be expressed, but it’s logically self consistent.

      http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1911#comic

      Kind of like that. More a sign of backwards beliefs, ignorance, or just a fundamental difference in viewpoints than hypocrisy.

      It’s a common mistake to assume that simply because one verse teaches against something the entire book does. Between contradictory verses and lessons, dramatically different methods of interpretations, how people rank the these messages in relation to eachother, varying views on how much the messages need to be altered to snip out what’s not appropriate for modern society (we’ve pretty much all agreed that slavery isn’t cool), and different translations it’s entirely likely for the book to advocate all sorts of actions and lifestyles.

      Of course, she could also just be a hypocrite, but that isn’t necessarily the case.

      1. G.S.Mercs

        Another thing that causes a problem is people will read verses out of context to try and justify what they’re doing, when in fact the context is against what they’re doing.

        That, combined with people relying on Old Testament, is how we end up with a lot of problems.

        1. Nexev

          …

          You know, I would figure if a all knowing deity wrote his will in a book it would be, y’know, a whole lot more straightforward then that.

          But I guess that is why I am not christian.

          But I always thought it was the Old Testament god that was Take no shit and Jesus was the big peaceful guy.

          I mean the cast stone thing and stuff…

          Whatever.

          On a different note, I think Joyce might not be trying to have a double standard her. I think she honestly believes that since she is a girl she is incapable of actually hurting Joe.

          This is Joyce after all, we can never underestimate how stupid her line of reasoning can be.

        2. Steven

          Well, the Bible wasn’t written by the deity it was written for. It was a put-together collection of writings deemed divinely-inspired, all by humans. Furthermore, it doesn’t translate itself so there are plenty of excuses as to why it’s not as straightforward as it could be.

          Also, I don’t think anyone TRIES to have double standards, but there they are.

    3. Madness

      Alright…

      @Nexev
      The comic in which Joyce goes on a date was a joke. This is a funny comic which exaggerates probable situations for the sake of a laugh. Keyword- “exaggerates”. And on top of that, almost all of the jokes were little things that I think were mainly directed at Christians, because I, as a Christian, could really relate to them. For example, parents and church youth leaders tend to tell you to only spend time with your significant other under supervision, but almost never expect you to actually DO IT. Joyce did it, and that did what it was meant to, it got a laugh out of me. It was also exaggerated to the point of her especially violent supervisor smashing her date’s face into the floor for looking at the waitresses boobs- doubly funny, but only that. Also, (and looking at everyone else’s posts, I might end up having to repeat myself, here) the 7 Deadly Sins Are Not In The Bible. They were a teaching tool used for Catholic children to SUMMARIZE the sins of christian faith. Because they are only a summary and nothing more, they are a little flawed. At their core, they are true, yes, but they are not the ground rules of going to Hell. Especially considering how specific the Bible is about how to act in which situations.
      Your second post- It’s tough have a book written in the past when most of the messages are to those of us in the future. Because the people who worshiped God used a lot of his laws as political laws, a lot of verses in there were added laws the leaders of the tribes added for the tribes to follow. Fortunately, it is always made obvious beforehand that these added laws were made by man, and not God, but that doesn’t stop people like the kind G.S.Mercs mentioned, who “will read verses out of context to try and justify what they’re doing, when in fact the context is against what they’re doing.”

      @Gangler
      You said, “there’s also a whole lot in the bible that could condone violence, murder, and all sorts of nasty shit.” but remember that the Bible never condoned it– every single time that a person, a tribe, or a city did “nasty shit”, either they paid consequences for it, God punished them for it, or they made such a quick and thorough turnaround to God, that he had little choice but to forgive them and save them from their fate, with a warning that if they even came came to that level of sinfulness again, he would definitely not hold back..
      You also said, “At that point it’s really not hypocritical. It’s laid out right there in the book. Smite the unbelievers until everyone understand God’s Divine Love.”.
      Not totally sure where to start on that one. No, it does not say that. While, it’s true that the Israelites were often war-like, God was always against it. He was always like, “Stop it…Stop it…Stop it. I mean it, now, don’t kill each other. Stop.” But when they didn’t, he pretty much started saying, “Yanno, screw it. I don’t like it, and I don’t need it to do my thing…in fact, wars and killing seriously get in the way of the relationship of my people, but I can certainly get around it and use what their gunna do anyway to my advantage.” and began putting limitations on the ones who did go around killing, while meanwhile using the wars as another way to punish.
      Finally, yeah, the Mormon Bible pretty much contradicts itself. But I have to defend my own King James Vs. and say that the Mormon is the only one.
      You’re right, nowhere in the Bible does it say slavery is wrong, but that’s because God is more concerned with what you do with your situation than what situation you are in.

      1. gangler

        The mormons actually use the King James translation of the bible as well. There’s another book we use in addition to that, as well as a couple supplements, but when we refer to the bible it’s King James.

        I really just have one example I like to use in times like these. I haven’t actually read the book in a good five years or so, so I’m obviously not equipped for specific citations. This being said, this particular story is well known enough that I can generally get away without citing specific verses or anything like that. Forgive me if I get a couple details wrong. I haven’t been a church going man for a long time, and you’d have to go back further to find a time I was actually sincere about any of it.

        Anyway, Moses ascends Mount Sinai to retrieve the Ten Commandments. He comes down and everyone’s sinning. They’re worshiping a golden Idol and everything has gone to shit in the time he was gone. He smashes the tablet. He then tells the people to divide themselves into those who would follow the Lord, and those who would not. He then commands the believers to slay the non-believers. Man woman and child. They’re all murdered.

