368

No-jesus-land
Posted on December 28, 2021 by David M Willis

368 thoughts on “No-jesus-land”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    OH NO I SAID ADULT

    next comes “mature” and “responsible” and “taxes”

    1. Decidedly Orthogonal

      All of which fit *ahem* under *cough* the umbrella term, “adulting.” sha-wing!

      Time is 23:57 yesterday

    2. Yet_One_More_Idiot

      “Oh no – I said adult!” quickly becomes

      “Oh no – i *am* an adult!” xD

    3. maarvarq

      One of my favourite ever C&H strips!

      1. Librain

        Interesting that C&H means Calvin and Hobbes to you… not Cyanide & Happiness, as I was expecting.

  2. Doctor_Who

    Joyce: Join the dark side, we have cookies.

    Becky: I don’t appreciate you using “cookies” as a euphemism for my girlfriend.

    Joyce: A whatnow? (pulls out plate of snickerdoodles)

    1. Clif

      Snickerdoodles is a much better euphemism for a girlfriend.

  3. The Wellerman

    Ah, a sign that maybe this Joyce evolution won’t be ALL so bad.

    I’d LOVE seeing her as a demonic temptress ?

    1. The Wellerman

      And maybe battle Mary with her newfound powers Demon Slayer style!

      Wishful thinking, I know.

      1. Twitcher

        So, Joyce as Devil Homura? Neat.

    2. Decidedly Orthogonal

      I’d also accept just plain temptress. Ms. Billingsworth’s conjuring Sarah’s reservations still keens at me with it’s siren song.

    3. AntJ

      now I’m imagining her as a succubus like Larisa Korolev in Sandra and Woo… my brain does not know how to process this

      1. Wizard

        I can’t quite imagine that working out well. That’s a total 180 for Joyce, and the last panel suggests she’s going to be having some serious trouble keeping that up. For Larisa, signing up to become a succubus was more like a gifted amateur signing up to go professional.

      2. raultsi

        oh my, I had nearly forgotten about Sandra and Woo. I loved that strip. How long ago did it end?

        1. Axel_Grease

          End? There was a new strip yesterday.

      3. Max

        Joyce would be apologizing as she lights you on fire.

    4. crow

      @Yotomo

    5. Rose by Any Other Name

      Oh.
      Oh no.
      This… is this how Willis is working in Anti-Joyce? As Joyce’s atheist persona?

      1. Clif

        Except in this comic the Anti-‘Joyce completely replaces Joyce.

        I blame the absence of Mike.

  4. Suet

    “Ah yes, Ben Folds Five, my muse”

    Still no F-word.

    *shrugs* Cafeteria?

  5. AY

    I love the schedule time warp going on. I saw this at 11:55.

    I hope they can get through this without yelling

  6. RassilonTDavros

    Honestly, this is giving me a lot of hope… but I’m fully prepared to eat those words.

    1. Carla's #2 Fan

      Same. Joyce has started to say some of what made her not believe in “the sky wizard” which should help communicate with Becky. They don’t really get what the important parts are for each other.

      1. Eric

        In my experience it really does not help in any way against christian fundies.

      2. thejeff

        Has she really started to say that though?
        All we get here is “you can have sex because there’s no hell”. Which is close to the Christian parody of atheism they were taught: Without fear of punishment atheists have no morals.

        And it’s still framed in an attempt to get Becky to deconvert rather than an attempt to communicate and accept each other – to reassure Becky that even though Joyce isn’t Christian, Becky isn’t losing her.

        1. khn0

          “deconvert”
          nice word, we haven’t got it in my language.
          (well for agricultural needs it is used somehow, but as a forced translation from english mainly, and it isn’t attested in serious dictionaries – as well a “debelieve/unbelieve” (prefix doesnt work the same way) which is used to express reverse brainwash from authoritarian regimes)
          Closest we got would be
          apostatize
          defrock (for clergy, monks and nuns only; but used by analogy – rarely)

        2. Laura

          Agreed. There’s no, “I will care about and accept you no matter what you believe.” It’s just, “You are free to believe what I believe and give up your own faith, the bedrock of your sense of personal identity and self conception, if you don’t want to be left behind.”

        3. thejeff

          From either side.

          Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they’re going to get past that, but it’s going to be a struggle.

        4. Lumino

          Right? People are praising Joyce for this, and I just want to face palm.

          Dorothy said it to your face, Joyce, Moral Superiority doesn’t default to you.

  7. Icalasari

    Well this is going great. Dammit Joyce…

    1. Clif

      It’s okay, Joyce. I too am a super adult.

  8. Yumi

    When “hanky-panky” was used in “Luann” the other day, I immediately thought of Joyce.

    Also, while I was typing this, I thought about how her dad’s name is Hank, which I guess is like if someone was named Fu– not really weird, but depending on the last name…
    I wish Hank’s last name was Pank.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      I’m gonna open a restaurant and name it Pho King. It’s gonna serve Mexican food and the theme is gonna be French disco.

      1. Yumi

        Whenever I go to say “pho” aloud, I panic and get stuck between an attempt at an authentic pronunciation and going with the bastardized pronunciation that I first learned, and it comes out as a weird neither-sound that may be incomprehensible were I not ordering at a restaurant where pho is, like, the main thing.
        Anyway.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          I’ve only heard it pronounced “fuh”, by a Taiwanese content person.

        2. ValdVin

          Try Norfolk, a town in CT, & city in VA, and other places.

        3. hof1991

          Locals skip the r and l.

      2. merbrat

        Austin has a Pho King, right by one of the Dell campuses. (not Mexican food)

      3. Tunasammich

        This place totally exists in AZ

        1. Tunasammich

          Err, Pho King, not the Mexican food and disco part lol

        2. Clif

          We have one in Houston as well, but Florida takes it up a notch.

          https://www.phokingnoodlebar.com/

        3. Kalirren

          Of course none of these places -actually- doubles as a brothel…

          it never IS what it’s named

      4. khn0

        What is french disco?
        I mean I’m french, I don’t know if this is a specific american term. I only learnt what were french fries or french press in my late twenty.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Disco music and the subculture around it, originating in France.

  9. Nono

    I’m not sure people’s ‘Joyce seduces Becky’ fanfics to turn out like this.

  10. NinjaNick

    Sex!

    1. Clif

      Blushes to the side, Joyce has obviously given this atheism means premarital sex is okay thing some thought.

  11. Ray Radlein

    Y’know, Joyce, there’s plenty of Jesuses out there that don’t threaten hell for premarital sex.

    Just sayin’

    1. Jamie

      Of course, the fun thing is that part of fundie cultism is that it trains you to see those as heresies.

      1. BBCC

        Okay but there are actual currently existing human beings named Jesus. I’m HOPING they won’t all threaten to send you to hell for premarital sex. XD

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Be a lot funnier if they did

        2. Yotomoe

          “Hey man, you know what I said about having sex before you’re married”
          “I don’t even know you. Why do you care so much!?”
          “I’m just saying, you should put a ring on that first.”

        3. Deanatay

          Remember how Joyce responded to the Presbyterian church? Sometimes, it’s easier to accept a big change than a small one.

        4. khn0

          Also sausages.
          Would Joyce dare to order a jesus pizza. Maybe with jesus picked off?

    2. Yotomoe

      I’m just imagining a group of Jesus’ walking around all saying slightly different stuff/looking slightly different. Into the Christverse.

      1. Z

        One is randomly an alligator.

        1. Clif

          This is my only begatored son in whom I am well pleased.

        2. King Daniel

          He croco-die-led for our fins.

        3. Nova

          THIS is the high-brow content I come to the comment section for. Carry on.

        4. milu

          Follow him and you will be gharial-teed eternal life.

        5. Clif

          I think we can agree Nova came to the right place.

        6. milu

          If what they came for was crocodilian-themed puns then they caiman-tirely to the right place

        7. milu

          i have been refreshing this page surreptiletiously but it seems i am now alone in caring for croc-related quips ;_;

        8. milu

          i thought i might not be alone in having sweet tooth for them.

        9. milu

          …but maybe other replies have been crushed by the maw of the lurking spambot.

        10. milu

          Have i not awakened your mighty wrath yet o Spambot?
          Of course you strike at unsuspecting victims only. One has a reputation to maintain. It wouldn’t be Sobek-oming of you to gnash at a blatant taunt.

        11. King Daniel

          Like the crocodilians, this pun chain has reached its peak and no longer needs to change much. ?

        12. milu

          look i’m really busy sipping sports drinks for some reason but listen, i have thoughts regarding that statement you made about crocodilians…. but let’s not go down that alley. Gatorade-drinking is more fun and i will stick to that for now.

        13. Yotomoe

          One is definitely just Aslon.

        14. Jamie

          Is it Pat the Alligator?

        15. Opus the Poet

          Iunderstoodthatreference dot gif

      2. Rabid Rabbit

        So you might want to check the last episode of the first season of American Gods…

      3. hof1991

        Watch American Gods. One scene has a small army of Jesuses, all with their own worshipers.

    3. The Wellerman

      For sure Sierra and her polyamory pals have at least one of those Jesuses, just sayin’

      Speaking of which, when’s the last time we saw her anyway?

