In God We Trust
July 2, 2012 4:58 AM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: Single link Op-ed that seems like it was engineered to troll the internet into linking to it. -- mathowie
The OP has clearly never encountered a member of the "once saved always saved" brigade who manage to justify just about any manner of evil on the basis that they are pre-forgiven.
posted by localroger at 5:04 AM on July 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by localroger at 5:04 AM on July 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
Disprovable: See Politicians.
posted by fungible at 5:13 AM on July 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by fungible at 5:13 AM on July 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you're doing business with a religious son-of-a-bitch,
Get it in writing.
His word isn't worth shit.
Not with the good lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal.
-- William S. Burroughs, "Words of Advice for Young People"
posted by waraw at 5:15 AM on July 2, 2012 [5 favorites]
Get it in writing.
His word isn't worth shit.
Not with the good lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal.
-- William S. Burroughs, "Words of Advice for Young People"
posted by waraw at 5:15 AM on July 2, 2012 [5 favorites]
In other words, from a psychological perspective, the ontological question of God’s actual existence is completely irrelevant; all that really matters in the above case is that the taxi driver is fully convinced that God doesn’t like it when he cheats his passengers.
Man, this must work only in Ireland. The biggest taxi rip-off of my life was a taxi driver in Spain. He definitely had the crucifixes and everything. He took us on an obviously indirect route and then overcharged us. When we actually complained about it at the end, he got furious: "Oh ok, the ride was too expensive for you! How much do you think you should pay! How about 5 euros less? Or is that still to much for you!"
He pretty much had a fit right in front of us. It was strange and embarrassing. My guess, in keeping with the flow of the article, is he thought he was a poor cab driver and we were tourists with too much money and God wanted him to cheat us.
posted by vacapinta at 5:18 AM on July 2, 2012
Man, this must work only in Ireland. The biggest taxi rip-off of my life was a taxi driver in Spain. He definitely had the crucifixes and everything. He took us on an obviously indirect route and then overcharged us. When we actually complained about it at the end, he got furious: "Oh ok, the ride was too expensive for you! How much do you think you should pay! How about 5 euros less? Or is that still to much for you!"
He pretty much had a fit right in front of us. It was strange and embarrassing. My guess, in keeping with the flow of the article, is he thought he was a poor cab driver and we were tourists with too much money and God wanted him to cheat us.
posted by vacapinta at 5:18 AM on July 2, 2012
So the Catholic driver won't cheat him because the invisible sky king is watching him, and as we all know, people don't have the capacity to rationalize their bad behavior even in the face of possible damnation? This is pure proof that suckerhood isn't limited to the dumb.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:19 AM on July 2, 2012
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:19 AM on July 2, 2012
...the ontological question of God’s actual existence is completely irrelevant; all that really matters in the above case is that the taxi driver is fully convinced that God doesn’t like it when he cheats his passengers.
The kicker of course being that even if the above is true, it still doesn't matter. How can you tell if a taxi driver really believes in God or merely displays crucifixes in order to fool people who believe that believers are more honest?
posted by DU at 5:23 AM on July 2, 2012
The kicker of course being that even if the above is true, it still doesn't matter. How can you tell if a taxi driver really believes in God or merely displays crucifixes in order to fool people who believe that believers are more honest?
posted by DU at 5:23 AM on July 2, 2012
One of the cars had a crucifix dangling from the rearview mirror and a dog-eared copy of the Bible on prominent display on the console. The other taxi showed no trace of any religious icons. Now, all else being equal, which of these two taxis would you choose...?
The plain, unadorned taxi. My anecdata suggests that people who wear their religions on their sleeves are more likely to talk about their religion with random strangers, and I'd prefer to avoid the awkwardness of being held captive to a conversation I'm either not interested in, or diametrically opposed to.
For similar reasons, I would not choose a taxi that was covered in the iconography of a local sports team.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:27 AM on July 2, 2012 [4 favorites]
The plain, unadorned taxi. My anecdata suggests that people who wear their religions on their sleeves are more likely to talk about their religion with random strangers, and I'd prefer to avoid the awkwardness of being held captive to a conversation I'm either not interested in, or diametrically opposed to.
For similar reasons, I would not choose a taxi that was covered in the iconography of a local sports team.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:27 AM on July 2, 2012 [4 favorites]
This explains why the world was so peaceful and safe in Medieval times, back when society was very religious.
posted by spaltavian at 5:31 AM on July 2, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by spaltavian at 5:31 AM on July 2, 2012 [3 favorites]
Haiku TLDR version: Spring of cleverness / I've invented prejudice / Something to Believe!
posted by hanoixan at 5:32 AM on July 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by hanoixan at 5:32 AM on July 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Heh, I doubt overcharging for a taxi ride even merits an entire 'Hail Mary'...
posted by Dysk at 5:32 AM on July 2, 2012
posted by Dysk at 5:32 AM on July 2, 2012
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posted by DU at 5:01 AM on July 2, 2012 [7 favorites]