Episode 84 – The One With Thor’s Mighty Hammer.

In This Week’s Show, episode 84, The Atheist Avengers stop Iowa’s Hi-Po from milking their bibles.

In This Week’s Show, episode 84, The Atheist Avengers stop Iowa’s Hi-Po from milking their bibles.

Now, grab a beer and help us test the god hypothesis — because, while Odin the All-father hasn’t struck us down yet, we are trying his patience!

Shea’s Life Lesson

This week I learned that every truck is a food truck if you’re a cannibal.

Jenn’s Actual Lesson

In honor of Father’s Day this weekend, did you know that Sigmund Freud regarded God as an illusion and reflected an infantile psyche’s need for a powerful father figure? He considered religion necessary to help us restrain violent impulses earlier in the development of civilization, but it can now be set aside in favor of reason and science.

But before we get to all that, let’s have a beer!

This Week’s Beer

Ellie’s Brown Ale | Avery Brewing Co

  • BA Link: http://bit.ly/28oF9JN
  • BA Rating: 87
  • Style: American brown ale
  • ABV: 5.50%
  • Aaron: 7
  • Jenn: 8
  • Shea: 5
  • Steve: 7
  • McGuffin: 6
  • Wyatt: 6
  • Ms. Bea: 7

This Week’s Show

Round Table Discussion

We have a new patron. Spencer has joined the ranks of the best people on earth with his generosity. Thank you so much.

Our hearts go out to the victims and families of victims of the mass shooting in the Orlando nightclub “Pulse”. This is now the deadliest mass shooting in US history with 50 dead and 53 injured.

No new iTunes reviews this week.

Why is Aaron’s new nickname Erroneous?

Thanks to the Atheist Avengers for joining us today! You can find out more about the battle against irrationality at http://atheistavengers.com

Headlines

This Week’s Stories

Marvelous Quiz: Avengers v/s Wrath: Prawn of Justice!

Anyone who has listened to our show for any length of time knows we are a NERDY bunch of assholes, so imagine our excitement to hear the Atheist AVENGERS were going to be joining us! In honor of their guesting, Jenn has created a quiz dedicated to religion and mythology in comics!

(For clarification, the questions are written so that not always a knowledge of the comics themselves is needed to answer correctly. Because Aaron needed a handicap in this game.)

We all know that Thor’s man-hammer in the Marvel films is raised for Jane Foster only. However, in Norse mythology, who is actually the thunder god’s wife?

  • Frigg
  • Freya
  • Minerva
  • Sif

Hint: I’m totally ‘shipping them in the movies, too.

Longtime, dark comic fan favorite and recent AMC adaptation,’Preacher’ is the story of a small-town man of God who is possessed by a supernatural force. What book of the Bible is this angel/demon crossbreed entity named after?

  • Genesis
  • Exodus
  • Lamentations
  • Revelations

Hint: This book is the beginning, not the end.

Despite his demonic appearance and ancestry, teleporting X-Men member Nightcrawler is actually a devout Roman Catholic (he was even a priest briefly). While his mom is the more famous comic character Mystique, his father is actually a creature of real mythology: a demon or fallen angel from the Bible and other ancient texts, known as ‘the scapegoat’. Who is this demon?

  • Baal
  • Azazel
  • Beelzebub
  • Fred

Hint: Not Fred… J/K Pretty close to the name of Gargoyle’s cat

Hard drinking, chain-smoking, magician and con-man John Constantine fights spirits, demons and gods of all varieties, all the while looking like tantric-sex practicing singer Sting. In one storyline, he summoned the Hindu goddess of destruction and death, who (not surprisingly) went on rampage. What is the name of this goddess, often depicted as having 4 arms?

  • Shiva
  • Parvati
  • Kali
  • Shakti

Hint: Indiana Jones almost lost his heart to her.

Hellboy, the giant, red, kitten-and-pancake loving half-demon, was brought to life on the big screen by Ron Perlman and Guillermo Del Toro. Despite his questionable heritage, Big Red leads a team of ‘special-special ops’ to fight the forces of evil. He also carries a big-ass gun that shoots blessed bullets and is made with fragments of the True Cross. It’s ALSO named for one of Jesus’ parables. What’s the name of Hellboy’s gun?

  • The Sower
  • The Reaper
  • Prodigal Son
  • The Good Samaritan

Hint: It’s all about helping those in need. Of a big, damn gun.

Everyone’s favorite lasso-wielding Amazon, Wonder Woman hails from a world where actual gods and goddesses exist and involve themselves in mortal affairs. Both this lasso and a set of indestructible bracelets were a gift from which Olympian goddess?

  • Aphrodite
  • Hera
  • Athena
  • Demeter

Hint: The the one available on the half-shell

Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) is a DC hero whose powers come from the alien technology known as the Scarab, which is fused to him physically and psychically. In Egyptian mythology, what deity is the scarab beetle associated with, as it is an assistant in rolling the sun along the heavens?

  • Nefertiti
  • Osiris
  • Isis
  • Ra

Hint: Egypt. Sun. God.

Alan Moore’s deeply nihilistic series, Watchmen, follows a group of superheroes in an alternate 80’s timeline, with the US on the brink of nuclear war with the USSR and Richard Nixon in his 5th term as president. While the series itself seems more inspired by the teachings of Nietzsche, with little use for gods or religion, there are hints of Judeo-Christian inspiration. For example, when the shifting ink-blot mask of Rorschach is removed the result is much like biblical hero Samson after a shave: total loss of power. What is Rorschach’s real name?

  • Billy Crudup (actor/Dr. Manhattan)
  • Walter Kovacs
  • Jonathan Ostermann (Dr. Manhattan)
  • Dave Gibbons (illustrator)

Hint: Disneyworld would be very different if this guy founded it

Speaking of Alan Moore, another adult series of his is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. These stories follow a group of supernaturals/heroes/adventurers from works of literature: Captain Nemo, Alan Quatrain, Jeckyll/Hyde… (They’re sometimes referred to as a Victorian Justice League). Surprisingly, the sole main female member is actually the group leader: Mina Murray, the lady victim from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In that novel, what blessed item did the vampire-fighting crew seal into coffins of suspected potential bloodsuckers?

  • sacramental bread
  • vials of holy water
  • pages of scripture
  • cloves of blessed garlic

Hint: I guess vamps are gluten sensitive?

Matt Murdock is the angsty lawyer by day, masked crime-fighter by night known as Daredevil. Writer Frank Miller says ”I decided he needed to be Catholic because only a Catholic could be a vigilante and an attorney at the same time…he struggles with guilt for what he’s done and guilt for what he’s not been able to do to save his city.” Ironically, Saint Matthew was also guilt-stricken and met his end as any good martyr should—brutal execution. How was he reportedly killed?

  • Nailed to the ground with short spears and beheaded
  • Dragged to pieces by an angry mob (St. Mark)
  • crucified upside down (St. Peter)
  • Skinned alive (therefore becoming the patron saint of tanners— St. Bartholomew)

Hint: Not for this one

Next Week’s Beer

Lemon Ginger Hefeweizen | McCall Brewing Co

Faith In Humanity Restored

Solar Powered Zubabox Internet Shipping Container Rural Areas Refugee Camps – http://huff.to/1VZm1xh

Bonus Cat Video

Ninja T-Rex: http://bit.ly/23agnsY