      1. Needfuldoer

        She and Agatha wished Ruth a happy birthday, then Mary got HOMPK-ed. Before that, she made an appearance at the first dorm meeting after winter break.

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/sierra/

        I’m sure she’ll be in at least one bonus strip, because HoW dOeS sOmEoNe WiThOuT sHoEs DeAl WiTh WiNtEr?!?!?one

        1. Needfuldoer

          (Okay the sarcasm text was probably a little much, sorry… It’s been asked a few times though. The cold isn’t that bad unless you hit a salty puddle or you’re trudging across the tundra or something, and dry pavement in the sun is fine.)

        2. The Wellerman

          It’s alright. I just hope she’s OK >0<

        3. Thag Simmons

          I haven’t tested this, but that still seems like it’d be a bad idea for any rough winter weather.

        4. Clif

          Not if all the nerves in your feet died years ago.

          Alternatively, this is a super power and Sierra was the only abductee before this universe’s Head Alien was killed off by all the disease bacteria he wasn’t prepared for.

        5. King Daniel

          This universe’s HA was an antivaxxer?

        6. Ana Chronistic

          This has been covered

          I’m too lazy to look up where tho, since I don’t think I’m logged into Patreon on this phone and can’t be buggered to remember my own

    4. crow

      But is choosing which God you believe in based on which one shares your opinion intellectually honest?

      What if you believe in a loving god because that sounds nice, but die and find out that’s not the case and you’re still going to hell?

      1. The Wellerman

        Regardless of whether or not an afterlife or god(s) exist, this is kind of at the heart of why I’m highly skeptical about the idea of religious belief having some intrinsic moral value.

        This kind of imagined love that can be found anywhere is not just a resource to comfort the meek — it’s a resource for anyone, including bullies, corrupt politicians, adulterers, manipulators, etc., who can and do use it to justify the idea that the gods are on THEIR side.

      2. John Smith

        That’s why I said I find fundies less annoying. They’re wrong, but they are following something concrete.
        Once you start making it up as you go along based on “Love and Faith” (or whatever you value) you unmoor yourself from any evaluation or critical analysis. You’re just giving your own existing worldview the weight of a god behind it.

        1. Call Me Deacon Blues

          Okay, it’s tempting to think that’s how this works… if you take everything that fundies believe as on-its-face correct that it’s what the Bible actually says.

          In actuality, fundamentalism is EXTREMELY inconsistent with itself. Like, for instance, there’s not actually a lot of evidence, from a Biblical perspective, that there is even a hell. Like, seriously, read up on it, all of the references to it are actually references to other things entirely, such as Sheol (a Jewish underworld, not great but not a place of punishment, and everyone goes there), the Greek god Hades (not even the Greek underworld, but literally just the god of it), a garbage pile, etc. But because some groups of translators decided that THEY believed in Hell, they read THEIR belief into these disparate passages referring to lots of different things and made up Hell out of kind of whole cloth. So just… keep an open mind when someone says that they’re a Christian but they don’t believe in eternal punishment, it’s more supported than you’d think.

          Hell, there are even ancient (admittedly non-canonical) books of the Bible, such as the Apocalypse of Peter, that deals with whether or not there is one, an in that aforementioned book, Jesus tells Peter that it exists, but it’s empty; nobody actually gets sent there. Now, I haven’t read it myself, and the wording is vague enough that he might be saygin something else, but that was generally how church fathers interpreted it, when it ALMOST made it into the recommended books (which later on became declared the canon, but at the time was more a recommended reading list of books that they didn’t think taught any heresies, and were easy to come by) back when they were deciding that.

      3. thejeff

        What if?
        Then you still lived a life based on love. Would it not be even more intellectually dishonest to worship a God who did not share your values just because of fear of punishment?

        “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” — Marcus Aurelius

        1. John Smith

          That’s great if you’re a super nice person who has no personal biases. Most people are not that.

  12. Sporky

    I was kinda hoping they could actually start talking to each other instead of past each other, but I guess we get jokes instead.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Why frame it as “instead”, when none of these rough conversations have ever been zero-sum or substitutional? Is that a word? I’m calling it a word. Sometimes friends joke with each other during serious conversations.

      1. thejeff

        But they’re still talking past each other.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Eh. Not my problem. ?

  13. tbf

    Is that a hint of a Wyatt smile I see on Becky?

  14. Savail

    Psst can someone clarify to me if Becky’s face in the third-to-last panel is mischievous or is it angry?

    1. The Wellerman

      Heck if I know.

    2. Rayndel

      I’m reading mischievous. They’re bantering like they’re used to, just with a different topic. It’s a good step imo.

    3. Jamie

      I also have this question.

      1. Z

        I think Becky also has this question.

    4. alongcameaspider

      It looks to me like she’s trying to suppress a smirk so amused but doesn’t want to let Joyce know

  15. John Campbell

    You definitely don’t want to get Left Behind. Terrible, terrible books.

    1. Jamie

      There’s a Christian blogger called Slacktivist that tears them apart, chapter by chapter. It’s been years since I kept up, though.

      1. Kavonde

        Unfortunately, I think the series has been put to rest for several years.

      2. ValdVin

        Is this on the Patheos website? It’s great stuff and I think the same writer also takes apart Atlassian Shrugged.

      3. Keulen

        I used to read his blog posts criticizing those books, and other stuff he posted on his blog too, but I’m pretty sure he hasn’t made a new post about the Left Behind series in years.

  16. Schpoonman

    $50 (in like 6 months, capitalism is fun) to the artist who can get me Super Saiyan Joyce in Vegeta’s Cell Saga Saiyan armor.

    “I… am Super Adult Joyce!” *gets ragdoll’d by Perfect Dina*

    1. The Wellerman

      Would that be one picture or a two-picture strip?

      1. The Wellerman

        Still awaiting clarification. Otherwise Imma just start laying down the pixels.

        1. Schpoonman

          Just Super Saiyan Joyce.

    2. Yotomoe

      Man I’m tempted but I hate drawing Saiyan armor.

  17. Mewzard

    Joyce has now reached the point of being fine with premarital lesbian sex with your girlfriend.

    Give Joyce three more weeks and:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EuNQ4b5WQAEnYma.jpg

    *art by Willis*

    1. Sporky

      Where did he post this?? I’ve never seen this and I’m glad I’ve seen it now.

    2. Yotomoe

      Thanks for sharing I never saw this. Despite it looking exactly like something I’d have drawn.

      1. Mewzard

        I figured you’d like it Yoto, this is one of my requests for the Makeout tier on the Kickstarter.

        It was worth every penny.

        1. The Wellerman

          YOU MADE THIS?

          I beg of you Sensei, please teach me your divine Photoshop skills ?

        2. Yumi

          No, Willis made it, like they said. They requested it as part of what they got for pledging a certain amount on Kickstarter.

        3. The Wellerman

          Ah, so it is. Still sweet and totally worth $300+ IMO ?

        4. Clif

          I think that means you owe Mewzer $300.

        5. Clif

          Mewzard.

          And not Mewzer, Menard or Mermaid.

        6. Delicious Taffy

          That makeout tier is an excellent incentive and more people should include them in their crowdfunding. How often do you get legally official art of your favorite characters totally smoochin’ it up?

        7. Clif

          But think of all the disappointed people when they find out the makeout tier doesn’t mean they get to smooch it up with their favorite cartoonist.

        8. Delicious Taffy

          That one costs extra. A lot extra.

        9. King Daniel

          I believe that tier’s a Maggie exclusive. 😛

        10. Delicious Taffy

          That’s because nobody else has been Batman: The Brave and the Bold enough to try joining that tier, so far.

      2. Yotomoe

        Also I said that before I remembered I DID draw something like this.
        Y’know, except with Becky in the middle…and lipstick marks cuz that’s a thing I’m into.
        https://i.imgur.com/aX0NyXV.png

        1. ValdVin

          The lipstick? You can make it your trademark. Very effective!

    3. The Wellerman

      I’ve scanned Willis’ Twitter EVERY SINGLE DAY this year and this doesn’t seem like anything I would miss.

      If he did actually make it, looks fantastic, and Yoto, it must be an honor.

      But if it turns out he DIDN’T make it, I really wanna know who did, because they must be a Super Photoshop GOD ?

    4. drs

      I’m sorry, if Joyce has a threesome it’ll clearly be with Joe and Dorothy.

      1. drs

        Or maybe Billie and Sal. Some combination thereof.

        1. Clif

          I’m trying to figure out why you’re sorry about that.

    5. Rose by Any Other Name

      I certainly hope so.

  18. TrueVCU

    Joyce: why yes I am no longer babby
    [is still totally babby]

  19. Yotomoe

    There’s actually a lot of non-hell reasons why people don’t have sex, actually. I’ve never feared hell and good ol’ yoto’s a virgin.

    1. The Wellerman

      Eh, mostly because they’ve yet to find partners. Or at least that’s the case with me :/

      1. Z

        Pregnancy and STI avoidance are good reasons as well. However unless Dina is a trans girl, pregnancy is irrelevant to these two. I do hope someone has given them information about STIs, though. There’s a good arc in Girls With Slingshots about lesbian protection.

        1. Nova

          Ah restless leg syndrome.