        Moses and his people received no punishment for this. When Moses was chatting it up with God next, God didn’t even drop into the conversation a simple “Hey, that wasn’t cool you know. That sixth commandment really applies to everybody.” In fact, when Moses finally did get punished it was for getting a little showy with one of the miracles.

        Now feel free to correct me if that’s not how the story happened. Anyway, stating that the Bible is prone to misinterpretation didn’t seem to me like it would actually get any disagreements. I mean, it’s not like there’s a shortage of instances. Just take a look at just about any page in Roman Catholic history. Any of the Crusades. The oh so infamous Witch Trials. Take a look at any of the Irish Catholic Folktales. Any of the Angrier brands of Christian Protesters or really angry christians in general. Religion shouldn’t be a source of rage.

        I was never claiming that the bible was meant to be used in such a way. It’s a book of Peace, love, civility, and above all kindness. This being said, to say that interpretations of the book that promote violence, subjectification, and more don’t exist seems a little hard to swallow. Are they correct interpretations? I don’t personally feel so, though I’m hardly the authority on the matter. Are they self consistent? They certainly can be. It’s not as if all those who inform themselves are good and kind. Find someone who’s dedicated his life to such an interpretation and he’ll be able to keep telling you verses that support it for as long as you can bring yourself to listen, as well as fully thought out reasons for why they mean that. If it’s self consistent it’s not hypocritical.

        Maybe these passages don’t exist. I’m obviously not the most person to speak on the subject. But that would bring up a whole lot of questions about exactly what I’d find if I looked up the bible verse on the picket sign at the soldier’s funeral.

        To clarify, a complete understanding of the Bible will invariably come out with messages of Kindness and Compassion. This much I remember from a time when I was more familiar with the thing. As a whole it’s a very uplifting story. This being said, quite often it seems to be treated less as a story and more as a collection of individual verses to be interpreted in the most harmful ways possible.

        1. Mkvenner

          I don’t if this has pointed out yet, but when you get right down to it the Old Testament is collected history, traditions, and myths of the Jewish people not a divinely inspired text. It has edited and rewitten many times, whole books were even removed. The Ethiopian Bible has severel books that are not part of the Western (Judeo-Christian) Bible. Many of the religious traditions in christianity are found no where in the Bible.
          Not mention that christian completely ignore the remaining 603 commandments and are completely ignorant of the history of western christianity.

  36. Prior Semblance

    I don’t know why so many girls think they can’t hurt guys, it’s not like it takes too much strength to hurt somebody. Especially if you aim for a weak spot, which includes the face.

    1. gangler

      It’s because men are in fact not made of flesh and blood like women. Flesh can be harmed with a mere paltry few pounds of pressure or any noteworthy degree of impact. Nay, men are hewn from stones and bronze. Their muscles steam powered pistons and engines. Why, only a true collosus could even dent a man’s Durasteel exoskeleton.

      1. Janos

        I have perverse sexual lust for this comment

      2. Madness

        I second that.

    2. begbert2

      If there’s one thing I’ve learned from watching anime, it’s that girls can beat the living shit out of guys and they’ll pop right up. In fact it’s about the only way to give them the mild chastisement they inevitably deserve.

      Of course, american animation has taught me that guns, dynamite, and long *long* falls are similarly harmless, so I suppose it could be worse.

  37. Alechsa

    Oh it hurt, Joe… it hurt your pride that a tiny little girl beat you down in front of the hot waitress. And Mike’s blows had to have hurt like a bongo to begin with.

    But the ‘girl hits don’t hurt’ is BS. I know a guy who’s pretty damn sure a girl he gets into punch fights with at work (who is like… half his size) gives him some decent bruises daily.

  38. Mud

    She’s the epitome of naivety…

  39. Jason

    Congratulations, Joyce, for setting your gender back several decades. Seriously.
    “Oh, women can’t HURT men, because we’re all weak and pathetic and stuffs, right?” Urgh.

    Seriously, this is like the straw that broke the camel’s back. I no longer merely dislike Joyce. I now actually hate her.

    1. begbert2

      Just just stupid. Because of ignorance. Which wasn’t even her idea.

  40. SB

    And so Joyce’s world view is shaken…

  41. Meg

    I really like this comic. *happy sigh*

  42. Lokitsu

    David, only you could gets folks to simultaneously argue about spousal abuse and which power ranger is coolest.

    I’m not sure whether to be impressed or terrified of you.

    1. Dahlia

      Impressed. Definitely impressed! o:

    2. 1Samildanach

      Are they really mutually exclusive?

  43. cruncher3019

    Joyce. Still dumb as nails.

  44. GWRando

    Man is Joyce wrong with that last statement. My ex-girlfriend threw me around like a rag-doll and/or beat me up on a regular basis whenever I did or said something stupid… which was quite often… I lack tact…

    Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, I am somewhere between 250 and 300 lbs and am a trained martial artist and stunt man, she is about 100 lbs give or take, and an entire foot shorter than me. She was also trained in martial arts… but while I started learning at ten, she started at four.

    Appearances are deceiving!

  45. SonicBlueRanger

    First Panel=The Best my username should show why.

  46. Matrix374

    Christianity orginated from the Middle-East lol

  47. man jan

    hoo fucking boy, this comments section

  48. wakeangel2001

    good people will do good things, bad people will do bad things, but for good people to do bad things, that needs religion. Also no self respecting 18 year old should ever say “my mom says” completely unironically…

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