      2. Keulen

        Same here.

      3. RowenMorland

        Could also be in the grey area of the Ace umbrella. Find people attractive as an idea but not enough to settle for anything less than exactly what they want because they don’t care that much.

        1. King Daniel

          Hello there.

  20. Rocket Relm

    Okay so my reaction to the first panel is “oh god why, Joyce fucking Why?” I mean as a reader I’m thrilled because I want romance, drama, bloodshed! ~ Mettaton 2015 I want this feud to go on continually and be more than a one-story blip. But as a fellow atheist I’m like “Joyce that was, with surgical precision, the *worst* thing you could have said there.”

    This actually hurt to read, and I loved every second of it.

    (And okay the last panel wrapped it back to being hilarious, Smug!Joyce is just as good as Classic!Joyce with them.)

    1. Regalli

      Yeah, I’m glad this seems to still be an unfolding disaster. Making up now would just leave too many opportunities for Drama.

      1. Spencer

        Yeah that.

        I would be crushed if this was repaired by the end of this storyline.

        1. alongcameaspider

          I dont think it should be resolved until the end of the current book at the earliest

        2. Diner Kinetic

          I want it go at least long enough that we can see who Becky is without her friendship with Joyce– it’s just too interesting of a character angle for her to ignore.

  21. Huehuetotl

    A person has to free themselves, Joyce. And she should know that appeal isn’t what makes a person realize there’s no gods. She just went through that. Still believing the stereotypes TT

  22. Yotomoe

    I still hate this because this isn’t a “hey it’s ok if you believe what you believe and it’s ok if I believe what I believe.” Joyce is still trying to convert Becky and I simply don’t like it. At the very least there’s a way to have this conversation that doesn’t sound smarmy and self-satisfied.

    1. Z

      Becky is trying to convert Joyce as well though. So it’s mutual assholery. I wonder if Dorothy is aware that Becky is digging her heels in on needing Joyce to be her “bestie in Christ” considering Dorothy insisted Joyce apologize. (Joyce did still owe an apology – but not for being atheist)

      1. Wraithy2773

        Becky made one comment about it two strips ago. Clearly it’s something that troubles Becky, but it’s not mutual assholery, it’s a massive fuckton on one end and a light counterpunch on the other.

    2. Reaver

      Becky is trying to do the same thing, sad really.

      1. The Wellerman

        Got any maybe-relevant tasty jokes tonight?

      2. Queezle

        yeah, they are both being kind of shitty right now (and have been so for a while). But they are talking so I guess that is a plus. The only question left is if they can respect each others believes-

  23. BBCC

    This feels nice, for the most part. They’re bantering by the end.

    1. Rocket Relm

      Maybe. If it were two Joyces I’d buy that, but Becky’s *coping mechanism* is banter.

  24. PB

    This is a good start for both of them. 🙂

  25. AbacusWizard

    Joyce do you even know what any of that means

  26. McMuffin

    No. I hate this. “You don’t have to get left behind if you just renounce your faith and EVOLVE like me”

    1. Diner Kinetic

      I enjoy it… because it’s a dumpster fire! It really shows how far these two have to go before they can understand where their friend’s coming from

    2. Reaver

      I mean Becky is doing the SAME THING… They are both trying to convice each other that their way is the only true way.

  27. Yumi

    You know who I feel bad for in this moment?

    Becky’s other tables. They just want their pizza, man.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      They’re probably used to shenanigans at Galasso’s Pizza (And Subs), sorta like that one restaurant where they throw rolls at your head or any dine-in fast food place.

      1. Thag Simmons

        Eh, I think most of the employees are pretty reliable. It’s really just Galasso and Sydney you gotta watch out for.

    2. Rocket Relm

      I’m not even sure how many of those there are. The food wait is mostly the cooking, and there’s likely only one person at most after Joyce assigned to Becky. None, if Glasso is aware enough to see this convo coming.

      Really this exchange hasn’t taken super long so far. I’ve been in diners with family that have casally chatted with waiters/waitresses for much longer.

      1. Yumi

        Yes, it was a joke.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          What is this “jo-ke” of which you speak?

    3. Clif

      And they’ve been waiting for days.

      What do you mean, it’s been a few seconds?

    4. crow

      Fuck em, they can wait

  28. Amós Batista

    Joyce only blushing after said she is super adult now? Hope she figured out how asshole she is…

  29. Dr. T

    Well, at least this conversation started out well. Joyce really can’t do anything in a manner that isn’t just as in-your-face as Becky is known for, can she? As obnoxious as Becky can be, she is never unpleasant about it like Joyce absolutely can be.

    1. The Wellerman

      Wonder why that is? Is Becky that much better at being sly with such contempt, or is it more like the paradoxical “Cool clothes make you popular, cloths are cool if you’re popular”?

      1. Wraithy2773

        I think its just more that there’s almost never any contempt in Becky’s words, at least when she’s being obnoxious. It’s so clearly a show most of the time that, while still annoying and frustrating and obnoxious, isn’t actively malicious.

        1. Rabid Rabbit

          “There’s almost never any contempt in Becky’s words.”

          Dorothy might disagree with you.

        2. Wraithy2773

          I think that, if Dorothy ever felt any real contempt from Becky, she would call her out on it.

          Don’t get me wrong, if I were in Dorothy’s place I would’ve torn Becky’s throat out by now, girl has the patience of a fucking supercomputer for sticking through it all. But it’s never been malicious, it’s never been hateful, it’s just been Becky’s way of trying to secure dominance and relative importance with Joyce.

          Let’s be simple about it: Dorothy would, in no way, have agreed to be Becky’s roommate if she felt Becky was being malicious towards her. She can take the obnoxiousness apparently, but if there was actual vitriol behind the words, she would’ve said no.

        3. anonymsly

          I don’t think they get a choice about who their roommates are, really; iirc they’re assigned.

          Either way, Dorothy is absolutely the kind of person who would try to build bridges, especially with someone close to Joyce. There’s no benefit to calling Becky on anything, you’ll just lose by collateral damage. And I suspect you’re right that the verbal cruelty is Becky asserting dominance.

          But if we’re being blunt, here’s more of it: Becky wants Dorothy to feel lesser and small. That’s dominance. Becky wants Dorothy to flinch. That Dorothy hasn’t given it to her is laudable, that Dorothy can tolerate it is miraculous. That does not render Becky’s behavior okay in any way, does not mean she’s not being mean, and does not mean she should get a pass.

          She gets a pass because she always does, and that’s not okay either.

        4. Spencer

          Well, she gets a pass because she’s only terrible at two people who constantly capitulate to her.

          If she kept on annoying Ruth and Jennifer they’d probably talk back.

        5. Clif

          We’ve seen her manipulate Ruth and Jennifer. Both Leslie and Robin as well. She adjusts herself to the person. Not so much interaction between Becky and Mike, which would have been interesting.

        6. Spencer

          I mean, she hasn’t done to Leslie and Robin what she does to her friends.

          More specifically to Leslie, she’s also someone who can’t criticize Becky in the slightest, so it’s not surprising she’d go “oh, you devious little stinker, you!” when Becky openly annoyed Ruth and Jennifer in class by bouncing up and down screaming about their love life.

        7. JBento

          Ah, yes, Exhibit number “I’ve lost count” of why Leslie should not, in fact, be a teacher.

          Though, to be fair, the only teachers for whom there’s even a chance that they are good at their jobs are Alex 2 and Vivian.

        8. Clif

          Hey, I’ve taught college classes. It’s not like the standards are that high.

        9. JBento

          The rest of the faculty certainly seems to support your assertion.

        10. Spencer

          This conversation started with Becky ripping on Joyce. That’s contemptuous.

    2. anonymsly

      Oh yes. Becky’s never unpleasant. Not when she’s kicking people out of Joyce’s life. Not when she’s relentlessly and viciously bullying Dorothy for daring to be friends with Joyce. Not when she’s leeeeeaning on whatever of Joyce’s neuroses she can find to send Joyce into brief Catalonia because the face she makes us just hilarious.

      Yup. Becky’s never ever been unpleasant. Not once.

      Sure.

      1. StClair

        right, that’s just Becky being Becky. Wacky passive-aggressive Becky.

    3. Thag Simmons

      Becky can absolutely match Joyce in unpleasantness at times.

  30. alongcameaspider

    Joyce, Becky, nobody is leaving anyone behind, Joyce is leaving Christianity behind, she’s still Joyce, she’ll still put her life on the line to help Becky

    At least they’re being civil here, so that’s progress

    1. thejeff

      Of course Joyce isn’t leaving Becky behind. She wants to bring her along. And Becky wants her to stay.

      Neither of them seem to have even considered the possibility that they can stay friends while not sharing the same beliefs. (Or lack thereof.)

      1. Clif

        Joyce would die for her.

  31. RedCat

    Or you can just be friends. Like Joyce and Dorothy, when Joyce was still super fundie.

    1. Rabid Rabbit

      You have to remember though, that Becky’s reaction to finding out that Joyce was hiding Dorothy from her because Dorothy’s an atheist was “Well, that’s just nuts. Even I’m only into cooters.” And while it reads as a joke, on reflection it seems that… maybe it wasn’t really?

      (https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/forever/)

      1. Thag Simmons

        It pretty obviously was a joke about a sincerely held opinion.

      2. RedCat

        Yeah, it’s obvious that Becky has more of a problem with that than Joyce, but what I’m saying is, Joyce should know that that works.

        1. Spencer

          Dorothy didn’t grow up in an environment where The Outsiders were strange and frightening.

          There’s a difference between Joyce meeting Dorothy as an atheist (or more specifically, meeting Dorothy and assuming she was also a Christian, whereupon she is utterly flabbergasted to discover the truth) and Joyce and Becky disagreeing on something that’s defined their entire lives.

  32. Florence

    This conflict is great cause even at their most reasonable Becky can’t accept Joyce being an atheist and Joyce can’t accept Becky being a Christian. Like even without the shouting and smug satisfied smiles they’re still struggling with the fact that the closest people to you can disagree on beliefs. Love an arc about how Joyce and Becky haven’t moved past the absolute elements of their upbringing

    1. StClair

      it’s not great to me, but then, I’m basically Dorothy 🙁

      1. Florence

        At least there’s gags about Joyce saying sex?

  33. Wraithy2773

    I’ve been an avowed agnostic for effectively all of my life, but really only nailed down what that meant for me personally when I was in college and started really thinking about it (turns out, going to a college with very active pro-Israel and pro-Muslim student organizations creates *drama*, and I think that’s more the “Student Organization” part than anything).

    And, in my decade plus since then? While I’ve had many discussions of faith and belief and such with those who are Christians and such, you know what I’ve never done?

    Try to fucking convert them.

    This shit is what’s pissing me off with Joyce right now, trying to convert someone who is happy and comfortable with their faith. Becky isn’t struggling with what it means to be Christian, she isn’t having difficulty reconciling her faith with her being a lesbian, she isn’t using her faith to lash out at others (well, aside from one comment two strips ago which was a dick move, but also might’ve been a last-panel-joke-setup thing).

    And still Joyce looks at her and goes “I MUST SAVE HER FROM HER EVIL AND WICKED FAITH”. And fuck her in particular for using Dina as an example here, someone who’s never judged Becky for being Christian (not when there were so many scientific inaccuracies to tear away from her first).

    Seriously, this is the kinda shit you’d expect to see from a fucking Chick Tract talking about the seductive evil of Atheists. Also probably why Joyce is doing it, it’s how she imagines Atheists act…

    1. Reaver

      Eh I’m not surprised, Joyce’s old church was all about converting people, so she’s just doing what she knows with a uno reverse card

    2. Rabid Rabbit

      Not lash out, but… Joyce is used to passive agressive conversion bullshit. ANYTHING Becky has said in favor of religion in the past few months will have been grating at her.

      And yes, Becky is perfectly entitled to be hurt after overhearing Joyce implicitly call her stupid. But she’s also bringing to bear (and has for a while, ever since Joyce started doubting and she didn’t) a whole lotta “How dare you doubt?”

      1. Throwatron

        Yeah, it’s amazing to me how like 48% of these threads seem to be people who are outraged that everyone thinks Joyce is an awful dick and is woobifying Becky, then 48% are outraged that Becky is being an awful dick and we’re woobifying Joyce…like, they are, and have been, reasonably awful and immature at all points in this in several ways. It’s their reasonable immaturity which does that.

      2. Wraithy2773

        …I honestly haven’t seen a lot of “how dare you doubt” from Becky, exactly.

        Oh, there’s certainly some there. Becky’s clearly hurt by Joyce not being Christian anymore, and that’s some shit that she’s going to need to get sorted, and it doesn’t reflect well on her.

        But the view I’ve been taking is just that, at least lately, Becky is hurt but largely in a place where she’d be able to move on if given the chance… and Joyce is not letting her by constantly forcing these arguments. This isn’t a situation where Joyce is an Atheist and Becky is struggling to cope with that, because while that might be true, it’s missing out on what’s going on with Joyce.

        This is a situation where Newly-Openly-Atheist-Joyce is practically going “If you want to still be friends with me, you need to stop being Christian” to Becky. Joyce is demanding conversion from someone happy with their faith.

        Also… lets be blunt about something. If Becky really, truly wanted Joyce to be Christian again in a way similar to how Joyce wants Becky to not be Christian… all Becky has to do is call Joyce’s mother. It’d be an abso-fucking-lutely terrible thing to do, obviously, but it’d be a low-effort thing to do. And Becky hasn’t even so much as come close to implying that she’d ever do that.

        1. drs

          “all Becky has to do is call Joyce’s mother”

          I have no idea what you think that would accomplish.

        2. alongcameaspider

          “All Becky would have to do is call Joyce’s mother”

          What a fantastic way for Becky to irreparably shatter her friendship with Joyce

        3. Wraithy2773

          Yes, which is why Becky isn’t doing it.

          My point is just more that, if Becky were the awful person that the comments seem to be implying she are a lot of the time, that is something she’d at least consider. She wants Joyce to be safe and happy and secure. Christian as well would be nice, but it’s not at all close to those other things in terms of Becky’s priorities, just as “willing to be kissy with Becky” is.

        4. Reaver

          Why would she ever consider it considering that would 1: put Becky in danger because Joyce’s mom 10000% sided with toedad and thus would possibly try to force Becky into a reformation camp and 2: would only cause Joyce to doube down harder out of all the anger she has at her mom right now..

        5. Thag Simmons

          How would calling Carol get Joyce to be christian again? How would it benefit Becky in any way?

          It’d be an awful thing to do but it’d also be a stupid thing to do, and while Becky is neither, I do want to stress that a person not doing or even considering a catastrophically stupid thing is a poor judge of morality.

        6. Spencer

          I too rate friendships on not doing the most deliberately horrible thing possible.

        7. Thag Simmons

          A deliberately horrible thing that would hurt yourself as much or more than the target and would accomplish the opposite of the desired result, at that

        8. alongcameaspider

          Honestly I suspect it would put Joyce in more danger, remember Carol wants to pull her out of college (and I suspect the last time we saw her she was going to attempt just that before getting suplexed by Ruth)

          Remember “I would die for you”

          I know Atheism and being LGBT aren’t at all comparable but do you think Carol will be willing to make that distinction

        9. Clif

          I have never once mailed Spencer the mutilated body parts of his loved ones. It’s why we’re Besties.

        10. JBento

          @Clif: Then how do you show you care? O_o

          @alongcameaspider: but now Carol would have to fight Hank over it.

        11. Reaver

          In that case Joyce is a great friend as she doesnt toss bunnies into woodchippers !

        12. alongcameaspider

          I haven’t seen anyone imply Becky is an awful person though

          Not a great friend to Joyce sure but that doesn’t make her terrible, it just makes her a teenager

        13. Clif

          She still hasn’t paid Joyce the $20. from Jennifer she spent on her hair.

        14. Delicious Taffy

          Oh yeah, we can’t forget the life-changing, transformative $20 bill that was somehow gonna work some sort of miracle if the comments were to be believed.

        15. thejeff

          Definitely one of my favorite things in this entire webcomic. What seemed like a bit of frivolity that sparked endless harangues among the commentariat and was then completely recontextualized a year later with Toedad’s “Your hair is your womanhood” nonsense.

        16. Bryy

          And honestly? The language Becky has been using? “Over-reacting”?

          I can see it happening.

        17. thejeff

          Yeah, I can’t see calling Carol even crossing Becky’s mind. There’s nothing to gain there, no matter how nasty you think Becky is.

          Calling Hank however is a possible card to play. Not nearly as horrific, much more supportive of Becky and still likely to be bothered by Joyce’s loss of faith and possibly able to apply pressure to her in a way that Carol really can’t.

        18. Spencer

          “much more supportive of Becky”

          Excuse me?

        19. Regalli

          Hank is definitely way more supportive of Becky than Carol would be, is I think how that should be read (as opposed to ‘more supportive of Becky than Joyce,’ which, yeah, he clearly loves Becky and recognizes she’s family now but does so because JOYCE said ‘nope, she is my sister now because her dad is trash.’ Which is probably a factor in Becky’s insecurities too – her safety net is almost entirely through Joyce, and she doesn’t trust Leslie or Robin to be permanent and reliable backup. Doesn’t excuse her clinginess, of course, but there’s a lot wrapped up in it including some genuine concerns.)

        20. Spencer

          Okay I see where I misread things.

          I thought thejeff was saying Becky tattling on Joyce to Hank would be “more supportive” of Becky, since it followed why Becky wouldn’t call Carol and then that he could “apply pressure.”

        21. Regalli

          Becky calling Joyce’s family (unless she has a separate, regular line of contact with Jocelyne and was trying to process things, maybe) would be shitty regardless. I’m hoping Becky, having lived through everything with Ross, would avoid doing that because she doesn’t think parents need to get involved and potentially take… y’know, drastic measures. But I’d expect she also hasn’t yet because she thinks Joyce being an atheist is ‘overreacting’ so she wants to ‘fix’ this. So I’d hope not, but nonetheless, I could see Becky kind of wanting to fix this IF she trusts Hank enough to pressure Joyce without jumping to pulling her out of college. I expect not, especially since it would almost certainly be a friendship-ender after last semester and they WILL make up eventually, but possible.

        22. thejeff

          Agreed. I don’t think she’d call Hank, but it’s at least possible.

          Calling Carol isn’t even conceivable.

        23. Regalli

          Yep. Call Carol, Joyce is DEFINITELY getting kidnapped and maybe also Becky is too. Either way, there is no coming back from that friendshipwise and Becky would know that.

          Call Hank? There’s a chance he doesn’t completely freak the fuck out. I wouldn’t expect Becky to trust him enough not to after everything with her dad, but it’s possible.

          Jocelyne is on the whole fairly safe but I don’t think Becky would call her unless they are in semi-regular contact independent of Joyce. Generally, I think (hope) Becky’s aware enough bringing one of Joyce’s family members into this all would escalate things to try and avoid doing so. Jocelyne would escalate the least, but I don’t think she has significantly more rapport with Joyce than Becky for it to seem worthwhile in Becky’s eyes unless she was trying to process her own feelings with the adoptive older sibling who had her back and helped her break into her own house to get her birth certificate.

    3. Wizard

      Yeah, evangelical atheists (as I like to call them) are every bit as annoying as over-zealous proselytizers for any other faith. I may disagree with others’ beliefs, but I’m not going to try and change those beliefs. Of course, if they insist on trying to convert me, I’ll cheerfully rip their arguments to shreds. And since fundies tend to do a lot of cherry-picking with their interpretation of the Bible, there’s a good chance I actually know more about it than they do.

  34. Diana Nock

    Man, so many people are shit-talking Joyce for being realistically immature, and I’m just over here like “YAY THEY’RE TALKING!!! :-D”

    1. Needfuldoer

      Yup!

      I take that last panel as Joyce realizing she’s not quite as worldly and mature as she thought she was. Becky’s bemused smirk is a positive development, too. (Especially after Joyce cracked her mask yesterday.)

      Like I said the other day, the least they can do is stop making the rift in their friendship worse.

    2. Amelie Wikström

      Yeah, like, people are mad at Becky for not giving Joyce what she needs, I ask, how should Becky know what Joyce needs? Communicating something more nuanced than “Renounce your foolish invisible sky wizard or else” seems like a start.

      And certaingly, Becky’s own needs are more obvious, but she needs to communicate if she feels abandoned because they don’t believe the same things or because she’s simply not used to how Joyce is acting.

  35. BarerMender

    Becky, sweetie, what did Jesus ever do for you?

    1. Reaver

      Conveniently only the good stuff!

      1. Bryy

        …. well played.

    2. thejeff

      Sent a super-hero to save her from her dad.

      1. zee

        Sent Joyce to keep her sane growing up in a hateful cult

        1. Reaver

          Good to know both Amber and Joyce had to suffer tremendiously so that God could stick them there for Becky

        2. Clif

          Man is born to suffer as the sparks fly upwards.

        3. Clif

          Cause, you know. Sparks are always Sciencing and doing stuff like that.

      2. alongcameaspider

        This argument always bothers me because it takes agency away from people

        Amazigirl didn’t choose to save her Jesus made her

        Joyce didn’t choose to help Becky rather then turn her over to her dad, that was Jesus

    3. Amelie Wikström

      Becky’s line to Dina “You are proof God exists” springs to mind. . .

      You might as well ask what the universe has done for her. Try to prove the universe doesn’t exist, prove things would exist without it. As long as there are things, don’t those things existing prove the existence of a universe in which things exist, rather than don’t exist?

      You’re arguing semantics, Becky might say. Jesus is her name for the universe.

      1. keoShine

        There is a very big difference between “The universe exists” and “The universe has a sentient will and loves me specifically and has set things in motion to give me good things (at the cost of most of my friends being put through severely traumatic events, which was just a necessary part of the universe’s plan to give me good things for some reason)”.. That’s not just semantics..

        1. Amelie Wikström

          Yes, that would be a big difference.

  36. AlexaSpuds

    I dunno, I doubt Jesus was there for Becky, he certainly wasn’t there when Joyce’s church bailed him out for attempted kidnapping and (technically speaking) shooting up a school. he was also not there for her when a dude fucking kidnapped her friends because some dude was salty about child support, together with her father.

    personally this is a pointless argument cuz no one HAS to be left behind, but if we’re looking a stuff from this kind of lens than, yknow, Jesus took the wheel and he crashed the car into a grandma and then an orphanage

    1. AlexaSpuds

      *bailed her dad out

    2. Queezle

      I think the point is that her believe in Jesus gave her emotional strength in these times. Which is something we can’t really argue against.
      As long as she is not a dick about it and her faith makes her feel content trying to deconvert her is as shitty as her trying to convert someone else.

      So both they are both kind of shitty here.

    3. Keulen

      “Jesus take the wheel” as a saying has never made much sense to me. If Jesus existed, he would’ve lived in a time long before cars were invented, so why would he know how to drive one?

      1. thejeff

        Jesus take the wheel

      2. Clif

        Divine inspiration.

    4. Yotomoe

      The concept of Jesus in her corner was an emotional crutch for her to hold onto that gave her the fortitude to take what happened with her and come out of the other side. You can say you don’t believe Jesus was there for her. I mean I don’t believe in Jesus in general. But i believe that her faith at least provided HER some comfort in those trying times. And trying to rip that from her to give her “something better” isn’t necessarily what she needs right now.

  37. Rabisch

    Becky seems to find Joyce’s attempt to look more adult really funny.

    1. JBento

      As do we all.

  38. DailyBrad

    It’s funny, I honestly can’t tell how well this is going at the moment. It feels… less vitriolic? Despite the jabs, it feels like the middle panel is her joking WITH Joyce rather than insulting her.

    Also, Joyce, come on now.

  39. Bleuryder

    I hate this kind of atheist. I understand having your own belief, but going around basically saying “our side is better than yours” when the other person has explained to you that they have THEIR reasons for their faith and basically saying they are stupid for it is another thing entirely.

    I mean, basically knocking/mocking others for their faith is the worst.

    1. Needfuldoer

      She just inverted her old evangelical playbook, because it’s what she has to work with. Hopefully she’ll calm down from this vehement anti-theist phase eventually.

      1. Hazel

        As she is very newly an atheist from a very culty version of christianity I’m going to give her a pass on some jerk behaviour for a bit. One does not smoothly transition from that without some bumps.

        1. Spencer

          Also she only started acting like this after she was dragged into a fight and forced to justify her newfound beliefs.

          If I’m being blunt, it’s actually outrageous to me that the audience response has been so fixated on “being mean to poor Becky and Christians :(” when all of this started because Becky’s a possessive nut. Like the rest of the universe just faded away because Joyce is kind of upset for like five minutes.

        2. DailyBrad

          Honestly, it’s because Joyce’s response to fucking up was quadrupling down on it. She’s learning, but like a kid being potty trained, it’s still pretty gross when Joyce misses the bowl.

        3. Spencer

          She didn’t fuck up. She said raw shit about growing up in a death cult, and Becky and Dorothy took ownership of it.

        4. Delicious Taffy

          It doesn’t matter what she actually said. It only matters what other people decided she said based on whatever portion happened to cross their ears. That’s how it works and it’s her responsibility to make sure everyone around her is constantly appeased 100% of the time or she’s a morally bankrupt troublemaker who’s just there to ruin their day and harm them as much as she can.

          /S

      2. Regalli

        Agreed to both. This is 100% an understandable development because of her upbringing and I recognize that and it takes some time to recognize and unlearn; nonetheless, cringing to watch.

  40. Sombrero

    I’m on No Becky Left Behind team.

  41. GUIGUI

    I am not sure I am getting this right. Is she flushing out because it took a little while for Joyce to fully clock she had said “sex”, or is she reacting to considering herself as an adult and referring to herself as an actual adult make the flush out? If it’s the second one, I am not sure I am getting why.

    1. Spencer

      The former.

  42. Hilen

    So “No JoJo Lands” then?

    1. Spencer

      Yeah, Dumbing of Age takes place in the country where the Holy Corpse is hidden, of course it’s a Jesus land.

  43. Spencer

    I don’t know what it means to be an Edgy Atheist to an institution that makes life miserable for the marginalized in your society all the time, and also raised you in such a way that you’ve almost been murdered a whole bunch.

    Look, if an Edgy Atheist was talking smack about Muslim, Jewish and Hindu folks, that’d be one thing, that’s actual harmful prejudice at that point because they would be engaging in a kind of punching down lionized and enforced by the society they live in, because that society they live in is defined by Christian norms enforced by their power base.

    I’m an atheist (or whatever it means to think “well I’m not opposed to the existence of a God, but I’m not betting on it”) but I still formed my views and experiences from growing up in a country that is culturally Christian. Regalli put it in a way that really helped shape my views recently; I am a Culturally Christian Atheist and I still engage with my country and culture through morals taught to me by a Christian upbringing, and consequently, I have the same ability to cause harm to people who are not culturally Christian. It’d be wrong of me to be as vitriolic to another religion in a way that, bluntly, it is not at all to be to North American Christianity, because faith is what Canadian Muslims have and having that faith costs them their jobs if they’re unlucky enough to live in Quebec, whereas Canadian Christians (and, y’know, a specific kind of Canadian Christian that we’ve got in aplomb) do have that power, and they use that power to vote pasty old white dudes into office.

    You don’t need to defend the cultural institution of North American Christianity from traumatized children. Both sides are not actually the same here.

    1. Yotomoe

      I think the term you’re looking for is agnostic. Specifically Atheist agnostic. Also I’m gonna be honest, I think while living in North America means the prevalence of Christianity shapes society I think you should respect people’s beliefs, both ways. I mean it’s not as if Islam or Judaism are bereft of toxic beliefs and just because they’re the minority in America doesn’t mean that those religions can’t have similar effects in countries where they are more predominant religion. But I still think they have the right to believe and practice what they believe. I’d just prefer they practice it in a way that doesn’t harm anyone else, which Becky seems to try to be doing.
      If you want to shit on people’s religion, that’s fine. Just be ok with those people not wanting to associate with you either. It’s sad but if Becky doesn’t wanna convert and Joyce doesn’t want to associate with Christians then their friendship dies here. A lot of people these days are used to hating each other and burning bridges. It’s just part of growing up.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        It’s great that everyone is constantly mad at and hateful toward each other for everything, all the time now. Just gotta pick a reason, find a person, and fire away. It’s definitely not horrible for our collective mental health, being constantly bombarded with the worst things possible, day after day after day after day.

        Not saying anyone here is participating in that, just adding/agreeing with that second-last sentence of yours.

        1. Yotomoe

          Honestly I’m just sick of it. I’m sick of all of it. I’m so sick of having to deal with people. I’m always sad, or upset, or frustrated. And y’know what? I don’t think getting therapy will fix that. The problem isn’t me. it’s that human beings fucking suck. Even the so called “good ones” are hypocritical, argumentative, unaccommodating, uncaring and nepotistic. And I’m not free of any of that. I just internalize all this hatred because at a certain point I have to wonder if I’m the problem. And I hate that I have to fucking deal with it because the ONLY alternative is dying. I see now why people go off the grid and live in the mountains and shit because Hell truly is Other People.

          Being online fucking sucks, because everyone else online is also a person.

        2. Clif

          The last sentence is certainly a point.

          Personally I’m hypocritical, argumentative, unaccommodating and somewhat uncaring, but I draw the line at nepotism.

      2. Spencer

        Describe to me, specifically, why I need to give the benefit of the doubt to the largest, most powerful cultural force in the country I live in, that does the thing that all large and powerful cultural forces engage in.

        Which, y’know, was a not-at-all-subtext to talking about Christianity in North America.

        My dad loved me enough that I mattered more than a lifetime of being told liking dudes made me subhuman. Why the fuck is that even a thing he was told? Why is that a thing I had to luck out on?

        1. Yotomoe

          You don’t have to. And you can choose not to. I give people the benefit of the doubt because I want to. I want to believe in people and I want to understand them. If you hate people for what they belief and hate their beliefs then you can. I literally can’t stop you. I’m not gonna lie, I think if you hate christianity you should just hate all secular religion because a lot of it has the same effects in countries where they’re more prevalent. Being a minority somewhere doesn’t automatically change that. If it’s the harm an ideology can cause is the problem then we should at least EQUALLY hate all of these religions.
          I, personally, am tired of hating things. I’ll call out someone’s shitty behavior BECAUSE of their religion but I won’t hate someone because of their beliefs and I hope nobody will hate me because of mine.

        2. Spencer

          No, see, you’re confusing “religious belief” with “the actions done by a religion in the space where it’s most powerful.” There’s a reason why I’m being pretty clear on that, and it’s not as binary as you’re making it.

          I don’t hate anyone for what they believe, I hate what the institutions they follow do when they have no regulation, and I hate when a follower of that institution pisses and moans that getting some attitude on the internet is any kind of equivalent pain.

        3. Spencer

          More specifically, if your belief tells you hate people like me, you’re goddamned right I’m going to hate your fucking belief, and I’m gonna hate you if you don’t believe in that part but reap the rewards of being in a majority anyway.

          I benefit from systemic racism and sexism because I’m a white dude, and conversely I suffer in areas thanks to being neurodivergent and queer. I ain’t out here going #NotAllMen; being a part of a majority means being cognizant of how you benefit from it and what can be done to make it better for everyone.

        4. Yotomoe

          You’re not wrong but I don’t really want to live my life like that. You can believe what you want. If organized religion dies then it’s no skin off my ass. I’m not religious. Honestly I’m just not up for the hate train, dude. It’s killing me.
          I wish I wasn’t alive so I could look at the problem objectively outside of my personal reaction but like..I exist and I want to be good to people, even if I don’t agree with them. But that’s not gonna happen. It’s never gonna happen. The world’s not gonna improve and we’ll live in this discourse for the rest of our lives. And I’m tired. I’m so tired. I accept that my opinion doesn’t matter, I’ve never suffered. And the world’s never gonna be tolerable. We’re not fixing this. At least not in my lifetime.

        5. Laura

          Yotomoe, I think your opinion matters. It matters to us. Everyone suffers in their own way, and the extent of one’s suffering does not determine the validity of one’s opinion.

    2. Florence

      Sadly, no matter how many times it’s pointed out that Christianity’s influence as a religion isn’t theoretical but real in a negative way for a lot people right down to the beliefs of even atheists, there’s still a lot of pushback as if Christianity being attacked is the same as any other religion(which is nonsense). Like even if you think Joyce is the worst for how she’s acting, her actions are a byproduct of a Christian upbringing, her smugness and attempts to convert Becky are Christian in nature(as is Becky’s dismissal of Joyce’s atheism as too extreme). But I guess a couple commenters here think all that cultural baggage doesn’t exist in this arc/argument/fight

      1. Spencer

        Exactly!

        You should count yourself so fucking blessed if Edgy Atheists are the worst thing you suffer as a Christian in North America.

        Just say you value quiet civility over kicking up a fuss at the institutions that make us miserable.

    3. Wraithy2773

      Joyce hasn’t talked smack about Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc *yet*.

      But while her mindset has been full-bore on “Christianity is for dummy dumb dumbs who are dumb and do dumb things”, do you really think she’s going to make the distinction that those who have non-Christian forms of worship deserve tolerance and respect?

      You know, given how she’s been a lot less “anti-Christian” and a lot more “extremely pro-Atheist”?

      If she ran into Raidah, she’d…

      …

      God, anyone else want to see her run into Raidah? Preferably from a long distance away, behind a few dozen sheets of bulletproof glass?

      1. Spencer

        I wouldn’t be surprised, so much as I’m considering the possibility that Joyce’s current beliefs of “everything my parents told me was bad is Good, Actually” would lead her towards not acting the same way. The way she makes an impassioned plea to Ruth that “Hell isn’t real” kinda makes me think she’s still running on “everyone’s a Christian by default!” and from there we don’t technically know Joyce’s opinion on non-Christian faiths other than that her parents probably told her they were bad.

        But, that’s obviously just a theory I won’t put any hard stake into. It’s really the difference between “Joyce needs to learn a lesson about treating faiths new to her” and “comedically subverting the part where Joyce needs to learn this specific lesson, since the specifics of how she processes things means she skipped over it.”

  44. Deanatay

    Joyce, last panel: Oh noes Grandma’s sky DVD now has me saying SEX on it I DON’T BELIEVE IN HEAVEN Grandma pls forgive me

  45. Hydrohead

    Ewwww. Never put a restaurant menu anywhere near your face holes.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      You’re not my real mom

    2. Yotomoe

      Y-you guys don’t eat the menus? It’s my favorite appetizer.

      1. JBento

        If menus weren’t supposed to be eaten, why would they have food in them?

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Oh, yeah. This is big brain time.

        2. Clif

          Brains. Mmmm.

  46. Keulen

    Yeah, I’m not convinced Jesus was actually there for Becky. He certainly didn’t do anything to prevent her from going through all sorts of traumatic experiences largely caused by her shitty dad’s religious beliefs.

    1. alongcameaspider

      Honestly it reminds me of the people who brush off the hard work doctors do to help people and instead decide that “God healed them”

      1. Bryy

        I’m thinking this is exactly where Becky is, given how she has implied what Joyce went through wasn’t a life-changing trauma.

        1. alongcameaspider

          I’m not sure Becky understands that there was a very real chance Joyce could have turned her over to Toedad with a smile fully believing it was the right thing to do for Becky

          It certainly would have likely been in line with what their church was teaching them

      2. Laura

        God inspired doctors to heal them. Things get a lot easier with “a nice Deism,” as Dorothy suggested. If you start developing equivalencies, such as “the Holy Spirit” = “the Light” = “Nature” = “the Way” = “the Tao” = “the Universe” = “Fate” = “Divine Inspiration” = “genetic self-interest” = “Chi” = ” = “the effects of free will in a deterministic universe that has the Uncertainty Principle at its base and unpredictable chaos self-realizing in all its permutations” then you can say anything about religion and have it mean what you want it to mean.

  47. StClair

    I hate that this is a step back. Joyce was being all earnest yesterday, and now she’s gone and retreated to the smug.

    1. Needfuldoer

      I think it’s part of the give-and-take balance they’ve got going for this arc. Yesterday it was Becky’s turn to be on the back foot, now it’s Joyce’s.

      At least they’re not yelling past each other anymore.

      1. Spencer

        Yesterday was Becky’s turn, and the day prior, but then Joyce still had to console her all “i know yow scawed uwu”

  48. zee

    This just bugs me cuz, like i know if i were Becky I’d take panel 1 as a confirmation of my insecurities. I’d read it as an implicit “i WILL leave you behind if you don’t follow me” and i know Joyce doesn’t actually mean that but, ehhhh
    Good to see them banting though, gives me hope

  49. Rose Red

    So wait. I’m really confused. Does Becky still believe in Hell, or does Joyce think that she still believes in Hell?

    If she does believe in Hell, does she believe that that’s where Toedad/Blaine/other villains will end up? If so, then who gets to go to Heaven and how is that choice made? It’s obviously not whether they’ve chosen to accept Christ so he can absolve their sins since Dina gets to be in Heaven (unless Becky thinks she will eventually convert Dina?). It’s obviously either not whether someone has lead a sin-free life or she’s working from a different book than me (atheist with a very limited understanding) on what Christian sins are and aren’t.

    I’m asking my (very limited atheist’s) understanding of Becky’s version of Heaven seems to be incompatible with Hell, and I just don’t understand where she’s coming from, and I want to understand her better, and it feels safer/less rude asking these awkward questions about a fictional character than a real person.

    1. Rose Red

      that last bit should read “I’m asking because”

    2. alongcameaspider

      I suspect getting into heaven in Becky’s version is about genuinely being a good person

      1. Rose Red

        And how would that be judged? What does genuinely being a good person mean to Becky that she can be (well, at least she seems) 100% confident that her mother, Dina, and herself all are getting into prison?

        1. Rose Red

          Heaven. Stupid autocorrect.

        2. Yotomoe

          It’s faith.

          Or you could call it coping.

          The best thing about Christianity is you can choose to believe you’ll go to heaven until the day you die, and then once you die, even if heaven doesn’t exist, it’s not like you have to live with those regrets. You basically never have to be dissapointed, unless a necromancer brings you back.

        3. Schpoonman

          And that’s where I draw the line, because by the nature of the thing there’s room for interpretation between the Biblical Christ, only person who lived without sin, and advocating genocide and finding (and I’m sorry to use this phrase) both sides to be acceptable.

          This is my beef with religion. When the best Christian in the comic is Dorothy – the atheist who actually turns the other cheek, who isn’t boastful, who prays inside where people cannot see her (Dorothy casually telling Joyce she regularly sees a therapist when it’s become clear Joyce should see a professional), who Joyce assumed was a Christian by her open and caring nature (her works) – because the tenants are treated as so pliable that all of Jacob, Mary, Ross, and Sierra are equally sincere in their beliefs (as in, they really buy what they’re selling), something is wrong at a structural level.

          And we’re all very familiar with trying to fix a structural problem through personal change.

        4. Clif

          Many structural problems have been fixed through personal change.

          That and the proper application of explosives.

        5. Schpoonman

          That is just close enough to a church bombing joke that I’m a little uncomfortable, Clif.

        6. Clif

          I wasn’t talking about our structural problems, I was talking about other people’s structural problems.

        7. JBento

          You have NO idea how much exception I take to you calling Dorothy a christian.

        8. Clif

          If she’s inherently following the actual teachings of Christ, what would you call her?

        9. JBento

          I’d call her an atheist, because that’s what she is. She’s not actually following the teachings of Christ like believing in a very specific god, or claiming divorces don’t count, or…

        10. JBento

          (also, she’s not “following the actual teachings of Christ”. She’s doing what she thinks is right, and she’d still do them regardless of whatever Christ said. Christ is a non-factor)

        11. Schpoonman

          Putting “Christian” in quotations when referring to Dorothy may have been a move, but that you’re more concerned about legal rigor than whether or not someone is emulating the literal messiah to whom all Christians should aspire is telling.

          I grew up in a church not unlike DYW’s/Joyce’s. The only text in the entire Bible worth following is the stuff in red (it also tends to be less about religious rigor and more about treating your fellow man with equity and compassion, imagine that), and intentionally or not Dorothy follows it better than any other major character.

        12. JBento

          I don’t give a fuck about legal rigor. I give a BUNCH of fucks that you’re implying that being a good person is the same thing as being a christian, as if christianity has the monopoly on not being a shit.

          As far as Dorothy is concerned, Jesus is not the messiah because messiahs aren’t a thing that exists, and what christians aspire to or not is of no influence on Dorothy because she isn’t one.

        13. The Wellerman

          An excellent point. If you want to give Christianity the credit for Dorothy’s demeanor, you’d have to demonstrate a sound ideological pathway to Christianity itself. But that proves pretty difficult, as the pathway repeatedly splits into conflicting directions.

        14. Delicious Taffy

          I didn’t read that as “Dorothy is literally a Christian whether she wants to be one or not” at all. I assumed the point was closer to “Hacky Sack Toby is a better footballer than his classmates, who all wear football gear but can’t tell the ball from a rock.” Does that make sense? Not nearly so literal.

        15. thejeff

          I’m not entirely sure what you mean, but I think part of the problem is thinking that Jacob, Mary, Ross and Sierra all belong to the same religion. They’re all Christian and they’re all sincere in their beliefs, but they’re coming from very different churches with very different tenets. Ross at least wouldn’t recognize Jacob’s church as really Christian. Remember how much trouble Joyce had with it?

          I’m also not really comfortable with calling Dorothy the best Christian. She’s not Christian and it’s awkwardly close to old usage of “Christian” to just mean “good”.

        16. Schpoonman

          Joyce is 10 pounds of neuroses packed into a 5-pound bag. Becky didn’t blink at the service, she just preferred different aesthetics.

          You also just described the problem and then said “That’s just how it is.” If parts of the immutable word of god can be muted depending on who’s reading it, then it’s not immutable.

        17. JBento

          That’s because “the immutable word of god” was made up by a bunch of different people living in different times, and then picked through by ANOTHER bunch of people in ANOTHER time for whatever they felt was convenient.

          (also, “muted” is unrelated to “immutable” – the opposite of “immutable” is “mutable”, i.e., unchanging vs changing)

        18. thejeff

          Umm yeah.
          You seem to be blaming non-Fundamentalists for not believing what Fundamentalists believe. Which seems strange to me.

        19. Delicious Taffy

          These reads seem almost deliberately uncharitable.

        20. Wraithy2773

          I imagine like 90% of that would be “don’t be a dick”. Be a good person, help others out, try to leave the world better than you found it, stuff like that. Pretty basic religious stuff, honestly.

        21. JBento

          Literally none of that has to do with religion, and I’m personally insulted by you implying otherwise.

        22. Wraithy2773

          You asked what Becky would think is required to get into heaven. I fully agree that none of that is unique to religion, or is in any sense religious in nature in the first place.

          The point is just more that Becky’s viewpoint on Christianity is more about the broad concepts, not the specifics. If the Bible says being gay is bad, but you know being gay is totes fine? Then being gay should be good with Christianity and therefore God. Take from it what’s useful and comforting, and discard the rest.

          It’s not the most stable of theological mindsets, but it’s a whole lot better than the version that Becky grew up in.

        23. alongcameaspider

          So I’ve been thinking on this a bit and I recall some of the dialog when she was talking to Toedad while he was dying seemed to imply Becky thought he was going to the same place as her mom (“tell mom I’m gonna be a while)

          I think there’s 3 possibilities to explain this

          1: she thinks everyone goes to heaven

          2: she does think the traditional “only Christians get into heaven” and hopes to at one point convert Dina

          3: like Joyce with Atheism she hasn’t actually given that much thought to what she believes

        24. JBento

          It’s definitely not 2, because at one point she says Dina is going to end up in heaven and be very mad that she was wrong.

        25. Wraithy2773

          3 seems the most likely. Not out of apathy or anything, just her not really putting a huge amount of thought into it because how often does it really come up? People she loves go to heaven, because of course they would, if they went to hell that would mean that she’s wrong or God’s wrong and that’s crisis-of-faith territory right there.

          So, yeah. Figure it’s a placeholder “good people go to heaven, bad people don’t”, without having thought much about defining any of those terms.

        26. Rose Red

          I had assumed it was possibility 1, but that kind of seems incompatible with the idea of Hell, which is where my confusion came from and why I posted the first comment to begin with. Thanks for the reference on where she thinks Toedad’s going.

          https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-10/03-when-it-crumbles/intendedtobe/

          I had previously ruled out 2 (because she doesn’t seem super interested in converting anyone, especially Dina). I hadn’t even considered 3, because it seemed to me she’s been religious in this way for her entire life, but I’d forgotten both that she’s still pretty much a teenager and also the title of the comic.

        27. Regalli

          Yeah, I think 1 or 3, or most likely a combination of the two tied up in the complicated feelings about her dead parents.

    3. Sam

      She may think of it in the way Gon from Hunter x Hunter sees morality. Gon is best friends with Killua because he was never taught the value of life, therefore Killua is not ‘evil’ for being an assassin or when he killed people in the past as he was never taught better and tries hard not to resort to it once he has a better understanding.

      Meanwhile, the Phantom Troupe, who Gon initially didn’t mind as he presumed they were like Killua, revealed they understood killing is wrong and could have true empathy about it as they did know the value of life, but liked doing it anyway. Which made them bad people.

      So if she uses logic like that, people like her Dad who had the core where he could have been like Joyce if he had a better upbringing or better understanding of how the stuff he did was messed up could be deemed as ‘Heaven worthy’ as God would be understanding that he had the true potential to be a ‘good’ person even if he wasn’t in how he actually acted all the time.

      While Hell may be solely for people like Blaine whose upbringing and opportunities did not make him evil, but rather he chose to be and knew outright his actions were not good. He did not believe he was doing the right thing and did not care. And he showed no remorse for his actions.

      It is also possible she hasn’t thought about it in depth or that she is entirely thinking of it in terms of what she would prefer i.e. she loves her dad as messed as he is so he goes to Heaven and Hell exists for people she hates. Which is not really an uncommon way to think about it either.

  50. Adept

    That “Jesus was there for me” line made me feel sad for all the people out there who really believe it. Love and loyalty for a story. For a figment of imagination. 🙁

    1. Amelie Wikström

      Believing in something bigger and better than yourself is the only thing that keeps people alive in some situations. You can see a lot of Beckys in homeless shelters. Unless you’re personally going to be there for them instead, I wouldn’t suggest taking Jesus from them.

      1. Delicious Taffy

        Or at the very least, substitute him for Spider-Man.

    2. Sombrero

      What’s sad about an imaginary character believing in another imaginary character?

      1. Adept

        Read what I wrote, a little more carefully.

        1. Clif

          Are you saying that all those people out there aren’t imaginary?

        2. Diner Kinetic

          In an infinite multiverse? Somewhere out there a Jesus is losing to Becky at beer pong

    3. Yotomoe

      Hey, Son Goku died for our sins.

      1. Schpoonman

        Nah, pretty sure just Vegeta’s.

        1. Delicious Taffy

          Almost exclusively Vegeta’s, even. Vegeta didn’t off Raditz when he had the chance, Goku wound up dead. Vegeta fucked around and let Cell power up, Goku wound up dead once more. Vegeta also died for his own sins against Buu, because he was just On One at the time

        2. Yotomoe

          Technically it was a bit of everyone’s fault Goku died. But most of all Vegeta’s. Also his own quite a bit.

    4. Clif

      Figments of imagination are very real. Yeah, there is probably some kind of objective reality out there somewhere, but it’s not where we live.

    5. The Wellerman

      I think it’s called “fandom” and all of us have it.

      At least there’s a million better works to choose from than what’s practically a panegyric to ancient absolutism.

  51. Christina

    Damn, Joyce had an opportunity to bridge the gap there when Becky revealed her vulnerability. She could have gone for “just because theism isn’t my guiding light on the path anymore, doesn’t mean we can’t still walk down the path together” or something cool like that.

    1. Yotomoe

      I think deep down Joyce has made it clear that this is a stopgap for their relationship.

    2. Amelie Wikström

      But that would require Joyce to think there is a path going somewhere rather than a single step to perfect material, intellectual and spiritual fulfillment labeled “Reject God”. I don’t think anything can happen here without Joyce trying to quiet down and learn about some nuances.

      1. Adept

        She’s not actually wrong though. She’s realised how much mental energy she had to spend chasing something imaginary. She shouldn’t need to pretend, nor would she want her friend to stay trapped in that.

        1. Yotomoe

          Her friend isn’t trapped. She’s comfortable. Regardless of if it’s imaginary or not, she’s comfortable.

        2. Adept

          “Comfortable” is overrated. AFAIK most people who claim to truly believe are play acting to some degree. People in general don’t really believe a lot of the silly stuff they claim to believe.

        3. Yotomoe

          I don’t believe most of the stuff I claim to believe either but questioning those things makes me uncomfortable. If someone takes comfort in believing in a sky daddy looking out for them and that their loved ones aren’t just rotting corpses in the dirt, I don’t think it’s gonna…HELP them to lose that. If they want to find something else I’ll be more than willing to say what I believe but if they’re fine with their current setup I’m not gonna try to change that. Again, as long as they’re not using it against others.

    3. JBento

      I have no idea why people keep saying that Joyce has to do all the work in this relationship.

      1. alongcameaspider

        This

        I dont even think Joyce is 100% blameless here, but it’s honestly a little irritating seeing people twist everything trying to make Becky 100% blameless

      2. Spencer

        Just in the last two strips Becky was mocking Joyce and saying everything about her was some potential lie, and then Joyce just ignored it so she could go “I know you have coping mechanisms!”

        Nobody can ask Joyce what the hell motivated this.

  52. Wakeangel2001

    I don’t think sex before marriage sent you to hell, I think it was a property offense in the bible, it lowered or destroyed a daughter’s value to sell her to another family. Also they had no idea how conception worked back then, so men thought if a woman had had sex with someone else years ago then a part of that man would still be in her and taint his heir. I would also site the punishment for rape, being a fine and forced marriage (which is really just another way to say “you broke it, you bought it”) as evidence that there isn’t an eternal punishment for premarital sex, since it’s treated as a simple property crime.

    1. Amelie Wikström

      Don’t confuse any historical practices with the teachings of the church the Browns and McIntires attended that were probably written in the 1950s, with an emphasis on making children scared of sex, making women obedient, and making people loyal to the cult community.

      1. JBento

        Oh, HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU concerning historical christian practices and “making women obedient.”

  53. alongcameaspider

    You know what I just realized, out of every main cast member present for the argument we still haven’t heard Joe’s thoughts on everything

    I’m interested to see what his take on this whole mess is

    1. Schpoonman

      Oh, wow, yeah. Especially considering they came to his room to “find sin” in the first place.

    2. Wraithy2773

      I imagine his thoughts are on the order of “fucked if I know”. Joe’s… never been a particularly introspective character, but he hit a very uncomfortable point with things and he might not be fully at home with where things are.

      Ask him before his evening encounter with Liz? I imagine his thoughts would just be on the order of “let people be”. Not out of a sense of nobility or morality or any shit like that, just as a matter of convenience, no sense getting involved with stuff that’s stable and doesn’t need fixing.

  54. Bagge

    Delay activated

  55. Yotomoe

    I shouldn’t have come back.

    1. Yumi

      I know this comment section can be hard/frustrating. It is for me too. If disengaging from it altogether is what’s best for you, do that. I get that that sucks because this comic section can also be fun or enlightening, but if it’s wearing on you too much to get to that part, take care of yourself.

      Also, you can limit who you engage with on here. Sometimes I wish we could block commentors like on a forum, but you can always try your best to just keep scrolling. In the past, I’ve asked someone on here not to interact with my posts, and it made it more tolerable than it had been. It’s something I’ll probably do again, honestly. Just to bring up that that is an option for you as well.

      I appreciate your contributions to this comment section. If you do decide to take a break or stop commenting altogether, know that you’ve added value. Again, hope you take care of yourself. <3

    2. The Wellerman

      Yeah, it can get really overwhelming for me sometimes too (especially with my neurodivergent stripes in the mix), but if I still feel like commenting, I try to start a conversation about something else.

      Here, I’ll demonstrate right now (if Yumi doesn’t mind).

      What was your favorite cartoon from the 90s and why?

      1. Clif

        If your answer is anything other than the Powerpuff Girls you are dead to me.

        Though to be fair, Duck Tails wouldn’t totally keep you out of heaven.

        1. JBento

          I have no idea how it’s possible to misspell Animaniacs that badly, but you managed it.

      2. Yotomoe

        That question is actually somewhat difficult to answer because a lot of the shows I like technically STARTED in the 90s but a majority of their run was in the 2000s. Ie. Ed Edd n Eddy, PPG, Courage the Cowardly dog, Spongebob etc. I watched Daria for the first time last year and really enjoyed it, so I think that’d be my answer. I can’t actually think of a lot more 90s cartoons off the top of my head.

    3. Needfuldoer

      Hey, if you feel like you need a break, take a break. Don’t feel bad about taking care of yourself.

      When you’re up to it again, jump back in. We’ll still be here!

    4. Amós Batista

      I’m sorry you feeling like that.
      This Joyce x Becky arc is very controversial, and still so close to each of us. Each page always reach above 300 comments.
      If you want, take any time you need, but don’t forget come back, as you are so precious for everybody here.

    5. StClair

      I’m glad you did, but if you need to take some more time away, please do so.

  56. thakoru

    Dumbing of Age Book 12: Because There Is No Hell

  57. GeekRyuu

    You are both wrong about several things, you are both being shitty to each other, personal beliefs are very personal and not someone betraying anyone else, and, for god’s sake, why am I so invested in this?

    1. Schpoonman

      Good writing.

    2. Wraithy2773

      THIS.

    3. Wereg

      Because it’s a very, very real situation that a lot of people have either gone through or could very easily see themselves going through. Guud writing.

  58. jmsr7

    Dammit Joyce, that’s a fundie stereotype of atheists what are you doing

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